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View Full Version : DM Help Privateer Action on the High....Skies?



RFLS
2015-01-23, 01:08 AM
First - if you're one of my players, go away. You know who you are.

Could do with a bit of advice. I'll have to lead up to the question a bit, so bear with me. I'm running a Pathfinder game currently, and we had our first session this week. The basic setup is simple - the players have an airship, and run a courier/escort service (no, not that kind of escort). The first session opened with them delivering spices to a merchant, and the merchant stiffing them out of their payment. After some rather heated haggling, they settled on a deal - he'd give them part of their payment (and was still insisting that the spices were bad) if they'd track down a thief that had stolen some power armor and return both the thief and the armor to the merchant. The party stepped through this to the letter - tracked the thief down, beat his gang up, and took the thief and armor.

On the way, a representative of a Tetsuhige Industries (economic giant, focused on military and industrial machinery) intercepted them. He offered them one-and-a-half of their promised payment if they turned the armor and thief over to him, instead. Upon inspection, the armor did have the Tetsuhige Industries logo stamped onto it, so they agreed. He also offered them a job - his company needed to get some supplies to one of their distant mining colonies, and were a bit shorthanded on ships right now, so he wanted them to take a shipment there. The players accepted this, too, which ended the session.

Outside player knowledge, Tetsuhige Industries is headed by (you guessed it) the Tetsuhige clan, a large family of dwarves. Recently, the favored son (Hayato) split from the family for -reasons-, and has since made it his goal in life to drive Tetsuhige Industries into the ground. As such, he's ordered his (rather formidable) private army/navy to intercept any and all goods/supplies shipped by Tetsuhige. Knowing this, Tetsuhige has been trying to get as much as they can shipped via third party, with mixed results (there are a few moles inside the company).

What this means for the players is that they're going to get hit en route to the mining colony. The current plan is for a small airship to intercept them, drop what amounts to a squad of paratroopers on their decks with support from a few arbalesters (small, flying crossbow construct) as a distraction. Meanwhile, a small barge will come up from below and behind to steal the Tetsuhige shipment. Hayato's not dumb; he's not going to order wholesale slaughter of crews, so the paratroopers are under orders to bail as soon as they get the word that the shipment's out. As far as I can tell, this leaves the following options:


The players wipe out the paratroopers and the barge. No problems.
The players wipe out just the paratroopers. The supplies are stolen.
The players don't wipe the paratroopers or the barge. The supplies are stolen.
The players get wrecked by the paratroopers.


The first three I have planned responses for. However, I'm uncertain what to do if the players lose. I'm obviously unwilling to wipe the party, so solutions that don't involve that would be appreciated. The best that I've got is that their airship is towed to one of Hayato's bases, where they're interrogated/offered a deal/whatever, but I really can't see a clear solution.

Also, what would the Playground recommend if they manage to capture one of the paratroopers?

Thoughts?

Dimers
2015-01-23, 01:55 AM
The players wipe out the paratroopers and the barge. No problems.
The players wipe out just the paratroopers. The supplies are stolen.
The players don't wipe the paratroopers or the barge. The supplies are stolen.
The players get wrecked by the paratroopers.


The first three I have planned responses for. However, I'm uncertain what to do if the players lose. I'm obviously unwilling to wipe the party, so solutions that don't involve that would be appreciated. The best that I've got is that their airship is towed to one of Hayato's bases, where they're interrogated/offered a deal/whatever, but I really can't see a clear solution.

That sounds like a clear solution to me. It's what I would've suggested. I mean, the players presumably don't treat any involved party as if they're "the good guys" this early on -- why not switch sides to Hayato? If his minions can kick their butts he's clearly the best general, right? ... I would consider option 4 something to avoid because they've already been through a couple reversals, but if it happens, you seem to be ready for it.


Also, what would the Playground recommend if they manage to capture one of the paratroopers?

Depends incredibly on Hayato's leadership style, which may or may not depend on his cultural background. Holding the paratrooper hostage will mean nothing to Hayato's forces if he's considered a disposable mook. But at the other end of the spectrum, depending on whether the PCs treat the trooper respectfully, Hayato's lieutenants might have the attitude "we must take all precautions to keep our ally safe!" or "you wretches, you will burn in the hottest hells for your crimes!"

Storm_Of_Snow
2015-01-23, 08:20 AM
The basic setup is simple - the players have an airship, and run a courier/escort service (no, not that kind of escort).

Remember, Firefly had Inara as a part of the crew, and some places/social groups may not look down on that sort of profession as much as other do. :smallamused:

There's also option 2.1 - the party damage or destroy the barge so that it can't retrieve the supplies, but the paratroopers take control.

For option 4: What options do the players have in general if the airship suffers catastrophic damage? Are there parachutes, or life-balloons, or some other way of getting off in a hurry?

If the airships aren't common, or are expensive, it would almost certainly be seized and the paratroopers effectively form a prize crew to pilot it back to a facility that can handle it, or it's towed there by the barge. Heck, it could be taken there anyway, just so that they have enough time to make sure anything they want removed is taken off.

So the party could maybe abandon ship, then have to follow and assault the docks to retrieve their airship and all of the rest of their belongings, and also release any party/crew members who didn't manage to get off in time.

For a captured paratrooper, you'll have to decide on who he or she is. Are they very loyal, just getting paid, or only there because something's being held over them? Corporate soldier or a hired sword? Maybe they'll try and appeal to the party's sense of honour/justice/whatever, using some of the reasons (or parts of them) why Hayato's trying to bring down his family (either those that they know, or those they've been told), or promise them even more money, or something of value if they deliver it to Hayato instead.

Maybe there'll be a rescue attempt, or maybe they've got a backup plan involving some way of taking control of the airship anyway, they just need time to do it.