AideenFB's page

Having been running games for several decades, as the DM you don't even technically need to roll any dice.... It is part and parcel of what is known as DM's perogative. If for whatever reason you decide that having a monster hit or miss in any given situation will add to the drama of the scene, and help to create a better story. Then the dice are not necessary, and it is within your right as the Game Master to simply choose to not roll them. In fact, in my opinion it's probably better that you just roll a random die behind the screen for the sound effect and tell the players what happens.

Obviously this isn't something you want to be doing except when there is a very good reason for something to happen a certain way which creates a more compelling and entertaining story. That is the job of the Game Master afterall. I do not recommend making a habit of ignoring established game mechanics like this, but there are times when how things play out shouldn't be left to chance. So... do I fudge rolls? Not anymore, but then I don't always make the roll to begin with either.
;)

You were relative to the bird when it dropped it's bomb. :P

WhiteWeasel wrote:

Aphelion is the location of an orbit where an object is furthest from it's parent body, and perihelion is the nearest.

-helion refers to the sun, i.e. a solar orbit. Apoapsis and periapsis are the terms for general orbits. [/pedant]

To continue:)

Actually has nothing to do with the vertical axis of anything except the observer, and is entirely relative to the observers orientation in relation to whatever rock you happen to be standing on. When that bird crap landed on your head.... he let it go while at your zenith.... [/Extra Pedant]

Okay, so what did you use for the skill levels of thea crew of the larger ships? Saying you put higher level characters into the fighters is great, but it frankly sounds like you intentionally padded the results of the test by doing so. Did you account for a full crew in the larger ships with equivalent skill modifiers, and have them use all of their available actions as appropriate?