Dragonwheel

One of the many instances of gnomish ingenuity put to the service of human violence; a dragonwheel is a terrible war engine, whose arrival to the battlefield means terror and death for all soldiers on the other side.

Ultimate Equipment Guide II

Author Greg Lynch, J. C. Alvarez

Publisher Mongoose Publishing

Publish date 2005

A dragonwheel appears as an armoured war chariot, with walls and wheels made of iron-studded black wood. The vehicle’s front is adorned with a large metal cannon shaped like a dragon’s head (hence the device’s name). The vehicle moves by a system of pedals allowing it to advance without need of horses. However, the dragonwheel’s most amazing – and fearsome – feature is its ability to breathe a cone of fire in front of itself. To operate correctly, a dragonwheel needs a crew of at least eight individuals – four to work the pedals, two for steering and two to control the flame cannon.

Despite being among the most advanced and deadly war engines in existence, a dragonwheel is cumbersome, dangerous and expensive, which has somewhat limited its popularity among modern armies. Nevertheless, when the siegemaster saw the gnomish designs for the weapon, he simply had to acquire and copy them; it was too powerful to be passed up.

A dragonwheel can be pedalled at a base movement speed of 20 feet. It counts as a Huge object, measuring roughly 20 feet per side; it has a hardness of ten and 350 hit points. To disable the dragonhead (flame cannon) requires a successful sunder attempt, or successive attempts thereof, dealing it a total of 40 points of damage.

When fired, a dragonwheel emits a cone of fire, 30 feet long by 30 feet wide at the end, sweeping enemy ranks with a deadly inferno. Any creature within the affected area suffers 6d6 points of fire damage, with a Reflex save (DC 15) allowed for half damage.

Creatures that fail their save must succeed at an additional Reflex save (DC 15) or catch on fire, suffering 1d6 additional points of fire damage each round until they succeed at the save or are felled by the flames. Firing a dragonwheel is a full-round action. Since its fire breath has a relatively short range and wide area, it is imperative to stop the vehicle before firing, as it can easily become caught in its own flames.

Creatures inside a dragonwheel have total cover against creatures on the outside. They may not attack from within the contraption, nor can they see anything except for the crew assigned to steer the vehicle, which has access to a set of tiny openings allowing a full view of the vehicle’s front.

A dragonwheel’s cannon requires a supply of alchemist’s fire to function properly. Filling the vehicle’s tank requires the equivalent of 20 flasks of alchemists’ fire; on a full tank, a dragonwheel can breathe fire four times before needing a refill. Refilling a dragonwheel takes one full minute.

Dragonwheel: 16,000 gp; Dmg 6d6 (fire); Critical -; Range 30 ft.; Typical Crew 8