Giving a party a ship
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Giving a party a ship
I'm going to try running Dragonstar, a very early third party Space Fantasy setting for D&D. It's literally Dungeons and Dragons IN SPACE.
But because it was so early, it wasn't done as well as it could have been and I don't think it got more than ten books, total.
The set up is that the party will be working for the Dragon Empire, and are going to be given a ship. I want to let them build the ship together, but Dragonstar doesn't really have ship building rules so far as I can tell, and is limited in actual ships. Also, the prices are complete asspull territory. Their corvette class ship could be sold for enough to buy five corvette class ships from SWSaga.
My friend who is much more familiar with Star Wars suggested a budget of 50-100K for building a ship using SWSaga rules. I'm thinking about taking a look at Mutants and Masterminds and d20 Mecha, but does anyone have any advice on how to handle this?
But because it was so early, it wasn't done as well as it could have been and I don't think it got more than ten books, total.
The set up is that the party will be working for the Dragon Empire, and are going to be given a ship. I want to let them build the ship together, but Dragonstar doesn't really have ship building rules so far as I can tell, and is limited in actual ships. Also, the prices are complete asspull territory. Their corvette class ship could be sold for enough to buy five corvette class ships from SWSaga.
My friend who is much more familiar with Star Wars suggested a budget of 50-100K for building a ship using SWSaga rules. I'm thinking about taking a look at Mutants and Masterminds and d20 Mecha, but does anyone have any advice on how to handle this?
Cuz apparently I gotta break this down for you dense motherfuckers- I'm trans feminine nonbinary. My pronouns are they/them.
Winnah wrote:No, No. 'Prak' is actually a Thri Kreen impersonating a human and roleplaying himself as a D&D character. All hail our hidden insect overlords.
FrankTrollman wrote:In Soviet Russia, cosmic horror is the default state.
You should gain sanity for finding out that the problems of a region are because there are fucking monsters there.
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I'd just give them a list of options that look fairly balanced to you and let them choose from a list.
ie, their base ship is a YT-1300 with a crew of 2, 10 passengers, 100 tons cargo, speed 12, and armor +14.
Extra armor plating is +10 armor, -2 speed, -20 cargo.
Faster engines are +4 speed, -10 cargo.
More cabins are +10 passengers, -10 cargo.
Smuggling compartments are -10 cargo per 5 tons of concealed cargo.
A turret is -10 cargo.
And so on and so forth. Some options might be exclusive - for example, faster engines can't be taken if you take more powerful engines. You might even give them a small cash budget and use that to balance some options but I suspect that would be tricky and annoying.
I've used this approach of customizing off a list and my players seemed to appreciate it because it minimized the cognitive load for them.
ie, their base ship is a YT-1300 with a crew of 2, 10 passengers, 100 tons cargo, speed 12, and armor +14.
Extra armor plating is +10 armor, -2 speed, -20 cargo.
Faster engines are +4 speed, -10 cargo.
More cabins are +10 passengers, -10 cargo.
Smuggling compartments are -10 cargo per 5 tons of concealed cargo.
A turret is -10 cargo.
And so on and so forth. Some options might be exclusive - for example, faster engines can't be taken if you take more powerful engines. You might even give them a small cash budget and use that to balance some options but I suspect that would be tricky and annoying.
I've used this approach of customizing off a list and my players seemed to appreciate it because it minimized the cognitive load for them.
Id just give them a couple ships I either chose or built so I am familiar with its capabilities and know it will be powerful without being broken and their choice can keep the group on the same page. If they pick the smuggler cargo freighter there will be different expectations than if they pick the upgunned corsair and I can adjust the campaign accordingly.
Harshax wrote:ship-dragon-wars, CarWars but with ships, but in D&D, but in space,
Yes, I realize the typography is all over the place. That just added to my own personal amusement.
Last edited by codeGlaze on Thu Dec 01, 2016 5:12 am, edited 1 time in total.
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nockermensch wrote:Advantage will lead to dicepools in D&D. Remember, you read this here first!
Uhm....
Cuz apparently I gotta break this down for you dense motherfuckers- I'm trans feminine nonbinary. My pronouns are they/them.
Winnah wrote:No, No. 'Prak' is actually a Thri Kreen impersonating a human and roleplaying himself as a D&D character. All hail our hidden insect overlords.
FrankTrollman wrote:In Soviet Russia, cosmic horror is the default state.
You should gain sanity for finding out that the problems of a region are because there are fucking monsters there.
I think Harshax hit the nail on the head. Unless (by some miracle) playing with the vehicle rules is just as much fun as playing actual D&D, you're better off just hand-waving it as much as possible.
My main beef with ship combat rules is that it tends to turn into one player piloting the ship and the rest of the players going off to play Super Smash Brothers because there's little for them to do.
My main beef with ship combat rules is that it tends to turn into one player piloting the ship and the rest of the players going off to play Super Smash Brothers because there's little for them to do.
That's my experience as well, even in cases where supposedly each character would have their own role, crewing the ship.hogarth wrote:I think Harshax hit the nail on the head. Unless (by some miracle) playing with the vehicle rules is just as much fun as playing actual D&D, you're better off just hand-waving it as much as possible.
My main beef with ship combat rules is that it tends to turn into one player piloting the ship and the rest of the players going off to play Super Smash Brothers because there's little for them to do.
Are there any systems out there that handle vehicle combat well?
Dungeons the Dragoning book 2 (found somewhere on this blog) actually has some pretty good ship rules that integrate the whole party, like they're the bridge crew of a federation starship. It's gonna be a kludge because the base resolution system is an actual April's fools joke, but everything on top of it is above board and actually pretty awesome.
-Kid Radd
shadzar wrote:those training harder get more, and training less, don't get the more.
Stuff I've MadeLokathor wrote:Anything worth sniffing can't be sniffed
So you mean Kirk and Spock get to go off and do stuff while Uhura and Sulu get the shaft?Hicks wrote:Dungeons the Dragoning book 2 (found somewhere on this blog) actually has some pretty good ship rules that integrate the whole party, like they're the bridge crew of a federation starship.
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Sounds like a fanfic I'd readhogarth wrote:So you mean Kirk and Spock get to go off and do stuff while Uhura and Sulu get the shaft?Hicks wrote:Dungeons the Dragoning book 2 (found somewhere on this blog) actually has some pretty good ship rules that integrate the whole party, like they're the bridge crew of a federation starship.
Sulu's the pilot and Uhura's the comms officer(?). They're bridge crew, so if there's something ship-focused happening, they should be involved at least as much as Spock. Though Uhura's role might need to be expanded a little.
Cuz apparently I gotta break this down for you dense motherfuckers- I'm trans feminine nonbinary. My pronouns are they/them.
Winnah wrote:No, No. 'Prak' is actually a Thri Kreen impersonating a human and roleplaying himself as a D&D character. All hail our hidden insect overlords.
FrankTrollman wrote:In Soviet Russia, cosmic horror is the default state.
You should gain sanity for finding out that the problems of a region are because there are fucking monsters there.
I seriously conflated the name of that game with This One, because apparently I feel like they're the same idea (D&D in space). I recall space being a thing in that game as well, so surely could take the ideas that worked (if any) from there?
What I find wrong w/ 4th edition: "I want to stab dragons the size of a small keep with skin like supple adamantine and command over time and space to death with my longsword in head to head combat, but I want to be totally within realistic capabilities of a real human being!" --Caedrus mocking 4rries
"the thing about being Mister Cavern [DM], you don't blame players for how they play. That's like blaming the weather. Weather just is. You adapt to it. -Ancient History
"the thing about being Mister Cavern [DM], you don't blame players for how they play. That's like blaming the weather. Weather just is. You adapt to it. -Ancient History
Dragonmech does not have adventures in space so much as it has moon dragons from space that occasionally eat you, and space rain that rains down rocks from space on your head every day. You still adventure on earth highpoint, but the campaign world is just as terrestrial as any other setting, until you just planeshift somewhere else or greater teleport accross the universe or whatever.
-Kid Radd
shadzar wrote:those training harder get more, and training less, don't get the more.
Stuff I've MadeLokathor wrote:Anything worth sniffing can't be sniffed