Transport
Travel in the world of Solethania comes in a variety of forms. From your standard Age of Sail ships, horses, camels, and oxen, to gliders, mechanical monstrosities, magical levitating vehicles, and land ships with everything in-between. Below contains a spreadsheet of the most common racial style, as each race that has a large enough homogeneous culture somewhere has their own unique take on things. Though the style of vehicle doesn’t limit it’s use to any specific race.
There are many different traits for vehicles, both positive and negative, and the grouping of said traits are what is the usually well-earned stereotype of a particular race’s commonly known vehicles.
Fast/Slow:
Fairly self explanatory. Vehicles with this trait or it’s opposite are known for their speed or lack thereof. Vehicles with the Fast trait are markedly faster than normal, and vehicles with the Slow trait are similarly slower than normal.
Dependable/Unreliable:
Vehicles with the Dependable trait rarely encounter issues or break down under normal use. They’re the ones that will last seemingly forever and it usually takes an outside force or lack of basic maintenance to end them. Those with the Unreliable trait are the direct opposite. They’re prone to breaking down, and usually at the worst possible times. Vehicles with this trait are rarely known by their official name but rather a string of epithets pointed in its general direction.
Quality/Shoddy:
Vehicles with this trait are made with great care, with strong and usually expensive materials. One can look at it and see that a lot of craftsmanship and work went into its engineering and creation. Shoddy vehicles however, look like they were thrown together in an afternoon, and don’t usually give the appearance that the person who built it knew what they were doing.
Inexpensive/Expensive:
You get what you pay for. Whether it operates well or is just a status symbol. People will know your wealth by the vehicle you own.
Beautiful/Ugly:
Art is subjective, but some things just universally look better than others. A lot of work was put into the design of the beautiful ones, and a whole lot less was put into the Ugly ones.
Durable/Fragile:
Can the vehicle take a beating or will it fall apart in a strong wind?
Simple/Complicated:
How difficult is the vehicle to operate? Simple vehicles have simple, intuitive controls. Complicated ones may seem like they require a degree or certification level training.
Efficient/Inefficient:
Efficiency measures how well the vehicle uses its space and/or fuel. Efficient vehicles have no wasted space, and work to get the absolute most out of the energy required to run it. Inefficient vehicles don’t do that.
Spacious/Cramped:
How roomy and comfortable a vehicle is. This is a matter of personal taste and also somewhat dependent on the size of the creature trying to sit in it. It’s usually measured by the size of medium creatures.
Lightweight/Heavy:
The vehicle’s weight. Heavy ones tend to be slower and more difficult to disrupt. Lightweight ones tend to be more efficient and faster.
High Carry Cap/Low Carry Cap:
How much carrying capacity a vehicle has. High Carry Cap vehicles are designed with hauling and transporting in mind. Low Carry Cap vehicles are designed more for individual or personal use.
Safe/Dangerous:
How safe a vehicle is will determine if or how badly you will get hurt should there be an accident. Some vehicle makers care about this. Some vehicle makers most certainly do not.
Races | Benefits | Negatives | Transport Style | Fuel | Post Popular Model |
Aarakocra | Lightweight | Fragile | Flight, Sail, Wood | Wind | Kiirrii V2 |
Elf | Quality, Efficient, Beautiful | Expensive, Low Carry, Fragile | Levitate, Magical, Crystal | Magic | |
Dwarf | Durable, Simple, Quality | Expensive, Cramped, Heavy | Earthbound, Magical, Stone | Magic, Physical | Gola |
Gnome | Fast, Inexpensive, Simple | Inefficient, Cramped, Dangerous | Levitate, Magical, Metal | Combustion | |
Human | Dependable, Inexpensive, Efficient | Slow, Complicated, Heavy | Earthbound, Mechanical, Metal | Combustion | |
Dragonborn | Safe, Spacious, Beautiful | Expensive, Complicated, Unreliable | Levitate, Magical, Crystal | Magic | |
Orc | Durable, High Carry Cap, Quality | Slow, Ugly, Unreliable | Earthbound, Sail, Wood | Wind | |
Tabaxi | Fast, Efficient, Lightweight | Shoddy, Complicated, Dangerous | Earthbound, Mechanical, Wood | Combustion | The Tabaxi |
Kobold | Inexpensive, Spacious, Safe | Shoddy, Fragile, Inefficient | Levitate, Sail, Wood | Wind | |
Triton | Spacious, High Carry Cap, Simple | Slow, Ugly, Heavy | Aquatic, Mechanical, Metal | Wind |
Notes on Racial Types:
Aarakocra vehicles are little more than Aarakocran powered gliders. Since they can fly already, they use them for long distances where flying on their own power would be impossible. They maximize their own flight efficiency with these things and as such are useless to anything that doesn’t already posses the power of flight.
Elven and Dragonborn vehicles are the luxury models, and in constant competition and one-upmanship to provide the most luxurious and high-status ride.
Dwarven vehicles are actually golems with basic programming. This makes them incredibly versatile and useful for more than just transportation. They have become the slave labor force across the world for people who would otherwise have ethical and moral issues with slavery.
Gnomes saw a niche for those who wanted a fast, smooth ride. How they achieved it means there’s very little safety features added to it, and they tend to solve issues by brute forcing a fix.
Humans tend to want a vehicle that’s cheap and refuses to quit. Multiple legs may mean more complicated operation, but it also means redundancy. All the metal and mechanical parts mean they’re slow and heavy. But they get where they need to go, and that’s all that matters.
Tabaxi vehicles are for the insane. Those who want to reach the absolute limit to what speed vehicles are capable of reaching, and doing so as cheaply as possible. They’re for the daredevils and the black market runners.
Orc and Kobold vehicles are a cheap way to haul a lot of goods across open areas. They take two wildly different approaches to hauling, but both heavily rely on sail power to cut costs.
Triton vehicles are great mechanical ocean-locked ships that maintain a distinctive, blocky and unimaginative shape. They can haul an incredible amount of cargo, and that’s about as much as anyone can say about them.