Airships - Downloaded from the Wizards Community, all coding removed by Solauren

Airships

Post/Author/DateTime Post
#1
Akoo
May 09, 2012 23:42:50 I am starting a game with my group in a few months based around, as you probably guessed, airships. Piracy, swashbuckling, and all those goodies are going to be present, along with firearms.
I need help not only coming up with places to discover (you can cover a lot of ground in an airship, and I expect exploration to be a huge element), but with general mechanics and, well, whatever you guys can think up. I'm open to just about anything here!
I've come up with some basic ideas, but want some other opinions... and this seemed to be the proper place to go ^_^
Things I've pretty-much decided on-
*magic powers the ships
*Dwarves make ships
*wizards effectively slave (or at least tightly constrained) and used to provide spell power
*Guns present
*Stigmas for certain classes

Definitely need-
*Cost for a freaking airship.
*Damage for guns (I'm thinking powerful, but very slow reload)
*Cannon damage and effects

Running 3.5e, and very familiar with the system so I'm up for as many rules modifications as necessary! Also have just about every book, so no need to hold back on rules references.

Thanks for reading, please help me out
#2
phoenix_fire
May 10, 2012 0:11:23 I would check out the elemental airships in the Eberron campaign setting, and I think cannons are statted in Stormwrack.
#3
yellowdingo
May 10, 2012 9:49:20
HAUNTED SPACESHIPS

“The most common explanation - which we see in Solaris, Galaxy of Terror, Sphere, Blake's 7, and others, is that there is some kind of technology that manifests the contents of people's unconscious minds (this idea goes back to the Krell technology in Forbidden Planet). So people think they are seeing the dead, but they are just seeing what's in their own brains.” – Annalee Newitz, IO9

What she said. No, seriously you can put your ‘haunted spaceship’ into any D&D game, and I don’t just mean literally.

Generate a Haunted Spaceship

The Spaceship

Yes I know this is D&D, but spaceships have been in this game since Expedition to Barrier Peaks (oops, I should have said spoilers ahead).

1D10            Spaceship

Spaceship (Adrift in space, the ocean, Or wrecked on the land)

Steamship out of time (a big iron hulled steamship from the future or past).

Isolated Village (one of those annoying points of light you seem to never find until it is too late).

Abandoned City (This is like the village only really, really big).

Engine of the Gods (a giant crushing wheel of Doom).

Isolated Manor House (a Huge Manor out on a hill, lonely moors, etc.)

Deep Mines (forgotten to the past by the current miners).

The Fae Realm (The PCs are pulled into a new reality overlaying the regular one).

Nautilus (Captain’ Nemo’s Submarine beneath the sea)

The Graf Zeppelin (similar to the Nautilus but sails the sky)

The Haunter

In this case the remains of the crew are wandering the ship. This is pretty much the minion.

1D10            Haunter

Zombies

Ghosts

Robots

Aliens – monsters that are truly different from the regular encounter

Mirror Reality PC’s

Doppelgangers

Wraith

Dimensionally displaced Crew

Parasitic Infestation

Killer Plant

Krell Technology

An Alternate Reality Generator working off the Victim’s mind. This is the Source of the problem.

1D10            Source

Telepathic Brain in a Jar

Professor in the Brain Booster 10000

Alien Artefact of Awesome Irresponsibility

Psi-capable Predator (also known as the PSIREN)

Artificial intelligence – Literally a Machine Brain.

Active Dimensional Distortion

Elder Squid god (also known as the Despair Squid)

Downloaded Consciousness

Hallucinogenic Psychotropic Substance

Networked Parasitic Nanotech

Example of a Haunted Spaceship

Spaceship-10 (Zeppelin)

Haunter-2 (Ghosts)

Krell Technology-10 (Networked Parasitic Nanotech)

The Aeria Gloris

The PCs encounter a Great Airship (The Aeria Gloris) travelling through the clouds. Once on board they begin to be attacked by ghosts as they search through the superstructure. Of course there are no ghosts as they are infected by a nano-machine network so they see a common reality (in this case we will call it ‘The Dreaming’-a psi-plague that pops up now and then).

There isn’t a cure – you just have to survive 24 hours of freaking out and live the rest of your life with a psi-connection.
#4
Akoo
May 10, 2012 23:07:02 excellent, ironically enough those are two of the few I don't have, since I've run FR and never a sea game -_- From the excerpts I read I plan on acquiring Stormwrack, if not for the bombards just for everything I could pull out of there...
That haunted ship thing is sweet! Definitely going to make some interesting encounters/adventures with that! ^_^ keep 'em coming!
#5
bottomofthefoodchain
May 18, 2012 6:26:16 I´ve been thinking along the same lines of adding Zeppelins to a campaign, but running a world where magic isn´t as prominent i have decided the airships to be build by industrious dwarves, humans, gnomes and intelligent cattle :P This also gives the airship the added defence of a strategically aimed dispel magic won´t send it plummeting before it´s even of the ground.

Instead i´ve been looking into lightweight materials and spells that help bolster the ship, but can stand to be dispelled without catastrophic failure. As to building materials i´ve been looking into Darkwood and Mithral, half the weight of normal materials but really expensive, but no where near the cost of hiring a wizard to chaincast high-level spells onto a rock to make a flying citadel. as to spells i have looked into glass steel and proofing from combustion (from AD&D, spells and magic, a sixth-level spell that increases items safe vs fire and gives a weak dam red, but its permanent) For the power source i have found something called Gnomefire, from an old Dragonlance novel called The Dagonesti, the lost histories vol. III, which gives of great amounts of heat but small amount of smoke, its created, according to the book, from; Sulfur, Bitumen, Niter, Quicklime and a pinch of this and a pinch of that. Thats as far as i´ve come in the construction so far hehe.

As to the armament of the zeppelins, i´ve ruled out cannons because of weight and it probably would be tossed around like a ragdoll everytime it fired a broadside :P Furthermore a zeppelin probably wont come up against anything that needs the heavy barrage of cannon fire, afterall it just flies over castlewalls and dragons might be tough but can be harmed by more reliable and lighter balistas. My Zeppelin will probably have several archers and ballistas as armament and in case of castle breaching a contigent of specialized "para"troopers and smaller bombs to drop on the parapets.

Thats enough rambling from me, hope it helps or gives other ideas.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 Akoo May 09, 2012 23:42:50	I am starting a game with my group in a few months based around, as you probably guessed, airships. Piracy, swashbuckling, and all those goodies are going to be present, along with firearms. I need help not only coming up with places to discover (you can cover a lot of ground in an airship, and I expect exploration to be a huge element), but with general mechanics and, well, whatever you guys can think up. I'm open to just about anything here! I've come up with some basic ideas, but want some other opinions... and this seemed to be the proper place to go ^_^ Things I've pretty-much decided on- magic powers the ships Dwarves make ships wizards effectively slave (or at least tightly constrained) and used to provide spell power Guns present Stigmas for certain classes Definitely need- Cost for a freaking airship. Damage for guns (I'm thinking powerful, but very slow reload) Cannon damage and effects Running 3.5e, and very familiar with the system so I'm up for as many rules modifications as necessary! Also have just about every book, so no need to hold back on rules references. Thanks for reading, please help me out
#2 phoenix_fire May 10, 2012 0:11:23	I would check out the elemental airships in the Eberron campaign setting, and I think cannons are statted in Stormwrack.
#3 yellowdingo May 10, 2012 9:49:20	HAUNTED SPACESHIPS “The most common explanation - which we see in Solaris, Galaxy of Terror, Sphere, Blake's 7, and others, is that there is some kind of technology that manifests the contents of people's unconscious minds (this idea goes back to the Krell technology in Forbidden Planet). So people think they are seeing the dead, but they are just seeing what's in their own brains.” – Annalee Newitz, IO9 What she said. No, seriously you can put your ‘haunted spaceship’ into any D&D game, and I don’t just mean literally. Generate a Haunted Spaceship The Spaceship Yes I know this is D&D, but spaceships have been in this game since Expedition to Barrier Peaks (oops, I should have said spoilers ahead). 1D10 Spaceship Spaceship (Adrift in space, the ocean, Or wrecked on the land) Steamship out of time (a big iron hulled steamship from the future or past). Isolated Village (one of those annoying points of light you seem to never find until it is too late). Abandoned City (This is like the village only really, really big). Engine of the Gods (a giant crushing wheel of Doom). Isolated Manor House (a Huge Manor out on a hill, lonely moors, etc.) Deep Mines (forgotten to the past by the current miners). The Fae Realm (The PCs are pulled into a new reality overlaying the regular one). Nautilus (Captain’ Nemo’s Submarine beneath the sea) The Graf Zeppelin (similar to the Nautilus but sails the sky) The Haunter In this case the remains of the crew are wandering the ship. This is pretty much the minion. 1D10 Haunter Zombies Ghosts Robots Aliens – monsters that are truly different from the regular encounter Mirror Reality PC’s Doppelgangers Wraith Dimensionally displaced Crew Parasitic Infestation Killer Plant Krell Technology An Alternate Reality Generator working off the Victim’s mind. This is the Source of the problem. 1D10 Source Telepathic Brain in a Jar Professor in the Brain Booster 10000 Alien Artefact of Awesome Irresponsibility Psi-capable Predator (also known as the PSIREN) Artificial intelligence – Literally a Machine Brain. Active Dimensional Distortion Elder Squid god (also known as the Despair Squid) Downloaded Consciousness Hallucinogenic Psychotropic Substance Networked Parasitic Nanotech Example of a Haunted Spaceship Spaceship-10 (Zeppelin) Haunter-2 (Ghosts) Krell Technology-10 (Networked Parasitic Nanotech) The Aeria Gloris The PCs encounter a Great Airship (The Aeria Gloris) travelling through the clouds. Once on board they begin to be attacked by ghosts as they search through the superstructure. Of course there are no ghosts as they are infected by a nano-machine network so they see a common reality (in this case we will call it ‘The Dreaming’-a psi-plague that pops up now and then). There isn’t a cure – you just have to survive 24 hours of freaking out and live the rest of your life with a psi-connection.
#4 Akoo May 10, 2012 23:07:02	excellent, ironically enough those are two of the few I don't have, since I've run FR and never a sea game -_- From the excerpts I read I plan on acquiring Stormwrack, if not for the bombards just for everything I could pull out of there... That haunted ship thing is sweet! Definitely going to make some interesting encounters/adventures with that! ^_^ keep 'em coming!
#5 bottomofthefoodchain May 18, 2012 6:26:16	I´ve been thinking along the same lines of adding Zeppelins to a campaign, but running a world where magic isn´t as prominent i have decided the airships to be build by industrious dwarves, humans, gnomes and intelligent cattle :P This also gives the airship the added defence of a strategically aimed dispel magic won´t send it plummeting before it´s even of the ground. Instead i´ve been looking into lightweight materials and spells that help bolster the ship, but can stand to be dispelled without catastrophic failure. As to building materials i´ve been looking into Darkwood and Mithral, half the weight of normal materials but really expensive, but no where near the cost of hiring a wizard to chaincast high-level spells onto a rock to make a flying citadel. as to spells i have looked into glass steel and proofing from combustion (from AD&D, spells and magic, a sixth-level spell that increases items safe vs fire and gives a weak dam red, but its permanent) For the power source i have found something called Gnomefire, from an old Dragonlance novel called The Dagonesti, the lost histories vol. III, which gives of great amounts of heat but small amount of smoke, its created, according to the book, from; Sulfur, Bitumen, Niter, Quicklime and a pinch of this and a pinch of that. Thats as far as i´ve come in the construction so far hehe. As to the armament of the zeppelins, i´ve ruled out cannons because of weight and it probably would be tossed around like a ragdoll everytime it fired a broadside :P Furthermore a zeppelin probably wont come up against anything that needs the heavy barrage of cannon fire, afterall it just flies over castlewalls and dragons might be tough but can be harmed by more reliable and lighter balistas. My Zeppelin will probably have several archers and ballistas as armament and in case of castle breaching a contigent of specialized "para"troopers and smaller bombs to drop on the parapets. Thats enough rambling from me, hope it helps or gives other ideas.