PDA

View Full Version : Magical airship



aquaticrna
2010-09-30, 06:29 PM
So in our campaign we've acquired a dirigible style airship which has become our base of operations. Since we're doing somethings that are netting us far more money than a party of our level should ever have its been decided that all the game-breakingly excessive money we get can only go into improving, repairing and staffing our ship. So far we've gotten the thing hallowed and permanently shrouded in a private sanctum spell, and taken 4 balistas and 2 light bombards from an enemy ship. Additionally our ship is powered by an air elemental turning a turbine. So my question is what kinds of other spells would you put on an airship of this kind, preferably permanent ones, or improvements would you make?

Galsiah
2010-09-30, 06:34 PM
anything that can grant it concealment/miss chance on it, also maybe magic circle vs. alignment spells on the deck for casters to stand in, turrets to have casters man, etc.

Prime32
2010-09-30, 06:37 PM
http://brilliantgameologists.com/boards/index.php?topic=3630.0
http://brilliantgameologists.com/boards/index.php?topic=3389.msg126021#msg126021

That enough for you? :smalltongue:

Tetrasodium
2010-09-30, 06:47 PM
cannons that fire metal spears on chains... and another air elemental.
Fire! -> boom -> target skewered while the harpoon is going kzzzzzap! -> reel in the harpoon and repeat.

A brig with adamantine bars (with the same on floor/ceiling) & permanent antimagic field for when you really need it. Possibly even something to cast temporal stasis on the inhabitant for when it's really important.

Something that lets you cast very large or multiple wind walls (depends on the size of the dirigible) to protest your blimpish bit from arrows that might pop it if there is a fear of such a thing.

AslanCross
2010-09-30, 06:49 PM
Fire elemental bombs, especially if there are other airships in the setting.

Or scrolls of Dismissal. "Oh, your airship is powered by an elemental? Where's the elemental now?"

LOTRfan
2010-09-30, 06:50 PM
Fire elemental bombs, especially if there are other airships in the setting.

Or scrolls of Dismissal. "Oh, your airship is powered by an elemental? Where's the elemental now?"

Noo! :smalleek:
Don't give the DM any ideas!

aquaticrna
2010-09-30, 06:51 PM
Or scrolls of Dismissal. "Oh, your airship is powered by an elemental? Where's the elemental now?"

that quite nearly happened to us =/ we got raided during a storm and barely stopped their wizard from ruining everything.

Tetrasodium
2010-09-30, 06:57 PM
that quite nearly happened to us =/ we got raided during a storm and barely stopped their wizard from ruining everything.

replace parts of the hull with (very very expensive) soarwood and you will float down rather than crash.

aquaticrna
2010-09-30, 06:59 PM
replace parts of the hull with (very very expensive) soarwood and you will float down rather than crash.

where is soarwood listed?

The-Mage-King
2010-09-30, 07:01 PM
where is soarwood listed?

ECS, page... Something.

Andion Isurand
2010-09-30, 07:01 PM
Hardening -- sor/wiz 6
Genius Loci -- sor/wiz 9, complete mage (air elementals)

Weirdstone -- Player's Gudie to Faerun

Tetrasodium
2010-09-30, 07:08 PM
where is soarwood listed?

It's probably in the ECS, but there are 2-3 other eberron books that involve airships as well that probably mention it.

Of course, using those books brings up the risk of your DM noticing what happens if the bindings keeping the elemental in service of your airship get damaged. Being in an airship crash is bad... being in an airship crash with an angry elemental storming about trying to destroy it's prison is even worse.

Life rings are mentioned in one of the eberron books (explorer's guide maybe?). Basically it's a lifering that 3-4 people can grab onto and cut a cord to activate featherfall while they hold on. Reasonably cheap if I recall.

Dark_Nohn
2010-09-30, 07:52 PM
Multiple stacks of permanency: overland flight... enough times that it can actually support the airship. Trust me when I say that air elementals aren't likely to follow orders just because, and that as living and intelligent creatures it's not wise to enslave them in their own territory (the sky.)

Asheram
2010-09-30, 10:34 PM
Now. I Assume that this is a 3.5 campaign.

1. Veil of Obscurity (Arms and equipment guide) Makes your whole ship (but nothing on it) fade away into the surrounding terrain. 25.000gp

2. Earth Hull. (Arms and equipment guide) If you ever should want to land your ship completely. 150.000gp.

3. Charts of Certainty (Arms and equipment guide) Displays as detailed as a commercial map could be about the areas within a 24 hour journey. 47.520gp.

4. Planar helm (Stormwrack) Gives Planar navigation twice a day. 65.520 gp

To boldly go where no man has gone before.

Gensh
2010-09-30, 10:44 PM
Don't remember what book it's from, but there was a special armor material listed called liveoak. It was essentially normal oak, but in addition to being particularly fine material, it was also (obviously) still alive even after being cut into bits. Forget about armor; gradually replace exterior/interior with this stuff. And remember that line about how dryads live in oak trees? Find as many dryads living in liveoak trees as you can and convince them to staff your ship. You now have a fully autonomous craft that can also seduce passersby.

Lord Vukodlak
2010-09-30, 10:59 PM
In a campaign I'm in the party has a zepplin, though it was built using the craft technological device rules out of the Warcraft d20 book

Anyway my gnome illusionist strung a banner on the sides of the blimp and with an Illusory Script. However in this case the actually writing and implanted suggestion for unauthorized readers is the same
"This is someone else's problem"

So yes my gnome uses Illusory Script to harness the power of an SEP field.

Fawsto
2010-09-30, 11:02 PM
Soarwood: ECS page 127.

That is the basic Soarwood. I think if you try Eberron's Explorer's Handbook for more details.

Soarwood is simply (If I dare use this word) a wood thats costs 4 times the normal price that enables something made of it to defy gravity.

Soarwood treated by alchemy that increases its properties is able to float in the air without any effort. Elemental Airships in Eberron never crash. Well, except when the elemental bound within it goes out of control a plumets the airship into something hard.

There is just one problem. I've searched a lot in the Eberron books but I could not find a slightest clue into what it takes to treat Soarwood alchemicaly.

And thats Livewood. Also ECS page 127.

Lord Vukodlak
2010-10-01, 12:06 AM
As I under stand it the wood is simply has magical buoyancy. It doesn't actually defy gravity on its own. [well nothing in the description I read says it defies gravity]

The book doesn't list the cost because your either using soarwood to make an airship where its a required component. Or your building a traditional boat in which case it moves twice as quickly and costs 4x as much.

The Zepplin obviously doesn't require Soarwood so its hard to gauge what it would actually do. Off hand I'd say it double the cargo capacity of the airship as its made from a lighter material. As for the cost I suppose one could look the cost of a ship the same size as the wooden undercarriage as a rough guideline.

Tetrasodium
2010-10-01, 12:12 AM
The book doesn't list the cost because your either using soarwood to make an airship where its a required component

You could probably get away with using normal wood and multiple air/fire elementals, there is an eberron module with an airship too heavy for soarwood alone to let normal single air+fire elemental binding to lift that uses two of each to compensate.

Lord Vukodlak
2010-10-01, 12:21 AM
You could probably get away with using normal wood and multiple air/fire elementals, there is an eberron module with an airship too heavy for soarwood alone to let normal single air+fire elemental binding to lift that uses two of each to compensate.

I don't think your quite clear on the topic, The airship already exists its a dirigible. So it was already made without soarwood. The problem is that because Eberron airships tend to REQURIE soarwood or its used to make normal boats. Their isn't a simple cost for making it.

Tetrasodium
2010-10-01, 12:27 AM
I don't think your quite clear on the topic, The airship already exists its a dirigible. So it was already made without soarwood. The problem is that because Eberron airships tend to REQURIE soarwood or its used to make normal boats. Their isn't a simple cost for making it.

I know, it was in reference to an eberron style airship. Voyage of the golden dragon is about an airship called the golden dragon. Essentially it's too big & heavy even with soarwood construction and has multiple elementals lifting & moving it. Granted the cost of adding the extra magical pathways & binding the extra elementals to the dragonshards is probably as much or more than the soarwood... but it would probably work :)

Lord Vukodlak
2010-10-01, 12:32 AM
Which still does nothing to my original point they don't list the cost of the alchemical treatment for soarwood because its already factored into the airship price or its used for making regular waterships in which case the cost is x4.

Most of a zepplin's cost would be in the balloon and other mechanics.

Dark_Nohn
2010-10-01, 04:15 AM
Lots of people mentioning soarwood, and there's also a good argument for liveoak... so why not try to create a hybrid tree, the ultimate airship wood

hamishspence
2010-10-01, 04:39 AM
Brig should probably be made of force, not just adamantine (what with Mountain Hammer manuevers). Maybe with an item of some kind that automatically Creates Air in the brig.

Force can be gotten round- but it tends to be harder, and require epic or artifact-level things.

FelixG
2010-10-01, 04:45 AM
despite the fact that the ship is already constructed the crew could pay for a complete overhaul of the ship (if they are upgrading a few key items why not just rebuild the whole shebang :P)

On the note of the raid i would suggest have a backup elemental powers source installed somewhere all secret like on the ship that only the PCs know about, that way if the main one gets screwed you can rush to the backup and activate it before you go plummeting to your doom!

Some escape/movement options might be useful too. Maybe a magical item pad that can do transport on targets 2/day (one down and one back) with stones or some other trinket that lets it keep a fix on you to bring you back as long as you hold it.

Shenanigans
2010-10-01, 08:27 AM
I would check out the Stronghold Builders Guide for excellent ideas, including siege weaponry that might be nice for vehicle mounting. The Arms and Equipment Guide also has stuff more specifically applicable to vehicles.

More specifically, check out the Thayan Bombard in Unapproachable East. it's very useful against invading armies,