Help Statting Out a Nautiloid

[jojosskul]

So, I'm DMing Rime of the Frostmaiden, and have run into an interesting situation I did not expect at all. HEAVY spoilers follow:

Part one, two of my players made their backstory to be from Termalaine, so even though we didn't start there, we of course did the Termalaine mine quest. During said quest, the Psi Crystal was found (also it eventually/indirectly caused the death of two characters due to ghosts, but that's another story.) Got the distress signal going, and another character actually had the Escaped Prisoner secret, so ended up at the ship. Gnome ceremorphs tried to make a deal, party refused (escaped prisoner is very LG) and in a very tight battle the party managed to defeat the mind flayers and crew.

They got the ship repaired after some stupid high figuring out technology checks, but realized you need to be a mind flayer to actually fly the ship. I did add in a barrel of tadpoles, but the party incinerated them and the Escaped Prisoner character resigned themselves that they would never get home again.

EXCEPT... They next went to Sunblight Fortress. It's close and I'd been ramping up the foreshadowing so it made sense. They decide to NOT chase the dragon and try and find out more inside, make a deal with Grandolpha, kill Xardarok by knocking him into lava with eldritch blast... and here's the kicker... THEY RESCUSE F'YORL. They disguised him as a regular prisoner since duergar wouldn't have let them leave with him normally, and manage to leave. Deus Ex Vellynne has now showed up with undead dogsleds and is ready to take them to Ten Towns....

Except they want to go back to the ship. They've made a deal with F'yorl to feed them the brains of their humanoid enemies, and with that part of his brain missing I've decided he can no longer connect to the Elder Brain, so he doesn't want to rejoin his own kind. In exchange for safety (since everyone hates mind flayers) and brains, he'll fly the ship for them. Unless they take other precautions he'll probably try and take it for himself, though for full flight I've decided you need at least three crew including the mind flayer at the helm (other races can fill the other roles) so that'll be harder for him.

TL/DR: Campaign circumstances have conspired to make it so that Destruction's Light may be decided by an Nautiloid V Dragon air battle. I'm stoked, but need stats before next week.

So, as you can see, I need to figure out Nautiloid stats. Speed being essential, but also try and get some of those other stats from GoS on there, and hell in the right area maybe they can even upgrade it ala GoS. So, opening it up to forum at large. If I say this Nautiloid, since it seems small, requires a crew of three (can be crewed by up to 10), with one (as detailed above) crew member always being a mind flayer, where do I go from here?

[Dork_Forge]

Very interested in how this turns out


1)How are you going to handle the Psi crystal being temporary as a solution? Will they have to go crystal hunting with the detectors?

2)Has the party considered Mind Flayer driving gloves?

[jojosskul]

Very interested in how this turns out


1)How are you going to handle the Psi crystal being temporary as a solution? Will they have to go crystal hunting with the detectors?

2)Has the party considered Mind Flayer driving gloves?


I'll be sure to post an update after next weeks session. We play on Sundays. To answer your questions:

They don't know that it's only a temporary solution at the moment. F'yorl will tell them once they return. Fine for dragon chasing, maybe not enough to get Escaped Prisoner back to their home world since they can't exactly take it to an illithid colony for repairs.

Regarding the driving gloves, HA! That'd be one potential solution. I, IRL, however, work in IT Security and have made it more of a biometric security feature, you have to be a living mind flayer to pilot the ship.

Using the crystal detector to find more crystals is interesting and could end up in a nice side campaign once the Auril issue is dealt with. Are there many mind flayers in Out of the Abyss? At the minimum it seems like it would be a good source book for where the party could go next after main campaign is done. If they, ya know, don't do that thing at the end. The big thing, with the obelisks. Knowing them they somehow will.

[Dork_Forge]

I'll be sure to post an update after next weeks session. We play on Sundays. To answer your questions:

They don't know that it's only a temporary solution at the moment. F'yorl will tell them once they return. Fine for dragon chasing, maybe not enough to get Escaped Prisoner back to their home world since they can't exactly take it to an illithid colony for repairs.

Regarding the driving gloves, HA! That'd be one potential solution. I, IRL, however, work in IT Security and have made it more of a biometric security feature, you have to be a living mind flayer to pilot the ship.

Using the crystal detector to find more crystals is interesting and could end up in a nice side campaign once the Auril issue is dealt with. Are there many mind flayers in Out of the Abyss? At the minimum it seems like it would be a good source book for where the party could go next after main campaign is done. If they, ya know, don't do that thing at the end. The big thing, with the obelisks. Knowing them they somehow will.

I want to say that there's some Mindflayers, but from my skim through I don't remember them being significant. If they do end up doing the Obelisk thing at least they'll be surrounded by intelligent folk that could repair the ship and modify it... Whether they're allowed to keep it on the otherhand is surely a matter for initiative and the threat of summoned Tarrasques.

[jojosskul]

I want to say that there's some Mindflayers, but from my skim through I don't remember them being significant. If they do end up doing the Obelisk thing at least they'll be surrounded by intelligent folk that could repair the ship and modify it... Whether they're allowed to keep it on the otherhand is surely a matter for initiative and the threat of summoned Tarrasques.

Ha! True enough, though with how that happens and WHERE it happens, they won't have the nautiloid with them sadly, though there may be ways around that.

But back on trying to stat this thing out, this thing is ABOUT the size of a sailing ship, probably a little bigger. Sailing ships aren't that fast, about 45 ft with no wind, 60 ft with wind. Maybe I just adapt the sailing ship stats and give it the 60 ft speed? Or would it be better to give it something like of the gith ships from MToF in terms of speed?

[CheddarChampion]

I'm running a Spelljammer campaign with homebrew ship stats, naval combat, the works. But I suppose you don't need all that for this.

For your purposes the ship needs HP, a damage threshold or damage reduction, damage immunities & damage resistances, condition immunities, speed, a ramming attack (Nautiloids can twist their tentacles together to ram), and rules for the weapons.

Here's what I propose:
Nautiloid
Gargantuan Object (Vehicle)
Hit Points 300 (damage threshold 20)
*DT meaning any damage less than 20 is ignored
Armor Class: 17
Speed: 100 ft.
Damage Immunities: Poison, Psychic
Damage Resistances: All others
*Note: only if you treat the Nautiloid as a Magic Item, as Magic Items have resistance to all damage
Condition Immunities: All except grappled, invisible, paralyzed, prone, and restrained

The Nautiloid automatically fails all saving throws.
*Since the Nautiloid is not a creature many spells and abilities cannot target it

Strength checks to escape/resist a grapple or escape restraints are made at +10
Dexterity checks to maneuver with precision or for initiative are made at +3
Constitution checks to withstand environmental hazards are made at +6
If some effect paralyzes the Nautiloid, the pilot can make Wisdom saves in its stead to end the paralyzing effect.

The Nautiloid cannot take the Dash action

Action: Ram (Half Speed)
Melee Weapon Attack: +8 to hit, target: one gargantuan creature or object within 5 ft.
Hit: 5d10 bludgeoning damage
To use this action, the Nautiloid cannot move more than 40 ft. this turn

Action: Ram (Full Speed)
Melee Weapon Attack: +10 to hit, target: one gargantuan creature or object within 5 ft.
Hit: 8d10 bludgeoning damage, and the Nautiloid takes 4d10 bludgeoning damage
To use this action, the Nautiloid must #1 have moved its full speed last turn and must #2 move its full speed this turn, if able.
*The damage recoil might be blocked by the Damage Threshold

Mounted Weapon: Ballista (Martial Ranged weapon, Two-handed)
Ranged Weapon Attack: [wielder's skill] to hit, range 120/480 ft., one target.
Hit: 3d10+[Wielder's DEX] piercing damage.
Special: the Ballista requires 2 actions to reload, these actions may be performed by crew members.
Special: up to four crew members may help reload this weapon each round.
Special: The Ballista can be attacked and destroyed. It is a large object with an Armor Class of 15 and 50 Hit Points. It fails all saving throws but is immune to psychic and poison damage.
*The accuracy and damage depends on the dexterity of the user. It is considered a ranged martial weapon for the purposes of calculating to-hit bonuses and damage bonuses. The archery fighting style does indeed grant a +2 to hit.
*Extra Attack can work with this weapon if there are enough crew members to help reload all in one turn.

[jojosskul]

I'm running a Spelljammer campaign with homebrew ship stats, naval combat, the works. But I suppose you don't need all that for this.

For your purposes the ship needs HP, a damage threshold or damage reduction, damage immunities & damage resistances, condition immunities, speed, a ramming attack (Nautiloids can twist their tentacles together to ram), and rules for the weapons.

Here's what I propose:
Nautiloid
Gargantuan Object (Vehicle)
Hit Points 300 (damage threshold 20)
*DT meaning any damage less than 20 is ignored
Armor Class: 17
Speed: 100 ft.
Damage Immunities: Poison, Psychic
Damage Resistances: All others
*Note: only if you treat the Nautiloid as a Magic Item, as Magic Items have resistance to all damage
Condition Immunities: All except grappled, invisible, paralyzed, prone, and restrained

The Nautiloid automatically fails all saving throws.
*Since the Nautiloid is not a creature many spells and abilities cannot target it

Strength checks to escape/resist a grapple or escape restraints are made at +10
Dexterity checks to maneuver with precision or for initiative are made at +3
Constitution checks to withstand environmental hazards are made at +6
If some effect paralyzes the Nautiloid, the pilot can make Wisdom saves in its stead to end the paralyzing effect.

The Nautiloid cannot take the Dash action

Action: Ram (Half Speed)
Melee Weapon Attack: +8 to hit, target: one gargantuan creature or object within 5 ft.
Hit: 5d10 bludgeoning damage
To use this action, the Nautiloid cannot move more than 40 ft. this turn

Action: Ram (Full Speed)
Melee Weapon Attack: +10 to hit, target: one gargantuan creature or object within 5 ft.
Hit: 8d10 bludgeoning damage, and the Nautiloid takes 4d10 bludgeoning damage
To use this action, the Nautiloid must #1 have moved its full speed last turn and must #2 move its full speed this turn, if able.
*The damage recoil might be blocked by the Damage Threshold

Mounted Weapon: Ballista (Martial Ranged weapon, Two-handed)
Ranged Weapon Attack: [wielder's skill] to hit, range 120/480 ft., one target.
Hit: 3d10+[Wielder's DEX] piercing damage.
Special: the Ballista requires 2 actions to reload, these actions may be performed by crew members.
Special: up to four crew members may help reload this weapon each round.
Special: The Ballista can be attacked and destroyed. It is a large object with an Armor Class of 15 and 50 Hit Points. It fails all saving throws but is immune to psychic and poison damage.
*The accuracy and damage depends on the dexterity of the user. It is considered a ranged martial weapon for the purposes of calculating to-hit bonuses and damage bonuses. The archery fighting style does indeed grant a +2 to hit.
*Extra Attack can work with this weapon if there are enough crew members to help reload all in one turn.

This is astounding. I'll be using quite a bit of this. The ramming speed to give the tentacles a purpose is something I wouldn't have thought of.

I might scale the HP and DT down a bit, the nautiloid they have recently crashed and isn't in great shape, but those could be good numbers they could repair it towards.

It is equipped with a single (working) ballista, I think I'm leaning towards standard ballista rules for it. 100 ft movement/10 mph seems reasonable for the ship, might start it slightly slower and let them repair it up from there over time as well.

Thanks so much for the legwork on this. I'm also going to look over the ship upgrade portion of GoS for future shenanigans, maybe even the infernal war machine upgrades from DiA for inspiration.

[CheddarChampion]

This is astounding. I'll be using quite a bit of this. The ramming speed to give the tentacles a purpose is something I wouldn't have thought of.
-SNIP-
Thanks so much for the legwork on this. I'm also going to look over the ship upgrade portion of GoS for future shenanigans, maybe even the infernal war machine upgrades from DiA for inspiration.

:smile: I'm glad you like it! I'm not familiar with the ship upgrade or iwm upgrade stuff, but I hope it works well for you!