Okay, you have an airship. Now what?

[Hal]

In our weekly game, my players have requested an airship and I have agreed to put one in their possession. Any advice for getting the most mileage out of this situation? We've never had one show up in our D&D games before, so I'd like to make the most of the situation.

[tarlison]

Well I purposely revise my airship to something like a helicopter Check this out http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=254349 I purposely made it that way so that boarding will be possible we just had our encounter with an airship

Osmond: wizard/artificer/hermetic sabatouer : unofficial leader of the party A dirty old man , quite perverted in a way love to made unwanted Advance to Shava, he is a human an old human
Parren: ranger/rogue/cloak sniper: range specialist and a mercenary an excellent marks man and always ask what is it for him he is an elf
Li Pin: ranger/tempest/kensai: a master if katar, prefer his fight up close and personal currently being curse of transforming to gorilla every now and Then, he is a human
Shava: Paladin/dragon sorcerer/paragon hybrid: the main defender of the Group arm with a scimitar and a parrying dagger in which she use To channel her spells. She is also the victim of unwanted advance of Osmond , she is a half elf
Kurie:wizard/infernal warlock/hell bringer: one whose fire can burn fire unlikemost githyanki kurie is quite cheerful and always have a light hearted smile On his face , he is happy go lucky and pleasant to be around a contrast To the unholy flames he calls fourth during combat


Our first airship encounter
Up front they can see the huge tower with a maelstrom of soul at top , they breath a sign of relief , until on the horizon another air ship come to them , Osmond bark orders at the crew to prepare the ballista while kurie gave order to the engine room to give more power in ,as Parren manuevera the airship , when they come to range Osmond gave the order as the ballista bolt screams towars the enemy air ship tearing down its hulls as an explosive of metal and wood spread , the enemy airship retaliated with equal feriousity soon spear size bolts tore down both ship hulls as splinter of wood and steel flys , until enemy air ship decide to manuever toward the other ship and ram the sides the party airship was damage but Parren was able to manuever the ship around this time he knew it was his turn ,manueverimg the ship on top of the enemy's ship and suddenly dropping overhead this cause a massive damage of the ship below but unluckily when it slip down one of the splinter caught up with its prop trappings them together , the virulent captain (drone) shout the order virulent clone and sentry transform into thier mantis mode and fly to the other ship Shava repounded with a slash of both her blades a jet of liquid flame sprayed at the clones burning them alive screaming , the captain manage to use its grappler to grab Osmond before he can react , but still manage to scream a few word of power releasing a bolt of energy screaming and blowing the head of one of the clones. Snipers take aim and fires the bolts filled with transwarp energy hitting Parren disturbing his vision , luckily Li Pin was close by using his katar making a deadly dance as his blade tore through the clones armor, killing them as each blade slash , after that he transform to his gorilla form jumping through the ship using his gorilla fist to hit the captain sending him overboard, but before they can notice a bolt from the sniper in the other ship hit its mark critically wounding Osmond ,without warning Li pin in his gorilla mode jump to the other ship and transform to his human mode and incapacited the sniper with his blade as he race to the pilot seat only seeing a sentry destroying the controls, he manage to kill the sentry before on his gorilla mode race toward the other control and land both ship safely.The tower can wait for now they need to take care of Osmond.

[Dead_Jester]

Large flying objects that can transport everybody all the time open up a lot of narrative options.

They are great to start an exploration based story; got a mysterious continent, forbidden valley beyond the mountains, or floating islands? Now the party can explore them, and anger the locals, and, hopefully, come back in one piece to brag about it. On the same topic, strap a Spelljamming helm on that thing, and you can have a lot of fun in cross-setting play (although be ready for insane things to happen quite rapidly).

Airships are great for military/paramilitary missions, as they give the party an easy way to transport elite troops around, and, if properly equipped, allow them to bring in additional fire support. It's also a great tactical tool, allowing them to painlessly bypass fortifications, waterways and even armies.

Also, like any other ship, airships are great for adding a lot of tension to otherwise routine things; if the party gets caught in a storm 2 000 ft in the air, they better manage to get things under control before they crash.

Finally, ships are a confined space that the players don't want to destroy. This makes for interesting combat scenarios where maintaining the structural integrity of the battlefield is a primary concern. Plus, you get to add a lot of fun things, like fires, which tend to be a lot harder to deal with when you don't have a lot of water on hand and need to extinguish it before your new toy crashes.

[Badgerish]

You want to get a "Window of Escape" installed. It's a lair item, so it needs to be fitted to a building or very large vehicle, then left for 24 hours to activate.

Once activated, anyone jumping or falling through the window suffers no falling damage and lands on their feet. Isn't that... glorious?


anyway. what type of airship is this? does it need a crew in addition to the PCs? Are airships a standard part of the setting? what types of things are the PCs doing? who actually owns the airship?

[tarlison]

You want to get a "Window of Escape" installed. It's a lair item, so it needs to be fitted to a building or very large vehicle, then left for 24 hours to activate.

Once activated, anyone jumping or falling through the window suffers no falling damage and lands on their feet. Isn't that... glorious?


anyway. what type of airship is this? does it need a crew in addition to the PCs? Are airships a standard part of the setting? what types of things are the PCs doing? who actually owns the airship?

I guess so and u finally see a ox actually protecting an Npc willingly hehe I gave them a bunch of transformer theme rat trap minion ....well if u loss ur crew it will be hell to to fly that ship

Rat Trap* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *Lvl 18 minion
Small rat/Humanoid. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *** * * * * XP:500
Initiative:+20. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Perception+17:Darkvison,low light
AC:34. * *Fort:28. *Reflex:32. *Will:30
HP: 1 (minion cannot be dmg on a. Iss attack)
Immune psychic and poison , resist: 10 poison 10 fire
Movement:8 spider climb:8 shift:4/6
Convert:(Rat/Minion)(minor action at will)
*Bite(Standard.at will) Rat mode only
* * * * * Melee;+25 vs AC;7 damage
*Energon kunai(standard,at will)!minion mode only
* * * * * Melee;+23 vs Reflex:7 radiant damage and target gain vulnerable 3 radiant until * End of its next turn*
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Energon kunai throw (standard, at will) minion mode only
* * * * * Range 8/16;+23 vs Reflex:7 radiant damage and target gain vulnerability 3**radiant until end of next turn
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Swarm mentality:Rat Only: gain +2 attack bonus if another Rat Construct in rat mode*adjacent to the target
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Rat Slickness:(Rat Form only)Ignore difficult terrain
Alignment: unaligned. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Language:common,infernal
Skills: Acrobatic+21. *Athletic+17. Stealth+21
Str:12. (+10) * * * * Dex:24(+16). * * *Wis:16(+12)
Com:14.(+11). * * * *Int:12(+10). * * * * * Cha:14(+11)

[Raimun]

Wreck it.

Okay, I'm half-serious. The idea of an airship is cool. In practice, the game might become Dungeons & Dragons: The Airship Simulator. Unless given some thought, the airship might be oddly both too strong and too weak, remove tension and become tedious compared to earthbound travel:

- Less traveling encounters (fights, NPCs, etc.), you can just fly over most of them
- There's usually only one skilled pilot/mechanic, so what are the other players doing during the flight, evasive manuevers, maintenance and general airshippery?
- You might need low level NPCs to crew it. They cost and die easily.
- There are hidden costs.
- Is it armed? Too little and the airship is toast, too much and suddenly the combats tend to involve the airship and the main gun(s)
- You can go wherever you want. Yes, even to "the first" or "the last town".
- What do you do with the airship when the party has to land to explore a cave or whatever?
- God forbid should the airship actually crash. Any idea how long the repairs will take? No? Yes. The airshipguy is demanding it.
- Airships burn. And don't really like ice either.

All I'm saying is, the airship will change the game for better or worse. So consider the above. It's not really my cup of tea but it might still turn out to be fun. :smallsmile:

[tarlison]

Actually i manage to divide the work so that no one will be idle
Pilot: one who manuevers the ship
Engines: one who manage the speed of the ship and damage control
Weapons: one who actually fires the weapons involves ballistae catapult etc,
Deck officer:in charge of minimizing casualty

Pilot: Acrobatic Check(Manuevers, Ramming, Regaining for a stall)
Engine: Arcana Check(Overdrive,Sudden reverse, Quick Repairs)
Weapons: Int check (firing of weapons)
Deck Officer: Diplomacy(Reduce Casualty,Recover from effects)

havent perfected it yet :)

[Hal]

anyway. what type of airship is this? does it need a crew in addition to the PCs? Are airships a standard part of the setting? what types of things are the PCs doing? who actually owns the airship?

Some more details, since it may or may not be relevant.

My players are lieutenants in a rebellion that hasn't yet come to hostilities; the kingdom they're preparing to overthrow is ruled by a Queen with an iron-fist in a velvet glove. She suspects a brewing revolution but doesn't know the players yet. The setting is a small island once made up of three separate nations, before the current order was established in the aftermath of a civil war. Airships are definitely part of the setting, although they mainly serve as transports for commerce and travel. The Queen doesn't maintain a military fleet of them, instead using gryphon riders to maintain order in the sky.

Now, spoilers, because you never know when players might be about:


The players were offered an open-ended reward for dealing with traitors in the local crime syndicate, and they asked for an airship. An airship owner owes the syndicate a favor, so they will have him hand over his airship.

The standard airship is an 8x4 vehicle that requires a crew of 5 who spend a standard action each round to keep the thing functioning properly and at full capacity. My plan is to give them something . . . smaller.

It's going to be a fixer-upper, not safe for flying as is, probably 3x5, and probably only require 1-2 to keep it under control. My thinking is that a smaller ship would probably fit the current climate of the game, in which they're flitting about currying favor with various factions and politicians in order to set the stage for the "opening salvo." Also, this probably avoids their preferred solution, which was to load up the airship with explosives and just ram the Queen's tower.


As I see from Raimun and Dead_Jester's posts, there's a lot to say, positive and negative, for having one in the game. I'll need to think carefully about how to handle this thing. I'm just hoping it will be a tool to facilitate their plans and not a focal point.

[Fallbot]

Once activated, anyone jumping or falling through the window suffers no falling damage and lands on their feet. Isn't that... glorious?


It most certainly is! I fell in love with that item the first time I saw it, but the full implications never even occurred to me! I am in awe! Now I just need an airship to put it in...

[tarlison]

Wreck it.

Okay, I'm half-serious. The idea of an airship is cool. In practice, the game might become Dungeons & Dragons: The Airship Simulator. Unless given some thought, the airship might be oddly both too strong and too weak, remove tension and become tedious compared to earthbound travel:

- Less traveling encounters (fights, NPCs, etc.), you can just fly over most of them
- There's usually only one skilled pilot/mechanic, so what are the other players doing during the flight, evasive manuevers, maintenance and general airshippery?
- You might need low level NPCs to crew it. They cost and die easily.
- There are hidden costs.
- Is it armed? Too little and the airship is toast, too much and suddenly the combats tend to involve the airship and the main gun(s)
- You can go wherever you want. Yes, even to "the first" or "the last town".
- What do you do with the airship when the party has to land to explore a cave or whatever?
- God forbid should the airship actually crash. Any idea how long the repairs will take? No? Yes. The airshipguy is demanding it.
- Airships burn. And don't really like ice either.

All I'm saying is, the airship will change the game for better or worse. So consider the above. It's not really my cup of tea but it might still turn out to be fun. :smallsmile:

Hmmm your right about those I was thinking it would cost 100gp per hp repaired and will last an hour to repair so a totally destroyed airship will take 50 days if they work at 8 hours shift and will cost around 40,000 gp to repair airship cost 85000gp and have 400 hp

[Yakk]

In a Airship dominated game world I'm working on, the laws of physics are mythological/elemental physics.

So Airships don't fly above Earth, unless you are extremely far up, and even then things tend not to land where they are supposed to. Falling happens at a relatively uniform speed, and the rate goes down as you move further away from Earth. Water also has a downward tug, but it is both less, and falls off much much faster than Earth's tug.

Airships have to land on/over bodies of water. Landing is a bit easier than taking off, so a broad river is good enough to land on. (A narrow river is an emergency crash-landing). This is why they look like boats -- they are boats. The wood on the bottom of the boat also maintains a gravitational field downward for the people on the boat.

Falling off the edge of an Airship generally results in floating, unless you are flying too close to the ground.

The larger the body of land, the further up you have to be to fly safely without losing control.

Carrying elemental fire (in the form of explosives) is also stupid on an airship, because you are invoking the elements to keep it aloft.

The result of this is that flying an airship doesn't let you go just anywhere. And falling off isn't instant death. It adds to your ability to go places, without flattening the entire world.

[tarlison]

This is my version of the airship in my Campaign

http://a6.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc7/387115_4555967979861_864923412_n.jpg

Top Deck

http://a4.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/228574_4555968459873_1411013185_n.jpg

Mid Deck

http://a7.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash3/563090_4555967259843_1322600137_n.jpg

Lower Deck

http://a8.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc7/292086_4555969379896_1904949369_n.jpg

Top Quarters

http://a2.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-prn1/561156_4555968899884_462444684_n.jpg

Mid Quarters

http://a1.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/294471_4555967619852_273339920_n.jpg

Lower Quarters/Storage Area

http://a8.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash3/523202_4555966899834_1399840507_n.jpg

Airship Stats

Airship
Gargantuan vehicle
HP 400 Space 4 squares by 8 squares Cost 85,000 gp
AC 4; Fortitude 20, Refl ex 2
Speed 0, fly 12 (hover),Swim 8, overland flight 15
Pilot
The pilot must stand at a control wheel, typically at the front of
the topmost deck of the airship cabin.but this particular model the
pilot can be either at the Front cabin at the lower deck or at the
Top Deck
Crew
In addition to the pilot, an airship requires a crew of fi ve, all
of whom use a standard action each round to help control the
vessel. Reduce the ship’s speed by 4 for each missing crew
member. At fl y speed 0, the ship is unable to travel and fl ies
out of control.
Load
Thirty Medium creatures; twenty 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 fi rst 10 rounds it is 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.
Decks
The airship’s cabin has four decks: an exterior observation
platform, the topmost crew deck, a middle deck for passengers,
and a lower cargo hold.
Fragile Propulsion
For every 50 damage the airship takes, its speed is reduced by
2 squares. At fl y speed 0, the ship is unable to travel and fl oats
out of control.
Weapon:
Light Ballista +2 at the Bow
Light Ballista +2 at the Stern

======================================

+2 Light Ballista Siege Weapon
Load: Standard action
Aim: Minor action
AC 23; Fortitude 24, Reflex 23
r Fire (standard; at-will) ✦ Weapon
Ranged 20/40; +13 vs. AC; 4d6 + 2 damage.
Siege Weapon Rules
No Powers: You cannot use a weapon power with a siege weapon.
Actions: Loading and firing requires multiple actions, which can be
split up between different characters. Each character must be
adjacent to the weapon. Actions required to load, aim, and fi re
are indicated above.
Aim: Choose a square as the target. Skip the aim action if you wish
to continue fi ring at the same square as in the previous round.
You can load, then aim; or aim, then load.
Attack Bonus: The bonus is based on the capability of the ballista’s
default crew. If PCs operate a ballista, use the following
calculation instead.
✦ One half the level of the lowest-level crew member.
✦ The Intelligence modifier of the crew member who spent an
action to aim.
✦ The siege weapon’s proficiency bonus, if any crew member is
profi cient. (The bonus of the town watch crew includes this
bonus.)
✦ The crew member fi ring the ballista applies a bonus from any
condition that applies to weapon attacks. .
✦ Both crew members apply penalties from any condition that
applies to weapon attacks. For example, if either crew member is
weakened, a ballista attack deals half damage.
Damage: Roll the indicated damage dice. A ballista adds no ability
modifi er to its damage rolls



This airship version is powered by arcane engines and alot of spells which enable it to fly this thing isnt really aerodynamic and mainly use magic to flu the propellers are only their for steering and manuevers

[Dimers]

I'm just hoping it will be a tool to facilitate their plans and not a focal point.

Not a bad idea to tell that to the players OOC.

Raimun and Dead_Jester have done a much better job of exploring the impact than my little brain could.