Airships?

Cthulhu_Wakes

Cthulhu_Wakes

Black Sun in a White World
Just wondering, who here has used airships in their games? Either from Outcastes or possibly of their own designs? I've used the Kilas and Vedettes from Earthdawn as Exalted craft, along with my own ships based off Victorian ships of the line.  :twisted: 64 guns of pure mayhem. *Ahem* I digress though, has anyone ever used them to an extent in their games?
 
I introduced a small First Age aircraft into one of my games. I found that it was detrimental to my end of the game however -- when the characters could simply zip directly between destinations, it cut out a lot of potential for interaction they might have if they travelled on foot instead.


-S
 
I didn't personally use it, but a player of mine in an Abyssal campaign I ran a few years ago (he played a Sidereal, actually) had a small airship.  


I can see how it could be detrimental, as Stillborn said, but in my game it was actually really helpful and fit in extremely well.  It was stolen by followers of the Goblin King (or whatever the solar in Rathess is called) and Han-Tha... and his Water Nymph co-pilot was beaten and tossed over the side, although they managed to save her.


Of course, my Deathlord (Alabaster Angel Clad in Weeping Shadows) managed to reverse engineer the Airship, figure out how it worked and managed to adapt the technology to start making her own fleet of airship... some as large as the bigger warships in creation's waters... they weren't all completed and of the few that were only a handful had any kind of armament, but it was enough that the Sidereal sent a message to Yu-Shan and the Bronze Faction that the Deathlord could be a very real threat to Creation if she managed to finish her fleet and send it through the shadowland near Rathess and on into Creation.  As it was, she had a massive warship completed and fully armed with both mundane and magical weapons.  Combine that with the damage and havoc that can be wrought by undead troops alone and she was definitely a threat waiting to happen.  If she managed to complete the treaty, and possible alliance, with the Leech Gods and one or two other factions in Rathess, she could possibly take out Han-Tha and his lackey and, if her plans worked, take over Rathess and use it as a foothold in Creation.  (The reason why she didn't attempt a treaty with Han-Tha, who'd obviously be a better choice, what with his close orientation with death is a long story)


The downside is that even if she managed to take Rathess, she'd have to deal with the Stalkers, any sentient or ancient Dragon Kings and the local Lunars to deal with, and the local Imperial DragonBloods who frequently go into Rathess... and a possible downside (although it's possibly a good thing for the Deathlord as well) is the Yu-Shan gate located in rathess.


anyways, I've digressed a lot, the airship was a blessing in a lot of ways for the characters, and worked extremely well for our campaign.  It wasn't like the airships like the northeners use, it was kind of like the airships used in the DeathGate Cycle, kinda/sorta.  It basically used ambient essence and channeled it down the bottom to create a lift-effect, and the same effect was used to direct the essence to all sides of the ship, so as to steer the ship.  Well, that's the quick and sloppy explanation.  I could explain it far better if I could talk with the player who designed it.
 
In my epic Solars campaign, we ended up with an airship that the Twilight built (we acquired a stash of jade from part of the ruins of Lookshy). Didn't change the campaign much; we simply got ambushed on the airship, as opposed to on the road.
 
Wow, I just had the awesome thought of an air-ship to air-ship battle at 70 mph or something in mid-air.  Leaping from one ship to another in hand to hand combat :P
 
I cannot allow a thread about airships to pass without recommending Skies of Arcadia, an RPG once for the Dreamcast, now ported to Gamecube. In addition to airship-to-airship combat, it's also a great source of ideas for swashbuckling adventure and exploring the ruins of a lost Golden Age.


It also has giant magical robots.
 
In the campaign I play in my Twilight Solar used Wyld Shaping Technique to create a Manta class airship. It's cool having my own ride, lotta maintenace though, and that's how I believe it should be balanced out.
 
Ah, Skies of Arcadia ^_^ Yes I know it well. But in my game, it was geared toward airships actually. A series of rapid battles in the air thrilled the players, while being shot down in enemy territory (they were DBs in Threshold, fresh from the Realm) It was a long and epic campaign, besides, I only ever use airboats as a menace and background threat. If the Wyld Hunt can use warstriders as propaganda devices (S&S I believe) then by God, they can use airships!


Right Still? With that giant behemoth of yours.
 
Well, I want to have an airship, does that count? The Alchemical universal pilot key is just so nifty, and it is possible to spend 10pts of artifact on a combat skiff and the requisite essence battery and still have enough points for a beam-klave and a buff jacket.


All the Exalted games I've been in have had at least one Lunar, which meant that we always needed some way for the others to keep up. The sleigh crafted from yettim parts and pulled by the beastman was fun stuff.


Generally I think a game like Exalted benefits from the players having "travel powers" to get between major locations. The heroes of Creation shouldn't have to hoof it everywhere. Most such powers are also rather conspicuous, so if they want to keep anything resembling a low profile they have to at least park a few miles away from their destination and stash the ol' Delorian in the bushes.
 
lowguppy said:
Well, I want to have an airship, does that count? The Alchemical universal pilot key is just so nifty, and it is possible to spend 10pts of artifact on a combat skiff and the requisite essence battery and still have enough points for a beam-klave and a buff jacket.
All the Exalted games I've been in have had at least one Lunar, which meant that we always needed some way for the others to keep up. The sleigh crafted from yettim parts and pulled by the beastman was fun stuff.


Generally I think a game like Exalted benefits from the players having "travel powers" to get between major locations. The heroes of Creation shouldn't have to hoof it everywhere. Most such powers are also rather conspicuous, so if they want to keep anything resembling a low profile they have to at least park a few miles away from their destination and stash the ol' Delorian in the bushes.
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Well, it's fun to have one's characters hoofing it in the beginning really. It just makes for a more well rounded adventure, going to various towns, run ins with villains, rivals, the general populace. I've always enjoyed a good trek in my campaigns, gives the players appreciation for the scope of Creation.
 
Stillborn said:
"Ruins of Lookshy", eh?
-S
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 Lookshy, meet Kukla the Destroyer.
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>.O That would do it, Jesus, what scenario were you running where that thing was loose?
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 Let's see...it was the Silver Pact reacting (rather rashly) to either First & Forsaken Lion rampaging throughout the South, the Scarlet Empress returning with her bridal escort, or both.


 A cadre of Third Alliance deathknights took out the Empress with the help of my Circle (we kept the Shard Infernals, Second Circles, and the demon army off the Void Circle Necromancer until she ripped off a Void Circle to pull the Empress into the Void); Kukla ripped apart a fair number of the Lunars that helped break his binding (the rest were 'chastised' by Luna...), blew away most of the Legion Sanguinary, caused the Realm Defense Grid to activate on the Blessed Isle, and was having Lookshy for a post-prandial when we re-bound him with Gaia and Luna's assistance.
 
It was more extensive story-telling than rolling dice; the ambush on the Airship was more interesting. After all, it was by an Essence 8 Iron Faction Siddie--the Green Lady, to be exact.
 
Not sure if the term is canon, but it's been bandied about for a while now. Much like the theoretical Lunar-favoring Silver Faction, the theoretical pro-Death Sidereals compose the Iron Faction.


-S
 
I hear there is a number, especially one of the sig Siderials, the one of Endings, of course. He's not trusted 'round the Five Score Fellowship, to tainted with death they think. Look his little grey story page up. He's interesting.
 
Jukashi said:
Personally, I think lead sounds more appropriate to that than iron.
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"Iron" is already a substance associated with the Underworld (i.e. Iron Countermagic), whereas "Lead" has been associated with Malfeas (see Dukantha, Blood & Salt).


-S
 
I always wondered what the black lead was like for a "magical material" for those crazy Infernals, seems to be doing Dukantha a lot of good though.
 
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