So, /tg/. It's been 15-20 years since the Weatherlight was a thing. Is that long enough to wait for something to not be played out anymore? I like the idea of airships. Sky-pirates. Any kind of flying magi-tech vessels.
My players want something new. They're burning out on games left and right. So, I want to create a new game, from the ground up. And I want to build both the system and setting to produce something like Spelljammer, but with air-ships instead of space.
Is this idea still cliched and played out, or is it still a lame idea?
>>47727235
>>47727272
Oh my god. Treasure Planet flashbacks.
Magi-tech is the proper word for this stuff? I love the idea of mixing old time ships with SPACE.
I was close to having a game in such manner too, but timezones.
>>47727294
>>47727326
"Magitech" Is a catch-all term for any use of magic or enchanted objects to perform jobs which would be performed by technology in a modern setting. Enchanting a rock to always be burning hot then tossing it into the bottom of a stove or oven so you can cook without fire. Carving a magical rune onto a door that rings like a bell when someone presses it so that the homeowner knows he has visitors.
Any use of magic to replicate modern amenities or future technologies would be 'magitech'.
>>47727235
There's a set of rpg articles on floating castle domination that should have started with airships rather than risking a whole castle.
>>47727326
I played a really fun Treasure Planet/Spelljammer-inspired game with my group a while back. Basically just gave them their own ship capable of gliding on the ether-currents between worlds and let them go nuts. It was really fun and one of the few campaigns I've successfully run that actually got to have an ending.
>>47727235
Just make the game you want to. It doesn't matter if the ideas are used frequently, as long as the execution is decent. If you have any creativity, new stuff will come up as you write.
And if you're players call chliche, just introduce some random element as a plot hook.
>>47727235
I'm also interested in this.
Has anyone here run this sort of game? How did it work out?
I'm kind of concerned that the airship will simply be used as a travel device to get from a to b. How do you make it more interesting? Airship battles in the skies? Upgrades?
With all the extra dangers on land and at sea air travel is more desirable. Self propelled surface skimmers that can rise enough to escape various dangers and go over obstacles would be the most easily trusted.
Avoidance heights: melee, pole arm, grappling hook, bow shot, siege engine, above the clouds, high enough above the clouds to react to surprise attacks through the clouds, above breathing height for flying animals or airbreathing engines.
Multi-terrain versions would want to be able to crash land and repair or continue on land, river, lake or sea (or lava).
>>47727670
I'm >>47727510.
It was less an airship and more a fantasy spaceship, but I managed to do a few things to keep the ship from just being a tool to get them from place to place:
- I had a few ship-to-ship battles, and one ship-vs-massive-space-dragon battle. My players had a great time with that one--the battle shifted between firing at the thing with magitech beam cannons and occasionally the dragon grabbing onto the ship and they had to climb onto it and damage it to make it lose its grip.
- I emphasized that the ship was their home, so there was a good amount of scenes that took place on the ship, including one short arc in which an assassin sneaked on board as they were taking off.
- I had a few ship-focused adventures, like one where they were dead in the sky in orbit around an uninhabited planet. They didn't remember how they got there, but their ship was badly damaged and there were tons of other wrecked ships in orbit with them. They flew around on their escape craft from ship to ship to scavenge parts to repair their ship and escape, in the mean time solving the mystery of how they got there (and also one of the wrecks they scavenged was haunted).
There should be flying self propelled wagons formed into caravans with guards on flying wooden horses and other craft from airmagiccraft escort carriers. Air pirates with crude enchanted wooden horses and cargo carrying shapes; and captured vehicles from caravans and flying caravans.
Air Forces seem to be easier than RL, so should be larger. It should be more like air mobile Army (half the Army) in many forms air-dragoons, armored cart infantry, air-horse cavalry, armored cart air cavalry, Air Force "Marines", Air Force, half the Marines, half the Navy should be air capable. Let's see (1 (Army) + 2 (Air Force) + 1 (Navy & MC) = 4/6 parts should be air mobile.) two thirds of forces should be air mobile.
The air over a kingdom should be patrolled by an Air or Sky Something or Aery or Airy?
Every fantasy setting with flight magic should have a flight economy driven by competing flying caravans, messengers, mercenaries and the militaries and their used vehicle market.
>>47728100
It's not so much that half the Army should be able to move at the same time by air, but that they should be trained and expected to be shuttle around by air. "We need reinforcements at a border crossing. Get your air bag ready."
>>47728100
Half of each force is for fully mature forces. Equal money spent on mature tech land, air and water forces seems like the best. If you're worried about a land enemy, like a continental power, you should have a large reserve force and citizens armed with military grade or better weapons (a great excuse for heavily armed and armored adventurers). During development of flying forces much smaller numbers will be involved to save money on equipment replacement and improvement and fewer people exposed to the development death risk and death rate.
>It's been 15-20 years since the Weatherlight was a thing
>>47727471
http://www.critical-hits.com/blog/2015/04/21/castles-in-the-sky-part-i-history-mechanics-and-trade/
http://www.critical-hits.com/blog/2015/04/27/castles-in-the-sky-part-ii-religion-war-and-conquest/
>>47727235
Airships are always cool as fuck, they make a great "home or base" for a travelling band of well off parties and groups.
Hope the game I might be joining soon can find some way of sneaking one in.
>>47727698
I was going to make it so that air travel was exclusively the only way to get around. Or live. Forgotten Realms has 'Earth Nodes' which are islands of rock floating in the sky, tied to powerful magical nexi. I figured I'd just build a world that had a lot of those. The ground-based civilizations tried for centuries to develop flying magic and technology to explore them. When they finally got up there, something set off a cataclysm down below. All the surface-dwellers were wiped out. Anything that goes back down dies. Small groups of survivors slowly grew into communities, then nations on the scattered and shattered sky-islands. Re-inventing the flight technology, these nations now war over territory and limited resources.
Savage Worlds has a setting called "Sundered skies" which is very much this sort of thing. It's pretty good. I'd recommend it.
>>47730412
I will definitely have to look into that.
The big question will be: will my game contain steampunk or not?
Some people like it, some people absolutely hate it. I am undecided.
>>47732243
The base setting for Sundered Skies is more of a "magic-tech" sort of thing, though the Dwarves of the setting have a more steampunk feel to them.
>>47732865
That's good. I think I would honestly prefer more magitech to the brass-and-cogs crowd.
>>47727235
Airships never went out of style.
>>47727235
>>47727272
>>47727294
>>47727341
Getting eyestrain.
>>47727235
I think your idea wonderful & would love updates. I recently picked up the books in the pick 3 months ago to capture the airship theme and its gone over great. But i can tell my pc's don't really like the massive scope spelljammer provides & are also craving airships. If you are desperate for mechanic ideas i recommend giving the base book a read
>>47737291
It's really simple to turn Spelljammer into an airship game: Don't let them leave the atmosphere. This can be easily accomplished by setting them on an Air world.
>>47737317
Yeah we have been discussing doing something like that and starting a new. I like the air world idea , starting them on a planet with barely any land & having most of the cities float. Would certainly make them appreciate their ship & want to think about potential conflicts a bit more.
>>47737547
The first book of the Death Gate Cycle is pretty good for air world stuff.
>>47737647
funny enough i picked up that book for a dime at a garage sale a while ago. Ill move it up to the top of the to-read stack.
>>47737291
> Beating your mindflayer while wearing a boombox
>>47736635
Sorry, it's hard to get decent sized pics of M:TG art from that long ago.
>>47737291
I'll try to keep things updating as much as I can between work shifts. Like I said, I'll be creating a lot of stuff from scratch.
