D&D 5E (2014) 5e airships

[The Grassy Gnoll]

Hello,

Can anyone recommend a good source for airships for a 5e campaign?

Mechanics of flight manoeuvrability, deck plans, etc?

Any feedback on usage especially re any game breaking or, conversely, awesomeness that suddenly possessing one might bring.

Thanks

 

[zicar]

For deck plans, try googling Spelljammer. Get your hands on a Spelljammer pdf if you can.

 

[Radaceus]

Do you mean other than the information regarding Airships on DMG pg 119?

I do wish they had given maneuverability classes to 5E, our group has been talking about it especially as we have an Aaracocra and a Pixie in our 'monster' campaign. They've encountered an airship (as story fluff for a plot hook they have not persued) in my campaign but they have yet to board one. I've considered incorporating some rules from star wars miniatures battle board game if we do go down that road

 

[Ancalagon]

It really, really depends on how much magic/handwaving/power you want to have. An airship can be a powerful flying battleship or a fragile ponderous thing.

I did some research for a previous game on a realistic-ish airship powered with magical heat-generating rocks (so no need for fuel). The ship could carry about 20 tons of cargo, the ballon was 400 feet long (think dirigible) and the speed wasn't great - perhaps 10-15 mph. However over the course of a few days and with the capacity to avoid obstacles, it allowed for quite speedy travel.

 

[Cap'n Kobold]

Depends on what you mean by "airship". Eberron sources will have assorted beck plans of the "flying ship" variety. More Steampunk/pulp games/settings would probably be the places to look for blimp/dirigible varieties.

Stormwrack has specific rules for ship-to-ship combat that might be convertible to a 3d, 5e situation. Otherwise just assume that they have a reasonable, steady straight-line movement in combat, but compared to adventurer-scale flying creatures, they manoeuver like pregnant yaks.

 

[Ancalagon]

the good captain hints at an important point - the power/mobility of the PCs will be very important too. That game with that semi-realistic airship? Exalted. The PCs could *jump off the airship onto a moving sailing ship 1000 feet beneath* fairly casually. Very powerful PCs can protect the airship quite effectively in other words.

Of course you may ask "why have an airship", it's because Exalted didn't have a lot of long range travel options, and also because it was fun

 

[indemnity]

Simple ship rules - http://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/172599/Pirate-Adventurers-5E
Skyships for 5e - https://olddungeonmaster.wordpress.com/2015/05/24/5e-skyships/

I found when using skyships, you really have to lean in and make them feature. They are either a plot device or at least half of the campaign.

Playing in a skyship/nautical/pirate campaign right now using the above two rule sets. Here are some things it took us a few sessions to work out.

Pro

• Ships make great locations for chapter bookends
• PC roles and special abilities (captain, ship's surgeon, etc) almost play like a second character
• Ship-ship combat is tense, fun and uses the rules well
• DCs to navigate (left/right/up/down) and speed make for interesting RP (I navigate right... DC1+DC1...oh no, why are we descending at half speed? Quartermaster uses re-roll power to get us back on course.)
• We got to paint, fit-out and name our ship. Gets people emotionally attached.
• Vehicle races and locations make for great plot hooks.
• Vastly different skills, spells and backgrounds are suited to ships (counterspell gets really important when avoiding fire mages).

Cons

• Many tasks for running a ship are important and yet really boring for players
• Sometimes the "captain" dominated the table. Players quickly assumed their in-game roles and later expressed dissatisfaction at feeling left out. I'd really appoint an NPC captain or just not allow that position.
• Heavily biased towards ranged combat (I load the cannon, again...)

 

[SkidAce]

Skyships for 5e - https://olddungeonmaster.wordpress.com/2015/05/24/5e-skyships/

I have fiddled with skyships for years, THAT is a fantastic job and a comprehensive resource.

 

[ChrisCarlson]

In a recent homebrew setting I developed for an ongoing campaign, skyships were the purview of the Dwarven Sky Baronies. These "mountain dwarves" lived up in a string of massive, mountainous earth motes (they weren't always in the sky, but once their ancestral mountain homes sent skyward in a great cataclysm). In collaboration with the gnomes (for their tinker tech) they figured out how to carve out chunk of their floating rock "islands" to build zepplin-like vessels of solid stone. Because, in our setting, we decided that earth mote stone naturally "anchors" and resists moving too much, the gnometech engines were invented to use electromagnetic generators to trick the rock vessels into falling in a desired direction.

 

[Bupp]

Bump

My players have expressed interest in a swashbuckling campaign, and I wanted to add in skyships. I've checked out the resources indemnity suggested, and will start with those. They seem to cover more of a straight "sailing ships in the air" vibe, but I'm thinking I'd like something a bit more fantastic.

Any suggestions?