The Crimson SpheRe: DS & SJ

Ships of the Crimson Sphere

There are few variations of ships in the Crimson Sphere. Shortages of wood
and tools have forced most travelers to use the carcasses of giant insects
and other creatures. Ships from other spheres might be encountered, but they
will be unique in the sphere. The ships presented below represent the most
common craft flown in the sphere.

Dragonfly - Tonnage 5 tons, Hull Points 5, Crew 1/5, Maneuvering Class C,
Landing - Ground only, Armor Rating 9, Saves As thin wood, Power Type
Psijammer, Cargo 2 tons, Keel 30', Beam 15'.
The thri-kreen make use of this small, unusual ship. The hull is the carcass
of a giant insect while the wings are an unusual, paper-like material that
the thri-kreen can make. Dragonflies travel in packs, as they are easy prey
otherwise. Use the standard deckplan of a dragonfly, with the following
modifications: remove the ship weapon and cargo hold, reduce the dimensions
of the forward half of the ship to 30' by 15', and remove the stairs to the
upper deck. Thri-kreen simply jump to get to the top deck.

Eel - Tonnage 15 tons, Hull Points 15, Crew 4/15, Maneuvering Class C,
Landing - Water only, Armor Rating 8, Saves As thin wood, Power Type
Psijammer, Cargo 8 tons, Keel 110', Beam 15'.
The eel is a fairly common tradesman in the Crimson Sphere. It is the one
ship that can still be built, even if pieces of chitin are used instead of
wood. All eels are unarmed, by order of the Warden-Kings. Use the standard
deckplans of an eelship, except removing the weapons.

Lamprey - Tonnage 15 tons, Hull Points 15, Crew 6/15, Maneuvering Class D,
Landing - Water only, Armor Rating 7, Saves As thin wood, Power Type
Psijammer, Cargo 8 tons, Keel 100', Beam 20'.
Primary vessel of the illithid nations, the lamprey is a ship made from
bones and chitin. It is indeed a terrible vessel to behold, decorated with
human skulls and human-skin sails. A medium weapon is carried, firing
forward. Other weapons are removed from the standard lamprey deckplan, as
the illithids do not have the resources to properly outfit such craft. The
grappling ram is likewise removed, making room for slave quarters at the bow
of the ship.

Lesser Ziggurat - Tonnage 90 tons, Hull Points 90, Crew 6/90, Maneuvering
Class F, Landing - Ground only, Armor Rating 1, Saves As stone, Power Type
Lifejammer, Cargo 25 tons, Keel 80', Beam 80'.
The lesser Ziggurat is pyramid-shaped and serves as the battleship of the
Crimson Sphere. The interior is largely hollow with a much smaller pyramid
at the center, from which the Templar commands his minions. A small army is
carried aboard a lesser Ziggurat, up to six hundred men. Use the standard
deckplans for the Flying Pyramid, removing all by four heavy ballistae and
sealing most of the gun ports.

Scarabship - Tonnage 15 tons, Hull Points 15, Crew 6/15, Maneuvering Class
C, Landing - Ground only, Armor Rating 8, Saves As bone, Power Type
Lifejammer, Cargo 12 tons, Keel 75', Beam 20'.
The Scarabship is another ship made from the chitin hide of a colossal
insect, except made from a beetle. It has a pair of wings to improve
maneuvering, but rarely armed. It is commonly used to carry important cargo
or as a transport for troops. Use the standard deckplans for the
scorpionship with the following modifications: remove all ship weapons
including the claw rams, remove the tail, and shorten the legs to
one-quarter the original length.

Scorpionship - Tonnage 15 tons, Hull Points 15, Crew 6/15, Maneuvering Class
D, Landing - Ground only, Armor Rating 7, Saves As bone, Power Type
Lifejammer, Cargo 12 tons, Keel 75', Beam 20'.
The Scorpionship is made from the chitin hide of a colossal scorpion. Wooden
decks have been installed, but conditions can be cramped. The only armament
of these ships is their claws, which are kept operable by wooden gears. A
pair of half-giants operates the claws. The lifejammer is kept in the head
of the scorpion and watched over by a third half-giant or other strong
guard. Use the standard scorpion deckplans for this ship, modifying by
removing the ballista and catapults.

Artifacts and Helms
There are only two types of helms commonly found in the Crimson Sphere: the
psijammer and the lifejammer. Standard spelljamming helms are almost unique
artifacts, rare to the point of myth.

Psijammer - the psijammer helm is the lesser of the spelljamming helms. It
is a throne-like stone chair made to tune into psionic energy. A creature
that can use psionic abilities can use the psijammer. A helmsman sits in the
chair and expends 1 PSP (3e: Power Points) for every five tons of the ship
per every hour he uses the helm. Thus, the helmsman must expend 4 PSP per
hour to fly a 20-ton ship. The psijammer has an upper limit of 25 tons, and
moves a ship at the rate of 1 ship's rating for every 4 levels of the
helmsman.
Landing a ship using a psijammer is very tricky, as gravity puts great
stress on the helmsman. For every size category of the planet, double the
PSP cost. Thus, to land on Athas using a 15-ton ship, it requires 96 PSP.
That is, base cost of 3 PSP doubled 5 five times for the size E planet. If
the helmsman lacks the PSP, the ship crashes.

Lifejammer - the lifejammer is the most powerful spelljamming device common
to the Crimson Sphere. It is a terrible device of black stone and defiling
magic. When a humanoid creature is placed in the throne-like chair, it
steals from him life to fly a spelljammer. The helm drains away 1 point of
constitution per every 8 hours the victim is confined to the chair; those
drained to 0 points of constitution perish and cannot be revived. The loss
of constitution is permanent. A lifejammer can power a ship of up to 100
tons at the speed of 1 ship's rating per every 3 levels or HD of the victim
in the helm.

Shards of the Zodiac
This artifact is said to have originally appeared as a midnight-back orb
fitted with diamonds that represented the 12 zodiac creatures. It was
shattered into twelve pieces, once for each zodiac. Possession of a shard
provides great power onto the owner. In effect, a shard can be used, given
time, research, and much ceremony, to turn the owner into a dragon. It took
the Wardens at least three centuries to discover the process to turn
themselves from powerful beings into full-fledged Warden-Kings,
contemporaries to the Sorcerer-Kings of Athas. It is suspected that the aide
of Borys is required for the process to be successful. Fortunately, the
Warden-Kings are limited in the growth of their power; to advance, they need
an additional shard. In theory, if all 12 shards were recovered by a single
Warden-King, he could potentially become a dragon even more powerful than
Borys. Such an event is highly unlikely, since the Warden-Kings have
searched franticly for the missing shards and have turned up nothing in the
last 2,000 years.

Bibliography
Darksun Boxed Set
Spelljammer Boxed Set
Lost Ships
Ivory Triangle
3e Darksun Download from Athas.com
2e Complete Psionic Handbook
3e Psionics Handbook