* Unless specially modified, see below.

Original Source

The original Angelship appeared in the TSR Spelljammer supplement Lost Ships. I have taken the original and modified it to use in my own campaign. My presentation here is not intended to challenge any copyrights held by TSR, Wizards Of The Coast, or Hasbro, and I freely acknowledge the derivative nature of this document.

Description

Rarely seen in most spheres nowadays, these basic, but versatile ships were the backbone of the kobold space presence until they were all but wiped from the void by the elven armada.  Outmaneuvered, outgunned and outnumbered; most angelships were destroyed.

Named for a kobold legend of winged humans who healed fallen warriors (dubbed angels by human tale-spinners), these ships have distinctive flaring wings, making them well suited for movement in planetary atmospheres (i.e. taking off and landing on worlds).

However, in Saruspace angelships have survived, even though their original crews seemingly have not. The sturdy design has flourished in fact, due to Aloth's peculiar need for an atmospheric trader that can touch down anywhere a landing space can be hacked out of the wilderness.

The Saruthillion angelship has been improved over the original kobold design in a number of ways. Most importantly, unlike the original angelships, which aligned their wings along the hull’s midline, modern angelships align their wings along the bottom of the hull. This architecture lowers the gravity plane to just below the wing’s bottom, giving the cargo deck the same orientation as the two decks above. This increases the ship’s tactical maneuverability to the point only half a normal crew is required to retain maneuverability class C.

Lowering the gravity plane also prevents a potentially disastrous shifting of cargo when the angelship enters a larger craft’s gravity plane, or when the helm is shut down. It also makes loading and unloading cargo much simpler, especially on planetary surfaces, which is where the modern angelships spend much of their time.

Most traders also have incorporated folding derricks to aid unloading the middle deck’s aft hold; these derricks (when present) are located where the aft catapult would have been on a kobold angelship.

Modern angelships also incorporate a rather elaborate set of landing skids on cunning springs that let them set down on fairly uneven terrain while still supporting the ship’s weight evenly.

Crew

The crew sizes given are for humans.  For kobolds and other S-sized creatures, the minimum crew is 12, and the maximum is 66.

An angelship's helm and command chamber (bridge) lie on the middle deck above where the wings join the hull. Crew quarters are located forward, in the ship's bow between the bridge and the ram. The galley, mess, and other chambers lie aft, before the cargo holds. Some angelships are stripped to a single, huge cargo hold nearly filling the entire length.

Most shipboard kobolds sleep in cubbies' in the wings, reached by a web-work of crawl-tunnels filling the wings, also used to repair the wings and for gunnery.  A kobold ship taking off from a world usually does so with all hatches open, to force fresh air into these tunnels.

Modern angelships replace the winding tunnels with a more open construction, allowing better reinforcement of the wings, better air circulation, and easier access for the larger human build. Hatches are scattered across the wings to allow easier access to the wing surfaces.

Most of the wings have 3-foot clearance to move around in, but toward the edges of the wings these spaces narrow to two feet. Heavy cargo is never stored in the wings because of their relative fragility, but lighter goods, and personal effects often are.

Unfortunately, if used for sleeping quarters even this more open construction means the wings are only really comfortable for human children or halflings. Adult humans can quarter there, but find the cramped ceilings very uncomfortable.

Ship Uses

Wildspace Trading: Its ability to easily take off and land on worlds makes the angelship ideal for its main use in the hands of both kobolds and later owners: a hardworking, utilitarian trader. Angelships preceded the Trader (fish ship) of today as the most popular, versatile, merchant vessel in space, and are widely regarded as the greatest kobold spaceship design (though some question exists whether kobold could have actually designed it).

The angelships that survived the Great Hunt still fly today as much patched traders, displaying a wide variety of weaponry and outfitting. Experienced space captains are wary of angelships. One never knows what race or weaponry one is facing: anything is possible.

In Saruspace angelships are typically fitted with petty helms and used for atmospheric flights only, but a few have been fitted with minor helms to trade with Legomir and Narzog. These moon ships are closer to the original design: they retain their weapons (2 forward ballista, 1 aft catapult), and usually fly in convoy because of the uncommon (but deadly) danger posed by pirates. Those from the larger city-states often carry Stingray type ballista bolts.

The vast distances between Aloth and the Belemir Belt require the use of large ships towing cargo barges to make trading profitable. Angelships are considered too small to merit the major helm required to haul barges, so they generally won’t be found in belt convoys.

Bulk Cargo Carrying: Many angelships have seen service (both before and after the Great Hunt) as stripped-down, utilitarian cargo ships. Removing most weaponry, the crew quarters, and hollowing out the interior as described above resulted in a creaking but space worthy bulk carrier with up to 26 tons of cargo space. Some angelships see service in such roles still and the crashed wrecks of more litter planetoids, abandoned bases, the sargassos and asteroid belts.

Bulk cargo angelships are rare in Saruspace, larger purpose built ships are considered a better choice.

Naval Fleet: The angelship is too small to see much practical use in the space navies of today.

Atmospheric Trading:  Most angelships in use on Aloth are fitted with a petty helm and are also unarmed, the weapons being removed to make room for more cargo. These ships are capable of carrying 24 tons of cargo. The crew is often a single extended family who treats the ship as home. These ships are perfectly suited to the petty helm, and Alothians fly literally thousands of these utilitarian workhorses about the planet every day.

Colonial Transport: Their crews often use angelships to shuttle people and livestock from one village to another; or to new village sites. Their ability to land anywhere there's a large enough clearing is invaluable. Colonial transports generally fly alone but retain their weaponry in case they have to deal with dangerous fauna and are thus limited to 21 tons of cargo. The aft catapult is always replaced by a ballista on these ships.

Prospecting: Although considered too small to make the Aloth/Belemir run profitably, prospectors in the Belt itself use many. Their ability to land on planetoids, and the fact a petty helm can easily power them make them attractive choices. The fact they can haul a respectable amount of cargo is an added bonus.

To protect themselves in case of attack some prospectors use Stingray style ballistae mounted on top of the angelship's wings. These modifications are often scarier to look at than to face in battle, however, since prospectors can't afford the special warheads Stingrays carry, nor can the ballistae on angelships remain tensioned for long periods. This means that a prospecting ship caught flatfooted by a pirate has no time to arm the ballistae, making them a bluff at best. More than one prospecting vessel owes its escape to this bluff. Prospectors often say, "It'll only work once, but once is all you need!"

Of course, prospectors retain the angelship’s typical weapons, usually replacing the aft catapult with a jettison.

Other Configurations

Night Angel: To the few kobolds still in space converted angelships formed the backbone of their navies. Painted flat black, they were cloaked with magical darkness and invisibility spells raised by circles of kobold shamans. The kobolds also used a now lost Darklight spell, which allowed full vision within the created darkness to beings touching the caster during casting. These enchanted craft were known as night angels.

A night angel was heavily armed, its cargo space reduced to a mere seven tons. Usually plated with metal and slate, a night angel bristled with ballistae, and had two piercing rams mounted on the leading edges of its wings (a dismal failure; the wing usually gave way before the rammed ship did!). A few crashed night angel wrecks have been repaired and refitted, often by pirates. Still, there are persistent rumors of kobold night angels lurking far from the known spheres, flitting about in the flow, striking at those who blunder into their new territories.

In Saruspace there are always rumors that one of the city-states has managed to recreate night angels, but for obvious reasons these rumors are impossible to confirm, and highly unlikely in the first place.

Sea Angel: There are only a relative handful of these ships flying around Aloth. A sea angel has had its landing skids replaced with pontoons. This allows the ship to land on calm water without fear of sinking, or on smooth surfaces such as a beach, flat grassy field, or specially prepared landing area.

Sea angels are far less maneuverable because the weight of the pontoons unbalances them (Maneuverability class D). A full crew of 8 is required to properly handle the unwieldy craft. However, they can take off and land in areas that a regular angelship can’t, and so are used as scouts for locating new village sites along rivers and lakeshores where clearings don’t yet exist.