(Crimson Glory)
by Alessandro "La Vekkia" DamianiThis article is based on Spelljammer and Forgotten Realms and in particular on the Netheril: Empire Of Magic sourcebook. It’s updated to 3.5ed but uses custom house rules to account for the enormous size of the enclave.
History/Non–technical details: The first projects of a spelljamming enclave were devised by Oberon itself: he was a Netherese Arcanist very interested in spelljamming and in the other races that travelled the void between the planets. He tried for many years without success to deliver his enclave in space without success until in the end he renounced and resorted to normal spelljamming.
His projects survived the Karsus Folly and the reshaping of the weave and in the years past an elven wizard found them again and completed them.
The Enclave has been heavily modified after the first voyage: it was engaged in a battle against illithids and neogi in which the city was almost razed and the creator launched the entire ship towards an asteroid whose trajectory had been magically altered to plummet into Evermeet. The enclave was very severely damage to the point that the ship was itself falling into the sun. The IEN saved the ship and many Elven High Mages of Evermeet in a sign of unending gratitude repaired and transformed the enclave using the Home Of Summoning ritual.
Technical Information: A spelljamming enclave is basically a Netherese flying enclave that is capable of flying at spelljamming speed.
The enclave doesn’t have a helm because it’s propelled by a mythallar engine and hasn’t a pilot because it’s driven by a Infallible Helmsman.
A mythallar is a magical generator: it allows the creation of magical items without the expenditure of xp; the created items become quasi – magical items and function only in the range of the mythallar (sphere 1 mile diameter), out of this they become non – magical items. The mythallar is used also to maintain afloat the enclave. See Lost Empires Of Faerun and Netheril: Empire Of Magic for details about a mythallar.
An Infallible helmsman created from an iron golem (a stone golem works well too) created using the Oberon’s Infallible Helmsman epic spell. It’s basically an awakened golem (see Savage Species for the Awaken Construct spell, it’s similar to Awaken Animal spell) but it also grant the construct a bonus on Knowledge (geography) and Knowledge (wildspace) and pilot skills. As detailed in the spell the golem loses all its attack forms and ability to move: the legs melt away and create a clockwork device that performs mathematical calculations necessary to set appropriate course and pilot the ship. The Helmsman is magically linked to the enclave. The golem is necessary to overcome the weight limitation of a spelljamming ship (100 tons).
The spell uses also the Valdick’s Spheresail epic spell: this one transform a normal ship (any form and dimension up to 100 tons) in a spelljamming ship that fly without the requirement of a helm: the ship follow all the normal rules unless by the fact that the pilot must attune himself to the magic field (same as sitting on the helm) to pilot the ship.
All these spells and items are linked together by the Oberon’s Spelljamming Enclave epic spell.
This way a chain of required spells and magical items is created.
Iolaum Imbue Mythallar (to create the mythallar) [this spell is created by Seth Cole (aka Karsus The Mad on WoTC boards)]
Proctiv Move Mountain (shear off a mountaintop, levitates it in the air, and transform it in the future enclave; requires a Mythallar as a Material Component, the mythallar is not destroyed but can’t be used again)
Valdick’s Spheresail (transform a ship into a spelljamming ship, requires a ship as a material component, the ship is not destroyed)
Oberon’s Infallible Helmsman (transform an iron golem in a awakened construct, requires an iron golem as a focus)
Oberon’s Spelljamming enclave (transform the enclave in a spelljamming ship, requires a flying enclave, a spelljamming ship created with Valdick Spheresail and an infallible helmsman).
Movement and speed information: The caster (and anyone he design) can address orders to the helmsman, he is obliged to execute only orders regarding ship movement but can refuse any other order that he deems unacceptable (remember always that he has an intelligence score and fairly high).
The helmsman drives the ship doing skill checks: the default DC for every maneuver is 10, if the helmsman would like to emulate a lighter ship (that is a better flying category maneuver) the DC is raised by 7. (So for example if the helmsman would like to make a loop with the enclave (!!!!!) the DC for the Pilot check would be 45 (!). Note that the description of helmsman states that he cannot take 10. The bonus to the pilot check granted by a skilled crew however stacks. (Note that the number of crewmen needed to operate properly the enclave is left up to the DM but a number around 300 should be fairly reasonable).
The caster of the epic spell can also activate the magical defences of the enclave using the appropriate command words; anyone that he allows can activate the magical defensive an offensive powers.
The ship can be of any shape (usually is an inverted mountaintop (a cone with point pointing downwards) with buildings that create a little city on the flat side).
Armament information: The mythal–like ward that surrounds the enclave has some built–in defence powers and attack powers: Magic Missile (caster lvl 9th at will) and Meteor Swarm (3/day keyed to attuned spellcasters, attunement require the creator/actual proclaimed lord acknowledgement).
The Ship shields also offer the subsequent protection spells: Shield, Protection From Arrows, Protection from (fire, cold, acid, sound, electricity, force), Greater Globe Of Invulnerability.
The ship has also more mundane defences: 30 heavy bombards (15 per side, fixed) (like galleon cannons), 14 heavy ballistas (on moving platforms), 2 colossal heavy ballistas (on moving platforms, near the mythallar), 4 light bombards ( point forward, fixed), 4 light ballistas (on moving platforms, on the reverse landing deck), 1 mine launcher (pointing backwards, fixed).
2e stats:
Name: Crimson Glory
Type: flying enclave
Tonnage: 2 million
Hull Points: 2 million
Crew: 0 (1) / 3600 see text
Maneuverability Class: E
Landing; Land: no
Landing; Water: no
AR: 4
Saves As: wiz 15
Power Type: special
Ship's Rating: 1
Armament: see text
Cargo: unlimited
Keel Length: 4500 ft
Beam Length: 4500 ft / 1200 ft
3e stats (Shadow Of The Spider Moon/Dragonstar):
Crimson Glory
Helm: special (see text)
Size: Colossal 6
Face: 1200 ft x 4500 ft (600 ft from keel bottom to highest point of
mast)
Crew: 1 (variable)
Material: stone (10) / magically treated ceramic and ironwood (avg.
8)
HP: 12500
Init: - 256
Tactical Speed: 45 ft (clumsy 4)
AC: 0 (+ 8 natural + 4 deflection – 256 size)
LC: no landing
Cargo: 250000 tons
The 2e stats are derived from the Spelljammer vessel.
Tables:
Weapons:
| Siege weapon | Cost (gp) | Dmg | Crit | Range Incr | Min range | Max range | Crew | Hardness | HP | Weight | Size |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mine launcher | 650 gp | -- | -- | 55 ft | -- | 550 ft | 3 | 5 | 35 | 650 lbs | Large |
| Mine | 500 gp | 15d6 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | 25 lbs | -- |
| Colossal Ballista | 2500 gp | -- | -- | 160 ft | -- | 1600 ft | 6 | 5 | 900 | 3500 lbs | Colossal |
| Bolt | 1 gp | 9d8 | 19 – 20/ x 2 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | 6 lbs | -- |
NOTE: the light and heavy ballistas are detailed in Heroes Of Battle.
The light and heavy bombard are detailed in Stormwrack
A mine launcher is basically a large spring that propels barrels of smoke powder backwards out from the ship gravity plane. Each barrel can be ignited using a rope. Shortening or lengthening the rope sets the delay for the detonation of the mines (1 – 6 rounds). Amine deals dmg as a smoke powder bomb of 20 lbs (15d6).
Maneuverability:
| Manouver | Clumsy 2 | Clumsy 3 | Clumsy 4 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Minimum fwd speed* | half | half | Half |
| Hover* | no | no | No |
| Fly backward | no | no | No |
| Reverse | - | - | - |
| Turn | 45°/90 ft | 45°/120 ft | 45°/150 ft |
| Turn In place | no | no | No |
| Maximum Turn | 45° | 45° | 45° |
| Loop | no | no | No |
| Up Angle* | 45° | 45° | 30° |
| Up Speed* | half | half | Half |
| Down Angle* | 45° | 45° | 45° |
| Down Speed* | double | double | Double |
| Btwn Up and Down* | 180 ft | 270 ft | 360 ft |
NOTE: loop maneuver can be substituted with Any other special maneuver (like Immelmann turn, Cobra or other highly spectaculars maneuvers).
Maneuvers marked with * apply only if the ship is inside the gravity well of a larger body.
Size:
| Size | AC/Init Modifier | Max Length | Ramming Dmg |
|---|---|---|---|
| Colossal 2 | - 16 | 256 ft | 20d6 |
| Colossal 3 | - 32 | 512 ft | 24d6 |
| Colossal 4 | - 64 | 1024 ft | 28d6 |
| Colossal 5 | - 128 | 2048 ft | 32d6 |
| Colossal 6 | - 256 | 4096 ft+ | 36d6 |
Spells:
Epic Spells:
Conjuration (creation, healing)
Spellcraft DC: 62
Components: V, S, M, F
Casting Time: 10 hour 11 min
Range: touch
Target: 1 iron golem
Duration: Instantaneous
Saving Throw: None
Spell Resistance: no
To Develop: 558000 gp, 12 days, 23320 xp; Seeds: Fortify (DC
27), life (DC 27), animate (DC 25); Factors: imbue with knowledge
(geography) (+ 25 on knowledge (geography) check) (ad hoc DC + 75), imbue
with knowledge (wildspace) (+ 25 on knowledge (wildspace) check) (ad hoc DC
+ 75), imbue with skill (Pilot) (+ 40 on Pilot check) (ad hoc DC + 120);
Mitigating Factors: increase casting time 10 min (DC – 20),
increase casting time 10 hours * (DC – 20), use focus (DC x 1/5);
Realizing his spelljamming enclave Oberon faced an obstacle: the limit of 100 ton in the ship mass. Apparently the strain imposed on the caster was far too great to be sustainable. So he developed a shortcut: a living construct capable of piloting without tiring and become mad.
The spell infuse an iron golem (used as a focus) with artificial life and gives him knowledge and skill. The golem lose its breath weapon and the ability to use its legs: they are melted by magic (together with all the lower half of the body) and transformed in a strange clockwork device that the golem use to perform the most complex mathematical calculations. The caster (and whoever he choose to allow) may issue commands to the helmsman, the helmsman then calculate the best course and try to move the ship/enclave to which it’s attached; if the helmsman it’s not already attached to a suitable spelljamming ship it remains inert, its clockwork device whirring and grinding but otherwise doing nothing. If the destination is not known (failed knowledge () check) or the move fails (failed Pilot check) the device ring with an alarming chime.
The awakened golem retains all its abilities and gain Int score and Con score (roll normally). The awakened golem also gains a +25 competence bonus on knowledge (space), + 25 competence bonus on knowledge (geography) skill and +40 competence bonus on Pilot*** skill.
Note: The helmsman cannot take 10 nor 20 on checks
Arcane Focus: iron golem
Arcane Material Component: geonomicon (20000 gp), geography, mathematics and astronomic books for 80000 gp
Evocation
Spellcraft DC: 86
Components: V, S, F
Casting Time: 10 hours 20 min
Range: 30 ft
Target: 1 flying enclave (4500 ft radius)
Duration: Permanent
Saving Throw: None
Spell Resistance: No
To Develop: 774000 gp, 16 days, 30960 xp; Seeds: mythal (DC
25); Factors: increase area to 4500 ft radius (DC + 180), link
Infallible Helmsman with Mythallar (ad hoc DC + 30), helmsman is not a
spellcaster (ad hoc DC + 40), link Spheresail to Mythallar ( ad hoc DC +
60), merge Spheresail with other mythals (ad hoc DC + 150), add prevalent
spell (protection from arrows 20th lvl) (DC + 3), add prevalent
spell (shield) (DC + 4), add prevalent spell (protection from fire) (DC +
5), add prevalent spell (protection from acid) (DC + 5), add prevalent
spell (protection from cold) (DC + 5), add prevalent spell (protection from
electricity) (DC + 5), add prevalent spell (protection from acid) (DC + 5),
add prevalent spell (protection from sound) (DC + 5), add prevalent spell
(protection from force) (DC + 5), add prevalent spell (greater globe of
invulnerability) (DC + 96), add vanguard spell (magic missile at will) (DC
+ 10), add vanguard spell (meteor swarm 3/day/ keyed to attuned
spellcasters) (DC + 18); Mitigating Factors: increase casting time
10 min (DC – 20), increase casting time 10 hours * (DC – 20),
capstone (DC – 20), use focus component (DC x 1 / 5);
Oberon in his great interest for spelljamming races researched this spell planning to fly with his enclave in space. He never completed the spell but his work miraculously has not been destroyed in the fall of the enclave and research has been completed.
The ritual transform the enclave in a spelljamming vessel propelled by the Mythallar power and continuously driven by the Helmsman. The caster and whoever he allows can issue commands to helmsman to set a new course, stop the ship, increase the speed or decrease it.
The spell wards the entire enclave with a protecting shield and enables some attack spells as vanguard.
Arcane Focus: Infallible Helmsman, spelljamming ship enchanted with Valdick’s Spheresail, Mythallar
