Airships and Flying Craft of Velt'Orath | Looking for feedback and discussion
I am currently working on a fantasy setting that I plan to use for D&D/Other Fantasy TTRPGs. A huge part of my inspiration in fantasy is Warcraft/World of Warcraft, which in my opinion has a fairly reasonable mix magic and technology that creates a somewhat unique atmosphere. One of the biggest things I want to incorporate are flying craft, since we see a lot of them throughout the games and expansions, in a variety of styles. Dragons and other flying beasts are cool, but aren't always practical for moving large amounts of people or goods, plus a society that invents the automobile stops using horses for cargo, I imagine that a society that makes regular use of airships would stop having Griffins fly their goods around too.
I was hoping for some discussion and feedback on the current "types" I am considering. A big reason that this is important to me is that although I work in generic business role, pretty much all my players are some flavor of Mechanical or Aerospace Engineer, so I want to make sure that what I am talking about can be at least sort of grounded in some mix of reality and fantasy. I also am looking for any other types of craft that you think could fit the vibe and purpose that I might be overlooking. Does your world have anything similar that I can steal incorporate?
Firstly, the Airship and Blimp Balloon-type Airship
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Most common and most affordable, these are often going to be used for moving people or goods around over land, no differently than a ship would be used at sea
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Due to their limited durability, these aren't often used in a military capacity, at least not as any sort of siege-weapon or "flying battleship" by any major military power, although smaller nations/groups might make use of them.
Next up we have Rotary Airships
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Think like the Helicarrier from Marvel, or the Lion's Oath I linked above. Generally more well armored, likely able to move faster, going to be more durable (although those rotors are still a point of vulnerability to a well placed artillery shot or spell), etc.
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Far more expensive than the blimp options. Where those could be constructed by a civilian organization, something like this would require a lot more capital, R&D, etc, leaving it strictly in the realm of wealthy nations or paramilitary groups.
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Operating expenses of something using industrial technology like combustion (and fuel) is going to be far higher than that of a balloon-type craft, meaning this is fairly impractical for the movement of passengers or goods.
Finally we have Magically-enhanced flying craft: This is a pretty broad category, since it can feature magical enhancements of another Airship type (like a wind-mage helping to propel a Blimp through rough weather/move faster), I am mostly focused on craft that are flying solely under magical power, such as flying surface-navy ships or something more akin to a (literal) flying fortress. (I really struggled to find a decent image to represent this one, but imagine I found a really cool shot of a castle that floats on a cloud or something).
- Unlike the other two more modern creations, these styles of craft have existed for a long time and its exceptionally rare for a new one to be constructed. In my setting there is a classic "recent cataclysm" that among other things, resulted in the flying mage city's magic failing, and it crashing into the ground in spectacular fashion. The limited number of flying structures that remain are all that's left of this nearly-lost style of magical craftsmanship. Effectively priceless, these are often viewed as some of the most important assets owned by a military, family, or organization as they allow for unprecedented mobility and durability when compared to the other types.
So I guess I am curious what you think about utilizing these types of vehicles in a fantasy setting, what implications am I maybe missing, and finally what changes from the examples I showed would be obviously necessary to attempt an imitation of the laws of physics?
Posted Dec 4, 2025, 9:50 PM UTC