How do you board an airship? [Archive] - Wizards Community

How do you board an airship? [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
Grimbot
07-07-05, 02:37 AM Or disembark? Based on the airship picture in the ECS, the ship would land unbalanced on its flaming central ring if it simply touched down. Ladders? What do you think?
Kaleanae en'i Mori
07-07-05, 03:11 AM Tower, tall towers with very long walk ways.
Guide D'Jorasco
07-07-05, 03:26 AM Yes, the towers are like a railroad station for airships. The airships dock and next to bridges in which attach to a specific part of the airship and forms a bridge.
Twinblades
07-07-05, 03:56 AM There's a picture on this month's previews page taken from the forthcoming Explorers Handbook which shows an airship docked at such a tower:

http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/iw/20050707a
Grimbot
07-07-05, 12:49 PM Thanks guys!
Siran Dunmorgan
07-07-05, 01:24 PM Looks like the um… well… airship docking towers actually used with Hindenburg- and Macon-class airships in the real world.

—Siran Dunmorgan
Edymnion
07-07-05, 01:35 PM Yup, they dock in the air the same way a boat docks in the water.
They don't get out of the water/air and sit on the dry ground, they pull up to a dock built in the middle of the water/air and us it normally.
Cutlass
07-07-05, 02:14 PM So far so good for the scheduled stops at regular "ports". However, one would also think that they would have rope ladders and possibly a winch/crane assembly that can be disassembled and reassembled at will to handle stops at places which do not have proper facilities.
Gurv
07-07-05, 02:58 PM One of the airships my players dealt with had a system much like the magical winches (http://www.wizards.com/dnd/images/sharn_gallery/84568.jpg) used on the docks of Sharn. Useful for lifting both cargo and people in a pinch. The airship captain complained that using it was inconvenient and used too much power, but the PCs shut him up by pointing out that the statue they needed to lift with it was made of solid gold.
joro
07-07-05, 03:09 PM One of the airships my players dealt with had a system much like the magical winches (http://www.wizards.com/dnd/images/sharn_gallery/84568.jpg) used on the docks of Sharn. Useful for lifting both cargo and people in a pinch. The airship captain complained that using it was inconvenient and used too much power, but the PCs shut him up by pointing out that the statue they needed to lift with it was made of solid gold.

Was that while the players were not at a port?
getyourspotusa
07-07-05, 03:19 PM Erm, with a larger/richer airship, for the more 'important' passengers, maybe a flying carpet?
Cutlass
07-07-05, 04:18 PM Flying carpets could work, functioning something like ship's boats would for a normal ship. They also might want to have an anchor equivalent as well. I would suppose that as airship designs evolve through time one might see later models with some sort of landing leg or skid arrangement.
Bluebrush
07-07-05, 05:14 PM If you're in Sharn, maybe even a sky coach.
EscherEnigma
07-07-05, 05:38 PM an anchor for an airship could simply be a bundle of immovable rods. I can't remember the weight of an airship or its cargo capacity, but I'm pretty sure that a few of these suckers 'ought to work as an anchor.

As for rope ladders... I'm not sure. Unless the airships consistantly can get relatively close to the ground safely (and with a burning fire elemental ring, I'm not so sure about that, not to mention obstacles like buildings or trees) that would have to be a really long rope ladder to be much use. I think of something more like the magical cranes in sharn as well for this, though they probably DO have a long rope ladder for emergencies, as well as a mundane disassembled crane. Yeah, the hit to cargo space for the crane, rope ladder, and enough (and think enough) rope to make the crane useful wouldn't be nice, but neither is having to make repairs in the middle of the wilderness when the only person who can make it to the ground and back up is the magically inclined.

Immovable Rod: This rod is a flat iron bar with a small button on one end. When the button is pushed (a move action), the rod does not move from where it is, even if staying in place defies gravity. Thus, the owner can lift or place the rod wherever he wishes, push the button, and let go. Several immovable rods can even make a ladder when used together (although only two are needed). An immovable rod can support up to 8,000 pounds before falling to the ground. If a creature pushes against an immovable rod, it must make a DC 30 Strength check to move the rod up to 10 feet in a single round.

Moderate transmutation; CL 10th; Craft Rod, levitate; Price 5,000 gp.
MarkB
07-07-05, 06:29 PM One of the airships my players dealt with had a system much like the magical winches (http://www.wizards.com/dnd/images/sharn_gallery/84568.jpg) used on the docks of Sharn. Useful for lifting both cargo and people in a pinch. The airship captain complained that using it was inconvenient and used too much power, but the PCs shut him up by pointing out that the statue they needed to lift with it was made of solid gold.
The airship in my Arrowhawk campaign has a detachable launch, whose 20-foot-square cargo lift can both rise up onto deck from the cargo hold and drop down through the base of the hull, lowering to ground level as the launch hovers a few feet off the ground.
Gurv
07-07-05, 10:09 PM Was that while the players were not at a port?
The party was traveling by airship when they sighted a sea-battle going on below. The airship captain (a less-than-brave Khoravar called Commander Charr) told them that if they wanted to use feather fall spells to dive into the fray, that was fine by him, but he wasn't going to "risk his vessel on merchant squabbles". They convinced him to watch for them on his return trip, and pick them up if possible, which is what happened. They boarded using rope ladders, but had acquired a stolen pure-gold statue in the meantime, which due to murderous pirates who had been dealt with in a like manner, had no current owners.

Thus, they needed a method for lifting extremely heavy cargo onto a flying airship without a docking tower or other docking equipment.
Cutlass
07-07-05, 10:32 PM The airship in my Arrowhawk campaign has a detachable launch, whose 20-foot-square cargo lift can both rise up onto deck from the cargo hold and drop down through the base of the hull, ...

If you don't mind my asking, does the launch have its own elemental ring or does it employ some variation on the fly spell to enable it to fly?
Owatkiam
07-07-05, 11:02 PM To the comments about the fire elementals torching things if they got too close... wouldn't they also torch the ship itself if their fiery aura is not somehow shielded within the ring?
Cutlass
07-07-05, 11:11 PM In the various novels that have been written, the description given is that while the ship is reasonably well protected from the effects of the elemental bound within the ring, actually touching the ring is a seriously bad idea.

So, if the ship actually "lands" the portion of the ship that would contact the ground first would be the ring itself (as the ship is within the ring). Whatever the ring came into contact with would catch fire if it were flammable, or melt if it could not burn. Thus the ring would catch whatever was on the ground on fire, and as fire tends to spread upward the ship would be in danger of catching fire from the ground as it spread out from the section of the ring in contact with the ground. Clear as mud?
MarkB
07-08-05, 03:37 AM If you don't mind my asking, does the launch have its own elemental ring or does it employ some variation on the fly spell to enable it to fly?
It has its own ring. Check the deck plan (http://homepage.ntlworld.com/m.blunden/dnd/fota/arrow.htm) here - the captain's launch is the rear-centre hull, designated the Dire Hawk.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Grimbot 07-07-05, 02:37 AM	Or disembark? Based on the airship picture in the ECS, the ship would land unbalanced on its flaming central ring if it simply touched down. Ladders? What do you think?
Kaleanae en'i Mori 07-07-05, 03:11 AM	Tower, tall towers with very long walk ways.
Guide D'Jorasco 07-07-05, 03:26 AM	Yes, the towers are like a railroad station for airships. The airships dock and next to bridges in which attach to a specific part of the airship and forms a bridge.
Twinblades 07-07-05, 03:56 AM	There's a picture on this month's previews page taken from the forthcoming Explorers Handbook which shows an airship docked at such a tower: http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/iw/20050707a
Grimbot 07-07-05, 12:49 PM	Thanks guys!
Siran Dunmorgan 07-07-05, 01:24 PM	Looks like the um… well… airship docking towers actually used with Hindenburg- and Macon-class airships in the real world. —Siran Dunmorgan
Edymnion 07-07-05, 01:35 PM	Yup, they dock in the air the same way a boat docks in the water. They don't get out of the water/air and sit on the dry ground, they pull up to a dock built in the middle of the water/air and us it normally.
Cutlass 07-07-05, 02:14 PM	So far so good for the scheduled stops at regular "ports". However, one would also think that they would have rope ladders and possibly a winch/crane assembly that can be disassembled and reassembled at will to handle stops at places which do not have proper facilities.
Gurv 07-07-05, 02:58 PM	One of the airships my players dealt with had a system much like the magical winches (http://www.wizards.com/dnd/images/sharn_gallery/84568.jpg) used on the docks of Sharn. Useful for lifting both cargo and people in a pinch. The airship captain complained that using it was inconvenient and used too much power, but the PCs shut him up by pointing out that the statue they needed to lift with it was made of solid gold.
joro 07-07-05, 03:09 PM	One of the airships my players dealt with had a system much like the magical winches (http://www.wizards.com/dnd/images/sharn_gallery/84568.jpg) used on the docks of Sharn. Useful for lifting both cargo and people in a pinch. The airship captain complained that using it was inconvenient and used too much power, but the PCs shut him up by pointing out that the statue they needed to lift with it was made of solid gold. Was that while the players were not at a port?
getyourspotusa 07-07-05, 03:19 PM	Erm, with a larger/richer airship, for the more 'important' passengers, maybe a flying carpet?
Cutlass 07-07-05, 04:18 PM	Flying carpets could work, functioning something like ship's boats would for a normal ship. They also might want to have an anchor equivalent as well. I would suppose that as airship designs evolve through time one might see later models with some sort of landing leg or skid arrangement.
Bluebrush 07-07-05, 05:14 PM	If you're in Sharn, maybe even a sky coach.
EscherEnigma 07-07-05, 05:38 PM	an anchor for an airship could simply be a bundle of immovable rods. I can't remember the weight of an airship or its cargo capacity, but I'm pretty sure that a few of these suckers 'ought to work as an anchor. As for rope ladders... I'm not sure. Unless the airships consistantly can get relatively close to the ground safely (and with a burning fire elemental ring, I'm not so sure about that, not to mention obstacles like buildings or trees) that would have to be a really long rope ladder to be much use. I think of something more like the magical cranes in sharn as well for this, though they probably DO have a long rope ladder for emergencies, as well as a mundane disassembled crane. Yeah, the hit to cargo space for the crane, rope ladder, and enough (and think enough) rope to make the crane useful wouldn't be nice, but neither is having to make repairs in the middle of the wilderness when the only person who can make it to the ground and back up is the magically inclined. Immovable Rod: This rod is a flat iron bar with a small button on one end. When the button is pushed (a move action), the rod does not move from where it is, even if staying in place defies gravity. Thus, the owner can lift or place the rod wherever he wishes, push the button, and let go. Several immovable rods can even make a ladder when used together (although only two are needed). An immovable rod can support up to 8,000 pounds before falling to the ground. If a creature pushes against an immovable rod, it must make a DC 30 Strength check to move the rod up to 10 feet in a single round. Moderate transmutation; CL 10th; Craft Rod, levitate; Price 5,000 gp.
MarkB 07-07-05, 06:29 PM	One of the airships my players dealt with had a system much like the magical winches (http://www.wizards.com/dnd/images/sharn_gallery/84568.jpg) used on the docks of Sharn. Useful for lifting both cargo and people in a pinch. The airship captain complained that using it was inconvenient and used too much power, but the PCs shut him up by pointing out that the statue they needed to lift with it was made of solid gold. The airship in my Arrowhawk campaign has a detachable launch, whose 20-foot-square cargo lift can both rise up onto deck from the cargo hold and drop down through the base of the hull, lowering to ground level as the launch hovers a few feet off the ground.
Gurv 07-07-05, 10:09 PM	Was that while the players were not at a port? The party was traveling by airship when they sighted a sea-battle going on below. The airship captain (a less-than-brave Khoravar called Commander Charr) told them that if they wanted to use feather fall spells to dive into the fray, that was fine by him, but he wasn't going to "risk his vessel on merchant squabbles". They convinced him to watch for them on his return trip, and pick them up if possible, which is what happened. They boarded using rope ladders, but had acquired a stolen pure-gold statue in the meantime, which due to murderous pirates who had been dealt with in a like manner, had no current owners. Thus, they needed a method for lifting extremely heavy cargo onto a flying airship without a docking tower or other docking equipment.
Cutlass 07-07-05, 10:32 PM	The airship in my Arrowhawk campaign has a detachable launch, whose 20-foot-square cargo lift can both rise up onto deck from the cargo hold and drop down through the base of the hull, ... If you don't mind my asking, does the launch have its own elemental ring or does it employ some variation on the fly spell to enable it to fly?
Owatkiam 07-07-05, 11:02 PM	To the comments about the fire elementals torching things if they got too close... wouldn't they also torch the ship itself if their fiery aura is not somehow shielded within the ring?
Cutlass 07-07-05, 11:11 PM	In the various novels that have been written, the description given is that while the ship is reasonably well protected from the effects of the elemental bound within the ring, actually touching the ring is a seriously bad idea. So, if the ship actually "lands" the portion of the ship that would contact the ground first would be the ring itself (as the ship is within the ring). Whatever the ring came into contact with would catch fire if it were flammable, or melt if it could not burn. Thus the ring would catch whatever was on the ground on fire, and as fire tends to spread upward the ship would be in danger of catching fire from the ground as it spread out from the section of the ring in contact with the ground. Clear as mud?
MarkB 07-08-05, 03:37 AM	If you don't mind my asking, does the launch have its own elemental ring or does it employ some variation on the fly spell to enable it to fly? It has its own ring. Check the deck plan (http://homepage.ntlworld.com/m.blunden/dnd/fota/arrow.htm) here - the captain's launch is the rear-centre hull, designated the Dire Hawk.