How do they work, and what do they do?

Are shutters those things that keep the sunlight out? Are they lowered/raised or opened like a door? Will they provide cover from gunfire? Will they stop boarders from smashing through the windows?

Any tips for running the battle in here? (Second part of The House of Dust and Ash)

Darth Smeg said:

I think so, but they are not "opening sideways" but "up/down"...like a door turned 90 degrees inside of its frame.
They should provide cover & armour

but again..I am not a native speaker

if you have the same problem as me, try www.leo.org (if you are german)

I think so, but they are not "opening sideways" but "up/down"...like a door turned 90 degrees inside of its frame.

The word "retractable" sounds like they'd slide instead of hinge.

Thanks, cifer. I simply "over read" this. When I read "shutters" this "old style window shutters" come to my mind at once.

Perhaps, those are are more "segmented", like some modern day garage doors? Needly rolling into.. a roll.

I ran Dust and Ashes last week, didn't want the pirate attack to be to big of a challenge so I used the mook rules but I did up the number and had them attack in waves.

They especially targeted the crew for which I also used the mook rules so time really was of the essence.
The pirates main target were the heavy stubbers and every 3rd round they fired an RPG.

How my pc handeled it:
They sniped the RPG man after the second shot
The commanded the crew to go below
The adept gave Vymer 1st aid and thus befriended Vymer and Quill, which saved the assassin later on.

But for the most I used the encounter as a cool cinimatic battle...

Some further questions:

The description of the airship states it is about 40m long, yet the map of the observationdeck shows that the lower deck itself is over 100m long, unless I am reading the scale wrong. Which is right? Is there an errata for DofDG yet?

Oh, and what effect would an autocannon fired from the balcony have on the approaching wrecker-ship?

The description of the airship states it is about 40m long, yet the map of the observationdeck shows that the lower deck itself is over 100m long, unless I am reading the scale wrong. Which is right? Is there an errata for DofDG yet?

I'd assume the map to be right. This gives you the opportunity to use the different ranges of weapons to full effect, with basic weapons shooting across the observation deck having better chances than pistols while the latter shine in close combat.

Oh, and what effect would an autocannon fired from the balcony have on the approaching wrecker-ship?

Well... ouch.

You might want to think about adding a second wrecker ship and granting your players the satisfaction of shooting down one before the other comes into boarding range, using the blind spot directly behind the vehicle (no balconies on the backside at the impellors) to pull up to it before going alongside.

That's a great idea!

It'll allow me to run the encounter as intended, but still leave the Guardsman shining and pleased to have saved some serious bacon. He is still mulling over weather or not to bring his favourite toy, but this solution is instantly adaptable! Thanks

Taling about "the effect of an auto cannon"

Well.. this depends on how fast will the pc be able to find it in the cargo hold and get it out!

Seriously, I do not thinkt that this weapons will be allowed to be carried "during trip" since these are no "personal weapons" and the Captain might have reason to fear for the safety of his ship if he allows an obvius gun-nut to toy around with such things during flight.

But to give your "gun nut" the moment he bought this thing for:

Allow him to break into the hold (or search for the steward to open it for him), search it and then carry it "back on deck".

This will allow for some rounds of fighting for our other pcs... and allow your "gun nut" to have the fun of a clear and telling "final blow" on the pirate ship. If he manage to "wreck it", let the remaing "Wreckers" go into RAGE (as per talent) since it is now "conquer this ship or DIE" to them!

He would not be carrying it around, no.

It would most likely be stored, disassembled in his luggage the cabin. He would have some time to get it anyway, as the ships takes a while to get in range. Most likely, knowing the player, he would run to fetch it the moment the crew start mounting their heavy stubbers as a precaution.