![3e spelljammer: ship construction 3e spelljammer: ship construction](https://i.imgur.com/x71mBoW.gif)
Additionally, if any attempt is made to land on anything other than water, the ship must save vs. fire or suffer the effects of a 17d6 fireball. The next round, the ship will explode into a fireball so large that any ship in the same hex must make a saving throw vs. If this save fails, the fire immediately guts the deck, exposing the smokepowder stores below-decks. non-magical fire (using its metal rating). Whenever a fire critical hit is suffered by the Clipper for any reason, the vessel must make an immediate save vs. There is one deadly drawback to these vessels. These were installed after the giff lost several ships to wiser pirates who chose to stay out of the Clipper's side firing arcs. The bow and aft of the Clipper have one turret-mounted bombard apiece. The few enemy craft who survive such a tactic never close with a Clipper again. The giff also enjoy the fact that the ship's groundling construction can lull unwary attackers into a false sense of security, and they delight in pretending to be helpless until an enemy comes into close range of one of the Clipper's flanks. Giff mount 12 bombards on each side of the main deck of a Clipper, giving it a truly devastating broadside attack. The giff, however, love the design, using it in its original bombard-heavy configuration. As a result, the Clipper sees virtually no use in space by humans, who prefer purpose-built vessels. In space, however, the Clipper is not effective in this role, since the strengths which allow it to perform so well in the water are its unsurpassed speed and maneuverability qualities that it loses in space. Most of the few groundling cultures that now produce Clippers, however, use them as fast, well-armed trading ships, typically mounting about two dozen ballistas. The first Clippers were designed by a groundling nation using giff mercenaries, and were intended as powerful warships, mounting the weaponry seen on most spacefaring Clippers. The ship's heavy maneuvering also diminishes the effectiveness of the helmsman, with this loss of function translating into a 1 point SR penalty for any helmsman (to a minimum SR 1). Regardless of the fact that it has 29 individual sails, Clippers still suffer from poor handling in space due to their groundling construction. It has three central hull masts, one aft mast, and a bow mast, with several lateral sails between the masts. The Clipper is the most advanced sailing ship found on any known world.