Originaly posted on the TSR online message board (www.tsr.com) by Bruce Heard. (July 1998)
Tonnage: 125 tons
Hull Points: 90
Armor Class: 8
Lift Capacity: 175 tons
Cargo Capacity: 10 tons
Air Speed: 360' (120')
Mov. Factor: 1/2
Length: 175' (incl. tail)
Beam: 225' (incl. wings)
Depth: 40'
Hull: canvas/leather over wood frame
Crew: 60 (1 Knight Bachelor, 1 Abbot, 18 brother knights, 24 brother squires, 9 brother chaplains.)
Weaponry: Blight Belchers (one heavy, three light), three ballistae, catapults (one light, one heavy).
Defenses: none.
Description: The Waffenadler looks like a large eagle made of canvas, leather, and wood. The deck lies on its back with a tower and the ship's single mast rising in its middle. The deck starts behind the eagle figurehead and extends half-way down the wings and tail. Two more levels lie beneath the main deck. The spread-out wings and tail are made of canvas while the eagle figurehead is made of painted leather. The mast holds the sail that may be used if a breeze is blowing. The siege weaponry is positioned in the tower, at the edges of the decking and inside the eagle's beak. Two ornamental leather and wood claws stretch out underneath the ship's hull, facing forward. The legs can be used as a landing gear is a docking berth is unavailable, but they are fragile, unstable, and may need repair afterward. The lower decks and the tower are made of wood.
Tonnage: 200 tons
Hull Points: 120
Armor Class: 6
Lift Capacity: 300 tons
Cargo Capacity: 20 tons
Air Speed: 360' (120')
Mov. Factor: 1/2
Length: 240' (incl. tail)
Beam: 300' (incl. wings)
Depth: 55'
Hull: canvas/leather/wood over wood frame
Crew: 91 (1 Knight Banneret, three Sergeants at Arms, 1 Abbot, 30 brother knights, 44 brothers
squires, 12 brother chaplains)
Weaponry: Blight Belchers (one heavy, six light), three ballistae, catapults (one light, one heavy), War
Talons (two).
Defenses: Protection from normal missiles (once a day for 12 Turns) activated from the helm.
Description: The Sturmkondor maintains the same general build as the Waffenadler except it is larger and is made to look more like a condor than an eagle. The biggest difference is that it has two masts, more siege weaponry, and its metal talons.
Tonnage: 64 tons
Hull Points: 45 Hull; 6 Sail
Armor Class: 7
Lift Capacity: 70 tons
Cargo Capacity: 5 tons
Air Speed: 360' (120')
Mov. Factor: 1/2
Length: 60' (incl. tail)
Beam: 90' (incl. wings)
Depth: 20'
Hull: mostly wood (wings/tail made of canvas over a wooden frame)
Crew: 20 (1 Knight Bachelor, 1 Prior, 3 brother knights, 10 brother squires, 1 brother chaplain.)
Weaponry: One blight belcher (light), two ballistae.
Defenses: Darkness.
Description: The Uhuboot (owl ship, night owl) is a dedicated night-fighter. It is built to look like a flying owl, and painted in dark gray or black colors. Much simpler than the larger warbirds, it includes triangular outer deck (60' base, 30' deep forming the back and shoulders of the "owl"), a hull with one lower deck (40' long, and 20' wide and deep, giving the "owl" its body), and the bridge located inside the large owl head at the ship's bow (20' diameter). A single mast with a square sail stands in the middle of the upper deck. The tips of the wings and the tail are made of canvas stretched over a light wooden frame as ornaments.
One ballista is located at the port and starboard tips of the upper deck. A blight belcher is kept on the lower deck, underneath the bridge, or can be moved to a porthole facing aft underneath the owl's tail. Crew quarters are on the lower deck, while cargo remains secured on the upper deck, underneath a heavy canvas canopy stretching from the back of the owl's head to the aft edge of the upper deck. The ship's chapel is part of the bridge and includes the helm as well, inside the owl's head. The ship is light enough to be able to land on its legs, the tail frame acting as a landing keel.
The Uhuboot has the ability to conceal itself inside a sphere of darkness once per day. The spell is broken when a physical object or magical attack crosses through the sphere. It is a "one-way" darkness that does not affect vision aboard the owl. Infravision ability is otherwise available from the bridge, with a range of 300 yards. The owl's combat tactic is to ambush other ships at night and escape after its attack. Its ballistae normally fire javelins with both strike and silence spells. Some have been used with delayed blast flamestrike. Owls are recent additions to the Heldannic fleet (AC1016 or later), and are otherwise used as long range recon and spy ships. They sometimes act in owl packs when a specific target needs to be dispatched rapidly.
The power that sustains warbirds in the air and allows them to move comes from Vanya's artifact. The artifact has two modes of operation, the Winds of War and the Holy Grasp.
The Winds of War: allows up to 5,000 tons of material to be moved telekinetically. The person holding the artifact can directly apply this force to anything in sight. The Heldannic Knights found another use to the artifact's power. They found that part of its power could be summoned and controlled remotely through a consecrated chapel and altar. The power could then be summoned from any distance or plane to move the chapel itself (since it would be part of ship, the entire ship would be moved as well). Once the power is enacted, the ship's movement can be controlled through the helm which is linked to the altar. The helm is considered to be a sacred item. Sails are then used to augment speed, especially when a strong breeze or stronger winds are blowing.
The Holy Grasp: Part of the force lifting the warbird can be redirected from the ship's altar toward other smaller objects. The force being redirected is subtracted from the force lifting the warbird and requires a priest of Vanya standing by the helm. The priest needs to succeed a Wisdom Check with a penalties reflecting the weight of the object to be affected, as follows:
None for anything 100 pounds of less,
-1 up to 300 pounds
-2 up to 900 pounds
-3 up to a tons
-4 up to three tons
-5 up to nine tons, etc.
Furthermore, the Wisdom Check also suffers penalties for the distance at which the force is being redirected, as follows:
None for anything with 100 yards
-1 up to 300 yards
-2 up to 600 yards
-3 up to a mile
-4 up to three miles
-5 up to nine miles, etc.
Finally, each separate object requires its own Wisdom Check, plus another -1 penalty for each additional object. The Wisdom Check is required at least once. If it fails, the cleric must wait until the next day to try again. If successful, the cleric must make another ability check each time any one of the above conditions worsens. Control can otherwise last for a number of hours equal to the cleric's Constitution score minus 1d6 after which the cleric collapses. The cleric will need to rest for twice as long before being to pray and cast spells again.
War Talons are located under the heavy warbird. Their role is to rip the sails or the decks of enemy ships. War Talons are huge grappling hooks that seem to be part of the warbird's decorative legs sculpted underneath its hull. The articulated steel talons themselves can be catapulted downward in front of the warbird. When winched back with chains, the talons close up and rip apart whatever they locked on. It takes a full turn to winch the talons back and rearm their catapults. Roll 1d6 for each talon. On a 1 or 2, the talon misses or fails to cause any damage. On a 3-4, the talon rips through one sail and its rigging. On a 5, it breaks a mast or any other above-deck structure (treat as a 6 if not applicable). On a 6, it tears through the deck, causing 3d8 points of Hull damage.
Ballistae and catapults remains of the traditional non-magic type. Occasionally, the chaplains may have cast magic on projectiles, especially ballista javelins (strike, light, silence, or darkness) which goes off on impact Special delaying spells are needed to enchant projectiles. Catapults are often not used in air combat since stones are too heavy (and dangerous considering the fragility of the warbird) to carry in flight. Instead, they are used as part of a besieging force where the warbird can land and use local material as projectiles.
The artifact's power is received through a gem that is located inside the ship’s altar. It is called a Skygem. The amount of lift that can be derived from the artifact depends on the size of the Skygem. The original crystal receives powerful blessings at the Holy Citadel of the Heldannic Knights before it can function. A priest of Vanya is needed to activate the Skygem when it is placed inside the altar. The Skygem also needs to be reactivated if pulled out of the altar. The size of the Skygem governs what priest level is needed to activate it (100 carats per experience level). The activation itself only requires a bless spell.
The Skygem is consumed by the power it channels at the rate of one carat per day and per ten tons of lift. For example, the Sturmkondor requires up to 300 tons of lift --it would require a 30-carat Skygem to function for a day, or a 2,520-carat Skygem for three months (a huge gemstone weighing about a pound). Therefore a 26th level priest is needed to activate this large a Skygem. New Skygems generally allow for three months of continuous use. Atmospheric navigation is expensive since it requires continuous lift, while space travel can be much more economical since constant speed can be maintained once it is achieved. For security reasons, very few warbirds have a spare Skygem, for fear of the warbird falling to enemy hands. When the Skygems is reaching the end of its usefulness, it begins to turn into a common lump of crystal.
The ship's chapel is generally well guarded since the removal of the Skygem switches off the telekinetic force supporting the ship. If this happens, the ship descends toward the surface at an increasing speed. If the power was switched off at up to 300’ altitude the ship lands with minor damage, its wings and tail offering some lift and control. Between 301’ and 3,000’, the ship is likely to take serious damage and casualties among the crew, but remains repairable. Between 3,001’ and the planet’s Skyshield, the warbird’s wings are ripped off and the ship plummets to the ground; it and its crew are all doomed. In space, the warbird may still use its sails (provided Mystara space is breathable or "Solar Winds" are blowing). Depending on how strong these winds are, Mystara’s gravitational pull may yet doom the warbird if it can't pull free.