Re: Planejammer

> If you ever seen some of the designs for extraplanar vehicles, you might

> > swear that they could have been spelljammer ships of some stripe.
>
> What extraplaner vehicles? Is there a Planescape book with these or are
> you
> talking about something else?


 believe he is probably speaking of Githyanki  astral ships. They have been
around since  2nd edition when  (I think) they first showed up in the
Astrally based adventure Fedifensor in Dragon (pre-Dunfgeon days obviously)
They have turned up here and there consistently and a lot of art came about
during the big Githyanki Invasion  adventures in Dragon and Dungeon a year
or two ago.  Other than that and a few spherical craft I know of no other
planar vessels.

> In fact the
> > Elven Man O War is mostly an enclosed ship no matter which incarnamation
> > you look
> > at.
>
> I don't understand this comment. What has this got to do with extraplanar
> vehicles? Are *they* enclosed? Enclosed spelljamming ships are bad news,
> because you are cutting off a large amount of the air envelope. You would
> need to open the hatches to refresh the air inside.


Agreed, yet the Elven Man O War and the Smalljammer continue in popularity.
I would say an enclosed ship would have higher survival potential on some
planes, but for the most part you would need to have  protective magic in
place just to survive, especially on the Inner Planes.m

What do you mean by current vehicle rules? Do you mean something on BtM,
> Planewalker or something else?


We haven't done any vehicle rules at Planewalker, unless there is something
floating around in the forums that I am unaware of.....

<small print>
> Doors to Sigil do not work in the phlogiston.
> Certain crystal spheres may prevent access to Sigil or the Outer Planes.
> Combining dimensional doors with other magical effects may have unexpected
> results.
> Contents may settle in transit.
> E&OE
> </small print>


No planar accces from the flow. That includes Sigil. (love the sidebars BTW)
Keep you arms and legs inside the vehicle kids!

<Planejammer sidebar numer="2">
> Airjammer (noun): A ship that travells around the Elemental Plane of Air
> under the power of a spelljamming helm. Usually used to distinguish a
> spelljamming ship bound to the Elemental Plane of Air, from a spelljamming
> ship, that is currently on the Elemental Plane of Air, but is also able to
> travel to other planes.
> </Planejammer sidebar>


I like this a lot. Speljammers are Prime Material Plane only, Airjammers on
the EoAir only, opens up a whoel new array of naming convetions until you
get to Planejammers which can, theoretically, go anywhere. Although the
Etherfarer's Society on the Etheral use Etherships. Guess it all comes down
to the local vernacular. We can work that out plane by plane.

Advantages:
> * The mass of a spelljamming ship *should* provide normal (Grubbian)
> gravity, making it easier for creatures from the Material Plane to move
> around the ship and do things.


One f the reasons I created the gravity rune I mentioned in an earlier post.
The natural laws of the planein question supercede all else. Unless you like
the "gravity as a function of the helm," concept  Grubbian Gravity goes away
when you cross the planar barrier.

* The elemental air a ship passes through should continually mix with and
> renew the spelljamming ship's atmosphere.


0% chance of fouling the air. Even spell effects like cloudkill are rapidaly
wafted away on the breeze.

* A crewmember who fell overboard would be able to call for help at a longer
> distance and would not have a limited air supply.


Exactly. To the limit of the crew's listen checks.

* The lack of vacuum means that air and sound based spells have their normal
> range.


Spot on with the caveat that the Plane's own effect on magic becomes the new
base rule. Divine, Arcane and Psionic energies are all altered by many of
the other planes, check out the Planescape DM screen we put up for download.
It has a nice summation of the planar effects on magic/psi as a starting
point.

* If a pocket of vacuum somehow existed on the Plane of Air, the
> spelljamming ship *should* retain its own air envelope while passing
> through
> it.


Depends on how the local laws governing magic and gravity work

Disadvantages:
> * The mass of the elemental air will *probably* prevent the ship from
> travelling above tactical speed.


I usually allow PCs to catch fast moving currents that let them vastly
exceed tactical speed. Of course it also involves a few  saving throws for
the ship depending on how much faster. Nowhere near SJ speed though.

* Turbulance within the elemental air will *probably* cause all the same
> risks as a storms within a planetary atmosphere.


Even more. Storms systems exist on the plane f air that are older than elven
memory.  Lots of magical weather effects too. The plane of air is tons of
fun when planejamming!

More later there is basically a city wide wake going on right now and local
matters require my attention.
Loki
8-29-05 Never Forget The Day All Our Leaders Deserted A Drowning City
http://humidcity.com