Here's an idea I had today. Its an article about the appearance of Elven ships throughout Spelljammer. Its nowhere near done, and probably needs some work, but here's the first part that I've done. Lots more books to do!
Adam
Leaves in the Wind
An Analysis of Elven Ships
Spelljammer is perhaps most remembered for its animal-shaped ships. Of these, few are as remembered and revered as the butterfly-shaped elven ships. Grown from the mystical Starfly Plants, these living ships have held an unshakable presence in Spelljamming. No less than seventeen ships, all variations on the same basic theme, have found their way into a host of Spelljammer books, comics, and related gaming material.
Lorebook of the Void
The basic theme of the elven ship, that of a green, butterfly-shaped ship that is grown, rather than built, first appears in Spelljammer, AD&D Adventures in Space boxed set. The Lorebook of the Void book details three such ships, the one-ton flitter, the sixty-ton warship Man-O-War, and the one-hundred ton ship-of-the-line Armada. These ships will reappear time and again, in various forms and configurations.
The flitter is the smallest standard ship that can carry a helm, and is described as uncomfortable to fly in for long. It is five feet wide by twenty feet long. Size-wise, this makes it about as large as a small RV or school bus, with likely an uncomfortably low roof. For short elves, some of whom are only four and a half feet tall, this might be manageable. Images of the flitter are somewhat contradictory. The image on page 15 of Lorebook of the Void shows only the flitter's belly, not its topside and gives no clue to its size in relation to a pilot. The image on page 33 of WCC shows a flitter that is more on par with a small rowboat, with a crewman sitting in the craft's head and another in the body. Both men sit very high on the ship, implying that the interior is either solid or packed with cargo. Both depictions of the flitter are perfectly valid, as flitters are grown in such numbers that variations are bound to arise.
The Man-O-War is perhaps the most iconic image of the "elven ship", spawning the most numerous variations on the same basic theme. The Man-O-War is shaped much like the flitter, only scaled up to a modest-sized warship. The most obvious difference is the wings. Whereas on the flitter they were much like those of a butterfly, the Man-O-War's wings are twisted back into a very odd shape, almost as if they were lining a bowl somehow. They have an ethereal quality to them, as they appear to lack a mast of any sort to support them. The actual size of the ship is somewhat in dispute, as the ship listing states that the keel is 200’ long, while the actual deckplans are merely 150’ in length. Generally, deckplans are considered more accurate, as a Man-O-War fifty feet longer would appear stretched and thin.
The deckplans for the ship make it appear somewhat small, with three narrow decks. The ship is well armed with four medium weapons, which implies a ship that attempts to stay at range and use its weapons to grind a ship to dust. It is implied, though rarely actually shown in ship write-ups, that these ships tend to carry a larger than normal compliment of wizards. The Man-O-War’s appearance has remained consistence throughout the various art pieces it has appeared in. Though a work-horse of the Elvish Imperial Fleet, these ships have made their way into the hands of adventurers (a fan favorite, to be certain!), merchants, illithids, and even the drow.
The largest and most powerful elven ship is without question the Armada. This behemoth of a ship is 300’ long, 30’ wide, and weighs in at one hundred tons. There are no official deckplans for this ship, so the exact layout is a bit mysterious. Likewise, the actual game statistics for the ship, while very impressive, actually manage to both break many Spelljammer rules as well as create serious issues in regard to staffing. The ship is presented as somewhat a cross between a battleship, as the ship carries an impressive twelve heavy weapons, and an aircraft carrier, as no less than forty flitters are carried within its hull. Where the problems arise is that between the crew needed to actually sail the ship, those needed to man the weapons, and pilots for the flitters (and possibly an archer or wizard to act as the flitter’s weapon, as it has none), the necessary crew approaches two hundred, twice what the ship typically has! Obviously, either a mistake was made in the ship’s statistics, or powerful magic is necessary to keep the ship running smoothly.
The Armada is the sole property of the Elven Imperial Fleet; ownership by anyone else is punishable by death. It is purely a warship. Some carry large, dwarf-like castles on their backs, which are used by sphere admirals as their flagships. A rumored variation, the “Gypsy Moth”, is said to have a black crystal dome on its back in place of a castle, and is said to be owned by the drow.
Armadas have appeared four times in Spelljammer artwork, each with variations with each other. The best picture of an Armada is on page 45 of Lorebook of the Void, which shows the ship’s front profile. This image shows a ship with the narrow body of a butterfly with enormous wings that soar high above the gravity plane and flatten into landing decks for the many flitters. A large castle, easily three times as wide as the Armada’s main body, rests on its back, supported by gossamer supports that anchor it to the Armada’s body. The Armada is also depicted in the ship cards that came with the Spelljammer boxed set. This image is a side profile of what appears to be a shorter, broader ship. The castle is set much higher as well. An Armada appeared on the Realmspace map, this time seen from the aft-quarter. The body appears to be much broader while the abdomen is much narrower and shorter. The castle appears once more, as a set of four towers in a box-like pattern. The final time we see the Armada is in the Ship Reconnection Manual, this time in side profile. This time, the ship is more insect-like than before, with the head and abdomen bent downward. The wings are not as wide-sweeping as before, almost perpendicular to the side profile, and the castle sits much lower.
Skull & Crossbows
The Skull and Crossbows adventure reveals behind the mysterious “Gypsy Moth” Armada with the Monarch-class Armada. These were older ships, grown prior to the First Unhuman Wars, after which they were abandoned. Only six were ever grown, and three can be accounted for in official materials. Two are in the hands of the drow nations of Eternal Night and Black Widows, while the third still serves in the Elven Fleet in Realmspace. The Monarch Armadas are enormous, even larger than the standard Armada due to fifty-foot width. These ships approach the size of the earliest air craft carriers! The most notable difference between the Monarch and the standard Armada is that the layout is more linear, with purely butterfly-like wings laid out on the gravity plane, and a body that is much beefier and wider than angular and insect-like. Like the later Armada, the Monarch acts like a modern aircraft carrier with flitters replacing fighter planes.
The deckplans of the Monarch show one large, open deck that runs from stem to stern. This serves as a hanger for flitters, just like on an aircraft carrier, with the bridge up front. This level is only shown in side profile, so it is assumed the whole space is open, with no side alcoves or rooms. Above this space is a trio of staggered decks inside the ship’s hull, and a small domed room at top to serve as the throne room of the drow’s Matriarch. Unlike the standard Armada, the Monarch carries a smaller number of flitters and weapons. This actually puts this ship more in line with standard Spelljammer ships than the standard Armada.
From the history of the Monarch, we can glean that the Armada from Lorebook of the Void is a relatively recent ship. It is not known if there was an even less powerful Armada that preceded the Monarch, although it is not likely. We can speculate that the Monarchs served the Elven Fleet as their flagships in the days prior to the First Unhuman Wars, and that sometime during or after those wars the standard Armada were first launched. Given the small number of Monarchs, this implies that the Elven Fleet was not very large at that time, or they relied on other, smaller ships.
Spelljammer Comics
An Armada appears in issue 13 of the Spelljammer comics. This is an Armada unlike any other. The ship is truly colossal, as a smalljammer, a 25-ton ship, not only easily lands atop the ship, but it can be moved and hidden on the top deck that very same ship. The artwork shows the Armada completely dwarfing the ship, implying a size much greater than the standard three hundred feet long! This Armada appears more a large city than a ship, with a marketplace, gardens, dance hall (complete with caged, scantily clad elves dancing suggestively), and a temple. Obviously, either this ship is immobile, or has means of movement that go far beyond the Spelljammer rules. I suggest this particular Armada is a single, immobile city, perhaps the result of elvish experiments. It now serves as a center of commerce and trade for elves and their allies, an elven equivalent to the Rock of Bral.
Spelljammer Comics
Two elven ships appear in the Spelljammer Comics. A Man-O-War appears in issues 9 and 12, and an Armada appears the very next issue.
A Man-O-War briefly appears in issue 9 of the Spelljammer comics. It is a freebooter ship hired by the story’s heroine while under the influences of a geas. Its appearance is almost identical to the standard Man-O-War, with slight variations in coloration. There is no reason to believe this is the same class as the modern vessel, perhaps from one of the earliest crops, given the story takes place in the distant past. A flitter is also briefly seen in the background of one frame.
In issue 12 of the Spelljammer Comics, a member of the crew, Jasmine, is captured by Pirates of Gith operating a Man-O-War. The appearance and general size of this ship is fairly close to the standard Man-O-War, maybe increasing somewhat in apparent size when compared against the nearby Smalljammer. As scaling such a large object properly in a hand-drawn comic is difficult, we can assume that the Man-O-War is indeed of standard size. Of interest is the interior, of which a little is shown. Most notably, the ship has a fairly large “dungeon” for holding prisoners, and the walls appear to be made of stone. Given that the crew of the ship are Pirates of Gith, it is reasonable to assume they would modify the ship to suit their needs. Perhaps the Gith are incapable of repairing the living ship, so they must patch all holes with stone. This would make sense, given the terrible condition of the wing-like sails. It also might be noted that the ship lacks a topside catapult and instead there is simply a hatch to the interior of the ship, perhaps another modification. Given the captain was extremely powerful, possibly even able to cast a meteor swarm, it is likely that the pirates rely more on their magical talents than ship weapons.
An Armada appears in issue 13 of the Spelljammer comics. This is an Armada unlike any other. The ship is truly colossal, as a smalljammer, a 25-ton ship, not only easily lands atop the ship, but it can be moved and hidden on the top deck that very same ship. The artwork shows the Armada completely dwarfing the ship, implying a size much greater than the standard three hundred feet long! This Armada appears more a large city than a ship, with a marketplace, gardens, dance hall (complete with caged, scantily clad elves dancing suggestively), and a temple. Obviously, either this ship is immobile, or has means of movement that go far beyond the Spelljammer rules. I suggest this particular Armada is a single, immobile city, perhaps the result of elvish experiments. It now serves as a center of commerce and trade for elves and their allies, an elven equivalent to the Rock of Bral.
War Captain’s Compendium
The War Captain’s Compendium boxed set introduces one new elvish ship, the Radiant Ship. No deckplans are provided, and only one small image gives any clue to the overall appearance of this ship. The image is a side-profile sketch, like all images in the Ship Recognition Guide. The Radiant Ship is a twenty-five ton ship, which puts it on par with a small frigate. The ship itself is 90’ long and 30’ wide. The whole ship is covered by continual light spells, making its exterior as bright as a sun, evidentially to provide light for large elven fleets in dark spheres and bases in deep space. The ship has an impressive six light weapons, which implies it stays at range. It is likely that the elves do not actually take these ships into battle, instead keeping them safely near outposts. The weak armor class and poor maneuverability class further support this notion.
In appearance, the Radiant Ship appears to have a long, worm-like body which curves upward in an arch. It has a small head, large wings, and a set of short legs for landing. A measurement of the image length reveals a length of about two inches, and from that, we can determine the ship has a height of just over 10 feet. This means but a single, interior deck. With a thirty-food width, the ship would appear almost flat when seen by any other angle, which would appear ugly and against any known elvish style of ship building. More likely, the 30 foot width includes long outriggers into which the wings are rooted, and the width of the body is no more than fifteen feet. This would give it a much more rounded and elegant appearance, more in line with the style of other elvish ships.
Realmspace
Realmspace introduces us to the Man-O-War counterpart of the Monarch in the form of seven Archaic Man-O-Wars. These ships have been pulled together and planted in a ring. This serves as an outpost to watch over the sea elves of Karpri. Sometime during its past, this station was ravished by an illithid attack, and now the station is haunted by ghosts.
This is the first real chance we get to see an elvish outpost. Though first mentioned in the Spelljammer boxed set as a “ring of ships drawn together in a circle”, neither the size nor number of ships needed is given in that entry. The station is illustrated on page 34 of Realmspace, which shows seven elven ships, with their tails facing out towards space, surrounding what appears to be a an inverted, bell-shaped base with numerous thin towers rising out of the top. There are windows throughout, indicating a fairly large facility. Each Man-O-War appears to have a small castle rising out of its back, each with numerous towers with onion-shaped caps. We can assume that some liberty was taken with the image; for the ships to be to scale with the castles on their backs, one must assume ships larger than Armadas!
Statistics for the Archaic Man-O-Wars is given in Scenario 4, on page 65. It might be noted that while the ship has slightly less tonnage and a worst armor rating and maneuvering class than the modern Man-O-War, it has slightly better weapons and is larger, too! We can speculate that these ships were probably retired shortly after the First Unhuman Wars as modern Man-O-Wars matured. Retired ships were drawn into circles to create numerous free-floating outposts like the Karpri station, to protect the numerous elven colonies.
Evermeet, Island of the Elves
The Evermeet accessory, and later the novel of the same name, introduces us to the Starwing class Man-O-War. The Starwings have roughly the same tonnage as the Archaic Man-O-Wars, although they are shorter and narrower, with a 150’ keel and a 16’ wide beam. The starwing has the same armor rating and maneuvering class as the standard Man-O-War, but loses the aft jettison while gaining the ability to land on water. Again, no deckplans or images of these ships are given, so we can only speculate on their appearance. I would suggest that these ships appear almost identical to the standard Man-O-War, although a bit thinner and the body a bit shorter, with a longer bowsprit to make up the difference. Evermeet has six of these ships, which it uses for defense against foes from Arcane Space. Given Evermeet’s powerful magical defenses, it can readily be assumed that these ships are manned by both powerful wizards and deadly warriors, all armed with numerous and potent magic items.
Evermeet, the novel, does not introduce any new ships. It does give important clues as to the history of elves in space. Most importantly, a short story begins over ten thousand years ago, involving an ancestor of the Leafbower family whose ship, a Man-O-War of the Elvish Imperial Fleet. At the start of the story, the ship is shot down over Toril by a pack of Q’nidar. The crew is rescued by a powerful elven wizard of Evermeet. Over the course of the story, he keeps the survivors as his “guests”, manipulating them into building the Starwing Man-O-Wars for him. Though the ultimate fate of the survivors is not given in the story, it is likely they took one of the Man-O-Wars into space with them to establish relations between Evermeet and the Elvish Fleet. Much later in the novel, during the storyline set in the present, it is revealed that Evermeet has not six, but eight Starwings. These ships are likely not be the ships first grown ten millennium ago, but descendants of those ships. Perhaps the Evermeet fleet has grown and shrunk over the centuries as new ships are grown to replace losses brought about by battle or age.
From these stories, we can glean some important facts. First, the Elvish Fleet is ancient, predating most other worlds’ recorded history. Secondly, Man-O-Wars are just as ancient, in at least one form or another. If we assume that the original Man-O-Wars mentioned early in the novel have been since replaced, we can assume that the Starwing design has steadily changed and improved. Perhaps the original design was far smaller, less agile, and less graceful than the modern style of Man-O-War.
Legend of the Spelljammer
Although Legend of the Spelljammers does not give us any new elvish ships, it does give us the gnomish whelk. Though shaped like a seashell, this ship is grown in a similar fashion as elven ships. The ship is used primarily by non-tinker gnomes, especially illusionist gnomes. From this, we can speculate that a group of forest-dwelling gnomes, working with the elves, developed the whelk. Perhaps this is the first steps towards developing a gnomish auxiliary of the Elven Fleet to counter such races as goblins and kobolds, freeing the elves to deal with other races. Alternately, the gnomes could have learned the secrets of manipulating the starfly plant on their own, with the unusual shape of the ship due to gnomish creativity or the differences in the manner of growth.
Although listed as an “excellent warship”, this is a disputable claim. The ship is 30 tons, a respectable frigate, and has two medium weapons and a piercing ram. The crewmen aboard are illusionists, a field of magic that encourages deception and avoiding combat rather than rushing headlong in battles. Perhaps the gnomes use their illusions to encourage the rumor of the whelk being a dangerous warship, if only so that pirates and other predators will give the whelk a wide berth.
Adam
Space Lairs
The Space Lairs complementation of site location adventures presents to us the Crown of Corellon, which is labeled as an “Armada”. The layout, however, is of what appear to be seven vaguely Man-O-War-shaped ships drawn into a circle around a central, circular base. Likewise, the statistics for this ship no not in any way match those given for the Armada, from the dimensions to the weapons carried, nor is there a usable helm located anywhere on the ship. This would indicate it is an elvish Outpost station, rather than an Armada. Indeed, it was later revealed by the artist who created the deckplans that the Crown of Corellon was designed as an outpost in the mold of the Karpri station in Realmspace. We can now safely conclude that the Crown is not an Armada but a Man-O-War ring outpost.
The Crown is enormous, at least compared to standard Spelljammers. It is made up of seven “spokes” that are vaguely shaped like Man-O-Wars, surrounding a central hub, with towers rising out of the top and a domed garden at the bottom. Although not shown on the map, the wings of the Man-O-Wars have grown together into solid walls to offer protection for the outpost. Each spoke has a length of about 125 feet, while the central hub is about 65 feet in diameter. Taking into account some overlap, this gives us an overall diameter of roughly 300 feet. The station has nine levels. The two bottom levels are below the gravity plane and thus have reversed gravity than the upper levels. These two levels have the stations cargo hold and gardens. The next three levels are dominated by the spokes, which have the majority of crew quarters, armories, and slips for ships to dock with the station. The top four decks are the seven outer towers, which surround a central barracks tower.
In terms of defenses, the Crown has no less than twenty-eight medium weapons, half of which are turreted. One must assume these are protective turrets, as the station’s wings and structures would limit the arc of fire to the standard arc the weapon could fire in without a turret. These weapons are directed upwards, which leaves the underside vulnerable to attack. Likewise, large ships could simply surge forward, absorbing hits and getting in close to board. Such a tactic was probably used by the scro in taking the Crown in the first place. The scro, who seized the station during the Second Unhuman Wars, have assigned three wasps to guard the station. It is likely the elves likewise kept a number of ships close to the station. Given its immobility, it would be vulnerable to large-scale assaults. The scro presence numbers roughly 100 soldiers and 60 officers, with some parts of the station left virtually abandoned. We can speculate that the elvish presence was much larger, and that the scro garrison is small, perhaps due to losses elsewhere. Given the station easily surpasses 400 tons or more, an elvish garrison of 200 or more would not be unreasonable.
What purpose the Crown served is an interesting question. A large, stable platform with a continually renewing atmosphere would be quite useful in certain situations. It would be strong enough to fend off attacks from an individual ship or a small flotilla, and large enough to keep a modest fleet supplied for months. Its real advantage, however, is that it can be disassembled and moved, if necessary. Such mobility is of an enormous advantage. The elves could bring materials in aboard the very ships used to construct the base. This would be especially advantageous in areas that lack a good site to build upon, such as stable asteroids or moons. Another ideal spot for these stations would be in high orbit above worlds where elves trade or have diplomatic relations. Cargo and passengers could arrive aboard standard Spelljammers, offload at the station, and then less obvious ships, such as galleons, could be used to ferry goods and people to the surface. Such a setup would be advantageous in places where elves do not wish regular Spelljammers to land, such as on mosaic worlds like Toril, Oerth, or Krynn.
It is, however, not invulnerable, as illustrated by both the Karpri station and the Crown of Corellon, both having fallen to foes of the elves. A large enough fleet could overwhelm its defenders and take the station relatively intact, again evidence by both stations in reasonable good condition. Being made from living ships, the stations could likely regrow over time, repairing damage if property pruned.
Astromundi Cluster
The Astromundi Cluster introduces the last elvish ship to appear in the “core” Spelljammer line, the Doombat. This ship is quite an odd ship, as it breaks two key Spelljammer conventions. Firstly, it is the only ship that has more hull points, eight, than it has tonnage, which is five. Secondly, it really does not appear to resemble any known animal or monster, nor is it a displaced watercraft. At best, it appears to resemble an oddly-shaped leaf, with a pair of sea shells glued on the bottom. This is not to mean that ship is ugly in appearance; the Doombat appears to be a graceful and somewhat modern. Were Spelljammers not by default galleons or animal-shaped, it would appear at home. Likewise, it could easily be used in a sci-fi game as a shuttle of some sort.
The ship is listed as having a length of 70’ and a width of 30’. The deckplans confirm these dimensions. The ship has two major decks, and two minor decks. The ship is quite roomy for a five ton vessel, with plenty of interior space. The weapon pods of the ship swivel, giving both weapons 360 degree arcs of fire. The ship’s small size means it is easily destroyed by a solid hit, so the ship likely relies on stealth and maneuvers to survive. Where this ship thrives is in tightly packed asteroid fields, which are abundant in the Astromundi Cluster. The Doombat is small enough to dart in between asteroids where larger ships would be crushed. With its weapon pods situated below the ship, the Doombat can us a large asteroid as cover, exposing only its weapon pods to enemy fire. Swarms of Doombats would be deadly ambushers of ships traveling through asteroid clusters, swooping upon their prey in classic Space Opera fashion.
The ship is listed as being able to carry a crew of five. Four are needed to man the weapons, and a fifth to man the helm. A ship probably carries more, to deal with boarders. As mentioned above, the ship’s weapons are in sea-shell shaped pods, which rotate 360 degrees. It is probable that these pods are controlled by the helmsman by magical means, rather than by brute force via turrets. There is no place given over for such turrets, and operating them would require an additional two to four men each, pushing the crew size to as many as thirteen men. Such a large crew would tax the ship’s resources greatly, limiting its range. Given the sheer size of the Astromundi Cluster and that elves live at the fringes of it, they would want a ship with the maximum possible range. Thus, they would likely develop means of removing as many men as possible, while not leaving the ship completely helpless.