d20 Devil's Workshop Death from Above of Pulp Destruction.pdf
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HISTORY
While the word zeppelin is often used to refer
to any aircraft that relies on lighter than air
gasses to stay aloft, but the terms was
originally a brand name used by the
Zeppelin Company. In modern it has
become generalized to refer to all
rigid airships, whose shapes are
determined by a skeleton of
aluminum tubes, as opposed
to a non-rigid airship
(
blimps
), which retain their
shape due to internal air
pressure.
LPJ9882
The predecessor to the airship is the
balloon. While toys and scientific
models demonstrated the principles
of the hot air balloon existed since
the 3rd century CE, the first known
manned balloon flight was made
by Josef and Etienne Montgolfier
in 1783. Later that year Professor
Jacques Charles flew the first
balloon using lighter than air gas.
Lighter than air gasses, particularly
hydrogen, become the standard
of ballooning for over a century,
and that standard carried over to
powered airships.
The first airships were simply
balloons with motors attached. Early
experiments used steam-powered
and even human powered engines,
but these were too inefficient to be
an effective mode of transportation.
In 1896, an engineer named David
Death from Above
of Pulp Destruction
Death from Above
of Pulp Destruction
Death from Above
of Pulp Destruction
Requires the use of the d20 Modern Roleplaying Game, published by Wizards of the Coast, Inc.
2
DEATH FROM ABOVE OF PULP DESTRUCTION
Shwarz made his first flight in the rigid airship he designed.
Shwarz passed away not long afterwards, but his widow sold
the ships designs to another airship pioneer, the man who
would usher in the gold age of airships, Count Ferdinand von
Zeppelin.
Airships can also be scenes of great drama, as the airship the
characters are flying must fend off attack from enemy raiders,
or the characters must race through a raging storm.
Finally airships are set apart from most other vehicle, with
possible exception of trains, by their sheer enormity. Between
crews and passengers, a large airship can have over a hundred
NPCs on board. And if the bridge, living quarters, and cargo
bays are not enough locations to set your adventures, you
can always take the action to the gangplanks that run within
massive gasbags holding the mighty airships aloft.
Von Zeppelin experienced major setbacks with his first two
zeppelins, the LZ1 and LZ2, but the LZ3 proved to be a
major commercial success, and was later purchased by the
German military.
When World War I broke out, many in the German mili-
tary thought the zeppelin was the perfect weapon to strike
at Britain, flying over their powerful navy. As it turned out
zeppelins bombers were wildly inaccurate, and highly vulner-
able to airplanes and anti-aircraft guns. As bombers, zeppe-
lins failed, but they carved out a niche as reconnaissance and
a navel escorts. The British meanwhile built hundreds of non-
rigid airships for scouting and anti-submarine combat.
PILOTING AN AIRSHIP
In worlds where airships are not the primary mode of air
transportation, you should simply add airship to the catego-
ries of aircraft that can be chosen when taking the Aircraft
Operation feat, and anybody without the feat suffers a –4
penalty to Pilot checks made to pilot an airship.
Count von Zeppelin did not live to see the end of the war, but
the Zeppelin Company continued. After some struggle they
constructed the Graf Zeppelin, the first in what they hoped
would be a new line of passenger dirigibles. While the Graf
Zeppelin flew over 1 million miles (including a circumnavi-
gation of the globe), in the 1930s a series of airship had spec-
tacular crashes, culminating in the Hindenburg disaster. These
set backs, coupled with the rise in prominence of the airplane,
brought the airships dominance to an end.
In a game where airships are the primary mode of transporta-
tion, you may alter the Pilot skill, such that it automatically
allows a character to pilot personal and scout class airships
with no penalty, but piloting heavier airships again imposes
the –4 penalty. To counteract this penalty, characters should
take the Heavy Airship Operations feat.
ACE PILOT
You can control you vehicle with amazing grace.
Though their use decreased airships have never entirely
disappeared. Their high carrying capacity and ability to
remain aloft without forward movement give them certain
advantages. Blimps continued to serve as anti-submarine
duties in World War II, and in modern days they are used for
advertising and as air camera platform.
Prerequisites:
Drive 9 ranks or Pilot 9 ranks
Benefit:
You may spend one action point to perform a vehicle
stunt as a free action. This may increase the maximum
number of stunts you can perform in a turn. You may use this
ability at any time, even if it is not your turn.
Normal:
Performing a stunt is a move action.
Research continues to examine new possibilities for airships,
included ships that could lift a payload into low earth orbit.
Airships in Pulp Campaigns
CHEAT THE FLAMES
You are able to avoid combusting while piloting an airship.
Prerequisites:
Pilot 9 ranks
Benefit:
Any time an airship you are pilot risks igniting, you
may a Pilot check to avoid catching on fire. The DC of the
check is equal to 10 + the fire damage taken, or 5 + half the
electrical damage taken.
The goal of this product is not portray airships in a
completely historically accurate light. Instead this book
hopes to capture the hopes of airship pioneers, the romantic
portrayal common to early-twentieth-century fiction, and
the qualities that can make airships an exciting part of your
game.
HEAVY AIRSHIP OPERATIONS
You are proficient at operating large airships.
Airships serve a variety of roles in pulp campaign and take
on a large range of importance. On the subtlest level they can
serve as atmosphere when characters see them flying over-
head. Airships can also serve the role of in your campaign
that they served in real life, as a means for characters to get
from one place to another. Airships are faster than their sea
bound cousins, and unlike trains, airship are free from tracks
and can journey to any corner of the globe, from Brazil to the
North Pole.
Prerequisites:
Pilot 4 ranks.
Benefit:
You take no penalty on Pilot checks or attack rolls
made when operating large airships, including passenger
ships, bombers, and sky citadel.
Normal:
Characters without this feat take a –4 penalty on
Pilot checks made to operate heavy airships.
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DEATH FROM ABOVE OF PULP DESTRUCTION
TABLE 1: AIRSHIPS
Co-
Top
Size Purchase
Name
Pilots Crew Pass Cargo Init Maneuver Speed Def. Hard. HPs Size DC
Restriction
LZP (personal airship)
0 1 0 100 lb. –4
–6
17 (170) 6 1
30 H
32
Lic (+1)
NS Class (scout)
1 10 0 500 lb. –6
–8
14(140) 6 1
72 C
41
Mil (+3)
L 13 (bomber)
3 20 0 1,500 lb. –8
–12
11 (110) 6 3
200 C
46
Mil (+3)
Graf Zeppelin (passenger) 3 40 20 12,000 lb. –8
–12
15 (150) 6 3
240 C
48
Lic (+1)
Sky Citadel (carrier)
7 120 12 23,000 lb. –12 –20
21 (210) 6 5
520 C
52
Mil (+3)
BOMBARDIER
You are proficient at dropping aerial bombs.
HELIUM
The gas chamber of an airship can be filled with helium
rather than hydrogen. This is more expensive (
+2 to
purchase DC
) and reduces the amount of cargo by
25%. However helium filled airships suffer no chance
of combustion as described in Airship Movement and
Combat: Dangers of Airships.
Prerequisites:
Spot 4 ranks.
Benefit:
You do not suffer any penalty when making attacks
with aerial bombs. Additionally you can make a special Spot
check to locate targets from very high altitudes. (
See Airship
Movement and Combat: Bombing.
)
Normal: Characters without this feat take a –4 penalty to
attacks with bombs and must make a standard Spot attempt to
locate targets.
L 13:
The L 13 is a long-range bomber designed to fly
extended missions and drop bombs on military targets. It
has an operational ceiling of 11,000 feet.The L 13 is armed
with four MG08 machine guns (
as a heavy machine gun in the
Core Rule Book
) and carries a payload of twelve light bombs,
eight medium bombs and a single heavy bomb. The L13 is
398 feet long and 70 feet wide. In character scale the L 13 is
98 squares long and 14 squares wide. In chase scale the L 13
is 10 squares long and 2 squares wide. Graf Zeppelin: The
most successful commercial airship designed by the zeppelin
company, the Graf Zeppelin was the first aircraft to circum-
navigate the globe, and it is a prime example of a long-range
passenger aircraft. Though historically there was only one
Graf Zeppelin, in a pulp setting, the name may be used to the
entire class of luxury airliners. It has an operational ceiling
of 7,000 feet. The passenger and crew numbers assume a
luxurious long-range craft. If it serves as a short-range vessel
that can easily hold 40 passengers and only requires a crew
of 30. The Graf Zeppelin is 773 feet long and 125 feet wide.
In character scale the Graf Zeppelin is 155 squares long and
25 squares wide. In chase scale it is 18 squares long and 3
squares wide.
EQUIPMENT
The following includes airships that can by purchased as
well as bombs, ammo, and transportantiojn. Unless other-
wise noted they follow all the rules presented in the Core
Rulebook.
AIRSHIPS
Airships are large aircraft that rely on lighter than air gasses
to keep them afloat. All airships provide nine tenths cover to
their occupants. In addition to standard vehicle information,
Table 1: Airships contains a co-pilots entry, indicating the
maximum number of people who can aid the pilot.
LZP:
The LZP (
Luftschiff Zeppelin Persönlich
) is a small
airships big enough for only a single person. The pilot typi-
cally straps himself to the underside of the airbag and uses
a set of hand held controls to steer the airship. LZP have an
operational ceiling of 6,000 feet. The LZP is 32 feet long and
8 feet wide. In character scale a LZP personal airship is 8
squares long and 2 squares wide. In chase scale it occupies 1
square.
Sky Citadel:
These massive airships blot out the sky wher-
ever they approach. While they boast an impressive array of
bombs and guns, the sky citadel’s greatest asset is dozen light
fighter planes it carries. These planes dock by hooking to a
trapeze-like crane on the underbelly of the airship. The Sky
Citadel is armed with eight MG08 (
as a heavy machine gun
in the Core Rule Book
) machine guns, and it carries twenty
120 lb. bombs, thirty-two 230 lb. bombs, and twelve 660 lb
bombs. Sky Citadels have an operational ceiling of 22,000
feet.The Sky Citadel is 1125 feet long and 179 feet long.
In character scale the Sky Citadel is 225 squares long and
North Sea Scout:
The North Sea class airship is a non-rigid
blimp. It princely acts as a scout or navel escort. It has
a ceiling of 9,800 feet.NS Class airships come with four
Vickers machine guns (
as a heavy machine gun in the Core
Rule Book
) and six medium bombs (
mostly used as anti-subma-
rine weapons
). The NS Class aisthip is 250 feet long and 38
feet wide In character scale a NS Class airship is 50 squares
long and 8 squares wide. In chase scale a NS Class blimp is 5
squares long and 1 square wide.
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DEATH FROM ABOVE OF PULP DESTRUCTION
BOMBS (REQUIRES BOMBARDIER FEAT)
Damage
Blast Reflex
Range
Purchase
Weapon
Damage
Critical
Type
Radius
DC
Increment
Size
Weight DC Restriction
Light Bomb
10d6
—
Concussion
20 ft.
15
1000 ft. Gargantuan 120 lb.
21 Mil (+3)
Medium Bomb 20d6
—
Concussion
30 ft.
18
900 ft. Gargantuan 230 lb.
23 Mil (+3)
AMMUNITION
Ammunition Type (Quantity)
TRANSPORTATION
Transportation
Purchase DC
Purchase DC
Incendiary Ammunition
+2*
Continental, standard
15
Continental, luxury
18
Transcontinental, standard
19
36 squares wide. In chase scale it is 23 squares long and 4
squares wide.
Transcontinental, luxury
24
AIRSHIP WEAPONS: BOMBS
Bombs are large explosives dropped from aircraft. All of
them function in a similar manner. Bombs are area affects,
which deal damage to everything with the area of their blast
radius. A successful Reflex save reduces the damage suffered
from a bomb attack by half. Newly purchased airships come
with a full payload of bombs. The purchase DC on Table 3:
Bombs refers to the price of replacement bombs. Bombs can
only be dropped from vehicles made to carry them.
AIRSHIP MOVEMENT AND
COMBAT
The rules for airship combat presented below are modi-
fied from the standard vehicle movement and combat rules
presented in the D20 Modern Core Rulebook. Unless new or
modified rules are presented in this section, standard vehicle
movement and combat rules apply (such as the rules for
facing and firing arcs, collision, and damaging vehicles).
Unlike weapons fired horizontally, bombs do not have a
maxim range. They continue to fall until they hit a solid
surface.
CHARACTERS IN AIRSHIPS
A character in an airship can fill several possible roles, which
determine what a character can do.
AMMUNITION
Incendiary Ammunition: Incendiary ammunition is not a
specific type of ammunition, but rather a variant that can be
applied to most ammunition types. They utilize a white phos-
phorus tip that ignites in flight, and burns incredibly hot. For
each die of damage a weapon does with Incendiary bullets,
one point of damage is converted to fire damage. This does
not increase the total damage; it merely converts it from one
type to another. Thus a burst (
using the Burst Fire feat
) from a
heavy machine gun deals 4d12 points of damage, 4 points of
which is fire damage.
Pilot:
The pilot of the airship controls its movement. Even
though most airships have duplicate sets of controls, only one
character is considered to be “piloting” the airship at any give
time, and it is this character that controls the airship. Piloting
a ship is, at a minimum, a move action, which means that the
pilot may be able to do something else with his or her attack
action.
Copilots:
A copilot can help the driver by taking an aid
another action. Aiding the driver is a move action, leaving
the copilot with an attack action each round to do something
else. Most airships have at least one copilot, and some have
far more. (
see Table on Airships
). A copilot can also pilot the
airship if the pilot cannot or chooses not to.
TRANSPORTATION
Commercial airships transport passengers between major
cities. Depending on the nature of the campaign, flights
have limited schedules, or transportation may be limited to a
handful of cities.
Gunner/Bombardier:
Some airships have built-in weapons,
which are usually manned by a gunner. Similarly, some
airships carry bombs, which can be dropped by a bombardier.
A vehicle can have as many gunners as it has gunner posi-
tions. It can have one bombardier, plus one co-bombardier
who can use an aid another.
Continental flight typically are several hours, while transcon-
tinental flights may take days. Flights that take over 24 hours
should be considered even if they are technically on the same
continent (
such as from Istanbul to Tokyo
).
Passenger:
All other personnel aboard the vehicle are consid-
ered passengers. Firing handheld weapons from an airship is
possible, but often not practical.
Luxury flights primarily offer more spacious accommoda-
tions, finer meals, and often liver entertainment.
5
DEATH FROM ABOVE OF PULP DESTRUCTION
VEHICLE SPEEDS AND MODIFIERS
Chase Scale
Character Scale
Speed Category
Movement
1
Turn Number
2
Movement
1
Turn Number
2
Defense Modifier Check/Roll Modifier
Stationary
0
0
0
0
+0
+1
Landing speed
1–2
1
1-20
1
+0
+0
Maneuvering speed
3–5
2
21-50
4
+1
–1
Cruising speed
6–15
3
51-150
16
+2
–2
All-out
16+
4
151+
64
+4
–4
1
-The number of squares a vehicle can move at this speed.
SCALE
Because airship occurs in the air, the position of individual
characters is irrelevant. Thus nearly all airship combat uses
the chase scale.
forward or reverse. Airship cannot go faster than landing
speed in reverse.
Stationary:
The airship has no forward movement. If there is
wind present, remaining stationary often requires running the
engines.
Chase Scale:
In chase scale, each square (33mm scale) of the
grid represents 50 feet. Airships often occupy more than one
square. Unlike most vehicles, more than one airship cannot
occupy the same square. Unless otherwise noted, all distances
referred to are in chase scale.
Landing Speed:
This speed is used for safely maneuvering
an airship in tight spaces, typically when it is taking on or
landing. It tops out at about the speed a typical person can
run.
GETTING STARTED
Starting an airship is a far more difficult process than sitting
down and turning a key. Once the pilot and crew are in place
it typically takes a minute (
10 rounds
) to enable the airship to
be ready for take off. Once prepared, an airship’s first action
is typically to drop ballast.
Maneuvering Speed:
The airship is traveling at a moderate
speed, up to about 35 miles per hour. This speed is commonly
used when navigating powerful weather systems, approaching
bombing targets, or showing of over a populated area.
Highway Speed:
The airship is moving at a typical cruising
speed, from about 35 to 80 miles per hour.
A successful Pilot check can reduce the amount of time it
takes to start an airship. A DC 20 reduces the time to start and
airship by 1 round, and the time is further reduced by 1 round
for every 10 higher than 20 the result is. Starting an airship
takes a minimum of 1 full round action.
All-Out:
The airship is traveling extremely fast, more than 80
miles per hour.
MOVING
On his or her action, the driver moves the airship a number of
squares declared. Unlike characters, an airship cannot double
move, run, or otherwise extend its movement. Every vehicle
has a top speed, included in its statistics on Table of Airships.
An airship cannot move more squares than its top speed. This
means that some airship cannot move at all-out speed.
Copilots can assist with this check, but must aid another
every round during the startup process.
AIRSHIP SPEED
Airships are capable of obtaining high speeds, but their
tremendous mass means they take longer to accelerate than
most vehicles.
Count squares for airship just as for characters. Airship can
move diagonally; remember that when moving diagonally,
every second square costs two squares’ worth of movement.
Unlike with moving characters, an airship’s facing is impor-
tant; unless it changes direction, an airship always moves in
the direction of its facing (
or in the opposite direction, if it’s
moving in reverse
).
Vehicle speed is expressed in five categories: stationary,
landing speed, maneuvering speed, cruising speed, and
all-out. Each of these speed categories represents a range
of possible movement (
see Table of Vehicle Speeds and
Modifiers)
. These speeds affect how easily the airship can be
maneuvered.
THE EFFECTS OF SPEED
A fast-moving vehicle is harder to hit than a stationary one—
but it’s also harder to control, and to attack from.
DECLARING SPEED
At the beginning of his or her action, a pilot must declare
his or her speed airship for the round. The driver can choose
to go one square (
in chase scale
) faster or slower than the
vehicle’s speed at the end of the previous round. Keep in
mind that this may shift the airship into a new speed category.
A stationary airship can change to landing speed in either
As shown on Table of Vehicle Speeds and Modifiers, when a
vehicle travels at cruising speed or faster, it gains a bonus to
Defense. However, that speed brings along with it a penalty
on all skill checks and attack rolls made by characters aboard
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