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View Full Version : 4E Space Pirates: "Yo ho ho and a bottle of synthahol!"



Leliel
2008-09-10, 05:00 PM
Let's face it: Who dosen't want to be a magic-sligning pirate?

And who hasn't wanted to have heroic fantasy in space?

Just now, I asked myself both those questions at once, and I thought "Why not both?"

So, players are members of a space-faring civillization which has not forgotten the ways of magic, who decide the calm, boring life of a trader isn't for them, and they become intergalatic privateers.

So, what do you think of this idea?

And yes, I have heard of Spelljammer. This game is for a more "Science Fiction-y" spin on it.

Tengu_temp
2008-09-10, 05:02 PM
Insult duels are a must.

TheThan
2008-09-10, 05:05 PM
Psionics is the default “sci-fi magic” so you might as well just use that.

Personally I’d use D20 modern-future with the psionic FX powers and a healthy dose of fantasy monsters.

and yes Insult Duels are a must

Crow
2008-09-10, 05:06 PM
Insult duels are a must.

Ooh, details please =)

Tengu_temp
2008-09-10, 05:07 PM
There are no psionics in 4e, so far.


Ooh, details please =)

No mechanics exist for it. Just a battle of wits. If this was Exalted, we could use Social Combat.

Arbitrarity
2008-09-10, 05:14 PM
You fight like a dairy farmer!

Yakk
2008-09-10, 05:27 PM
Know subdual damage? Morale damage.

Basic Insult:
Ranged 10
Cha vs Will
Hit: 1d8+Int damage

chiasaur11
2008-09-10, 05:36 PM
You fight like a dairy farmer!

How appropriate. You fight like a cow!

SurlySeraph
2008-09-10, 05:42 PM
As long as you don't try to make this excessively serious or GRIMDARK, it will be awesome. But then, if you're thinking about magical space pirates, you probably weren't thinking GRIMDARK anyway.

Nerd-o-rama
2008-09-10, 05:54 PM
I think it's great, although you're going to want to fluff/BS a reason why melee combat is predominant in the setting, since 4e is somewhat biased toward that for Martial characters.

Let's see...4e Eladrin could have a highly advanced arcanotechnological background and be masters of teleporter/transporter/etc. 4e Elves would favor fast attack vessels, ambushes, and Old School Dogfighting (they'd probably make the most piratey pirates, other than gobliniods perhaps). Dragonborn are already Klingons, so there you go on that one.

I like it.

Tengu_temp
2008-09-10, 05:58 PM
I think it's great, although you're going to want to fluff/BS a reason why melee combat is predominant in the setting, since 4e is somewhat biased toward that for Martial characters.


In Fading Suns, they use melee weapons on ships primarily because a misfire might result in hitting some vulnerable hydraulics or, even worse, making a hole in the hull. Firing a gun on most ships is illegal and results in taking a long walk outside. Without a space suit.

Moff Chumley
2008-09-10, 06:01 PM
This idea recieves the Chumley Stamp of Approval. You can take it to the bank. (Unlike Tengu's, which everyone knows is worthless.) :smalltongue:

Graymayre
2008-09-10, 06:02 PM
How appropriate. You fight like a cow!

You are an amazing duelist, I can barely keep up with you! There is just one problem, *switches sword to other hand* I'm not left-handed!

Tengu_temp
2008-09-10, 06:03 PM
This idea recieves the Chumley Stamp of Approval. You can take it to the bank. (Unlike Tengu's, which everyone knows is worthless.) :smalltongue:

When you find a weird picture in your bed one day, you will know who wants to take your life. Just a warning.

Tadanori Oyama
2008-09-10, 06:05 PM
Sounds awesome to me. I'd go all out with the theme, tongue in cheek style.

Go Outlaw Star and replace wands with guns that fire encounter spells.

For magic switch over to the Xenogears/saga trickery: ether! Bend the rules of reality by taping into higher reality and other dimensions, and it really, really works.

chiasaur11
2008-09-10, 06:14 PM
You are an amazing duelist, I can barely keep up with you! There is just one problem, *switches sword to other hand* I'm not left-handed!

That would probably work better if you hadn't just shifted the sword to your...left...hand.

Okay then.

Tadanori Oyama
2008-09-10, 06:16 PM
That would probably work better if you hadn't just shifted the sword to your...left...hand.

Okay then.

I've always wanted to reply to that by changing my own sword to my left hand a retorting, "Ah, but I am!". But I've never gotten the chance. *sigh*

black dragoon
2008-09-10, 06:17 PM
Not a supporter of 4E but. I give you credit you may even peak my interest.


I'll be watching.:smallamused:

By the Way.
*HA! I AM LEFT HANDED!*

Fri
2008-09-10, 06:35 PM
This idea recieves the Chumley Stamp of Approval. You can take it to the bank. (Unlike Tengu's, which everyone knows is worthless.) :smalltongue:

But... but...

that means my collection is worthless?

Nooo!!!!

Anyway, tongue-in-cheek space adventure is always good. Especially Magical Pirate IN SPACE.

Spaceship didn't work that way? Magic. There's no sound in space? Magic. IF something is in your way, just wave your hand and say that it's magic.

So, do you want to continue this rambling into full fledged homebrew setting? Or it's just an idea?

Lord Tataraus
2008-09-10, 06:55 PM
Ha, this is one of my reserve campaign ideas that I'll probably never use but have the basic framework for if I feel like. Of course, it is 3.5/Pathfinder, not 4e.

black dragoon
2008-09-10, 07:28 PM
Has been a conversion system published yet? If so just send him the stuff and he can switch it over.

Oracle_Hunter
2008-09-10, 07:56 PM
Go Outlaw Star and replace wands with guns that fire encounter spells.

Man, 4e really could model an Outlaw Star-style universe pretty well.

So, make Wizards = Magitek operatives. Magic Guns for attacks, but specific magitek for Cantrips (something wrist mounted), and for Utility powers. Arcane components are fuel for Magitek devices.

Warlocks are totally Tao Pirates. That just works.

Convert Hand Crossbows to auto-pistols, and all other bows into Rifles.

Um... you may have to nuke clerics, since their "hit & heal" abilities just don't make sense IN SPACE. I guess you can have Space Gods, but they kind of clash with the Tao Pirates. Oh well, Warlords can be sufficiently awesome already.

The races can just be like they are... races. Eladrin will be the remnants of the Magitek Race and have an in-built ability to teleport short distances. Everyone else is just what they look like. Um... don't worry about genetics - everyone breeds with humans because of "life spores" and because humans are promiscuous.

I think that's about everything. I don't know how you'll do ship-to-ship combat, but if you go with Outlaw Star's patented "ships with arms" then you can just use standard combat rules.

It sounds like a blast :smallbiggrin:

TheThan
2008-09-10, 08:06 PM
Man, 4e really could model an Outlaw Star-style universe pretty well.

So, make Wizards = Magitek operatives. Magic Guns for attacks, but specific magitek for Cantrips (something wrist mounted), and for Utility powers. Arcane components are fuel for Magitek devices.

Warlocks are totally Tao Pirates. That just works.

Convert Hand Crossbows to auto-pistols, and all other bows into Rifles.

Um... you may have to nuke clerics, since their "hit & heal" abilities just don't make sense IN SPACE. I guess you can have Space Gods, but they kind of clash with the Tao Pirates. Oh well, Warlords can be sufficiently awesome already.

The races can just be like they are... races. Eladrin will be the remnants of the Magitek Race and have an in-built ability to teleport short distances. Everyone else is just what they look like. Um... don't worry about genetics - everyone breeds with humans because of "life spores" and because humans are promiscuous.

I think that's about everything. I don't know how you'll do ship-to-ship combat, but if you go with Outlaw Star's patented "ships with arms" then you can just use standard combat rules.

It sounds like a blast :smallbiggrin:



what about the casters? those were the best parts of Outlaw star.

Oracle_Hunter
2008-09-10, 08:16 PM
what about the casters? those were the best parts of Outlaw star.

Wizards. Technically it would be the "wand" specialists, but a Caster is what they'd use for Encounters and Dailies - and maybe some utilities. I know we all liked Gene being able to whip it out for all Deus Ex Machina situations, but we have to work with the mechanics we have.

Way I see it, Wizards are scholar-adventurers of the Lost Eladrin Civilization. Eladrins developed Caster Tech for combat purposes, but had other devices which could only be operated via complicated procedures (Rituals). Nowadays, only Wizards can figure out how to use Casters properly, since they require such delicate fine tuning to even fire.

This means that Wizards are far more pack-rat-y but I think they'll have fun carrying around tons of crap. Plus, I would allow them to "recharge" spent caster rounds with Aether Batteries, which allows them to charge up Encounters quickly and Dailies more slowly.

You might allow Wizards to use captured Caster Shells, but say that recharging new shells requires lots of time and effort (say, like when they gain a level).

EDIT:
More detailed fluff
Arcanoes (AKA wizards) study the lost magitek of Arcana, the secret Eladrin homeworld that was supposedly destroyed in a terrible war in the distant past. It takes years of practice to even understand the simplest Arcana combat technology, the Caster, but these seekers of lost tech claim it worth the trouble.

Casters were once the primary weapon of the Arcanaian League, and came in three main forms:
- The Gun (wand): the weapon used by front-line Arcanian soldiers, it is used much like traditional firearms, but through lack of maintenance and lost parts, they cannot be successfully used except by Arcanoes who know how to baby these tools of destruction.

- The Staff (staff): most commonly used by officers among the Arcanian legions, the staff projects a weak defensive field that can be strengthened temporarily through the expenditure of its internal battery. A complicated array of crystals and wires at the top of each staff can be used to create offensive effects, but their tuning is most complicated.

- The Gauntlets (orbs): found only on the Master-Commanders of the Arcanian forces, the Gauntlets are sensitive manipulators of the universal force that drives all magitek. An Arcanian Master-Commander was said to be able to cripple opposing forces merely though force of will. Sadly, few of these Master Gauntlets remain, so most Arcanoes have patched together training units to achieve some amount of manipulation which they can use to create certain limited effects.

The one unifying feature of these three core pieces of Arcanian magitek was the Caster Shell. It is a shell, like you would have for a regular gun, but it is designed to be filled with a specific blend of mystic energies that, when properly channeled, can produce dramatic effects. Each Caster Shell holds a different blend of energy that, when used with a well-maintained Arcanian Caster, could produce a deadly bolt of lightning, or an enormous blast of fire. Unfortunately, few of these Caster Shells remained intact, and far fewer Casters are anything remotely like "well-maintained."

However, Arcanoes have discovered a way to tune their favorite Casters to accept a few types of Caster Shells without fuss, and a way to recharge those Caster Shells using Aether Converters. The process can be slow and finicky, but a dedicated Arcano can learn to use a dozen or so shells in a given Caster given enough time and experience.

Every Arcano starts out with his chosen Caster, which, in addition to the small collection of Caster Shells he has in his possession, can create two minor effects (At Wills) by drawing on the ambient Aether, instead of Caster Shells. Humans, for whatever reason, seem to take to this kind of monkeying around particularly well, so Human-owned Casters can create three of these effects.

In addition to the Caster, Arcanoes generally carry around an Arcanian Effector Disk. These were a common household tool on Arcana that could be used for a wide variety of tasks - from cooking to entertainment. Though versatile, they lack the power of other Arcanian devices and are never more than a sideshow for serious researchers. That said, no Arcano is ever without his Disk, since they can prove surprisingly useful for an adventuring scholar! Most are controlled via a Control Patch; a self-adhesive device that transmits specific nerve impulses to the control unit of the Disk. The risk of biofeedback prevents the use of Control Patches with most Arcanian devices, but the Disk is of so little power that, at worst, you may suffer a hangover from prolonged use.

The prime goal of an Arcano is to learn to use the Great Machines of the Arcanian League (Rituals). These are a series of devices that have been discovered and cataloged by intrepid Arcanoes that comprise the remaining power of Arcana. They range from handheld devices that can implant voice messages into any surface to a galaxy-spanning portal network. Learning how to manipulate one of these Great Machines is an intensive process that requires rigorous study and dangerous trial-and-error. While no two of these devices operate in exactly the same fashion, a skilled Arcano can usually make the subtle corrections necessary to adapt the common procedure used for one device to another of the same class.

Increasingly popular these days are Idiotguides (Ritual Scrolls), a type of portable expert system that can be used to diagnose and operate a single Great Machine, even in the hands of a layman. These products of modern times are highly unstable, and so they are seldom good for more than a single use - and those designed for the most complicated Machines often require substantial knowledge on the part of the user to work correctly.

*phew* Well, I'm satisfied with my Wizard refluff. How about y'all? :smallbiggrin:

black dragoon
2008-09-10, 08:41 PM
I was working on a caster system for 3.5 but due to time constraints and my current project I never finished it. Anyway to just convert that?

DarknessLord
2008-09-10, 08:56 PM
I love this idea, a campaign like this needs to be run on these forums!

Space fantasy is always fun! And I love outlaw star, so that rocks as well!

Oracle_Hunter
2008-09-10, 09:08 PM
I love this idea, a campaign like this needs to be run on these forums!

Space fantasy is always fun! And I love outlaw star, so that rocks as well!

Shoot, now I'm excited about fluffing out an Outlaw Star-esque system using 4e rules. Do I look like I have that kind of time?

...wait, don't answer that :smalltongue:

So, I think you may be able to do Crystal Dragon Jesus thing for Clerics. There is a big, neutral being out there (let's call it the Winslow :smallbiggrin:) that has been the source of worship since the start of time. The Winslow doesn't do anything, nor does it respond to threats or attacks, but by undergoing certain rituals connected to it, you can channel its innate powers. How you use those powers depends on the philosophy (religion) whose rituals you used, but beyond the cultural trappings, all beings using Divine powers get their strength from The Winslow.

This is in contrast to the Three Powers that the Warlocks pledge themselves to; those powers can and do communicate with their Warlocks, but the Warlocks are seldom happy to hear from them :smallamused:

EDIT:
What I have fluffed so far

- Fighters, Rogues, Rangers, Warlords: need no fluffing
- Melee Weapons: need no fluffling
- Ranged Weapons: convert to slug-throwers
- Clerics, Paladins: Followers of the Winslow in His many aspects
- Wizards: Arcanoes, adventuresome scholars of lost magitek
- Warlocks: Mystics aligned with alien and frightening powers AKA Tao Pirates
- Races: Alien races, but with humans either melding (Half-Elves) or being sublimated (Tieflings & everyone else). Elves & Eladrin are distinct races with no (known) common ancestor.
- Magic Items: Magitek created either by the Arcanians, Tao Pirates, or Followers of the Winslow.

To be Converted

- Spaceship Combat: maybe just Grappler Ships for each PC, and then fight it out on a grid because 3-D combat is hard


Anything else?

DarknessLord
2008-09-10, 09:45 PM
Well, actually the outlaw star comment was more in regards to how much it was being used as a reference rather then "Oooh! We also need to do it this way!" But hey, that works too...

I think the Eladrin would make great Bio-androids, greater skill and intelligence, knowledge bonus about magic and history. Heck I think they'd be almost perfect for it.

Fri
2008-09-10, 10:10 PM
To be Converted

- Spaceship Combat: maybe just Grappler Ships for each PC, and then fight it out on a grid because 3-D combat is hard

Anything else?

Or, if someone asked 'why do space ship fight in 2d grid' we can answer "It's Magic!"

black dragoon
2008-09-10, 10:16 PM
The answer to everything! It's like the what it tastes like question.

Oracle_Hunter
2008-09-10, 10:17 PM
Or, if someone asked 'why do space ship fight in 2d grid' we can answer "It's Magic!"

Or "we fight in a 2 dimensional space (http://www.abhnation.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=219&Itemid=216)" :smalltongue:

black dragoon
2008-09-10, 10:23 PM
Flatland? Oh dear.

Oracle_Hunter
2008-09-10, 10:26 PM
Flatland? Oh dear.

Flatland... IN SPACE!

DarknessLord
2008-09-10, 10:28 PM
Personally, I think the DMG sets up 3d combat fairly nicely, if you wanna run it that way, but 2-d works just as well.

I say let it depend on the dm.

black dragoon
2008-09-10, 10:28 PM
Oh Nos!:smalleek: not the circles!

DarknessLord
2008-09-10, 10:31 PM
Flatland... IN SPACE (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ptitlekt6mtovm4vne?from=Main.INSPACE)!

Fixed, don't let your sig down! XD

Oracle_Hunter
2008-09-10, 10:33 PM
Fixed, don't let your sig down! XD

Oh, thank god. TV Tropes got hacked awhile a go, and it was still down when I last checked.

Do you know what link-a-holic withdrawal is like? :smalleek:

black dragoon
2008-09-10, 10:34 PM
No idea but yeah we shall have vengeance upon the Blasphemer! :smallfurious: