Eberron airship operating principles

[tarchon]

Anybody know how Eberron does airships? Are they hot-air balloons, magically levitated or what? I started thinking about floating evacuated force spheres, and then I started wondering how the Eberron airships were supposed to work.

Thx

 

[mearls]

In my campaign, I've used the concept of harnassed elementals. A dirigible is a giant containment vessel for a flight of captive air elementals. The experimental, one-use rocket that the PCs used to escape the Mournlands was powered by an elemental trapped in an arcane maze. As it zoomed out to escape, it forced air out the rocket's nozzle with explosive force and propelled it forward. The maze was designed so that it took the elemental a few hours to escape.

(Of course, that left the rocket without any real steering apparatus or speed control, but it was either that or remain trapped in the Mournlands....)

 

[Blastin]

The Eberron Airships use a Ring that surrounds the middle of the ship, like the ship is going through a hoop. The ring contains a bound fire elemental that causes the entire ring to be burning. A pilot that has the magical ability to operate a special controlling device steers the ship by commanding the elemental...
Hope that helps

 

[XCorvis]

Anybody know how Eberron does airships? Are they hot-air balloons, magically levitated or what?

According to Keith Baker, airships are made from soarwood. I can't recall if it's naturally bouyant or just incredibly light and strong, but it doesn't really matter. The actual propelling of the ships is done by harnessed elementals, typically fire elementals. The elementals are controlled either through charisma checks (basically convincing them to do what you want) or by use of a special controling device that lets you do it automatically (if you have the right dragonmark).

 

[Mouseferatu]

Some are fire elementals. Some are air. Thusly.

Fire looks cooler, but air's probably safer.

 

[tarchon]

Oh, that's interesting. "Airship" always implies "zeppelin" or "blimp" to me.

Yeah, I wouldn't want to be the one flying around on wooden ship with a big ring of fire whirling about.

 

[Stormborn]

Unfortunatelly, other than about a paragraph there is little in Eberron CS book that tells us how the airships work. I want rules! Feats! Prestige Classes! I imagine they will get around to it sooner or later, but I'm hoping that one of the first expansions is for the operation of an airship and ariel combat. I have other books about that, of course, but I'd like to see the WotC version.

 

[Staffan]

Unfortunatelly, other than about a paragraph there is little in Eberron CS book that tells us how the airships work. I want rules! Feats! Prestige Classes! I imagine they will get around to it sooner or later, but I'm hoping that one of the first expansions is for the operation of an airship and ariel combat. I have other books about that, of course, but I'd like to see the WotC version.

I'm guessing airships and other magical methods of transport (like the earth cart used in Shadows of the Last War) will be covered in either a "Magic of Eberron" book, or a book about Dragonmarks and the Marked houses (both are pretty obvious books to make).

 

[Vindicator]

Unfortunatelly, other than about a paragraph there is little in Eberron CS book that tells us how the airships work. I want rules! Feats! Prestige Classes!

Amen! We don't have NEARLY enough feats and prestige classes in D&D! WE WANT MORE!

 

[Vindicator]

The Eberron Airships use a Ring that surrounds the middle of the ship, like the ship is going through a hoop. The ring contains a bound fire elemental that causes the entire ring to be burning.

This has always kind of bugged me. Aren't elementals intelligent beings? And doesn't harnassing them amount to a form of slavery?

How does the campaign setting deal with/address this question? (I'm assuming it doesn't :\ )