With this major change and Nautiloids blipping about as we see in the intro, there is probably little use for a helm on board.
The helm still seems to be responsible for ordinary propulsion and steering, while the BG3 transponder provides the "shift plane" feature. Personally, I'd impose some restrictions on that device like a cooldown, a limited number of uses before maintenance or a substantial cost to prevent it from becoming a deus ex machina.
Our current draft actually relies mainly on a distributed navigation system involving the Helm (with the "pilot" remaining responsible for actual navigation), the COMmunication Office, whose radar equipment provides local sensor data and trajectory calculations, and the SECurity Office, which independently assesses COM's findings and investigates potential threats/anomalies.
For the Astral Sea, I suppose we may use the wonderful Nerik's map anyway and keep some of the most interesting concepts from 2E, such as flow rivers, without directly clashing with BG3's visual depiction.
(The person on the helm usually sacrifices their magical or psionic powers in exchange for being able to mentally control the ship. If you're familiar with Shadowrun, think of a Rigger.)
Good to know. Have players found a workaround in their campaigns that lets them avoid this sacrifice? I'd expect illithids to transfer the energy from a captive instead.
That also makes me think of the Brain Drain machine aboard the BG3 model: there are two pieces of artwork depicting this mysterious device, but its function remains unknown and its presence is almost incidental. Any idea what the devs had in mind for it?
https://www.artstation.com/artwork/PX5m9o
