| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| Maculo |
Posted - 03 Jul 2008 : 16:35:45
Seems my players want to try and construct a sky-ship with some of their newfound wealth and political powers. Anyway, are their any good sources on ship designs? Preferably something that can help us work out every detail.
They're aiming for a Galley or possibly a warship, and want the thing to work just as well on water as any other ship might. For those times when flying in on a giant boat might not be the best approach. =D
I'm clueless when it comes to anything nautical.
Most of my online searches either lead me to dead links or ancient RP/wargaming books printed in the 70's.
Thanks in advance. |
| 12 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| Hawkins |
Posted - 05 Jul 2008 : 20:34:16
quote:
Originally posted by Purple Dragon Knight
Shining South has the price and details for an Halruaan Skyship (400,000gp I think).
I remember seeing it in 2 places, I think that Magic of Faerun was the second one. |
| The Sage |
Posted - 05 Jul 2008 : 01:34:41
quote:
Originally posted by Kajehase
[quote]Originally posted by Markustay
Which Zakhara source was that in Sage? I like to keep track of flying ships in FR.
It's Land of Fate* or City of Delights.
*I may have gotten this name completely wrong, I always confuse the names of the "lore" and the "rules" campaign books for Al-Qadim.
That's the one [I think]. I'll take a look when I get home. |
| Kajehase |
Posted - 04 Jul 2008 : 17:06:05
quote:
Originally posted by Markustay
Which Zakhara source was that in Sage? I like to keep track of flying ships in FR.
It's Land of Fate* or City of Delights.
*I may have gotten this name completely wrong, I always confuse the names of the "lore" and the "rules" campaign books for Al-Qadim. |
| Markustay |
Posted - 04 Jul 2008 : 14:50:59
quote:
Originally posted by The Sage
quote:
Originally posted by Markustay
Which Zakhara source was that in Sage? I like to keep track of flying ships in FR.
Hmmm... I don't actually recall off-hand at the moment. And I'm not anywhere near my books to check. I'll take a look when I get home.
No big - I just thought you knew off hand - I have most of the Zakhara stuff (thanks to Paizo's $4 downloads), so I can look myself - my first guess is that it would be in the Corsairs book.
quote:
Originally posted by The Sage
You might be thinking of the fan-fiction on the "Beyond the Moons" website which features a tale of Cormyr having access to a small spelljamming fleet.
You're probably right - I guess thats the big problem with reading so much fan-based stuff; sometimes you forget what's what.  |
| The Sage |
Posted - 04 Jul 2008 : 03:17:03
quote:
Originally posted by Markustay
Which Zakhara source was that in Sage? I like to keep track of flying ships in FR.
Hmmm... I don't actually recall off-hand at the moment. And I'm not anywhere near my books to check. I'll take a look when I get home.
quote:
I could have sworn I saw a reference to Cormyr and Spelljamming somewhere, but I'm looking at my Realmspace supplement right now and I'm not seeing it. 
You might be thinking of the fan-fiction on the "Beyond the Moons" website which features a tale of Cormyr having access to a small spelljamming fleet. |
| Markustay |
Posted - 04 Jul 2008 : 02:32:12
Which Zakhara source was that in Sage? I like to keep track of flying ships in FR.
You could also go into the Forest of Mir, and wait for one to land in Skyship Glade, and just steal it.
Of course, if the owners are Neogi, you might just wind up as lunch. 
Another good place to commandeer one might be in Nimbral - Spelljamming vessels like to visit The Resort there.
I could have sworn I saw a reference to Cormyr and Spelljamming somewhere, but I'm looking at my Realmspace supplement right now and I'm not seeing it. |
| The Sage |
Posted - 04 Jul 2008 : 01:39:08
quote:
Originally posted by Markustay
And as a side note - Halruuans are NOT comfortable with others having flying ships, but I know of at least two instances where they have sold them to other political entities (the Durparans and Lizardfolk!)
The Halruuans may not be completely comfortable with the idea, but I'm sure they still understand the necessity of maintaining a worthwhile defense of their territory.
As I recall, the older Shining South tome tells us that the Halruaans guard the secrets of their skyships most zealously. As such, I think that you'd probably find that Halruaan wizards have indeed been assigned to "watch over" the skyships given over to the lizardmen -- both as a security measure (to prevent the secrets of the ship from being lost) and to deny the lizardmen from using the skyships in anyway they see fit.
Thus, I would tend to think that while skyships have been sold to the lizardmen, it's actually more about providing Halruaa with an added layer of defense for the region, and less about them being used in battle by the lizardmen. Afterall, the wizards of Halruaa likely wouldn't consider their treasured skyships, being the valuable military assets that they are, to be something wasted in "just any old battle." They would therefore, I believe, tend to select places of strategic importance around Halruaa itself, which would provide Halruaan armies deployed to such locations, with rapid troop transports and supply convoys, against threats on the borders of their realms, when required.
And of course, in 2e material for Zakhara, one of the skyships was stolen and taken to Zakhara.
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| Purple Dragon Knight |
Posted - 04 Jul 2008 : 00:40:38
Shining South has the price and details for an Halruaan Skyship (400,000gp I think). |
| Jamallo Kreen |
Posted - 04 Jul 2008 : 00:08:19
For d20 ship design I have used Pirate Isles, written for the Conan RPG, and I have taken some nautical magic (such as terrible ship figureheads) from Green Ronin's Pocket Magica, which has a lot of material originally written for Seafarer's Handbook and the Freeport campaign setting.
Pirate Isles is also useful for its "cargo" rules, which allow for profits from trading or from piracy by moving stuff from one place to another by ship. Using Pirate Isles is as simple as switching "Cormyr" for "Argos" and "Sembia" for "Zingara;" of course you may use whatever countries or ports fit better in your campaign, such as Waterdeep and Luskan. It also has rules for shipboard and ship-to-ship combat, and for mutinies, as well as the expected list of new feats.
Remember that Ed wrote many of the Spelljammer books, and some of them have ship information, as does the basic boxed set. If your players are taking to the air, you may find Realmspace by dale "slade" henson of considerable value. Among other things, the Spelljammer materials give the local laws for bringing flying ships to a given destination, e.g., it's illegal to overfly Waterdeep, and it is a serious crime to put down anywhere in the Shou empire except their designated spaceport. (Suggestion: don't use Shou Lung's spaceport unless you have a lot of ready cash to spend!)
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| Markustay |
Posted - 03 Jul 2008 : 18:45:00
Spelljammer also had pretty comprehensive rules governing the cost, construction, and details on flying ships - you just might want to leave off the part where it can fly through space. 
You could base it off the flying ships from Halruua, but I'm not sure if they are also sea-worthy (which many Spelljammers are). I'm also not sure where to find rules on them, though - I don't think 3e's SS had any.
Or - and I'm ducking for cover here - you can borrow someone's Eberron rulebook and use the flying ships from there - they are powered by elementals, rather then SJ Helms or 'magical seashells'.
And as a side note - Halruuans are NOT comfortable with others having flying ships, but I know of at least two instances where they have sold them to other political entities (the Durparans and Lizardfolk!), and one where a dwarf was able to get an 'old one' flying again (Once around the Realms). In that story, the Dwarf was able to illicitly purchase an older model from a 'junkyard' for such things, which is illegal to do, but obviously gets done anyway.
And there is also a reference to magical flying ships being produced in the Utter East (south of Durpar), although no details were ever given - thats from the 'Old Grey Box'. In fact, I used the exact ship mentioned in my last CKC article (shameless plug).
--- Mark |
| Lord Karsus |
Posted - 03 Jul 2008 : 17:19:24
-Stormwrackhas the most complex and in-depth rules concerning anything nautical in 3e. |
| The Sage |
Posted - 03 Jul 2008 : 17:04:57
Both Sea of Fallen Stars and 2e's Of Ships and Sea will prove useful. Also, another useful source for information on particular ships in the Realms... is Port of Ravens Bluff which has an entire section devoted to specifically named ships of various types, and referencing their crews also.
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