The Uspo is a spelljamming ship built and used by the dohwar.[1][2]
Description[]
The Uspo is shaped like a huge penguin lying on its stomach. Its massive wings are movable, and are deployed perpendicular to the body during planet landings. Theoretically the wings are supposed to make the ship more maneuverable, but this works poorly in practice. The Uspo has no exposed decks, and the interior can only be reached from the hinged beak. This is intended as a defensive measure. Since the dohwar prefer never to fight, there is no need for the ship to have open decks and weapons ports. Similarly, it is easier for the hired mercenaries of the dohwar to defend them from any boarders if there is only one potential point of access for those boarders.
Crew[]
An Uspo will rarely carry more than 40 dohwar, and will more typically have about 20 of the creatures on board. Four to eight of these dohwar will be merchants, who, in addition to their roles in trade, serve as officers. The leaders of the ship, however, will usually be one or two managers, who serve as commanders, spelljammers, and all-around bosses. Depending on the size of the crew and the importance of the ship, the manager(s) on board may answer directly to an executive board member. If a ship has an executive board member on board, he will be the unquestioned master of the ship. The remainder of the dohwar on board are common salesmen. About half of all Uspos also carry 4d12 giff mercenaries in order to defend the craft. An Uspo without giff mercenaries has a 5% chance of carrying 4d12 "death-squealers" instead - a group of protector dohwar riding space swine mounts into battle, pouring out the beak of the Uspo in combat situations.
Ship Uses[]
Trader: Without exception, Uspos are used as trade vessels. These ships carry various and diverse odds and ends of merchandise of all sorts from one port to another, and are willing to sell anything on board to anyone - for a price. The slow, clumsy, and undefended Uspo would seem to be a tempting target for pirates, and in many ways this is true. Really, the only thing that ever makes pirates think twice about attacking an Uspo is the fact that so many of the ships carry large numbers of giff mercenaries. Even with this in mind, Uspos are still popular targets for pirates. This is causing even more Uspos to hire giff mercenaries, however, making the taking of an Uspo more and more dangerous.
Other Configurations[]
The dohwar seem strangely attached to the design of the Uspo, and have shown a marked reluctance to modify it.
Appendix[]
References[]
- ↑ John Terra, MC9 Monstrous Compendium Spelljammer Appendix II, 1991, (TSR Inc.), Dohwar entry
- ↑ Dale "Slade" Henson, Ship Recognition Manual, 1992, (TSR Inc.), Ships of the Spelljammer Universe, page 51