Eberron Airship Handbook

The published rules for airships and associated craft in the Eberron setting are scattered, and in
many ways lacking clarity and consistency. Most egregious is the fact that the Explorers
Handbook flat out contradicts the Eberron Campaign Setting with regards to methods of
controlling the elemental bound to the ship, and whether or not soarwood floats on its own. For
this handbook, I will attempt to clarify the airship rules, and give precedence to the ECS, rather
than the EH (because honestly, many of the rules in the Explorers Handbook simply dont make
sense).
There are three types of elemental-bound aircraft in the published Eberron rules:
1) Airships
2) Firesleds
3) Air-Skiffs
Airships have the most info published about them. Firesleds only have a single magic item entry
in Secrets of Xendrik, and Air-skiffs are mentioned several times in a few published adventures,
but no good stats are provided for them (and those provided are inconsistent with the rest of the
rules/setting).
First, something important to understand about the airships and their speeds, as well as their
carrying capacities: the airships are treated as creatures. I was not the first person to make this
observation, but Im sorry I cant recall where exactly I first read this, so I cannot give proper
credit. This will prove out when we later look at their listed speeds, which are given in two
formats: as a speed in feet per round, and a miles per hour speed. For these speeds to make any
sense at all, the speed in feet is just like the speed a character has, but then the ship hustles every
round, performing a double move.

Speed

The Explorers Handbook provides a Stormwrack-style stat block for an elemental airship. Since
the excerpt publishes the stats on-line, I will reproduce them here:
Quote
Airship: Colossal vehicle; Airworthiness +6; Shiphandling -4; Speed Fly 100 ft. (poor), Overall
AC -3; Hull sections 1,000 (crash 250 sections); Section hp 60 (hardness 5); Section AC 3; Ram
12d6; SA fire ring; SQ resistance to fire 10, hover; Space 90 ft. by 300 ft.; Height 50 ft. (fire ring
has 110-ft. diameter); Watch 20; Complement 150; Cargo 30 tons; Cost 92,000 gp.
Hover: Despite its maneuverability rating, an airship can hover and has no minimum speed
required to maintain air travel. It cannot turn in place, however.
Ring: An airship can use either a fire or an air elemental. A burning fire elemental bound into a
ring deals 3d8 points of fire damage to any creature or object passing it touches. When an air
elemental is used, the damage is bludgeoning.
Aura: Strong conjuration, CL 15th.
Construction: Bind Elemental, greater planar binding, 46,000 gp, 3,680 XP, 92 days.
Price: 92,000 gp.
From the Airship entry in the ECS (p. 267), we know that an airship has a fly speed of roughly
20 miles per hour. A speed of 100 ft., multiplied by 600 (the number of rounds in an hour)
equals only 60,000 feet per hour. Divided by 5,280, we see that is only 11.36 miles per
hour. But as I said, the airship is treated as a creature, and it can hustle each round, which
increases that speed to 22.72 miles per hour. Thats sufficiently roughly 20 miles per hour.
But wait, we also have stats for the Firesled (SoX p. 146 147), which tells us it can travel
through the air at a speed of 120 feet (24 mph) If we work the same math as above with
these numbers, we see that 120 feet works out to 13.63 mph, again short of the listed speed of 24
miles per hour. But hustling we come to 27.27 mph.
Looking deeper into the math, we see that 27.27 divided by 24 = 1.136. This ratio is the same
for 22.72 divided by 20, which also equals 1.136. We see this ratio other places in D&D. A
human with a speed of 30 feet should be able to walk 3.409 miles in an hour, yet the chart on
PHB p. 162 says such a character can only walk 3 miles in an hour. Guess what that ratio is
1.136. Travel in D&D assumes you lose out on some of your speed over a long distance. It
always limits you to 0.88 what the per-round speed says you should be able to do in an hour. Put
another way, they run the math based upon a 6,000-foot mile. Just know that, and know that an
elemental crafts listed speed in feet is just like a characters, and it can hustle each round,
supposedly without ever tiring.

Carrying Capacity
Remember how I said elemental craft are treated as creatures? This is also true for their carrying
capacity. The Firesled from SoX says treat the sled as a Large quadruped with a Strength of 18
(light load 300 pounds or less, medium load 301600 pounds, heavy load 601900

pounds). The same thing can be extrapolated for the basic airship in the ECS, which can carry
30 tons of cargo.
The dimensions of the firesled are roughly equal to a rowboat, which according to Stormwrack is
a Large vehicle. As you can see above, an airship is a Colossal vehicle. A Colossal quadruped
with a strength score of 34 can carry 67,200 pounds, which is 33.6 tons (a Strength score of 33
would only be able to carry 28.8 tons).

Maneuverability
The Explorers Handbook reproduces the ship maneuverability chart from Stormwrack, which is
derivative of the Aerial Maneuverability rules from p. 20 of the DMG. For the firesled, you need
to look at the core Aerial Maneuverability rules from p. 20 of the DMG.
The firesled has good maneuverability so long as it is carrying a light or medium load, which
allows it to hover. But its maneuverability drops to average with a heavy load, which means it
can no longer hover.
The Explorers Handbook stats for an airship lists it as having poor maneuverability, but it is still
able to hover, because of its Hover special quality.
Though there are no official stats for an air-skiff, I would generally give them a maneuverability
of Average, but also give them the ability to hover.

Controlling the Elemental

According to the Eberron Campaign Setting (p. 267, sidebar), elemental vessels are notoriously
difficult to control. A character with the correct dragonmark and the appropriate dragonshard
item (House Lyrandar, Gust of Wind version of the Mark of Storm using a Wheel of Wind and
Water) can control the vessel effectively. An unmarked character must win an opposed
Charisma check against the elemental (elementals have a Charisma modifier of +0). If the
character wins, the vessel obeys, but if the elemental wins, it will either continue on its previous
course, or bring the vessel to an immediate halt, based on its whim.
The same sidebar allows for other effective means of controlling an elemental vessel. In addition
to the wheel of wind and water with a dragonmarked pilot at the helm, a charm monster or
similar spell can allow an unmarked character to control the vessel effectively. A cleric with the
fire or air domains could even command an elemental of the appropriate type (for 10 rounds, but
only while touching the dragonshard to which it is bound). In my opinion, the best means of
doing this without a dragonmark is to have a minor schema of charm monster, as it is reusable,
and lasts for days at a time.
According to the Explorers Handbook, to establish line of effect with a bound elemental, you
must be touching the dragonshard to which the elemental is bound. Once a magical means of
control has been established, you can communicate with the elemental when touching the
dragonshard, or when touching the helm.

The Explorers Handbook and the adventure Whispers of the Vampires Blade allow for
controlling an airship or an air-skiff via a Profession (airship sailor) check. This is flat out
wrong, and contradictory with the ECS. Basic control must be established each round you want
to do something, via a Charisma check. That said, Profession (Sailor) checks are still useful to
an airship captain, as high winds can still require Profession (Sailor) checks.

Steering the Airship

Control of an elemental, such as that granted to a Lyrandar pilot by his dragonmark allows him
to command a bound elemental without difficulty. A Lyrandar capatain can pilot an airship
from port to port just fine, in calm weather, just by virtue of his dragonmark. But skilled pilots
with a full crew can execute amazing maneuvers with their airships.
Note, the Explorers Handbook p. 25 states that guiding an elemental vessel through any
complex maneuver requires a Profession (Sailor) check, just as sailing a regular ship requires
(this is correct, IMO). It also allows someone in command of the elemental (either via a Wheel
of Wind and Water, or via magical compulsion) to add his Charisma bonus on any Profession
(Sailor) checks made to control the vessel. If the elemental is completely uncontrolled, any
attempt to steer the vessel through complex maneuvers takes a 20 penalty on the Profession
(Sailor) check.
Ship statistics list a Watch number; this is the minimum number of crew to properly pilot a
ship. Youll notice the Airship stat block lists a watch of 20. Note, however that according to
the ECS, an airship only requires a crew of 15, so I would suggest going with that number.
Stormwrack has rules for the Profession (Sailor) skill. Steering a ship in good weather
conditions with sufficient crew requires no skill checks. Having less than a full watch section
imposes a +5 modifier to the Profession (Sailor) DC for any given check. Having less than half a
full watch section increases such DCs by 10, and having less than a quarter of a watch section
increases such DCs by 15.
The first obstacle for a standard airship is foundering (sinking). Profession (Sailor) checks
against foundering are modified by the airships Airworthiness rating, which is +6. Your ship
can founder in strong winds (DC 5), severe winds (DC 10), windstorms and gales (DC 15),
hurricane-force winds (DC 20), and dire gales (DC 28). Granted, what foundering in mid-air
really entails will differ from DM to DM, so check with yours. Most likely, hell ignore this, as
there is no water to swamp your craft.
Traveling into high winds requires a similar check, again making use of the ships airworthiness
rating to modify your check. Severe winds are a DC 20, and a windstorm or gale is a DC
30. This is much more likely to come up, especially if you try flying into a storm. But again,
you arent really sailing with sails, so your DM might well ignore this.
The check a DM is most likely to impose is for steering in fast currents. This best reflects what
an airship is actually doing, except in the most severe of wind conditions. Unlike the previous

checks, this one uses the ships Shiphandling modifier, which for a typical airship is 4. Steering
is made round to round when in appropriately difficult conditions, with a DC 8 for a vigorous
current, DC 18 for a dangerous current, and DC 28 for an irresistible current.

Airships, Firesleds, and Air-Skiffs, oh my!

As I said before, there are only three flying elemental vessels published. The airship, the
firesled, and the air-skiff.
Airships are roughly the same size as a sailing ship, but they can only carry 30 tons of
cargo. Ill reproduce their stats once again here:
Quote
Airship: Colossal vehicle; Airworthiness +6; Shiphandling -4; Speed Fly 100 ft. (poor), Overall
AC -3; Hull sections 1,000 (crash 250 sections); Section hp 60 (hardness 5); Section AC 3; Ram
12d6; SA fire ring; SQ resistance to fire 10, hover; Space 90 ft. by 300 ft.; Height 50 ft. (fire ring
has 110-ft. diameter); Watch 20; Complement 150; Cargo 30 tons; Cost 92,000 gp.
Hover: Despite its maneuverability rating, an airship can hover and has no minimum speed
required to maintain air travel. It cannot turn in place, however.
Ring: An airship can use either a fire or an air elemental. A burning fire elemental bound into a
ring deals 3d8 points of fire damage to any creature or object passing it touches. When an air
elemental is used, the damage is bludgeoning.
Aura: Strong conjuration, CL 15th.
Construction: Bind Elemental, greater planar binding, 46,000 gp, 3,680 XP, 92 days.
Price: 92,000 gp.
They are great for adventuring, but like most ships, they really arent all that robust once you get
to middle-level adventures. They also arent robust if someone else wants to ram you with their
airship See that Ram 12d6 listing in the stat block? According to Stormwrack, the Ram
damage listed is for each 10 feet of speed the vessel is moving at (Storwrack p. 97). Airships
move at 100 feet per round before hustling; thats easily 120d6 damage from a ramming airship.
Firesleds are from Secrets of Xendrik, and they are created by the Sulatar drow elves. Much
like a character with the Mark of Storm, any Sulatar can pilot a firesled without
difficulty. Others must make opposed charisma checks or magically control the elemental in
some way.
Firesleds are basically attack fighter craft. They can only hold two (a pilot and a gunner), are
faster than an airship, and have a built-in scorching ray attack. They also cost a smidge over
76,000 gp.
Air-Skiffs are mentioned in two published adventures, Whispers of the Vampires Blade and The
Voyage of the Golden Dragon. Voyage merely tells us that the skiffs are made of soarwood, and

it implies that they can travel fairly far from the larger airship. Whispers tells us that it can be
piloted with a DC 15 Profession (sailor) check (which we know is wrong), it can turn up to 90
degrees per round (which equates to Average maneuverability per the DMG rules), it moves up
to 150 feet straight ahead, or it can ascend or descend up to 50 feet in a round. Later on, it tells
us that a skiff is very slow, capable of traveling only 2 miles per hour (which is ridiculous,
since in the adventure the skiffs are used to ferry people back and forth between two airships that
are traveling about 10 miles per hour and the previously listed speed of 150 feet, even if taken
as a max of 150 feet per round, is 15 17 mph.)
Since Whispers predates the Explorers Handbook by 11 months, it refers you to the core tactical
aerial combat rules, DMG p. 20. The air-skiffs are described as eight-person vessels made of
soarwood but dont have bound elementals to provide speed. They are basically short-range
craft. Funny that they supposedly dont have elementals bound to them, since the art gallery for
Whispers of the Vampires Blade shows the craft with an elemental ring:

Also, outside of Sharns manifest zone, internal consistency of the Eberron setting tells me that
for anything to have anywhere approaching the fly speed that these air-skiffs have, they HAVE
to have a bound elemental.
So, Im proposing some stats for an air-skiff that takes the previous information into account, but
makes sense given the setting and previous rules as it relates to flying craft outside of Sharns
manifest zone. Given the size and crew listed in the air-skiffs description in WotVB, Im basing
its stats on the Launch stats from Stormwrack. The stats are perhaps a bit verbose, but the flight
speed thing just needed to incorporate them being short-range craft and having an elemental. I
also capped their top flight speed at 120 feet, just like the Firesled, but increasing the max speed
to 150 feet wouldnt alter the flight times at all. Not that it much matters, but Im assuming the
Firesled and the Air-skiff both use Medium elementals (fire or air).
Quote
Air-skiff: Huge vehicle; Airworthiness +0; Shiphandling +2; Speed Fly 120 ft. (average), Overall
AC 3; Hull sections 1; Section hp 50 (hardness 5); Ram 2d6; SA air ring; SQ charged flight,

elemental command, encumbered flight, hover; Space 10 ft. by 20 ft.; Height 5 ft. (air ring has
15-ft. diameter); Watch 1; Complement 8; Cargo 1600 lbs.; Cost 51,800 gp.
Hover: Despite its maneuverability rating, an air-skiff can hover and has no minimum speed
required to maintain air travel. It cannot turn in place, however.
Ring: An air-skiff can use either a fire or an air elemental. A burning fire elemental bound into a
ring deals 1d8 points of fire damage to any creature or object it touches. When an air elemental is
used, the damage is bludgeoning.
Encumbered flight: The flight speed listed above is if the air-skiff is only lightly
encumbered. Treat it as a Large quadruped with Strength 23 for encumbrance purposes (Light
load: 0 600 lbs.; medium load: 601 1200 lbs.; heavy load: 1201 1800 lbs.). An air-skiff can
fly while carrying a medium or heavy load, but its speed is reduced to 2/3 normal, however the
reduced speed still burns power as if it were flying at the relative non-reduced speed. While
carrying a heavy load, maneuverability is reduced to poor.
Charged Flight: The Medium elemental that powers a air-skiff is too small to drive it at
maximum power indefinitely. When first disembarking from its dock, an air-skiff has 8 hours of
power. It can fly at a speed of 5 feet indefinitely, but flying at 10 feet cuts its power to 8
hours. Flying at 20 feet cuts it to 4 hours, and flying at 40 feet cuts it to 2 hours. Eighty feet cuts
its powered flight time to 1 hour, and flying at its max speed of 120 feet cuts the fly time to 30
minutes. All of this is proportional to time spent flying at any given speed, so throttling back
slows the power consumption.
If the skiff is being flown slowly (10 feet) when it runs out of powered flight time, it will
maintain flight at 5 feet for another another hour, then descends 50 feet per round for 10
rounds. At the end of that time, the elemental withdraws into the dragonshard located beneath
the helm; if the skiff has not reached a landing spot by then, it falls out of the sky. If the skiff is
being flown faster than 10 feet when its flight time ends, its speed will slow at a rate of ten feet
per round, until it is flying 5 feet per round, and can no longer hustle. It maintains a true speed
of 5 feet for ten rounds, then falls out of the sky.
Elemental Command: Air-skiffs are not fitted with a wheel of wind and water. As such, it must
be controlled by less sure methods. Commanding the elemental from the helm requires success
at an opposed Charisma check (the elemental has a +0 Charisma modifier), or via magical
methods (Charm Monster, Dominate Monster, or Rebuke Elemental [Rebuking lasts 10 rounds]).
Aura: Moderate conjuration, CL 11th.
Construction: Bind Elemental, greater planar binding, 25,900 gp, 2,072 XP, 52 days.
Price: 51,800 gp.
Again, keep in mind that all the listed speeds are movement speeds; the craft can hustle to double
the listed speed as a double move in the same round.

Price
One of the most contentious parts of Eberrons airships is the price. A mere 92,000 gp? Thats a
STEAL! Especially considering that a similar but inferior craft from Forgotten Realms costs
400,000 gp. It also seems odd because just one page before the airship in the ECS are the
elemental-bound armors, which cost +80,000 gp to +90,000 gp for any of the bound elemental

properties. Add in the fact that a soarwood sailing ship costs 40,000 gp (remember, a typical
airship is similar in size to a sailing ship, and a soarwood vessel costs 4 times as its normal
counterpart). Also, keep in mind that the listed 92,000 gp for the ship doesnt include a Wheel of
Wind and Water.
Although this is purely homebrew (the RAW is clear, an airship costs 92,000 gp), I would highly
suggest that a DM treat the 92,000 gp as the cost of binding the elemental to the soarwood craft,
which itself costs 40,000 gp. Add in the cost of a Wheel of Wind and Water, and you get a much
more reasonable cost of 140,000 gp for a House Lyrandar airship.
As I said before, Firesleds are 76,010 gp, and I based the cost of the air-skiff on that. After
backing out the cost of the darkwood and firebrass craft, I reduced the the binding cost to 2/3 that
of the firesled, due to the reduced flight ability, and then added the 2,000 gp cost of a soarwood
launch.