RSS
When the cavalry has to arrive to save the heroes, make sure to have some justification set up earlier. Basically, cover your bases by always setting up some believable justification for help to arrive. It can be as simple as making sure someone back in the village knows that they're riding out to flush out the goblin caves, and they can raise some sort of alarm if they seem to be taking too long. If the heroes never need it, that's fine, you don't have to use it. But if they do need help and you have nothing planned but save them anyway, then it looks like a deus ex machina.
Well, maybe it'll look like that anyway, but at least it'll be a believable one.
And you just know that the one time you fail to set up a justification is when they'll really need help.
Commentary by Keybounce (who has not seen the movie)
[Keybounce's comments will appear here when received.]
Commentary by memnarch (who has not seen the movie)
Aha! There's the rescue! I bet we'll be hearing from Princess in the next week or two; there's no way a message of this attack wasn't sent as a follow-up. I bet a number of movie-goers could see this coming too, presuming the scene in that previous comic was a little more explicit about the Resistance being contacted. Seems to be working well as a distraction at least as the trio here feels comfortable enough to put their arms down.
Those X-wings must be flying really fast to be pulling water up like that. I'm only a little surprised there are no vapor cones though; that would have covered up a lot of the X-wing details which are more important in a movie. Not to mention the relative difficulty in making the effect consistent on all of the different surfaces. X-wings look really neat and the space-fantasy metals would be strong enough, but I wouldn't call them aerodynamic.
Good thing for the First Order those TIE fighters are still around for a proper aerial fight; hand blasters don't seem to do much against larger vehicles.
Transcript
GM: The troopers are distracted by something out over the lake.
Trooper: We have incoming at two-eight-point-six! Move! Dispatch! Move! Scramble all squads!
GM: Vast frothing funnels of water are being drawn into the air by several objects approaching rapidly.
[SFX]: fssshhh...
Finn: I think you’re about to get your twenty-five drinks.
Chewbacca: A welcome diversion. I stay alert for any opportunity to decamp from our custody.
Zeppo: Yeah! And let’s look for a chance to escape, too!
GM: It’s X-wings flying low, draughting wakes of spray behind them.
[SFX]: Fssshhh!!!
Finn: The Resistance!
Chewbacca: How did they know we needed help?
Zeppo: News of a bar running out of drinks travels fast.