Airship Weapons

Discussion on the Earthdawn game line, errata, and feedback not related to playing or GMing.
Slimcreeper
Posts: 394
Joined: Thu Jan 19, 2012 11:18 pm
[phpBB Debug] PHP Warning: in file [ROOT]/vendor/twig/twig/lib/Twig/Extension/Core.php on line 1266: count(): Parameter must be an array or an object that implements Countable

Re: Airship Weapons

Postby Slimcreeper » Thu Feb 25, 2016 8:04 am

There are a couple of good ideas here. My thoughts:

A character attacking an airship should be more in the vein of sabotage, not really attacking to do damage. The dwarf ties a rope to the rail and goes over the side. She smashes the rudder with her warhammer so that the ship can't turn away from the mountainside. The troll slashes a few key lines, causing the sails to whip around. The ship shudders and tilts as her speed plummets and she veers to the starboard. It should require a knowledge test to know where to strike. Then each ship might have structure/barrier/armor ratings for each of its characteristics (I can't remember how the barrier rules are exactly worded)

If a ship-to-ship weapon hits a character, it should be devastating. Much higher damage, automatic knockdown test, automatic wound per success, etc.

While I'm generally in favor of reusing the same system (higher damage steps, barrier ratings, step-based characteristics for the ships, etc), I do think there should be a thought out abstract system for GMs who want to treat an airship battle as a setting rather than a war game.

User avatar
Tattered Rags
Posts: 278
Joined: Thu Feb 13, 2014 10:44 pm
[phpBB Debug] PHP Warning: in file [ROOT]/vendor/twig/twig/lib/Twig/Extension/Core.php on line 1266: count(): Parameter must be an array or an object that implements Countable

Re: Airship Weapons

Postby Tattered Rags » Thu Feb 25, 2016 9:51 am


Telarus_KSC
Posts: 744
Joined: Wed Nov 23, 2011 3:26 am
[phpBB Debug] PHP Warning: in file [ROOT]/vendor/twig/twig/lib/Twig/Extension/Core.php on line 1266: count(): Parameter must be an array or an object that implements Countable

Re: Airship Weapons

Postby Telarus_KSC » Sun Feb 28, 2016 6:27 pm

Last edited by Telarus_KSC on Sun Feb 28, 2016 10:35 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Telarus_KSC
Posts: 744
Joined: Wed Nov 23, 2011 3:26 am
[phpBB Debug] PHP Warning: in file [ROOT]/vendor/twig/twig/lib/Twig/Extension/Core.php on line 1266: count(): Parameter must be an array or an object that implements Countable

Re: Airship Weapons

Postby Telarus_KSC » Sun Feb 28, 2016 10:11 pm

Last edited by Telarus_KSC on Mon Feb 29, 2016 12:57 am, edited 2 times in total.

Telarus_KSC
Posts: 744
Joined: Wed Nov 23, 2011 3:26 am
[phpBB Debug] PHP Warning: in file [ROOT]/vendor/twig/twig/lib/Twig/Extension/Core.php on line 1266: count(): Parameter must be an array or an object that implements Countable

Re: Airship Weapons

Postby Telarus_KSC » Sun Feb 28, 2016 10:56 pm

Last edited by Telarus_KSC on Mon Feb 29, 2016 1:32 am, edited 1 time in total.

User avatar
Tattered Rags
Posts: 278
Joined: Thu Feb 13, 2014 10:44 pm
[phpBB Debug] PHP Warning: in file [ROOT]/vendor/twig/twig/lib/Twig/Extension/Core.php on line 1266: count(): Parameter must be an array or an object that implements Countable

Re: Airship Weapons

Postby Tattered Rags » Mon Feb 29, 2016 12:21 am


Telarus_KSC
Posts: 744
Joined: Wed Nov 23, 2011 3:26 am
[phpBB Debug] PHP Warning: in file [ROOT]/vendor/twig/twig/lib/Twig/Extension/Core.php on line 1266: count(): Parameter must be an array or an object that implements Countable

Re: Airship Weapons

Postby Telarus_KSC » Mon Feb 29, 2016 9:27 pm


Telarus_KSC
Posts: 744
Joined: Wed Nov 23, 2011 3:26 am
[phpBB Debug] PHP Warning: in file [ROOT]/vendor/twig/twig/lib/Twig/Extension/Core.php on line 1266: count(): Parameter must be an array or an object that implements Countable

Re: Airship Weapons

Postby Telarus_KSC » Mon Feb 29, 2016 10:28 pm

Ship Combat

Here we have the familiar Pursuit and Engagement rules, and some variation on the existing Declare, Initiative, Resolve Actions combat turn loop. Confusingly, Pursuit and Engagement are run together into a single "Pursuit" paragraph, but let up keep them as distinct time-frames/phases. Also, Crystal Raiders introduces Pursuit Speed Modifiers for each Hazard category and other Hazard Modifier Category, but they apply to all ships equally except for the "controlled territory/enemy territory" +1/-1 pair - so I'm not sure how useful that is. During the hour-long Pursuit turns, both books note that a failed Speed test by the pursuer means the quarry is lost, but Serpent River will allow you a chance to "track" the target with a successful Read River test against the opponent captain's Pilot Boat skill. If successful, you can re-initiate Pursuit and then Engagement. This is not mentioned in Crystal Raiders.

The next section is Ship Maneuvers In Combat, which mirrors the previous version we've seen, mostly. Let us take the Maneuver's we've seen first. The Boarding maneuver now has separate rules for Crew Battles, which we will examine below and Crystal Raiders adds -4 Speed and Maneuverability modifiers for ships grappled together. The Breaking Off maneuver mentions, "If a ship has been successfully boarded by an opponent, the ship must achieve an Excellent or better success on one of its Speed Tests to break off." Ram is essentially the same. The "Fire"(Assault) and Ground Assault maneuvers are similar, but you can now split Firepower as follows. If attacking multiple targets, split the Assault Rating among targets as Attack Tests, but roll Firepower Damage -1 for each target after the first for each Damage Test. Example: A ship with Firepower 15/18 can attack 3 opponents, using an Attack step of 5 for each attack. Each successful attack would cause Step 16 damage.

Hrm, this wasn't really favored by my players, maybe we can change this too, as we are trying for a better Step Number fit. OOOH, here's something good. Crystal Raiders says that you can try for a Called Shot at -3 Assault Test, and if any damage gets past the armor you get the Critical Hit mentioned earlier that only applies a -1 to the chosen target attribute.

Oh, Crystal Raiders also introduces the concept of closing/fleeing during combat at 50 yards per success level with the "Alter Distance" maneuver, and limits maneuvers like Fire, Boarding, and Ramming to ships within a certain distance. Also uses the Range Modifiers from the base book for ship scale combat. Not sure I used those in most encounters I ran, myself. Ok, boarding battles...

Crew Boarding Battles
"In a boarding battle, each side makes an Attack Test, using its Crew Rating, against a Difficulty Number equal to the opposing crew's Crew Rating. If the attacking crew prevails, it makes a Damage Test, using its Crew Rating, against the opposing crew's Crew Rating. All crews may use their ship's Armor Rating when withstanding an attack. If the damage from a single attack exceeds a ship's Critical Threshold Rating, its crew takes a Wound and all the ratings of its Crew Attribute are reduced by 1 step. Additionally, 5 percent of the crew members sustain serious injuries and will not survive without medical assistance. If a crew takes damage equal to or higher than its Morale Rating, the crew may surrender to the enemy.

A crew can fully recover its Morale Rating after 3 turns, providing it does not take any additional damage in those 3 minutes and does not surrender. A crew can only recover from Wounds by recruiting more crew members or allowing injured crew members to heal completely. Most often, recruiting new members and healing injured members takes at least 1 week.

If individual player characters fight in boarding actions, begin the ship combat sequence using the previously described rules. After the first turn of ship combat, run 5 standard Earthdawn Combat Rounds. Use the Sample Riverboat Crew statistics (p. 110) for the opposing crew. Every time a player character incapacitates or kills an enemy crew member, reduce the enemy crew's Morale Rating by 1 and add 1 to the Morale Rating of the player character's crew. After 5 rounds of standard combat, conduct another ship combat turn. Repeat this sequence until the battle has ended. Warn player characters when their own crew's morale is about to break, because their side's surrender may suddenly leave a small group of player characters facing considerable odds."

Ok, now my girlfriend ran a T'skrang Airs Sailor as a lieutenant in Throal's Air Force for a while... and she found these rules too abstract and a bit too random, and felt she couldn't get in there as a squad level leader and save people. So I came up with a squad/Unit based combat system. Maybe we'll go over that once we get to improving the system. Next up, an interesting section, WEAPONS :D

User avatar
Tattered Rags
Posts: 278
Joined: Thu Feb 13, 2014 10:44 pm
[phpBB Debug] PHP Warning: in file [ROOT]/vendor/twig/twig/lib/Twig/Extension/Core.php on line 1266: count(): Parameter must be an array or an object that implements Countable

Re: Airship Weapons

Postby Tattered Rags » Tue Mar 01, 2016 1:04 am


Telarus_KSC
Posts: 744
Joined: Wed Nov 23, 2011 3:26 am
[phpBB Debug] PHP Warning: in file [ROOT]/vendor/twig/twig/lib/Twig/Extension/Core.php on line 1266: count(): Parameter must be an array or an object that implements Countable

Re: Airship Weapons

Postby Telarus_KSC » Tue Mar 01, 2016 2:46 am

Last edited by Telarus_KSC on Wed Mar 16, 2016 11:36 am, edited 4 times in total.


[phpBB Debug] PHP Warning: in file [ROOT]/vendor/twig/twig/lib/Twig/Extension/Core.php on line 1266: count(): Parameter must be an array or an object that implements Countable

Return to “Product Discussion”



Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 7 guests