Designing a Squad Insertion, Command And Support Aiborne Vehicle (SICASAV)

[Kromm]

I should add that if the vehicle is handled entirely by NPCs so that the PCs can't abuse it or take it apart or modify it, it's actually just a plot device that justifies adventures on which the PCs can call upon their Patron far from that Patron's home base. That's something else entirely! At that point, the vehicle's design details aren't important. In fact, it's actually better to fudge it than to lock in its capabilities . . . leave everything a little vague, a bit like Star Trek tech that doesn't work when that would annoyingly short-circuit the plot.

And if you do that, ask whether a vehicle is even necessary. A base safely behind friendly lines might do the trick if the magic and/or tech is sufficiently advanced. From there, the heroes can be teleported into adventures, and the massive (and vaguely specified) resources back home can be distributed, providing intelligence, "hacking," and long-range fire support without being concentrated in a single point of failure. That's the "military first-person shooter" model: as the heroes make mission progress, new "spawn points" and resource drops unlock, and they have greater and greater access to air strikes and similar devastation . . . but the vehicles that drop people, gear, and bombs into the mission area are just props.