How to Save That Train!

[SSgt Baloo]

Part of this thread: Natural Disasters: What are they and what can the heroes do?

 

Due to Earthquake, poor maintenance, villainous action or whatever, a train is about to derail. How (as a GM) would you handle this situation. How would the heroes learn of this in tome to prevent serious harm? Otherwise, how to mitigate the damage in the aftermath? Someone with more than a passing knowledge of railed transport, feel free to provide expert opinion. Everyone else is welcome to post inexpert opinions.

[Cancer]

Re: How to Save That Train!

 

I can only imagine two cases here. In both cases, you're trying to make sure that characters without Megascaled Speed can get to the event in time to do anything but perform triage. (IME, nothing pisses me off more about a campaign than when in-character table time is burned telling me about events that are "going to happen" and then invalidate the concept that anything could be done about them: Railroading. If you're gonna have something happen that my character can't do anything about, let me read about it in the newspaper. Oh, all I can do is watch helplessly? Hey, Thanks! I'll back to the office and do my day job. Just as fun, and at least I get paid for it.)

 

That said ... high-speed collisions are sort of speedsters-only events. Unless you can prevent them, no one else can do anything to affect the outcome.

 

(1) The heros are aboard the train, or otherwise in its immediate vicinity in some contrived way, as the accident starts to happen.

 

(2) The track is discovered to be sabotaged in some way that won't become apparent to any unwarned observer until the "accident" is about to occur.

[Hyper-Man]

Re: How to Save That Train!

 

This type of scenario is also what prompted my old idea for a 'contact TK' Advantage for STR to allow the Brick to affect a whole object the same way a character with TK can. Depending on campaign realism, a Brick like the Thing or Mr. Incredible should not be able to stop the train. They would more likely just end up smashing the lead car/engine since no braking force is being applied to the rest of the cars.

[kahuna's bro]

Re: How to Save That Train!

 

If tuff -man saw it hed 'call 911 to report it imeadiatly

[Matt Holck]

Re: How to Save That Train!

 

This type of scenario is also what prompted my old idea for a 'contact TK' Advantage for STR to allow the Brick to affect a whole object the same way a character with TK can. Depending on campaign realism' date=' a Brick like the Thing or Mr. Incredible should not be able to stop the train. They would more likely just end up smashing the lead car/engine since no braking force is being applied to the rest of the cars.[/quote']

 

Grab it by the tail and drag (apply breaks at the caboose)

That is what High Tower did when a roller coaster train was dropping to it's doom.

For a freight train, I picture the wooden ties snapping under feet of the brick as it plows a trench hanging onto the back car.

Several consecutive dexterity rolls be required to bring the train to a halt.

Other characters can help the brick back on its feet when it fails dexterity rolls

and/or find other ways to apply breaks near the end to the train.

[SSgt Baloo]

Re: How to Save That Train!

 

Grab it by the tail and drag (apply breaks at the caboose)

That is what High Tower did when a roller coaster train was dropping to it's doom.

For a freight train, I picture the wooden ties snapping under feet of the brick as it plows a trench hanging onto the back car.

Several consecutive dexterity rolls be required to bring the train to a halt.

Other characters can help the brick back on its feet when it fails dexterity rolls

and/or find other ways to apply breaks near the end to the train.

 

I'd have to apply Comic Book Physics in such a case. Otherwise, you're asking the last coupling on a train to support the braking forces of the entire train (and what prevents the superhero brick from tearing off two handfulls of caboose while the train careens down the track, it's speed hardly diminished at all?

 

[Matt Holck]

Re: How to Save That Train!

 

gold certainly wasn't heavy then

 

well,

that's why one games in a super hero team

other members can break different sections of the train

[Yansuf]

Re: How to Save That Train!

 

I'd have to apply Comic Book Physics in such a case. ]

 

And the problem with that is?

[Matt Holck]

Re: How to Save That Train!

 

physicals creates a sense of action in the momentum it carries

[BoloOfEarth]

Re: How to Save That Train!

 

I'd have to apply Comic Book Physics in such a case. Otherwise' date=' you're asking the last coupling on a train to support the braking forces of the entire train (and what prevents the superhero brick from tearing off two handfulls of caboose while the train careens down the track, it's speed hardly diminished at all?[/quote']

As a GM, if I set up a situation like a runaway train, I try and figure out one or two possible ways for one or more of the heroes to stop it safely. (Of course, the players will come up with two or three ideas I didn't come up with. But usually, at least one of them will be workable.) Since I set up the situation, I give the PCs some leeway in saving the day.

 

That said, I'm not sure I'd go so far as to allow some of the stuff from that cartoon, especially the bridge thing, unless it was that kind of campaign.

[BoloOfEarth]

Re: How to Save That Train!

 

Okay, it's not a train derailment, but...

 

The last time I did a train-centric adventure, it was a Speed ripoff, intended to keep the heroes busy while the villains were active elsewhere.

 

Utility rigged one of Chicago's elevated trains like the bus from the movie -- explosives set to go off if it dropped below a certain speed. He also killed the normal power to the train, with a device on the roof to allow the energy-projector hero (Synergy) to power the train, assuming he continuously Pushes his power. (This also tied up the team's healer, who had to keep feeding Synergy more Endurance.) Oh, and remember those spider-like robots from Runaway? Yeah, several dozen of them, with small explosive charges in addition to the acid/injector thing, were all over the train, so the other heroes had to deal with them (protecting the passengers, keeping them from blowing up car couplings, etc.) while searching for the explosives and then defusing them.

 

Overall, it was a great adventure.

 

For an actual (potential) derailment, I liked how they did it in Spiderman 2. Slowing it from the front, not too fast, and for story purposes requiring maximum effort and dedication from the hero involved.

[wick]

Re: How to Save That Train!

 

Or the way Hancock stop the train in his movie.

[Blue]

Re: How to Save That Train!

 

Well, there's the classic runaround by the villain where clues lead the heroes to learn this is going to happen.

 

"The note says 1 if by land... an obvious reference to Paul Revere's ride."

"And Revere is the name of the company that makes our subway system. Therefore the bomb is on a subway car."

"And the only train that arrives at a station at preciseley 1:00 is the express through Main Street station."

"Holy flying mamalian creature oriented euphamism! We have 8 minutes!"

"Quickly, to the unauthorized parody-mobile, old chum!"

[Myrlyn]

Re: How to Save That Train!

 

There is actually a Hero Adventure that has this exact scenario and several suggestions for slowing the train and how to handle things from a rules perspective. I believe it was Shadows of the City? The one with "The Pack" as the primary villains.

[Greywind]

Re: How to Save That Train!

 

gold certainly wasn't heavy then

 

well,

that's why one games in a super hero team

other members can break different sections of the train

Dr Ray Stantz: I think we'd better split up.

Dr. Egon Spengler: Good idea.

Dr. Peter Venkman: Yeah... we can do more damage that way.