The Gnomestar is the ultimate nightmare in Krynnish Gnome technology, surpassing even the Gnomish Dreadnaught. Only three of these monsters exist, and all of them perform The- Highly- Honorable- Task- Of- Preventing- Dangerous- Beings- and- Those- With- Malevolent- Intent- From- Landing- and- Disrupting- the- Social- Fabric- of- the- Good- Peoples- of- Krynn. Most other races call it planetary defence. For their credit, the Gnomestar is pressed to the rafters with every type of weapon available, and the worst part is, they all work. Gnomish soldiers consider it a great honor to work on a Gnomestar, so they spend all of their time cleaning, maintaining, and repairing the weapons. Only when a Gnomestar lands does it undergo modifications and "improvements."
The Gnomestar looks vaguely like a clipper with the masts removed, and the bowsprit replaced with a blunt ram. The ram is covered with all kinds of chimes, bells, and whistles to tell an opponent that they are about to be rammed. The decks are filled with weapons of all types (as many as the ship can physically carry), including standard heavy weapons, bombards, magical devices, personnel catapults (for boarding actions), and so on. The armament of a Gnomestar changes with each tour of duty. A total of six sidewheel houses are on the ship (three per side), with a hamster in each one. The sidewheeler technology is not appropriate for a ship this size, but as always, Gnomes found a way to make it work. Nevertheless, the ships rating is downright bad. It can be raised from one to two, if the Gnomes put a treat in front of the hamsters. This causes them to run on the treadmills faster, giving greater output of the engines. This can only be done for three turns. After that, the engine overheats and breaks down is a spectacular display of smoke, sparks, and flying parts. When this happens the Gnomes drop everything and go into a hilarious frenzy of repairs.
Gnomestars stay in orbit above Krynn for periods of six months. They work in staggered shifts, such that two are above Krynn at a given moment. The third is docked at Mt. Nevermind for maintenance, upkeep, repairs, modifications, improvements... Each Gnomestar has a crew of 100 Gnomes (smaller beings require less air, so more can be crammed into a ship) and eight giant hamsters. The cargo area is full of supplies, such as food for the crew, so space for other cargo is rarely available. Orders from the ground are relayed by a special Yaul, powered by one of the hamsters.
Notes: No other race would be fool enough to want one of these. If you drop by Krynn and see one, send up the flag for "hello," politely wave, and keep going.
