Spelljammer Banestorm

[Delvidian]

I don't intend to do anything fancier than 2 or 3 ships in a combat, so I would handle as personal combat and vehicular combat a la Campaigns. I've GMed seaship-to-seaship combat and it was all about boarding and casting spells. Sticking to one-second turns makes ship movements largely irrelevant.

At the end of that adventure, the antagonists' cannons were no match for fireballs and the old Sun-Bolt-the-powder-keg trick (this was in Sahud, not Megalos).

[Delvidian]

Two more ideas came to me:

ILLITHIDS INTRODUCED SPELLJAMMING: In D&D Spelljammer, an NPC race of blue-skinned giants called the Arcane are the suppliers of helms. I'd prefer not to introduce another race into the mix. How about: The Illithids introduce helms into the spheres they intend to conquer. What better way to judge a foe than give it a new tool and see what the natives do with it? What better way to hone your strategy than to practice on one ship or small community at a time? What could be more arrogant than giving races an enormously powerful tool and not at all worrying it may backfire? Since the initial helms were introduced, the Elves reverse-engineered them and other races came up with their own versions, but Illithid helms are still the best.

EARTH IS COUNTER-EARTH: I've replaced Sol system planets with Olokun, Lorendil and Gabrook and set it up that the Banestorm has snatched Goblins and other natives of those planets to Yrth. But where did the Humans come from? It is messy that humans came from another crystal sphere but the other Yrth refugees came from elsewhere in the same system. But what if our Earth, say in the 1400s, is counter-earth, a world in an opposite orbit to ours, never seen because it is on the other side of the sun? It is a low to very low mana world, which makes it uninteresting and potentially dangerous to the other races, though the psionic Illithid wouldn't be as troubled with that.

[David Johnston2]

Originally Posted by Delvidian

Two more ideas came to me:

ILLITHIDS INTRODUCED SPELLJAMMING: In D&D Spelljammer, an NPC race of blue-skinned giants called the Arcane are the suppliers of helms. I'd prefer not to introduce another race into the mix. How about: The Illithids introduce helms into the spheres they intend to conquer. What better way to judge a foe than give it a new tool and see what the natives do with it? What better way to hone your strategy than to practice on one ship or small community at a time? What could be more arrogant than giving races an enormously powerful tool and not at all worrying it may backfire? Since the initial helms were introduced, the Elves reverse-engineered them and other races came up with their own versions, but Illithid helms are still the best.

Well I hesitate to use that kind of idiocy on anyone. Besides, Illithids don't use helms. They use the psi equivalent. Personally I'd use Elves developing them as a way to relocate from Yrth.

[Mgellis]

Originally Posted by Delvidian

GURPS Spaceships. Of course!

In the meantime, this image comes to mind: Luna elf wearing a white silk cape that turns into large mothlike wings of flying.

Either that, or the Moon Elves are mostly female and mostly look like they're teenagers and wear outfits that look disturbingly like sailor-type Japanese school uniforms. And all their familiars are talking cats.

Their mages tend to specialize in a few uber-spells, the names of which they tend to announce as they cast them, and some of which involve throwing cheap-looking jewelry at people.

[Delvidian]

Originally Posted by David Johnston2

Besides, Illithids don't use helms. They use the psi equivalent. Personally I'd use Elves developing them as a way to relocate from Yrth.

Illithids don't use helms but they have been known to use magic items. At least they do in the Dragon Magazine writeups (Ecology of...and Sunset Planet [I refuse to use any source material designed for PC Mind Flayers]). Magical helms would come from a subject race. As for the idiocy factor, one could argue the Tragic Flaw: Pride trope. The biggest argument against it is that all it provides is a Cool Reveal way way down the road. It could give a justification for how Illithids might be great at disabling magical helms in combat, but I could probably work that in without the backstory.

I'm much more interested in the Earth as counter-Yrth idea. I think that would not only be a fun reveal but also open up adventuring doors.

[Astromancer]

Originally Posted by Mgellis

Either that, or the Moon Elves are mostly female and mostly look like they're teenagers and wear outfits that look disturbingly like sailor-type Japanese school uniforms. And all their familiars are talking cats.

Their mages tend to specialize in a few uber-spells, the names of which they tend to announce as they cast them, and some of which involve throwing cheap-looking jewelry at people.

That's far too horrifying!

[Astromancer]

You should break out both Gurps Fantasy Folk and Gurps Aliens.

Take the Ellyon and the Leprecauns, move the Leprecauns more toward the Faylin* (the ancient fays the leprecauns are based on) and place them on an asteriod for Lilliputian wars ala GURPS Celtic Myth!

The asteriods can let you use all of the entrys in both books!




*Start by stipping out all the plastic patty grabage.

[Delvidian]

Now I have a reason to expand my collection. I've been leaning on Castle Falkenstein for my fey folk fluff (say that 10x).

One of the best things about taking the campaign into Yrthspace is the potential for many distinctive communities. As someone remarked earlier, asteroids = islands.

And Mgellis, I saw your post. Yes, as Astromancer says, horrifying!

[Astromancer]

You should let the Winged Folk (from GURPS Fantasy Folk) fly through space without need of special protection. It would make them very dangerous and versitile, but it wouldn't be unbalancing within and atmosphere.

[Delvidian]

I finally got the opportunity to launch Spelljammer Banestorm this weekend. I could see that the longstanding campaign with my kids (17 and 14) which took them across Ytarria was growing stale so I wanted to bring the campaign in an entirely new direction. I'm going to keep a log of sessions and worldbuilding notes as I go. Bear in mind that this is a cinematic campaign for teen players. I take this opportunity to introduce them to the best tropes of the genre (in other words, "steal from everywhere"). For extra fun, identify the different sources I shamelessly borrow from.

I start with the pivotal event. The characters come across an ornate ship's wheel in the lair of the Big Bad. The hub at the center of the wheel is made of a white stone. The spokes are made of two different kinds of wood studded with drops of blue stones and spiky red crystals. The style is Sahudese (GM Note: They don't call him the Heavenking for nothing. I have this wheel-helm being crafted of moonstone, liftwood from Gabrook, archwood from Loren'dil, water-gems from Olukun and fire-crystals from [I'll figure that out later]).

The party's mage analyzes the wheel and and learns that 1) it has quite a layering of enchantments on it and 2) its purpose is to boost movement of a sailing vessel.

They happen to have an Ally from Araterre with a sailing ship nearby (they attended his wedding, even), so they install the wheel and take the ship onto the open sea. The look on my son's face as the ship lifted out of the water and took to the air was priceless! In the same cache as the wheel was an enchanted astrolabe. After flying around all day, with the mage pumping extra FP into the ship's captain (GM Note: I decided that anyone with the appropriate Shiphandling can use a helm) darkness falls and the astrolabe projects an image of the near solar system in the air above it. Again, his mouth drops open. At the urging of the captain, they head to the moon, learning the properties of the ship -- the extents of the gravity and air bubble, the incredible speed of the ship once it is far enough away from Yrth -- along the way.

Reaching the moon, they enjoy the lower gravity and raising fleeting clouds on the seas of dust in the thin atmosphere. They notice that many of the craters have holes in the bottom of them, and from the bottom of some of them emanates a dim glow. They bring the ship -- the S.S. Domenique -- down into one of these tubes and descend 300 yards to the bottom. Along the way, the gravity raises from 1/5 normal to 1/2 normal. The source of the glow is luminescent mushrooms lining the walls of the shaft. At the bottom they find a strange blocky craft of brassy pipes and platforms with a steam boiler and a wheel of metal oars at the top. Looking closer they can see Dwarvish runes engraved on the metal oars (GM Note: The "oars" are ethereal propellers. I didn't like the original Spelljammer concept of a forge drive so I've made my Dwarves with steampunk magic-tech). Many of the struts at ground level have clamps that look like they were made to hold other components. Enough moon dust covers the Dwarvish ether-copter to tell them it hasn't moved in a while. Footprints and parallel lines lead away from the craft and down a horizontal passage. They follow the tracks down a large passage. Eventually they lose the tracks but begin to find objects. The first is a Dwarven helmet with a strange cloth nose and mouth guard. Then they find a magic beard ring (repels food). At this point, they hear a weird sighing and lowing so they rush into a landscape of waist-high mushrooms. After discovering the nature of shriekers (GM Note: Which I had more fun portraying as moo-ers and wheezers) and violet fungi (GM Note: Not much of a challenge if you're well armored), they reach the mouth of a huge cavern. [end of episode 1]