D&D 5E Vehicle Spells?

[doctorbadwolf]

also I'm pretty sure fabricate has size limits that don't work for making vehicles.

 

[Fenris-77]

Thus, new spells.

New spells like Mordenkainen's Faithful 4x4, or Drawmij's Instant Nitro? Perhaps Bigby's Smooth Handling, or Snilloc's SUV Summoning are more to your taste? I'm a big fan of the cantrip Drive Casual personally, and also Summon Lesser Lifeboat.

 

[doctorbadwolf]

New spells like Mordenkainen's Faithful 4x4, or Drawmij's Instant Nitro? Perhaps Bigby's Smooth Handling, or Snilloc's SUV Summoning are more to your taste? I'm a big fan of the cantrip Drive Casual personally, and also Summon Lesser Lifeboat.

While amusing, no.

I don't think the OP is especially unclear, is it?

We're talking about spells that create or enhance the vehicles of DnD.

 

[Fenris-77]

Vehicles have always been an afterthought in D&D for the most part. Probably because D&D tends to focus on the location at the end of the road rather than the road itself. Games that do index exploration don't often involve vehicles other than ships because of terrain concerns (yes, a vast generalization, I know). The general lack of road systems puts a damper on a lot of ground vehicles in many fantasy settings.

The best source of 5e rules for cool magical vehicles is probably Aquisitions Inc., which has some pretty awesome rules for that very thing. Not spells mind you, but cool vehicles. If I wanted that sort of thing plus spells I'd probably start there. Spells that would effect ground vehicles shouldn't prove too tough to kitbash if all you want is stuff like speed and cargo space type stuff. IDK, it doesn't seem complicated though.

Personally, I'd go right to airships. I'd start with the AI rules and work out form there. Just my two cents of course, YMMV.

 

[doctorbadwolf]

Vehicles have always been an afterthought in D&D for the most part. Probably because D&D tends to focus on the location at the end of the road rather than the road itself. Games that do index exploration don't often involve vehicles other than ships because of terrain concerns (yes, a vast generalization, I know). The general lack of road systems puts a damper on a lot of ground vehicles in many fantasy settings.

The best source of 5e rules for cool magical vehicles is probably Aquisitions Inc., which has some pretty awesome rules for that very thing. Not spells mind you, but cool vehicles. If I wanted that sort of thing plus spells I'd probably start there. Spells that would effect ground vehicles shouldn't prove too tough to kitbash if all you want is stuff like speed and cargo space type stuff. IDK, it doesn't seem complicated though.

Personally, I'd go right to airships. I'd start with the AI rules and work out form there. Just my two cents of course, YMMV.

while airships are cool, in many worlds that have them, they are very limited/restricted.

Meanwhile, lower level adventuring tends to use carts and sailing ships much more.

Also, if I hadn’t made this thread, I wouldn’t hVe been given the idea for magically conjuring a vehicle with a burrow speed.

But, really, I’m qorndering why your posts in this thread come across as challenging why the thread was posted. How is that useful? Obviously I think it’s worthwhile, or I wouldn’t have posted it. You aren’t normally one to crap on the premise of a thread, IME.

 

[Fenris-77]

Not trying to challenge the thread at all my good man. I just think airships are cool. AI also has some cool rules for enchanted carriages and the like, so I wasn't completely ignoring ground vehicles.

If you wanted to straight up conjure a wagon or a cart I'd probably use the current summoning spells as a baseline. Perhaps level 3 to start based on Leomund's Tiny Hut, with a range of possible features, say six features and you get to pick 2 or 3. Basing it on a spell that also summons a physical item with magical properties sounds correct to me. That gives you an 8 hour duration base, which could maybe be renewed by recasting 1/day or something. Upcasting could allow more features from the list and/or more duration and durability. Some of the more esoteric features like burrowing might be upcast only.

If you wanted to start with a completely non-magic wagon or cart it might be fine starting at level 2 and scaling from there. I think Leomund's Magic Machine is cooler though.

 

[Fenris-77]

Spitballing some features...

AC 16, 60 HP

1. Self propelled Mv 25'
2. Covered
3. Fast Mv 40' - roads and flat surfaces only
4. Relentless - extra tires, off-road capability, 25' move only
5. Smugglers Hold - small dimensional storage for you legally-adjacent goods
6. Armored - AC 18, +20 HP - requires covered

Upcast abilities could include burrowing, water movement, submarine capability, levitation, flight, weaponry, etc

A related idea is using a version of Drawmij's Instant Summons to summon an already existing vehicle from storage.

 

[Maxperson]

There are no vehicle spells in 5e D&D. No “make the thing go faster”, no “teleport this vehicle to a different place”, no “make this vehicle move silently and leave no trace”, no “create a vehicle with these limitations”, no “this vehicle can fly for X time, nada.

You've never heard of going Nova?

 

[doctorbadwolf]

Spitballing some features...

AC 16, 60 HP

1. Self propelled Mv 25'
2. Covered
3. Fast Mv 40' - roads and flat surfaces only
4. Relentless - extra tires, off-road capability, 25' move only
5. Smugglers Hold - small dimensional storage for you legally-adjacent goods
6. Armored - AC 18, +20 HP - requires covered

Upcast abilities could include burrowing, water movement, submarine capability, levitation, flight, weaponry, etc

A related idea is using a version of Drawmij's Instant Summons to summon an already existing vehicle from storage.

I think I’d want to separate some of that out into multiple spells, but yeah I think providing a statblock just like the new UA spells do for critters is a good idea.

 

[Fenris-77]

I don't think you'd need to separate out the list of six. Compare that to the properties on Leomund's Tiny Hut, I don't think it's out of line. You could have extra spells for the extras too, sure. I like the idea of keeping options inside one spell and having some of them available on upcast. It's a model WotC doesn't use, but I like the flex it provides.

I do like the idea of stat blocks though, yeah.