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=======================> GET SPELLJAMMER-1.NETBOOK
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~~ SSSSS PPPPP EEEEE LLL LLL JJJJJ AAA MM MM MM MM EEEEE RRRRR ~~
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~~ SS PP EEEEE * JJJ M M M EE RR R ~~
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The Rhyme of the Ancient Spelljammer
(Edition 1.1)
An accessory for the Advanced Dungeons and Dragons (2nd Ed)
Spelljammer Game.
Edited and Compiled by
Richard J. Pugh, MLS (well, almost)
"If thou follow but thy star, thou canst not miss at last a glorious
haven."
-- Dante, "Inferno," canto XV, l. 55
COPYRIGHT STATEMENT
Portions of this work are subject to copyright law, and in such cases
owned by the individuals who contributed them. Material ownership is
designated as follows:
Ville Lavonius: The three worlds contained in the "Travel Log"
sections.
Eric F. Schetley: The Bracers of Wildspace; the Dispel Magic
Grenade.
Chris Bickford: The Mage Spider ship, description and
representation.
Richard J. Pugh: The Rhyme of the Ancient Spelljammer narrative,
and the materials that appears in the "Legends and Lore" section.
The following sections can be assumed to have "Copyright Pending,"
indicating that the author has not secured full copyright at this
writing, but may chose to do so in the future.
Reid Bluebaugh: The PanGalactic GargleBuster description.
John Dunn: The Goodship Orion, description and narrative.
Richard J. Pugh: All personalities, all group descriptions save
the aforementioned "Goodship Orion," and all monsters save the
tabaxi (see below).
The following sections are already under copyright, and no claim to
their intellectual content is being made by the editor or any of the
contributors.
"Advanced Dungeons and Dragons," and the Spelljammer logo, are
trademarks owned by TSR hobbies, and are used here without
permission under the assumption of Fair Use.
Lawrence Schick: The Tabaxi. This creature originally appeared
in the original Fiend Folio (Lake Geneva: TSR, 1981; page 86),
and appears here without the consent of either Mr. Schick or TSR
hobbies, who still hold full financial privilege for any
commercial use of the tabaxi. It is presented here in a
different setting, but the basic content has remained the same.
UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES ARE COPIES OF THIS WORK TO BE SOLD TO OTHER
INDIVIDUALS OR GROUPS FOR FINANCIAL GAIN.
Mr. Pugh retains the role of editor for any subsequent edition of this
work. He does not reserve the right to withhold copyright privileges
to the other contributors for their contributions to this work.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Introduction
New Items
New Ships
Spacefleets and Notable Groups
Noteworthy Ships
Travel Log
New Monsters
Personalities
Legends and Lore
The Rhyme of the Ancient Spelljammer
Errata and Comments
Acknowledgements
INTRODUCTION
Hi, my name is Richard Pugh, and I am the compiler of this fine
guide you have before you. The work took approximately four months to
assemble, and consists of contributions from several individuals.
Some of the features I had planned for the work had to be eliminated
(things like the Grinder Raiders and the Octopus Club) because of
time, and because of TSR's release of Realmspace (tm), Greyspace (tm),
and Krynnspace (tm). In short, they took away some of my fire.
Anyway, I am more-or-less satisfied with the work as it stands,
and any comments would be greatly appreciated. I would appreciate it
if everyone who has a copy of this guide refrain from placing it into
an FTP sight or file server. This work is considered and anthology,
so several people are responsible for its contents. To put this thing
into a file server or FTP sight would require the permission of each
one of us, and the logistics of that may be a problem.
You may edit this work as you see fit, but please leave the
copyright statement and the acknowledgements in place, so credit will
appear where it is due. Despite the slapdash appearance, this
represents a lot of work.
I would also appreciate it if you refrain from tossing this guide
around like an over-used Tradesman. I want people to use it, to be
certain, but only those people who will get some good use from it.
All I ask is that you use your better judgement when sending this
around.
This work was created using Word Perfect 5.1, and if you set the
left and right margins at one inch and one-half an inch respectively,
everything should line up nicely. You might have trouble with the
logo on page one, but with some tinkering even it will come together.
There, I am now finished with boring business.
Read on and enjoy!
Richard J. Pugh
The Minstrel of Albany,
Bard of Wildspace,
Subjugator of the Improbable,
Keeper of Strange Lore,
General Nuisance.
rp0358@albnyvms.bitnet / rp0358@uacs1.alb.edu
Coming Soon: "The Sphere of Solaris," a sphere guide by Richard Pugh
NEW ITEMS
All of the items presented here can be used to enhance the flavor
of a SJ campaign, and can introduce lots of role-playing
possibilities. Most of the items presented here are magical, with the
exception of the first one, which is a "normal" item with abnormal
effects.
Spelljamming PanGalactic GargleBlaster (Liquor)
Made By: they won't tell!
Quality: Exceptional
Description: This exotic drink can only be found at Sun-nova Beach, an
extremely exclusive speakeasy on Cygnus-5. Also available at the time
of purchase is literature informing the customer of financing options,
and a list of organizations that can help the customer rehabilitate
afterwards.
The recipe for the GargleBlaster has been passed down for years
at the 'Beach from one bartender to the next. The legend goes
something like:
First pour in the juice of a bottle of the Ol' Manx Spirit, then
add a measure of water from the Seas of Santraal V (Oh, that Santraal
seawater! Oh, those Santraal fish!). Allow 3 cubes of Mantovin
Mega-Gin to melt into the mixture (make sure it's properly iced, or
the benzine will be lost!). Allow 2 1/2 liters of swamp gas to filter
through, and, over the back of a spoon, float a measure of Algorian
Mega-Mint, reminiscent of the Algor Regions... sweet, subtle and
mystic. Finally, add the tooth of a Rakasta, watching it dissolve,
spreading the red flames of the Second Sun deep into the heart of the
concoction. Add an olive. Drink... but...veeerrrryyy carefully.....
Game Effects: The effects of a Spelljamming PanGalactic GargleBlaster
have been likened to having your brains bashed out by a slice of lemon
wrapped around a platinum brick. Upon completion of the drink, the
character will have attained a state of Great Intoxication. A save vs.
Constitution will allow him/her to be escorted (dragged) to a sleeping
spot. ANY other action will result in violent illness (1 or 2 on 1d4)
or unconsciousness (3 or 4). If any additional alcohol is consumed
before the character rests, he/she must save vs. Poison or become
comatose. See guidelines for recovery. Stimulants will have no effect
on the recovery time from a GargleBlaster, but a limited wish will cut
the time to half. Upon recovery, the character manifests the
"Three-Spelljamming-PanGalactic-GargleBlaster Smile", which is almost
exemplary of being unsteady.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
New Magic Items
DISPEL MAGIC GRENADE
Appearance: This appears to be a small, 2-inch diameter globe of
crystal with a milky-white substance inside.
Abilities: This weapon may be used by any class. When thrown
(using the thrower's THAC0), the globe breaks upon
impact. The area of effect is a Ten (10) foot radius.
All magic users and/or magical items must make a saving
throw. (Mages/Clerics: Save vs. spells. Magical
items: save vs. Magical Fire. Magical bonuses are in
effect {+1, +2, etc}. Saving throw charts are found in
DMG.) If the save fails, one of the following effects
occurs:
1. Magic-using characters, NPC's, and creatures
with spell-like abilities lose all magical
abilities for 1 day (144 Turns). Mages need to
study their spells to regain them. Priests must
pray for more spells. Others regain them at their
normal rate.
2. All magical items that fail their save lose
their dweomers, and become normal weapons or
trinkets. Items of exceptional quality
(Artifacts, +3 or better magical items, weapons
with more than 50 charges, etc.) merely act as if
under the clerical spell DISPEL MAGIC. (Cast at
12th level of ability.)
Limitations: The sphere that holds the magical energy is extremely
fragile. Should any monster or PC carrying a sphere be
forced to make a save versus Crushing Blow for whatever
reason, the sphere will fail and shatter. Also, if the
to-hit is failed, grenade effect rules should be used as
detailed in the Dungeon Master's Guide.
History: Nothing is known about this new and extremely
dangerous weapon. Where it came from and who created
it is a mystery. The first reported sighting of the
grenade was on the world Oerth by a group of adventures
exploring a lost castle. The group met and defeated a
strange, 7-foot tall alien which destroyed itself upon
death.
Several of the globes survived it's death, and
were taken by the Spelljamming Necromancer Devonshire
Tawrn to his homeworld of Omni for study. He surmised
that the creature who used the grenade was not from
Greyspace. The monster was extremely dangerous and,
Devonshire decided, was one whose world he did not want
to explore.
XP Value: None. Method of creation unknown to PC's (The DM may,
at his discretion, assign a value to the using of the
grenade, but the PC's cannot determine how to create
them.
GP Value: Unknown at this time. There are but a handful of these
globes known to exist, so they could very easily demand
a king's ransom.
EVERMAP
Appearance: An Evermap appears as a sphere about the size of a beach
ball, with a smokey, transparent appearance. A tiny white
light is in the center of the sphere, and it represents
the ship carrying it.
Abilities: This Arcane built device only works in the phlogisin, and
is designed to locate crystal spheres within a given
radius. In this case, the radius is given in terms of
'standard spelljamming days' of travel. The navigator
gives a command to the Evermap, such as 'show me all
crystal spheres within three days travel,' and the map
responds by creating an appropriate, three-dimensional map
in the sphere. Any spheres within the desired range
appear as miniature replicas of the actual spheres, about
the size of a pea. If a sphere has a distinct appearance
known to the navigator, he or she will recognize it. With
the use of this map, the navigator can then compute or
confirm courses, and inform the captain and helmsman
accordingly.
Limitations: The device only works in the Phlogisin. In Wildspace or
on a planet, it becomes dormant, and will not function
again until the ship enters the phlogisin. It will not
interfere with a Planetary Locator.
History: The Evermap is similar, in many ways, to a Planetary
Locator, and the Arcane developed the Evermap to
complement the more complex Locator. The Elven Navy
started using evermaps after the first inhuman war, and
have used them frequently ever since.
XP Value: 3000 points
GP Value: Starting at 30000 standard gold.
NETWORK HELM
Appearance: The nodes of a network helm can appear as any other helm,
and are available in a variety of styles.
Abilities: The Network Helm is an arcane design that combines some of
the characteristics of a major helm and a series helm.
The network helm is designed for large ships, especially
those that get into frequent battles. There is always one
central helm, or node, in a network helm, and as many as
four lesser nodes (for a total of five). This central
node is the focal point of the network and it must be
occupied for the network to start up. The spallcaster
sitting at the central node can control the ship as if he
or she were using a major helm. If he or she is the only
being in the network, then the ship can be considered as
using a major helm. For every other spellcaster in the
net, however, the SR increases by one. A fully manned
network helm (five spellcasters) can create very high
speeds, which are helpful in combat. The other benefit of
the network helm is that the secondary spellcasters in the
network act as automatic backups for the main helm. If
for some reason the main helmsman is forced to leave the
helm (injury, spelljammer shock, whatever), the network
will automatically transfer power to the next highest
spellcaster in the network. The SR of the ship is then
re-computed, and continues. The highest level helmsman's
spelljamming power is computed as if he or she were using
a major helm, and then a single SR is added for each other
person in the net. These helms are very expensive, but
come in handy on large ships.
Limitations: Every spellcaster on a network helm looses their
spellcasting abilities for the day, as with a minor or
major helm. Network helms are not recommended for small
ships, because the high cost in both capital and
spellcasting power is more than most small ships can
handle.
History: The helm was developed to enhance the SR of larger ships
during the Second Inhuman war. The technology was
perfected a little too late to make a difference, but it
is now available for those who have the means. The
Muldravian Empire sometimes uses them on Marlins, and the
Elves have started installing them on Armadas.
XP Value: None.
GP Value: A network helm can be purchased for 300000 standard gold
for the central node, and 50000 for each secondary node.
TACTICAL HELM
Appearance: A tactical helm looks like a stripped-down minor helm.
Abilities: These small helms are able to make a ship travel at
tactical spelljamming speeds, as if it were using a minor
helm. Merchants who want to send cargo to opposite sides
of a planet may find one of these a wise investment.
Limitations: A tactical helm, as the name suggests, is not capable of
spelljamming speeds. For those who plan interplanetary
voyages, the tactical helm is a poor choice. For inter-
stellar voyages it is unthinkable.
History: The tactical helm, or devices similar to it, have been
used by planetary travellers for centuries. They have
also been used to travel between asteroids in places like
the Grinder and the Tears of Selune.
XP Value: None.
GP Value: 100000 standard gold (variable)
----------------------------------------------------------------
BRACERS OF WILDSPACE
-This is an artifact, hence it being placed separately-
The following description comes from Lord Monitor, Imperium Arm
Magica, Of the Council of Nine of the world Tarrn, of Tarrnspace.
(As told to Eric F. Schetley, Copyright 1992)
The Bracers of Wildspace are an artifact believed to be created
in the Omnispace crystal sphere, but reports have them appearing in
many spheres over the centuries. The bracers, according to the rumors
and heresay, were originally something completely different, when they
were fashioned on the planet Omni in it's first Age of Magic (which,
sages believe, is some 3,000-plus standard years past). Some of their
original abilities still exist, but most of the power has changed with
the passing of time.
The bracers have changed in appearance, also. Originally they
were fashioned from bronze with intricate runes carved into them. For
reasons still unknown, the metal has changed into something which
resembles the same material which compromises a crystal sphere. The
bracers are now completely black, and the runes which first adorned
them are now points of light. These points of light are actually the
constellations of the sphere in which the bracers are in at the time.
For example, if the bracers were found in Krynnspace, the white
"lights" on the bracers would appear in the patterns of Krynnish
constellations. Should the bracers found in the Phlogiston, the
bracers will appear completely black.
The bracers are very powerful artifacts, yet only warriors may
wear them. The reason for this is yet unknown. Anyone else
attempting to wear the bracers will be unable to lock the bracers into
place. The bracers, when worn, appear seamless, but if not found on
someone, are actually hinged! The two halves lock into place around
the arm, magically growing or shrinking to fit the needs of the
wearer. Any hinge or lock disappear once they are on someone. No
harm befalls anyone not of the warrior class when attempting to put on
the bracers: they merely fail to lock into place.
The Bracers of Wildspace have many powers. It is rumored that
not all of the powers have been discovered. To date, these are all
the known abilities of the bracers.
(The Bracers of power, it should be noted first, grow in power as
the warrior grows in "level." Role-playing abilities will be listed
first, while actual game statistics will be listed in parenthesis
afterward.)
Depending on where the warrior is, whether it be in wildspace,
planetside, or in the phlogiston, the bracers have different
functions. Their planetside abilities will be discussed first.
(Unless otherwise noted, the `planetside' abilities can be used in
wildspace or the phlogiston also.)
PLANETSIDE
~~~~~~~~~~
The bracers, when placed on the warrior, first impart greater
strength. The warrior, at first, is not accustomed to his new
strength, but soon grows used to it.
(The following chart is to be used to determine the new Strength:
Current STR Level New STR Level
3-16 Add one level
17 18(roll for exceptional STR)
18(18/01-18/00) 19
19 and up add one level
The PC suffers a -1 to hit penalty until he becomes used to
his new strength {1d4+3 days}. After the PC gains advances to his
next level, make the PC roll a save vs. Polymorph. Failure means that
the PC has gained extra bulk and must subtract 1 from his Dexterity.
Making the new throw means no penalty.)
The bracers also reflect the character's alignment, by way of
emitting CONTINUAL LIGHT at will. The glow from the bracers will be a
pure white for good characters, a dull beige for Neutral characters,
and darkness will come from the bracers for evil characters.
(Please note: If a mage has cast a spell on the character to mask
his alignment, this will not affect the glow of the bracers. They
reflect the "inner light" of the PC, and will not be affected by any
change.)
The bracers act as magical armor for the warrior. The bracers
provide a magical defense constantly for the warrior. The bracers
will not provide these benefits, however, if the warrior wears other
forms of protection.
(The bracers lower the AC of the warrior 1 point for every two
levels of experience. For example, a 1st level warrior has an armor
class of 9, while a 20th level warrior has an AC of 0. This benefit
is not activated if other armor is worn, either magical or normal. A
shield will not affect this. The bracers also confers a 5% Magical
Resistance for every two levels to the PC. This cannot be turned on
or off at will: it works on spells whether they help or harm the PC.)
Also, once per week, the bracers can locate Dimensional rifts.
Upon Mental command, the bracers begin to glow, then the warrior
begins to levitate (as per the spell: 1d10 feet. Watch for low
ceilings) and spin very quickly. After a few seconds, the glow
intensifies and "flies" from the warrior in the direction of the rift.
The warrior knows the direction and the distance of the rift, but not
where it leads.
(This ability will not work in Wildspace or the Phlogiston. Role
play this carefully: if the PC is indoors when he tries this, warn him
that he may bump his head on the ceiling. Also, the "bolt" is the
color of the PC's alignment, as detailed in the Continual Light
paragraph. The destination and location of the "rift" is up to the
DM. Should the PC use this ability in the planes, then the PC may {at
the DM's discretion} choose their destination, with at chance of
5%/per level chance of success.)
WILDSPACE
~~~~~~~~~
In wildspace, the Bracers become their most powerful. Depending
upon the circumstances, they will help in combat or help escape,
whichever your needs might be.
The Locate Dimensional Rifts ability does not function is
Wildspace. Rather, the Bracers can locate portals in a crystal sphere
within a 1,000 mile per level coverage of the sphere. Should a portal
be located, the warrior knows where it is and while passing through
it, the bracers will not allow the portal to close.
(Pretty self explanatory, dont'cha think?)
Should no portal be located, the bracers, once per week, can
Create a Portal in a Crystal Sphere! The portal will be large enough
for the Warrior's ship to pass through, then close as soon as the ship
is through.
(This takes one full turn of concentration on the PC's part to
open such a portal. Should the PC's ship be part of a fleet, the
portal will not remain open long enough to let the entire fleet pass
through. The portal will close as soon as the ships begins to pass.
Consider this a Ship Halved roll according to the Spelljammer Boxed
Set.)
Should combat be required, the Bracers draw upon the inner
essence of the warrior and provide a powerful offensive weapon. The
warrior, up to three times per day, can project a powerful Cone of
Force from the bracers. The cone is powerful enough to cause serious
damage to either a ship or to it's crew. The cone of force is
extremely powerful: if not careful, the warrior might be knocked off
his own ship!
(CONE OF FORCE: In order to use this ability, the PC MUST be
braced up against something that will stand the shock of something 2
times his weight {A saving throw may be made by the DM if he/she
wishes}. The cone, when projected, goes in one direction while
forcing the PC the opposite direction. Even if a character is bracing
himself, and isn't against something, the PC will be forced back, more
than likely off the ship.
The cone of force is projected in a straight line. The distance
the cone can travel is determined by the PC's Level and the chart
below:
Character's Level Distance of cone (IN HEXES)
1-6 Same hex.
7-10 1 Additional Hex
11-16 2 Additional Hexes
17-20 3 Additional Hexes
21+ 1 hex/ 7 levels
The cone can be used two different ways, and the PC must announce
which method he intends to use before attacking. If the PC is unaware
of the different attacks the Cone can make, then Attack mode 1 is used
by default.
ATTACK MODE 1: Ship damage. The PC must make a THAC0 roll, with
a -4 Called Shot Penalty. If successful, the PC inflicts 1 Hull point
of damage per level. If the ship is destroyed by the attack (I.E.,
the total number of points damage taken by the ship is more than the
ship's current Hull point total), the ship is permitted a saving throw
(whatever material it is mostly compromised of) versus Disintegration.
If it fails, the ship is destroyed and the Air envelop begins to
dissipate. If the ship makes the save, the crew of the other ship can
"hold the craft together" long enough to hope for a crash landing
somewhere.
ATTACK MODE 2: Ship crew attack. This is more difficult. The PC
must make a THAC0 roll with a double called shot penalty (-8). This
is because the PC is trying to hit a ship someone on a ship a good
distance away from him. I don't care how good the PC is, this ain't
easy. Should the attack be successful, EVERY CREW MEMBER ON AN
EXPOSED DECK IS KNOCKED OFF THE SHIP. THERE IS NO SAVING THROW.
If the DM thinks that this is too powerful to use in his
campaign, then the second mode is optional.)
PLEASE NOTE: The Cone of Force will NOT work in the Phlogiston.
It only works in Wildspace.
One other power the Bracers offer, whether it be in wildspace or
the Phlogiston, is a constantly regenerating air envelope. Should the
warrior be forced off his ship, his air envelope will never foul: The
bracers will keep the air pure.
(Of course, the PC will still be effected by Hunger, cold and
whatever else the PC needs. Hey, he may starve before another ship
finds him, but at least the air will be clean! This ability will only
work on one person: it will not refresh the entire ship's envelope.
Should the air on a ship go deadly, the bracers will keep the PC's
personal air envelope fresh.)
PHLOGISTON
~~~~~~~~~~
One would think that the Bracers would be less effective in the
Phlogiston. While most of it's abilities will not function, it does
offer some protection.
The bracers's ability of continual light will work in the
Phlogiston, as will the armor, the replenishing air envelope and the
ability to locate portals (The Bracers will not open a portal outside
a Crystal Sphere.) None of the other powers will work.
The Bracers do offer one special power in the Phlogiston that it
can't offer anywhere else: Protection from Fire. Should (the greater
powers forbid) the warrior come near a fire while in the extremely
flammable phlogiston, an aura (the same color as the continual light)
will appear around the warrior and fire will not harm him.
(This is involuntary. The PC has no control over this power.
This power will not work outside the Phlogiston. Anyone near or
touching the PC will not be protected by this ability.)
SOME THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW ABOUT THE BRACERS OF WILDSPACE:
~~~~ ~~~~~~ ~~~ ~~~~~~ ~~~~ ~~~~~ ~~~ ~~~~~~~ ~~ ~~~~~~~~~~
As with any artifact of power, there are some things, as the DM,
you should know about. The first, and most important, is that once
the bracers are placed on a PC's arms, they can never be removed.
Thieves can find no locks to pick, not any hinges to loosen. The
metal is considered Unbreakable (even a saving throw of a 1 will not
harm the metal!) and with an AC considered near -20. Once a PC
acquires these, they're stuck with them.
There are only two ways to remove the bracers: Cutting off the
persons arms or killing the person. It is possible to remove the
bracers, but it is strongly advised against. Only once, in all of
existence, has anyone tried to use the WISH spell on the Bracers. The
mage, whose name has been long forgotten, was utterly destroyed in the
process, and the world under which they stood was blown apart. The
man who wore the Bracers survived, but soon died of starvation.
The Bracers, also, are a prized artifact, and most Wildspace
races seek them. It is believed that they were once the possession of
Illithids, the Neogi, and the Reigar. The Arcane and the Dolwar would
love to purchase them, but would never go to the bother of actually
killing someone for them. They have, as far as these bracers go,
patience. They know that someday the current owner will die and then
they will try for them again. The Giff have no interest in the
Bracers, for reasons no Giff will ever relate.
The Bracers are never apart; In fact, they will not work unless
one being wears both of them. They are magically connected, and will
never be found more than 3 feet apart of each other. Should two
warriors try to wear one each, the bracers will not lock and therefore
not function.
Clerics, Thieves, Mages, and Psionicists cannot use the Bracers.
It is rumored that because they concentrate on one "art" rather that
the warrior, who is more likely to try nearly anything once, they
cannot work. The bracers work on all races, with one notable
exception: Gnomes. Myths tell us that the creator of the Bracers
hated Gnomes. They even work perfectly on Dwarves, which has been
known to shock even the most seasoned adventurer. Imagine a Dwarf,
tossing off Continual Light Spells and opening portals in Crystal
Spheres!
NEW SHIPS
This section contains some new ships that can be used to enhance
a Spelljammer campaign, or simply to add color to a space dock.
NAME: Faernorbb (Trans: "Mage Spider")
Built by: Drow Elves
Used Primarily by: Drow Elves
Cost: Not available on open market
Tonnage: 60 Spacial Tons
Hull Points: 60
Crew: 10/60
Maneuverability Class: C
Landing: Land Only
Armor Rating: 0
Saves As: Hard Metal (+2)
Power Type: Major Helm (90%)
Lifejammer (10%)
Ship's Rating: As Helmsman
Standard Armament:
4 medium ballistae, crew : 2
1 light catapult, crew : 1
Cargo : nil
Keel length : 80'
Beam length : 60'
Description: The ship looks like a squat circular spider (a map
follows), made from the black adamantium that drow are famous for.
There are magic spells that automate almost every aspect of the ship
(meals cook themselves, beds are made). The galley automatically
produces food and wine, filling empty containers, etc. The ship itself
is covered with grotesque carvings which are highlighted by permanent
faerie fires, etc. Additionally, the ship has been treated such that
exposure to the sun
does not adversly effect it.
The crystal sphere the ship is originally from is one that has been
taken over by the drow. It has one major planet, where the drow have taken
over. They were able to do this by the uniting force of an Emperor, a devotee
of the drow god of thieves. The society is more lawful and less matriarchal
than normal drow society. On the main planet, there are scattered houses that
still worship Lolth, but discreetly, and also pockets of various humans and
demi-humans. The drow have took over 100 years ago, and through the use of
mighty magics, closed the gate to the fire elemental plane that fueled the
sun. Hence the entire sphere is only dimly lit (source unknown) and is next to
impossible to get around in without infravision. The drow use this ship mostly
to track down rebels (worshippers of Elistraee) who have hidden themselves in
among the dust clouds and asteroids of the sphere. The other major drow
mission is the extermination of all demi-humans. The humans are allowed to
live in poverty, and a few of them are kept in menageries in the major cities
where, due to the short human generation, they have devolved quite a bit.
Humanoids, on the other hand, are plentiful on the surface where the low status
drow are building cities. At this point there is no warfare, since the drow
have a whole surface to expand onto. Within 400 years, population pressure
will probably fragment the empire, and pluge the sphere into civil war.
The Mage Spider is frequently used as a battle cruiser or spy
ship. The size of the ship, and the ability to land on planets,
allows for a variety of uses. They are sometimes used as escort
vessels for a Jade Spider, when circumstances permit. Exactly how a
Mage Spider is used depends on the will of the Drow Flotilla commander
in question.
Crew consists of a priestess and 2-5 underpriestesses, a mage and
1-6 apprentices and crew men and women to fill the remaining spots.
The priestess is always of higher level than the mage, and wields
supreme authority. Typically, the mage is of at least 11th level.
Rarely, suicide ships are found with an all male crew, but these are
sent only on desperate missions.
The drow also have a creation that is used on these ships for long
voyages. It is a golem, made of Drow body parts. These golems tend to be only
5'6" in height, but otherwise have the same statistics as a flesh golem. The
only other advantage is that the golem can pilot a ship, following directions
(go toward, go <direction>), or going to any place the golem has been using
some kind of inertial tracking or perfect recall. The golem can fly a ship
with a SR of 1.
The drow mages invented them to use for long trips, since they are the
only ones who ever fly the ships. The priestesses consider it beneath their
dignity to actually sit in a spelljamming helm, and they also dislike losing
their spells.
Map of faernorbb -
Entry to the ship is by a ladder that extends from the mouth of the
spider at the will of the spelljamming mage.
entry
_v_
/ \ Key -
|L L|
\_D_/ D = door
_/ | | \_ L = ladder (up)
_/ X| |X \_ l = ladder (down)
_/ | | \_ X = trapdoor
Ballista -> / 1 D D 2 \
points here -> | | | |
|________| |________|
| X| |X |
| | | |
| 3 D D 4 |
\_ | | _/
\_ | | _/
\___|L|___/
\_/
Rooms 1, 2, 3 and 4 all contain a ballista, and 20 bolts for the
ballista are in a closed box on the left side of the ballista. The
ballista can pivot about 10 degrees in any direction, and points
toward a 'dark window', set in the section where the wall begins to
curve in all 4 rooms.
The trapdoors lead to storage areas. Small and usually empty.
The storage areas hold acid for dealing with regenerating creatures,
spare arms and armor, and some reloads for the weapons. A careful
search might (5%) reveal an item enchanted to +2 (or better) of drow
adamantium, or a specific spells component (90% for level 1 spells,
-5% per level of the spell above 1 (valued below 100 gp, i.e. no large
powdered diamonds or the like)).
Basically, the storage area is cluttered with junk.
Level 2 -
___
/ \ Key -
|l l|
\___/ D = door
_/ |L| \_ L = ladder (up)
_/ | | \_ l = ladder (down)
_/ | | \_ X = trapdoor
/ 1 D D 2 \
| | | |
|________| |________|
| | | |
| | | |
| 3 D D 4 |
\_ | | _/
\_ | | _/
\___|l|___/
\_/
On this level the 'head' does not connect. The head has a chair,
where the golem sits (the helm), and a table, with various maps and
charts. There is a large 'dark window', giving a 135 degree view out
the front.
The golem is a 6' tall flesh golem made from drow (i.e. black
skin, white hair) which can be used to pilot the ship. The golem can
take the ship anywhere it has been, and can follow simple directions.
It moves the ship with SR 1.
Rooms 1 and 3 are the bedrooms, 4 the barracks, and 2 the galley.
Level 3- ___
|l|
| |
| |
/ \
| C |
\___/
This level is set on top of the ship, but under a 'dark window'.
The window form a half circle arching over the passageway, and a
hemisphere over the catapult (C). Rocks for the catapult are set in a
large closed box, at the bottom of the room.
The 'dark windows' are a spell effect that is like a VERY dark
pair of sunglasses. Drow can see through them like normal lighting,
since they have sensitive eyes, but humans and other surface dwellers
see only a flat grey landscape (or whatever).
Other Configurations: No variations on the Mage Spider have yet been
encountered. One was seen using a crew entirely composed of golems and
other magical creations, but the craft scuttled itself before its
mission could be determined.
NAME: Gnomestar
Built by: Krynnish Gnomes
Used Primarily by: Krynnish Gnomes
Cost: Unavailable on the open market
Tonnage: 90 Spacial Tons
Hull Points: 90
Crew: 100 Gnomes, 8 giant hamsters
Maneuverability Class: E
Landing: Land only
Armor Rating: 3
Saves As: Metal
Power Type: Gnommish "Hamster" helm
Ship's Rating: 1-2
Standard Armament:
Blunt Ram
Others variable
Cargo Capacity: None (see below)
Keel Length: 130'
Beam Width: 45'
Description: The Gnomestar is the ultimate nightmare in Krynnish Gnome
technology, surpassing even the Gnommish Dreadnaught. Only three of
these monsters exist, and all of them perform The-Highly-Honorable-
Task-Of-Preventing-Dangerous-Beings-and-Those-With-Malevolent-Intent-
From-Landing-and-Disrupting-the-Social-Fabric-of-the-Good-Peoples-of-
Krynn. Most other races call it planetary defence. For their credit,
the Gnomestar is pressed to the rafters with every type of weapon
available, and the worst part is, they all work. Gnomish soldiers
consider it a great honor to work on a Gnomestar, so they spend all of
their time cleaning, maintaining, and repairing the weapons. Only
when a Gnomestar lands does it undergo modifications and
"improvements."
The Gnomestar looks vaguely like a clipper with the masts
removed, and the bowsprit replaced with a blunt ram. The ram is
covered with all kinds of chimes, bells, and whistles to tell an
opponent that they are about to be rammed. The decks are filled with
weapons of all types (as many as the ship can physically carry),
including standard heavy weapons, bombards, magical devices, personnel
catapults (for boarding actions), and so on. The armament of a
Gnomestar changes with each tour of duty. A total of six sidewheel
houses are on the ship (three per side), with a hamster in each one.
The sidewheeler technology is not appropriate for a ship this size,
but as always, Gnomes found a way to make it work. Nevertheless, the
ships rating is downright bad. It can be raised from one too two, if
the Gnomes put a treat in front of the hamsters. This causes them to
run on the treadmills faster, giving greater output of the engines.
This can only be done for three turns. After that, the engine
overheats and breaks down is a spectacular display of smoke, sparks,
and flying parts. When this happens the Gnomes drop everything and go
into a hilarious frenzy of repairs.
Gnomestars stay in orbit above Krynn for periods of six months.
They work in staggered shifts, such that two are above Krynn at a
given moment. The third is docked at Mt. Nevermind for maintenance,
upkeep, repairs, modifications, improvements... Each Gnomestar has a
crew of 100 Gnomes (smaller beings require less air, so more can be
crammed into a ship) and eight giant hamsters. The cargo area is full
of supplies, such as food for the crew, so space for other cargo is
rarely available. Orders from the ground are relayed by a special
Yaul, powered by one of the hamsters.
Notes: No other race would be fool enough to want one of these. If
you drop by Krynn and see one, send up the flag for "hello," politely
wave, and keep going.
NAME: GREAT TYRANT
Built by: Arcane
Used Primarily by: Beholders
Cost: Not available on open market.
Tonnage: 100 Spacial Tons
Hull Points: 100
Crew: 60 Beholders, 1 Hive Mother, 15 Orbus
Maneuverability Class: D
Landing-Land: Yes
-Water: Yes
Armor Rating: 2
Saves As: Metal
Power Type: Orbus (see below)
Ship's Rating: 3 (1 per 5 orbi)
Standard Armament: See below
Cargo Capacity: 40 Spacial tons
Keel Length: 70' diameter
Beam Width: 20' thick at center
Description: The Great Tyrant is a new design used by one of the
beholder nations in its wars with the other factions of the race. It
looks like a giant cinnamon roll, with six large crystals along the
rim, each 60 degrees apart. The inside of the ship is a honeycomb of
passages for the beholders, while the hive mother resides in the
center. The orbi are in three small chambers just off the center one.
There is surprisingly little data on this ship, simply because it is
so rare. Only three confirmed citings of the craft have been made,
and an comparison of the markings suggests that only two of these
ships exist, and they are both owned by the same nation.
Most beholder ships are 50 tons or less because of the
restrictions of the orbus helm. The Great Tyrant uses a special type
of helm that combines the characteristics of an orbus helm and a
series helm. If five orbi are placed in one of these special helms,
they can give a ship of 50 tons or more, a SR of one. The Great
Tyrant is equipped with three such "terminals," giving it a SR of 3.
The mere fact that the beholders have developed (or acquired) this
type of technology is rather disturbing.
The crystals of the Great Tyrant are the same crystals that the
beholders use in their smaller ships, for pooling their magical powers
for use as a ship-to-ship weapon. During battle, each crystal has 10
beholders and function as independent weapons. It is also possible to
combine the power of every beholder on the ship and run it through one
crystal. This makes the ship helpless for one turn, but the result is
devastating. One witness, a tradesman crewed with humans and
halflings, noticed a Great Tyrant in the Grinder of Greyspace. The
Tyrant was in the process of destroying a base used by another strain
of beholders, and when the bulk of the fight was over, the Great
Tyrant pooled all of its power to destroy the asteroid. The asteroid
was the size of an Armada, and was reduced to small bits of rock.
That's when the tradesman fled.
The Great Tyrant is a giant battle cruiser, and is designed to
destroy other ships. That is all it is meant for, but it could be
used in other ways, such as a drop ship. The ability to make both
hard and soft landings could make it a very versatile craft. For this
reason, the Elven Navy considers the ship a threat. If one beholder
nation was to gain supremacy over the others using these ships, it
could eventually threaten the elves, at least in some spheres. For
the moment, the elves are watching and waiting, preferring to let the
beholders wipe each other out.
NAME: Man-O-War, Frilitary Class
Built by: Elves (old design)
Used Primarily by: Elves, Humans, others
Cost: 250000 standard gold
Tonnage: 60 spacial tons
Hull Points: 60
Crew: ##/## 12/60
Maneuverability Class: C or D
Landing: Land only
Armor Rating: 7 (hull), 4 (legs)
Saves As: Ceramic (pottery)
Power Type: Major Helm
Ship's Rating: As helmsman
Standard Armament:
2 Medium Ballista, crew 2/ea,
1 Heavy Catapult, crew 3
1 Medium Jettison, crew 3
Grappling Ram
Cargo Capacity: 30 spacial tons
Keel Length: 200'
Beam Width: 20'
Description: The Frilitary Man-O-War is clearly a variation of the
standard Man-O-War. On a Frilitary, the distinct bend in the "back"
of the standard Man-O-War is absent, putting the entire fuselage on
the same plain. Another difference is in the wing placement. The
wings lie on a plane parallel to the body of the ship, somewhat like
those of an Angelship or Aracoccra Corbina. The wings are placed this
way to allow planetfall, and to allow the grappling ram to function.
The "head" of the Frilitary has two bowsprits instead of one, and
these can be used as a grappling ram. However, the grapple is only
effective against ships smaller than, or equal in size to the
Frilitary. Hard landings are handled by a set of landing legs,
similar to those of a Damselfly. The legs are made of very strong
metal (Mitheral is a common choice), and are grafted into the hull of
the Frilitary during construction. Removing the legs destroys the
ship.
In flight, the landing legs fall to the gravity plain of the ship
(folding up like those of a butterfly), and never interfere with
steering. When a large gravity well is entered, the legs fall into
position, allowing the craft can be landed normally. When the legs
are down, however, the ship does suffer a loss of maneuverability
(from C to D) and this loss will continue until the ship is free of
the offending gravity plain. An asteroid or other small body is not
sufficient to pull down the legs. To land on such bodies, the crew
must manually move them into place. This is not easy (it takes two
turns), and fortunately it is rarely required. Elven Armadas, and
major ports (like the Rock of Bral) typically have docking facilities
for standard Man-O-War ships, and these facilities are used whenever
possible.
The Frilitary was introduced during the first Inhuman War, and
was used extensively during the second, as a drop ship for troops and
supplies. Groups of them would descend on target areas, usually under
the cover of standard Men-O-War, or other allied craft, deposit their
quarry, and quickly leave. In one noted case (during Inhuman War II),
a Frilitary was fitted with bombards, and the jettison was loaded with
greek fire. This ship was used for strafing and bombing humanoid
ground targets, then landing to dispatch troops to secure the area.
Sometimes a single Frilitary was used as a command center for special
operations or commando missions: While on the ground, a ship can be
very difficult to find. Since the close of the wars, however, the
Frilitary has fallen out of favor, especially since the Imperial Navy
is nervous about landing ships powered by major helms. Still, the
navy maintains a handful in mothballs, and new ones are built from
time to time. Simply put, a Frilitary can go places a standard Man-O-
War can not, and human built ships are not always available or
desirable.
Other Configurations: The only standard variation on the Frilitary is
the "Waterfly." This version is built with a set of pontoons as
opposed to landing legs, and is designed to land on water. This
variation is rarely used, even by elves, because the bloated pontoons
lower the armor rating of the ship by two places. In the entire navy,
only one is in service. When elves need to land on water, they prefer
to drop small boats from a standard Man-O-War or Armada.
Other Uses: Military service is still the most common use for a
Frilitary, but it has a following in other circles. Elven merchants
are very fond of the Frilitary. It is clearly an elven ship (something
they like), and the ability to make hard landings is very useful.
Free adventurers or all races are VERY fond of the Frilitary: The
grace and durability of a Man-O-War with the ability to land on
planets is an excellent combination. The biggest problem with the
craft is finding one!
NAME: Marlin (Muldravian Warfish)
Built by: Humans
Used Primarily by: Groundling humans of Cartania, Muldravian
Empire
Cost: 80000 standard gold
Tonnage: 70 Spacial Tons
Hull Points: 70
Crew: 14/70
Maneuverability Class: D (or better)
Landing: Water only
Armor Rating: 5
Saves As: Thick Wood
Power Type: Major or Network helm
Ship's Rating: As helmsman
Standard Armament:
1 Heavy Catapult, crew 5, F
1 Heavy Balista, crew 4, turreted 360*
2 Medium Balista, crew 2/ea, 1 Port 180*, 1 Starboard 180*
1 Medium Catapult, crew 3, turreted 360*
1 Piercing Ram
Cargo Capacity: 35 gross tons
Keel Length: 380'
Beam Width: 30'
Description: The Marlin-class battle cruiser, or "Warfish," is the
standard spelljamming ship of the Muldravian empire in the sphere of
Solaris. It is large and ruggedly built, resembling the marine animal
for which it is named. It is built along lines similar to a
Hammership, and it can be used in the same ways. In fact, the
designers of the marlin derived the design from a hammership, with the
objective of finding ways to carry more cargo or passengers, without
making the ship bulky and clumsy, like a whale ship.
A Marlin can be used as a warship, heavy freighter, troop
transport, and even as a mobile command center. As noted above, the
Marlin can perform all of the tasks that a Hammership can, and in many
cases it can do them better. It is unlikely that the Marlin will make
the Hammership obsolete for a long time, if ever. The extensive sail
system of a Marlin is vital for the ship to maintain maneuverability,
and special training is required to handle them. A special
proficiency is not necessary; anyone with the proficiency
"Spacemanship" can learn how to handle a Marlin if an expert is
consulted. Such experts are difficult to find, and when they are they
are either unwilling to help (claiming military secrecy) or charge a
very high price. In short, the deck crew of a Marlin is difficult and
expensive to field. In these cases most people would prefer to run a
simple, reliable Hammership, using a standard crew. Another problem
is the cost of a Marlin's helm. A Marlin requires a costly major helm
(or a newfangled Network helm) to operate. A Hammership can operate
on a minor helm (however poorly), making it easier to afford. Those
who have worked on a Marlin, however, swear by them.
Marlins in military service typically travel in "pods" of three.
The Muldravian Empire has almost forty Marlins in service, and half of
them are on patrol within the Solaris sphere at a given time.
Occasionally, a single Marlin will leave the sphere on a specific
mission. Such missions could be the pursuit of an enemy ship,
espionage, exploration, or political. Outside of the Solaris sphere,
a Muldravian Marlin always has a specific mission objective.
In combat, the Marlin is a formidable opponent. It is
surprisingly maneuverable for a ship its size and it can withstand
large amounts of damage before breaking up. It can easily defeat a
single Nautaloid, pirate Squid ship, even a Mindspider, and it can
usually prevail against a Hammership or Man-O-War, depending on the
crew. A single Marlin with a full complement crack crew can even
defeat a Dreadnought, while two or three can defeat a Deathspider,
Jade Spider, or a renegade Armada. Against such opponents, however,
high casualties are expected. No Marlin pods have ever engaged a
Tsunami.
While the external lines of a Marlin are sleek to the point of
elegance, the internal layout of a Marlin is very simple, and many
find it uncomfortable. One commentator called it a "case study of
efficiency over ascetics." There are many large open spaces with low
ceilings, the decks are connected by ladders as opposed to stairs, and
the main deck is dominated by the sailfin and shuttle cribs (see
below). The large areas are provided for storing cargo, equipment,
and for use as crew barracks. On combat and patrol missions, a Marlin
typically carries a full complement, with several mages and priests to
take turns at the helm, recharge the air envelope, and maintain food
and water supplies. Solaris is an abnormally large sphere, so some
missions can run as long as eight months. Espionage and politically
motivated missions (such as diplomacy with another sphere) typically
carry half complement. Exploration missions also carry a full
complement, and sometimes the ship has additional rigging laced into
the sailfins to increase maneuverability (topping out).
The main deck usually comes with two cribs for small shuttles, or
"skiffs." They are usually stored with the mast removed, but when
assembled, these small ships look like sailboats with a fish-head
prow. They weigh about two tons, and can carry as many as six
individuals. They are designed as landing craft only, and are powered
by a device similar to a "Rudder of Propulsion." As such, they are
not capable of spelljamming speeds.
Other Configurations: There are no standard variations on the Marlin
design, although custom designed ships exist. Even though the Marlin
originated in the Solaris sphere, the design has began to appear
elsewhere, in a variety of uses.
Merchant Ship: The most common alteration is for use as a
merchant vessel. With the ability to carry more cargo that even a
Hammership, and with only a slightly larger crew, wealthy merchants
like the Marlin. When stripped of its weapons, the Marlin can easily
make the transition from warship to tradership.
Free Adventuring: Adventurers who have a lot of money sometimes
refit a Marlin for their own use. Such adventurers typically need to
hire some crew to help handle the ship. The Marlin is also a favorite
choice of mercenary companies, who sail between the spheres selling
their services where needed. One such company operates openly in
Realmspace, and maintains an office in Waterdeep!
Pirates: Sadly, pirates also like the Marlin. Such groups tend
to be large and well equipped, often boasting several ships. In these
cases, the Marlin is used as a command ship, while smaller ships do
the grind work. Such is not always the case, however. The piercing
ram can make short work of a Tradesman, and many pirates have
discovered this, much to their delight. If you ever see a Marlin with
pirate markings, your best bet is to 'jam out of there as fast as your
helm will allow.
Non-Human Crews: Though designed for Humans, the Marlin is also
used by Elves, often as a supply ship. Halfling and Illusionist Gnome
crews are not uncommon either. Krynnish Gnomes love the extensive
gear and pulley system for the sails, and often try to "improve" it.
Such ships usually end up impaled on an asteroid. Illithids and other
"underworld" races dislike the ship, because of the large, open main
deck. A company of Drow merchants are know to operate one, however,
and they have covered the main deck with an opaque net.
NAME: Seahorse
Built by: Aquatic Elves
Used Primarily by: Aquatic Elves, Tritons
Cost: 45000 standard gold
Tonnage: 45 Spacial Tons
Hull Points: 45
Crew: ##/## 8/45
Maneuverability Class: D
Landing: Water only
Armor Rating: 5
Saves As: Thick Wood
Power Type: Major or Minor Helm
Ship's Rating: As helmsman
Standard Armament:
2 medium ballista, crew 2/ea, 1 port 180*, 1 starboard 180*
Cargo Capacity: 5 tons (see below)
Keel Length: 160'
Beam Width: 20'
Description: The Seahorse is one of the few ships designed
specifically for an aquatic race, in this case Aquatic Elves. The
Seahorse does not look like an actual seahorse, at least not at a
quick glance. The lines of a Seahorse are similar to those of a
Dragonship, with the dragon masthead replaced with a seahorse head, in
a style similar to that of a viking ship. The sails of a seahorse is
woven from a silky fiber drawn from kelp, and tend to shimmer in
starlight. The hull of a Seahorse is often painted in a soft brown,
to resemble an actual seahorse.
The entire lower deck of a Seahorse is flooded with water, and
acts as the crew quarters for the aquatic elves. The extreme weight
of the water severely curtails the cargo capability of the Seahorse.
What cargo there is travels in the (dry) upper decks, and any
passengers the ship has will be there as well. For any non-aquatic
race, a Seahorse is an unpleasant ride. Everything is damp, and
seaweed tends to creep all over the ship. Air can also be a problem,
because half of the ship is taken up by water. The elves, being able
to breath both air and water, do not notice this of course. When the
lower deck is drained of the water, a Seahorse has a cargo capacity of
seventeen spacial tons.
In combat, a Seahorse is a fish out of water (pardon the pun). A
substantial hull hit could cripple the ship, especially if the water
drains out. The ship can hold its own for brief periods, but will try
to flee any combat it encounters. To this end, major helms with
(relatively) high-level helmsmen are the norm. The Seahorse is used
mainly as a transport vessel. When cargo is to be transported, most
aquatic elves contract elven merchants (or members of other races,
depending on who is available) who use more suitable ships. Aquatic
Elves rarely travel in space, but when they do, they use the Seahorse
when they can. The only other race that has consistently made use of
the Seahorse are the Tritons, who use them as colony ships. Lizard
Men have been know to use them on rare occasions as breeder ships, but
this is rare. Most aquatic races find a trip to dry land a traumatic
experience, while a trip into space is more than most can bear.
Humans, humanoids and even other elves, pass up the Seahorse for other
ships. Like the Arracocra Crobina, the Seahorse is simply not
suitable for anyone other that the race that builds it.
SPACEFLEETS AND NOTABLE GROUPS
The fleets and groups noted here are minor powers on the grand
scale, but a GM could use them as diversions, or as a change from
larger, more established groups.
Illithid United Navy
In a rather disturbing development, several of the Illithid
nations have recently united under a common banner. The idea here is
to promote greater co-operation between the Illithid nations, which
would benefit all of them. Non-Illithids have a more cynical
interpretation of this development. If all of the established
Illithid nations united into a common unit, they could threaten every
space-faring race in existence, including the elves. Typically, the
Illithid ships carry their own national colors, but also carry a
pennant representing the Illithid United Navy (IUN); this is a
practice similar to that of the Imperial Elven Navy. The fleet
commander is an incredibly egotistical Illithid called Mind Sifter
(q.v).
Fortunately, this federation of Illithid nations is still fairly
loose. The member states do not openly fight one another, but they
don't always help each other either. While the Illithid fleet is not
a major threat, it may one day become one.
The fleet is known to operate in Realmspace, but they do not have
a lasting presence. They have also been sighted in Krynspace, but are
usually just "passing through." Interpret that any way you want to.
In Greyspace the Illithids are a minor, but lasting problem. They
maintain numerous bases throughout the system, but no central base has
been located. Ships in Greyspace tend to take an offensive stance
when an IUN ship appears, and skirmishes are common. The IUN has
recently began to explore other spheres as well. A recent spy mission
to the sphere of Solaris was foiled by a Muldravian commander,
Deliliah Ferrengal (q.v).
Li Shou
Solaris, Cartania, S'ing Ti L'ack
Li Shou is similar to Shou Lung on Toril, and is one of the four
nations of Cartania that actively engage in spelljamming. Li Shou
uses Dragonship vessels to bring back the treasures of other worlds,
but Li Shou also uses them as showcase vessels. Even from a distance,
one can tell when a Dragonship is Li Shou (as opposed to Shou Lung or
privately owned). The ship is covered with elaborate flags and
pennants that glorify the land from "The center of the Universe." Li
Shou mapmakers believe that Solaris is the center of the universe, and
that Li Shou is the center of the Solaris sphere (at least from a
cultural standpoint). When a Li Shou Dragonship sets down in another
land, it often makes a big display of itself as if to say "Look at me,
I am from Li Shou, center of the Universe." Trading is a secondary
concern. The primary objective is to show off.
Shou Lung captains find this cultural bravado rather amusing. Li
Shou has passed up many good opportunities for trade because the other
peoples were "beneath them." In such cases, Shou Lung wastes no time
in collecting what Li Shou was missed. The elitist attitude has led
to a marked reduction in Li Shou spelljamming. Since they have not
found many things that interest them in other lands, they are becoming
increasingly isolationist. In fact, the Li Shou government is
actively trying to stop the use of Spelljamming technology, except for
those merchant vessels that use tactical helms to travel within the
empire.
The Missionaries of Celestian
Greyspace (based on Oerth)
As the name suggests, the Missionaries are followers of
Celestian, God of the Universe. They are somewhat different from most
followers of Celestian, in that they rarely sign on to other ships.
The Missionaries are a specific order of priests and paladins that
travel about on modified Barges of Ptah. They actively search for
damaged ships, and when they find one, they immediately do what they
can to heal anyone on board who requires aid. Failing that, they try
to get the injured party to a world or asteroid where better medical
facilities are available. If even this is impossible (the person
dies), they make certain to grant the individual a burial in space,
with full honor. To view a Missionary barge as a "hospital ship"
would be fairly accurate.
This group is at odds with the followers of Ptah, as is to be
expected, but they do not fight. In fact, the Missionaries only fight
other ships when they must. The barges they use often have magical
devices or spells to increase maneuverability or armor rating.
Most spacefaring groups let the Missionaries go where they will,
and NEVER attack them (even pirates let them pass). The reason is
simple: you never know when you may need their help. Those groups
that have offended the Missionaries in the past (the Tenth Pit for
example) have never received their aid, no matter how desperately they
need it.
Sadly, many pirates have tried to take advantage of this "hands
off" attitude that most have toward the Missionaries, and have tried
to pass themselves off as members. This has forced many leaders to
search the Barges before allowing them docking or landing rights. The
most notable examples of this are the Kingdom of Ratik on Oerth, the
city of Waterdeep on Toril, and the Rock of Bral. The Missionaries
understand this, but allow it to continue. So far, the number of
pirate impostors has been quite low.
The Muldravian Empire
Solaris, Cartania, Chorrad'ek
Of the four spelljamming nations of Cartania, the Muldravian
Empire is the most prominent. This is to be expected, since it is
perhaps the largest single nation on the planet. The Empire is
actually a highly co-operative group of small and medium sized states
that have pooled their resources for the common good. Most of the
states are human, but there is a single halfling state that places
itself under the Muldravian flag, and one of the other states has a
significant Gnome population. The Empire enjoys good relations with
several of its neighbors, allowing it to pursue other interests.
About 250 years ago, a study was conducted on the capabilities of
"Sky Galleons." Sky Galleons never traveled off-world (being powered
with Tactical Helms they couldn't get very far), but the belief was
that this was not always the case. After several years, Spelljamming
Helms were re-invented, and the Muldravian Empire was the leader in
this endeavor.
Of all the spelljamming peoples of Solaris, the Muldravians hold
the greatest presence, surpassing even the Elven Navy within the
sphere. The Muldravian Stellar Navy (MSN) is about 100 ships strong.
Most of these are Marlin-class battlecruisers, with squid ships for
planetary defence. The fleet is commanded from a Cuttle Command
(perhaps the only one is active service anywhere) that maintains a
fixed position over the Muldravian capital city. The Cuttle never
engages foes, however. A small pod of squid ships is always present
to deal with intruders. The Cuttle is jokingly called the "Muldravian
High Command."
NOTEWORTHY SHIPS
These are specific ships, and can be used to "spice up" a given
adventure. These ships are highly individual, and a history is
provided where appropriate. They should create some wonderful
opportunities for role-playing.
THE IEN WANDERER
The Wanderer is an elven Monarch armada, under the command of the
elven command center at Evermeet (Toril). It carries a fleet of 20
flitters, and a single damselfly, as landing craft. It main mission at
present is to locate missing elven colonies, and try to re-establish
contact with them. The Wanderer has been known to travel for two
decades at a time, looking for missing elves. Should it be
encountered in an established sphere, it will either be returning from
a mission, or embarking on a new one. If found in a backwater sphere,
it is carrying out its mission. In these cases, the elves will be
glad to see people from the established spheres, claiming that the
wilderness can get lonely, even for an elf. Visitors are never
permitted into the hull of the Monarch, but they are free to walk on
the flight deck and socialize with the crew. The Monarch's captain,
Malath Resika (q.v) is an easy-going sort, who gets serious only when
he must. When the Wanderer is forced into battle, he will use every
trick he knows.
The admiralty at Evermeet maintains a continuous link with the
Wanderer, using a bewildering array of magical devices. As such, the
Wanderer can be quickly recalled if needed (as was done for the Second
Inhuman War).
THE HAPPY VOYAGER
At a first glance, the Happy Voyager looks like a standard Bardic
ship, looking like a huge mandolin. When the ship is approached, one
can clearly see singing and dancing on the main deck of the ship,
while below decks there is an ongoing glut of liquor consumption, sex,
and all kinds of illicit behavior. In short, the Happy Voyager is the
biggest party in the known spheres.
In truth, it is a travelling hell. The ship is cursed, much like
the Batship, such that anyone who boards the ship must make a saving
throw versus magic EVERY ROUND, or become captured by the ship. Once
captured, the individual becomes compelled to join the party, and he
or she will continue to party until they fall to the deck in
exhaustion. The character will sleep normally, noise level not
withstanding, and awaken normally. For a few minutes after waking,
the character will be aware that they are on a cursed ship, and their
thoughts will be on getting OFF! Sadly, this level of awareness ends
quickly and the character returns to the party. This happens to every
person on the ship, and sometimes a few of them try to pull together
long enough to assume control of the ship and smash it into the
nearest asteroid (the only known way to break the curse is to destroy
the ship), but the curse reclaims them every time. What's more, the
rest of the crew do everything they can to stop the "party poopers."
The Happy Voyager was once an adventure ship, led by a bard. On
one adventure, the party had some incredible luck defeating a some
rather loathsome humanoids. They returned to their ship and started
to celebrate, no holed barred. However, one of the humanoids had cast
a wish spell (probably from a ring) before expiring, condemning the
party to some type of eternal damnation. The dietie who carried out
the wish had a "humorous" streak and decided that the upcoming
celebration should last forever. Thus began the travels of the Happy
Voyager.
The aging process is suspended while aboard the ship, so the
original crew is still on board, partying themselves silly. As soon
as someone is forcibly removed from the ship, the character rapidly
ages to their normal, chronological age. Should the ship ever be
destroyed, the original crew, and many of those who have joined since,
will age to death in a matter of minutes.
The Happy Voyager has been travelling the known spheres for almost
a century. Others have joined over time, usually boarding out of
curiosity, and never getting off. There are about 45 people on the
ship, and many races are represented. There are humans, demi-humans
of all types, a couple of giff, a few humanoids, and even a neogi who
thought the ship would be an easy place to get slaves. The neogi is
known for telling sick jokes.
It can be considered a standard Iambic ship (Bardic ship), except
that the curse ensures that the air is always fresh, the larder is
always full of food, and the wine skins never dry up, and any injuries
suffered by the crew are healed as they sleep. This party could,
literally, go on forever, and the crew can't do a thing about it.
THE GOODSHIP ORION
At one time, the Orion was a pirate Hammership, but it has been
modified so much that the original owners wouldn't begin to recognize
it. While still a Hammership is overall design, it has the following
modifications:
a). It's wood and glass hull has been rebuilt from the keel up
with an Adamantium hull and Crystal portals.
b). Boarding nets to delay the boarding attempts have been added.
c). Additional Sails have been added to Improve the ships
maneuverability class (topped out).
d.) The ships armament consists of 1 Heavy Ballista, and 2 Heavy
Catapults.
At the bow of the ship rests a statue of a giant space hamster,
posed in an attack position, fangs bared, and rumor has it that the
ship flies as part of the Great Prince Andrew's Anti-Pirate protective
league (see below). The ship is painted the darkest black, with a
blood red undercarriage. When seen in port, its crew never seems to
leave the ship. This may be just as well, because they are the
meanest looking bunch of lizard men and (believe it or not) elves ever
seen in wildspace. Their captain is a truly terrifying man. He wears
a full suit of plate mail, complete with helm which he is never seen
without. While this might not seem very extraordinary, the fact that
from the back of the suit extends a pair of metallic wings, which
allows the captain to soar through wildspace, is. Rumor has it that
he was a test subject of mindflayer experimentation. What the truth
is, the world may never know.
Alright, I'll call the above the player information. As for the
DM, well now...
The Great Prince Andrew is a human ruler of a space-faring
community known as Branalin. Branalin is located on a small moon in
orbit around a gas giant. It is also a city-state which depends
largely on trade. While the moon is very high in valuable ore
content, it's incidently a terrible place to grow things, including
food. Because of the frequency of these ores, and their products,
Branalin could have quite easily been susceptible to piracy. In fact,
before Prince Andrews began his reign, piracy was a major problem. To
combat this problem, he founded the Anti-Piracy league.
To head this organization, Prince Andrews hired a former pirate,
Morgan Calamon. While a very capable leader, Morgan's recruiting
style is more than a little harsh. He believes in thoroughly testing
any prospective recruits, even before telling them about the secret
organization. His method of doing this is, basically, by setting them
up. To further this ability, Morgan has gained a reputation as a
smuggler. When he finds a band that seems capable, he hires them for
'a simple transport job.'
While on the job, they are given a box containing a statue which
has a simple magic spell cast upon it so that it would appear
enchanted. The recipient of the box is a beholder by the name of
Marinox. Marinox is moderately senile, but still competent. During
the trip, Morgan has the ship hijacked at least once. If the team
succeeds with the mission, further such jobs are later assigned.
Gradually, Morgan prepares them to join the league.
The crew of the Orion were the first such team Morgan hired.
While he did test them quite thoroughly, he went a tad bit too far.
For in the process of the testing, he accidentally convinced them that
he was their arch-enemy. Needless to say, things went poorly. The
crew ended up making a pact with a mind-flayer who used the ships
captain for some testing of experimental magics, in return for
protection. While ultimately things did work out, and the crew does
now work for Morgan, the crew does have some strange personality
quirks as a result of the mind-flayer association.
The biographies of the crew are sketchy, so they do not have full
entries in the "personalities" section. There is reason to believe
that nobody wants to get close enough to interview them, but here is
what is available.
The Ship's Captain is C'Sid Tcapmoc. C'sid is a 14th level human
ranger, who has undergone Illithid experimentation. Due to this
testing, C'sid is unable to remove his plate mail or helm. However,
his plate mail also contains wings which allow him to fly at 30' with
a maneuverability class of A.
The Ship's Chief Spelljammer is Pyro-Lite. Pyro-lite is an
eccentric 16th level mage who has an intense fascination with
fireballs. Basically, he tends to lob them toward any foes,
inconsiderate of where the ships fighters might be.
The Ship's Secondary Spelljammer and Quartermaster is a priest of
the Stars known as Patriarch Rudolpho. He's a 14th level priest,
who's not at all above using a mace when necessary.
The next figure is one not commonly seen on spelljamming craft,
but one used by the Orion. This is the ships 'Transporter Chief.' A
Human Psionicist named Markos, whose specialty is Dimension Door.
Markos generally helps the boarding party to attack by opening a
dimension door across to the other ships deck, quickly transporting
10-15 members of the crew into the heart of the fight.
Lastly, the ship's Sergeant at Arms is a 14th level Dwarven
Fighter named Ralth of Clan Arkfire. Ralth's major quirk is that
after years of working along side Pyro-lite, he now hates mages. He
passionately despises all those who use magic haphazardly, and thus
generally attacks anyone who starts making strange gestures in his
general direction.
The normal members of the crew are all 3rd level Lizardmen and
Elves. The crew is well experienced and has travelled throughout
Wildspace, logging at least 14 different Crystal spheres. The only
foe they truly fear would be a mindflayer or beholder ship, and even
these would be willingly fought if the situation arose.
TRAVEL LOG
This section contains three worlds created by Ville Lavonius, and
can be used as an appendix to the "Practical Planetology" (tm) guide.
Vicki L. Domansky found these in the Usenet group rec.games.frp.adnd.
HETHLA
Hethla is a venus-sized Earth-world, but differs from the more usual
earth worlds in many ways. The planet's crust is so thin that in most
places the magma underneath has leaked through, forming great lava-
lakes, or an even better expression would be lava-oceans, since they
cover approximately 90 % of Hethla. Consequently the surface
temperature is uniformly around 400 C, and doesn't much vary during a
day.
The sophonts of the planet (red-skinned, short and thin humanoids)
live on the few big (and high enough to provide shelter from the
scalding heat) basalt formations scattered around the hellish seas. In
addition to these human-like creatures, Hethla is inhabited by giants
living on immense ships sailing the lava. Animal life is pretty much
non-existent on the basalt plateaux, but the seas have a wide variety
of iron-based life. Also, circling high in the winds from the hot seas
float bolha, jellyfish-like, transparent creatures that form an
important part of the humans' diets. The few species of wildlife big
enough to pose a serious threat to most humanoids are all very rare
(for example the 16-legged spider-like spinfishers that prey on all
seaborne creatures). But there exists, however, a dire threat to all
life on Hethla. Magmamen (usually shortened as magmen), creatures
totally alien to the normal sapients, have been attacking settlements
since times immemorial. Since it is impossible to explore the depths
of the seas, it is unknown wherefrom they come from. It has also been
proved fruitless to reason with these 6' tall fiery brutes, parlay
(via telepathy or some other means) has been successfully attempted
tens of times, but peace hasn't been achieved since there's absolutely
no communication between the creatures themselves, they are nothing
but singular killing machines.
Of course, it would be very unlikely to have a species evolve all by
itself in such hostile conditions, and both the giants and the
humanoids (treated as humans in game terms) acknowledge their
blue-skinned gods as their only means of survival. These 'gods' are in
fact Arcane, who apparently have transported these men and giants to
Hethla (all epics have varying tales of voyages among the stars).
Every city has at least one Arcane, the biggest two (Raga and Mathluy)
both have five, and the tradecity atop the Spire has at least fifty.
And the Arcane take a very active role in managing Hethla,
spelljamming is almost routine an activity here, and the large fleet
has explored most of the sphere. The only reason why they haven't
spread around throughout the known spheres is the heat affinity of all
Hethla-folk, without a constant temperature of 40+ C, and elements of
the Hethlan food, they quickly begin to deteriorate, death is a matter
of weeks afterwards. And since there is no reasonable way to heat
ships in Phlogiston or preserve the foodstuffs, most voyages tend to
be short and confined to routes that they're intimately familiar with.
The airships are used to harvest the bolha, and to bring ice from the
polar regions back to the cities. Polar ice is another mystery of
Hethla, within a couple of miles the temperature turns from the
blistering heat to -20 degrees, without any temperate zone to speak
of. There are a couple of colonies on the north pole, whose
inhabitants live there a couple of months before returning to the main
islands to recuperate. The immense heat gets stored magically within
gigantic saws and these are used in separating the ice cubes from the
glaciers. The cubes measure 9 meters per side and are usually held in
the air while the ice melts, trying to land a ship carrying one of
these is quite risky.
The giants travel the seas in huge rafts carved from basalt. Each
raft accommodates an extended family and they travel around the globe
nomadically, hunting the sea animals and preparing the few edible bits
ready for consumption and creating magnificent art objects off the
remaining parts of the bodies. The rafts are a very safe mode to
travel, the seas are almost never choppy, and usually the on board
navigator can detect disturbances in the convections beforehand. And
there are no animals in the seas that could attack the rafts, the only
hazard are the magmen, but they have learned that the giants are much
tougher customers in melee than humans, after all, spending your
entire life at 300-400 C, does make you quite resistant to heat. The
giants take to spelljamming much worse than the humans, needing the
high temperature to stay alive, at lower temperatures they quickly
'freeze' (ie. their metabolism and blood circulation are at least
partly based on liquid metals. They are very much saddened by this,
and feel a justifiable anger toward the gods who claim that they need
to find a way of keeping warm by themselves. Some cynics might even
say that the Arcane don't even know if such a way exists, as it's
suspected that the giants' ancestors were quite different from the
modern ones. Historical evidence has it that the giants were much more
like the men, and lived in the cities. What caused the transformation is
unknown, and all the history traditions and books are pretty hazy when it
comes to giants' history.
The cities on the basalt plateaux are commonly very big, there's no
need to have any villages around to provide food. They are usually
sited near a lava shore, but still respectably far from it (a high
cliff is an ideal place), the lack of earthquakes means that the
cities can be founded in most hazardous spots too. The main features
of the cities are the landing areas for the local airships (usually
10-20 per city) which are also used as common marketplaces. The
cities' populated areas are usually uniformly designed, most of the
citizens live in the same kind of houses. There isn't any class
system on Hethla, the only people living 'above' others are the
priests, who in addition are in charge of justice too. All other folks
could be considered freemen in normal terms, slavery is unknown on
Hethla. Another very unusual thing is the importance of big
reservoirs, all cities have multiple artificial lakes within them. Not
only are they needed as drinking water, but as the main means of
defense against the magmen. Every city has several engineers who
contribute to the design of these, the most common method is to have
long hoses constructed of thousands of processed bolha skins, and
water bombs (capacity 10 l) are given out to every citizen leaving
town. Lately the engineers have been trying to cooperate with the
mages to create a 'water gun', but so far the experiments have been
more or less failures.
In addition to the nutritious and very light bolha, the humans eat a
specific kind of lichen growing only near the lava seas (the mean
temperature of the site has to exceed 100 degrees). It is collected by
scraping if off the basalt, it isn't that hard a work, basalt being
very smooth stone. The work is dangerous however, since the most
prolific sites are vertical, and collecting from ships isn't done very
often. The lichen contains a lot of nutrients, and therefore only a
small ration is needed daily, a collector easily collects lichen
enough to feed a hundred others in a normal working day. The plant
regenerates quickly and sites are harvested in two-month intervals. A
harvesting team consists of two men, the collector and a 'backguarder'
who carries a huge backpack filled with water to both make working
possible in such hot conditions and to provide a means to hinder any
passing magmen. These two foodstuffs are basically the normal Hethlan
diet, variety is given by the awesome array of spices and other
delicacies traded from the giants.
The gigantic basalt tower, popularly known as the Spire, is the main
concentration of foreigners on Hethla. The temperature on the top is
about 25 C, pleasant for the most travellers. The lack of heat is
caused by both the height (the flat top is 16 kilometers from the lava
surface), and there's also some gates to the elemental planes that
provide ice and water to chill the city. The gates were constructed at
great cost, when it was decided that the trade would pay off such
fortunes. And the trade has certainly brought a lot of money to
Hethla, and the Hethlon has grown rapidly to the point where the
foreigners actually outnumber the locals.
The main trade items exported from Hethla are minerals that are either
dug up in the recently opened mines or bought from the giants. The
mining is very hard work, and the yields have been disappointingly
low, the mining companies (all foreigners, the concept of mining for
minerals is unknown on Hethla) are trying to find a way to back off
without losing prestige. The giants do trade their findings too,
either they are collected from the animals they have caught or
collected in the rare deposits found floating on the seas. Hethlans
import all kinds of materials, especially new foodstuffs get a high
price here (the Hethlans seem to have a very adaptable metabolism).
Also a big pro to all the 'new folks' on Spire is the number of Arcane
working there, most of the diplomatic envoys or exploration parties
are here just to gain more information on these enigmatic creatures.
Why these creatures have populated this planet and been watching over
the inhabitants for several thousands of years is a mystery. One of
the main features in all the stories concerning the gods is that they
have never given anything to their subjects since the earliest years.
Everything since then has either been invented by the humans (like the
defense mechanisms against magmen) or bought at an outrageous price
(the spells to create the gates). It has been suggested in more than
once that the whole planet is just an experiment in creativity and
adaptation.
Hethla has two moons, which are named Small and Big, the inhabitants
aren't usually that laconic, preferring elaborate names for meals,
creatures and such, perhaps these names are relics from a much earlier
era. The moons circle the planet in a normal way (Small has a lunar
month of 11 days, the larger completes its' journey in 33 days)
causing eclipses frequently. Though the moons exert a powerful tidal
force upon Hethla, there aren't tidal waves in the seas to speak of,
perhaps once or twice a year there's noticeable waves, but that's
about it. The moons have been explored, both by Hethlans and many
others, but no signs of life have been found on either. The smaller
moon spins at such a rapid rate that it has cast its' atmosphere off
ages ago. The bigger is just an average young earth-world, there has
been talk with the Arcane that the Elves would get to build a local
navy outpost there, but nothing definite has happened in years.
As mentioned in passing above, Hethlans regard the Arcane as gods.
However, in addition to these local gods they also worship an entity
known as Mhola (the protector of the sphere, the rider on the waves of
heat, the luckgiver), and through this worship the clerics gain their
spells. The arcane are thought to be sons of this Mhola (a gigantic
female figure), and they are in charge of justice and order. Financial
details are entirely in human hands. The giants' only god is known as
Booola (the eternal wader, the untiring worker), and giants too have
clerics, who have somewhat different spell repertoires than human
priests (complete spell lists aren't given for either, they both have
the usual spells plus many dealing with magma, fire and earth. The
giants also have spells used to control Physique, and humans possess
many spacefaring magics). The priests don't get any but the most basic
of spells outside their homesphere, and this is another reason why the
Hethlans haven't much explored the world outside their sphere.
There aren't many mages on Hethla, since the clergy usually grabs the
most promising youths. However, the few mages that there is, are very
much individualistic and left alone by the common folk. Only the least
powerful of mages live within the cities, the others carve themselves
a citadel out in the basalt flats. Why they all are escaping from
civilization is a mystery, there certainly isn't anything unusual in
the wilderness.
The Arcane and their priesthood wield the law-enforcement powers on
Hethla. The society itself is very law-abiding, due to the extremely
severe sentencing of criminals. The most common way to get rid of
unwanted persons is to shoot them into the lava using the huge
Catapult of Fate, there's one in every city. However, the Hethlans,
having been conditioned to harsh justice throughout generations abhor
the thought of crime, especially violent. As such, there are no
familiar thieves' guilds anywhere on the planet, and the foreign
organized crime families are very subdued on the Spire since most
cases of executions are foreigners.
Compared to life on normal planets Hethlans have it very easy. Food
is easily gathered for large amounts of people, cities stay in shape
for centuries without extensive repairs, due to a global unity there
hasn't been any wars for the last two thousand years, there isn't much
work to be done (a couple of hours per day is sufficient). And there
seems to be no cloud behind this silver lining, diplomats living on
Hethla have discovered no hidden secrets about the planet.
Scenario ideas on or near Hethla:
-*- Smuggling a priceless giant artifact (as in art object, the giants
aren't very handy with magic) to an offplanet client. The giants have
memories of elephants and will never forget the deed. And every time
the culprit returns to this sphere, the giant-priests spells will
notice him and he'll be the target of various nasty magics (boiling
blood, heat metal, personal drought and various others).
-*- Of course some PC or NPC commits a horrendous social gaffe and is
to be executed at dawn. A raid to the local temple is necessary (don't
make this happen in Hethlon).
-*- Mardigris, an enterprising Thri-Kreen captain has invented a very
good source of money. His agents (one in every city) provide info on
criminals to be executed. On the day Mardigris' ship, Unseen Voyager,
equipped with a cloaking device found in an Ancients' base is waiting
over the sea. The catapults cannot be moved and he has calculated
where the victim will land. Just before he hits the lava, he's
teleported to the ship and replaced by an illusion of splashing lava.
These special effects are performed by Lairin Squithla, an ex-navy
elf, who has found this form of piracy very profitable. The victim is
then given a chance to arrange a huge amount of money in ransom or
he's sold to the Neogi.
However, one of his recent catches was Janz Skillings, a Waterdhavian
noble, whose family paid the ransom. Now the lad has returned to cause
trouble in the Sphere. Hethlan officials are trying to figure how the
guy was saved (and he's not the only one, there has been rumors of
some others returning from the dead). How they will convince the PCs
that they should be shot from the catapult is another matter.
-*- Another common occurrence are the magmen wars, no PC should miss
these. A flowing melee fought in some 60 C, using weird weapons is
something to amuse the players for half an hour.
-*- The PCs are approached by a smuggler who cheated the giants ages
ago. His contract with some crime boss or somesuch forces him to stay
in this sphere. And he's at least annually victim of such wonderful
spells as untiring worker (a boon for the giants, not such for a
human, duration 7 days), fly (no control), lose the path (effective in
space too). He begs the PCs to go placate the giants, he hasn't dared
to set foot on Hethla since his deed.
After this scenario, it could be hard to persuade the PCs to try out
the first scenario idea.
-*- A mining company executive notices the PCs (obviously star hicks
who know nothing of honest toil) and tries to sell them a 'salted'
mine. At a very low price, the PCs might buy it just out of curiosity.
-*- Another mining company is looking into the exploration of the lava
seas. The giants report having sighted huge metal deposits floating on
the surface.
-*- The town of Ryu gets a wonderful idea, why not capture a passing
comet using spells and save the trouble to go watercarrying every
week. The PCs are hired to explore and, if necessary, sterilize the
comet (what it does contain, lowlife, stray mindflayers, some disease,
is up to you). And do the spellcasters succeed in bringing the comet
safely on the surface. Do the PCs escape the comet in time, or do they
plummet toward Hethla inside it. And do the citizens of nearby towns
really wish to continue to freeze in the polar regions when they could
just fly to Ryu and come back with a big chunk of ice.
-*-A hauler snaps a rope and the ship falls on the very-quickly
melting ice cube in the lava. The PCs have to improvise their rescue
attempt.
-*- The PCs are helping with the ice-men on the pole when they stumble
upon an Ancient-base under the ice (if every planet really has to have
at least one dungeon in your universe).
-*- A group of 'Radical Thinkers', an atheistic conspiracy, hires the
PCs to grab some books (ledgers, diaries) from an Arcane. They are
trying to figure out various mysteries of Hethla (and how much cash
have the Arcane already swindled).
-*- The RT manage to slay the Arcane in Magnamund, and the civil
unrest spreads quickly.
-*- The RT leader is discovered to be a disguised dizantar when PCs
storm their stronghold in the wilderness.
-*- When trying to form a stronghold on a moon on the outermost planet
in the system, the PCs are hired to protect the elementalist who's
going to excite a local volcano. The ceremony is performed within an
old dwarfhold that's full of undead. Also, the elementalist sees
notices of earlier volcano-god activity in the stronghold and decides
to have the whole place explored completely. Either the PCs placate
the elemental god, and gain the Hethlans a new planet, or they get a
real close view of a planetary explosion.
-*- The Arcane organize the big auction on the Hiver-ship. In a week
of mock-battles, diplomatic parties and at least one theft attempt
(the PCs follow, there's only a few thieves so that the whole arsenal
won't be used against their ship) the PCs are caught in a web of
intrigue. The PCs learn of the major fault of the ship (no protection
on the underside), what are they going to do with their knowledge,
sell it to the highest bidder, inform the arcane, or what.
Helthlan Ships:
Haulers are flat, quite unseaworthy (MC E) ships used to carry ice
from the polar regions to the cities. One ship can muster a maximum of
700 tons (metric) of water, carrying it using four sturdy metal-ropes
underneath. The ship travels through space, using only tactical speed
due to the great load. The helmsman is usually a mid-level cleric or a
free-lancing mage. The defense isn't very good, but the area around
Hethla is kept safe from space vermin by conventional warjammers. The
ships are quite useless on long journeys, most of the deck space is
sacrificed to winches, extra ropes, spare harpoons and as such they
possess very spartan crew quarters and next to nothing cargo space.
Masher is a variation of Hammership, built of stone, and having a huge
lava pool in the midship-area. For weaponry it carries three heavy
catapults and an aft-firing heavy jettison. The crew consists of
battletrained Hethlans and hired mercenaries. The main danger to other
ships' survival are the spellcasters on board who routinely have at
least a few turn rock to magma- spells that are used very effectively
on stones just after the launching. These ships are commonly used to
protect the ice haulers by having them circulate the planet
constantly.
Airships are the most common form of transport on Hethla. These 20 ton
ships running with minimal helms haven't got much in the way of
protection, but due to their huge sails they're very maneuverable
(MC:B). They are also used to catch the bolha floating in millions
over the hot seas. For that activity the two biggest sails are
replaced with nets. In combat airships are helpless, but as they stay
near the cities or fly at low altitudes, they aren't expected to be
attacked by other jammers.
Hiver is a recent addition to the Hethla arsenal, only one ship has
been built thus far. The hiver itself is a heavily armed slow battle
platform, but its' brood is much more dangerous. These 10 ton ships
use a minimal helm (maximum size 20 tons, max speed 2, calculated as
with a minor helm) and carry a lava-gun, operated by a priest of at
least 5th level. The rarity of such priests means that these ships
won't grow in popularity soon. The ship had its test in a big fight
against neogi two years ago, and the Arcane are planning to sell the
plans to the highest bidder in near future.
The main shipyard on Hethla is on a big flat plateau near the Spire,
it can accommodate over 200 ships easily and has a big wet dock too
(cost is high due to massive evaporation). The hethlan shipbuilders
and architects are constantly trying out new designs and pestering the
traders to bring more and more wood here, as they are quite fed up
with building basalt ships all the time. The newest project is to
build a huge (at least 3 miles in diameter) garden on the plateau in
the deep quarries, and that's why several ships have been hired to
transport soil from more normal earth worlds. They have also hired
several mages to explore the variations in Plant Growth spells, most
druids consider this gardening an abomination.
Hethlan monsters:
The plateaux are very barren of life and the depths of the lava oceans
have never been explored, so most of the monstrous encounters occur on
the surface or nearby the lava-seas. And most 'monsters' are just
animals whom the PCs stumble across, only the magmen are real enemies.
The magmen are already familiar (from which MC I've no idea, I have
only the first one) and most of the animal life is just normal animals
having excessively high body temperatures, weird diets and high armor
classes.
There exists, however, a wide variety of strange creatures that have
adapted to the extreme nature of Hethla and could easily become
dangerous foes to most parties. No stats are given, use your
imagination (or pester me enough to type these up properly :-).
Spinfishers were already mentioned, these are huge, about 5 meter
tall, very spindly daddy longlegs-lookalikes that have quick reflexes,
metallic bodies and slow minds.
Holeshooters are a species of worms (or perhaps snakes) that live in
long tunnels they've drilled into the basalt. A couple of times an
hour they shoot toward sky at sub-sonic speeds trying to capture bolha
flying overhead and are then returned to their holes by their
rubberous tails. A collision with a ship would be most unfortunate.
The Hethlans have mapped most 'shooter areas and avoid them
vigilantly.
A new variety of life (it was first observed only a few years ago) is
the lichenscraper. It is a 3' by 3' metal cube moving slowly across
the plateaux. It is able to move on almost vertical surfaces without
falling, and consumes all lichen that it goes over. It has been put
forward that the 'scraper could be just a magical food-gathering
machine or somesuch.
Feel free to think up new creatures, but DO mail me the most bizarre
ones !
How to use Hethla:
As you have seen, Hethla is quite far from the usual fare offered to
the space-faring PCs. The planet could either be used as a place to
have adventures every time the PCs come here, or you could easily have
a campaign where the PCs are working for the Arcane, many of the given
scenario ideas are most easily fitted into a campaign of this sort. Or
Hethla could be the target of a coup of enormous proportions (using
the Radical Thinkers as a lever), after all, replacing the Arcane with
another absolute ruler wouldn't be a big change for the inhabitants
who have gotten used to being led by their noses during the millennia.
ILDIRS
Ildirs is a flatworld, with a radius of some 6 000 kilometers. It is
tidally locked (it always turns the same side toward it) with the sun,
and as such its' two sides feature very different kinds of life. The
planet spins around its' axis slowly (completes a rotation in 1200
standard days), as this hasn't got any effect on the surface, the
inhabitants hadn't even discovered this. Ildirs has got one moon with
normal circulation.
The atmosphere is standard on the top, easily breathable by most
civilizations, on the backside all the gases in the atmosphere have
long since liquified.
The planet is quite flat, the only major mountain is the spike
standing in the exact center of the world (height 10 kilometers), the
other areas are merely hills compared to this.
Since the planet is so far from the sun, the topside doesn't get very
hot. In fact, its' weather is regarded as one of the most pleasant
known to spacefarers, the temperature is an uniform 27 throughout the
year, the rains are very light and the lack of big ocean areas
precludes strong winds. The prevalent terrain type is rainforest,
though there are areas of hills and some deserts.
The backside is quite different, temperature there is so close to
absolute zero that all gases have solidified. There are hundreds of
thousands of gigantic **jpuikko** all pointing away from the sun. The
backside hasn't been explored but very briefly and from the safety of
a ship.
The top side features a complete, if a bit slow-evolved ecosystem.
Most of the plants there are bright red or purple in color, as to
better capture the light from the sun. And there hasn't been any need
for the reptiloid/amphibian lifeforms to step away from the throne,
birds are non-existent and mammals occupy only a small support role.
The vast forests covering most of the world are an eerie experience
for the traveller for the most part they are silent and instead of
birds there are large butterflies swooning about in the sunshine.
Sometimes an explorer can spot a rare winged frog (very poisonous) or
become the victim of an ignorant spider-killer tortoise (who leap on
the spiders from the trees), there are also many other forms of
jurassic life never before seen on other planets. There aren't,
however, any standard-issue dinosaurs found on Ildris, the creatures
only rarely attain sizes in excess of 2 meters. Another group of
animals mysteriously missing are the fish, they have been completely
replaced by amphibians in the few lakes and rivers.
On the clearings in the jungle lives a race calling themselves the
Njigra, commonly thought as black-skinned elves. Each clearing (size
2-10 square kilometers) supports a single family of these humanoids,
they are very warlike, and regard any creature not from their tribe an
enemy and a potential meal (foreigners only, they aren't cannibals).
Since the clearings are separated by vast tracts of jungle it wouldn't
be very common to have huge wars, but the Njigra have bred a species
who can carry them aerially. This Ymbla, or jet-frog, is a peculiar
creature and the elves constantly hone their skills in aerial warfare.
Battles are fought high over the surface and the casualty rates in
these fights are high (most projectiles are coated with a variety of
poisons). However, the wars aren't an all-for-all affair, rather the
Njigrae practice a fine art of diplomacy, where treaties can last from
a few minutes to decades. And the wars are always fought 'gentlemanly',
away from the villages and never endangering the innocent (especially
females and the young).
The other sentient race on the topside are the amphibian Tasloi, who
rule the rainforests around the biggest lakes. The Njigrae hate them
thoroughly but have no effective means to fight with them (the tasloi
keep to the ground all the time, and are as much familiar with the
myriads of poisons as the elves themselves). The tasloi have a
planetwide kingdom, ruled much like the Aztec nation: lots of gold and
jewels, voluntary sacrifices, priests rule the whole kingdom, most of
the skills used in building the large ziggurat-towns have been
forgotten, mentions of spacefarers in legends. These towns are immense
in size, probably the some of the biggest structures built by
normal-sized humanoids, each city can easily accommodate 20 000 (over
100 000 when crowded) tasloi. Their god-king lives in a palace in the
midpoint of the kingdom, this palace is built of black marble (the
other ziggurats are of more 'mundane' stones) and every ceiling is
lined with gold. Gold is very abundant in the jungle-regions of
Ildris, and tasloi have once had far reaching mines under the nearby
hills, nowadays they are largely deserted. The tasloi worship an
obscure pantheon of diverse deities (Glu'kk the Scribe whose priests
double as historians, Mna'gt whose priests alter all history according
to their own whims), who apparently all require constant sacrifices.
There's a single spelljammer outpost on Ildris, this Whitehold
consisting nowadays of perhaps twenty buildings, was founded by a
priest of Mystara from Toril some thirty years ago. This patriarch
laid down the laws that every visitor on the planet must obey or be
expatriated very quickly: no aid whatsoever is to be given to a
Njigra-tribe, no animals are to be released into the jungles, the
Tasloi shan't be pestered (the last expedition was eaten). These laws
sound pretty harsh, and many have thought that by disobeying them they
could end the wars on Ildris quickly. The patriarch died three years
ago, before his death he had gained quite a big congregation that is
carrying on with his work. There are perhaps twenty ships permanently
stationed to Ildris, and usually there's at least a few outsiders on
vacation here. The clearing where Whitehold stands is surrounded with
a broad moat, which contains a large number of crocks and water
snakes. This is used both to protect the travellers from Njigrae (who
seem to have difficulties in honoring any treaties with foreigners)
and to prevent any animals from invading the jungles (not that they'd
have a high life expectancies there, but the jammers have learned
their lesson from the Marinas-disaster). Most of the NPCs stationed on
Ildris are persons of a religious persuasion who are trying to show
the Njigrae the advantages in taking up religion instead of spear. So
far they have been totally unsuccessful in their attempts, their tries
aren't helped by the fact that most priests won't get their full
allotment of spells on Ildris. And this is a fact that has brought the
normally not very close priesthood into amiably working with each
other. With the tasloi isn't much contact, they live so far from the
Whitehold and have responded violently to every attempt to build a
base near them / explore their dwellings. Neither race has shown any
particular interest in spelljamming, but the tasloan legends are full
of stories with blue giants in sky chariots (apparently arcane who
gave up with these creatures probably due to the bloodthirst).
The darkside is a totally alien environment for all travellers. But it
is not totally devoid of life. Some of the largest **jpuikko** have
been hollowed out and are inhabited by the hateful Zalathi, the ice
goblins. They spend centuries in hibernation, but when an unfortunate
ship or a kindori-sized animal comes too close to their home, they set
forth in their coneshaped ice-ship to capture them (treat the **jp**
as a 100- ton ship equipped with a piercing ram) at amazing speed (SR:
10 for short bursts, this is the fastest ship known). The ships then
return to the planet using some sort of ropes. The darkside hasn't
been explored at all, the few crews trying that have either returned
with severe frostbites or fallen victims to these iceships. And it
really is improbable that there would be anything found among the