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Episode 1976: Falcon Punch It!

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Monster deaths should be dramatic - at least in games where the heroes aren't actually just kicking in dungeon doors and killing monsters repeatedly every session. If the adventurers are in an epic encounter with a significant monster, then the moment when they prevail and the monster expires is a major story point, and so should be treated with some narrative niceties.

Describe the monster's death throes, the roars of agony, the gouts of blood spilling from its wounds, the convulsions of death that shudder its spent body, the slam as the heavy mass of flesh hits the ground. Give the players time to catch their breaths and slowly realise that the fight is finally over, as the monster exhales its last.

The death scene should be as epic as the fight that preceded it, as a general rule.

Rejected strip title: Non-Flying Spaghettified Monster

Commentary by memnarch (who has not seen the movie)

Okay, so it definitely looks like this hyperdrive modulator doesn't mind obstacles being in the way. Luckily for the party, rathtar tentacle monsters are much more squishy than junky spaceships. And that the Falcon was pointed at the exit. And that there weren't any other ships in the way outside the hangar. And no other immediate side-effects for the first hyperdrive use with the new modulator.

Looking back on the whole scene from the last week, I actually assumed somewhere that Chewbacca had been told that the experimental modulator was installed. Ben is very good at separating player/character knowledge. And if hyperdrives are well-known to not function in situations like this, Ben isn't going to say anything OOC that would indicate otherwise. Heck, he's been active in trying to keep it separate for the others both IC and OOC!

Movie-wise, I'm wondering if the Millennium Falcon actually flew out of the hangar before making the hyperspace jump. The forcefields that hold the air in or sudden acceleration out of the hangar could have left the rathtar behind, then the ship could jump like normal. Sure, it could be more cinematic if the jump occurred from inside, but there's also a good probability that this experimental hyperdrive is the new Orb of Phanastacoria equivalent. That would be a lot of changes to speculate about if true, like why was Rey digging around in a dead star destroyer in the first place?

Commentary by Keybounce (who has not seen the movie)

"Klik"

Even though we were told not to turn on the hyperdrive without a clear path, Whatever-his-name-in-this-strip does exactly that. He's commented on the Falcon having the experimental hyperdrive modulator. He's no fool. He might play the fool, but remember, he was able to pronounce Kanjiklub correctly, along with other clues, this shows that he's been pretending to be dumb.

And now? He knows what the hyperdrive does, and uses it. Instead of being destroyed by objects, it stretches time and space to weave through the objects.

That is a huge game changer for ship mobility. If planets and stars are no longer obstacles, then navigation becomes really, really cheap and easy. People who are trained in hyperspace navigation are no longer needed, and those expensive classes, all those years of training, you'll never pay off the student debt moving foward. No, the economic forces will work to suppress this.

So... our heroes, our protagonists, what are they? Instead of religious fanatics trying to overthrow a government that wind up killing hundreds of thousands of workers for no reason other than being stationed on a ship as their job, they are lawbreakers and scavengers trying to overturn the stable order and cause massive economic damage all to... avoid the consequences of what they've done?

Once you start to say "Protagonist does not equal good guy", what do you have? Arguably, Rey is just a scavenger, hasn't done anything seriously wrong, while Han/Yanni is arguably scum of the Galaxy. And you've got a military person on deep infiltration who has... deeply infiltrated.

Meanwhile, the people who represent the government, the law and order? Weren't they last seen destroying government computers and equipment because they didn't like their boss?

Transcript

GM: Guavian gang members arrive and start shooting at the Falcon.
[SFX]: Pow! Pow! Pow!
[SFX]: glurp! cthuul! {the rathtar is still wrapped over on the cockpit}
Yanni: Where’s the hyperdrive?
Rey: It’s over there, but it’s not going to help. We need—
[SFX]: klik {Yanni hits a control}
[SFX]: Slurp! Chew!
[SFX]: Spletch!
GM: Time stretches like spaghetti as the Falcon accelerates, splaying oozy rathtar innards across the viewport.
Rathtar: Arrrghhh!!! Pain!!!
[SFX]: squelk... sliiime...
Rathtar: Where have you come frooo—?!
[SFX]: Woooosh! {the Falcon jumps to lightspeed}
Rey: We all wonder that whenever Yanni does something.


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Published: Tuesday, 30 March, 2021; 02:11:08 PDT.
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