D&D 5E [Eberron] Pimping out an elemental airship, 007-style

[MarkB]

I'm currently running an Eberron campaign focusing on investigation and pursuit of a mad-scientist type villain, a rogue House Cannith industrialist who unexpectedly stole the brand new airship he'd just built for House Lyrandar during its christening ceremony, absconding with it to pursue his own obsessive quest.

So far, the PCs have been traversing the continent using commercial travel, but as the campaign transitions from "investigation" to "pursuit", I'm going to introduce them to their own vehicle, a small, nimble airship also built by the guy they're pursuing.

The current Unearthed Arcana article is very timely, and I intend to make use of it for the ship's basic structure, but I want this to be a full-on hero ship with some extra tricks and gadgets - basically, if Q from the Bond movies built an airship.

The main thing I'm going with is what I'm calling Elemental Infusions. There are a set of nozzles attached to the helm, into which metal vials can be inserted that contain pure elemental essence - air, fire, earth or water. When the essence is infused into the bound air elemental, the vessel gains a special power or ability for a short period. For instance, an infusion of elemental water allows it to generate a large fog bank to act as a smokescreen.

Each vial is single-use, but they can be recharged from a suitable elemental source, such as a manifest zone or a conjured elemental. The PCs will start out with maybe three of each.

Ultimately, I want each elemental infusion to offer three tiers of special abilities, with higher tiers unlocked at higher levels as the party unlock the airship's full potential. However, I could use some help in assigning some appropriate abilities. For reference, the party is currently 6th level.

My first instinct for the fire infusion was for it to act as an afterburner, allowing the airship to double its speed for a short time, while the air infusion would allow it to climb to high altitudes without suffocating the crew. However, I'm contemplating making the air infusion the speed boost, and having the fire one provide an offensive ability. For earth I was considering something like Earth Glide, but I haven't really settled on that one.

Any suggestions for first-tier and higher level abilities? I'd like them to be fairly unique rather than something that an existing spell can do just as easily, but I'll go with spell-equivalents if they're appropriate.

 

[Eltab]

Fire infusion: like adding hot air to a balloon, gain extra altitude. Could be used on a weapon to get a flamethrower effect.
Water infusion: Cause rain or thunderstorm to form. If the PCs can get in front of their foe, mess him up and slow him down. Maybe force him to land so some allies can help deal with him.
Earth infusion: spray 'caltrops' all over his path. Poke holes in his balloon so he gradually sinks to earth or his max speed slows.
Air infusion: tail wind to go faster, or turn more quickly.

If Q built this vehicle, it should have a signal device so your allies can always find you (they have a radar screen). Famous exploding pen as in Goldeneye (tricky sequence to activate) and/or Never Say Never Again (long time delay). The vehicle itself could be a sentient magic item (think KITT from Knight Rider). It is waterproof so if you get knocked out of the sky into a lake it bobs back to the surface. Hidden extra propeller for extra speed surge. Hidden sharp edges; collide and tear rips in the other guy's airship. Secret compartments with personal weapons in them. Wand of Magic Missile? Toothbrush-sized air exchanger allows you to ignore Cloudkill or to Breathe Water. Radio or TV in a watch, better than Message and Sending. Improbably large missile hidden under the Captain's bunk. Seamless hatch (on the outside) opens like Back to the Future's DeLorian doors, or like a sunroof. I must stop myself from babbling without any elemental aspect or a rules description of how to make this stuff happen, let alone how the PCs might use it ...

 

[MarkB]

Fire infusion: like adding hot air to a balloon, gain extra altitude. Could be used on a weapon to get a flamethrower effect.
Water infusion: Cause rain or thunderstorm to form. If the PCs can get in front of their foe, mess him up and slow him down. Maybe force him to land so some allies can help deal with him.
Earth infusion: spray 'caltrops' all over his path. Poke holes in his balloon so he gradually sinks to earth or his max speed slows.
Air infusion: tail wind to go faster, or turn more quickly.

Good suggestions. I was considering having the Earth infusion produce some kind of rocky missile weapon - maybe throw boulders like a mini catapult.

The vehicle itself could be a sentient magic item (think KITT from Knight Rider).

It's actually going to be close to that. Officially, Eberron airships can only be piloted by members of House Lyrandar, whose dragonmark allows them to command the bound elemental. Since there are no dragonmarked characters in the party, and since part of the airship's designer's backstory is an obsession with old Xen'drik artifacts, I'm making this one also able to be controlled by a Docent - a sentient magic item of ancient design that normally only works by being socketed into a Warforged. When the Docent is plugged into the airship, it will essentially be the airship's brain for practical purposes.

 

[aco175]

The thing with movies and 007 movies specifically is that all the gadgets get used at some point. It is not as fun having a ship that gets a boost of speed, but never need it to catch the BBEG.

Some other cool gadgets may include:

Shooting grappling hooks that latch onto other ships.
Invisibility cloaking devise.
Greater armor, or something similar to the wizard shield spell.
Stealth flight to avoid detection or tracking.
The best needs to be the passenger ejection seat. Almost wrote injection seat, which would be messy.

 

[Eltab]

The best needs to be the passenger ejection seat. Almost wrote injection seat, which would be messy.

The injection seat puts you on the other ship. Conceptually, it works like climbing onto a ballista and being catapulted over the castle walls. "But, man, what a ride!"
The worst injection seats are mounted in the middle of the airship; good ones are next to windows and doors.

Make sure to be absolutely certain you will succeed on your DEX Save to hold on to the other airship after you crash into it.
For style and flair, the DM could narrate "you skid along the top surface and have to grab ahold of something." And a defender climbs up top with you for a fistfight.