Barnstormer Quest
- Thread starter samdamandias
- Start date
- Original
0.3
samdamandias
Apprentice Plane Wizard
-[ ] A loyal and adorable canine companion who loves to fly.
-[ ] A long hunting rifle.
-[ ]A bottle of your family's finest moonshine, and the recipe.
-[ ]An old journal from an ancestor before they settled down.
-[ ] Wills Model B, first designed as a light mail-runner
--[ ] "Columbia Challenger," orange wings, white and orange dazzle fuselage.
-[ ] Fat Steve, who is either the luckiest or unluckiest pilot alive.
-[ ]Theo, who can rebuild an engine in the time most people take to finish reading the paper.
-[ ] A long hunting rifle.
-[ ]A bottle of your family's finest moonshine, and the recipe.
-[ ]An old journal from an ancestor before they settled down.
-[ ] Wills Model B, first designed as a light mail-runner
--[ ] "Columbia Challenger," orange wings, white and orange dazzle fuselage.
-[ ] Fat Steve, who is either the luckiest or unluckiest pilot alive.
-[ ]Theo, who can rebuild an engine in the time most people take to finish reading the paper.
Theo and Fat Steve are already at the kitchen table, along with two of your hosts, Mr. Serrano and his youngest daughter, a girl of maybe five or six. Mr. Serrano is flickering between the stove and a tub of soaking beans. Fat Steve is working on what looks to be his second plate, telling one of his stories.
"So then I said, 'God, if you're listening, I'd really like to not hit the ground'. Now keep in mind, at this point I was spinning around about as fast as my engine, so I couldn't see what was over the next hill. And wouldn't you know it, it's a church! Caspian Orthoprax of all things, but I didn't really notice at the time.
"Now, the reason why I didn't really notice, as I said, I was spinning around a lot, and suddenly I see this great big expanse of stained glass and painted wood in the bell tower and the next thing I know, I ain't spinnin', most of my wings are gone, and I'm teetering on the edge of the roof. And then I tip over and my darn plane does a flip, landing' back on the wheels for all of half a second afore they snap off.
"Then the preacher and the choir and I swear the entire town pours out of that little church and are just staring at me. And I look the preacher dead in the eye and say 'Very sorry, am I late for mass?' So that's the story of why my flying goggles have red glass in 'em instead of clear like most pilots."
You're not sure if Fat Steve is lying or not. The day you met him, he managed to set down his plane while it was on fire, something everyone, Fat Steve included, assured you meant certain death for a pilot.
Theo, on the other hand is alternating between nibbling on a hastily-assembled bacon sandwich, scribbling in one of his notebooks, and doing something to one of those fancy new electric toasters with a tiny set of screwdrivers. He has managed to acquire a fine layer of soot, grease and oil, despite your being almost certain that an electric toaster doesn't use any sort of lubrication. Theo glances over to you as you enter.
"Ah! Cas. Good morning. Fat Steve and I were discussing whether a plane could fly upside down for some ways. The math checks out, so it should be physically possible if you can keep the wings at the right angle. My own Thesis Statement can't do it because of the design of the top wing, and Fat Steve refuses to do more than eighty degrees of bank in Patchwork, though not without reason."
[ ] "Well, full rolls and that half-loop already have me upside down for a bit..." (-Calm, +Daring)
[ ] "Could we try it with one of your little gliders first?" (-Hard, +Keen, + Daring)
[ ] "If it's only a few seconds I should be fine, long as I have altitude." ( -Keen, +Calm, +Daring)
So, a note on Stats.
Hard is the stat you use to (physically)hurt people and break things
Keen is awareness and book-smarts
Calm is how in control of yourself you are, and how good you are at dealing with other people
Daring is, for lack of a better way to describe it, the "hold my beer" stat.
Now, the last bit of character creation. Pick three of the following moves. Approval voting is in effect for these, I'll take the top three.
[ ] It's Working!: When you modify a plane yourself, roll +Daring. On a 16+, you can install 1þ of free upgrades along with what you paid for. On a miss, things break.
[ ] Machine Empathy: When you Maintain an engine in midair, remove 2 Wear.
[ ] Here Goes Nothing: When you try to imitate a comrade's Mastery Move, roll +Daring. On a hit, you pull it off. On a 16+, keep the Move.
[ ] That's a Good Trick: When you Push the Limit, roll an extra dice as though somebody was helping you. A Fault will always result in a mechanical failure.
[ ] Bullseye: Once per session, automatically score a 16+ to Open Fire or Bombs Away.
[ ] Barnstormer: When you put on a show for people on the ground and make it fancy and dangerous, take +1 Ongoing to Press the Issue with them.
[ ] Breeze in your Hair: When you fly without fighting, remove 3 Stress.
[ ] A Bad Feeling About This: Negate the penalty to Engage for ambushes.
You may notice that some of these reference combat. There won't be any air battles to start, and depending on your choices, there may never be. Then again, in a few months a certain race is coming up, along with its aftermath…
Karlito
Bzzzzzzzzzzzzz!
I'm interested to see how well this quest handles adapting a FC playbook straight up.
[X] "If it's only a few seconds I should be fine, long as I have altitude." ( -Keen, +Calm, +Daring)
Calm is the stat for not crashing your airplane horribly, so it seems like a good one to have.
[X] Barnstormer: When you put on a show for people on the ground and make it fancy and dangerous, take +1 Ongoing to Press the Issue with them.
[X] Breeze in your Hair: When you fly without fighting, remove 3 Stress.
[X] It's Working!: When you modify a plane yourself, roll +Daring. On a 16+, you can install 1þ of free upgrades along with what you paid for. On a miss, things break.
[X] "If it's only a few seconds I should be fine, long as I have altitude." ( -Keen, +Calm, +Daring)
Calm is the stat for not crashing your airplane horribly, so it seems like a good one to have.
[X] Barnstormer: When you put on a show for people on the ground and make it fancy and dangerous, take +1 Ongoing to Press the Issue with them.
[X] Breeze in your Hair: When you fly without fighting, remove 3 Stress.
[X] It's Working!: When you modify a plane yourself, roll +Daring. On a 16+, you can install 1þ of free upgrades along with what you paid for. On a miss, things break.
[X] "Could we try it with one of your little gliders first?" (-Hard, +Keen, + Daring)
[X] Barnstormer: When you put on a show for people on the ground and make it fancy and dangerous, take +1 Ongoing to Press the Issue with them.
[X] Breeze in your Hair: When you fly without fighting, remove 3 Stress.
[X] That's a Good Trick: When you Push the Limit, roll an extra dice as though somebody was helping you. A Fault will always result in a mechanical failure.
[X] Barnstormer: When you put on a show for people on the ground and make it fancy and dangerous, take +1 Ongoing to Press the Issue with them.
[X] Breeze in your Hair: When you fly without fighting, remove 3 Stress.
[X] That's a Good Trick: When you Push the Limit, roll an extra dice as though somebody was helping you. A Fault will always result in a mechanical failure.
[X] "Could we try it with one of your little gliders first?" (-Hard, +Keen, + Daring)
[X] Barnstormer: When you put on a show for people on the ground and make it fancy and dangerous, take +1 Ongoing to Press the Issue with them.
[X] Breeze in your Hair: When you fly without fighting, remove 3 Stress.
[X] It's Working!: When you modify a plane yourself, roll +Daring. On a 16+, you can install 1þ of free upgrades along with what you paid for. On a miss, things break.
We're a Barnstormer, we shouldn't be getting into real dogfights anyways, so Breeze in your Hair should be statistically epic for us, It's Working counts on us doing modifications ourselves, so +Keen will be important if we want to actually not suck at upgrading things ourselves, we shouldn't be getting into too many fights if we're smart about things, and physically hurting others is less important than not getting hurt anyways.
[X] Barnstormer: When you put on a show for people on the ground and make it fancy and dangerous, take +1 Ongoing to Press the Issue with them.
[X] Breeze in your Hair: When you fly without fighting, remove 3 Stress.
[X] It's Working!: When you modify a plane yourself, roll +Daring. On a 16+, you can install 1þ of free upgrades along with what you paid for. On a miss, things break.
We're a Barnstormer, we shouldn't be getting into real dogfights anyways, so Breeze in your Hair should be statistically epic for us, It's Working counts on us doing modifications ourselves, so +Keen will be important if we want to actually not suck at upgrading things ourselves, we shouldn't be getting into too many fights if we're smart about things, and physically hurting others is less important than not getting hurt anyways.
[X] "Could we try it with one of your little gliders first?" (-Hard, +Keen, + Daring)
[X] Barnstormer: When you put on a show for people on the ground and make it fancy and dangerous, take +1 Ongoing to Press the Issue with them.
[X] Breeze in your Hair: When you fly without fighting, remove 3 Stress.
[X] It's Working!: When you modify a plane yourself, roll +Daring. On a 16+, you can install 1þ of free upgrades along with what you paid for. On a miss, things break
[X] Barnstormer: When you put on a show for people on the ground and make it fancy and dangerous, take +1 Ongoing to Press the Issue with them.
[X] Breeze in your Hair: When you fly without fighting, remove 3 Stress.
[X] It's Working!: When you modify a plane yourself, roll +Daring. On a 16+, you can install 1þ of free upgrades along with what you paid for. On a miss, things break
- Location
- Mid-Atlantic
@samdamandias
What are our baseline stats in the four areas? I might make different choices depending on where we have bonuses and penalties.
What are our baseline stats in the four areas? I might make different choices depending on where we have bonuses and penalties.
samdamandias
Apprentice Plane Wizard
Your statline will be completely different depending on what you pick, but will sum to a total of +3. Cas will have Daring of either +3 or +4, but the other stats can vary wildly.
[X] "Could we try it with one of your little gliders first?" (-Hard, +Keen, + Daring)
[X] Barnstormer: When you put on a show for people on the ground and make it fancy and dangerous, take +1 Ongoing to Press the Issue with them.
[X] Breeze in your Hair: When you fly without fighting, remove 3 Stress.
[X] It's Working!: When you modify a plane yourself, roll +Daring. On a 16+, you can install 1þ of free upgrades along with what you paid for. On a miss, things break.
[X] Barnstormer: When you put on a show for people on the ground and make it fancy and dangerous, take +1 Ongoing to Press the Issue with them.
[X] Breeze in your Hair: When you fly without fighting, remove 3 Stress.
[X] It's Working!: When you modify a plane yourself, roll +Daring. On a 16+, you can install 1þ of free upgrades along with what you paid for. On a miss, things break.
Wiadi
Uncompromising Radical Leftist
- Location
- Something Clever
- Pronouns
- She/Her
I notice this doesn't boost a second stat - does it just increase Daring by more instead?
[X] "Could we try it with one of your little gliders first?" (-Hard, +Keen, + Daring)
[X] Barnstormer: When you put on a show for people on the ground and make it fancy and dangerous, take +1 Ongoing to Press the Issue with them.
[X] Breeze in your Hair: When you fly without fighting, remove 3 Stress.
[X] It's Working!: When you modify a plane yourself, roll +Daring. On a 16+, you can install 1þ of free upgrades along with what you paid for. On a miss, things break.
[X] Barnstormer: When you put on a show for people on the ground and make it fancy and dangerous, take +1 Ongoing to Press the Issue with them.
[X] Breeze in your Hair: When you fly without fighting, remove 3 Stress.
[X] It's Working!: When you modify a plane yourself, roll +Daring. On a 16+, you can install 1þ of free upgrades along with what you paid for. On a miss, things break.
- Location
- Alberta
[X] "Could we try it with one of your little gliders first?" (-Hard, +Keen, + Daring)
[X] Barnstormer: When you put on a show for people on the ground and make it fancy and dangerous, take +1 Ongoing to Press the Issue with them.
[X] Breeze in your Hair: When you fly without fighting, remove 3 Stress.
[X] That's a Good Trick: When you Push the Limit, roll an extra dice as though somebody was helping you. A Fault will always result in a mechanical failure.
[X] Barnstormer: When you put on a show for people on the ground and make it fancy and dangerous, take +1 Ongoing to Press the Issue with them.
[X] Breeze in your Hair: When you fly without fighting, remove 3 Stress.
[X] That's a Good Trick: When you Push the Limit, roll an extra dice as though somebody was helping you. A Fault will always result in a mechanical failure.
bdun140
I have ideas. Sometimes they're even good.
[X] "If it's only a few seconds I should be fine, long as I have altitude." ( -Keen, +Calm, +Daring)
[X] Bullseye: Once per session, automatically score a 16+ to Open Fire or Bombs Away.
[X] Breeze in your Hair: When you fly without fighting, remove 3 Stress.
[X] A Bad Feeling About This: Negate the penalty to Engage for ambushes.
How are the perks working? By plan, or top 3 with the most votes? Derp, you said so above the options.
[X] Bullseye: Once per session, automatically score a 16+ to Open Fire or Bombs Away.
[X] Breeze in your Hair: When you fly without fighting, remove 3 Stress.
[X] A Bad Feeling About This: Negate the penalty to Engage for ambushes.
Last edited:
Axslashel
I am a pessimist not a realist.
- Location
- Land of the Midnight Sun
[X] "If it's only a few seconds I should be fine, long as I have altitude." ( -Keen, +Calm, +Daring)
[X] Barnstormer: When you put on a show for people on the ground and make it fancy and dangerous, take +1 Ongoing to Press the Issue with them.
[X] Breeze in your Hair: When you fly without fighting, remove 3 Stress.
[X] It's Working!: When you modify a plane yourself, roll +Daring. On a 16+, you can install 1þ of free upgrades along with what you paid for. On a miss, things break.
[X] Barnstormer: When you put on a show for people on the ground and make it fancy and dangerous, take +1 Ongoing to Press the Issue with them.
[X] Breeze in your Hair: When you fly without fighting, remove 3 Stress.
[X] It's Working!: When you modify a plane yourself, roll +Daring. On a 16+, you can install 1þ of free upgrades along with what you paid for. On a miss, things break.
1.1 Meet the planes
samdamandias
Apprentice Plane Wizard
"Could we try it with one of your little gliders first? I'm sure the numbers are right, but what if we're missin' something that we don't know we're missing?"
Theo frowns. "Give me half an hour and I'll have something rigged up to be towed behind one of our planes."
[ ] Put the towing shackle on the Columbia Challenger, she's the fastest
[ ] Put the towing shackle on Patchwork, she's the sturdiest
[ ] Put the towing shackle on the Thesis Statement so Theo can watch the glider
Theo and Fat Steve make vague noises of assent. "Yeah, that makes sense."
A glance at your pocketwatch means that breakfast is hurried, since you're meeting the postmaster in about an hour to take a bundle of mail and small parcels to Cedar Bluffs before the 11:30 to Burlington rolls through. (You did have to spend a rather embarrassingly long time working out which Cedar Bluffs, given that there's two in Niobrara, one in Hawkeye, one in Mackinac, another two in Bonner, one in Tenesei, and another on the Anteater of all places)
It takes some time to wheel all of your planes out to the grass. The Patchwork near as you can tell, at one point started life as an S-2 Copperhead, but has been patched and replaced and added to so much you're not sure if there's more than a square foot of the original fabric covering left. That W-9 certainly isn't stock on any of the S-series.
The Thesis Statement is the strangest plane you ever did see, because it's not really a monoplane, or a multiplane, or even a sesquiplane. A long, thin wing at the back, just ahead of the tailplane, and above the cockpit another long, thing win that spins of all things. She's the slowest out of all your planes, but Theo can pull an effective glideslope that's near-vertical and land her on a dime, and she can crab extremely well.
And lastly, your own Columbia Challenger resplendent in her orange and white paint, your dog sitting in the cockpit, holding her flying goggles in her mouth. By far the most normal-looking of the planes, with an engine and fuel tank up front, under the tiny wing, and then your cockpit and the cargo space between that and the tail, with the rear wing starting just a bit behind your shoulders.
By longstanding agreement, you and Theo pull Fat Steve's prop through a few rotations before it catches and the engine is running. Theo pulls your prop through, and then hops in his own cockpit. A loud electric whine fills the air before his engine coughs and begins to turn over.
You pull your goggles down and begin rolling down the field, watching the ribbon at the corner of your windscreen flutter high and high until suddenly you are free from the ground.
The flight to Cedar Bluffs goes well. You didn't even get lost once, nothing has happened to Fat Steve's plane, and both of you are flying slowly enough that Theo can keep up without redlining his engine.
Now comes the really hard part: Where should you land?
[ ] We have time. Give the people a bit of a show before we land outside of town.
[ ] I bet we can set down just outside the station. Won't that look impressive?
[ ] We should follow the tracks, meet the train, and then race them to the station.
I will take suggestions for the name of your dog. I am preemptively vetoing Lassie and Air Bud.
Theo frowns. "Give me half an hour and I'll have something rigged up to be towed behind one of our planes."
[ ] Put the towing shackle on the Columbia Challenger, she's the fastest
[ ] Put the towing shackle on Patchwork, she's the sturdiest
[ ] Put the towing shackle on the Thesis Statement so Theo can watch the glider
Theo and Fat Steve make vague noises of assent. "Yeah, that makes sense."
A glance at your pocketwatch means that breakfast is hurried, since you're meeting the postmaster in about an hour to take a bundle of mail and small parcels to Cedar Bluffs before the 11:30 to Burlington rolls through. (You did have to spend a rather embarrassingly long time working out which Cedar Bluffs, given that there's two in Niobrara, one in Hawkeye, one in Mackinac, another two in Bonner, one in Tenesei, and another on the Anteater of all places)
It takes some time to wheel all of your planes out to the grass. The Patchwork near as you can tell, at one point started life as an S-2 Copperhead, but has been patched and replaced and added to so much you're not sure if there's more than a square foot of the original fabric covering left. That W-9 certainly isn't stock on any of the S-series.
The Thesis Statement is the strangest plane you ever did see, because it's not really a monoplane, or a multiplane, or even a sesquiplane. A long, thin wing at the back, just ahead of the tailplane, and above the cockpit another long, thing win that spins of all things. She's the slowest out of all your planes, but Theo can pull an effective glideslope that's near-vertical and land her on a dime, and she can crab extremely well.
And lastly, your own Columbia Challenger resplendent in her orange and white paint, your dog sitting in the cockpit, holding her flying goggles in her mouth. By far the most normal-looking of the planes, with an engine and fuel tank up front, under the tiny wing, and then your cockpit and the cargo space between that and the tail, with the rear wing starting just a bit behind your shoulders.
By longstanding agreement, you and Theo pull Fat Steve's prop through a few rotations before it catches and the engine is running. Theo pulls your prop through, and then hops in his own cockpit. A loud electric whine fills the air before his engine coughs and begins to turn over.
You pull your goggles down and begin rolling down the field, watching the ribbon at the corner of your windscreen flutter high and high until suddenly you are free from the ground.
The flight to Cedar Bluffs goes well. You didn't even get lost once, nothing has happened to Fat Steve's plane, and both of you are flying slowly enough that Theo can keep up without redlining his engine.
Now comes the really hard part: Where should you land?
[ ] We have time. Give the people a bit of a show before we land outside of town.
[ ] I bet we can set down just outside the station. Won't that look impressive?
[ ] We should follow the tracks, meet the train, and then race them to the station.
I will take suggestions for the name of your dog. I am preemptively vetoing Lassie and Air Bud.
- Location
- Mid-Atlantic
Is Snoopy also being vetoed? 
Wiadi
Uncompromising Radical Leftist
- Location
- Something Clever
- Pronouns
- She/Her
[X] Put the towing shackle on the Columbia Challenger, she's the fastest
We want to make sure this maneuver works at high speed, since that's how we may well end up wanting to perform it if it looks manageable.
[X] We have time. Give the people a bit of a show before we land outside of town.
I'd also be fine with trying to land outside the station, but I don't want to go for racing the train - the Thesis Statement is notably slow and it's just not as good a show if only two of our planes participate.
We want to make sure this maneuver works at high speed, since that's how we may well end up wanting to perform it if it looks manageable.
[X] We have time. Give the people a bit of a show before we land outside of town.
I'd also be fine with trying to land outside the station, but I don't want to go for racing the train - the Thesis Statement is notably slow and it's just not as good a show if only two of our planes participate.
samdamandias
Apprentice Plane Wizard
Snoopy is fine as long as she's not a beagleIs Snoopy also being vetoed?
Axslashel
I am a pessimist not a realist.
- Location
- Land of the Midnight Sun
[X] Put the towing shackle on the Columbia Challenger, she's the fastest
[X] We have time. Give the people a bit of a show before we land outside of town.
For some reason I have a suspicion Theo might be an orange fox with two tails
[X] We have time. Give the people a bit of a show before we land outside of town.
For some reason I have a suspicion Theo might be an orange fox with two tails
- Location
- Alberta
[X] Put the towing shackle on the Columbia Challenger, she's the fastest
[X] We have time. Give the people a bit of a show before we land outside of town.
[X] We have time. Give the people a bit of a show before we land outside of town.
- Location
- Mid-Atlantic
@samdamandias
I have no concern as to which course of action we pursue in the actual votes, but would like to nominate Snoopy as the dog's name. The breed can be, well, anything.
[Decides that Snoopy is a unisex dog name]
I have no concern as to which course of action we pursue in the actual votes, but would like to nominate Snoopy as the dog's name. The breed can be, well, anything.
[Decides that Snoopy is a unisex dog name]