Zeppelin Blitz: The Tale of the Iron Wings (D&D 5e)

[Sorvoe551]

In a land where spells and steam have intertwined, a grand city sits in the center of the nation of Benedarius: Pascerlin. From the lowest slums to the highest spires of industry, all are connected with rune-covered pipes of brass. And among the elites of the land, a thrilling death game has risen to be the most popular sport in the land. It is known as Zeppelin Blitz. This spectacle of violence and engineering pits teams of pilots, mechanics, and warriors against each other over the skies of the barren wastes below in Battle Zeppelins, or "War Blimps" as the populace has coined it. The prize of victory is wealth and status, while the price for failure is the near-certainty of death as the dirigible plummets to the land below in flames and shame. This is where you come in.

The players shall partake in a journey as the newly recruited Blitz team known as The Iron Wings, hired to replace the recently-deceased team by your sponsor, Margaret Patton. Will you be a suave pilot steering your vessel through hails of gunfire? A mechanic desperately working to keep the vessel afloat? A brave warrior leaping from deck to deck to cripple the enemy? The choice is yours. As you claim more and more victories, you and your vessel will grow in strength. But be warned, as the path to the peak of the sport is littered with deceit and betrayal. High stakes and high thrills await you on this journey.

I'm looking for six players to make up the crew for this adventure. Any class within 5e can be selected, as can any race. Any class can fulfill any role when it comes to the ship, but some are better at certain things than others. For example, a Barbarian as a pilot will most likely brute force their way through danger, a Rogue could utilize the ship's mobility to its advantage, and an Artificer might manipulate the ships systems to achieve a desired effect. I have access to all the currently-released D&D 5e info, as well as the three 5e supplement books that were released by Kobold Press, which adds a bunch of new subclasses, spells, races, and items, some of which will be sprinkled in. If you want to experiment, I can provide information on the extra goodies, but don't feel pressured to avoid the official material if you don't want to.

For content, there will be descriptions of violence for combat, but nothing gratuitous. Usually at the level of a gnarly first-person shooter, but not as graphic as something like Mortal Kombat. Avoid if that is not to your taste. Otherwise, sexual content will be limited to Light initially, could potentially include non-Extreme tags later. In addition, Exotic will also be included as there are non-human species in D&D and I do not want to limit player choices when it comes to character creation.

For the actual plot, the big events will mainly revolve around ship-to-ship combat, but there will be plenty of rp opportunities and activities through the city. There's intrigue for all walks of life and I strive to make sure my players get to shine frequently. I hope to keep a pace of at least 2-3 posts per week, but more frequent and detailed roleplay will be rewarded. Let me know if you have any questions and I hope you find the idea interesting!

[DeformedCatholic]

I’ve been looking for a group RP, and I love this setting, so I’m planting a flag in this. Do you mind going into a little more detail on the different roles on a ship, to give an idea on how some of the classes might fit in? I’m specifically thinking about a caster - warlock/Sorc/Wizard. Something like a cannoneer or munitions expert makes the most sense but I’m sure there’s more dynamic options. 

… or a circle of stars Druid who’s a navigator and uses their spells to help the ship stay on course. Oooh I’m seeing a lot of possibilities here. 

[Sorvoe551]

Excellent questions! For the roles in the ship combat, the main ones are pilot, gunners, mechanics, and warriors. 

Pilots steer the ship of course, and with the example I provided in the original post, various classes can gain certain abilities/benefits when performing that role. The basics are still steering the ship and controlling the speed of the vessel.

Gunners operate the various cannons on the ship to try and blast apart the opponent. If you got some magic, why not throw some of it on top? Some fire for some sails? Acid for the metal supports? An indescribable amount of bees? Fuck it, why not? Or if you're more martial, add a little extra precision or oomph to that shot. It's all up to you.

Mechanics keep the ship afloat as you're being hammered, pretty self-explanatory, but the different classes can apply all sorts of flavor to the percussive maintenance they perform. 

Warriors are the crazy bastards who leap onto the deck of the other ship as they pass by, cause havoc, and return safely as the ship plummets to earth. But they are also responsible for keeping anyone with a similar idea from doing too much damage to their own ship. All roles are equally flavorful and important, but they are not restricted to class in any way.

Ultimately, it's up to you what you want to play. You can be any race and class and perform whatever role you desire. It's purely about your character interacting with the high-octane thrills of the world. Are some classes better-suited to certain roles? You could certainly argue that. But are any completely ineffective at certain roles? Absolutely not.

[DeformedCatholic]

Thanks for that answer! I'm definitely still interested, if you get enough other players to make this happen.

[Sorvoe551]

Bump

[Rashol]

Very very tentatively interested but no concrete idea on class or otherwise.

In spite of my fear of spellcasting classes. Part of me wants to go cleric. But still no firm ideas

[DeformedCatholic]

In spite of my fear of spellcasting classes. Part of me wants to go cleric. But still no firm ideas

For what it’s worth, I’ve had a ton of fun with Clerics. Great spell list, lots of flexibility, and the subclasses can give it a lot of flavor. 

One of the ideas that I’ve been toying with that I think would be fun is a Gnomish Druid, Circle of Wildfire. She’d be sort of the ship’s mechanic, with her and her fire sprite working in the engine room, shoveling coal and keeping the engine hot.  

That depends a little on if Sorvoe is comfortable to let us use the racial bonus rules from Tasha, where they’re more flexible. 

[Rashol]

For what it’s worth, I’ve had a ton of fun with Clerics. Great spell list, lots of flexibility, and the subclasses can give it a lot of flavor.

One of the ideas that I’ve been toying with that I think would be fun is a Gnomish Druid, Circle of Wildfire. She’d be sort of the ship’s mechanic, with her and her fire sprite working in the engine room, shoveling coal and keeping the engine hot. 

That depends a little on if Sorvoe is comfortable to let us use the racial bonus rules from Tasha, where they’re more flexible.

Now that sounds awesome!
Part of me wanted to be a cleric of light gunner and firing pewpew lasers at other ships. Or blessing our boat and firing a curse on theirs. Tempest cleric didn't work the way I expected but could see it being super op.

[Snowball]

I'd be quite interested! Possibly as a ranger to play navigator/lookout?

[Sorvoe551]

All of those sound great! I'll have to check my one Kobold Press book, but I'm certain there's a Gun Cleric class, which would be very fitting and funny for this game. Not demanding anyone play it, but it is an option.

[Sorvoe551]

That depends a little on if Sorvoe is comfortable to let us use the racial bonus rules from Tasha, where they’re more flexible.

Yep! Absolutely.

[DeformedCatholic]

Perfect.  I might have some time today to throw together a character in Beyond.  What level do you want them to start out at?

[Sorvoe551]

Level 3, but you will level up fairly quickly.

[Greenthorn]

I may join! I'll need to read up a bit more so this isn't a concrete yes... it's late, I'm supposed to be sleeping, but I did want to check out your game.

[Thunder Splash]

Is this still looking for players? Because I have a Kobold Battlesmith Artificer that would fit right in with this setting. He could be another mechanic, or if no one else wants it he could be captain if that role needs filling.

[TheLaughingOne]

Possible interest!

[Laughing Hyena]

Well you have both my interest and my question? Starting level and standard array?

We have a potential gunner, a mechanic, a navigator (possibly doubling as helmsman), and an engineer potentially. But none for the boarding party? 

[Sorvoe551]

Is this still looking for players? Because I have a Kobold Battlesmith Artificer that would fit right in with this setting. He could be another mechanic, or if no one else wants it he could be captain if that role needs filling.

Yep, absolutely! We haven't determined roles yet, but there will be time to do so once the players are solidified. Feel free to build your Artificer! You start at Level 3 and we'll do Standard Array for sake of ease.

[Sorvoe551]

Well you have both my interest and my question? Starting level and standard array?

We have a potential gunner, a mechanic, a navigator (possibly doubling as helmsman), and an engineer potentially. But none for the boarding party?

Starting Level 3 and Standard array, yes.

Also, correct, no boarding party. Perhaps you'll be a one-person army

[pdragon]

I have an idea for a warrior/boarder. An elf wizard (either bladesinger or order of scribes). She's an alcoholic ice witch who's a bit of a psychopath, infamous on the Blitz circuit for tearing through enemy ships and leaving them as frozen death traps. 

pics

[Sorvoe551]

I have an idea for a warrior/boarder. An elf wizard (either bladesinger or order of scribes). She's an alcoholic ice witch who's a bit of a psychopath, infamous on the Blitz circuit for tearing through enemy ships and leaving them as frozen death traps.

pics

Excellent concept *and* a man of culture with the Lamy pull. I approve. That would be fun to watch go off

[pdragon]

Excellent concept *and* a man of culture with the Lamy pull. I approve. That would be fun to watch go off

Was definitely a fan of Lamy for a little while. I miss the days when it was feasible to at least stay generally up to date with all of Hololive at once.

[Revelation]

Kinda interested but not sure what I would make just yet. Might need a bit to think on it.

[Rashol]

I'm still technically interested. But if the game is still potential, you might not need the cleric idea anymore. So I'm a bit stumped.

[Sorvoe551]

I'm still technically interested. But if the game is still potential, you might not need the cleric idea anymore. So I'm a bit stumped.

You can still play a cleric! It doesn’t need to be everyone has a different class. Plus, the cool thing about Clerics is you can build them in so many ways that a party of nothing but Clerics can cover everything.