D&D 5E Airship Crash - encounters and equipment. Help Needed?

My player characters are going to start an Icy Campaign Book with an airship crash.

They were traveling over the mountains in a balloon based airship which is torn in a storm and crashes to the ground in the foothills. The forecastle is where the PCs start along with the balloon. The aft castle of the airship ripped away and lies a mile or so towards the mountains where the ground starts to get steeper. The nearest settlement is north east about 7 miles away, though the PCs don’t know that. They know the mountains are to their south. Some of them will be injured. There are about two dozen bodies of their fellow travelers half buried in the snow or in one of the two wrecked parts of the ship. There is a trail of wreckage leading to the aft castle. The depth of snow means they can only travel 1/8 of a mile in an hour.

We’re using slow healing and lingering injuries optional rules. The party includes a wizard, a fighter and a rogue. They’re starting at 3rd level.

What encounters or interesting experiences would you have them find in and around the crash site. What equipment would you have them find? Homebrew stuff and conversions are fine.

Are they the only survivors? If there was another wizard onboard, maybe that one would have feather fall prepared?
I would consider having the following salvageable:
-1d4 wizard scrolls
-As much rope and lumber and cloth as they want
-Random metal hardware
(note, they may decide to make a sled of some sort; this also works to put together a climber's kit with the rope)
-Healer's kit
-1d4 potions
-The airship's ballista and 10 rounds of ammunition (they may decide to mount this on a sled)
-Some bits and bobs from whatever powered the airship

J-H said:

Are they the only survivors? If there was another wizard onboard, maybe that one would have feather fall prepared?
I would consider having the following salvageable:
-1d4 wizard scrolls
-As much rope and lumber and cloth as they want
-Random metal hardware
(note, they may decide to make a sled of some sort; this also works to put together a climber's kit with the rope)
-Healer's kit
-1d4 potions
-The airship's ballista and 10 rounds of ammunition (they may decide to mount this on a sled)
-Some bits and bobs from whatever powered the airship

Click to expand...

Good call. If they made a sled, in the absence of a mount to pull it, I’d let it combine and double their carrying capacity. I should say we’re also using the advance encumbrance rules, so a sled could be a life saver.

They are the only survivors, though I’m tempted to have the captain alive but impaled on a shaft of wood. Moving it will kill him but he can mumble a few words.

Some quick thoughts. The main initial threats will likely be scavengers, both predators attracted to the smell of blood and intelligent monsters looking to loot the wreckage.

But a bigger question is why did the ship crash in the first place? Cloud giants fighting dragons? Can you set up a scenario where people have to flee or risk being caught in the crossfire? Is there a war going on?

Then of course there's the whole survival aspect, so some of the goods should be related to that. Warm weather gear, tents, food and so on. Maybe things that have to be cobbled together. It seems fairly obvious they're not going to be rescued, what time of year is it? Do they need to scrounge things together to survive long enough for spring or do they need to scramble to put together supplies and sleds to get down the mountain before the first winter storm hits?

So a lot of the supplies could be a bit mundane. Beyond that? I might throw in some fun stuff like a message stone or 10. Either have someone call them or they find them but have no clue who is on the other line. I'd include multiple because they're one use/day so you can have a bit of back and forth.

You could also throw in a broken ballista and tools and replacement parts. Depending on the scenario I'd consider including some magical (but heavy) bolts that can be used to fight off a dragon or bigger creature that could potentially cause an avalanche or other fun consequences.

Other than that, @J-H had some good ideas.

Loving these ideas. I was thinking of having an avalanche - or possibly the aft castle tumble back into the ravine depending on the weight. Giving them a limited time to collect stuff.

Some starving wolves are definitely going in there as well. They can be scavenging in the galley at the bottom of the aft castle.

Tomb of Annihilation apparently has an airship crash scenario in it.

I say apparently because I am playing in it, and we have a solid rumor it happened and are headed to investigate but I don't know what we will find when we get there (and I don't want spoilers so I wont be checking back on this thread later ). But, assuming there is an airship crash scenario in that adventure someone else here might be able to point you to the details of it for some inspiration.

Mistwell said:

Tomb of Annihilation apparently has an airship crash scenario in it.

I say apparently because I am playing in it, and we have a solid rumor it happened and are headed to investigate but I don't know what we will find when we get there (and I don't want spoilers so I wont be checking back on this thread later ). But, assuming there is an airship crash scenario in that adventure someone else here might be able to point you to the details of it for some inspiration.

Click to expand...

Haha. Thanks. I do have Tomb and unfortunately it’s not quite suitable for this. But good shout.

In terms of supplies, think about what the airship was carrying. Was it just a passenger ship, or did it have some cargo. Was some of the cargo part of a nerfarious plot? Was it crucial medicine needed at their destination?

Consider having having some of the other passengers survive. This can lead to some fun roleplaying, and can create a sense of danger without killing the PCs. Maybe the crash is one of the survivor's fault. Either accidentally or on purpose.

Other encounters might include some sorts of ruins, or a village of arctic natives.

Ooh, another thought. The ship crashed because something in the cargo got out.

So many scenario ideas, so little time to DM.

Encounters inspired by movies
1. From "Mad Max 2": A small community of survivors from ANOTHER crash. They're children and young teens.
2. From "Flight of the Phoenix". A single survivor is important: the engineer/tinkerer who can build a (smaller) balloon from the wreckage.
3. From "The Grey". A pack of wolves is trying to eat the survivors


Equipment and other stuff
The most important tools for survival are ways of making a fire, keeping warm and getting assistance.

1. Balloon silk. Very useful for making tents, sleeping bags, even clothes. Of course, they also need needles...
2. Ruins of a broken beacon or lighthouse where they can shelter. This was supposed to warn balloon pilots, but it is damaged (sabotage?)
3. Firemaking gear. I don't know if you use hydrogen as a lifting gas, but if you do, there shouldn't be any easy way to light a fire. (All sane airship crew will confiscate anything that makes a spark). Discovering a piece of flint and some steel could be fantastically useful.
4. Telescope (even if it's broken, the lens might be useful for starting a fire)
5. Signal flags.

The players will want to build something like snowshoes, or cross-country skis. Let them have a little fun with that.