D&D 5E HOMEBREW

AIRSHIPS
Airships Homebrew Rules Version 0.4

By David Lester with help from Roma Jensen

Illustrations by Roma Jensen

INTRODUCTION
These rules can be used to model airships for travel or combat, floating structures, or even standard seafaring vessels in
Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition. In these rules, airships are suspended by magical artifacts, and dont travel much faster
than sea ships. The ships depicted by these rules are assumed to appear during or shortly after the sailing era, with most
airships converted from sea ships. If you have any questions, comments, or suggestions, please email David Lester at
dallanlester@gmail.com.

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 CONTENTS
Sailing
Senior Crew
Captain
Cannoneer
Shipwright
Navigator
Engineer
Surgeon
Statistics
Durability
Measurements
Crew
Warfare
Ship Challenge
Ship Turn Order
Actions
Assign
Evade
Ram
Damage and Destruction
Targeted Attacks
Casualties
Dropping to 0 Hit Points
Disabled & Destroyed Parts
Repairing
Construction
Parts
Material
Weapons
Ship Gear
Ship Statistics
USEFUL LINKS
The following links may be useful to anyone playing D&D 5th Edition, especially with airships.
D&D Basic Rules. These homebrew rules are made to supplement D&D 5e, for which you can find the free basic rules here.
Airship Sheet. This digital ship sheet is useful for building or playing airships online.
Digital Character Sheet. This digital character sheet is based on the official printable sheet and useful for online play.
Azure Homebrew Rules. These variant rules and content include the plane of Azure, in which airships exist.

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SAILING
SENIOR CREW
Six crew members provide a quick description of every ship and crews characteristics, similar to abilities for characters. Ship
checks are made similarly to ability checks, but use modifiers listed for each Senior Crew role.
Ship Modifier. The ship modifier is based on the crew member currently filling that role. A character needs to be able to
communicate with the crew in order to fill a Senior Crew role.
CAPTAIN
The Captain is the face and pilot of the ship. They direct
other senior crew and command the helm. A character
must be proficient with vehicles (water) to be a Captain.
Modifier. The higher of the Captains Charisma or
Dexterity ability modifiers is the Captain modifier, adding
their proficiency bonus if they are proficient in persuasion.
Captain Checks. The DM might call for a Captain
check when a ship tries to accomplish one of these tasks:
Handle relations with other ships
Piloting the ship in dangerous areas
CANNONEER
Cannoneers know their way around heavy weaponry
and battle. They prepare and use ship siege weapons. A
character must be proficient with martial weapons to be a
Cannoneer.
Modifier. The higher of the Cannoneers Strength or
Constitution modifiers is the ship modifier, adding their
proficiency bonus if they are proficient in athletics.
Cannoneer Checks. The DM might call for a
Cannoneer check when a ship tries to accomplish one of
these tasks:
Move heavy objects with crew members
Launch someone with a catapult
SHIPWRIGHT
The Shipwright repairs and builds parts. A character must
be proficient with artisans tools to be a shipwright, the
type depending on the ships material.
Modifier. The higher of the Shipwrights Strength
or Wisdom modifiers is the ship modifier, adding their
proficiency bonus if they are proficient in investigation.
Shipwright Checks. The DM might call for an
Shipwright check when a ship tries to accomplish one of
these tasks:
Attach a new part to a ship
Put out an onboard fire
NAVIGATOR
The Navigator handles maps and weather. A character
must be proficient with navigators tools to be a Navigator.
Modifier. The higher of the Navigators Dexterity or
Intelligence modifiers is the ship modifier, adding their
proficiency bonus if they are proficient in Perception.
Navigator Checks. The DM might call for a Navigator
check when a ship tries to accomplish one of these tasks:
Map regions
Avoid harsh weather
SURGEON
The Surgeon is responsible for the health of crew. A
character must be proficient in medicine to be a Surgeon.
Modifier. The higher of the Surgeons Intelligence
or Wisdom modifiers is the ship modifier, adding their
proficiency bonus if they are proficient with herbalism
kits.
Surgeon Checks. The DM might call for a Surgeon
check when a ship tries to accomplish one of these tasks:
Amputate the limb of a crew member
Treat an onboard plague
QUARTERMASTER
The Quartermaster is a halfway between Captain and crew.
They handle rations, assignments, and punishment. A
character must be proficient with vehicles (water) to be a
Quartermaster.
Modifier. The higher of the Quartermasters
Constitution or Charisma modifiers is the ship modifier,
adding their proficiency bonus if they are proficient in
insight.
Quartermaster Checks. The DM might call for a
Quartermaster check when a ship tries to accomplish one
of these tasks:
Improve crew morale
Teach crew members jobs
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SENIOR CREW ROLES
Name Description Creature Modifier Necessary Proficiency Bonus Proficiency
Captain A leader who pilots and commands. Dexterity or Charisma Vehicles (water) Persuasion
Cannoneer A weapons and battle expert. Strength or Constitution Martial weapons Athletics
Shipwright A handyman who builds and repairs ships. Strength or Wisdom Artisans tools Investigation
Navigator A expert in charts and weather. Dexterity or Intelligence Navigators tools Perception
Surgeon A healer who treats the sick and wounded. Intelligence or Wisdom Medicine Herbalism kit
Quartermaster An imposing overseer who manages crew. Constitution or Charisma Vehicles (water) Insight

STATISTICS
DURABILITY
Hit Points. Hit points for ships work similarly to that of creatures, except that hit point maximum is based on the total hit
point bonus from parts and upgrades, and that damage is healed differently, as detailed under repairing.
Armor Class. A ships AC equals 10 + its Captain Modifier - its Size modifier. A ship may gain a bonus based from material.
Wreck Point. A ships wreck point is its maximum hit points or 100, whichever is higher, and is used for casualties, as
detailed under damage and destruction.
Hardness. A ships hardness is equal to half its shipwright modifier + its materials AC bonus. All bludgeoning, piercing,
and slashing damage a ship receives from nonmagical weapons is reduced by this value, before applying resistance or
vulnerability.
Immunities: An airship is immune to poison and psychic damage, and all conditions. It is treated as an object instead of a
creature in relation to all spells and effects, but may make saving throws as if it were a creature.
Saving Throws. A ship makes Cannoneer saving throws in place of Strength ones. A ship automatically fails Dexterity
saving throws, unless its fly speed is 60 feet or faster, in which case it makes Captain saving throws in place of Dexterity ones.
A ship makes Shipwright saving throws in place of Constitution ones.

MEASUREMENTS SHIP SIZE

Size. Size is determined by the the total number of parts a ship Size Modifie Parts Space
has, ignoring parts with the small property, based on the Ship Size r
table. A ship must have as many room parts as other parts. The Slip 0 1-10 20 by 40 ft. or smaller
DM may impose a bonus or penalty equal to your size on Captain Corvette 1 11-25 30 by 60 ft.
checks to pilot the ship, depending on circumstances. Frigate 2 26-50 40 by 80 ft.
Weight. Weight is summed from every part. Crew and cargo Galleon 3 51-100 50 by 100 ft.
are ignored, as long they clearly fit aboard. Weight applies a Hulk 4 101+ 60 by 120 ft. or larger
penalty to Speed and Elevation.
Speed. A ships fly speed is the sum of all thrust parts, reduced by 1 foot for each full ton (2,000 lb.) of the ships weight.
This amount divided by 10 equals the ships speed in miles per hour. A ship floating in water has its speed halved.
Ships can only be built to move in the facing of its bow, and must rotate to move in other directions. Rotating 15 degrees
or less costs 5 feet of speed45 degrees costs 15 feet of speed, and 90 degrees costs 30 feet of speedlikewise. A ship may
ascend or descend regardless of facing, but does so at half speed, and is limited by its Elevation.
Elevation. A ships maximum altitude, in feet above sea level. This is determined by the single highest lift part, reduced by
100 feet for each full ton (2,000 lb.) of the ships weight, although this penalty is mitigated by half the height of all other lift
parts. A wood or mixed material ship can still float in water without an Elevation.
Flying at high altitudes can be dangerous for crew members, due to the lack of atmosphere. For every 8 consecutive hours
that a creature who breathes spends at or above 5,000 feet, they must make a Constitution saving throw with a DC equal to the
altitude divided by 1,000. Creatures who fail this saving throw gain 1 level of exhaustion from altitude sickness.

CREW
A ship is operated by its crew and led by its captain. Crew members are usually those loyal to or hired by the captain. If the
player characters have a ship, they are usually commanding officers, although joining a crew may also be an interesting
campaign arc. When hiring crew, an untrained hireling usually has Commoner statistics (DMBR 54) while a trained hireling
usually has Thug statistics (DMBR 55). Hired crew may also be promised a share of plundered goods and treasure.
Senior Crew. In order to fill a Senior Crew role, a crew member must have the necessary proficiency for that role, and
spend half an hour familiarizing themselves with a new ship or crew. A creature who has met these prerequisites may use an
action to fill an unfilled Senior Crew role, at which point the ship modifier changes. They continue to fill the role as long as they
can continuously communicate with the crew, and may or may not contribute to Skeleton Crew.
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 Skeleton Crew. The minimum amount of crew necessary for proper operation of a ship. This many crew are necessary
for a ship to operate properly. These creatures need to use their action and movement each round during combat to fill the
skeleton crew, but ship operation is simpler outside of combat, and these creatures have time to eat, sleep, and take short
breaks. A ship with less than its minimum crew has disadvantage on all attacks, checks, and saving throws, and has its speed
halved.

WARFARE
Stuff about ships fighting cannons and shit idk boom.

SHIP CHALLENGE
A balanced ship with a full crew is worth experience equal to its cost in gp divided by 5. Ships, along with their skeleton crew
and those used only for assignments, count as a single creature when creating encounters. Increase the challenge for a warship
by 1 step. Decrease the challenge for a ship built for a non combative purpose, or with no suspension, by 1 step. An encounter
occurring aboard a ship ignores it as a creature or challenge, although it may modify the encounter difficulty.

VARIANT: AIRSHIPS ON A GRID

If you play out combat using a square grid and miniatures or other tokens, follow these rules, alongside Playing on a Grid (PBR 71).
Map. A square grid for the surface youre playing on isnt entirely necessary, but can be helpful. Empty space representing the
sky is the most useful when playing with airships. Ships flying close to the ground can be set directly on top of a gridded map.
Ships. Ships are best recognized by flat deck layouts, drawn and cut out of paper or cardboard, but also can be represented by a
flat surface matching the Space of a ship, as described on the Ship Size table above. When a ship moves, move all creatures on the
ship with it, and use a ruler to measure distance. Ship decks should have grids drawn on them individually, to be used by creatures,
although only actively fighting creatures should be shown.

SHIP TURN ORDER

As long as your ship meets its skeleton crew requirement, it has its own turn and may take actions during combat. The ship
has its own initiative, which is determined by a Captain check. On your turn, you can move a distance up to your speed and
take one action.

ACTIONS
This section details the typical actions you can take during your ships turn, of which you can take a single one. The action
taken by the ship is determined by the command of the Senior Crew members. A ship can break up its movement, the same as
creatures, and can break up its movement even further by moving between assignments.

ASSIGN

The most basic action a ship can take is to distribute assignments among crew members. The Assign action works differently
from most actions in that the effect is delayed and uses the ships action for two turns in a row.
When you take the assign action, you may distribute any number of crew members, in excess of your ships skeleton crew,
among any of the following assignments, and any others that are available. Certain situations or parts may allow new
assignments.
The turn after the Assign action is taken, the ship uses its action to resolve all assignments in the order they were given. If
crew members are no longer able to carry out an assignment, that assignment cannot be resolved, unless there are enough
unassigned crew members to take their place. A Senior Crew member may use an action to cancel any amount of assignments.
Attack. Weapons may make attacks as long as they have their hand value assigned to do so. A ship attack is similar to a
creatures attack, but usually uses the Cannoneer modifier for attack and damage rolls.
Boarding. To board, you must be within 10 feet of the target ship, make a Captain check against the AC of the target ship.
If successful, the assigned crew boards. If your ship is attached to the target ship, this check succeeds automatically.
Improvise. Assign your crew to anything you can think of. The GM tells you whether that assignment is possible and what
kind of roll you need to make, if any, to determine success or failure.
Ready Assignment. Assignments can be individually readied, similar to a creature taking the Ready action. Decide on what
perceivable circumstance will trigger the assignment. At any point after the ships action to resolve assignments, when the
trigger occurs, the assigned crew members may use their reactions to resolve the assignment, or ignore the trigger.

EVADE
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When you take the evade action, you focus entirely on avoiding attacks. Until the beginning of your next turn, attacks and
checks against your AC have disadvantage, and you have advantage on captain saves. Any creature not affixed or braced on a
ship taking the evade action must make a DC 10 Dexterity saving throw, and falls into a space adjacent to the ship on a failure.

RAM

To ram, you must be able to use your remaining movement, a minimum of 20 feet, to come in contact with the target ship, and
make an attack roll, using your Captain modifier. On a hit, roll an amount of d10s equal to your size, then add 1 for every 5 feet
you moved this turn. Both ships take this much bludgeoning damage.

DAMAGE AND DESTRUCTION

Stuff about airship health.

TARGETED ATTACKS
An attacker may declare a specific part on the target ship, before making the attack roll. The target ship gains half cover, or
three-quarters cover if the the declared part is small. If targeted attacks deals damage in one turn equal to or exceeding the
declared parts HP bonus, that part is disabled. Targeted attacks arent counted against a ships Wreck Point.

CASUALTIES
If your ship takes damage in a single turn greater than or equal to its Wreck Point, an amount of crew members equal to
half its skeleton crew fall unconscious and remain so until they take a rest. Make a Surgeon saving throw, DC 5 + 1 for each
unconscious crew member. On a failure, half of these crew members die. Characters subject to casualties are randomly
determined, but crew other than player characters are subject first. If there are only player characters remaining, those subject
to casualties must make a DC 10 Dexterity saving throw. They take the damage of the attack which caused casualties on a
failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one.

DROPPING TO 0 HIT POINTS

When your ship drops to 0 hit points, it either is instantly destroyed or starts to collapse.
Instant Destruction. Massive damage can destroy your ship instantly. When damage reduces your ship to 0 hit points and
there is damage remaining, if the remaining damage equals or exceeds its hit point maximum, every part is destroyed.
Collapsing. If damage reduces your ship to 0 hit points and fails to destroy it, it starts to collapse. Its speed is reduced to 0
and it cannot make checks or saves besides salvage rolls.
Salvage Rolls. Whenever your ship starts its turn with 0 hit points, you must make a special roll, called a salvage roll, to
determine whether it creeps closer to destruction or remains integral.
Roll a d20. If the roll is 10 or higher, your succeed. Otherwise, you fail. A success has no effect by itself, but three does
affect your ship.
On your third success, your ship becomes stable (see below).
On a failure, a randomly determined part is destroyed, starting with disabled parts.
Rolling a 1. If your salvage roll is a 1, it counts as two failures.
Rolling a 20. If your salvage roll is a 20, your ship regains 5 hit points.
Damage at 0 Hit Points. Each time a ship with 0 hit points takes damage, it suffers a salvage roll failure. If the damage
equals the ships hit point maximum, every part is destroyed.
The Effects of a Stable Airship. A stable airship doesnt make salvage rolls, even though it has 0 hit points, it has
disadvantage on all attacks, checks, and saving throws, and its speed is halved. The ship stops being stable, and must start
making salvage rolls again, if it takes any damage.

DISABLED & DESTROYED PARTS

When a part is disabled, determine casualties if crew members were assigned to that part since your last turn, or if it had
a skeleton crew value, but it is only this many crew members who fall unconscious, and may die based on the result of the
Surgeon saving throw. That part can no longer be used for assignments nor contributes any bonuses. All disabled parts return
to full functionality when a ship is repaired.
When a part is destroyed, it is removed from a ships parts permanently.

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REPAIRING COMPONENTS
Components. Components represent basic pieces and materials needed Type Repair Die Cost Weight
to repair a damaged ship. Exact pieces arent usually necessary as its Wood d6 100 gp 200 lb.
assumed you purchase materials relevant to your ship. Components may vary Mixed d8 120 gp 200 lb.
in utility for different ships. Components have a repair die listing, and are Metal d10 140 gp 200 lb.
used for repair rolls, which are similar to a creature spending hit dice.
Repair Roll. Repairing requires a period of extended downtime, in which the ship is grounded or otherwise accessible and
safe for at least 16 hours. You can spend one or more units of components during a repair, up to the amount of people working
on the repair. For each unit of components you spend in this way, roll its repair die and add the Shipwrights modifier, then
multiply by 5. Your ship regains hit points equal to the total, up to its maximum hit points. You can decide to spend additional
components after each roll. When repairing with components that do not match your ships material, roll the repair die twice
and take the lower result before multiplying. Your ship cannot benefit from more than one repair in a 24-hour period.

CONSTRUCTION
Bang bang clank.

PARTS
Rooms and other parts are listed on the Parts table. Every ship is made out of parts, and they determine almost every statistic.
Parts without the small property total around 1,500 cubic feet, equal to a 12 foot cube. When mapping a ship, it is helpful to
consider a room with a 10 foot ceiling to have about 6 5-foot squares of space, a room with a 7.5 foot ceiling to have about 9
squares, and a room with a 5 foot ceiling to have about 12 squares.
Details. In most cases, multiple instances of a part can indicate a larger version, and all their statistics are summed, such
as a large cargo bay, barracks, or larger sail. Simple hallways, staircases, and similar are assumed to exist between rooms,
along with deck space above rooms. Rooms and other parts are also considered to be equipped for their use, so a cabin
contains beds, tables, or other furnishings, while a ballista includes mounting and tools for basic maintenance, and so on.
Skeleton. This value is added to the Skeleton Crew for the ship.
HP Bonus. (Hit Point Bonus) This value is added to the maximum hit points for the ship.

MATERIAL
Material affects a lot. Carpenters tools are necessary for constructing wooden ships, smiths tools for metal ships, or either for
a ship with mixed materials. Masons tools are necessary for constructing stone ships.
Incremental Parts. Some parts have values listed as Low, Mid, or High for HP bonus, cost, or weight. These signify that the
part has this value based on the material the ship is made of. Use the respective value for your ships material on the Materials
table for Mid, halve it for Low values, and use 1.5 times it for High ones.
Properties. Some materials give your ship vulnerability or resistance to certain damage types, indicated by the damage
type in parenthesis after the property.

MATERIAL
Name AC Bonus HP Bonus Cost Weight Properties
Wood +0 +16 180 gp 800 lb. Vulnerability (fire)
Mixed +1 +20 240 gp 1,000 lb.
Metal +3 +24 300 gp 1,200 lb. Resistance (piercing), vulnerability (acid)
Stone +2 +24 240 gp 1,400 lb. Reistance (cold, fire)

PROPERTIES
Many parts affect your ship in various ways through certain properties.
Fuel. These parts require fuel to function, which is detailed in the parts description, a fuel part that is not supplied with
the required fuel contributes no bonuses to a ship.
Lift. Lift parts hold a ship in the air. The highest lift, reduced by a weight penalty of 100 for every full ton (2,000 lb.) of the
ship, is its Elevation. If a ship has multiple lift parts, only the highest applies, but all other lift parts reduce the penalty from
weight by half their lift. You can elect to not use a lift part, to ignore its skeleton and lift.
Small. Nowhere near the size of a room, small parts are ignored when determining size. Small parts are built inside, on
top, or otherwise using the foundation of other parts, and a ship may have no more small parts than other parts.
Thrust. Thrust parts propel a ship forward. The total feet from thrust parts, reduced by a weight penalty of 5 feet for every
full ton (2,000 lb.) of the ship, is the ships fly speed. You can elect to not use a thrust part, to ignore its skeleton and thrust.

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 SHIP PARTS
Name Skeleton HP Bonus Cost Weight Properties
Room Parts
Bay 0 Low Low Low
Brig 1 High High High
Cabin 0 Mid Mid Mid
Crows nest 0 Low Mid Low
Galley 1 Low Mid Mid
Motley 0 Mid High Mid
Sickbay 1 Mid High Mid
Lift Parts
Buoy, Fog 1 +40 Uncommon Lift (2,500 feet)
Buoy, Alto 2 +60 Rare Lift (5,000 feet)
Buoy, Stratus 3 +80 Very Rare Lift (10,000 feet)
Buoy, Cirrus 4 +100 Artifact Lift (20,000 feet)
Thrust Parts
Oars 0 +5 100 gp 200 lb. Small, special, thrust (5 feet)
Propeller 2 +10 1,000 gp 400 lb. Fuel, small, thrust (10 feet)
Sail 3 +20 500 gp 800 lb. Thrust (10 feet)
Turbine 2 +15 2,000 gp 600 lb. Fuel, thrust (15 feet)
Miscellaneous Parts
Anchor 0 Low Low High Small
Bulwark 0 Low Mid Low Small
Ram 0 Mid High High

SHIP PARTS
Bay. The most basic room, empty space. A bay represents about 1,500 cubic feet of space, holding up to 5,000 pounds of
cargo, plunder, or otherwise. A bay can be easily upgraded to any other room part for the difference in cost.
Brig. An onboard jail commonly found on law enforcement ships. Up to 8 prisoners may be kept in a brig, which can be
broken out of with a DC 20 Strength check or Dexterity (Sleight of Hand) check to pick the locks. These DCs increase by double
your ships AC bonus from material.
Cabin. A cabin is where crew sleeps, with each cabin bought representing a comfortable room for 2, a modest room for 4,
and poor barracks for up to 8. Other comfortable spaces like mess halls or wheelhouses count as cabins.
Crows Nest. The crows nest projects from the ship in some direction, giving a good view of the surrounding environment.
Whenever you make a Wisdom (Perception), Wisdom check to navigate, or Navigator check to spot or navigate while in a
crows nest, add double your proficiency bonus to the check, instead of your normal proficiency bonus.
Galley. Space to cook and store food is necessary for a long voyage. Each galley feeds up to 10 with comfortable food, 25
with modest food, or 50 with poor quality food.
Motley. Motleys are complex rooms with specific use, like saloons, workshops, and similar. Workshops built for specific
tools allow the user to add double their proficiency bonus on checks with those tools, instead of their normal proficiency
bonus.
Sickbay. Up to 4 crew members per day may have advantage on saves against poison, disease, or ongoing damage while
in a sickbay. 2 crew may be assigned to treat an unconscious crew member and make a DC 15 Surgeon saving throw. On a
success, that creature regains 1 hit point.
Cloud Buoys. Cloud Buoys are ancient stone artifacts riddled with etched symbols, referred to as aeroliths by
archeologists, that enable airships to fly. They originate from ruins of floating structures. Buoys simply hold ships in the air,
and even apply slight amounts of friction to movement, although air currents will still slowly move a floating structure. Buoys
are classified by the maximum height they can float at: fog, alto, stratus, and cirrus, respectively.
Oars. A set of massive oars threaded through holes in the side of a ship. Oars only contribute thrust to a ship floating in
water. You must assign 2 crew members to continually man the oars in order to gain their thrust. Crew assigned to oars are
considered to be traveling and are subject to Forced March (PBR 63).
Propeller. Propellers are favored for airships due to their light weight, but are costly. These are fed by steam and require
10 lb. of fernite per day of operation, contributing no bonus to speed when out of operation.
Sail. Sails require a lot of crew work, but are widely available. Windy conditions may increase or reduce thrust, for each
sail, by up to 10 feet.
Turbine. A turbine is an encased and enhanced propeller. These are fed by steam and require 20 lb. of fernite per day of
operation, contributing no bonus to speed when out of operation.
Anchor. An anchor is a hefty weight, dropped to keep a ship from drifting in the sea or sky. A standard airship anchor has
200 feet or rope or chain, built with handholds for easy climbing, allowing anchorage in most environments.
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 Bulwark. Bulwark is reinforcement or plating to protect ships. Each part that isnt small can be reinforced with bulwark,
but only once. If that part would be disabled or destroyed, the bulwark is destroyed instead.
Ram. A ram consists of a reinforced horn used to damage other ships. When you take the ram action, roll 1 additional d10
for damage, and you have resistance to the damage from that action.

WEAPONS
Youll need weapons to combat other ships and creatures if necessary. To make attacks with your ships weapons, take the
assignments action during your turn, and assign an amount of crew equal to a weapons Hands value to making an attack with
that weapon. A ships attack roll looks like this: d20 + ship modifier + situational modifiers. The ship modifier used for a typical
attack is Cannoneer.
Hands. This many crew members must be assigned to a weapon to attack with it, as part of the assign action.

PROPERTIES
Indirect. When making an attack with an indirect weapon, you use your choice of your Cannoneer or Navigator modifier
for attack and damage rolls. You must use the same modifier for both rolls.. Additionally, indirect weapons arch, and
automatically miss within half their normal range.
Reload. A ship must load or reload this weapon as a separate assignment with the same hands, possible simultaneously.
Rigid. When adding a rigid weapon to a ship, choose a direction it is facing. The weapon can only attack within 90 degrees
of this direction, 180 degrees total. A simple way to choose a direction is with a facing: port, starboard, bow, or stern.
Snare. When your ship hits with a snare weapon, the target may not move further away, nor may you attack again with
this weapon, until it is removed. The weapon may be removed if it is disabled or destroyed, or a creature or ship within reach
uses its action to make a Strength check, or assigns 4 crew to make a Cannoneer check, to remove it. The DC for this check is
listed in parenthesis after the snare property.

WEAPONS
Name Hands HP Bonus Cost Damage Weight Properties
Projectile
Weapons
Ballista 3 +5 500 gp 3d10 piercing 200 lb. Ammunition (range 120/480), small
Cannon 4 +15 3,000 gp 8d10 bludgeoning 1,600 lb. Ammunition (range 600/2,400), reload, rigid, small
Harpoon 3 +10 1,000 gp 3d10 piercing 300 lb. Ammunition (range 100/200), small, snare (DC 12)
Mangonel 3 +10 750 gp 5d10 bludgeoning 400 lb. Ammunition (range 200/800), indirect, reload
Trebuchet 5 +15 2,000 gp 8d10 bludgeoning 800 lb. Ammunition (range 300/1,200), indirect, reload, rigid
Collision Weapons
Boarding hooks 4 +5 100 gp 1d12 piercing 100 lb. Rigid, small, snare (DC 14)

Ballista. A massive mounted crossbow. A ballista expends a ballista bolt when attacking.
Cannon. A cannon expends a cannonball or chain shot when attacking.
Harpoon. This ballista fires a harpoon attached to 200 feet of rope, so that when it pierces a ship or creature, it may be
reeled in. You may assign 2 crew to reel in the spear, and if it is attached to a ship or creature, contest a Cannoneer check
against their Engineer or Strength check. If you win, you reel them in, up to 50 feet closer. A ballista can be upgraded to a
harpoon for the difference in cost.
Mangonel. A basic catapult with a long arm. A mangonel expends a bomb, acid bomb, fire bomb, or stone when attacking.
Trebuchet. A complex catapult using a sling. A trebuchet expends a bomb, acid bomb, fire bomb, or stone when attacking.
Boarding Hooks. Large hooks and platforms or a set of grappling hooks built for boarding. Boarding hooks have a normal
range of 10 feet, and a long range of 20 feet.

SHIP GEAR
Item Cost Weight
SHIP GEAR
Ammunition Certain gear that may be useful aboard a ship is listed here.
Ballista bolts (10) 50 gp 80 lb. A barrel costs 2 gp less than its original cost to refill, while
a crate costs 1 gp less to refill.
Cannonballs (10) 100 gp 40 lb.
Components. Components are used to restore
Stones (10) 20 gp 500 lb.
hit points to ships, as detailed above under Repairing.
Projectiles
Components that match a ship material work best.
Bomb, acid 100 gp 10 lb.
Drink (barrel). Barrels of drink contain 80 days of
Bomb, fire 200 gp 10 lb. drink and are usually alcoholic to avoid contamination.
Bomb, keg 250 gp 20 lb. Food (crate). Crates of food contain 50 days of meals.
Chain shot 20 gp 8 lb.
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 Components They are listed by quality of food. A galley is necessary to
Wooden (d6) 100 gp 100 lb. prepare food, the amount per day depending on quality.
Mixed (d8) 120 gp 100 lb. Fernite (crate). A crate of full fernite contains 200
Metal (d10) 140 gp 100 lb. pounds of the fuel, enough to feed a propeller for 20 days.
Drink (barrel) Swabbys Pack. This set of supplies includes mops,
Grog 6 gp 370 lb. soap, and finish.
Ale 10 gp 370 lb.
Food (crate)
Poor 4 gp 220 lb.
Modest 16 gp 220 lb.
Comfortable 26 gp 220 lb.
Fernite (crate) 41 gp 220 lb.
Swabbys Pack 20 gp 20 lb.

Keg Bomb. Keg bombs are kegs of black powder with fuses. A bomb explodes after two rounds pass, or if it takes any fire
damage, dealing 7d6 fire damage to all creatures within 5 feet, halved with a DC 12 Dexterity saving throw. A ship hit with a
bomb has it lodged securely on deck. The target ship can assign 2 crew to try to remove the bomb with a DC 10 Cannoneer
check, failure indicating that both the ship and the crew assigned take the damage.
Acid Bomb. A ceramic casing filled with acid. A successful attack with an acid bomb deals an additional 6d6 acid damage.
Fire Bomb. A ceramic casing filled with alchemists fire. A successful attack with a fire bomb causes the target to take
3d4 fire damage at the start of each of its turns. A creature can end this damage by using its action to make a DC 12 Dexterity
check to extinguish the flames. A ship can end this damage by assigning 4 crew members to put out the flames with a DC 12
Shipwright saving throw.
Chain Shot. A split cannon ball, connected with thick chain. Chain shots have disadvantage to hit within normal range, and
automatically miss beyond normal range. When a targeted attack with chain shot successfully hits a thrust part, the target ship
must make a DC 14 Shipwright saving throw. On a failure, the target thrust part is disabled.

D&D AIRSHIP HOMEBREW RULES V0.4

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SHIP STATISTICS
Some example ships and their deck maps.

SHIP TEMPLATE
Material size, Nation

Armor Class - Hardness -

Hit Points - Wreck Point -
Speed Fly - ft. Elevation ft.

Crew - Skeleton -
Cost gp Weight lb.

CAPTAIN CANNONEE SHIPWRIG

R HT

+0 +0 +0
NAVIGATO ENGINEER SURGEON
R

+0 +0 +0

Damage Resistances
Damage Vulnerabilities
Damage Immunities poison, psychic
Condition Immunities all
Challenge -

Rooms. List
Weapons. List
Other Parts. List
Total. -
ASSIGNMENTS Available Crew -

Attack Action. Type Attack, - hands: +0 to hit, reach 5 ft., one

target. Hit: -d-+- type damage.

Description.

D&D AIRSHIP HOMEBREW RULES V0.4

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