Clarion's Call, elemental airship [fire]
Gargantuan vehicle
HP 400 Space 6 squares by 20 squares Cost 92,000 gp
AC 4; Fortitude 20, Reflex 4
Speed fly 12 (hover), overland flight 15
Pilot: The pilot must have the Mark of Storm and must stand at the wheel of wind and water, typically at the rear of the airship. Reduce the airship's speed by 4 each round the pilot is not at the wheel. At fly speed 0, the airship flies out of control. If the pilot commanded the airship to stop, it may hover indefinitely without his presence.
Load: Twenty Medium creatures; 20 tons of cargo
Out of Control: An out-of-control airship moves forward at half speed. Each round, it has a 50% chance of descending. It descends 5 squares for the first 10 rounds it's out of control. After 10 rounds, it descends 10 squares per round. An out-of-control airship that hits the ground after descending more than 20 squares is destroyed.
Wheel of Wind and Water (Dragonmark Focus): The vehicle is equipped with a wheel of wind and water, which is the dragonmark focus for the Mark of Storm.
That's all I can muster. Any of you board lubbers care to improve upon the design? ARGH!
Btw, if anyone's interested in how the ship was repaired and it's elemental recovered, here's the DM's journal entry of the session last weekend.
Salvation Run
The outlanders, unable to plant the seeds of a revolution, decide to go ahead with their plan to steal the fire elemental back anyway, as well as rescue the priest Petchko. They make their way to the city's center under the masque of priests and soldiers, knowing that the ship will be waiting for them on the other side of town underneath the north bridge.
They arrive at the temple at the heart of the city, prepare an archway to serve as a portal for the kobold army, and proceed to the wailing room, where Petchko and the other heretics are being tortured before the ritual that will transform them from men and into shattered brethren, to be neither beast nor man.
They ask him if he wishes to be rescued, but the torture he has endured for the last few hours has broken him. He wishes for salvation, and will endure the ritual that will rob him of his humanity so that his soul can saved. He does reveal that Rega, another priest of equal stature to him, has the mitre that controls the elemental, and so the outlanders head towards the temple dormitories to find the head-dress.
They eventually come upon Rega's room, and successfully get him to leave the enchanted headgear behind by convincing him that Petchko has revealed another plot against the
church. He follows them out of the room, unaware that Varis has hidden out of sight. Varis attempts to leave the room, but forgot about the guards down the hall. They spot the mitre, and sound the alarm just as Rega is about to leave the building. The Warden from the present and Wyrmdiver accompany Rega to the Wailing Room in the central temple complex while the others stay behind in the dormitories to help the guards. The armed men chase Varis through the halls, eventually cornering the elf, who is unfamiliar with the layout of the building and finds guards at every corner he attempts to flee through.
When Varis sees the other outlanders arriving behind reinforcements, he surrenders and is knocked unconscious. The illusion is broken, and the guards are shocked to see an elf in their midst. While he is being escorted out of the building, the outlanders signal the kobold invasion, who come pouring into the temple grounds. Rega forgets all about Petchko, and summons a legion of undead to fight kobolds as soldiers are summoned from the military district in the adjoining neighborhood. Wyrmdiver hurls a fireball at Rega from behind as The Warden runs into the torture chamber to free Petchko. The other outlanders grab the Mitre and make a run for it as Vhaelruen leads his kobolds in the assault. Rega is outraged at the actions of Wyrmdiver, whom he believes is a priest, and is determined to capture another traitor. He summons up a lightning storm, striking Wyrmdiver, as well as several kobold warriors. Wyrmdiver retreats as Vhaerlruen charges at Rega, but his horse fails to trample the priest. Meanwhile, more soldiers are pouring forth from the barracks as Illyria puts on the mitre and summons the fire elemental to them.
Rega summons a giant scarab and gets on its back, taking flight away from Vhaelruen. He chases down Wyrmdiver, who continues to sling spells as the priest. The Warden attempts to free Petchko while simultaneously helping Illyria outside the building. Rega charges at Wyrmdiver with a great lance made of pure light, but is knocked off his mount by the wizard's spectral ram. The fire elemental comes flaring out of the temple and towards Illyria. Swarms of locust appear before Wyrmdiver at the command of the temple priests, so he uses his giant stone hand as a shield while Illyria commands the elemental to protect him. The locusts pop like moths to a flame, but then go after Illyria when the temple guardians realize she is a traitor. She then uses the fire elemental as a shield while she charges for the gate through the locust, with Varis and The Warden behind her.
Illyria orders the elemental to burn a path to the bridge for them as they make their way out of the temple district. The Warden, unable to free Petchko without himself becoming a martyr, leaves the priest behind and makes his escape with the others.
To get past the guards, The Warden summons forth his larger incarnation to carry him and Illyria through the guards as Wyrmdiver is grabbed by Vhaelruen and rides behind him. To keep up, Rega changes his form to that of a great Catoblepas, but even this mammoth can not catch up fast enough, for as the group exits the district Varis shoots the rope holding the counter weight to the portcullis and it comes crashing down, preventing priests and guards from the temple district from following them.
They manage to put some distance between themselves and the gate just before the flying scarab plucks Vhaelruen off his horse, bringing the elf high into the air as Rega crashes through the stone wall just ahead of them. The horse being uncontrolled, Wyrmdiver tries to grab the reigns but instead falls off, tumbling to the feet of the great mammoth Rega has become. Wyrmdiver risks a look into the beasts eyes as he uses the porcelain face in an attempt to stun the beast, but is instead nearly killed by meeting the creature's deadly gaze. Vhaelrun is dropped from the sky to his death as the scarab then goes after Varis. Illyria summons the ebon horse, leaping onto it from the giant warden's arms. She rides it as the three wardens turn back to face Rega. Vhaelruen is dropped from the skies, and lays dying on the ground, his body broken, as Illyria is grabbed by the scarab next.
The mammoth nearly stomps out the life of Wyrmdiver, who scurries over to Varis' dying body as The Wardens come charging in. The Catoblepas' form is strong, however, and all The Warden's can do is delay it as the others make their escape. Illyria wrests free of the scarab's grasp and falls to the ground. Suddenly, a Mark of Storm surges to life on her back, and she finds her fall cushioned by the raging air, though she is still severely hurt from her fall. Varis is revived from the brink of death and with the others he makes his way to the next gate, a pair of heavy wooden doors set ablaze by the fire elemental. The Warden grabs Wyrmdiver and tries to bull rush through the gate as Illyria brings up the rear. The fire burns them all terribly as Varis runs over the walls instead of through the gate. They run through the streets as Rega continues to chase them, and as they reach the next set of doors at the district's end they know they cannot possibly crash through it as they had before. They start scaling the crow's cages, iron cages used to display starving criminals until their bodies rot away, hung near the gates. While the Warden has an easy time of it, Illyria and Wyrmdiver struggle just as Rega catches up. He knocks The Warden with his tusks over to the other side of the wall, and proceeds to attack Wyrmdiver. Wyrmdiver manages to make it over without suffering further injury, but then Illyria becomes the focus of the priest's rage. She's knocked over, as is Varis, and they quickly compose themselves after the fall and continue down the streets of Zhukar.
They make it to see the fire brigade putting out the fire of the next gate, and notice they have left the water wagon unattended. They board it, and spur the horses to crash through the gate. They speed down the streets, and attempt to bull rush their way through the final gate. The horse team tramples through several of the guards, but the reinforced city gate does not give as easily as the district gate, and both horses break legs in the ensuing crash. The Warden shields the group with verdant foliage from the guard's attacks as they then once again use the crow's cages to make their way out of the city. Wyrmdiver manages to make it to the bridge before he falls to a hail of crossbow bolts. Varis, standing atop the wall, tries to give his allies cover, but is knocked unconscious after the others have made it across. The Warden turns back to rescue Varis from the wall just as Illyria makes it to the bridge, falling just within sight of her beloved ship as the guards on the outside of the city walls bring her down with their halberds. The Warden returns to the top of the wall, but Varis manages to regain the strength on his own to reach the bridge. He can't make it through the contingent of warriors, and he too falls. The Warden is all alone, but he manages to make his way to the bridge through a flurry of crossbow bolts and halberd strikes. He throws each of his unconscious allies onto the ship, where Vasco, the crew, and the fire elemental await them. The Warden himself barely makes it to ship, and it begins its course down river. The only one who knows how to bind the elemental and command the ship is unconscious, and the crewmen do their best to stabilize the dying and bring their captain back to consciousness. It takes what seems like forever, and as she comes to, they see smoke rising in the distance. Looking back towards the city, they see several wooden steam ships armed with cannons, ballista, and hurlers, led by an ironclad vessel, coming after them. Just as Illyria begins to bind the elemental, with the help of Wyrmdiver and Vasco, the Clarion's Call starts coming under fire. The Warden creates a patch of Sargassum that clogs the paddle wheels of the ships, giving the ship just enough time for the elemental ring to erupt into a vibrant halo of fire. The steam caused by the ship sitting in the river obscures the Clarion's Call from further fire as she rises into the air.
Just as the crew starts congratulating themselves on a job well done with their escape, a swarm of giant scarabs, each with a priest on it's back, is seen approaching from the city. Illyria has no choice but to navigate her ship into the misty border several miles east of the city before the zealots intercept them.
They arrive at the temple at the heart of the city, prepare an archway to serve as a portal for the kobold army, and proceed to the wailing room, where Petchko and the other heretics are being tortured before the ritual that will transform them from men and into shattered brethren, to be neither beast nor man.
They ask him if he wishes to be rescued, but the torture he has endured for the last few hours has broken him. He wishes for salvation, and will endure the ritual that will rob him of his humanity so that his soul can saved. He does reveal that Rega, another priest of equal stature to him, has the mitre that controls the elemental, and so the outlanders head towards the temple dormitories to find the head-dress.
They eventually come upon Rega's room, and successfully get him to leave the enchanted headgear behind by convincing him that Petchko has revealed another plot against the
church. He follows them out of the room, unaware that Varis has hidden out of sight. Varis attempts to leave the room, but forgot about the guards down the hall. They spot the mitre, and sound the alarm just as Rega is about to leave the building. The Warden from the present and Wyrmdiver accompany Rega to the Wailing Room in the central temple complex while the others stay behind in the dormitories to help the guards. The armed men chase Varis through the halls, eventually cornering the elf, who is unfamiliar with the layout of the building and finds guards at every corner he attempts to flee through.
When Varis sees the other outlanders arriving behind reinforcements, he surrenders and is knocked unconscious. The illusion is broken, and the guards are shocked to see an elf in their midst. While he is being escorted out of the building, the outlanders signal the kobold invasion, who come pouring into the temple grounds. Rega forgets all about Petchko, and summons a legion of undead to fight kobolds as soldiers are summoned from the military district in the adjoining neighborhood. Wyrmdiver hurls a fireball at Rega from behind as The Warden runs into the torture chamber to free Petchko. The other outlanders grab the Mitre and make a run for it as Vhaelruen leads his kobolds in the assault. Rega is outraged at the actions of Wyrmdiver, whom he believes is a priest, and is determined to capture another traitor. He summons up a lightning storm, striking Wyrmdiver, as well as several kobold warriors. Wyrmdiver retreats as Vhaerlruen charges at Rega, but his horse fails to trample the priest. Meanwhile, more soldiers are pouring forth from the barracks as Illyria puts on the mitre and summons the fire elemental to them.
Rega summons a giant scarab and gets on its back, taking flight away from Vhaelruen. He chases down Wyrmdiver, who continues to sling spells as the priest. The Warden attempts to free Petchko while simultaneously helping Illyria outside the building. Rega charges at Wyrmdiver with a great lance made of pure light, but is knocked off his mount by the wizard's spectral ram. The fire elemental comes flaring out of the temple and towards Illyria. Swarms of locust appear before Wyrmdiver at the command of the temple priests, so he uses his giant stone hand as a shield while Illyria commands the elemental to protect him. The locusts pop like moths to a flame, but then go after Illyria when the temple guardians realize she is a traitor. She then uses the fire elemental as a shield while she charges for the gate through the locust, with Varis and The Warden behind her.
Illyria orders the elemental to burn a path to the bridge for them as they make their way out of the temple district. The Warden, unable to free Petchko without himself becoming a martyr, leaves the priest behind and makes his escape with the others.
To get past the guards, The Warden summons forth his larger incarnation to carry him and Illyria through the guards as Wyrmdiver is grabbed by Vhaelruen and rides behind him. To keep up, Rega changes his form to that of a great Catoblepas, but even this mammoth can not catch up fast enough, for as the group exits the district Varis shoots the rope holding the counter weight to the portcullis and it comes crashing down, preventing priests and guards from the temple district from following them.
They manage to put some distance between themselves and the gate just before the flying scarab plucks Vhaelruen off his horse, bringing the elf high into the air as Rega crashes through the stone wall just ahead of them. The horse being uncontrolled, Wyrmdiver tries to grab the reigns but instead falls off, tumbling to the feet of the great mammoth Rega has become. Wyrmdiver risks a look into the beasts eyes as he uses the porcelain face in an attempt to stun the beast, but is instead nearly killed by meeting the creature's deadly gaze. Vhaelrun is dropped from the sky to his death as the scarab then goes after Varis. Illyria summons the ebon horse, leaping onto it from the giant warden's arms. She rides it as the three wardens turn back to face Rega. Vhaelruen is dropped from the skies, and lays dying on the ground, his body broken, as Illyria is grabbed by the scarab next.
The mammoth nearly stomps out the life of Wyrmdiver, who scurries over to Varis' dying body as The Wardens come charging in. The Catoblepas' form is strong, however, and all The Warden's can do is delay it as the others make their escape. Illyria wrests free of the scarab's grasp and falls to the ground. Suddenly, a Mark of Storm surges to life on her back, and she finds her fall cushioned by the raging air, though she is still severely hurt from her fall. Varis is revived from the brink of death and with the others he makes his way to the next gate, a pair of heavy wooden doors set ablaze by the fire elemental. The Warden grabs Wyrmdiver and tries to bull rush through the gate as Illyria brings up the rear. The fire burns them all terribly as Varis runs over the walls instead of through the gate. They run through the streets as Rega continues to chase them, and as they reach the next set of doors at the district's end they know they cannot possibly crash through it as they had before. They start scaling the crow's cages, iron cages used to display starving criminals until their bodies rot away, hung near the gates. While the Warden has an easy time of it, Illyria and Wyrmdiver struggle just as Rega catches up. He knocks The Warden with his tusks over to the other side of the wall, and proceeds to attack Wyrmdiver. Wyrmdiver manages to make it over without suffering further injury, but then Illyria becomes the focus of the priest's rage. She's knocked over, as is Varis, and they quickly compose themselves after the fall and continue down the streets of Zhukar.
They make it to see the fire brigade putting out the fire of the next gate, and notice they have left the water wagon unattended. They board it, and spur the horses to crash through the gate. They speed down the streets, and attempt to bull rush their way through the final gate. The horse team tramples through several of the guards, but the reinforced city gate does not give as easily as the district gate, and both horses break legs in the ensuing crash. The Warden shields the group with verdant foliage from the guard's attacks as they then once again use the crow's cages to make their way out of the city. Wyrmdiver manages to make it to the bridge before he falls to a hail of crossbow bolts. Varis, standing atop the wall, tries to give his allies cover, but is knocked unconscious after the others have made it across. The Warden turns back to rescue Varis from the wall just as Illyria makes it to the bridge, falling just within sight of her beloved ship as the guards on the outside of the city walls bring her down with their halberds. The Warden returns to the top of the wall, but Varis manages to regain the strength on his own to reach the bridge. He can't make it through the contingent of warriors, and he too falls. The Warden is all alone, but he manages to make his way to the bridge through a flurry of crossbow bolts and halberd strikes. He throws each of his unconscious allies onto the ship, where Vasco, the crew, and the fire elemental await them. The Warden himself barely makes it to ship, and it begins its course down river. The only one who knows how to bind the elemental and command the ship is unconscious, and the crewmen do their best to stabilize the dying and bring their captain back to consciousness. It takes what seems like forever, and as she comes to, they see smoke rising in the distance. Looking back towards the city, they see several wooden steam ships armed with cannons, ballista, and hurlers, led by an ironclad vessel, coming after them. Just as Illyria begins to bind the elemental, with the help of Wyrmdiver and Vasco, the Clarion's Call starts coming under fire. The Warden creates a patch of Sargassum that clogs the paddle wheels of the ships, giving the ship just enough time for the elemental ring to erupt into a vibrant halo of fire. The steam caused by the ship sitting in the river obscures the Clarion's Call from further fire as she rises into the air.
Just as the crew starts congratulating themselves on a job well done with their escape, a swarm of giant scarabs, each with a priest on it's back, is seen approaching from the city. Illyria has no choice but to navigate her ship into the misty border several miles east of the city before the zealots intercept them.
Other crew members could be doing important things such as: Cleaning. Preparing food. Seeing to the need of guests. Standing watch for any incoming aerial attacks.
But I do not believe they are needed to keep the ship functioning.
IF it's just the pilot, then we should implement the binding strut weakness. If they are each destroyed or damaged, the elemental becomes out of control. Perhaps we can also put in a wheel of wind and water navigating focus, but then again, an airship is not built for planar travel. Agh!
As for the space, any suggestions? In 3e, the average airship was 90 ft by 300 ft, height being 50 ft. But in 4e, the space for vesels are drastically reduced. Also, should we implement the old 3d8 dmg from proximity to the ring itself? Thoughts?
For other vessels, any old 5 crewmembers can do.
And if you're boarded and the one Storm marked pilot is killed? Well now you're screwed.
I'd probably make a small, fast airship something like 5 squares wide, and 40 squares long, so 25 by 200 feet, with a height of 30 feet or 6 squares.
And yeah, I'd probably keep the proximity-to-rings thing. It's cool
The balance is the *requirement* of a Dragonmark. Otherwise you can't run the ship.
For other vessels, any old 5 crewmembers can do.
And if you're boarded and the one Storm marked pilot is killed? Well now you're screwed.
I'd probably make a small, fast airship something like 5 squares wide, and 40 squares long, so 25 by 200 feet, with a height of 30 feet or 6 squares.
And yeah, I'd probably keep the proximity-to-rings thing. It's cool
IIRC, it was possible to operate the ship with a variety of skill checks involving you dealing with the bound elemental. I'd imagine that in 4E, it would be a skill challenge or a series of skill checks keying heavily off of Arcana, Diplomacy, and Intimidation. Having a Dragonmark allows you to simply take command of the elemental and force it to do what you want it to with much less hassle and much more reliability.
Although if you really want the players to fail and have the vessel crash for some good ol' fashioned survivor-esque fun...
The balance is the *requirement* of a Dragonmark. Otherwise you can't run the ship.
For other vessels, any old 5 crewmembers can do.
And if you're boarded and the one Storm marked pilot is killed? Well now you're screwed.
I'd probably make a small, fast airship something like 5 squares wide, and 40 squares long, so 25 by 200 feet, with a height of 30 feet or 6 squares.
And yeah, I'd probably keep the proximity-to-rings thing. It's cool
You're absolutely right. Amended my OP. I made its space 6 squares by 20 (30x100), as I see that Serjanus divided the average airship's space into thirds. Maybe 30x100 is too small? How about 60x200? WHat do you think of the new speed? To much? What would be its new overland flight speed?
I think you need to make it clearer in the Pilot and Wheel entries that the pilot must have a Mark of Storm to use it. There should also be some sort of privision for hovering, which airships are capable of doing, without the Pilot at the helm.
Like...
Pilot: The pilot must have the Mark of Storm and must stand at the wheel of wind and water, typically at the rear of the airship. Reduce the airship's speed by 4 each round the pilot is not at the wheel. At fly speed 0, the airship flies out of control. If the pilot commanded the airship to stop, it may hover indefinately without his precence.
As for the speed, that's all good. However, I don't recall offhand the overland speed to Miles per Hour ratio. For an extremely fast ship, I'd make it 40 miles per hour. I seem to recall normal airships going 30.
really, the size can be anything you want. My only limitation, as DM, would be "Make it interesting to fight on". A battleground of 6 by 20 squares is pretty decent, so I think that's fine.
I think you need to make it clearer in the Pilot and Wheel entries that the pilot must have a Mark of Storm to use it. There should also be some sort of privision for hovering, which airships are capable of doing, without the Pilot at the helm.
Like...
Pilot: The pilot must have the Mark of Storm and must stand at the wheel of wind and water, typically at the rear of the airship. Reduce the airship's speed by 4 each round the pilot is not at the wheel. At fly speed 0, the airship flies out of control. If the pilot commanded the airship to stop, it may hover indefinately without his precence.
As for the speed, that's all good. However, I don't recall offhand the overland speed to Miles per Hour ratio. For an extremely fast ship, I'd make it 40 miles per hour. I seem to recall normal airships going 30.
Fixed. Thx. :D