Crew of an Airship [Archive] - Wizards Community

Crew of an Airship [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
Nived
08-20-05, 01:32 AM You know I read the Exploreres handbook... and maybe I missed it... but there's something I just can't figure out.

Other than the Captian, the Pilot, the Navagator, the cook, and maybe a magewright or artificer... what does the crew of a Airship (which seems sizable) actually do?

No really? There's enough room for over a dozen crew members... what is it they do?

They say a pilot can't handle one solo... but I just can't figure out why not.
Cloud Divider
08-20-05, 02:28 AM What you list is probably the minimum crew requirement to operate an Airship: Captain, Pilot, Navigator, and Engineer (Artificer/Magewright). The Cook is optional.

Assuming you want to run 24hrs/day, you'll need a second shift. So you went from 4 to 8 people. You'll quite possibly want at least one or two "marines" or other well-armed types (= "Security") available in case of emergency (air pirates, flying monsters, or whatever). That brings us to 10.

Let's say you want to carry passengers, in the kind of style that someone who can afford a 1000gp one-way ticket would expect. You'd definitely want a cook/bartender. Possibly a ship's surgeon/doctor. Probably at least one "stewardess" type attendant. That makes 13.

If you've got a well-armed Airship, you'd need to ensure that you can actually man all of the guns and still pilot the ship. Assume you've only got 2 guns (ballistae, whatever), and those Marines we hired two paragraphs ago are competent gunners, along with your alterday crew.

Depending on how cargo works, you may need a Super - someone who's officially authorized to enumerate and verify the cargo that's being shipped (that it's what it says it is, and that it wasn't messed with during transit). Ideally, they'd be relatively neutral. They basically do nothing other than handle the cargo paperwork. On an airship, they may also have enough of a Craft-Engineering or whatever background so they can ensure that the cargo is packed properly to keep the airship from being unbalanced (and doesn't shift in transit). 14.

Assuming your ship's got room for 20, that leaves you with room for 6 passengers.
Tek
08-20-05, 04:09 AM No matter what, there must also be two sailors cleaning the decks at all times. +4 to the crew!
ChronosCrow
08-20-05, 07:53 AM Some spoliers be warned, but they are rather vague.

Actually I've run into this exact same problem, many times. My players have been on many ships while being in Eberron which includes all pre-made advetures so far. That's one ship trip from Sharn to Darguun. One airship trip from Sharn to north Breland (and then crash). One undersea trip from Sharn to Xen'drik. And one ship trip down the Rachi River of Xen'drik. In most all of those cases I am given obligatory stats for most sailors, whom by the way suck in comparrison to the PC's but that's ofcourse a given.

The question proposed here is, since all these guys are cookie cutter same, WTF do these dudes do?!? I've mixed it up with bedazzling my players with the swabbies moving boxes around, to "swabbing" the preverbial deck, to sitting on their sweet behinds doing nothing but spending time doing, again, nothing.

I'm quiet sick of this problem, in fact that my players, whom I fear are going to see straight through the fact I've no idea what an actual crew does, may begin to feel (Oh my!) my crews are all the same, useless. If their useless in game to them, fine. Whatever, I just wish I knew what they were getting paid to do other than get to action during an emergency.

So I like the previous statment of specific positions, but that does not answer why there are 6 guys on an undersea ship with positively nothing to do other than cut a net when the stupid ship gets stuck.
Cloud Divider
08-20-05, 10:38 AM Another large "advantage" the airship has versus a conventional ship is that it has much less need for crew, from the outset. You don't need crew around to help mess with riggings and sails (you've got that nifty elemental ring for thrust). If Soarwood (or whatever) is what allows you to fly, you don't need crew waiting around to patch the hull - you'd do just as well just strapping a few dozen planks of the stuff into your hold, rather than patching the hull (like you would in a sea vessel - stopping leaks was a full-time job!). You don't have to worry about barnacles and other parasites eating the ship out from under you (so no keel-hauling...I guess you just toss them overboard).

Unlike a modern aircraft or powered sea vessel, the Airship really has a minimum of moving parts (and thus stuff that could break while you're moving). If, for example, you had the elemental control equipment have various arcane "wiring" running to the ring and other control surfaces, and these conduits had a tendency to burn out, then you've got some maintenance work to be done. Does the elemental containment ring need the ash (or whatever) periodically scraped off to prevent a fire? Does the ring actualy get partially consumed by the elemental? Make Whole, Mend, or any of the other "fix it" spells would certainly work for small portions.

The Artificers or magewrights are probably the most capable of actually performing any maintenance aboard the ship as it's needed. It's not something Joe Blow Sailor would likely be able to do.

What maintenance-intensive tasks that do need doing, can often be done in drydock, when the ship reaches it's destination. And even then, I can't think of all that much.

Ultimately, the only other reason I can think of having a huge crew on an airship is for a) security (maybe airborne threats ARE that common), and b) if things go wrong, you want as much manpower available as you can. The minimum "skeleton" crew is really quite small.
Hideous Phidias
08-20-05, 01:10 PM The crew of the an airship is made up of first the caption and officers. Then of the watch, people that act as look out for weather and other troubles. After these you have soldiers to attack other ships or defend thier from other borders. A crew of soldies for any weapons that the ship may have on it. Then a staff of people to wait on any the officers and any
guest. The last part of any good crew is the people that keep the shi hole and runiing. These people are carpenters, blacksmith artificers and other experts that fix any damage of the ship.
bookwurmneo
08-20-05, 01:37 PM Well, first you would have the "elites": the captain, the engineer, the medic, first mate and the navigator. Then you would have the second-tier: the cook and the pilots. Finally, you would have the grunts: these guys would be soldiers/ workers, taking care of the mundane duties aboard the ship. If the ship was expecting trouble then there would be marines and specialized fighter-types.

This would change depeniding on what type of ship it was. If it was a combat then their would be more marines. While, if the ship was passenger ship then the crew would have valets and attendants.
Nived
08-20-05, 02:44 PM Alright, a airship "Requires a crew of 15" (EBCS page 267) Assuming that includes officers... and we don't have overlapping duties (like say a Windwright captian who also functions as the pilot). We have something like this.

1 Captian
1 Pilot (assuming like the Beginner's Luck in the Explorer's Handbook there is only one who basically sleeps next to the wheel)
1 First Mate (assuming that the pilot nor the navagator is the first mate)
1 Navagator
1 Cook
6 Watchmen (lets say three 8 hour watch shifts with 2 men on watch) These guys are also likely your brawlers and fighters.
4 Engineers (magewrights, artificers, carpenters, etc to keep the ship running in the event of damage and just general upkeep)

Alright that gives us a 15 man bare minimum crew. Now if we allowed the captain/pilot overlap, and a first mate/navagator overlap we could add a few more engineers or deckhands as the 'bare minimun and I still think it'd make sense...

Alright I guess this makes sense.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Nived 08-20-05, 01:32 AM	You know I read the Exploreres handbook... and maybe I missed it... but there's something I just can't figure out. Other than the Captian, the Pilot, the Navagator, the cook, and maybe a magewright or artificer... what does the crew of a Airship (which seems sizable) actually do? No really? There's enough room for over a dozen crew members... what is it they do? They say a pilot can't handle one solo... but I just can't figure out why not.
Cloud Divider 08-20-05, 02:28 AM	What you list is probably the minimum crew requirement to operate an Airship: Captain, Pilot, Navigator, and Engineer (Artificer/Magewright). The Cook is optional. Assuming you want to run 24hrs/day, you'll need a second shift. So you went from 4 to 8 people. You'll quite possibly want at least one or two "marines" or other well-armed types (= "Security") available in case of emergency (air pirates, flying monsters, or whatever). That brings us to 10. Let's say you want to carry passengers, in the kind of style that someone who can afford a 1000gp one-way ticket would expect. You'd definitely want a cook/bartender. Possibly a ship's surgeon/doctor. Probably at least one "stewardess" type attendant. That makes 13. If you've got a well-armed Airship, you'd need to ensure that you can actually man all of the guns and still pilot the ship. Assume you've only got 2 guns (ballistae, whatever), and those Marines we hired two paragraphs ago are competent gunners, along with your alterday crew. Depending on how cargo works, you may need a Super - someone who's officially authorized to enumerate and verify the cargo that's being shipped (that it's what it says it is, and that it wasn't messed with during transit). Ideally, they'd be relatively neutral. They basically do nothing other than handle the cargo paperwork. On an airship, they may also have enough of a Craft-Engineering or whatever background so they can ensure that the cargo is packed properly to keep the airship from being unbalanced (and doesn't shift in transit). 14. Assuming your ship's got room for 20, that leaves you with room for 6 passengers.
Tek 08-20-05, 04:09 AM	No matter what, there must also be two sailors cleaning the decks at all times. +4 to the crew!
ChronosCrow 08-20-05, 07:53 AM	Some spoliers be warned, but they are rather vague. Actually I've run into this exact same problem, many times. My players have been on many ships while being in Eberron which includes all pre-made advetures so far. That's one ship trip from Sharn to Darguun. One airship trip from Sharn to north Breland (and then crash). One undersea trip from Sharn to Xen'drik. And one ship trip down the Rachi River of Xen'drik. In most all of those cases I am given obligatory stats for most sailors, whom by the way suck in comparrison to the PC's but that's ofcourse a given. The question proposed here is, since all these guys are cookie cutter same, WTF do these dudes do?!? I've mixed it up with bedazzling my players with the swabbies moving boxes around, to "swabbing" the preverbial deck, to sitting on their sweet behinds doing nothing but spending time doing, again, nothing. I'm quiet sick of this problem, in fact that my players, whom I fear are going to see straight through the fact I've no idea what an actual crew does, may begin to feel (Oh my!) my crews are all the same, useless. If their useless in game to them, fine. Whatever, I just wish I knew what they were getting paid to do other than get to action during an emergency. So I like the previous statment of specific positions, but that does not answer why there are 6 guys on an undersea ship with positively nothing to do other than cut a net when the stupid ship gets stuck.
Cloud Divider 08-20-05, 10:38 AM	Another large "advantage" the airship has versus a conventional ship is that it has much less need for crew, from the outset. You don't need crew around to help mess with riggings and sails (you've got that nifty elemental ring for thrust). If Soarwood (or whatever) is what allows you to fly, you don't need crew waiting around to patch the hull - you'd do just as well just strapping a few dozen planks of the stuff into your hold, rather than patching the hull (like you would in a sea vessel - stopping leaks was a full-time job!). You don't have to worry about barnacles and other parasites eating the ship out from under you (so no keel-hauling...I guess you just toss them overboard). Unlike a modern aircraft or powered sea vessel, the Airship really has a minimum of moving parts (and thus stuff that could break while you're moving). If, for example, you had the elemental control equipment have various arcane "wiring" running to the ring and other control surfaces, and these conduits had a tendency to burn out, then you've got some maintenance work to be done. Does the elemental containment ring need the ash (or whatever) periodically scraped off to prevent a fire? Does the ring actualy get partially consumed by the elemental? Make Whole, Mend, or any of the other "fix it" spells would certainly work for small portions. The Artificers or magewrights are probably the most capable of actually performing any maintenance aboard the ship as it's needed. It's not something Joe Blow Sailor would likely be able to do. What maintenance-intensive tasks that do need doing, can often be done in drydock, when the ship reaches it's destination. And even then, I can't think of all that much. Ultimately, the only other reason I can think of having a huge crew on an airship is for a) security (maybe airborne threats ARE that common), and b) if things go wrong, you want as much manpower available as you can. The minimum "skeleton" crew is really quite small.
Hideous Phidias 08-20-05, 01:10 PM	The crew of the an airship is made up of first the caption and officers. Then of the watch, people that act as look out for weather and other troubles. After these you have soldiers to attack other ships or defend thier from other borders. A crew of soldies for any weapons that the ship may have on it. Then a staff of people to wait on any the officers and any guest. The last part of any good crew is the people that keep the shi hole and runiing. These people are carpenters, blacksmith artificers and other experts that fix any damage of the ship.
bookwurmneo 08-20-05, 01:37 PM	Well, first you would have the "elites": the captain, the engineer, the medic, first mate and the navigator. Then you would have the second-tier: the cook and the pilots. Finally, you would have the grunts: these guys would be soldiers/ workers, taking care of the mundane duties aboard the ship. If the ship was expecting trouble then there would be marines and specialized fighter-types. This would change depeniding on what type of ship it was. If it was a combat then their would be more marines. While, if the ship was passenger ship then the crew would have valets and attendants.
Nived 08-20-05, 02:44 PM	Alright, a airship "Requires a crew of 15" (EBCS page 267) Assuming that includes officers... and we don't have overlapping duties (like say a Windwright captian who also functions as the pilot). We have something like this. 1 Captian 1 Pilot (assuming like the Beginner's Luck in the Explorer's Handbook there is only one who basically sleeps next to the wheel) 1 First Mate (assuming that the pilot nor the navagator is the first mate) 1 Navagator 1 Cook 6 Watchmen (lets say three 8 hour watch shifts with 2 men on watch) These guys are also likely your brawlers and fighters. 4 Engineers (magewrights, artificers, carpenters, etc to keep the ship running in the event of damage and just general upkeep) Alright that gives us a 15 man bare minimum crew. Now if we allowed the captain/pilot overlap, and a first mate/navagator overlap we could add a few more engineers or deckhands as the 'bare minimun and I still think it'd make sense... Alright I guess this makes sense.