Re: Spelljamming the planes?

On Mon, 6 Oct 1997, Paul and Kelly Westermeyer wrote:

> >Now that I think of it, the Neogi are out there as well.  Sort of.  They
> >have a related species called the Tso that fly around in enormous
> >spider-like ships and enslave weaker beings.  Blood will tell, eh?
> 
> What accessory do these Tso appear in?  That could ne a cool SJ/Planescape
> tie in:)

They are in one of the Planescape Monstrous Compendiums.  The second one,
I believe.  They look a litle different, mostly because they have arms
with functional hands.  Their powers are a little different as well, if I
remember correctly.  (If you want, and if it's cool with the monitors, I
can post their stats to the list.)

They would be a cool SJ/Planescape tie in, wouldn't they?  I hadn't even
thought about using them.  Here's one idea:

Rumors of Neogi using cloaking helms and new (and really big) ship
designs to attack unsuspecting ships begin to filter back to the Rock (or
wherever your campaign centers around).  At first it sounds just like
standard spacer scuttlebutt, nothing to get really excited about.  Then
the rumors start getting more specific, naming particular spheres and
trade routes.  More and more spacers refuse to crew ships traveling to
those specific spheres.  Rumors of ghost ships and haunted lanes fill the
bars.

Eventually the players need to get motivated to travel out there.  Whether
hired to go, or because they accepted a comission out there, or because
something happened to a friend of theirs out there, they need to go there.
When they arrive they come under attack.  An unusual spider-like ship
ripples into existance and begins to attack them.  Ideally they drive the
ship off, but not before someone (or something) important to them is
captured.  Then they get to watch as the ship ripples out of visibility
(and, according to detection spells, existance).  If your players are like
mine, they will now want a rematch so badly that they can taste it.

What's happening?  Well, out on the Planes, the Baatezu have begun a major
offensive against the Plane of Infinite Portals in the Abyss.  They need
troops (i.e. cannon fodder) and they need them now.  And being Baatezu,
they are not particularly picky where they get them from.  The Tso have
been capatalizing on this, using their Planespiders to jump into the
Prime, grab slaves and jump back out.  (They prefer spacers because they
tend to be higher level on the average than other Primes, thus commanding
a higher price in the slave markets of Dis.)  Spelljamming helms also sell
well, as the Baatezu can use them to power troop ships, enabling them to
deliver their janissaries (I hope I used that correctly) to the front
quickly.

Ideally, the players learn about some of this.  One idea is the classic
"rescue a captive from the ship before it vanishes" ploy, but whatever
works best.  They should not get the full picture, just learn that their
friends (and equipment) have been captured to be sold as slave-warriors in
an alien war.  This preserves the mystery of the plot for later.

Eventually, the players get a second shot at the Tso Planespider.  When
the ship shifts out again, the player's ship is able to follow it (the
shift effect opens a short-lived Planar portal that they can follow
through).  An arial battle takes place over the Outer Plane of your
choice, followed by a raid on the Tso fortress.  Where the adventure goes
from there is up to you (obviously), but they should get some adventuring
time on the Planes before returning to the familiar comfort(?) of the
spaceways.

Obviously this is really rough, but I hope you like the idea anyway.

Rich Gant