Need help with airship rules

[Bobmufin52]

I was wondering if anyone could help create and/or send me a link to rules for airships for a 3.5 game. I’m starting a game up soon, and I want airships to be a major part of the setting, but I don’t know where I should even being to make the rules for them.

[Bulwer]

There's at least one big Final Fantasy d20 project somewhere that you could probably crib off of.

[Shades of Gray]

I believe one of the eberron books might have it.

[Bobmufin52]

I believe one of the eberron books might have it.

I heard about that, and I'd love to get my hands on it, but I have no money, or job, so yeah... T_T

[lesser_minion]

Well, the first stage is to decide what you want your airships to look like - will they be Eberron-style? Or will they be mysterious ships with sails jutting out at odd angles, some seemingly resembling wings? Or will they be more traditional?

The airship rules will need a number of elements:

• Movement rules - these will probably be a simplified version of the 3e airship rules
• I'd suggest allowing attackers to choose between attacking the airship as a whole, or targeting particular sections which appear more vulnerable - for one of my airships, for example, you could target the hull or fire indiscriminately at the ship, or you could try to damage one of the sails - once two sails were gone, any more damaged sails would result in the ship losing speed and manoeuvrability
• Rules for the attacks an airship can make - possibly using on board weaponry, or bombs, or similar
• Other rules and possible upgrades for airships - maybe an airship can be enchanted so that it repairs itself. Maybe there are ironclad airships in the campaign setting.

I believe there may be a 3rd-party supplement around that deals with flight, although I haven't actually read it.

Airship combat might be easier to improvise according to the needs of your plot and rule of cool, however.

[Harperfan7]

The arms & equipment guide covers vehicles (including airships).

[Bobmufin52]

Well, the first stage is to decide what you want your airships to look like - will they be Eberron-style? Or will they be mysterious ships with sails jutting out at odd angles, some seemingly resembling wings? Or will they be more traditional?

The airship rules will need a number of elements:

• Movement rules - these will probably be a simplified version of the 3e airship rules
• I'd suggest allowing attackers to choose between attacking the airship as a whole, or targeting particular sections which appear more vulnerable - for one of my airships, for example, you could target the hull or fire indiscriminately at the ship, or you could try to damage one of the sails - once two sails were gone, any more damaged sails would result in the ship losing speed and manoeuvrability
• Rules for the attacks an airship can make - possibly using on board weaponry, or bombs, or similar
• Other rules and possible upgrades for airships - maybe an airship can be enchanted so that it repairs itself. Maybe there are ironclad airships in the campaign setting.

I believe there may be a 3rd-party supplement around that deals with flight, although I haven't actually read it.

Airship combat might be easier to improvise according to the needs of your plot and rule of cool, however.

Thanks, this actually helps me organize my thoughts a lot.
Hmm, well the style I had was basically they looked like regular sailing ships, except there are large propellers on the top of the mast(s) and small wing-like projections on the sides of the ships. Most ship hulls would be wood, but iron and steel ones aren’t unheard of, and mythrial airships are possible if you’re really REALLY REALLLLLY rich. The engines were powered by steam and clockwork, and I was thinking of a magic powered engine, but idk, I don’t really like the idea.
That’s basically the general description of what I have for looks. So now I think I explain some ideas I have based off your list.

• I don’t have the rules for the 3e airships (I didn’t even knew they existed), but I should be able to come up with something myself, maybe base it off the size and or weight of the ship vs. the number of propellers.
• I like the idea of focused shots on the ship, so I’ll work that in.
• I already had some ideas for siege weapons for airships, but nothing solid yet.
• As for special qualities for airships, I found a PrC that lets you do that, and it’s actually the reason I added airships into my setting. ^_^

And that’s basically it, should I post the rules up here as I make them for PEACH?

[Debihuman]

Take a look at the FREE supplement e-ships (it is a 30 page pdf). It has some of the the material from Airships supplement by Bastion Press and includes the stuff that was cut. It's not got everything but it is free.

Here is the link: http://dragonwing.net/downloads/e-ships.pdf

Debby

[Bobmufin52]

Take a look at the FREE supplement e-ships (it is a 30 page pdf). It has some of the the material from Airships supplement by Bastion Press and includes the stuff that was cut. It's not got everything but it is free.

Here is the link: http://dragonwing.net/downloads/e-ships.pdf

Debby

The link's not working. T_T
It says I'm forbidden and don't have permission...

[sigurd]

This is a really good blog on a setting with airships. I really like it...


Sigurd


http://bankuei.wordpress.com/2008/06...amut-airships/

[Bobmufin52]

This is a really good blog on a setting with airships. I really like it...


Sigurd


http://bankuei.wordpress.com/2008/06...amut-airships/

oh, thanks a bunch for this, might just use these rules or use them as a starting place and change/add what I need.

[Debihuman]

The link's not working. T_T
It says I'm forbidden and don't have permission...

Hmm. It's working fine for me but they may have gone down for a while. You can always try another time. Also, you can get it directly from the website dragonwing.net but you may have to look around a bit. They have lots of other cool freebies as well.

Debby

[Bobmufin52]

Hmm. It's working fine for me but they may have gone down for a while. You can always try another time. Also, you can get it directly from the website dragonwing.net but you may have to look around a bit. They have lots of other cool freebies as well.

Debby

Yhea, that's the wierd thing, no matter how I try getting on that websight, it just instantly goes to the forbidden screen...
It also says it's a 403 problem...
I know what a 404 is, but not a 403, do you know?

[Debihuman]

403 error is fundamental access problem from your web server (not from the site). Check your settings and/or contact your server.

I can send you a copy via email in the meantime.

Debby

[lesser_minion]

A 403 error is a blanket "No way" from the server, IIRC. I think it could mean something like a restriction on permitted IP addresses (e.g. if several people on the same ISP have caused problems, it could be banned).

I'm not sure on the exact details of what could give a 403 though - servers don't actually have to give a reason for returning one, and I think ISPs throw a 403 back at you if they have blocked the site as well.

[Waspinator]

That is a weird error message.

But yeah, e-ships is neat. It's not a complete system, but it's meant to be an addition to the full Airships book by that company.
http://dragonwing.net/Airships.htm

[Bobmufin52]

That is a weird error message.

But yeah, e-ships is neat. It's not a complete system, but it's meant to be an addition to the full Airships book by that company.
http://dragonwing.net/Airships.htm

That link is a 403 too... I think dragon wing hates me. T_T

[Waspinator]

Maybe try feeding it into Proxify?
http://proxify.com/

[Haven]

Spelljammer might have some relevant rules, especially for ship-to-ship combat and ship stats. You could change the typical spelljamming helms to something more conventional that doesn't take a player out of the game, or something.

eta: Wow, for some reason I'd assumed they'd have finished up since the last time I looked, years ago. But no, that is a lot of emptiness. Anyway, try this link maybe?

[Juggernaut1981]

Design Phases/Key Decisions

#1 How do these things fly?
Are we talking normal physics? (at which point most of these things will fly like giant rocks or like blimps)
Are we talking magic propulsion + some normal physics? (i.e. your jet engines run off magic, but the rest works like a normal plane or blimp)
Are we talking magical floating + normal engines? (i.e. the thing floats by spells but speed is controlled by a machine/engine)
Are we talking all magical devices?

#2 Propulsion-Weight-Maneuverability
If we have just normal physics...
more weight = bad turning (in general)
more propulsion = sort-of-better turning (in general)
blimp-like = slow travelling and poor turning
If we are using some magic propulsion...
more weight = bad turning
more propulsion = no real massive change in turning
blimp-like = who cares
If we are using magical floating...
more weight = who cares
more propulsion = yay but some fancy handling spells would be good
blimp-like = who cares

#3 Targeting and Damage
Can you target parts?
What happens when you hit [insert part here]?
What happens if you cast Dispel Magic at [insert part here]?
Eeep, Mordenkainen's Disjunction... eeeep [insert falling to death here??]

What damage can it take?
Does it have DR/Hardness?
Does it have elemental resistances?
Will it explode if I set fire to [insert part here]?

#4 Combat USING my Airship...
What kinds of attacks should they do?
Ramming? Do they travel fast enough? Do both ships take damage?
Shooting? Do I need to design cannons? Or will Arrows/Spells be good?
Boarding other ships What do I need to consider for this?

#5 Cost, cost, cost
What does one of these suckers need to have to work? (From #1 & #2)
What spells do you use?
Should I create spells/rituals specifically for Airships?
What materials can these things be made from?
How easy/hard is it to get materials (like a floating-gas for Blimp-like airships)?
Are these materials easy to store/transport? (like gas for blimp-like airships)

Doing the numbers for all of this...


I'd honestly expect that a half-way decent Airship should cost in the ballpark of 100,000gp... The Deluxe Airships would cost well north of that.

[Triaxx]

You can take some bits from Stormwrack by the way, since it's largely based on ship combat. It's all a matter of adding an extra dimension to it.

When I started on my airships, I generated a world with naturally floating crystals, produced like the fruit on plants. When they reach a certain size, they simply break off and float into the air. They can have their altitude raised or lowered with electricity. Or magic. Either way, since they are inherently super bouyant, they can't be disjunctioned, but they can be controlled without magical assistance. They can also be used for propulsion, but most ships also have sails, and masts that can fold down, and be stored away.

Since they are lifted by crystals, they have very high weight limits. The largest cargo ship, carries 600 tons of cargo, or 60,000 soldiers.

Cannons make good ship to ship weapons, especially if you have mage formed ammunition. Cannon balls that burst into stinking clouds, or blind spells on impact are always good.

Ray spells are great for targetting just parts, though Magic Missile is great for sweeping the decks ahead of a boarding party.