Elven Vessels

Here's a few vessels (I won't say new since that's not true about all
of them) for the elven fleet.  These descriptions assume my home rule
that elven ships (the ones that are grown, that is) all gain an SR1
when unpowered and so are SR2 (instead of 1) with a nonmagical engine
(this is one primary reson why elves use these vessels).  As with the
antships I have these in Word97.  Only the Ladybugship has deckplans
that I created though the flitters and man-o'-war are assumed to have
deckplans similar to their standard counterparts (though the larger
flitters now have interior areas also--I suggest maybe modifying the
dragonfly or damselfly deckplans with large flitter wings).  The
Raptorship uses a modified Shrikeship deckplan as noted in its
description (note the Shrikeship deckplan produced by TSR isn't a true
30 ton ship so those wanting realism should increase the size of the
vessel's deckplans accordingly--ie, even more than I stated).  I also
assume a minor helm can usually (90%) carry 60 tons.  This fits with
the early products' ship descriptions and I call it "quality control"
of the Arcane (they guarantee all minor helms will be able to move 50
tons).  Every minor helm that rolls over 90% loses 1 point of capacity
per % point over 90.  This can create a real surprise for PCs who
salvage a minor helm from a damselfly and stick it on their hammership
as a backup without actually testing it out (VEG).  Finally some notes
on the ideas presented with the Raptorship.  I always decide (even for
"generic" ships) what proficiencies are possessed by any vessel come
across by my PCs (at least those that might affect combat such as sail
manipulation and spelljamming).  I think this makes things more
interesting and more realistic.  Under the Raptorship I've outlined
what I feel would be standard for any spelljamming navy though I've
taken to slight extremes because these ships are meant to be the
special forces of the elven fleet.  For example any navy should
require sail manipulation to become a captain and a strict chain of
command should prevent the usual problems if both the captain and
first mate have this proficiency.  Helmsmen should have spelljamming
as a matter of course and trusted officers should have he various
navigations (wildspace and phlogiston).  Fire control, weapon loader,
large weapon use, boarding pike, spelljammer shipwright, and
spelljamming carpentry would also be common as they can make any
vessel so much more potent.  Perhaps they are required by lesser
officers and whatever form of non-commissioned officer the vessel has.
 Further repair materials and spare ammunition will be common on all
military vessels as they fully expect to go to battle (it is their
job, after all).  Those with furnace helms as a backup or even primary
power source will probably have potions and scrolls to use in the
furnace (and maybe a few cursed items they picked up).  The scrolls
and potions have the advantage of being cheap and (presumably)
producable by the fleet.  They can also be used for other purposes
than fuel and any cursed or malfunctioning items will be a nasty
surprise for rebellious crew or enemies who overrun the ship.


Flitter, Heavy:
Built By:  Elves
Used Primarily By:  Elves
Cost:  40,000 gp
Tonnage:  10 tons
Hull Points:  10
Crew:  1/10
Maneuverability Class:  B
Landing--Land:  Yes
Landing--Water:  Yes
Armor Rating:  8
Save As:  Ceramic
Power Type:  None, Major, or minor helm
Ship's Rating:  2 (non-magical) or as helmsman
Standard Armament:
  Heavy Catapult  Crew:  5
Cargo Capacity:  5 tons
Keel Length:  50'
Beam Width:  10'

     A less common version of the normal elven flitter (also referred
to as the light flitter, or just as the flitter) this is a larger
vessel used by plane-tary defense fleets over elven planets.  These
are also the preferred ships for messengers when a full man-o'-war
can't be sent.  These ships are rarely seen outside of elven spheres
and most non-elves don't even know they exist.  The light flitter is
preferred to these craft because large numbers of them can be fit on
armadas.  Also the light flitter can be mounted on the back of a
man-o'-war easily (if done properly they don't even add to the
man-o'-war's overall tonnage).  Two-decked craft, the heavy flitter
sports a turret between the wings on top (just as the man-o'-war does)
that is usually filled with a heavy catapult.

Crew:
     Crew complements of these ships vary.  A messenger will have a
helmsman and enough people to man the weapons and little more.  One
supporting a plane-tary defense fleet will have a full (10 person)
crew.  A personal exploration vessel of a wayward young elf will have
that elf and any friends and associ-ates who want to come along for
the ride.

Ship Uses:
     Messenger:  In this role the ship carries small cargoes and
messages from one elven vessel or fleet to another.  The ship will be
armed and will usually have the minimum crew to run the ship and its
weapon.  The ship has to have a helm to perform its mission.
     Planetary Defender:  In this role the ship is part of a fleet
that is defending an elven planet or possibly an asteroid or moon
base.  The ship will usually have ten crew and may or may not be
helmed.  Note that this configura-tion replaces the small fighter
configuration of the light flitter as noted above (they aren't carried
by other craft).
     Planetary Lander:  As the elves have a policy of not making
planet side attacks this use is very rare.  In this case the ship is
filled with elven troops and then attempts to make planet fall.  These
larger flitters are preferred for such actions as they can hold more
troops (in case they land in hostile territory) and they can sustain
one or two hits without (necessarily) being destroyed (in case the
enemy has a large weapon emplacement in range of the landing sight). 
They may also be used to scout a potential landing area due to their
ability to take a hit or two and retreat, though a man-o'-war or
armada is preferred (after all, they are better for the job as long as
they needn't actually land, with their crew complement and armament
they can even clear the area of foes).
     Scout:  Their ability to take damage again makes these ships more
suitable than normal flitters in some cases.  A fleet will usually use
a light flitter instead because that is what it has available.

Other Uses:
     The heavy flitter is generally not used as a suicide ship (such
as firewinds configurations of the light flitter) though in several
notable cases captains have run their ships into enemy fighters
(including wreckboats, blades, arrows, mosquitoes, and the like). 
Wild flitters of this type are even rarer than those of the light
flitter (they are less likely to be lost away from a planet or other
easily locatable area) but if found they will have MC E and AR 9 when
overgrown.




Flitter, Medium:
Built By:  Elves
Used Primarily By:  Elves
Cost:  20,000 gp
Tonnage:  5 tons
Hull Points:  5
Crew:  1/5
Maneuverability Class:  B
Landing--Land:  Yes
Landing--Water:  Yes
Armor Rating:  8
Save As:  Ceramic
Power Type:  Non-magical, Major, or minor helm
Ship's Rating:  2 (non-magical) or as helmsman
Standard Armament:
  Medium Catapult  Crew:  2
Cargo Capacity:  3 tons
Keel Length:  50'
Beam Width:  10'

     The medium flitter is a compromise between the light and heavy
flitter types.  A single deck craft like the light flitter, it sports
a single medium catapult.  Some captains and admirals like these craft
to support their arma-das.  While still more limited in the number
able to be fit on an armada they are preferred for their weaponry and
ability to take damage.  Such captains will often carry five of these
and a large supply of normal flitters also.  The medium flitter sees
about as much use as the heavy flitter but in more varied areas. 
Generally a captain who requests specifically to use medium flitters
in place of light flitters is granted the request if possible.  The
medium flitter otherwise is used as a normal flitter in almost every
way, its most notable lack being its inability to be placed on a
man-o'-war without adding to its tonnage while its greatest gain is
its hull points and armament possession.  Note that like the heavy
flitter most non-elves have never seen or heard of this flitter type.

Crew:
     Most of these flitters run on a minimum crew of three only.  They
rarely have more or less on board as the ship is so easily destroyed
anyway.

Ship Uses:
     This vessel has all the primary ship uses of the light flitter.

Other Configurations:
     This ship is less often encountered wild due to the fact that it
is less frequently used but if so found it is MC E and AR 9.  A
captain able to choose between a light flitter and a medium flitter
for use as a firewind suicide craft will usually choose the light
flitter.  Otherwise medium flitters have the same configurations as
the light flitter.







Ladybug Ship:
Built By:  Elves
Used Primarily By:  Elves
Cost:  340,000 gp
Tonnage:  75
Hull Points:  85
Crew:  10/75
Maneuverability Class:  E or C
Landing--Land:  No
Landing--Water:  No
Armor Rating:  6
Save As:  Metal
Power Type:  Major helm
Ship's Rating:  As per helmsman
Standard Armament:
  6 Heavy Ballistas  Crew:  4 each
  7 Medium Catapults  Crew:  3 each
  Heavy Jettison    Crew:  4
  Blunt Ram
Cargo Capacity:  65 tons
Keel Length:  150'
Beam Width:  105'

     The ladybug ship was developed before the Second Unhuman War by
the Impe-rial Elven Navy.  The elves wanted a ship designed primarily
to haul cargo but able to defend itself in a fight.  When they
designed and built this craft they found two interesting things:  1)
the hull supports gave it a stronger hull than usual for a ship its
size (85 hull points while only 75 tons) and 2) the swing wings that
covered the cargo bay, when designed correctly, could provide added
maneuverability in flight when opened if correctly designed.
     The elves did indeed design the wings correctly.  The shell
covering the upper rear splits in the middle with shell being able to
be drawn together on the end to leave the upper rear of the ship open
for the weapons to fire.  When the hull is in this [open]
configuration it catches the natural magical energies and currents and
allows the ship to maneuver at MC C (rather than the normal MC E). 
This also reveals the rear weapons so they can fire on enemy ships. 
Because of this design the ship cannot be topped out, however, as that
would require fundamental hull adjustments which would prevent the
closing of the wings.  The elves are extremely satisfied and live with
that limitation.  Due to cargo netting and the like that covers the
open portion of the hull (when its open) that area of the ship
effectively has the netting modifica-tion.  To provide the same for
the front the cost is equal to that of adding netting to a five-ton
ship (rather than a 75 ton ship).  This cheapness means that most
ladybug ships run by the elven navy have netting added in the front. 
The elves only part with these vessels as they do with men-o'-war:  to
trusted individuals only.  After the Second Unhuman War they have no
ladybug ships to spare.  Before they didn't have time to build enough
to have any to spare.

Crew:
     The elves run these as cargo vessels and so they generally have
low level crews, leaving the more elite troops to the armadas and
men-o'-war.  A typical crew will often be enough to run the vessel
(10) plus a few extras but not enough to run all the weapons at peak
efficiency in combat (this is due to post-Second Unhuman War crew
shortages).  High level elven cleric/magic-users are usually the
helmsmen so they can outrun a fight and most will have two on board so
the ship can travel constantly, covering 200,000,000 miles per day. 
This means the ships never have vulnerable down time and can do twice
as much cargo hauling (which is an advantage because it frees up other
vessels that would otherwise have to haul cargo and allows the
ladybugs to keep twice as much supplied, it also gives the elven fleet
an advantage when their foes expect them to take a certain amount of
time to do something).

Ship Uses:
     Cargo Hauling:  This was the function the ship was designed for
and what it does best.  With its extra 10 hull points several officers
have suggested a secondary role as a battleship but the armada is
still superior in this re-spect and the fleet needs cargo ships with
the ladybug ships' capacity very badly, having none to spare for
combat duty.  This is the configuration de-scribed.
     Decoy:  This ship is still only used in "safe" elven spheres but
several of the elves' enemies (including the scro) have figured out
how vital these vessels are to the elves.  They have thus tried to
take down these ships specifically.  The elves in their turn have
expected this and have equipped several such ships with heavy
armaments and large forces of marines.  When the enemy is allowed to
attack the ship they get quite a surprise:  not a help-less,
undercrewed cargo ship but a full warship.  To date this tactic has
worked as the elves haven't lost a single ladybug ship.

Other Configurations:
     To date there are no other known configurations of this vessel
and there might never be as the ship is so well designed anyway (and
the elves aren't about to part with one to let others experiment). 
Troop transport roles may be filled by these vessels when more become
available, however (filling cargo space with hammocks and supplies).





Man-o'-war, Monarch:
Built By:  Elves
Used Primarily By:  Elves
Cost:  200,000 gp
Tonnage:  50 tons
Hull Points:  50
Crew:  10/50
Maneuverability Class:  D
Landing--Land:  No
Landing--Water:  No
Armor Rating:  8
Save As:  Ceramic
Power Type:  Major or minor helm
Ship's Rating:  As helmsman
Standard Armament:
  2 Medium Ballistas  Crew:  2 each
  2 Medium Catapults  Crew:  3 each
Cargo Capacity:  30 tons
Keel Length:  175'
Beam Width:  50'

     The monarch class man-o'-war is an early version of the elven
man-o'-war seen today.  They were phased out before or during the
First Unhuman War by the elven fleet in favor of the more
maneuverable, larger, and better defended (AR 7) man-o'-war that is
their most common ship today.  Unlike the monarch class armada the
monarch man-o'-war has living wings as a normal man-o'-war.  Its
design is also basically the same except that it lacks the rear
jettison and between the wings are two turrets, one for each catapult.
 Most monarch men-o'-war today are personal vessels of ancient elven
ruling lines or serve as fleet supply ships in elven spheres.  Despite
this they are still perfectly capable of performing front line duties.
 Most monarch men-o'-war were origi-nally equipped with minor helms
and still are, while the elven fleet equips modern men-o'-war with
major helms whenever possible.

Crew:
     A monarch man-o'-war will usually have a minimal crew just large
enough to run the weapons and ship at peak efficiency.  This is
because they rarely see front line action.  A monarch's (pun not
intended) vessel will usually have an elite, crack crew with sail
manipulation, balance, weapon loading, and large weapon proficiencies
that are also weapon experts.  They will be high level elves and the
ship will have a major helm with a powerful helmsman.  Backup helms
will also be present.

Ship Uses:
     Royal Ship:  The royal ship is the personal vessel a ruling
family or clan.  The ship is well equipped, possibly with magical
improvements and weaponry.  These vessels will never just "be there"
but when found will always have a specific purpose and both the elven
fleet and the monarch's own servants will keep a magical (ie, scrying)
eye on the vessel's whereabouts and progress whenever it isn't at the
royal docks.  Escort vessels such as armadas can also be expected.
     Supply Ship:  In this configuration the ship will have a minimal
crew necessary to run it and the weapons, most of which will be low
level.  A minor helm will run the ship and no magical improvements
will be possessed (this doesn't mean the crew won't be crack and have
other benefits, just they won't all be 10th level fighter/magic-users
with longswords+3--unless the ship is a decoy or trap, of course).
     Military:  In this role the monarch man-o'-war is used as any
standard elven man-o'-war.  It performs a variety of missions and has
a good crew complement.  These configuration is only used in safe
elven spheres that the elves have had absolute control over for
centuries (in some cases since before the First Unhuman War).  A few
spheres and planetary fleets actually have more of these vessels than
they do of normal elven men-o'-war.

Other Configurations:
     Wild:  The most common way in which these vessels are encountered
by the average spacefarer, these ships have MC E and AR 9 as a normal
wild man-o'-war.
     Base:  It used to be that these vessels were formed into bases by
welding seven of them together with their weaponry facing outward. 
During the First Unhuman War such bases were formed in several spheres
over critical worlds as the local fleets replaced the vessels with
modern men-o'-war.  These bases still exist and the ships can be
theoretically taken apart though if they are they will be MC E (but
still AR 8) until properly trimmed for individual use.  Karpri Base in
Realmspace is such a base and the only one most non-naval personnel
have heard of (if you aren't an elf and don't frequent Realmspace you
may not have even heard of that).  After the First Unhuman War even
more of the bases were built to secure the beginnings of inhabitting
new planets and to remove the remaining monarch men-o'-war from
service.  These planets are also now elven, even if the entire sphere
isn't.  Such bases are still used when they are convenient (such as
defending an elven planet) but ones that aren't, such as that at
Karpri, are abandoned (or destroyed if the elves think foes will end
up using them).







Raptorship:
Built By:  Elves
Used Primarily By:  Elves
Cost:  120,000 gp
Tonnage:  60 tons
Hull Points:  60
Crew:  20/60
Maneuverability Class:  C
Landing--Land:  Yes
Landing--Water:  No
Armor Rating:  5
Save As:  Thick Wood
Power Type:  Major or Minor Helm
Ship's Rating:  As Helmsman
Standard Armament:
  6 Medium Ballistas  Crew:  2 each
  Heavy Jettison  Crew:  4
  Piercing Ram
Cargo Capacity:  40
Keel Length:  135'
Beam Width:  30'

     This ship is a larger version of the shrikeship (1.5x as wide and
1 1/3x as long) developed by the elven navy.  It is being kept in
elf-only hands as a kind of "secret weapon" just as armadas are never
sold and any lost are always recovered.  They are a great improvement
on the original design as they re-quire only 1/3 of the total crew to
man, rather than 1/2.  In order to accom-plish this and due to the
size increase the raptorship's maneuverability class has fallen to C
(not a big sacrifice).  If "topped out" by specially trained elven
workmen the minimum crew only rises to 25, if "topped out" more
normally the minimum crew rises to 30 as usual.  If such an unskilled
individual were to come across such a ship they probably wouldn't be
authorized to have it or work on it anyway, so this means little.  The
name raptor has a double meaning to the elves:  it will hold its
enemies in rapture when they see it and the other meaning is that of
the bird which is commonly assumed to be the name's source by the
uninformed.

Crew:
     Most of these ships run a full 60 crew or possibly more with
magical support (a mage with wind wall, a crown of the void, etc).  In
addition to the helmsman each of these craft currently in service
(except for training pur-poses) will have at least two clerics and two
magic-users.  A high percentage of the crew tends to be multi-classed
on these vessels.  Half-elves, elves, and hadozee are the only races
allowed to serve on these ships.  Gadabouts and great swans will only
be present for specific reasons (vs the usual chances).

Ship Uses:
     Attack Ship:  This is kind of a nebulous term but to the elves it
means search-and-destroy.  Currently the most common use for these
craft the ship has netting added to protect the crew.  It features the
standard configuration of two medium ballistas fore and aft and
another on each side at mid-ship.  The heavy jettison is always kept
loaded and ready and is placed where the light jettison of a
shrikeship normally sits.  Many of these vessels are "topped out" and
several have had the hull thickened.  Plating is a modifica-tion that
has been so far avoided.  The ship's crew is rigorously drilled with
the weapons and so each is an expert with ballistae and most are also
jettison experts.  Weapon loading proficiency is also stressed.  Every
captain must have sail manipulation and most first mates do also (a
carefully ordered chain of command prevents problems).  Every spell
caster on the ship must have spelljamming proficiency and all crew are
trained to crack level before being allowed out into actual combat. 
Spacefaring is also a common proficiency and every ship has at least
one crew member who has spelljamming shipwright and another (or even
the same one) with spelljamming carpentry proficiency.  Average crew
level is seventh and there is a 90% chance for a battlepoet to be
aboard.  Crew is usually a good mix of hadozees and elves to take
advantage of each group's natural abilities.  The most famous of these
vessels is the Lone Star whose crew has defeated 17 scro mantis and
scorpion ships and taken down two ogre mammoths, each crewed with over
three hundred ogres at the time.  She is MC A due to magical items and
has an SR bonus of +3 due to similar effects.  Her metal hull gives
her an AR of 3 improved to a 2 through hull thickening which reduces
her to 32 tons of cargo space.  All of her weapons are also magical
(including a +2 ram that also makes the ship immune to non-magical
fire and reduces magical fire damage to 1/2 or none based on a saving
throw which is made at +4).  She is one of the prizes of the elven
fleet and even scro captains secretly shudder at the thought of
meeting her in battle.
     Training:  These are the vessels the High Command has ordered
train all raptorship crews.  Anyone who goes through this intense
training is a weapons specialist in ballistae and jettisons and gains
the free proficiencies of ballista and jettison loading and
spacefaring if any of these are not already possessed (if possessed
the individual gains up to three free slots from the following:  sail
manipulation, semaphore, spelljamming (if a spell caster, they don't
waste furnaces for training non-spellcasters), signaling, fire
control, balance, spelljamming carpentry, and spelljamming carpenter
or may gain a +1 bonus with any of these already possessed per slot). 
Only elves, half-elves, and hadozees may go through such training and
it takes two months.  Those with less than a 12 in both constitution
and strength will not make it from the sheer physical stress involved.
 Of course, anyone who makes it is also trained with raptorships and
in one week can become crack with any particular raptorship.
     Defense:  These are like attack ships but the crew is more likely
to have just come out of training.  Thus they may not be crack (though
most are).  These vessels defend elven worlds in dangerous areas. 
Depending upon the perceived risk by High Command the crew will
usually average 3rd to 5th level and will almost never have above 60
crew members nor have magical ship bonuses.  These vessels are usually
assigned in pairs but may operate alone, with one patrolling while the
other is on shore leave.

Other Configurations:
     There are few other modifications than those mentioned.  Many of
the search-and-destroy vessels have magical weaponry as they are
allowed to keep the treasure and any other items from ships they deal
with as long as it is used to aid the vessel.  Anything else must be
turned over to the elven fleet.  One of the major things they do is
hunt through the wreckage of ships they've destroyed for usable helms
(of any type), weaponry, and treasure.  Each ship is modified by its
crew for what they consider to be maximum effectiveness.  Some will
replace the rear jettison with a heavy catapult or two medium
cata-pults.  Several defensive oriented ships also prefer to replace
one each of the forward and rear ballistae with a medium catapult. 
Few of these vessels utilize helmseekers but many of the attack ships
will carry loads of skeletons and spelljamming mines, both of which
they will scatter over enemy worlds and near enemy bases.  The elven
fleet then simply ignores such territory and lets their foes clean
things up.  The skeletons will have orders to avoid attacking the
elven fleet (the way they determine this has yet to be discovered by
the elves' enemies) and are usually left around areas where the elves
might want to send more ships later.  The mines serve anywhere the
elves won't be heading back to.  In truth the elves even have methods
for detecting and avoiding these.  Every raptor ship has numerous
boarding pikes and grappling hooks aboard due to their many uses.
     The elven fleet finished developing and began producing these
ships a few years before the Second Unhuman War but due to suspicions
they already had they kept the ships secret from even their own people
who didn't need to know.  By the time the Second Unhuman War broke out
the elves had built a fleet of over 20 of these vessels as fully
equipped and trained attack vessels with at least twice as many ready
for defensive duty (note defensive duty is standard for a new crew for
two weeks to insure they are crack before being given other
assignments).  Their training program was also in full swing and a
similar but slightly less rigorous (due to the physical requirements
involved, see above) program had been begun for armada crews in
several key elven spheres.  All these preparations were kept secret
from the scro and the rest of the elven fleet (those not in the High
Command or directly involved with the prepara-tions) and so they took
the scro by surprise.  The resulting devastation still hasn't been
fully accounted to any but those at the highest levels of command for
the elves and the scro.  What is known is the scro are trying to find
the shipyards and training facilities for these vessels even now
(they've even made it one of their highest priorities) while the High
Command is ordering an extension of the modified armada training
program for all its vessels in all spheres (this will admittedly take
time but the High Command seems to feel it's worth it).  The scro are
actually scared of the reputation these vessels have built up and
avoid them whenever possible.  They do not admit their anxieties to
their allies however, but less important scro bases are slowly be
reduced in defenses while more important ones are being built up with
those same redirected forces (of course this has more to do with the
overall war than just one special type of elven ship).  In truth the
scro have tried to keep word of these vessels and their
accomplishments from their allies which only serves to make their
allies more vulnerable to the elven fleet.

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