Enormous animal "vehicles"

[Eisfalken]

Need some help with an idea. Let's say, for the sake of argument, that the PCs want to get themselves a soarwhale to act as a mobile little base of operations. The old A&EG has an entry for a howdah, which is great for a lot of uses. But what I need to figure out is a gondola for the ol' soarwhale, who can carry an awful LOT of weight (a light load is just a hair over 22 tons for them).

I combed through some material looking for something to use, specifically Stormwrack to try and find an actual weight on any ship that might make a suitable gondola for the PCs, but can't find a blasted thing. Is there anything I can source such a thing on (other than obviously a gondola or a pack saddle)? If not, are there any pocket engineers out there who can scribble out a rough guess for a gondola for a creature that's 80 ft. long and about 40 ft. thick? (Dunno if it'll matter to estimate this, but it's attack is a tail slap, with a reach of 15 ft., so if going for plausibility, may need to shorten effective length down a bit.)

On a related note, I am drawing a total damn blank on sizing up regular gear for creatures. Where's the rules for that? Is it just the same as for armor and/or weapons (double cost/weight per increment)? Not just for barding and such; it occurred to me that there might be a number of extras to slap onto that silly thing to make it a really nice home-on-the-move.

Any miscellaneous ideas are certainly welcome. I was thinking of applying the dungeonbred template, which would drastically reduce the weight carried at the advantage of much lower sustenance needs and improving flight to perfect maneuverability (letting it hover in place for loading and such).

[Bobby Baratheon]

I heard about a group that used a hollowed out, undead soarwhale as a mobile base. That might be a little too psychotic for some groups, but still.

I like the dungeon-bred idea - it's like the corvette of soarwhales. Quick and agile. Floats like a soarwhile, stings like a soarwhale.

If it's eighty feet long (with 15 or so needed free to tail slap), you could aim for a fifty foot long, twenty foot wide undercarriage, which would give you around 1,000 square to play with. That should be enough for sleeping quarters, a conference room, crafting area, gourmet kitchen, holding cells or whatever they might want. Adding a second, smaller level to the bottom of the undercarriage would give you a nice cargo hold to play with; if it's fifteen by fifty that's an extra 750 square feet. A flight deck on the howdah would also significantly expand your options; I see no reason why you couldn't have small structures on the flight deck. Considering the weight capacity of the soarwhale, you might be able to invest in some metal plating and go for an ironclad look with a couple of wand-turrets or whatnot.

Hopefully some of that was at least a little helpful.

[Eisfalken]

If it's eighty feet long (with 15 or so needed free to tail slap), you could aim for a fifty foot long, twenty foot wide undercarriage, which would give you around 1,000 square to play with. That should be enough for sleeping quarters, a conference room, crafting area, gourmet kitchen, holding cells or whatever they might want. Adding a second, smaller level to the bottom of the undercarriage would give you a nice cargo hold to play with; if it's fifteen by fifty that's an extra 750 square feet. A flight deck on the howdah would also significantly expand your options; I see no reason why you couldn't have small structures on the flight deck. Considering the weight capacity of the soarwhale, you might be able to invest in some metal plating and go for an ironclad look with a couple of wand-turrets or whatnot.

Yeah, but what I need to know is how much the gondola/undercarriage weighs, so I can determine how much more the critter can carry at different loads (light, medium, heavy) and still fly. The area/volume is easy to figure; that weight, though, becomes tricky. So much thickness for the gondola's outer/inner walls, so much for the upper decking, etc. Been trying to Google various things, but can't get a handle on it.

I guess I'll just need to figure it per square footage of wall/floor/whatever, and throw in some extra for framework, rigging, etc.

[DrMotives]

What if, just for argument's sake, it wasn't a real soarwhale but an effigy soarwhale. Then much of the interior, minus the space the locomotive mechanics take up, would be cargo & carriage space. A gondola would really be part of the effigy's construction. That would make it a bit like the title creature from the Leviathan trilogy by Scott Westerfield, which is a genetically modified flying whale in service to the British Royal Air Force in WWI. The crew use not only a gondola and the rigging, but also interior spaces of the animal as part of the ship.

[Eisfalken]

What if, just for argument's sake, it wasn't a real soarwhale but an effigy soarwhale.

Because they don't have 114,000 gp to pay for an effigy soarwhale. They have about 12,000 gp to pay for a soarwhale and... whatever to ride it.

[DrMotives]

Because they don't have 114,000 gp to pay for an effigy soarwhale. They have about 12,000 gp to pay for a soarwhale and... whatever to ride it.

Hmm, that takes all that talk of colossal barding off the table too. It looks like the book just handwaved the cost & weight of the howdah and/or gondola away, so you're left assuming the carrying capacity is what's listed plus undefined weight of mounting tack.

[The Viscount]

If you like you can also use the Siege Crab from MMIII, which has space for people to hang out in, and can do some serious damage.