Post by Valen Storyteller on Feb 4, 2016 17:56:44 GMT
- Post 1: Overall Rules
Post 2: New Equipment
Post 3: New Skills and Feats
Why does this House Rule exist?
Spelljamming and Planewalking are intended as significant parts of the setting, activities that interested characters can take part in even from comparatively low levels. Several house-rules are necessary to make these adventures more accessible and exciting for characters of all levels, and adjustments to how Spelljamming operates is the first such. It is created so as to not contradict pre-existing Spelljammer lore and sources, and to take into account the 130-year leap that the Forgotten Realms campaign had since the second edition, so as to remain compatible with it.
SPELLJAMMERS
A Spelljamming Helm is a magical item in the form of a large, ornate seat or throne. When fastened onto a ship, it binds itself to the vessel to become its power source, allowing it to fly. Any vessel large enough to house the Helm physically will do: a raft can become a Spelljamming vessel as easily as the finest warship. Spelljammers were once a highly-restrictive form of travel, with many difficulties to overcome and for the most part unable to leave the Prime Material. In the last century and a half, this has improved dramatically.
The Arcane have been at the forefront of this expansion. Almost two centuries ago they first began to master the magic of the Helms, creating new and innovative ships such as the Triop. In the following fifty years, energy-storage Helms were available, as were retrofitting services for older Helms. Sixty years ago, the first plane-traveling Helm was created. At the present time, a majority of Spelljamming vessels commonly found count with both innovations.
CHARGING A HELM
When a magic-user of any kind (be it divine or arcane magic) sits upon a Helm, they can opt to pour their magical energy into it. Doing so charges the Helm with a number of Power Levels equal to the user’s highest Caster Level. When a magic-user opts to do this, they pour their full daily allotment of spells into the Helm, spending them as if they’d cast them all (i.e.: spontaneous spellcasters spend all their slots, prepared spellcasters spend all their prepared spells). They can only recover their spells in the next day, following an 8-hour rest period, as per normal. This transfer is instantaneous, and thus cannot be interrupted once started.
As an example, Ferinx is a tenth level wizard attempting to power a ship’s Helm which had previously been completely drained. He settles on the Helm and opens himself up, pouring his magic into it. Ferinx will now be unable to cast spells until the following day, and when that comes he must have a full 8-hour rest period, followed by his usual process of studying from his Spellbook. The ship’s Helm now has 10 Power Levels.
Note that through the use of magical Batteries and Chargers (See Equipment for more information on those), it is entirely possible for a ship to remain powered for extended periods of time, or even indefinitely, without the need for a magic-user charging the Helm.
PILOTING A HELM
When any person sits at a Helm, the object’s magic links to them, attuning the person to the ship. Attuning to a ship takes one second per ton of the ship's weight, during which time the ship remains immobile (Note that a round lasts for 6 seconds. Thus, attuning to a 12-ton ship takes two rounds). While attuning to the ship, the Helmsman gradually develops new senses and perceptions. Once fully attuned, the Helmsman can see as if they were standing anywhere on the ship’s outer deck or rigging, they can also fly the ship with instinctive mental commands: in many ways, the ship itself becomes a second body. When a ship is struck, the Helmsman feels pain and can intuit where the attack hit, and some trained Helmsmen are even capable of feeling the location of creatures on or within the ship as they fly it.
In order to propel the ship the helm must use a number of power levels for every six hours of operation. The number required depends on the size of ship, as shown on the table below:
- Tiny: 0.25
- Small: 0.5
- Medium: 1
- Large: 2
- Huge: 4
- Gargantuan: 8
- Colossal: 16
Power levels are spent at the start of a six hour period, and as long as the helmsman remains linked to the helm it can operate for the full six hours without draining additional power levels, even if it stops at some point during that time. If the helmsman breaks the link with the helm and then relinks, or a different person links with the helm, a new six hour period starts.
How the ship moves during a six hour period is not important. Whether it is traveling at spelljamming speed the entire time or stopping completely still, it still requires the same number of power levels.
Helms can tap into this reserve of energy to create a ship-wide Planeshift effect. The Helmsman begins this process with a mental command which immediately consumes a number of Power Levels from the Helm based on the ship’s size; see the table below. After the command is given, the Helmsman must concentrate on forming this spell for a total of 2D4 rounds, during which time it is difficult to carry out any other action, including steering the ship. If the ship is in motion when the effect is initiated, this means that it will continue to travel in a straight line, in the same direction and with the same speed for this entire length of time. Attempting to change a ship’s speed or direction during a Planeshift requires a Concentration check (DC 5 + half the ship’s tonnage). A failure means that the ship may be steered, but the planeshift effect is delayed for one round. A critical failure causes the planeshift effect to immediately fizzle out, wasting the Power Levels invested into the attempt.
- Tiny: 6
- Small: 9
- Medium: 12
- Large: 16
- Huge: 20
- Gargantuan: 25
- Colossal: 30
When a ship Planeshifts away, it creates a visible, bright shimmer of magical color which lingers in the air for a few minutes. Characters who see this shimmer of color may attempt a Knowledge [The Planes] roll, DC 20, to discover which plane the vessel has left to. Thus, cross-planar pursuit is possible.
Only adjacent or coterminous planes may be chosen as destinations for Plane-travelling. When a Spelljammer travels to a coterminous plane, it will appear on the shallows of the coterminous plane, at the position equivalent to its previous location. When travelling to other planes, they tend to appear in outlying locations within the planes, when those exist. Two ships shifting to the same plane from roughly the same location will arrive similarly together.
Finally, Spelljammers are capable of extraordinary speeds in certain specific conditions. So long as a ship is not within an air- or gravity-envelope, it is capable of achieving Spelljamming Speed. Spelljamming speed is roughly 4,166,667 miles per hour, regardless of the nature of the vessel or Helm. Note that conditions to initiate Spelljamming Speed typically only occurs in the Wildspace of the Prime Material, though some parts of other planes may qualify.