Undersea/Flying ships, help wanted

[Aesmael]

So I asked for a vote and everyone wanted the ocean floor campaign. You may have seen some of my other preparational questions on this board (alhoons, planar templates, plurithropes, plane-shifting incantations). Well, this one should be self-evident from the title: An ocean floor campaign really deserves some submarine vessels to and fro-ing between all the little dome cities, dunnit? So I have attempted to come up some magical items to facilitate this and I would them critiqued, if you would be so good as to oblige me.

I went with the keel as the basis for these, mostly because of a Tracy Hickman book i read (Requiem of Stars, I believe). It makes sense to me that a keel is the backbone of a ship. Feel free to correct me if that is a falsehood.

Flight Keel: A ship built with a Flight Keel gains the ability to fly as though affected by a fly spell. If the vessel is fully loaded its speed is reduced to 40 feet. A Flight Keel can be transferred between vessels, but a keel is such an integral part of a vessel that it will cost half the price of building the ship and 1 Day/100gp to do so.
Moderate Transmutation; CL 10th; Craft Wondrous Item, fly; Price 60,000gp; Weight: As Ship

Overland Flight Keel: A ship built with an Overland Flight Keel gains the ability to fly as though affected by an Overland Flight spell (Speed 40 feet, or 30 feet fully loaded). An Overland Flight Keel can be transferred between vessels, but a keel is such an integral part of a vessel that it will cost half the price of building the ship and 1 Day/100gp to do so.
Moderate Transmutation; CL 10th; Craft Wondrous Item, Overland Flight; Price 50,000gp; Weight: As Ship

Lots of other ideas of course: Shadow Walking keels (need Deeper Darkness to make one of those), Gating keels, Astral Caravan, but those can wait until the fundamentals are established. If I have the prices on these right these will be rare heirlooms in the hands of private individuals.

There are a number of other utility issues that need to be addressed. For one thing, it seems entirely reasonable to rule that a fly spell will not allow a ship to move under water. So perhaps a couple of new spells are in order. Would there be anything wrong with the spells Swim and Marathon Swim. Identical in all ways to Fly and Overland Flight, respectively, except that they grant a swim speed and the material focus for Swim is a fish scale?

Further, the issue of air needs solving. Is there any (legally available) converted Spelljammer material that would help with that? I imagine there was some kind of solution. If not, how does this sound:

Purify Air
Transmutation
Level: Brd 0, Clr 0, Drd 0, Sor/Wiz 0
Components: V
Casting Time: 1 standard action
Range: Close
Target: Up to 1 cu. ft/level of air
Duration: Instantaneous
Saving Throw: None
Spell resistance: No
PLACEHOLDER FLAVOUR TEXT

Pretty sure the srd contains no rules on air quality but I will be checking before I finish that

Hmm, seems to be it for now.

 

[Tonguez]

I once created a gigaantic floating colony called the Aquasphere which was inhabited by gnomes and goblins who had escaped from the war-ravaged world above. Air was supplied by growing a huge algae colony which consumed organic matter (including the bodies of the dead thrown into it) and released oxygen as a waste product.
The inhabitants of the Aquasphere also used (Kwalish) Crab-Apparatus (suopplied by the gnomes) and Psychic skins (supplied the the goblin blues) for seafloor exploration.
If you want to use psychic powers or items (I do in a limited manner) there is a psychic power called Adapt body which allows a user to breath underwater. I gave the Aquasphere psychic skins (wetsuits) with this power

 

[Vlos]

Spelljammer.org

For the latest in Spelljammer info.

The problem/difference with spelljammer and underwater campaigns is you need to worry about water getting into a ship. A regular cargo ship has pretty much an open deck where water would get into the ships holds.

Gnomes are probably the best adapted to create underwater vessels, though some of the elven ships (from spelljammer) are pretty well sealed.

If it was a natrually underwater campaign (i.e.: never above water) then their ships would probably resemble fish or underwater monsters. The crab example would make a good harvestor.

Also if you ever saw Disney's Atlantis, they had little "fish" boats which were like ATVs or such. These would require the user be able to breath somehow though.

Rings of water adaptation would be very popular if they locals could not breath water.

Just some initial thoughts.

 

[Aaron2]

So I asked for a vote and everyone wanted the ocean floor campaign. You may have seen some of my other preparational questions on this board (alhoons, planar templates, plurithropes, plane-shifting incantations). Well, this one should be self-evident from the title: An ocean floor campaign really deserves some submarine vessels to and fro-ing between all the little dome cities, dunnit?

So, is the game going to be like Stingray (surface dwellers fighting bad underwater dudes with the help of friendly, blue underwater dudes)?

What ship rules are you using?


Aaron

 

[Aesmael]

Tonguez - Very interesting. I will try to have a draft Skin of Adaptation written up by tomorrow night. Thanks for pointing that power out to me.

Vlos - Thanks for the link. I had visited the site before, but somehow missed the ships. (not the Pirates of Gith though. I like them).

The problem/difference with spelljammer and underwater campaigns is you need to worry about water getting into a ship. A regular cargo ship has pretty much an open deck where water would get into the ships holds.

Actually that was something I hoped Spelljammer could help with. The ships need to keep air in don't they? Maybe I'll find the answer at the site.

Just had a look through the srd, did you mean a ring of elemental command or is a ing of water adaptation something different?

 

[Aesmael]

So, is the game going to be like Stingray (surface dwellers fighting bad underwater dudes with the help of friendly, blue underwater dudes)?

What ship rules are you using?


Aaron

Currently, the rules are what I have posted in this thread. So if you feel there is something to comment on, feel free.

The game is planned as entirely undersea. Well, mostly airbreathing cities and tunnels on the ocean floor. There is a surface but I have not told the characters that. Hopefully they will visit it though, there are things to find up there.
Oh. Not sure what you mean by Stingray. I just build the worlds. The players are the ones who decide what our story is about (They better choose right )

 

[Aaron2]

Currently, the rules are what I have posted in this thread. So if you feel there is something to comment on, feel free.

I was just wondering if you were using any 3rd party naval rules like Seas of Blood, etc. The Seafarer's Handbook has lots of stuff about undersea adventuring, forex.

Not sure what you mean by Stingray. I just build the worlds.

Stingray was an old TV show by the guy who did the Thunderbirds. The basic premise was that there were these underwater bad guys that would made attacks on the surface world. The humans built a super sub (called Stingray natch) to fight them. The show had underwater domed cities, blue-skinned good guys, and enemy subs that looked like giant fish (called Terrorfish). It had some pretty cool looking sets and models for a kids show.

Here are some pics (remember its an old kids show)

The evil dude's fish subs
http://www.crc.paragould.ar.us/~adam/fab/ST/terrorfish4.jpg
http://www.crc.paragould.ar.us/~adam/fab/ST/terrorfish2.jpg
inside look
http://www.crc.paragould.ar.us/~adam/fab/ST/terrorfish6.jpg

The evil leader and his throne room
http://www.crc.paragould.ar.us/~adam/fab/ST/titan1.jpg
http://www.crc.paragould.ar.us/~adam/fab/ST/troymarinaintitanthroneroom.jpg


Aaron

 

[Fairome]

Speaking of Tracy Hickman, have you were read Elven Star? No... wait, that's not it. Darn it all, I can't remember, but the fourth book in the Deathgate Cycle. It's set in a world where the universe has been split into it's composite elements.

The water world has a good alternative to domed cities if you decide they're too advanced, even for gnomes.

Instead of domed cities, they had islands, suspended in the giant sea/planet that was this world. The islands were shaped like... imagine a traffic cone with a CD stuck to the bottom. The air trapped inside the cone kept the island suspended, the top of the "CD" created flat surfaces for people to live on, and the hole in the middle allow access to the seas.

Just a thought.

 

[Aesmael]

I was just wondering if you were using any 3rd party naval rules like Seas of Blood, etc. The Seafarer's Handbook has lots of stuff about undersea adventuring, forex.

No, nothing outside of the core so far. I don't imagine I will need it. Some rules accounting for limited air supplies would be helpful. I keep thinking there is something about it in the core.

Stingray was an old TV show by the guy who did the Thunderbirds.

Aaron

Ah. Interesting. Was it any good?

Fairome - You mean Serpent Mage? Actually, that is more what I want for the Elemental Plane of Water (The borders with Air and Earth, actually - thanks for the reminder/inspiration). Although Solamnuth does have a strong connection to it.
Gnomes certainly did not build the cities. Something with a significantly higher intelligence, actually. Polymorph Any Object (transparent Adamantine, courtesy of Sepulchrave's Story Hour), Hardening (I think that's the spell's name). Perhaps I've said too much.

As promised, an attempt at the Skin of Adaptation. Manifester level based on the Skin of Proteus. Not much to it really, hope I priced it right.

Skin of Adaptation: This psychoactive skin continually affects the wearer as the Adapt Body power.
Moderate Psychometabolism; ML 9th; Craft Universal Item; Adapt Body; Price 90, 000gp

Still need to come up with something to keep the ship's air inside, even if it never gets fouled. Hopefully nothing that will make them too much more expensive than they already are.

 

[Fairome]

Serpent Mage! That's what it's called! I was trying to think of it all day yesterday.

Oh, and as for keeping the air in... a modified version of mage armor might work for that.

It's a wall of force, it should keep the water out and the air in. If you had it in sections, like say some gnomish devices that would generate a version of mage armor, each over a portion of the hull, then you could have interesting situations with pirates casting dispel magic on that secontion, ramming and boarding...

Just a thought.

Side Note: Mage Armor is a wonderful tool. The best use I've ever found for it? Trap a possessing ghost inside an unconcious mortal host until we could get a cleric to exorcise it and destroy the ghost.