Look! Up in the sky! It's...hey, what the heck *is* that?

[Storyteller01]

Not much of a threat from floating pieces of shaped wood, until you put cannons on them.


What kind of natural armor would this beast have? Something similar to rhino or elephant hide?

 

[Agent Oracle]

I think I know why it has spikes!

Thauma Sharks

The thing is a huge Thaumavore, it can detect and consume the ebb and flow of magical energy. The Thauma Sharks are airborn predators whose sole purpose is to find magic, and consume it in order to hold together the weave of spells that powers them.

 

[Nerfwright]

I'm being picky, but I think the presence of spikes would make it a porcupinefish...

from Wikipedia:

Porcupinefish are fish of the family Diodontidae, (order Tetraodontiformes), also commonly called blowfish (and, sometimes, "balloonfish" or "globefish").

They are sometimes confused with pufferfish. Porcupinefish are closely related to pufferfishes but porcupinefish have spines on their body.

As for what to call it? Zeppelidiodon, Diodirigible, Cloudfish, Bargepuffer... hmmm.

 

[Nightfall]

Not much of a threat from floating pieces of shaped wood, until you put cannons on them.

See I'm only see that because Cannons are obvious. Giant fish don't worry me. They make good sushi or sashami.

 

[Nuclear Platypus]

I'm being picky, but I think the presence of spikes would make it a porcupinefish...

from Wikipedia:


As for what to call it? Zeppelidiodon, Diodirigible, Cloudfish, Bargepuffer... hmmm.

Fugu?

 

[MarkB]

Right, but my question was "why did it have the spikes in the first place?" Horses have hooves and great speed to escape their enemies. I was trying to hint at a big, dangerous predator that hunts these things for a living. Whizbang mentions rocs (a good point) and dragons (against which the spikes would be no help since dragons have breath weapons). I was trying to get at the "skyborne critters the groundhogs have no idea are up there." But apparently Rolzup intends that they were magically created, so they don't really need a rationale like that.

How about if it can launch individual spikes as ranged attacks, using internal pressure as the launch mechanism? After firing, the spike's 'pore' is closed by muscle pressure, and a new spike begins growing. Let it fire, say, thirty spikes per day, which grow back in 24 hours. Due to pressure loss, the creature cannot climb in any round on which it fires spikes.

As an emergency measure, it can fire all spikes simultaneously as a single action, after which it deflates and floats to the ground, where it must recover for 48 hours.

Of course, one of the first steps in domesticating this creature is to disable all the spikes pointing towards the gondola.

 

[cmanos]

Fugu?

I had the same Simpson's images running through my head. I can imagine the puffer-zeppelin dying and falling out of the sky, being surrounded by a tribe of aborigines, and the shaman carefully dissecting the creature. The men of the tribe are eager to prove their manhood by eating the potentially lethal meal.

Then a bald man in a white shirt comes running in, crying 'FUGU!!!!!!!!!"

 

[D.Shaffer]

As to that, well, there's this Arthur Conan Doyle story that I've always loved....

The Horror of the Heights

...This reminds me of THIS particular Cryptid beastie. This guy is also related (And I have to wonder if this is where Doyle got the idea) Nifty AND gives me an idea for a Modern based game.

 

[Mishihari Lord]

Those look like spikes, but they're actually vents. They can shoot a high-pressure stream of the hydrogen keeping the fishie afloat in any direction. Of course it has an igniter, so the jet does 2d6 of physical damage + 10d6 of fire damage. If it makes more than 20 attacks it has to jettison the ship or descend. More than 30 attacks and it has to descend regardless. If it's killed, all the hydrogen goes off at once. 20d6 fireball within a 200' radius.

Alternately the points are for attracting, storing, and projecting lightning. The electricity also powers the electric propulsion and equipment on the ship.