Waitingnomad
2013-06-02, 03:26 AM
So here goes: I am posting this to get feedback on items, equipment and other tech that I have homebrewed for a campaign set in a steampunk world that I am designing (located here (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=286216)). For those of you who don't wish to wade through all the fluff, here is a brief overview: The world is based around 6 gigantic floating city states that phased into an otherwise ordinary world roughly 600 years prior to the start of the campaign. Discovered within these cities were incredible devices known as Singularity Engines, which through an intricate array of machines and devices maintained by clockwork automata known as Servitors, kept the cities aloft. Technology progressed rapidly, championed by the 4 great Trade Organisations, who funded the reverse-engineering of new technologies, giving rise to airships, powered by smaller facsimiles of the original Engines, which swiftly rose to become the vehicle of choice for trade and travel to the exclusion of almost everything else. People migrated to the floating cities to further work on developing machinery, and technology swiftly overtook magic and religion, with the only arcane disciplines being practiced with any intrest being those of artifice and invention. People abandoned their old gods, and many began to worship The Machine instead, giving rise to a fanatical organisation known as the Order of the Machine, who isolated themselves in one of the 6 cities.
And thats about it.
Basically, any advice on balancing equipment, and feedback on my creations would be appreciated, as well as ideas about what I could add. The firearms exist primarily to provide a viable setting-appropriate alternative to bows and crossbows, and have been designed from a combination of the information found on p.143 of the DMG, personal inventions, and adapted versions of firearm models of what I think is splatbook print that I found on the net.
The major new(ish) stuff is the airships, the wandguns, and the Auctor, which is a completely new idea somewhat loosely based around psionic mechanics that have been applied to a piece of technology. I would like any feedback on which kinds of powers may be suitable to apply to Artifex and Omnifex tokens; the powers should, I feel, be largely physical in nature and thus far I am considering effects like telekinesis, shield, some kind of force barrier (like a much smaller and weaker wall of force), some raw form of elemental manifestation such as lightning bolt and maybe some minor healing or localised alter self effects (such as only transforming one arm etc.) Thanks in advance!
New Equipment and Technology
Wandguns
The wandgun is a term used to describe a fairly uncommon range of weapons developed by combining magical wands with the designs of machinists and artificers to produce a strange sort of magical firearm. Usually very expensive, it is rare to see such weapons out of the hands of the rich, who more often than not use them as a symbol of affluence rather than for their effectiveness as a weapon.
A wandgun resembles a carved length of wood or shaped metal, shaped like a rifle or a musket and inlaid with intricate symbols, brass pipes, plates and wiring. Sometimes designed to accommodate sights and butt-stocks also, all share the common characteristics of curved handles and accompanying trigger mechanisms. The underneath of the completely solid ‘barrel’ contains a compartment into which wands can be inserted, and a locking mechanism snaps inwards to hold them in place, as well as connecting the wand to the sensitive brass and copper plating that runs along the length of the weapon. A wandgun is built to accommodate any wand inserted into it, and direct its energies along the length of the weapon and out of the ‘barrel’, thus increasing accuracy. In all cases, swapping a wand out, or replacing one that has run out of charges requires a full round action. Some wandguns are designed with dual-barrels that can accommodate multiple wands to combine the effects of both. Two wands of the same spell combined in such a way has the same effect as an empower effect, whereas wands of different spells may combine to produce completely new effects. Often, when present, these second slots are used to accommodate metamagic wands to enhance the effects of the primary wand being fired. Higher level wandguns are most commonly found as armaments on airships used to ward off sky pirates, and some wandguns are even able to accommodate spells of above 4th level, such as the great defensive turrets of the cities, some of which contain armaments as powerful as 10th level fireballs. Such constructions are huge, however, often requiring a 2 to 3 man team to aim and operate, and are restricted for use as defensive turrets on cities and gigantic skycruisers or dreadnaught class airships.
Due to to the artificial nature of their design, wandguns allow the use of wands without any skill or ability in the operation of magical items, and so does not require the use magic device skill to operate. Instead, use of wandguns relies upon the standard rules for ranged combat, and due to their fine attunement to the magical energies they direct a wandgun provides a base +1 bonus to ranged attack rolls with that weapon. A wandgun is an exotic weapon and thus requires the feat Exotic Weapon Proficiency: Wandgun to wield. This feat allows for the use of any and every wandgun, and any compatible wand. As the wandgun is designed primarily as an offensive weapon, not all wands are compatible with it. They are not common weapons, and often require special order to acquire one, or to have it custom built for your use. They are always highly expensive, and whilst the cost of wands have also fallen with demand they still remain expensive. Replacement wands often require special order, as few shops stock them, and rarer wands may take weeks or even months to acquire.
Firearms
For the purposes of the weapon focus feat, variants of the same weapons are treated as the equal (thus Weapon Focus: Pistol would apply to both flintlock and clockwork pistols, for example).
Pistol, Clockwork
Small: 60gp, 1d4 damage, 1lb Medium: 60gp, 1d6 damage, 2lb Large: 120gp, 1d8 damage, 4lb
Critical: x3, Range: 50ft, Type: Piercing. This is a 1h light weapon.
A clockwork pistol is a breach-fed weapon with a capacity for 6 bullets before it must be reloaded. Reloading requires a move action that may provoke an attack of opportunity.
Masterwork variants can be upgraded with the capacity to contain 8 bullets at a time.
A clockwork pistol is a simple weapon, and is extremely common throughout all the cities. A clockwork pistol may be used in each hand at a -1 penalty to attack, as standard for light weapon dual wielding.
Pistol, Flintlock
Small: 250gp, 1d8 damage, 1lb
Medium: 250gp, 1d10 damage, 2lb
Large: 300gp, 1d12 damage, 4lb
Critical: x3, Range: 60ft, Type: Piercing. This is a 1h light weapon.
Less common amongst denizens, the flintlock pistol is usually preferred by snipers, who have the opportunity to reload without significant risk to themselves, or by duelists who seldom fire more than once in any given encounter, and often come equipped with multiple pistols. The flintlock pistol is a less popular firearm due to the need to reload after every shot, but it is preferred by some to the clockwork pistol due to its increased power.
Reloading requires a move action which may provoke an attack of opportunity.
A flintlock pistol is a simple weapon, and whilst less common than the clockwork variant it is still nevertheless relatively simple to locate in most trade districts. A flintlock pistol may be used in each hand at a -1 penalty to attack, as standard for light weapon dual wielding.
Handcannon, Clockwork
Small: 650gp, 2d4 damage, 2lb
Medium: 650gp, 2d6 damage, 4lb
Large: 1300gp, 2d8 damage, 8lb
Critical x3, Range 20ft, Type: Piercing. This is a 1h medium weapon.
A marvel of military engineering, the handcannon is a repeating miniature blunderbuss. Capable of devastating any opponent its turned against. It is an ugly, messy weapon, known for its brutal effectiveness in close combat. It is the weapon most known for its use in the hands of Bartholomew Clarke, the ‘High Caliber Consecrator’ of the Order of the Machine. The clockwork handcannon has a capacity for 2 loads of shot, with masterwork variants capable of extending this to 3, and reloading requires a full round action. The clockwork handcannon is an exotic weapon, and as such requires the feat Exotic Weapon Proficiency: Handcannon to use. Such weapons are extremely rare due to the great difficulty involved in their manufacture and are found only in the collections of firearms aficionados and the showrooms of high-end arms dealerships. It is not unusual to have to wait months for one to become available on the free market, or for an order placed directly to the manufacturer to pull through. A handcannon may be wielded in each hand at the standard penalty for dual wielding medium weapons.
Special: Due to its large and unwieldy nature, when dual wielding the hand cannon, take an additional -1 penalty to attack.
Blunderbuss
Small: 150gp, 2d6 damage, 4lb
Medium: 150gp, 3d6 damage, 8lb Large: 300gp, 3d8 damage, 16lb
Critical: x3, Range: 20ft, Type: Piercing. This is a 2h heavy weapon.
The blunderbuss is a powerful close-range weapon, designed to deliver maximum damage right in the heat of battle. It is large and unwieldy, but packs a violent punch. Such weapons are often carried by thugs and enforcers, preferring the overt intimidating nature of the blunderbuss to the more subtle pistol or the larger and more specialised musket. A blunderbuss must be reloaded after every shot, requiring a full round action, and provoking an attack of opportunity. Blunderbusses, whilst not a popular weapon, may be found in most arms dealerships. A blunderbuss may be fired, but not reloaded, using one hand at a -4 penalty to attack. A musket may be fired in each hand taking the normal penalty for two-handed firing, which stacks with the penalty for one-handed firing.
Musket, Light Clockwork
Small: 150gp, 1d6 damage, 2lb
Medium: 150gp, 1d8 damage, 4lb Large: 300 gp, 2d6 damage, 8lb
Critical: x3, Range: 80ft, Type: Piercing. This is a 2h light weapon.
The musket is rarely used outside of airships, the military and police sniper squads due to its cumbersome nature. They are an effective weapon at range, and can be fitted with a bayonet to attack with during a charge without risking an attack of opportunity for switching out weapons in combat. A light clockwork musket typically holds 4 bullets, but masterwork variants can be upgraded with the capacity to hold 6. Reloading requires a move action which may provoke an attack of opportunity. A musket may be fired, but not reloaded, using one hand at a -2 penalty to attack. A heavy clockwork musket may be fired in each hand at a -1 penalty, which stacks with the penalty for one-handed firing.
A light clockwork musket is a martial weapon, and whilst not an unusual weapon it not commonly sold outside of specialist armourers and arms shops.
Musket, Heavy Clockwork
Small: 350gp, 1d8 damage, 4lb
Medium: 350gp, 1d10 damage, 8lb Large: 700 gp, 2d8 damage, 16lb
Critical: x3, Range: 120ft, Type: Piercing. This is a 2h heavy weapon.
The heavy musket is the weapon of choice for snipers looking to deal damage at range, and is often the prized weapon of sky pirate marksmen, used to pick off the captains of airships then plan on boarding before bringing their ship in close. The heavy musket is a cumbersome weapon, and whilst it may be fitted with a bayonet, wielders of this weapon rarely, if ever, get close enough to an enemy to make use of it.
A heavy clockwork musket typically holds 2 bullets, but masterwork variants can be upgraded with the capacity to hold 4. Reloading requires a full round action which may provoke an attack of opportunity. A heavy clockwork musket may be fired, but not reloaded, using one hand at a -4 penalty to attack. A musket may be fired in each hand taking the normal penalty for two-handed firing, which stacks with the penalty for one-handed firing.
A heavy clockwork musket is a martial weapon, and tends to only be sold in specialist firearms shops.
Rifle, Flintlock
Small: 600gp, 1d10 damage, 4lb
Medium: 600gp, 2d8 damage, 8lb Large: 1200 gp, 2d10 damage, 16lb
Critical: x3, Range: 160ft, Type: Piercing. This is a 2h heavy weapon.
The flintlock rifle is a weapon used only by the most professional of snipers, and the rare sky pirate that owns one is likely to treat it as his most treasured possession. This is the weapon given to the military’s best snipers, and used by the best assassins of the 6 city states; it is a weapon utterly deadly at long range. Again, possessing the capacity for a bayonet to be fixed, but the chances of that bayonet ever needing to be put to use are slim to none.
A flintlock rifle must be reloaded after every shot, requiring a full round action that may draw attacks of opportunity. A flintlock rifle may be fired, but not reloaded, using one hand at a -4 penalty to attack. A rifle may be fired in each hand taking the normal penalty for two-handed firing, which stacks with the penalty for one-handed firing.
A flintlock musket is an exotic weapon, and requires Exotic Weapon Proficiency: Rifle to be used. Such weapons rarely make their way to be traded in shops and must often be purchased directly from their manufacturer, or ordered from highly specialist firearms dealerships. Control of these weapons is very tight, and demand means that individuals may often have to wait months to purchase one.
A flintlock rifle provides an inherent +1 enhancement bonus to attack due to the rifled design of its barrel.
Special: A ‘long-barreled‘ version of this weapon can be purchased. Such a weapon provides a range of 180ft instead of 160ft, and gives a +1 circumstance bonus to attack when used at ranges of over 100ft, and provides a -1 to hit when used at distances below 60ft.
Rifle sights may be fitted to this weapon to provide a +2 enhancement bonus to attack at distances of over 80ft (100ft if a long-barreled weapon).
Explosives
Explosives require no proficiency.
Bomb
Small or Medium: 150gp, 3d6 damage in a 5ft radius, 1lb
Large: 300gp, 4d6 damage in a 10ft radius, 2lb
10ft range, Type: Fire/Bludgeoning
A bomb must be lit before it is thrown, requiring a standard move action that may provoke an attack of opportunity. Anyone within the blast radius at the time of explosion may make a DC 15 reflex save for half damage.
Smoke Bomb
50gp, 20ft radius, 1lb
10ft range
A bomb must be lit before it is thrown, requiring a standard move action that may provoke an attack of opportunity. A smoke bomb is a nondamaging effect, providing concealment and a -4 to all attack rolls, as well as a +6 to all hide checks. A fog cloud will dissipate normally in 4 rounds, but may disperse faster in strong wind conditions.
Airship Upgrades, Features and Facilities
A note on augmentations: Augmentations are divided up into tiers, respective to their relative power drain on Engine systems. Some Engines are only capable of supporting a small number of minor auxiliary systems, and so will be unable to utilise more powerful augmentations. Better engines may be able to support multiple minor augmentations (known as augs) or one more median level augmentations, but not both. Powerful Engines such as those aboard Dreadnaught-class warships may be capable of supporting multiple major augs and as well as minor ones. If the party has access to a competent machinist then it may be a viable tactic to purchase more augs than a system is capable of supporting at any one time, and performing on-the-spot replacements of certain systems as they fall in and out of need. Other systems, such as turrets and grapnels don’t draw energy from Engine systems to function, and so a ship is only limited by its carrying capacity with regards to these. To represent Engine capacity, a number will be given next each system that requires energy from the Engine, representing in arbitrary units the energy drain it places upon the Engine. An Engine may not be augmented with more auxiliary systems than its maximum capacity allows; thus an Engine of capacity [2] may support either one or two [1] systems, or a single [2] system, but no more.
Local Engine
A Local Engine is the heart and soul of any airship; a Local Engine, or a Local Facsimile Engine is the device that provides the airship with its ability to fly, resembling a large brass sphere, it is created from reverse-engineered Singularity Engine technology. They resonate an energy field around the vessel to which they are bound, allowing it to levitate and maneuver in the air, and various devices may be used to alter or augment this field in different ways to provide different effects. There are two primary types; the Elemental Engine and the Mechanical Engine. Better quality Engines tend to result in a swifter and more responsive vessel, capable of supporting multiple layers of auxiliary fields and other upgrades.
An Elemental Engine is powered by energy generated by air and fire elementals bound within the Engine and exploited by a combination of arcane artifice and mechanical energy converters derived from Engine Technology. This method of Engine building is an evolution from the earliest methods of airship construction, used by Windwright Captains who piloted ships driven by huge air elementals bound to the very body of the ship itself using their mental link to the elemental in question. The Elemental Engine is considered by many to be an outdated model, but many remain drawn to it due to the romanticism still associated with it because of Captain Cornelius, who himself operated an elementally driven airship, and due to its closer ties to the arcane this model of ship is often preferred by captains from Praba, and the members of House Escher swear by them. However, poorly constructed Elemental Engines have been known to fail from time to time, allowing the bound elementals to escape and wreak havoc on the ship and its crew, and piloting such a vessel into areas with natural antimagic fields is an exercise in recklessness, as there is every chance that systems could fail at any moment.
The Mechanical Engine is the result of decades of artifice and machinism spent focusing the technologies of the great Singularity Engine into a device of their own design. Relying upon artificially created antimatter energy crystals bound within a containment field in the heart of the Engine, energy is produced through constant annihilation of particles constantly reformed within the Engine core, and is collected and directed via complex energy arrays situated around the Engine proper. Ships powered by Mechanical Engines are often riddled with copper wiring and exposed brass plates scattered with magically etched circuitry designed to direct the field around the ship. More complex in nature, and ranging wildly in cost and quality, Mechanical Engines are significantly more reliable than Elemental Engines, able to function equally well in antimagic zones as they do out of them, and at no risk from escaping wild and uncontrolled elementals. However, if improperly maintained, Mechanical Engines are more prone to failure; their complicated mechanical systems require constant maintenance and upkeep from a capable and attentive engineer or machinist, and the costs of continuous servicing steers many away from these Engines. They remain, nonetheless, the Engine of choice amongst most cities, and ships powered by them tend to be the most flexible to upgrade.
Fallsafe Generators [2]
A fallsafe generator is an augmentation of a ships’ Local Engine to cause it to generate a kinetic safety field around the bottom of a ship to protect against falls that the safety nets don’t catch. Extending roughly 15ft from the circumference of an airship, it has the effect of rapidly slowing to a halt anything in freefall within 5ft of it. Falling skyfarers and objects are thus left safely suspended in space where they may then be fetched back on board by fellow crewmembers, or attempt to move towards the hull of the ship and climb up. Objects suspended by the field are capable of horizontal, but not vertical movement. Vessels equipped with these devices tend to be larger merchant vessels or privately owned luxury cruisers, rather than common airships. Such generators tend to be expensive, and most regular skyfarers are confident enough in their skills, and tight enough of pocket that they don’t opt beyond safety nets. Besides, if something goes wrong, then they always have their Pluma.
Projectile Shielding [6]
Expensive and energy-demanding, projectile shielding is rarely found beyond military vessels and the private ships of the rich and paranoid. Projectile shields are Engine augmentations designed to generate a protective kinetic bubble from small arms fire and projectile weaponry. The effect of the shielding is to redirect or dissipate projectile attacks within a 5ft bubble of the ship. When projectiles come within this range, a kinetic dampening effect occurs, providing an effective DR 10/ranged weapons to every crewmember aboard the ship, as well as affording a +2 circumstance bonus to AC against ranged attacks coming from outside of the bubble. The kinetic dampening is one way only, and ranged attacks made from inside the bubble are unaffected.
Ballistic Shielding [8]
Even more demanding of Engine systems than Projectile Shielding, Ballistic Shielding affords an additional kinetic dampening effect of DR 20/ ranged weapons and ranged magical attacks, as well as affording the vessel a SR of 20. Ballistic Shielding is rarely, if ever, found on civilian vessels, and even within military ships it is typically restricted to dreadnaught-class warships. For good reason too, as few other vessels would ever expect to face such formidable firepower. Magical artillery is extremely uncommon beyond military vessels and city defences, as are projectile weapons powerful enough to warrant the protection of DR 20 shielding.
Cloaking [8]
Still highly experimental, cloaking augmentations afford a vessel with a concealment field that shroud it from sight, affording it a chameleon-esque ability to adapt to it’s surroundings. Reserved for special forces pursuit craft, cloaking augmentations aren’t commonly available to civilians, but a few highly-prized augmentations can sometimes be found on the black market, scavenged by pirates who have salvaged them from military vessels. A cloaking effect causes individuals to have to make a DC 15 spot check to discern a cloaked airship. If the airship is not in motion, then this is increased to DC 25. Even if spotted, when the cloaking field is in effect enemies take a -4 circumstance penalty to hit a cloaked target. The cloaking field extends outward from the ship in a 5ft bubble from the furthest extremities of the ship. If the bubble is broken, either by movement outside it or firing through it upon other vessels, the cloaking effect dissipates and must take 1d6 rounds to refocus in order to regain the effect. It is possible to dedicate a full round action to focus the field to allow a single attack through it without disrupting the effect, after which another full round action must be dedicated to refocus the field before a second shot can be made. Shots through the field immediately reduce the spot DC by 5 and allow enemies to make a free spot check if they are within eyesight of the ship. This DC is reduced by a further 5 each time another shot is made.
Speed [1]/[3]/[5]
Speed augmentations can be used to manipulate an Engine’s mobility field to excite greater propulsion. This augmentation may be taken multiple times, and multiple lower level speed augmentations can be swapped out for a higher augmentation of equal value at no cost upon purchase of new augmentations. The augmentations increase base speed by 5, 10 and 15mph respectively. Be aware that the total speed an airship is capable of is limited by the quality of its structure and the capacity of its Local Engine. Multiple high-speed augmentations stacked into a poorly constructed ship will likely result in the hull coming apart in the air when traveling at high speeds.
Pursuit [4]
Pursuit augmentations are designed for high-speed craft needing to hunt down specific foes, and are often purchased by bounty hunters to aid them in their hunt for elusive sky pirates and other criminals. A pursuit augmentation increases airship fly speed by 5mph and allows an airship to lock on to a single other airship with which it has come into contact. Once locked on, it provides a +20 bonus to Survival and/or Gather Information checks to determine the location of that target. In order to lock onto a target, the airship must have first established a line of sight to the target, and declared it is in pursuit.
Heavy Wandguns [1]
Commonly found only on military vessels, these turrets are high-power fixed artillery units utilising the heavy duty firepower available only to heavy wandguns. Typically found only on large military vessels with the carrying capacity, system capacity and need, these devices are the height of destructive firepower, capable of laying waste to a conventional vessel within minutes. They have a small reliance on Engine systems to provide the necessary power to operate the various servos necessary to move and aim the huge turrets. In order to operate these devices, Exotic Weapon Proficiency: Wandgun is required.
Mundane Turrets [1, if equipped with reloading servitors]
Like cannons on traditional naval vessels, these turrets fire simple cannonballs, chain shot, grapeshot or, depending on how the turrets have been engineered, may even be able to deliver an explosive payload. Much less powerful than heavy wandguns, and also much cheaper, these devices still serve their function admirably against most vessels, but often can’t quite summon the power needed to punch through the hulls of the more fortified vessels. These devices can be upgraded with automatic reloading servitors, reducing both the time needed to reload and the manpower needed to do it.
Safety Nets
Ordinary, mundane nets stretched out the side of most skyfaring vessels in order to keep crewmembers and passengers on board in case of a fall. Once landed upon, they provide a +10 circumstance bonus to climb checks taken while holding onto the net. These nets can be found on almost every vessel, and is often the first thing purchased by all but the most cheapskate of airship captains.
Docking/Boarding Hooks
Strong wound cables ending in large hooks, these are used for binding to other vessels for the purpose of boarding, or mid-air docking in order to trade between vessels.
Ship Grapnels [1]
Very similar in function to boarding hooks, these serve only one purpose; to board. These are long powerful cables ending in sharp punching grapnel hooks that are fired like projectiles into the hull of other ships in order to pierce it and drag the ships closer together. The powerful mechanisms required to launch these heavy cables through the air with enough force to pierce a ships hull place a small draw on Engine systems, though the process is largely independent of the Engine. Though they do cause hull damage, it is not the primary intention of these hooks. The grappling cables are also interwoven with hand and footholds to assist crewmembers in clambering along the cables towards the other ships, providing a +5 circumstance bonus to climb checks while hanging onto the rope- a helpful boon, as these ropes are often shaking and swaying all over the place as the ships pull to and fro and can be very difficult to hold onto for very long (base climb DC 20).
Founder Module [4]/[8]
A founder module is a component that can be used to integrate into an Engine to foster a sub-psychic link between the ship and its captain. It causes the ship to register the psychic imprint of its captain, who can then lock the controls of the ship down while on board to prevent other who are not him from operating it. This device also allows the captain to always be aware of the general location of the ship, wherever it is, so as to help him find it again. Advanced versions of this module allow the captain to communicate basic executable commands to his ship, and affords the captain an at-will 1/day scrying ability on his ship. His knowledge of its general location also becomes more focused, allowing him to pinpoint specific directions, and be aware if his ship is moving. The advanced modules are only compatible with the most intricately designed of Engines, however, and are not available to the common man. Should a ships Engine be destroyed or replaced, this link is severed and a new module will have to be purchased and installed.
Airships
Now the most ubiquitous mode of transport and trade in all of Ornys, airships still largely remain out of private hands, and are instead loaned to private enterprises by the Organisations for a cut of their trade revenues. Those that do own airships of their own tend to be the rich aristocracy and wealthy merchants who own private luxury craft. Private ownership often also occurs when groups of small businesses pool their funds to purchase one of their own for the purposes of trade, or small groups of enterprising individuals choice to group together to purchase a shared airship in the spirit of adventure. True airship captains remain somewhat uncommon, owing no small part to the large price tag that accompanies private ownership of a skyworthy vessel. Sky pirates roam the trade lanes between cities in airships cobbled together from spare parts and scrap in misfit patchwork fleets, swarming upon unlucky merchant vessels without the good sense or the funds to protect their stock. The military has their hands full keeping the pirate menace at bay, and will often pay good money to bounty hunters that can help thin their number. As such, many will buy group shares in private airships to launch their bounty-hunting careers. This ranges from wildly profitable to financially crippling to some, being forced to repay the cost of airships ruined in fights against airbourne marauders.
NOTE: Whilst this currently uses the rules for naval combat, viz. it is composed of a number of sections, each of which has its own hardness and Hp value, I would appreciate knowing if there are any less clunky methods of implementing it.
Basic Airship
Gargantuan Vehicle
Basic Mechanical or Elemental Engine [capacity 1]
Max Speed: 15mph
Speed: Fly 70ft (poor; can hover)
Cargo Capacity: 20 Tonnes
Attack: Ram 10d6
AC: 3
Section HP 60 (hardness 5); 10 sections to sink
Includes birds nest, poop deck with captain’s wheel, shared quarters and mess room, Engine room and a storage deck.
Cost: 15, 000gp
Servo Suits
Servo Suits are clockwork exoskeletons reverse-engineered from the Servitors discovered maintaining the Engine of Ysor and developed for the purposes of construction due to the immense strength and fine motor control they offer their wearers. Not designed for battle, they possess no armour of any sort, but their manipulatory appendages, although designed for delicate work and lifting, allow for most weapons to be wielded. When wearing a Servo Suit, due to the way in which it must be fitted in order to respond to the commands of the body, it can only be operated in Light Armour or less. Attempting to operate a Servo Suit in anything greater than Light Armour results in taking a -6 to Dex and a -4 to attack. Furthermore, you are always treated as flat-footed for the purposes of determining AC, however the Str bonus still applies as normal. Operating a Servo Suit in Light Armour or less provides a +5 to Str and Dex, and a +4 circumstance bonus to any craft check involving machinery or delicate fine-motor processes. Operating a Servo Suit in Light Armour or less still applies a -1 to attack, due to the appendages of the suit being awkwardly fitted to the purpose of wielding a weapon. When wearing a Servo Suit, one may make unarmed attacks for 1d6+2 of either lethal or nonlethal damage, and a full attack for another 1d6+2. When operating a Servo Suit, one does not draw attacks of opportunity for making unarmed attacks, however a full attack still draws an Attack of Opportunity as normal.
In order to use a Servo Suit, a player must invest 2 skill points in order to become trained in its use. If a Servo Suit is operated without training, then the strength bonus is only +2, base land speed is halved, and the wearer is always treated as flat footed for the purposes of determining AC, and suffers a -3 to Dex and a -2 to attack rolls when wearing the suit, all of which stacks with normal penalties.
Pluma
A must-have item for any airship pilot, a pluma is a small auxiliary device that attaches to an Auctor to provide a automatic single use feather-fall effect in the event its wearer falls a distance further than 30ft. Used ubiquitously as a last-resort safety contingency to protect against falls from airships (known commonly as ‘skyfall’) and Servo Wing failures. Not cheap, but inexpensive enough that its rare to find a single skyfarer without one, and they are even carried by those who work aboard well-equipped merchant vessels with safety nets and fallsafe generators.
Servo Wings
Servo Wings are a device attached to a persons back that extend to provide a great pair of mechanical wings, crafted exquisitely from overlapping plates of flexible bronze and copper alloys that vibrate at incredible speeds due to electrical impulses delivered along the spindles of the wings by wires and cables linked to delicate pistons. In flight, the wings vibrate so quickly they become barely visible but for the frame holding them in place. They are more commonly used aboard airships when in-flight to service them, perform maintenance, survey the hull integrity and check for damage and to navigate to safety in the event of a systems failure. A captain will often invest in a set of Servo Wings for his ship mechanic, and more well off captains will also own their own personal pair. When wearing the wings, the wearer is able to fly at a speed of 60 feet, has the ability to dive and their maneuverability is good. If wearing Medium Armour, then fly speed is reduced to 40, and maneuverability is reduced to average. Servo Wings cannot be used with Heavy Armour. In order to be able to use the Servo Wings, a player must invest 2 skill points to become trained in their use. If untrained, then maneuverability is treated as poor, and every round the wearer must succeed on a balance check of DC 30 or lose control of the wings. If the wings become disabled for any reason, the wearer falls as normal.
Servitors
Servitors are clockwork automata used primarily for the purposes of maintenance, but sometimes also as soldiers and guards. Possessing no will of their own, they are utterly loyal to their function, and even those not designed for combat are unusually robust. Fast and strong, they are dangerous in a fight, but possess a fatal weakness to cold, which can freeze their intricate machinery and render them helpless until they are able to thaw. Those designed for combat are typically humanoid, but those designed for maintenance are based upon the originals discovered in Ysor, and resemble spindle-legged spiders with many many legs, each ending with delicate instruments and tools to suit their purpose. If pushed, they may use these tools to attack.
Prosthetics
For those who can afford the specialised and delicate machinery required to produce them, intricate clockwork prosthetic limbs exist to replace those lost in battle or engineering accidents, or in the case of some individuals to replace entirely functional limbs. Typically this is an option only available to the extremely wealthy due to the difficulty of producing such devices, but this is an option chosen by many members of the Order within Brae, as some feel that by replacing bodyparts with clockwork prosthetics they grow closer to The Machine. For all its backward approach to Engine Technology, this is a field in which the Machine Priests of Brae specialise. A clockwork prosthetic limb will draw a lot of attention regardless of your location, possessing one in Brae when not a member of the Order is as good as asking the Inquisition to cut it off you. All clockwork prosthetics possess the chance of seizing up in the event of receiving large damage to that particular area, or freezing. A clockwork prosthetic may operate in different ways depending on the limb:
Arm
A prosthetic arm grants +1 to attack and +1 to Str and Dex checks for actions using that arm. A prosthetic arm also grants all the bonuses for having a prosthetic hand, and carries with it the added bonus of being able to integrate ones Auctor into the mechanism of the arm. An Auctor integrated in such a way is considered a concealed weapon of DC 15 until it is used.
Hand
A prosthetic hand allows the user to make an unarmed attack for 1d3 either lethal or nonlethal damage. A prosthetic hand also provides a +4 enhancement bonus to craft checks involving machinery or delicate fine-motor processes.
Leg
A single prosthetic leg grants no inherent bonuses of its own, but allows an unarmed kick attack to be made for 1d4 either lethal or nonlethal damage.
Two prosthetic legs working in conjunction provides a cumulative +2 to initiative and a 10ft increase in land speed, as well as a 25% increase in carrying capacity and a +6 to jump checks.
Eye
One of the most unusual and difficult to design prosthetic augmentations. Only the finest of machinists are able to even attempt such delicate machinery, and even they cannot succeed such an operation without risk. The individual installing your eye must roll craft and heal checks DC 35 and 30 respectively; if either fail, roll 1d6.
If the craft check failed: On a roll of 1-3, your mechanical eye is nonfunctional, rendering you blind in that eye. You suffer -6 to spot checks, and must halve the range increment for all ranged weapon and spell uses. You may attempt to have a machinist or other trained individual recalibrate the eye. If you do so, roll another d6 and use the new result. If the result is another 1, you have suffered permanent damage to your optical lobe and are now permanently blind in that eye. These effects can be reversed through a Restoration, Wish, Limited Wish or Miracle spell. A DC 60 craft and heal check to effectively bypass the optical lobe with can also be made, with failure resulting in death or brain damage and success resulting in fully restored vision and an additional +1 bonus to initiative as your optical link becomes even sharper. Roll 1d6; a roll of 1 results in death. A roll of 2-5 results in varying degrees of damage to the frontal lobe, with lower rolls equalling more damage. A roll of 2 reduces all mental stats permanently by 4, a roll of 3 reduces them by 3, a roll of 3 reduces them by 2 and a roll of 1 reduces them by 1. A roll of 6 results only in complete blindness in that eye, and the heal check may be re-attempted. All results 2-5 also result in blindness in that eye.
On a roll of 4-5, your eyesight is damaged significantly rendering your sight out of that eye colourless and murky. You suffer -3 to spot checks, and the range increment of all your spell and ranged weapon uses is reduced by 25%
On a roll of 6, the failed check may be reattempted at no cost.
If the heal check failed: On a roll of 1, your optical lobe has suffered damage and you are now blind in that eye. Refer above for how this may be corrected.
On a roll of 2-5, you have suffered scarring around the eye as a result of the surgery to install it. The extent of the scarring is relative to the roll, with a higher roll equalling less scarring. You may attempt to reduce the scarring by a factor of 1 (representing the degree of scarring as determined by the roll) by making successive DC 25 heal checks, with failed rolls increasing the scars by a factor of 1.
On a roll of 6, the failed check may be reattempted at no cost.
If all the checks are passed, then successful eye surgery results in a +3 to initiative, a +8 to spot checks, a sliding + or - effect to diplomacy depending on the individual, and a +2 to all ranged attack rolls. A mechanical eye also allows the bearer to magnify his sight up to x4 normal, providing built-in monocular vision, and adding an additional +1 to ranged attack rolls if a move action is spent to focus ones vision before making the attack. Vision does not need to be refocused each time unless the bearer wishes to alter the magnification of his sight. The bonuses of 2 mechanical eyes stack, and provide an additional cumulative +1 enhancement bonus to ranged attacks when focused.
Grappels
[Pronounced: gruh-PELL, as in ‘hell’] A grappel is a type of retractable projectile grappling hook that can be aimed and fired either as a standalone pistol-like device, or as an augmentation that can be added to an Auctor. It is commonly used by airship captains and crew members, as well as construction workers to easily reach high-up sections of ships or buildings quickly when needed. It is also the tool of choice for sky pirates, who use it to board other skyfaring vessels. Whilst not a weapon, it can be used as such to deal 1d4 points of damage to any individual it is fired at, and a following successful opposed strength check (DC Str+5) can be used to trip an opponent, or to pull them towards oneself. If the strength check fails, the firer of the grapnel must make succeed balance check of DC 10 each round the grapnel remains affixed to the foe to avoid being made prone.
Auctor
[Pronounced: awe-ktor] This is a device resembling an armband made from interlocking brass plates that is worn on the lower forearm, and is used to manifest the effects of Artifex and Opifex. The inner segment of the Auctor possesses a port for the insertion of Artifex and Opifex, and the most common models also conceal a collapsable frame that can be extended along the under forearm to end in a small disc that fits into the palm of the wearer for the purposes of directing manifestations.
Many models of Auctor exist, and they are often highly personalised by their owners, who sometimes treat them as a symbol of status or trade. One can often tell a lot about a person from their Auctor, with merchants and aristocrats often wearing intricately decorated Auctors as fashion items, and craftsmen wielding professional and practical Auctor suitable for their trade. Certain types of Auctor can extend their wearers ability to stack multiple Opifex manifestations onto a prime, or to accommodate and combine the effects of multiple Artifex and Opifex working in conjunction with each other. Armoured versions designed for combat exist also, with some designs incorporating the aiming mechanism into an entire gauntlet for ease of use.
Artifex and Opifex
Small brass tokens bearing symbols in their centre to distinguish their purpose, roughly the size of a small coin. They are used in conjunction with Auctors to manifest physical phenomena with effects similar to magic. The resultant effect is completely nonmagical, although can produce results that differ significantly from their equivocally mundane counterparts. The artifex themselves possess quasi-magical qualities that are activated through an Auctor.
Artifex
Artifex are single-use items, with the central symbol coloured black. Artifex typically produce a stronger effect than Opifex. They are inserted into and activated via Auctor, and are consumed during the process. Artifex are most commonly produced for use by bodyguards and military forces, or for self defence, and tend to be relatively inexpensive.
Opifex
Opifex are multiple-use items, which come in two forms. These forms are distinguished by the colour of their central symbols; silver and gold.
Silver-marked Opifex produce slightly weaker effects than Artifex, but may be used multiple times before their reserves are exhausted. These reserves provide only a finite number of charges, and once all are used the Opifex is consumed. There is no cool-down period, and once manifested a Silver-marked Opifex may be manifested again instantly. Consecutive charges may be sacrificed to increase the power of the prime by a factor of 1.5. For example a Silver-marked Opifex of Kinesis with 10 charges can use 2 charges to manifest a kinesis effect of 1.5x power. Doing this requires no extra time, and does not mechanically effect the way in which the Opifex or Auctor is used in any way other than the additional expenditure of charge. The number of charges that may be sacrificed to increase the power of the prime is potentially limitless, however most Auctors are unable to increase a manifestation beyond a given threshold.
Gold-marked Opifex, sometimes referred to as Omnifex, typically produce even weaker effects than Silver-marked Opifex, however they possess the ability to do so an infinite number of times. Unlike Silver-marked Opifex, Gold-marked Opifex require time to recuperate their energies and therefore cannot be used endlessly. Mechanically, they operate similarly to Silver-marked Opifex in that successive charges can be sacrificed to increase the power of the prime. However Gold-marked Opifex have a finite number of times they are able to manifest per day before they have to recuperate, and charges cannot be sacrificed beyond the daily allowance. A Gold-marked Opifex cannot increase its number of daily charges by not expending those of previous days and will always return to full capacity after rest.
And thats about it.
Basically, any advice on balancing equipment, and feedback on my creations would be appreciated, as well as ideas about what I could add. The firearms exist primarily to provide a viable setting-appropriate alternative to bows and crossbows, and have been designed from a combination of the information found on p.143 of the DMG, personal inventions, and adapted versions of firearm models of what I think is splatbook print that I found on the net.
The major new(ish) stuff is the airships, the wandguns, and the Auctor, which is a completely new idea somewhat loosely based around psionic mechanics that have been applied to a piece of technology. I would like any feedback on which kinds of powers may be suitable to apply to Artifex and Omnifex tokens; the powers should, I feel, be largely physical in nature and thus far I am considering effects like telekinesis, shield, some kind of force barrier (like a much smaller and weaker wall of force), some raw form of elemental manifestation such as lightning bolt and maybe some minor healing or localised alter self effects (such as only transforming one arm etc.) Thanks in advance!
New Equipment and Technology
Wandguns
The wandgun is a term used to describe a fairly uncommon range of weapons developed by combining magical wands with the designs of machinists and artificers to produce a strange sort of magical firearm. Usually very expensive, it is rare to see such weapons out of the hands of the rich, who more often than not use them as a symbol of affluence rather than for their effectiveness as a weapon.
A wandgun resembles a carved length of wood or shaped metal, shaped like a rifle or a musket and inlaid with intricate symbols, brass pipes, plates and wiring. Sometimes designed to accommodate sights and butt-stocks also, all share the common characteristics of curved handles and accompanying trigger mechanisms. The underneath of the completely solid ‘barrel’ contains a compartment into which wands can be inserted, and a locking mechanism snaps inwards to hold them in place, as well as connecting the wand to the sensitive brass and copper plating that runs along the length of the weapon. A wandgun is built to accommodate any wand inserted into it, and direct its energies along the length of the weapon and out of the ‘barrel’, thus increasing accuracy. In all cases, swapping a wand out, or replacing one that has run out of charges requires a full round action. Some wandguns are designed with dual-barrels that can accommodate multiple wands to combine the effects of both. Two wands of the same spell combined in such a way has the same effect as an empower effect, whereas wands of different spells may combine to produce completely new effects. Often, when present, these second slots are used to accommodate metamagic wands to enhance the effects of the primary wand being fired. Higher level wandguns are most commonly found as armaments on airships used to ward off sky pirates, and some wandguns are even able to accommodate spells of above 4th level, such as the great defensive turrets of the cities, some of which contain armaments as powerful as 10th level fireballs. Such constructions are huge, however, often requiring a 2 to 3 man team to aim and operate, and are restricted for use as defensive turrets on cities and gigantic skycruisers or dreadnaught class airships.
Due to to the artificial nature of their design, wandguns allow the use of wands without any skill or ability in the operation of magical items, and so does not require the use magic device skill to operate. Instead, use of wandguns relies upon the standard rules for ranged combat, and due to their fine attunement to the magical energies they direct a wandgun provides a base +1 bonus to ranged attack rolls with that weapon. A wandgun is an exotic weapon and thus requires the feat Exotic Weapon Proficiency: Wandgun to wield. This feat allows for the use of any and every wandgun, and any compatible wand. As the wandgun is designed primarily as an offensive weapon, not all wands are compatible with it. They are not common weapons, and often require special order to acquire one, or to have it custom built for your use. They are always highly expensive, and whilst the cost of wands have also fallen with demand they still remain expensive. Replacement wands often require special order, as few shops stock them, and rarer wands may take weeks or even months to acquire.
Firearms
For the purposes of the weapon focus feat, variants of the same weapons are treated as the equal (thus Weapon Focus: Pistol would apply to both flintlock and clockwork pistols, for example).
Pistol, Clockwork
Small: 60gp, 1d4 damage, 1lb Medium: 60gp, 1d6 damage, 2lb Large: 120gp, 1d8 damage, 4lb
Critical: x3, Range: 50ft, Type: Piercing. This is a 1h light weapon.
A clockwork pistol is a breach-fed weapon with a capacity for 6 bullets before it must be reloaded. Reloading requires a move action that may provoke an attack of opportunity.
Masterwork variants can be upgraded with the capacity to contain 8 bullets at a time.
A clockwork pistol is a simple weapon, and is extremely common throughout all the cities. A clockwork pistol may be used in each hand at a -1 penalty to attack, as standard for light weapon dual wielding.
Pistol, Flintlock
Small: 250gp, 1d8 damage, 1lb
Medium: 250gp, 1d10 damage, 2lb
Large: 300gp, 1d12 damage, 4lb
Critical: x3, Range: 60ft, Type: Piercing. This is a 1h light weapon.
Less common amongst denizens, the flintlock pistol is usually preferred by snipers, who have the opportunity to reload without significant risk to themselves, or by duelists who seldom fire more than once in any given encounter, and often come equipped with multiple pistols. The flintlock pistol is a less popular firearm due to the need to reload after every shot, but it is preferred by some to the clockwork pistol due to its increased power.
Reloading requires a move action which may provoke an attack of opportunity.
A flintlock pistol is a simple weapon, and whilst less common than the clockwork variant it is still nevertheless relatively simple to locate in most trade districts. A flintlock pistol may be used in each hand at a -1 penalty to attack, as standard for light weapon dual wielding.
Handcannon, Clockwork
Small: 650gp, 2d4 damage, 2lb
Medium: 650gp, 2d6 damage, 4lb
Large: 1300gp, 2d8 damage, 8lb
Critical x3, Range 20ft, Type: Piercing. This is a 1h medium weapon.
A marvel of military engineering, the handcannon is a repeating miniature blunderbuss. Capable of devastating any opponent its turned against. It is an ugly, messy weapon, known for its brutal effectiveness in close combat. It is the weapon most known for its use in the hands of Bartholomew Clarke, the ‘High Caliber Consecrator’ of the Order of the Machine. The clockwork handcannon has a capacity for 2 loads of shot, with masterwork variants capable of extending this to 3, and reloading requires a full round action. The clockwork handcannon is an exotic weapon, and as such requires the feat Exotic Weapon Proficiency: Handcannon to use. Such weapons are extremely rare due to the great difficulty involved in their manufacture and are found only in the collections of firearms aficionados and the showrooms of high-end arms dealerships. It is not unusual to have to wait months for one to become available on the free market, or for an order placed directly to the manufacturer to pull through. A handcannon may be wielded in each hand at the standard penalty for dual wielding medium weapons.
Special: Due to its large and unwieldy nature, when dual wielding the hand cannon, take an additional -1 penalty to attack.
Blunderbuss
Small: 150gp, 2d6 damage, 4lb
Medium: 150gp, 3d6 damage, 8lb Large: 300gp, 3d8 damage, 16lb
Critical: x3, Range: 20ft, Type: Piercing. This is a 2h heavy weapon.
The blunderbuss is a powerful close-range weapon, designed to deliver maximum damage right in the heat of battle. It is large and unwieldy, but packs a violent punch. Such weapons are often carried by thugs and enforcers, preferring the overt intimidating nature of the blunderbuss to the more subtle pistol or the larger and more specialised musket. A blunderbuss must be reloaded after every shot, requiring a full round action, and provoking an attack of opportunity. Blunderbusses, whilst not a popular weapon, may be found in most arms dealerships. A blunderbuss may be fired, but not reloaded, using one hand at a -4 penalty to attack. A musket may be fired in each hand taking the normal penalty for two-handed firing, which stacks with the penalty for one-handed firing.
Musket, Light Clockwork
Small: 150gp, 1d6 damage, 2lb
Medium: 150gp, 1d8 damage, 4lb Large: 300 gp, 2d6 damage, 8lb
Critical: x3, Range: 80ft, Type: Piercing. This is a 2h light weapon.
The musket is rarely used outside of airships, the military and police sniper squads due to its cumbersome nature. They are an effective weapon at range, and can be fitted with a bayonet to attack with during a charge without risking an attack of opportunity for switching out weapons in combat. A light clockwork musket typically holds 4 bullets, but masterwork variants can be upgraded with the capacity to hold 6. Reloading requires a move action which may provoke an attack of opportunity. A musket may be fired, but not reloaded, using one hand at a -2 penalty to attack. A heavy clockwork musket may be fired in each hand at a -1 penalty, which stacks with the penalty for one-handed firing.
A light clockwork musket is a martial weapon, and whilst not an unusual weapon it not commonly sold outside of specialist armourers and arms shops.
Musket, Heavy Clockwork
Small: 350gp, 1d8 damage, 4lb
Medium: 350gp, 1d10 damage, 8lb Large: 700 gp, 2d8 damage, 16lb
Critical: x3, Range: 120ft, Type: Piercing. This is a 2h heavy weapon.
The heavy musket is the weapon of choice for snipers looking to deal damage at range, and is often the prized weapon of sky pirate marksmen, used to pick off the captains of airships then plan on boarding before bringing their ship in close. The heavy musket is a cumbersome weapon, and whilst it may be fitted with a bayonet, wielders of this weapon rarely, if ever, get close enough to an enemy to make use of it.
A heavy clockwork musket typically holds 2 bullets, but masterwork variants can be upgraded with the capacity to hold 4. Reloading requires a full round action which may provoke an attack of opportunity. A heavy clockwork musket may be fired, but not reloaded, using one hand at a -4 penalty to attack. A musket may be fired in each hand taking the normal penalty for two-handed firing, which stacks with the penalty for one-handed firing.
A heavy clockwork musket is a martial weapon, and tends to only be sold in specialist firearms shops.
Rifle, Flintlock
Small: 600gp, 1d10 damage, 4lb
Medium: 600gp, 2d8 damage, 8lb Large: 1200 gp, 2d10 damage, 16lb
Critical: x3, Range: 160ft, Type: Piercing. This is a 2h heavy weapon.
The flintlock rifle is a weapon used only by the most professional of snipers, and the rare sky pirate that owns one is likely to treat it as his most treasured possession. This is the weapon given to the military’s best snipers, and used by the best assassins of the 6 city states; it is a weapon utterly deadly at long range. Again, possessing the capacity for a bayonet to be fixed, but the chances of that bayonet ever needing to be put to use are slim to none.
A flintlock rifle must be reloaded after every shot, requiring a full round action that may draw attacks of opportunity. A flintlock rifle may be fired, but not reloaded, using one hand at a -4 penalty to attack. A rifle may be fired in each hand taking the normal penalty for two-handed firing, which stacks with the penalty for one-handed firing.
A flintlock musket is an exotic weapon, and requires Exotic Weapon Proficiency: Rifle to be used. Such weapons rarely make their way to be traded in shops and must often be purchased directly from their manufacturer, or ordered from highly specialist firearms dealerships. Control of these weapons is very tight, and demand means that individuals may often have to wait months to purchase one.
A flintlock rifle provides an inherent +1 enhancement bonus to attack due to the rifled design of its barrel.
Special: A ‘long-barreled‘ version of this weapon can be purchased. Such a weapon provides a range of 180ft instead of 160ft, and gives a +1 circumstance bonus to attack when used at ranges of over 100ft, and provides a -1 to hit when used at distances below 60ft.
Rifle sights may be fitted to this weapon to provide a +2 enhancement bonus to attack at distances of over 80ft (100ft if a long-barreled weapon).
Explosives
Explosives require no proficiency.
Bomb
Small or Medium: 150gp, 3d6 damage in a 5ft radius, 1lb
Large: 300gp, 4d6 damage in a 10ft radius, 2lb
10ft range, Type: Fire/Bludgeoning
A bomb must be lit before it is thrown, requiring a standard move action that may provoke an attack of opportunity. Anyone within the blast radius at the time of explosion may make a DC 15 reflex save for half damage.
Smoke Bomb
50gp, 20ft radius, 1lb
10ft range
A bomb must be lit before it is thrown, requiring a standard move action that may provoke an attack of opportunity. A smoke bomb is a nondamaging effect, providing concealment and a -4 to all attack rolls, as well as a +6 to all hide checks. A fog cloud will dissipate normally in 4 rounds, but may disperse faster in strong wind conditions.
Airship Upgrades, Features and Facilities
A note on augmentations: Augmentations are divided up into tiers, respective to their relative power drain on Engine systems. Some Engines are only capable of supporting a small number of minor auxiliary systems, and so will be unable to utilise more powerful augmentations. Better engines may be able to support multiple minor augmentations (known as augs) or one more median level augmentations, but not both. Powerful Engines such as those aboard Dreadnaught-class warships may be capable of supporting multiple major augs and as well as minor ones. If the party has access to a competent machinist then it may be a viable tactic to purchase more augs than a system is capable of supporting at any one time, and performing on-the-spot replacements of certain systems as they fall in and out of need. Other systems, such as turrets and grapnels don’t draw energy from Engine systems to function, and so a ship is only limited by its carrying capacity with regards to these. To represent Engine capacity, a number will be given next each system that requires energy from the Engine, representing in arbitrary units the energy drain it places upon the Engine. An Engine may not be augmented with more auxiliary systems than its maximum capacity allows; thus an Engine of capacity [2] may support either one or two [1] systems, or a single [2] system, but no more.
Local Engine
A Local Engine is the heart and soul of any airship; a Local Engine, or a Local Facsimile Engine is the device that provides the airship with its ability to fly, resembling a large brass sphere, it is created from reverse-engineered Singularity Engine technology. They resonate an energy field around the vessel to which they are bound, allowing it to levitate and maneuver in the air, and various devices may be used to alter or augment this field in different ways to provide different effects. There are two primary types; the Elemental Engine and the Mechanical Engine. Better quality Engines tend to result in a swifter and more responsive vessel, capable of supporting multiple layers of auxiliary fields and other upgrades.
An Elemental Engine is powered by energy generated by air and fire elementals bound within the Engine and exploited by a combination of arcane artifice and mechanical energy converters derived from Engine Technology. This method of Engine building is an evolution from the earliest methods of airship construction, used by Windwright Captains who piloted ships driven by huge air elementals bound to the very body of the ship itself using their mental link to the elemental in question. The Elemental Engine is considered by many to be an outdated model, but many remain drawn to it due to the romanticism still associated with it because of Captain Cornelius, who himself operated an elementally driven airship, and due to its closer ties to the arcane this model of ship is often preferred by captains from Praba, and the members of House Escher swear by them. However, poorly constructed Elemental Engines have been known to fail from time to time, allowing the bound elementals to escape and wreak havoc on the ship and its crew, and piloting such a vessel into areas with natural antimagic fields is an exercise in recklessness, as there is every chance that systems could fail at any moment.
The Mechanical Engine is the result of decades of artifice and machinism spent focusing the technologies of the great Singularity Engine into a device of their own design. Relying upon artificially created antimatter energy crystals bound within a containment field in the heart of the Engine, energy is produced through constant annihilation of particles constantly reformed within the Engine core, and is collected and directed via complex energy arrays situated around the Engine proper. Ships powered by Mechanical Engines are often riddled with copper wiring and exposed brass plates scattered with magically etched circuitry designed to direct the field around the ship. More complex in nature, and ranging wildly in cost and quality, Mechanical Engines are significantly more reliable than Elemental Engines, able to function equally well in antimagic zones as they do out of them, and at no risk from escaping wild and uncontrolled elementals. However, if improperly maintained, Mechanical Engines are more prone to failure; their complicated mechanical systems require constant maintenance and upkeep from a capable and attentive engineer or machinist, and the costs of continuous servicing steers many away from these Engines. They remain, nonetheless, the Engine of choice amongst most cities, and ships powered by them tend to be the most flexible to upgrade.
Fallsafe Generators [2]
A fallsafe generator is an augmentation of a ships’ Local Engine to cause it to generate a kinetic safety field around the bottom of a ship to protect against falls that the safety nets don’t catch. Extending roughly 15ft from the circumference of an airship, it has the effect of rapidly slowing to a halt anything in freefall within 5ft of it. Falling skyfarers and objects are thus left safely suspended in space where they may then be fetched back on board by fellow crewmembers, or attempt to move towards the hull of the ship and climb up. Objects suspended by the field are capable of horizontal, but not vertical movement. Vessels equipped with these devices tend to be larger merchant vessels or privately owned luxury cruisers, rather than common airships. Such generators tend to be expensive, and most regular skyfarers are confident enough in their skills, and tight enough of pocket that they don’t opt beyond safety nets. Besides, if something goes wrong, then they always have their Pluma.
Projectile Shielding [6]
Expensive and energy-demanding, projectile shielding is rarely found beyond military vessels and the private ships of the rich and paranoid. Projectile shields are Engine augmentations designed to generate a protective kinetic bubble from small arms fire and projectile weaponry. The effect of the shielding is to redirect or dissipate projectile attacks within a 5ft bubble of the ship. When projectiles come within this range, a kinetic dampening effect occurs, providing an effective DR 10/ranged weapons to every crewmember aboard the ship, as well as affording a +2 circumstance bonus to AC against ranged attacks coming from outside of the bubble. The kinetic dampening is one way only, and ranged attacks made from inside the bubble are unaffected.
Ballistic Shielding [8]
Even more demanding of Engine systems than Projectile Shielding, Ballistic Shielding affords an additional kinetic dampening effect of DR 20/ ranged weapons and ranged magical attacks, as well as affording the vessel a SR of 20. Ballistic Shielding is rarely, if ever, found on civilian vessels, and even within military ships it is typically restricted to dreadnaught-class warships. For good reason too, as few other vessels would ever expect to face such formidable firepower. Magical artillery is extremely uncommon beyond military vessels and city defences, as are projectile weapons powerful enough to warrant the protection of DR 20 shielding.
Cloaking [8]
Still highly experimental, cloaking augmentations afford a vessel with a concealment field that shroud it from sight, affording it a chameleon-esque ability to adapt to it’s surroundings. Reserved for special forces pursuit craft, cloaking augmentations aren’t commonly available to civilians, but a few highly-prized augmentations can sometimes be found on the black market, scavenged by pirates who have salvaged them from military vessels. A cloaking effect causes individuals to have to make a DC 15 spot check to discern a cloaked airship. If the airship is not in motion, then this is increased to DC 25. Even if spotted, when the cloaking field is in effect enemies take a -4 circumstance penalty to hit a cloaked target. The cloaking field extends outward from the ship in a 5ft bubble from the furthest extremities of the ship. If the bubble is broken, either by movement outside it or firing through it upon other vessels, the cloaking effect dissipates and must take 1d6 rounds to refocus in order to regain the effect. It is possible to dedicate a full round action to focus the field to allow a single attack through it without disrupting the effect, after which another full round action must be dedicated to refocus the field before a second shot can be made. Shots through the field immediately reduce the spot DC by 5 and allow enemies to make a free spot check if they are within eyesight of the ship. This DC is reduced by a further 5 each time another shot is made.
Speed [1]/[3]/[5]
Speed augmentations can be used to manipulate an Engine’s mobility field to excite greater propulsion. This augmentation may be taken multiple times, and multiple lower level speed augmentations can be swapped out for a higher augmentation of equal value at no cost upon purchase of new augmentations. The augmentations increase base speed by 5, 10 and 15mph respectively. Be aware that the total speed an airship is capable of is limited by the quality of its structure and the capacity of its Local Engine. Multiple high-speed augmentations stacked into a poorly constructed ship will likely result in the hull coming apart in the air when traveling at high speeds.
Pursuit [4]
Pursuit augmentations are designed for high-speed craft needing to hunt down specific foes, and are often purchased by bounty hunters to aid them in their hunt for elusive sky pirates and other criminals. A pursuit augmentation increases airship fly speed by 5mph and allows an airship to lock on to a single other airship with which it has come into contact. Once locked on, it provides a +20 bonus to Survival and/or Gather Information checks to determine the location of that target. In order to lock onto a target, the airship must have first established a line of sight to the target, and declared it is in pursuit.
Heavy Wandguns [1]
Commonly found only on military vessels, these turrets are high-power fixed artillery units utilising the heavy duty firepower available only to heavy wandguns. Typically found only on large military vessels with the carrying capacity, system capacity and need, these devices are the height of destructive firepower, capable of laying waste to a conventional vessel within minutes. They have a small reliance on Engine systems to provide the necessary power to operate the various servos necessary to move and aim the huge turrets. In order to operate these devices, Exotic Weapon Proficiency: Wandgun is required.
Mundane Turrets [1, if equipped with reloading servitors]
Like cannons on traditional naval vessels, these turrets fire simple cannonballs, chain shot, grapeshot or, depending on how the turrets have been engineered, may even be able to deliver an explosive payload. Much less powerful than heavy wandguns, and also much cheaper, these devices still serve their function admirably against most vessels, but often can’t quite summon the power needed to punch through the hulls of the more fortified vessels. These devices can be upgraded with automatic reloading servitors, reducing both the time needed to reload and the manpower needed to do it.
Safety Nets
Ordinary, mundane nets stretched out the side of most skyfaring vessels in order to keep crewmembers and passengers on board in case of a fall. Once landed upon, they provide a +10 circumstance bonus to climb checks taken while holding onto the net. These nets can be found on almost every vessel, and is often the first thing purchased by all but the most cheapskate of airship captains.
Docking/Boarding Hooks
Strong wound cables ending in large hooks, these are used for binding to other vessels for the purpose of boarding, or mid-air docking in order to trade between vessels.
Ship Grapnels [1]
Very similar in function to boarding hooks, these serve only one purpose; to board. These are long powerful cables ending in sharp punching grapnel hooks that are fired like projectiles into the hull of other ships in order to pierce it and drag the ships closer together. The powerful mechanisms required to launch these heavy cables through the air with enough force to pierce a ships hull place a small draw on Engine systems, though the process is largely independent of the Engine. Though they do cause hull damage, it is not the primary intention of these hooks. The grappling cables are also interwoven with hand and footholds to assist crewmembers in clambering along the cables towards the other ships, providing a +5 circumstance bonus to climb checks while hanging onto the rope- a helpful boon, as these ropes are often shaking and swaying all over the place as the ships pull to and fro and can be very difficult to hold onto for very long (base climb DC 20).
Founder Module [4]/[8]
A founder module is a component that can be used to integrate into an Engine to foster a sub-psychic link between the ship and its captain. It causes the ship to register the psychic imprint of its captain, who can then lock the controls of the ship down while on board to prevent other who are not him from operating it. This device also allows the captain to always be aware of the general location of the ship, wherever it is, so as to help him find it again. Advanced versions of this module allow the captain to communicate basic executable commands to his ship, and affords the captain an at-will 1/day scrying ability on his ship. His knowledge of its general location also becomes more focused, allowing him to pinpoint specific directions, and be aware if his ship is moving. The advanced modules are only compatible with the most intricately designed of Engines, however, and are not available to the common man. Should a ships Engine be destroyed or replaced, this link is severed and a new module will have to be purchased and installed.
Airships
Now the most ubiquitous mode of transport and trade in all of Ornys, airships still largely remain out of private hands, and are instead loaned to private enterprises by the Organisations for a cut of their trade revenues. Those that do own airships of their own tend to be the rich aristocracy and wealthy merchants who own private luxury craft. Private ownership often also occurs when groups of small businesses pool their funds to purchase one of their own for the purposes of trade, or small groups of enterprising individuals choice to group together to purchase a shared airship in the spirit of adventure. True airship captains remain somewhat uncommon, owing no small part to the large price tag that accompanies private ownership of a skyworthy vessel. Sky pirates roam the trade lanes between cities in airships cobbled together from spare parts and scrap in misfit patchwork fleets, swarming upon unlucky merchant vessels without the good sense or the funds to protect their stock. The military has their hands full keeping the pirate menace at bay, and will often pay good money to bounty hunters that can help thin their number. As such, many will buy group shares in private airships to launch their bounty-hunting careers. This ranges from wildly profitable to financially crippling to some, being forced to repay the cost of airships ruined in fights against airbourne marauders.
NOTE: Whilst this currently uses the rules for naval combat, viz. it is composed of a number of sections, each of which has its own hardness and Hp value, I would appreciate knowing if there are any less clunky methods of implementing it.
Basic Airship
Gargantuan Vehicle
Basic Mechanical or Elemental Engine [capacity 1]
Max Speed: 15mph
Speed: Fly 70ft (poor; can hover)
Cargo Capacity: 20 Tonnes
Attack: Ram 10d6
AC: 3
Section HP 60 (hardness 5); 10 sections to sink
Includes birds nest, poop deck with captain’s wheel, shared quarters and mess room, Engine room and a storage deck.
Cost: 15, 000gp
Servo Suits
Servo Suits are clockwork exoskeletons reverse-engineered from the Servitors discovered maintaining the Engine of Ysor and developed for the purposes of construction due to the immense strength and fine motor control they offer their wearers. Not designed for battle, they possess no armour of any sort, but their manipulatory appendages, although designed for delicate work and lifting, allow for most weapons to be wielded. When wearing a Servo Suit, due to the way in which it must be fitted in order to respond to the commands of the body, it can only be operated in Light Armour or less. Attempting to operate a Servo Suit in anything greater than Light Armour results in taking a -6 to Dex and a -4 to attack. Furthermore, you are always treated as flat-footed for the purposes of determining AC, however the Str bonus still applies as normal. Operating a Servo Suit in Light Armour or less provides a +5 to Str and Dex, and a +4 circumstance bonus to any craft check involving machinery or delicate fine-motor processes. Operating a Servo Suit in Light Armour or less still applies a -1 to attack, due to the appendages of the suit being awkwardly fitted to the purpose of wielding a weapon. When wearing a Servo Suit, one may make unarmed attacks for 1d6+2 of either lethal or nonlethal damage, and a full attack for another 1d6+2. When operating a Servo Suit, one does not draw attacks of opportunity for making unarmed attacks, however a full attack still draws an Attack of Opportunity as normal.
In order to use a Servo Suit, a player must invest 2 skill points in order to become trained in its use. If a Servo Suit is operated without training, then the strength bonus is only +2, base land speed is halved, and the wearer is always treated as flat footed for the purposes of determining AC, and suffers a -3 to Dex and a -2 to attack rolls when wearing the suit, all of which stacks with normal penalties.
Pluma
A must-have item for any airship pilot, a pluma is a small auxiliary device that attaches to an Auctor to provide a automatic single use feather-fall effect in the event its wearer falls a distance further than 30ft. Used ubiquitously as a last-resort safety contingency to protect against falls from airships (known commonly as ‘skyfall’) and Servo Wing failures. Not cheap, but inexpensive enough that its rare to find a single skyfarer without one, and they are even carried by those who work aboard well-equipped merchant vessels with safety nets and fallsafe generators.
Servo Wings
Servo Wings are a device attached to a persons back that extend to provide a great pair of mechanical wings, crafted exquisitely from overlapping plates of flexible bronze and copper alloys that vibrate at incredible speeds due to electrical impulses delivered along the spindles of the wings by wires and cables linked to delicate pistons. In flight, the wings vibrate so quickly they become barely visible but for the frame holding them in place. They are more commonly used aboard airships when in-flight to service them, perform maintenance, survey the hull integrity and check for damage and to navigate to safety in the event of a systems failure. A captain will often invest in a set of Servo Wings for his ship mechanic, and more well off captains will also own their own personal pair. When wearing the wings, the wearer is able to fly at a speed of 60 feet, has the ability to dive and their maneuverability is good. If wearing Medium Armour, then fly speed is reduced to 40, and maneuverability is reduced to average. Servo Wings cannot be used with Heavy Armour. In order to be able to use the Servo Wings, a player must invest 2 skill points to become trained in their use. If untrained, then maneuverability is treated as poor, and every round the wearer must succeed on a balance check of DC 30 or lose control of the wings. If the wings become disabled for any reason, the wearer falls as normal.
Servitors
Servitors are clockwork automata used primarily for the purposes of maintenance, but sometimes also as soldiers and guards. Possessing no will of their own, they are utterly loyal to their function, and even those not designed for combat are unusually robust. Fast and strong, they are dangerous in a fight, but possess a fatal weakness to cold, which can freeze their intricate machinery and render them helpless until they are able to thaw. Those designed for combat are typically humanoid, but those designed for maintenance are based upon the originals discovered in Ysor, and resemble spindle-legged spiders with many many legs, each ending with delicate instruments and tools to suit their purpose. If pushed, they may use these tools to attack.
Prosthetics
For those who can afford the specialised and delicate machinery required to produce them, intricate clockwork prosthetic limbs exist to replace those lost in battle or engineering accidents, or in the case of some individuals to replace entirely functional limbs. Typically this is an option only available to the extremely wealthy due to the difficulty of producing such devices, but this is an option chosen by many members of the Order within Brae, as some feel that by replacing bodyparts with clockwork prosthetics they grow closer to The Machine. For all its backward approach to Engine Technology, this is a field in which the Machine Priests of Brae specialise. A clockwork prosthetic limb will draw a lot of attention regardless of your location, possessing one in Brae when not a member of the Order is as good as asking the Inquisition to cut it off you. All clockwork prosthetics possess the chance of seizing up in the event of receiving large damage to that particular area, or freezing. A clockwork prosthetic may operate in different ways depending on the limb:
Arm
A prosthetic arm grants +1 to attack and +1 to Str and Dex checks for actions using that arm. A prosthetic arm also grants all the bonuses for having a prosthetic hand, and carries with it the added bonus of being able to integrate ones Auctor into the mechanism of the arm. An Auctor integrated in such a way is considered a concealed weapon of DC 15 until it is used.
Hand
A prosthetic hand allows the user to make an unarmed attack for 1d3 either lethal or nonlethal damage. A prosthetic hand also provides a +4 enhancement bonus to craft checks involving machinery or delicate fine-motor processes.
Leg
A single prosthetic leg grants no inherent bonuses of its own, but allows an unarmed kick attack to be made for 1d4 either lethal or nonlethal damage.
Two prosthetic legs working in conjunction provides a cumulative +2 to initiative and a 10ft increase in land speed, as well as a 25% increase in carrying capacity and a +6 to jump checks.
Eye
One of the most unusual and difficult to design prosthetic augmentations. Only the finest of machinists are able to even attempt such delicate machinery, and even they cannot succeed such an operation without risk. The individual installing your eye must roll craft and heal checks DC 35 and 30 respectively; if either fail, roll 1d6.
If the craft check failed: On a roll of 1-3, your mechanical eye is nonfunctional, rendering you blind in that eye. You suffer -6 to spot checks, and must halve the range increment for all ranged weapon and spell uses. You may attempt to have a machinist or other trained individual recalibrate the eye. If you do so, roll another d6 and use the new result. If the result is another 1, you have suffered permanent damage to your optical lobe and are now permanently blind in that eye. These effects can be reversed through a Restoration, Wish, Limited Wish or Miracle spell. A DC 60 craft and heal check to effectively bypass the optical lobe with can also be made, with failure resulting in death or brain damage and success resulting in fully restored vision and an additional +1 bonus to initiative as your optical link becomes even sharper. Roll 1d6; a roll of 1 results in death. A roll of 2-5 results in varying degrees of damage to the frontal lobe, with lower rolls equalling more damage. A roll of 2 reduces all mental stats permanently by 4, a roll of 3 reduces them by 3, a roll of 3 reduces them by 2 and a roll of 1 reduces them by 1. A roll of 6 results only in complete blindness in that eye, and the heal check may be re-attempted. All results 2-5 also result in blindness in that eye.
On a roll of 4-5, your eyesight is damaged significantly rendering your sight out of that eye colourless and murky. You suffer -3 to spot checks, and the range increment of all your spell and ranged weapon uses is reduced by 25%
On a roll of 6, the failed check may be reattempted at no cost.
If the heal check failed: On a roll of 1, your optical lobe has suffered damage and you are now blind in that eye. Refer above for how this may be corrected.
On a roll of 2-5, you have suffered scarring around the eye as a result of the surgery to install it. The extent of the scarring is relative to the roll, with a higher roll equalling less scarring. You may attempt to reduce the scarring by a factor of 1 (representing the degree of scarring as determined by the roll) by making successive DC 25 heal checks, with failed rolls increasing the scars by a factor of 1.
On a roll of 6, the failed check may be reattempted at no cost.
If all the checks are passed, then successful eye surgery results in a +3 to initiative, a +8 to spot checks, a sliding + or - effect to diplomacy depending on the individual, and a +2 to all ranged attack rolls. A mechanical eye also allows the bearer to magnify his sight up to x4 normal, providing built-in monocular vision, and adding an additional +1 to ranged attack rolls if a move action is spent to focus ones vision before making the attack. Vision does not need to be refocused each time unless the bearer wishes to alter the magnification of his sight. The bonuses of 2 mechanical eyes stack, and provide an additional cumulative +1 enhancement bonus to ranged attacks when focused.
Grappels
[Pronounced: gruh-PELL, as in ‘hell’] A grappel is a type of retractable projectile grappling hook that can be aimed and fired either as a standalone pistol-like device, or as an augmentation that can be added to an Auctor. It is commonly used by airship captains and crew members, as well as construction workers to easily reach high-up sections of ships or buildings quickly when needed. It is also the tool of choice for sky pirates, who use it to board other skyfaring vessels. Whilst not a weapon, it can be used as such to deal 1d4 points of damage to any individual it is fired at, and a following successful opposed strength check (DC Str+5) can be used to trip an opponent, or to pull them towards oneself. If the strength check fails, the firer of the grapnel must make succeed balance check of DC 10 each round the grapnel remains affixed to the foe to avoid being made prone.
Auctor
[Pronounced: awe-ktor] This is a device resembling an armband made from interlocking brass plates that is worn on the lower forearm, and is used to manifest the effects of Artifex and Opifex. The inner segment of the Auctor possesses a port for the insertion of Artifex and Opifex, and the most common models also conceal a collapsable frame that can be extended along the under forearm to end in a small disc that fits into the palm of the wearer for the purposes of directing manifestations.
Many models of Auctor exist, and they are often highly personalised by their owners, who sometimes treat them as a symbol of status or trade. One can often tell a lot about a person from their Auctor, with merchants and aristocrats often wearing intricately decorated Auctors as fashion items, and craftsmen wielding professional and practical Auctor suitable for their trade. Certain types of Auctor can extend their wearers ability to stack multiple Opifex manifestations onto a prime, or to accommodate and combine the effects of multiple Artifex and Opifex working in conjunction with each other. Armoured versions designed for combat exist also, with some designs incorporating the aiming mechanism into an entire gauntlet for ease of use.
Artifex and Opifex
Small brass tokens bearing symbols in their centre to distinguish their purpose, roughly the size of a small coin. They are used in conjunction with Auctors to manifest physical phenomena with effects similar to magic. The resultant effect is completely nonmagical, although can produce results that differ significantly from their equivocally mundane counterparts. The artifex themselves possess quasi-magical qualities that are activated through an Auctor.
Artifex
Artifex are single-use items, with the central symbol coloured black. Artifex typically produce a stronger effect than Opifex. They are inserted into and activated via Auctor, and are consumed during the process. Artifex are most commonly produced for use by bodyguards and military forces, or for self defence, and tend to be relatively inexpensive.
Opifex
Opifex are multiple-use items, which come in two forms. These forms are distinguished by the colour of their central symbols; silver and gold.
Silver-marked Opifex produce slightly weaker effects than Artifex, but may be used multiple times before their reserves are exhausted. These reserves provide only a finite number of charges, and once all are used the Opifex is consumed. There is no cool-down period, and once manifested a Silver-marked Opifex may be manifested again instantly. Consecutive charges may be sacrificed to increase the power of the prime by a factor of 1.5. For example a Silver-marked Opifex of Kinesis with 10 charges can use 2 charges to manifest a kinesis effect of 1.5x power. Doing this requires no extra time, and does not mechanically effect the way in which the Opifex or Auctor is used in any way other than the additional expenditure of charge. The number of charges that may be sacrificed to increase the power of the prime is potentially limitless, however most Auctors are unable to increase a manifestation beyond a given threshold.
Gold-marked Opifex, sometimes referred to as Omnifex, typically produce even weaker effects than Silver-marked Opifex, however they possess the ability to do so an infinite number of times. Unlike Silver-marked Opifex, Gold-marked Opifex require time to recuperate their energies and therefore cannot be used endlessly. Mechanically, they operate similarly to Silver-marked Opifex in that successive charges can be sacrificed to increase the power of the prime. However Gold-marked Opifex have a finite number of times they are able to manifest per day before they have to recuperate, and charges cannot be sacrificed beyond the daily allowance. A Gold-marked Opifex cannot increase its number of daily charges by not expending those of previous days and will always return to full capacity after rest.