Soarsled ritual

Post/Author/DateTimePost
#1

meshon

Dec 02, 2009 14:12:57		My group just finished the "Mark of Prophecy" from the Eberron Campaign Guide, with that excellent Fight in the Skies encounter. Now of course the players want their own soarsleds. In 3.5 the soarsled was a permanent magic item but with a hefty price tag. It seems unlikely that Aric Blacktree would have a quarter million gold to spend on outfitting his goblins. There's also the fact that the soarsleds from the encounter vanish within half an hour. I thought the soarsleds might work as a ritually created item. Here's my draft, with notes following:

Soarsled

You conjure several glowing disks of energy that float just above the ground. As soon as you step on one it begins to move under your control.


Level: 3
Category: Exploration
Time: 10 minutes
Duration: 1 hour
Component Cost: 25gp
Market Price: 150gp
Key Skill: Arcana


This ritual conjures up to eight glowing disks of energy. Each one can be ridden by you or any other character you designate during the ritual. Any character riding a soarsled gains a fly speed of 8.


Soarsleds are only able to function within the Syrania manifest zone of Sharn. A soarsled that leaves the manifest zone immediately crashes.


Here's an explanation of some of my choices:


Leve is set because that's what level Aric is. I think it is reasonable based on the short duration and limited effectiveness of the soarsleds.


Component cost is average for the ritual's level, but also makes soarsleds an expensive option for getting around the city (where a skycoach holding just as many people would cost only 1gp).


Market price is comparable to other 3rd level rituals, but is pretty arbitrary.


I had considered making the duration and possibly the speed of the soarsleds linked to an arcana check, with ranges from 30 minutes to 2 hours, and speeds of 6 to 10, but I think that might be overly complicating things. I would also imagine that paying someone to cast the ritual for you would cost more than just the component cost.


I would love to hear any feedback. I have deliberately not statted the soarsleds as vehicles, since they are really just an extension of the rider's movement abilities.


One more question. Should powers that push, pull or slide be able to dismount soarsled riders? With a saving throw to avoid falling as usual.


cheers,
Meshon

#2

Gilo

Dec 02, 2009 15:33:49 		Making Soarsled a ritual is a good idea.

In way you could take the Phantom Steed ritual (level 6):
replace "eight horselike creatures" with eight Soarsleds and determine that under the Syrania manifest zone of Sharn the ritual gets an automatic 40 Arcane skill check (which gives fly).

Regarding Forced Movement: this is covered by the "Mount And Rider", "Fly:Move Action" in the DMG (p.46-48): forced movement doesn't cause dismount but getting knocked prone can - if you fail a save (followed by Crashing rules at page 48).

#3

RedRider

Dec 02, 2009 16:57:50 		Great idea. Soarsleds as items were pretty expensive for a one-area trick.
Soarsleds are only able to function within the Syrania manifest zone of Sharn. A soarsled that leaves the manifest zone immediately crashes.


Two things:


1: I'd choose not to restrict it to Sharn's manifest zone. Allow it to function in other Syrania zones, perhaps with the wording. "Soarsleds are only able to function within certain manifest zones of Syrania, such as the area around Sharn. (In addition to on Syrania itself)"


This would mean your PCs can fly around the Floating Obelisk of Xen'Drik in one adventure but you can nix them doing the same if you want a Syrania manifest zone without Soarsled capabilities.


2: Personally, I'd have the soarsleds dissipate (Causing the PCs to fall) rather than crash. Perhaps have them last one round outside the manifest zone as they crumble to twinkling motes of light.


(Without making it a core part of the ritual, you could also have a dramatic scene where a PC must make difficult Arcana checks to coax a little more time out of a sled as they reach for that nearby airship...)


One more question. Should powers that push, pull or slide be able to dismount soarsled riders? With a saving throw to avoid falling as usual.

Booting some scumbag off his soarsled and using it against his allies is too cinematic not to include!

You could rule that soarsleds fly down to catch anyone who falls off them unless a new rider occupies them. This keeps riders from dying cheaply from a controller's shove but does allow for dramatic matches to wrestle an enemy off his sled or a tricky manuver where an enemy is literally clotheslined off his sled only to have a PC jump on and hijack it.

#4

Madfox11

Dec 03, 2009 4:54:07
I would also imagine that paying someone to cast the ritual for you would cost more than just the component cost.


Great idea. The PHB already discusses this, at least with items. It is perfectly in line with expectations if the DM decides in an increase of price from 10 to 40%. The LFR campaign uses 20% as a base benchmark, which also mashes well with a component price of 25 gp since it becomes 30 gp.