Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 atanakar Aug 28, 2009 15:07:05	Your are prisoner, on an island, in a bad guys multi-million dollar mansion. The only method of escape available is an air balloon. What are the chances an improvised air baloon will work? What do you need to McGiver one?
#2 narukagami Aug 28, 2009 15:14:06	What do you need to McGiver one? A paperclip. Always a paperclip.
#3 atanakar Aug 28, 2009 15:15:06	What do you need to McGiver one? A paperclip. Always a paperclip. Duck tape too !
#4 cheomesh Aug 28, 2009 17:10:06	Nylon fabric for the canopy. M.
#5 Master_Vega Aug 28, 2009 18:07:02	Don't forget thread, which I suppose could be made out of the duck-tape by spinning it tightly enough, to hold the canopy in the right shape.
#6 cheomesh Aug 28, 2009 18:34:15	Rope and materials for a basket would be useful, too.  Depending on the type of island, I could make rope from fiberous plants, given enough time. M.
#7 backstabbist Aug 29, 2009 1:23:48	First thing you need is to start thinking Outside The Box. Building something that floats that uses wind for locomotion is far easier than building something that flys using wind for locomotion and stealing something that floats using a pair of 400hp diesels for locomotion is even easier   You dont need to find a way to transport yourself off the island, you just need to find a way to make the millionaire want to get off the island. I have found that inserting a shiv in the torso and explaning how a mainland hospital can stop him from dieing is a great motivator to get folks with transportation to use said transportation. One can also get on a construction worker's boat with great ease if one first burns down the mansion on the island... plenty of vessels will be coming & going after that.  If you spend enough time deficating in his pool, salt the lawn of his tennis court, sand his generator, and misalign his TV Dish in the middle of his shows ... He will realize it would be cheaper for him to just let you leave (Diplomacy check with freakishly high Spite bonus)   "Escape" is passive. "Burn it,Burn it all & pike their skulls" is less passive
#8 atanakar Aug 29, 2009 5:44:50	First thing you need is to start thinking Outside The Box. Building something that floats that uses wind for locomotion is far easier than building something that flys using wind for locomotion and stealing something that floats using a pair of 400hp diesels for locomotion is even easier You dont need to find a way to transport yourself off the island, you just need to find a way to make the millionaire want to get off the island. I have found that inserting a shiv in the torso and explaning how a mainland hospital can stop him from dieing is a great motivator to get folks with transportation to use said transportation. One can also get on a construction worker's boat with great ease if one first burns down the mansion on the island... plenty of vessels will be coming & going after that.  If you spend enough time deficating in his pool, salt the lawn of his tennis court, sand his generator, and misalign his TV Dish in the middle of his shows ... He will realize it would be cheaper for him to just let you leave (Diplomacy check with freakishly high Spite bonus) "Escape" is passive. "Burn it,Burn it all & pike their skulls" is less passive I commend you for your creativity. BUT the question is how do you built an hot air balloon from scratch using material that can be found in a mansion?
#9 backstabbist Aug 29, 2009 9:26:35	You salvage 100lb PartsStructural and 25lb PartsMechanical and apply a heapin helpin of Craft Mechanical. The actual mechanics involved with a sack and torch (what a hot air balloon actually is no more involved than a 9mm pistol, use that craft DC   Assuming you were taken prisoner by MC Hammer you sew 140 pairs of his pants together and use that as the air envelope Assuming you can take the parachutes from his plane for the envelope, and the fuel cell from his boat for the torch, and the navigational avionics from his helicopter to navigate and enough food from his kitchen for a coupe weeks of drifting aloft, one has to wonder why you dont use the radio in the plane to have your friends drop arty on his mansion one night... or radio the police/FBI to rescue you if you are into the whole Passive scene.   I dont understand how we can strip the vinyl wallpaper and copper wires from the building to make a balloon, but we cant just sneak over to his phone and call for rescue or steal the whole boat rather than stealing parts from the boat to make a balloon   Cut up his bed to get the foamrubber, springs and 1200thread bedsheets Leave the valve open when you steal 100# propane from his 10000# tank Uncork all his champagne to use the CO2 pressure to couner-presure fill your fuel tank Knock over his liquor cabinet when you grab the 151 or 190 proof for solvent Bust up his 144" plasma TV to get some capacitors & coils from the powersuply Cut up the leather seats of his Bently to form the straps of a seat harnes and tank sling Cut his paintings into strips and weave a basket for the balloon eletrical gear Cut a few sheets of aluminum from the wing of his plane to make the actual torch housing Of course, this is assuming the character has a high enough Knowledge set of skills to figure thse things out.  A simple series of six or seven DC20 knowledge skill checks to recognize these alternate sources of materials should do the trick.  You have to be sure that the character with a dozen levels of Smart will be far far better at this than MongoSmash hacking a balloon into existance with his katana
#10 atanakar Aug 29, 2009 10:37:28	Informative and amusing. Thanks.
#11 malbur Aug 29, 2009 10:56:56	The reason that we can't steal a boat is obvious.  The GM doesn't want us to steal the boat.  Either that or the PCs wanted to build an airship rather than steal the boat.  And if it's the latter... who can blame them?  I want a dirigible...
#12 backstabbist Aug 29, 2009 12:20:24	"who can blame them?  I want a dirigible..." Do you want a dirigible, or a dirigible made out of ductaped pajama pants and cut up soup cans? Dirigibles are seen by everyone and can be shot at, while Submersibles are seen by nobody and aint. Building a balloon to lift you off the island is easy, building a balloon to lift you and 1000lb of food & water for an oceanic voyage is harder.
#13 malbur Aug 29, 2009 12:49:41	True... I want a good dirigible...   But just cause it can be shot at doesn't mean it will be.  What if the Mansion is inhabited by ZOMBIES?!?! O.O  heh, just kidding. but seriously the asker did ask how to do it which means it'll either be a plot device to have a hot air balloon/airship or it's something that the PCs want to make to get off the island.
#14 backstabbist Aug 29, 2009 13:15:39	"What if the Mansion is inhabited by ZOMBIES?!?" Thats what I like about the Flames & Pikes plan, its a multitasker... it works on so many levels, practically a universal solution. Burn down the zombie mansion to reap all the XP on the hoof inside.
#15 malbur Aug 29, 2009 14:35:39	Don't forget, zombies can't attack airships, so even if one of them gets out and onto the mainland infecting that population as well, you can retreat to the airship.  And then get MORE exp!