Pimp my Druid Pirate Ship

[KindOfGoodGuy]

So I somehow ended up in a 3.5 epic level game with my friends where each of us will be playing as the most famous people in the world (level 24), and I wanted to play as a Druid who is also a pirate captain. By using Leadership/Epic Leadership I plan on not only making the ship itself a druid's grove, but also having the rest of the crew be druids too. I need some help though with ideas for it. The things I have come up with so far are as follows:

Use Wood Shape to Create a ship instead of just buying one (there is the added benefit of using tree trunks for thickness instead of just planks).

Enchant the ship with the Ironwood spell so that it is as hard as steel and fireproof.

Bring a lot of soil onto the ship so a garden can be made and that way the druids never technically leave the land.

Use Decanters of Endless Water for all water related needs.

Have the mast be a giant tree and use Wood Shape on the branches and leaves so it works like a sail.

Have the animal companions for the crew mates be 75% birds and 25% fish, that way we will have an abundance of food from using them to go get smaller fish when needed, and the birds can use the canopy of the tree as a literal Crow's Nest for watching out for any threat along the horizon.

Start growing acorns and holly berries so that way if catapults are used, many of them can be wrapped up in a sack and affected by the Fire Seeds spell to be used like clusters of grenades.

So what kind of stuff can you guys come up with for this? I am accepting ideas from all the core sources and maybe any books that are designed around this stuff. :smallsmile:

[Kazuel]

I'm sorry I don't have much to offer for optimization but I did want to say how awsome the Druid pirate idea is.

[KindOfGoodGuy]

I'm sorry I don't have much to offer for optimization but I did want to say how awsome the Druid pirate idea is.

Thank you!

[Surpriser]

What about awakening (as the spell) the ship? Or, if your DM thinks you need a tree that is still in tree-form, just the mast.

Also, as described in another thread (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?405287-sea-campaign): Sink enemy ships by wood shaping holes in their hulls.

[atemu1234]

What about awakening (as the spell) the ship? Or, if your DM thinks you need a tree that is still in tree-form, just the mast.

Also, as described in another thread (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?405287-sea-campaign): Sink enemy ships by wood shaping holes in their hulls.

Also, you could have your cohort be a nymph living in the ship.

[KindOfGoodGuy]

Also, you could have your cohort be a nymph living in the ship.

Oh wow. I completely forgot about the cohort. Yeah a nymph would be pretty effective!

[Dysart]

I'm sure there's a way to make something Living Wood.... from what book and how I don't know though sorry.

Don't forget as Druids you can all wildshape into things like sharks and whales.

I'd suggest definitely having a look through the Spell Compendium of 3.5 as that's got lots to do with sea based adventures (lots of spells that is).

How about a permanent spell of a wind spell that can be turned on and off, maybe like a barrel of wind or something that you can point at the leaves/sail?

[avr]

If you can Awaken the ship you can then buff it. For example, Longstrider + Air Walk to get over a reef, or Resist Energy for obvious reasons.

Epic level enemies to a pirate druid are likely to include sea monsters coming up from the depths so make sure you have some sort of offence you can aim underwater.

If you're thickening the hull greatly and laying down earth gardens that'll reduce cargo capacity by tons. Make sure you have portable holes or something to get cargo space back.

Oh yeah, Kelpstrand is one of the most useful spells your crew could use to assist you in a fight, and it's appropriate too.

Edit: oh yeah, the Eberron Campaign Setting has Livewood as a material IIRC, and it's exactly what it sounds like. It can canonically support a dryad.

[Riculf]

You mentioned Decanters. This post thread from Necromancy shows a good use of the decanters of endless water :smallbiggrin:

http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?404972-Fun-with-magic-items-(unorthodox-uses)

Sounds right up your ship's "alley" (Fastest Ship on the Azure Sea)

[Dysart]

You mentioned Decanters. This post thread from Necromancy shows a good use of the decanters of endless water :smallbiggrin:

http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?404972-Fun-with-magic-items-(unorthodox-uses)

Sounds right up your ship's "alley" (Fastest Ship on the Azure Sea)

Oooo as a GM I'd so screw them for this!

[Fouredged Sword]

Nononono, you are EPIC! EPIC ships FLY! Make the whole thing out of living soarwood and have it pushed by a roc on the front and back tip of the ship.

[Hiro Quester]

Of course also Stromwrack. Lots of aquatic themed druid goodies, including alternative animal companions for aquatic campaigns. Giant squid Animal Companion!

Edit: And plants strategically around the ship enable you to use Plant growth spell as a wall of entangling plants to prevent boarders.

[KindOfGoodGuy]

You mentioned Decanters. This post thread from Necromancy shows a good use of the decanters of endless water :smallbiggrin:

http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?404972-Fun-with-magic-items-(unorthodox-uses)

Sounds right up your ship's "alley" (Fastest Ship on the Azure Sea)

I did think about this one for a while, but because having epic leadership means you either need a fleet or one super huge flagship, decanters would need to come in very high numbers. Around 20 or so is my guess

[KindOfGoodGuy]

Of course also Stromwrack. Lots of aquatic themed druid goodies, including alternative animal companions for aquatic campaigns. Giant squid Animal Companion!

Edit: And plants strategically around the ship enable you to use Plant growth spell as a wall of entangling plants to prevent boarders.

I just checked out Stormwrack. Thanks for the recommendation! If my DM says ok to some of these spells then this will get a ton more fun!

[Bronk]

On the other hand, why just have a flying ship when you can awaken your very own spaceworthy elven tree-ship spelljammer?

(Dragon 339, Dungeon92/Polyhedron151, all the old spelljammer materials...)

[Baroknik]

As a druid pirate, I definitely would suggest befriending/taming elsewhales for your fleet.

[Bronk]

I just checked out Stormwrack. Thanks for the recommendation! If my DM says ok to some of these spells then this will get a ton more fun!

You should check out the Arms and Equipment Guide too... it has a bunch of magic items for conveyances, including the 'planar sails', which would be great for you, since druids don't get plane shift natively.

[black-jack]

If your DM allows it, you could have the ship made of a bunch of wild shaped urban druids. Each one wild shapes into a piece of the ship, and when you're on land or in a battle, they transform into your army.

[Eloel]

I'd suggest finding a way to go underwater instead of flying a la Pirates of the Caribbean Flying Dutchman.

[jiriku]

Livewood (ECS 127) is wood that stays living after being cut, and may contain dryads. It's a little harder than regular wood too. Soarwood, from the same page, weighs 25% less than normal and doubles the speed of a ship made from it. Elukian clay (A&E 20) is a form of stone as strong as steel which has neutral bouyancy and thus wouldn't affect a ship's weight when determining its capacity. Riverine (Storm 128) is deep-ocean water contained within sculpted walls of force -- it is immune to damage.

Lay a keep keel and a ram made from riverine, then build the ship up from soarwood. Plate its sides all over with elukian clay. Construct your masts, decks, ramps and railings from livewood. Cast plant growth on the masts and railings and maximized awaken on the masts. Functionally this is a steel-armored armorclad that moves at double speed and never takes damage when executing a ramming attack, except the steel is weightless and druid-friendly, the rest of the ship weighs 25% less than normal and is trimmed in attractive foliage, and the masts are living, genius-level intelligent talking trees that can move themselves within limited constraints (for example, raising and lowering sails for you or attacking would-be boarders) and the entire ship now makes saving throws as an attended object. Your masts are also lookouts who never sleep and have a perspective from the highest point on the ship, and they contain dryads if you selected the original trees correctly, and you can step through the masts one to the other on a multi-masted ship (or multiple ships in a fleet of this type) using tree stride and transport via plants.

[TrollCapAmerica]

Livewood (ECS 127) is wood that stays living after being cut, and may contain dryads. It's a little harder than regular wood too. Soarwood, from the same page, weighs 25% less than normal and doubles the speed of a ship made from it. Elukian clay (A&E 20) is a form of stone as strong as steel which has neutral bouyancy and thus wouldn't affect a ship's weight when determining its capacity. Riverine (Storm 128) is deep-ocean water contained within sculpted walls of force -- it is immune to damage.

Lay a keep and a ram made from riverine, then build the ship up from soarwood. Plate its sides all over with elukian clay. Construct your masts, decks, ramps and railings from livewood. Cast plant growth on the masts and railings and maximized awaken on the masts. Functionally this is a steel-armored armorclad that moves at double speed and never takes damage when executing a ramming attack, except the steel is weightless and druid-friendly, the rest of the ship weighs 25% less than normal and is trimmed in attractive foliage, and the masts are living, genius-level intelligent talking trees that can move themselves within limited constraints (for example, raising and lowering sails for you or attacking would-be boarders) and the entire ship now makes saving throws as an attended object. Your masts are also lookouts who never sleep and have a perspective from the highest point on the ship, and they contain dryads if you selected the original trees correctly, and you can step through the masts one to the other on a multi-masted ship (or multiple ships in a fleet of this type) using tree stride and transport via plants.

What about stuff from the stronghold builders book? I can already imagine doubling it's hardness might be nice but I'm sure there's gotta be more to pull from there. It's gotta be Thousand Sunny good

Also what about Unicorns? Would the ship count for its "Teleport through Forests" ability? Would a fleet work?

[KindOfGoodGuy]

Livewood (ECS 127) is wood that stays living after being cut, and may contain dryads. It's a little harder than regular wood too. Soarwood, from the same page, weighs 25% less than normal and doubles the speed of a ship made from it. Elukian clay (A&E 20) is a form of stone as strong as steel which has neutral bouyancy and thus wouldn't affect a ship's weight when determining its capacity. Riverine (Storm 128) is deep-ocean water contained within sculpted walls of force -- it is immune to damage.

Lay a keep and a ram made from riverine, then build the ship up from soarwood. Plate its sides all over with elukian clay. Construct your masts, decks, ramps and railings from livewood. Cast plant growth on the masts and railings and maximized awaken on the masts. Functionally this is a steel-armored armorclad that moves at double speed and never takes damage when executing a ramming attack, except the steel is weightless and druid-friendly, the rest of the ship weighs 25% less than normal and is trimmed in attractive foliage, and the masts are living, genius-level intelligent talking trees that can move themselves within limited constraints (for example, raising and lowering sails for you or attacking would-be boarders) and the entire ship now makes saving throws as an attended object. Your masts are also lookouts who never sleep and have a perspective from the highest point on the ship, and they contain dryads if you selected the original trees correctly, and you can step through the masts one to the other on a multi-masted ship (or multiple ships in a fleet of this type) using tree stride and transport via plants.

Oh my Gods.......that sounds amazing! One thing though. How much do you suppose this would this cost?

[PraxisVetli]

I am a really big fan of spell turrets, I wanna say DMG II.

[KindOfGoodGuy]

I am a really big fan of spell turrets, I wanna say DMG II.

How would spell turrets help? I can't seem to find much info on them or where they are in the DMG II.

[Eloel]

How would spell turrets help? I can't seem to find much info on them or where they are in the DMG II.

They are turrets that sling spells. All pirate ships need cannons, and at epic level, you want your cannons to fire meteor swarms.

[Aethir]

How would spell turrets help? I can't seem to find much info on them or where they are in the DMG II.

Go to page 45 for the relevant rules text on them.

[KindOfGoodGuy]

Go to page 45 for the relevant rules text on them.

Thank you!

[Biffoniacus_Furiou]

Find a really big (colossal) tree, use Wood Shape to add platforms on the branches, rooms in the trunk, etc.

Apply sixteen doses of Unguent of Timelessness (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/magicItems/wondrousItems.htm#unguentofTimelessness) to the tree so its perception of time is one day for every year of actual time that passes. Spells last 365 times longer than normal when cast on it, and it ages extremely slowly. The unguent never wears off.

Create automatic reset spell traps (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/traps.htm#magicDeviceTrapCost) that duplicate Ironwood, Create Food and Water, Endure Elements, Ironwood, Cure X Wounds, (Lesser) Restoration, (Greater) Mage Armor, Energy Immunity, etc. Anyone who touches the trap has that spell cast on them automatically.

Cast (Rod of) Maximized Awaken (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/awaken.htm) on the tree, its Int, Wis, and Cha scores are all 18, and it has the stats of a colossal animated object (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/monsters/animatedObject.htm), but it has an Int score and gains skill points and feats for its 32 HD. Use Diplomacy to improve its attitude toward you. For every year that it serves you it will have perceived only a day of service, so you could travel on it for centuries and it will perceive it as having only been with you for a matter of years.

Give your awakened tree a Ring of Sustenance, a Necklace of Adaptation, and Wings of Flying (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/magicItems/wondrousItems.htm#wingsofFlying). It can magically fly at a speed of 60 ft. with good maneuverability, it never needs to eat or drink, and it's always surrounded entirely by a field of clean, breathable air. It can use its branches to touch the automatic reset spell traps as often as it wants, though in combat it should be up to eight times per round. Any occupants can walk over the Create Food and Water trap as often as they want so you need no supplies for the crew. You can fly this into space, and use Necklaces of Adaptation for people to venture out from it. Its Str 28 and colossal size give it a light load of almost five tons, and a max load of over fourteen tons, plus magical flight will always permit it to move at that speed regardless of encumbrance, so it technically has no maximum to how much it can carry when flying (that, and everything is weightless in space anyway).

[jiriku]

Oh my Gods.......that sounds amazing! One thing though. How much do you suppose this would this cost?

Ruinously expensive, I'm sure. I'd say 200,000 gp would be a good approximation for a galley or warship constructed in this fashion. And since you're epic, you probably want to trick it out with ship-grade magic items like a planar helm and sails of displacement, and maybe an extradimensional space for a hold so you can store far more cargo than properly belongs on a ship, which would add approximately another 200k. It's the wealth of a nation to be sure. But then again, epic characters are typically looting nations on a fairly regular basis.

[KindOfGoodGuy]

Ruinously expensive, I'm sure. I'd say 200,000 gp would be a good approximation for a galley or warship constructed in this fashion. And since you're epic, you probably want to trick it out with ship-grade magic items like a planar helm and sails of displacement, and maybe an extradimensional space for a hold so you can store far more cargo than properly belongs on a ship, which would add approximately another 200k. It's the wealth of a nation to be sure. But then again, epic characters are typically looting nations on a fairly regular basis.

Oddly enough I thought it would have been around a million gold. Because the game is supposed to be about the greatest heroes (or villains) of the world gathering together to stop something of probably multiverse endangering importance, everyone has a budget of 2 million, with 100k extra for housing. And when I say that we are the greatest heroes, I mean that the paladin in the party is Pelor's Champion.

[thecrimsondawn]

Find a really big (colossal) tree, use Wood Shape to add platforms on the branches, rooms in the trunk, etc.

Apply sixteen doses of Unguent of Timelessness (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/magicItems/wondrousItems.htm#unguentofTimelessness) to the tree so its perception of time is one day for every year of actual time that passes. Spells last 365 times longer than normal when cast on it, and it ages extremely slowly. The unguent never wears off.

Create automatic reset spell traps (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/traps.htm#magicDeviceTrapCost) that duplicate Ironwood, Create Food and Water, Endure Elements, Ironwood, Cure X Wounds, (Lesser) Restoration, (Greater) Mage Armor, Energy Immunity, etc. Anyone who touches the trap has that spell cast on them automatically.

Cast (Rod of) Maximized Awaken (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/awaken.htm) on the tree, its Int, Wis, and Cha scores are all 18, and it has the stats of a colossal animated object (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/monsters/animatedObject.htm), but it has an Int score and gains skill points and feats for its 32 HD. Use Diplomacy to improve its attitude toward you. For every year that it serves you it will have perceived only a day of service, so you could travel on it for centuries and it will perceive it as having only been with you for a matter of years.

Give your awakened tree a Ring of Sustenance, a Necklace of Adaptation, and Wings of Flying (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/magicItems/wondrousItems.htm#wingsofFlying). It can magically fly at a speed of 60 ft. with good maneuverability, it never needs to eat or drink, and it's always surrounded entirely by a field of clean, breathable air. It can use its branches to touch the automatic reset spell traps as often as it wants, though in combat it should be up to eight times per round. Any occupants can walk over the Create Food and Water trap as often as they want so you need no supplies for the crew. You can fly this into space, and use Necklaces of Adaptation for people to venture out from it. Its Str 28 and colossal size give it a light load of almost five tons, and a max load of over fourteen tons, plus magical flight will always permit it to move at that speed regardless of encumbrance, so it technically has no maximum to how much it can carry when flying (that, and everything is weightless in space anyway).

This is incredible!
However how fast can it travel? Are there ways to increase its speed? We need to think of ways to travel much much faster then "feet" per round.

Planer travel is much much faster, and greater teleport could effectively be "jumping" since this living ship would be one creature.

Any other ideas?

[Biffoniacus_Furiou]

This is incredible!
However how fast can it travel? Are there ways to increase its speed? We need to think of ways to travel much much faster then "feet" per round.

Planer travel is much much faster, and greater teleport could effectively be "jumping" since this living ship would be one creature.

Any other ideas?

Sure! Just give it the Run feat and a means of obtaining Persistent Footsteps of the Divine (CC), possibly via a custom magic item, and select either Bahamut or Tiamat for a 60 ft. fly speed (poor maneuverability). It can convert the Footsteps of the Divine into a one-round version to gain +10 ft. per round of remaining duration. Due to the Unguent of Timelessness, that 24-hour persistent duration will instead last an entire year of actual time, which converts to 5,256,000 rounds, or a fly speed of 52,56,0060 feet, which lasts for 365 rounds on it due to the Unguent. With the Run feat it can sprint at x4 speed for each of those rounds, traveling a total of 76,737,687,600 feet over 36.5 minutes, or just shy of 14,533,653 miles, or 0.15635 astronomical units (1 au = the distance from the sun to the Earth). This is a speed of 0.257 au/hour, which I'm sorry to say is staggeringly slow. It may be useful for going between celestial bodies in a given solar system, but not for traveling the galaxy. Although it's still incredibly useful to have that kind of mobility, just don't give up on Greater Teleport.

[thecrimsondawn]

Sure! Just give it the Run feat and a means of obtaining Persistent Footsteps of the Divine (CC), possibly via a custom magic item, and select either Bahamut or Tiamat for a 60 ft. fly speed (poor maneuverability). It can convert the Footsteps of the Divine into a one-round version to gain +10 ft. per round of remaining duration. Due to the Unguent of Timelessness, that 24-hour persistent duration will instead last an entire year of actual time, which converts to 5,256,000 rounds, or a fly speed of 52,56,0060 feet, which lasts for 365 rounds on it due to the Unguent. With the Run feat it can sprint at x4 speed for each of those rounds, traveling a total of 76,737,687,600 feet over 36.5 minutes, or just shy of 14,533,653 miles, or 0.15635 astronomical units (1 au = the distance from the sun to the Earth). This is a speed of 0.257 au/hour, which I'm sorry to say is staggeringly slow. It may be useful for going between celestial bodies in a given solar system, but not for traveling the galaxy. Although it's still incredibly useful to have that kind of mobility, just don't give up on Greater Teleport.

Ok, so the next step to traveling faster is planer travel.
The question is do you simply travel faster on these other planes, or is it time that is causing you to seem to travel faster.

If I remember right (and I could be very wrong here) the slowest time passes outside of a plane that does not have time as a concept, is 1 day per 1 round on prime material.

If time moves as normal, then we would not be moving faster, everyone else would just be moving slower sadly - but then there is Gravity!

some planes have variable gravity, and while that would effect people walking, if you are flying, that should in theory, give you more base speed.


what do you think?

[Bronk]

Ok, so the next step to traveling faster is planer travel.
The question is do you simply travel faster on these other planes, or is it time that is causing you to seem to travel faster.

If I remember right (and I could be very wrong here) the slowest time passes outside of a plane that does not have time as a concept, is 1 day per 1 round on prime material.

If time moves as normal, then we would not be moving faster, everyone else would just be moving slower sadly - but then there is Gravity!

some planes have variable gravity, and while that would effect people walking, if you are flying, that should in theory, give you more base speed.


what do you think?

The trick to planar travel on a ship to get from one place to another is to plane shift out, then plane shift back... if you know where you're going, you'll get there to within the margin of error of the spell.

[jiriku]

The trick to planar travel on a ship to get from one place to another is to plane shift out, then plane shift back... if you know where you're going, you'll get there to within the margin of error of the spell.

Yep. With a ship-grade equivalent of greater plane shift, you're never more than 2 rounds from any place you've ever been. With a ship-grade version of gate, you're only 2 rounds away even if you've never been there (assuming you can get it cast as a standard action, because at epic level why not?).

And Biff, thanks for amusing me with the very entertaining interpretation of unguent of timelessness. :smallbiggrin:

[atemu1234]

Yep. With a ship-grade equivalent of greater plane shift, you're never more than 2 rounds from any place you've ever been. With a ship-grade version of gate, you're only 2 rounds away even if you've never been there (assuming you can get it cast as a standard action, because at epic level why not?).

And Biff, thanks for amusing me with the very entertaining interpretation of unguent of timelessness. :smallbiggrin:

Why is it I'm thinking of Gurren Lagann?

Row Row Fight the Powah!