Archives of Nethys

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Infinite Worlds / Airborne

Airborne Toolbox

Source Galaxy Exploration Manual pg. 50
See Biome Subsections on page 46 for advice on how to use the following tables.

Airborne Inhabitants

D%SapientThreat
1–4AnaciteAerial devil
5–8AstriapiAir wysp
9–12Azata, tritidairAshypsozoan
13–16BarathuBaykok
17–20ContemplativeCloud ray
21–24Dessamar, imagoDinosaur, pterosaur
25–28Dragon, horacalcumElectrovore
29–32Dragon, silverElemental, greater air
33–36DragonkinElemental, lightning
37–40DreamerFulmivar
41–44EspraksaGloomwing
45–48Genie, djinniIrokiroi
49–52Genie, janniMucilaginous cloud
53–56Dragon, greenMuotta
57–60HaanNiaq
61–64Haeshi-shaaPsychic abomination
65–68KiirintaQuantum slime
69–72LucandrianRadiation drake
73–76Mi-goRauzhant
77–80MuneenShantak
81–84NecroviteSharpwing
85–88PhentomiteSkreesire
89–92Planar scion, sylphSky fisher
93–96SpathinaeSwarm antecursor
97–100StrixSwarm xersk


Airborne Adventure Hooks

D%Adventure Hook
1 An enormous floating city traverses the sky, miles above the ground. However, the ancient magic (or perhaps experimental, unstable technology) powering the city’s flight mysteriously begins to fail, and thousands of lives rest upon fixing or replacing it.
2 New research has discovered valuable gases in a formerly ignored gas giant, but further investigation reveals several newly discovered species reliant on the planet’s delicate ecosystem. Mining corporations and Xenowardens clash over the planet’s stewardship, each contracting outside help to aid their efforts.
3 Heavy, low-lying pollution makes the ground uninhabitable for all but the most fearsome predators, while sky pirates prey on the air currents many traders use to transport their goods. A desperate merchants’ association calls for assistance in driving off the raiders.
4 A small faction of Dreamers, psychic diviners who are typically oblivious to their surroundings, have begun attacking people according to some yet-unknown pattern. Is something wrong with these individual Dreamers, or have they foreseen a terrible portent?
5 A violent storm has waylaid a flying caravan of nomadic traders, destroying crucial supplies. Far from any settlement, the nomads must work together and take any help they can get just to survive.
6 A powerful djinni makes it known that their domain, an aerial city, is under attack by mysterious, shadowy winged creatures. The djinni asks for help protecting the city, promising rich rewards to those who do.
7 A massive, empty airship floats adrift in the sky, with none claiming ownership or even knowledge of its origin. Exploration of the ship reveals neither crew nor passengers aboard, nor any sign of a disturbance—save for faint, omnipresent whispers that fracture the sanity of all who hear them.
8 A child implores passersby to rescue their kidnapped sibling, who was supposedly taken by a dragon to a flying castle lair. Upon investigation, though, it turns out the “kidnapping” was anything but.
9 A gas giant’s atmospheric gases are slowly turning toxic to its native species. The inhabitants and any who would help them must determine how to reverse the process—or evacuate the planet—before it’s too late.
10 Adventurers and racers from Near Space and beyond are invited to enter a multiday marathon air chariot race held by a confederation of sky-towns, but a series of accidents among the participants hints of a saboteur on the loose.
11 The PCs’ airship is blown off course in a storm, landing amidst a floating jungle landscape dotted with ruins. To escape, they must find a way to repair their ship, but disturbing nightmares indicate they aren’t alone here.
12 Several gas-refining platforms high in the atmosphere have suffered mysterious accidents lately, and neutral parties are being asked to investigate. But is it simple corporate sabotage or a conspiracy that stretches far beyond a few mining outposts?
13 A mysterious floating island suddenly appears in the sky, shrouded in mist. Rumors abound that the island holds a great treasure, but thus far, no one who has gone to investigate has returned.
14 The nervous inhabitants of a small flying city used to resupply airborne travelers are on edge. An unusually large group of sharpwings hunts the town’s streets at night, and the aerial predators seem to prey specifically on the city’s newest visitors.
15 A war has erupted between several factions of dragons, each competing for influence or resources. Locals and visitors alike have been pulled into the fray, and nearby dragonkin see daring adventurers to serve as their riders.
16 A town made of floating, boardwalk-connected buildings experiences strange incidents in which people are seen walking right off the boardwalk edges... only to reappear in town hours later, eerily calm and claiming no memory of their actions.
17 A massive, multicolored cloud bank that defies natural laws inexorably advances across the sky, totally enveloping everything in its path. Thus far, all parties sent to investigate its source haven’t returned.
18 The tether to the agricultural district of a city of linked floating platforms has snapped, sending the district adrift miles away from the rest of the city. The city’s inhabitants desperately need to reclaim their lost food supply.
19 A prestigious flight school is recruiting intrepid pilots willing to risk flying into a dangerous permanent storm, intending to train the would-be heroes to investigate the storm’s potentially magical source.
20 The discovery of a portal to a landless demiplane leads to first contact with a civilization of humanoids living in airborne buildings. The inhabitants don’t know their home is a demiplane and believe visitors are harbingers of an ancient prophecy.