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Episode 2633: Painting the Target

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Improvising things out of random unpromising-looking gear is a great action trope that can be used to good effect in games. Some games have explicit rules for Tinkering or MacGyvering, possibly including a specific skill that characters can have to come up with unexpected cool gadgets using spare parts and random junk.

But even if your game doesn't have rules for this, you can still make good use of it. Describe random things lying around everywhere. If your players aren't the sort to naturally take advantage of this resource, make them obviously hinty at first. It can be as simple as a pit in the floor, too wide to jump over, and some planks of wood lying nearby. Keep providing things near any sort of obstacle.

Dont be tempted to make the helpful objects traps of some sort. If your players try putting planks across the pit, they should succeed for cleverness, not be punished by having them collapse when they're in the middle. That'll just discourage them from trying interesting things. You want to encourage them.

Once they start using discovered objects, make them a bit more difficult to adapt to the situation. For example a sleeping ogre to sneak past. In the room before are some pillows stuffed with feathers. People could pad their feet or armour (or both) with pillows to muffle noise, or use a pillow to try to suffocate the ogre without making too much noise.

Ultimately your goal should be that you don't have to think about what possible use the objects could be. You can have the heroes find a store room with jars of honey, an old pair of bellows taken from a forge, a chandelier hanging from the ceiling, and a broken marble statue with the arms intact and ending in hands in a grasping pose, and they will come up with something clever to do with that stuff.

Commentary by memnarch (who has not seen the movie)

Oh wow! And here I'd thought BB wasn't going to be able to do much. In fairness though, it's a little out there to expect that there's colored powder rockets on these random hijacked speeders. I really should have thought of this being a possibility too, given the clouds of yellow earlier.

No surprise that Rey manages to shoot this enemy out of the air though. If the machine's got to use a tread for movement, then it's gonna be on a ballistic trajectory after it gets ramped into the air. Even the distraction of driving a speeder wouldn't be bad enough to not line up a shot.

Speaking of lining up a shot, I think the question for the next comic is whether Chewie can take care of the jet troopers or not. Proper jetpacks would make it a lot easier for them to dodge, but there's also the two aerial explosions that are probably quite distracting.

Transcript

BB-8: Is there anything on this speeder besides us?
GM: Some sacks of food. Festive kites. A coloured powder canister. Bundles of sticks.
BB-8: The canister. What does that do?
GM: It’s designed to spray colourful powder into the air as people dance.
BB-8: I activate the nozzle... and set it on fire! Instant rocket bomb!
[SFX]: zzzt... zzzt... {BB-8 pokes at the canister with a spark torch}
GM: Hmm. Tinkering roll.
BB-8: 15.
[SFX]: fwssshhh! {the canister begins spraying powder, which BB-8 ignites}
[SFX]: fwoooosshh!! {the canister flies off the speeder, high into the air}
[SFX]: Kaboom! {... and explodes in a cloud of bright yellow powder}
GM: The treadspeeder driver is blinded!
GM: The speeder hits a rock ramp, launching into the air!
[SFX]: grunkgrunkgrunk...
[SFX]: grunkgruuuunk!!
Rey: I fire! 18!
[SFX]: Pow!
[SFX]: Kaboom! {treadspeeder explodes in mid-air}
Rey: Did you just improvise a bomb out of a party decoration?
Chewbacca: Truly the spirit of the festival.
BB-8: Celebration. Annihilation. The difference is really just a matter of degree.


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Published: Tuesday, 10 June, 2025; 02:11:07 PDT.
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