Boarding a Derelict Sandship - Downloaded from the Wizards Community, all coding removed by Solauren

Boarding a Derelict Sandship

Post/Author/DateTime Post
#1
Dreamstryder
Aug 05, 2010 22:59:26 Setting: A rustic world in which technology developed differently than Earth's; a bit like Final Fantasy XII.
Party: Lv 4 Gunslinger, Warrior, and Mage/Machinist. Probably with a hovercraft.
Edition: I'm looking for concepts more than crunch; suggest stuff in any D&D system you want.

Problem: My party is traveling the Ossified Erg starting tomorrow, and one of the encounters they might find drifting the dune sea is in fact a derelict sandship (think Jabba's sandskimmer, and it's larger than a galleon but smaller than a town). Assuming they take their grappling hooks to find purchase on the armored sides of the hull (it's rather tall; they wouldn't reach the deck directly), what are some things they can anticipate aboard?

Possibilities:
1. They could find the ship swarming with giant, sand-dwelling arthropods, spire drakes nesting in the hull cracks, and parasitic isopods ambling the exterior for scraps, and have to fight their way up to the captain's cabin to...to what?
2. From a neutral area, they could survey what's wrong with the ship, and venture into different compartments to try to salvage the sucker and drive it toward town. For example: There's something chewing on the powerlines to hull sections A and C: solve it! The hull on this side is infested with rot scarabs; peel off the armor and jettison the corpses of the last crew they've stuffed into there!

I'm looking for scenarios that are challenging to both the judgement of the players and the rolls of their characters. Have any ideas (or fragments of ideas)?
#2
Chirp
Aug 12, 2010 13:57:25 How big is the ship? are we talking big war ship or something more like a mobile city?

I'm not familiar with FF XII so I'm not sure what tech level your working with. Assuming its like other FF games I would consider automatons, either golems or robots depending on which fits better. Possibl left over guardians or even just cleaning machines that get made at the mess the PCs are making.

A possibly more peacful encounter might be with a tribe of primatives who have managed to get on the ship and make it their home. Again, not sure of your tech level but perhaps there is an old AI or some magical equivilent still active on the ship that the tribe believes is their god.

These are just a couple quick ideas off the top of my head. Hope they help a little.
#3
Grimbus
Aug 12, 2010 15:02:31 Maybe the sand ship is haunted. As soonas the players board, the sand ship takes off and takes them to a haunted area with a large pyramid. The sand ship belonged to looters who robbed the pyramid, but were murdered by the ghostly guardians. The players have to return the treasure in the sand ships hold, avoid the traps and denziens that inhabit the pyramid before they run out of water and die.

#4
Dreamstryder
Aug 16, 2010 23:07:44 Thanks! I've added more specifics to the 1st post.
#5
digeridork
Sep 25, 2010 0:38:40 Once on board when they are in a conveniently inconvenient spot to do anything about it, the skimmer gets underway and quickly reaches a very dangerous speed (you could jump, but you're likely to break something). As they explore the ship they start having seeing phantoms going about typical ship board activities. Just glimpses at first until they start to see them more clearly and discover that they're not human anymore (think about chaos marines from warhammer for a good idea of mutations). Eventually the phantoms seem to be more solid and then they start noticing the group.

They'll probably be in whatever passes for an engine room when the "crew" fully phases back into place. And they want to capture the group to add them to the crew. This means being put on a table and letting some weird critter muck about with their bodies so that they're as mutated as the crew and under its control.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 Dreamstryder Aug 05, 2010 22:59:26	Setting: A rustic world in which technology developed differently than Earth's; a bit like Final Fantasy XII. Party: Lv 4 Gunslinger, Warrior, and Mage/Machinist. Probably with a hovercraft. Edition: I'm looking for concepts more than crunch; suggest stuff in any D&D system you want. Problem: My party is traveling the Ossified Erg starting tomorrow, and one of the encounters they might find drifting the dune sea is in fact a derelict sandship (think Jabba's sandskimmer, and it's larger than a galleon but smaller than a town). Assuming they take their grappling hooks to find purchase on the armored sides of the hull (it's rather tall; they wouldn't reach the deck directly), what are some things they can anticipate aboard? Possibilities: 1. They could find the ship swarming with giant, sand-dwelling arthropods, spire drakes nesting in the hull cracks, and parasitic isopods ambling the exterior for scraps, and have to fight their way up to the captain's cabin to...to what? 2. From a neutral area, they could survey what's wrong with the ship, and venture into different compartments to try to salvage the sucker and drive it toward town. For example: There's something chewing on the powerlines to hull sections A and C: solve it! The hull on this side is infested with rot scarabs; peel off the armor and jettison the corpses of the last crew they've stuffed into there! I'm looking for scenarios that are challenging to both the judgement of the players and the rolls of their characters. Have any ideas (or fragments of ideas)?
#2 Chirp Aug 12, 2010 13:57:25	How big is the ship? are we talking big war ship or something more like a mobile city? I'm not familiar with FF XII so I'm not sure what tech level your working with. Assuming its like other FF games I would consider automatons, either golems or robots depending on which fits better. Possibl left over guardians or even just cleaning machines that get made at the mess the PCs are making. A possibly more peacful encounter might be with a tribe of primatives who have managed to get on the ship and make it their home. Again, not sure of your tech level but perhaps there is an old AI or some magical equivilent still active on the ship that the tribe believes is their god. These are just a couple quick ideas off the top of my head. Hope they help a little.
#3 Grimbus Aug 12, 2010 15:02:31	Maybe the sand ship is haunted. As soonas the players board, the sand ship takes off and takes them to a haunted area with a large pyramid. The sand ship belonged to looters who robbed the pyramid, but were murdered by the ghostly guardians. The players have to return the treasure in the sand ships hold, avoid the traps and denziens that inhabit the pyramid before they run out of water and die.
#4 Dreamstryder Aug 16, 2010 23:07:44	Thanks! I've added more specifics to the 1st post.
#5 digeridork Sep 25, 2010 0:38:40	Once on board when they are in a conveniently inconvenient spot to do anything about it, the skimmer gets underway and quickly reaches a very dangerous speed (you could jump, but you're likely to break something). As they explore the ship they start having seeing phantoms going about typical ship board activities. Just glimpses at first until they start to see them more clearly and discover that they're not human anymore (think about chaos marines from warhammer for a good idea of mutations). Eventually the phantoms seem to be more solid and then they start noticing the group. They'll probably be in whatever passes for an engine room when the "crew" fully phases back into place. And they want to capture the group to add them to the crew. This means being put on a table and letting some weird critter muck about with their bodies so that they're as mutated as the crew and under its control.