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D&D (2024) Eberron - skycoaches and bastions


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The GoS rowboat is too small (5 x 10 feet), and all the other ships are too large.
Just because it's bigger than a rowboat doesn't mean its tougher. It's a civilian vehicle built of light wood. If you have ever seen a real rowboat and a real stagecoach, the boat is much thicker and more rugged. As per object rules, a cart (dimensions not specified) would have at most 27 hp. Note that there is a tendency to exaggerate the size of vehicles to accommodate D&D's 5ft. grid. For other examples, see the TSSoS ship (Sea Ghost), or any Eberron rail carriage. The vehicle in your art appears to be 20 ft long, including the tailfin, and less than 6 ft. wide.

24 passengers seems far too many, its a taxi, not a bus. The deck plan suggests it is designed to carry 8 passengers and 1 driver. You might squeeze in 2 extra passengers at a pinch. I would be inclined to look to the flying carpet rules and specify an 800 lb weight limit.

As per KB, the driver's control medallion requires attunement. For a bastion, there would be an NPC chauffeur to drive and maintain it. Making him a 20th level rogue called Parker is optional.
 
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The vehicle in your art appears to be 20 ft long, including the tailfin, and less than 6 ft.
Those are 5-foot squares, not 2.5-foot ones, hence 40 feet long and 10 feet wide.

For reference, here's the full map:

map411_sharn_flat_gs.jpg
 


The art, not the plan. You can tell the size by assuming the warforged PC is 6 ft.
There might very well be different makes and models of skycoach in Sharn (all the more reason not to treat them like NYC yellow cabs). Nevertheless, my players have got the one from the Sharn street map, because that's what I used for the skycoach in the "Song of the Sky" adventure. It's closer in size and shape to the WizKids-produced skycoach "mini" (which has a deck that's 30 ft x 10 ft):

ESTB-ymXUAAyf2n


I note it has no discernable means of being piloted. I guess if a medallion is the way to control it, then you can mentally control it. (My players like the idea of a medallion, but they were hoping it wouldn't require attunement since they're all out of attunement slots. They might just have to hire a pilot.)


I don't have the bastion rules, but upgrading the coach so it can operate beyond Sharn, and transport the party over greater distances seem like ideas.
Thanks for the suggestions. However, I don't think those are really in keeping with bastion special facility benefits - at least not the lower level ones.

The bastion special facilities come in several tiers (level 5, level 9, level 13, and level 17).

An example level 5 special facility is the Arcane Study. It's Roomy, comes with 1 hireling, and lets you use the Craft bastion order. If you spend a long rest in the study, you get a charm that lets you cast Identify for free once in the next week. You can also order your hireling to make you an arcane focus for free over 7 days. You can also have your hireling make you a blank book. This also requires a week and costs 10 gp. If you're at least level 9, you can use your Arcane Study to craft a Common or Uncommon magic item from the Arcana table.

An example level 9 special facility is the Stable. It's Roomy and comes with 1 hireling and 1 free Riding Horse or Camel (or 2 free Ponies or Mules). You get advantage on all Animal Handling checks to control a mount after it has spent 14 days in the stable. You can order the hireling to buy or sell animals over the course of a week. You earn a profit when you sell an animal depending on what tier level you are at.

An example level 13 special facility is the Meditation Chamber. It's Cramped and comes with 1 hireling. You can use the Meditation to Empower your bastion's hirelings with Inner Peace so that the next time you roll for a bastion event, you can roll twice and take either result. You can also spend a week meditating in the chamber to gain advantage on 2 randomly determined saving throws for the next week.

An example level 17 special facility is the War Room. It's a Vast facility and comes with 2+ hirelings that use the Warrior Veteran stat block. You can use the War Room to recruit more of these hirelings (to a max of 10). You can get one of your hirelings to assemble a small army.


The upcoming Forge of the Artificer book has a bastion option for airships if I remember right.
I suspect that will be rules around using an airship as a bastion rather than a rule for an airship docking station attached to your ground-based bastion. I note that there are also going to be 3 vehicles statted out in the book; I doubt the skycoach will be one, though. The airship, elemental galleon, and lightning rail are the most likely candidates.
 
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There might very well be different makes and models of skycoach in Sharn (all the more reason not to treat them like NYC yellow cabs). Nevertheless, my players have got the one from the Sharn street map, because that's what I used for the skycoach in the "Song of the Sky" adventure. It's closer in size and shape to the WizKids-produced skycoach "mini" (which has a deck that's 30 ft x 10 ft):

ESTB-ymXUAAyf2n


I note it has no discernable means of being piloted. I guess if a medallion is the way to control it, then you can mentally control it. (My players like the idea of a medallion, but they were hoping it wouldn't require attunement since they're all out of attunement slots. They might just have to hire a pilot.)



Thanks for the suggestions. However, I don't think those are really in keeping with bastion special facility benefits - at least not the lower level ones.

The bastion special facilities come in several tiers (level 5, level 9, level 13, and level 17).

An example level 5 special facility is the Arcane Study. It's Roomy, comes with 1 hireling, and lets you use the Craft bastion order. If you spend a long rest in the study, you get a charm that lets you cast Identify for free once in the next week. You can also order your hireling to make you an arcane focus for free over 7 days. You can also have your hireling make you a blank book. This also requires a week and costs 10 gp. If you're at least level 9, you can use your Arcane Study to craft a Common or Uncommon magic item from the Arcana table.

An example level 9 special facility is the Stable. It's Roomy and comes with 1 hireling and 1 free Riding Horse or Camel (or 2 free Ponies or Mules). You get advantage on all Animal Handling checks to control a mount after it has spent 14 days in the stable. You can order the hireling to buy or sell animals over the course of a week. You earn a profit when you sell an animal depending on what tier level you are at.

An example level 13 special facility is the Meditation Chamber. It's Cramped and comes with 1 hireling. You can use the Meditation to Empower your bastion's hirelings with Inner Peace so that the next time you roll for a bastion event, you can roll twice and take either result. You can also spend a week meditating in the chamber to gain advantage on 2 randomly determined saving throws for the next week.

An example level 17 special facility is the War Room. It's a Vast facility and comes with 2+ hirelings that use the Warrior Veteran stat block. You can use the War Room to recruit more of these hirelings (to a max of 10). You can get one of your hirelings to assemble a small army.



I suspect that will be rules around using an airship as a bastion rather than a rule for an airship docking station attached to your ground-based bastion. I note that there are also going to be 3 vehicles statted out in the book; I doubt the skycoach will be one, though. The airship, elemental galleon, and lightning rail are the most likely candidates.
Sure, there would be a wide variety of sizes and models for different functions: taxis, buses, trucks etc. However, the rowboat sized vehicle in the art seems appropriate for a taxi. 40 ft. Is definitely bus or HGV sized though. A London Double Decker is 36 ft.

The issue with the mini is it has no seating. Form follows function: a passenger vehicle will have seats. Not only for comfort but for safety - a sharp turn and everyone will fall off that mini. By the same reasoning, there should be a way to secure cargo.

Traditionally, going back to horse drawn vehicles, there is a divider of some kind between the driver of a cab and the passengers, and I don’t think Sharn is a particularly egalitarian society.
 

I don’t think I’ve ever seen a picture of a skycoach with seating (or even a driver, for that matter)!

The one I’m using appears to have a chamber with a door in the front of it and possibly a covered section at the back but it’s still just standing room only.
 

I don’t think I’ve ever seen a picture of a skycoach with seating (or even a driver, for that matter)!

The one I’m using appears to have a chamber with a door in the front of it and possibly a covered section at the back but it’s still just standing room only.
I did say I didn't care for a lot of the Eberron art. But when it comes to deck plans you can take it that is just doesn't show the furnishings, rather than they don't exist.
 



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