Spelljammer Banestorm

[Tyneras]

Originally Posted by Delvidian

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).

I think I'm going to steal this idea. Making the Spelljammer Dwarves a bit more like the Dwemer from the Elder Scrolls appeals to me.

[Astromancer]

Reread A Princess of Mars and The Door to Saturn. Both texts are on the webs somewhere and the ideas are easily used in the game you've got.

Note: Door to Saturn is a short story in the collection I've Urled. The story is on the nets.

[AOTA]

Great stuff. I ran a GURPS Spelljammer game years ago after my GURPS Harn game got stale. Love how you introduced them to the Spelljammer life.

[Delvidian]

Tyneras, I don't know the Elder Scrolls. My inspiration came from GURPS Castle Falkenstein. More about dwarf-tech: The ether-copter is a lander. Since I don’t have room for gnomes nor giant space hamsters in my campaign, I’m turning the gnomish paddlewheeler into a steam-powered dwarven mothership. I’ll still have asteroids carved into dwarven busts – that imagery is too cool to resist -- but they’ll be habitats not ships.

I’ve decided that a recurring theme in my campaign is that the space-races are much more progressive and vibrant than their hidebound, depressing Yrthian counterparts. The dwarves are boisterous steampunk gadgeteers who mine asteroids and manufacture grand, complicated devices. The elves are dauntless explorers who covet their freedom as they do the secrets of their beautiful living ships. The goblins – they who pay homage to Bozdaag – are lusty pirates struggling to outdo each other in loot and bravado. The humans are equally enigmatic. How have the Sahudese managed to hide the secret of spaceflight from the great Megalan empire for centuries? And where did the humans come from? The other races are either native to Yrth or come from Loren’dil, Gabrook or Olokun, planets that orbit the same sun. But the Human homeworld isn’t on any map. [Spoiler: they are from counter-Yrth, a hazardous very low mana planet in exactly the opposite orbit on the other side of the sun].

Astromancer, I read several of the John Carter novels last year off the Project Gutenberg site. Between those and my Space 1999 library I feel I've got Gabrook covered. I just need to file off some serial numbers. :-) I haven't read the Door to Saturn, but will give it a look.

Bob, if you have any tips/threads/links, do share!

[Astromancer]

Originally Posted by Astromancer

Reread A Princess of Mars and The Door to Saturn. Both texts are on the webs somewhere and the ideas are easily used in the game you've got.

Note: Door to Saturn is a short story in the collection I've Urled. The story is on the nets.

Here is the text of The Door to Saturn. I think you'll enjoy it. And it will inspire you. Besides, its funny.

[Delvidian]

An avalanche of basidironds! I love it. Fun story, and most appropriate, since the Big Bad they scored the helm from, whose names include Marid the Ascended One, Marid Uirnath ("who will be eternal"), Marid Raum Tulnan ("stormbringer"), Marid Ennyn Orthor ("master of gates") specializes in gate magic. He will secretly exploit their newfound spelljamming capabilities to place new gates where they touch down via a spy in their midst. So the gate, as well as the fungi, are rather appropriate. I won't go into the details of how he is able to place gates with such steep distance penalties except (1. His Infinite Temple is a very high mana zone aspected to gate magic and 2. He has managed to gain himself hundreds of followers among the desert peoples who lend FP to his casting ceremonies).

In the next session the players will go up against stealthy myconids and deathcaps in an enormous cavern of gravity-bending moonstone.

Eventually, I'm going to have to make use of the "message from the god" shtick. It is classic.