Airship Mechanics

Airship Basics

Airships are almost entirely owned by the Merkonus Engineer's Federation. Designed, developed and maintained by the Federation, private ownership of these vehicles is extremely rare. Rumors whisper that some of the old Dragon Slayer guilds have even managed to hold onto and hide their old airships from before the accords. Airships come in different forms for different functions, however the most common are the Traveler type airships. These relatively lighter airships have minimal armor and weapons to enable for expeditious travel between city-states, allowing them to travel 100 miles per day. All other types of airships are developed off this base model with modifications and specializations designed to its new purpose.

PC Actions Aboard an Airship

• Each PC is counted as a crew member toward the ship's capacity
• Movement on an airship is considered normal terrain. In high winds or storms, the surface is considered difficult terrain.
• PCs can fill roles held by crew members and fill their functions with proper training or experience. One PC can fill one role.
• A PC may follow Captain commands to Pilot the ship. They must be able to understand the Captain or will be unable to utilize the airship helm controls.
• A PC may fire a Large Weapon (airship cannon or ballista if one is present). These are treated as Ranged Weapon Attacks. PCs roll to attack and roll damage. A Large Weapon may only be used once per round

High Altitudes

The crew will need to spend five days or more acclimating to the environment if the airship flies above 10,000 feet. Crew members that have not acclimated to high altitudes will need to take two short rests per day for every 8 hours they are subjected to high altitudes. If the crew are unable to take 2 short rests within 8 hours, they will suffer a level of exhaustion.

Bound Elementals

Bound elementals are bound with special containment devices to act as the core to the engines that propel the airship and help keep it aloft. The device renders an elemental unaware of its surroundings and oblivious to the fact it is being used to power the airship. The elementals only become aware if the core fails or is damaged. Bound elementals are not harmed while contained, do not age and require no outside influences to survive. Some cores from the earliest airships still exist with the same elementals from hundreds of years ago.

Standard Points of Interest

• Deck
• Elemental Engine
• Captain Controls
• Crew/Passenger Quarters
• Captain Quarters
• Storage
• Galley
• Latrine

Falling

Fall distance by the second (ship or crew members)

• 1 second: 16 feet
• 2 seconds: 64 feet
• 3 seconds: 144 feet
• 4 seconds: 256 feet
• 5 seconds: 402 feet
• 6 seconds (one round): 576 feet

Sample Airship

Traveler Airship

Gargantuan vehicle, any

Armor Class: 16

Hit Points:

Speed: 0 ft , fly: 120 ft

STR

20 +5

DEX

10 +0

CON

18 +4

INT

0 -5

WIS

0 -5

CHA

0 -5

Damage Immunities: Poison, Psychic

Condition Immunities: Blinded, Charmed, Deafened, Exhaustion, Frightened, Incapacitated, Paralyzed, Petrified, Poisoned, Prone, Stunned, Unconcious

Legendary Resistance (1/Day). If the Captain of the airship fails a saving throw, they may choose to succeed instead.
Ship Damage Resistance. The ship has immunity to all damage equal to or less than 20 hit points. Only damages above 20 are applied. Anything less is ignored.

Actions

Crew. The airship crew takes their own actions. These are PC actions and not airship actions.
Move. The airship makes a maneuver. Requires a Captain Maneuver.

Hull

Armor Class 14
Hit Points 400 (damage threshold 10)
Carrying Capacity 40,000 lbs
Ram Yes

Control: Helm

Armor Class 18
Hit Points 75 (damage threshold 10)
The helm is where the captain uses Captain Maneuver. If the helm is reduced to 0 HP, all Captain Maneuvers suffer disadvantage until it is repaired.

Movement: Elemental Engine (2)

Armor Class 18
Hit Points 100 each (damage threshold 10 If reduced to 0 HP, the elemental containment is lost, and the elemental will attack the nearest target within 100 ft. If both engines are reduced to 0 HP, the ship speed is reduced to 0 and falls. If one engine is reduced to 0, speed is halved until it is repaired.
Heavy or medium load A medium to heavy load is considered half or more of the Carrying Capacity (Hull) weight (speed 45 with a heavy or medium load).
Locomotion (air) elemental power, speed 90 ft. Normal speed (Travel Pace) can be sustained indefinitely. A ship can Dash and increase speed by using one of its 3 actions. A ship must be at normal speed to maneuver. The airship can Dash in a straight line and up to 5 rounds using before suffering one level of exhaustion. The airship will slow to 0 and hover once exhaustion reaches level 5. The airship may return to normal speed after finishing a short rest.

Legendary Actions

Ram (Recharge 5-6). The airship may ram another airship or creature. The airship must be traveling in a straight line for 120 feet or more prior to attacking. The ship or creature takes 60 (9d10+10) bludgeoning damage on a successful ram Hit. Any creatures that are not secured aboard the rammed ship must make a successful dexterity check or be knocked prone.
Detect. The Captain of the airship may make a Wisdom (Perception) check.

The Travel Airship is the most common type of airship. It comes with no built in defenses and the least amount of armor and reinforcement to its durability. Primarily used to transport individuals with personal belongings between city-states, it is equipped with a moderate galley size and is designed to carry more individuals than militarized airships. Being much lighter, it is also the fastest type of airship.
Creature Capacity 8 crew minimum, 24 max
Travel Pace 15 miles per hour (270 miles per day)