Airship Thoughts... [Archive] - Wizards Community

Airship Thoughts... [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
SomethingJaded
01-19-06, 09:42 AM Now, this is all fairly simple, and if it ahs been discussed already, my apoligies, I wans't able to locate this exact question.

If Airships are so great expensive due to their use of soarwood... why are these ships 300 feet in length? Did I read something wrong int he Explorer's Handbook?

The Storm Ship and Wind Galleon are about a third of this size, and you'd think it would be easier to make a sailing vessel larger than a flying one?

I'm sure Airships can come in a variety of sizes and designs, but I assume the stats given are the "norm" so there must be some reason?

Second curiosit... Soarwind 75% lighter than normal wood of its size, naturally boyant...
But how does this enable an airship to float in mid-air? They suggest more than ocne that it is the soar wood that allows an airship to remain in the air,even if the elemental is supressed... Is there some of magical property imbued here to make it simply stay afloat in mid air or am I again missing some subtext somewhere?

I have a character in the game I'm getting on its feet who is an airship owner, so we've been digging deep into understanding them well.

First post here as well by the way, so hope to talk more in the future with everyone about Eberron.
MarkB
01-19-06, 10:11 AM Now, this is all fairly simple, and if it ahs been discussed already, my apoligies, I wans't able to locate this exact question.

If Airships are so great expensive due to their use of soarwood... why are these ships 300 feet in length? Did I read something wrong int he Explorer's Handbook?

The Storm Ship and Wind Galleon are about a third of this size, and you'd think it would be easier to make a sailing vessel larger than a flying one?

I'm sure Airships can come in a variety of sizes and designs, but I assume the stats given are the "norm" so there must be some reason?
It's not canonical, but I'd say the elemental is the limiting factor. The components required to bind and control an elemental for aviation aren't actually significantly cheaper for Large or Medium elementals than they are for Huge ones. And since those systems are a large percentage of the total cost of an airship, it's uneconomical to build one around anything less than a Huge one, or to make the whole ship any smaller than the Huge elemental's reasonable propulsion capacity.
DwarfPcfan
01-19-06, 10:17 AM You're getting it right, it's the enchantments and the elemental that keep it afloat. With the price of a levitate spell it's easy to ee someone wealthy enough to own an airship having the gold to by a 1st level spell. The reason soarwood is so useful is the same reason airplane designers are always researching new alloys for the Nasa Shuttle and new airplanes. Lighter materials allow a more cost efficient flight. Even in D&D the biggeran object, the harder it is the levitate it from the ground, necessiting more powerful enchantments. With tose ideas and guidelines, your airship can be your own.

In regards to size. The explanantion is also easy. Most airships in circulation are owned by house Lyrandar and rich cats. Lyrandar uses thoses ships to carry a large number of passengers at a time ( like a boeing 747 plane) and rich people simply buy the bigest ships available to accomodate their inflated egos. It's not inconceivable from this view that you could own a smaller ship closer to a skycoach in the idea of a private helicopter or a jet ( cesna, boeing 757, etc)

And I'm proud to be the first to offer the welcoming hand to a new forum user. You'll get some great ideas and answers to questions. Just hope you don't get on too many peoples nerves like I did, God knows I'm paying for it constantly.

"My name is the Count of Monte Cristo, but my friends call me Edmon Dantes"
SomethingJaded
01-19-06, 06:50 PM Thank you for the responces, deffinately gave me something to chew on for a bit.

So with the idea one could make a smaller Airship, could it not be conventional in that a smaller airship may well be faster? or perhaps, more manuverable? Such as lowering its airworthiness stat, and raising its handling? This of course would also afect many other stats of the ship I am sure.

Maybe not faster though given Mark8's responce, as I can understand that larger vessels can harness larger propulsion, etc etc. I'm assuming it would be unsafe to bind a huge elemental to a small airship as well?

Thank you for the warm welcome as well DwarfPcFan, I won't get annoyed with you so long as you don't get annoyed with me.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
SomethingJaded 01-19-06, 09:42 AM	Now, this is all fairly simple, and if it ahs been discussed already, my apoligies, I wans't able to locate this exact question. If Airships are so great expensive due to their use of soarwood... why are these ships 300 feet in length? Did I read something wrong int he Explorer's Handbook? The Storm Ship and Wind Galleon are about a third of this size, and you'd think it would be easier to make a sailing vessel larger than a flying one? I'm sure Airships can come in a variety of sizes and designs, but I assume the stats given are the "norm" so there must be some reason? Second curiosit... Soarwind 75% lighter than normal wood of its size, naturally boyant... But how does this enable an airship to float in mid-air? They suggest more than ocne that it is the soar wood that allows an airship to remain in the air,even if the elemental is supressed... Is there some of magical property imbued here to make it simply stay afloat in mid air or am I again missing some subtext somewhere? I have a character in the game I'm getting on its feet who is an airship owner, so we've been digging deep into understanding them well. First post here as well by the way, so hope to talk more in the future with everyone about Eberron.
MarkB 01-19-06, 10:11 AM	Now, this is all fairly simple, and if it ahs been discussed already, my apoligies, I wans't able to locate this exact question. If Airships are so great expensive due to their use of soarwood... why are these ships 300 feet in length? Did I read something wrong int he Explorer's Handbook? The Storm Ship and Wind Galleon are about a third of this size, and you'd think it would be easier to make a sailing vessel larger than a flying one? I'm sure Airships can come in a variety of sizes and designs, but I assume the stats given are the "norm" so there must be some reason? It's not canonical, but I'd say the elemental is the limiting factor. The components required to bind and control an elemental for aviation aren't actually significantly cheaper for Large or Medium elementals than they are for Huge ones. And since those systems are a large percentage of the total cost of an airship, it's uneconomical to build one around anything less than a Huge one, or to make the whole ship any smaller than the Huge elemental's reasonable propulsion capacity.
DwarfPcfan 01-19-06, 10:17 AM	You're getting it right, it's the enchantments and the elemental that keep it afloat. With the price of a levitate spell it's easy to ee someone wealthy enough to own an airship having the gold to by a 1st level spell. The reason soarwood is so useful is the same reason airplane designers are always researching new alloys for the Nasa Shuttle and new airplanes. Lighter materials allow a more cost efficient flight. Even in D&D the biggeran object, the harder it is the levitate it from the ground, necessiting more powerful enchantments. With tose ideas and guidelines, your airship can be your own. In regards to size. The explanantion is also easy. Most airships in circulation are owned by house Lyrandar and rich cats. Lyrandar uses thoses ships to carry a large number of passengers at a time ( like a boeing 747 plane) and rich people simply buy the bigest ships available to accomodate their inflated egos. It's not inconceivable from this view that you could own a smaller ship closer to a skycoach in the idea of a private helicopter or a jet ( cesna, boeing 757, etc) And I'm proud to be the first to offer the welcoming hand to a new forum user. You'll get some great ideas and answers to questions. Just hope you don't get on too many peoples nerves like I did, God knows I'm paying for it constantly. "My name is the Count of Monte Cristo, but my friends call me Edmon Dantes"
SomethingJaded 01-19-06, 06:50 PM	Thank you for the responces, deffinately gave me something to chew on for a bit. So with the idea one could make a smaller Airship, could it not be conventional in that a smaller airship may well be faster? or perhaps, more manuverable? Such as lowering its airworthiness stat, and raising its handling? This of course would also afect many other stats of the ship I am sure. Maybe not faster though given Mark8's responce, as I can understand that larger vessels can harness larger propulsion, etc etc. I'm assuming it would be unsafe to bind a huge elemental to a small airship as well? Thank you for the warm welcome as well DwarfPcFan, I won't get annoyed with you so long as you don't get annoyed with me.