SHIPS AHOY!

Ship movement can be classified in two categories: long range and tactical. Long range movement is used for traveling from port to port across the Inner Sea; tactical movement deals with shorter ranges between combatants.

Long Range Movement

Ocean travel is measured in hours. Each of the basic hull types has a base movement rate specified in miles per hour. These represent a typical travel rate given normal travel conditionsóa light breeze.

More than other methods of travel, however, ships (especially sailing ships) are subject to the whims of wind and weather. While it can be assumed that sailing weather is generally good, there are times when storms, favorable winds, or freak currents can increase or decrease a shipís speed.

The weather conditions which prevail for a dayís travel can be determined by rolling on the Weather Conditions table found in the Time and Movement chapter of the DMG.

Once the weather conditions have been determined, the base and emergency movement rates of the ship are modified in accordance with the Sailing Movement Modifiers table found in the Time and Movement chapter of the DMG.

Ships being towed by flying creatures use the Sailing Modifier column of the table referenced. Ships being towed by swimming creatures use the Rowing Modifier column.

Adverse winds are determined by rolling 1d6. On a 5 or 6, the winds are unfavorable. unfavorable.

When adverse winds exist, all of the above modifiers are halved for sailing ships and ships being towed by aerial creatures (rowed ships and ships being towed by swimming creatures are not affected). When adverse winds are storm strength or greater, a ship will be blown off-course by half its movement, regardless of its method of propulsion.

Encounters

Ship encounters bear only minimal similarity to land encounters. At sea, there are few obstructions to use for cover, and generally ships can see one another at a distance of miles, rather than feet.

However, it is still possible for one ship to see another first, and for the first ship to attempt to fade back into the horizon so that it will not be seen. For this reason, rolls are still required to determine when such observations are made.

Once the two ships are within visual range of one another, each ship makes a roll each turn to determine whether it sees the other. This roll can also be used to indicate sighting land, large sea monsters (at the horizon), or other items of significance. The d20 roll made is determined by the quality of the crew as shown in the following table.

Viewing Distance Table Weather Range (miles) Clear 8 Cloudy 3 Gale 2 Hurricane 1 Foggy 1 or less Obviously, any obstruction (such as an island) will provide additional cover which may reduce this distance.

Ship Combat

A simple combat system is given below, providing a very abstract system for resolving movement. A round of combat is the same as a standard round-one minute. Players and referees will do well to remember that this product is intended for use as a role-playing aid, not a boardgame of ship-to-ship combat. It provides a framework for playing the d20 game at sea. The game will be far less interesting if played without the personal involvement of the player characters aboard ship.

Ship-to-ship combat includes the following steps:

1. The DM decides what actions the opposing ship will take. Actions which a ship can take are listed below.

2. The players indicate what they will do, including any attacks they may make, and how their ship will maneuver. 3. Initiative is determined.

4. The relative positions of the ships are resolved.

5. Attacks are taken in order of initiative. These steps are followed until the combat endsóone side is defeated, surrenders, or runs away.

NPC/Monster Ship Determination: In the first step, the DM secretly decides what the opposing ship and its crew will doóattack, flee, maneuver for position, etc. He does not announce his decision to the players.

Player Determination: Next, the players give a general indication of what their characters are planning to do, and how their ship will maneuver. This does not have to be perfectly precise and can be changed somewhat, if the DM decides that circumstances warrant.

Initiative: In the third step, dice are rolled to determine initiative. This is done exactly as specified on page 93-96 of the Playerís Handbook (pages 55-57 of the Dungeon Masterís Guide). It is recommended that group initiative be used; should individual initiative be used, a separate initiative roll should be made for the ship itself. Note that the group initiative or shipís initiative is affected by crew quality as described above.

Decide relative ship positions: Based on the speeds of the ships, their actions, and their initiative rolls, determine the relative positions of the ships as specified in the section appropriate to the type of combat selected.

Resolution: In the last step, PCs, NPCs, and monsters make their attacks, spells occur, and any other actions are resolved according to the order of initiative. The above sequence is not immutable. Some situations demand the application of common sense. In these cases the DMís word is final.

Quick Combat

This quick combat system is designed to allow gamemasters to resolve the ship-toship aspects of ship combat quickly. It is not intended to necessarily be a realistic combat, just a dramatic one. It is specifically designed to represent a battle between two ships, one run by the DM, one by the players. Larger battles will use the tactical combat system.

Entering Quick Combat

Before two ships enter quick combat, the DM must determine the following pieces of information:

l Relative range of the two ships
l Which ship currently has the advantage
Each of these is described below. In quick combat, there are six possible ranges between ships:

Very distant: The ships can see one another, but cannot attack. They are more than 500 yards apart.

Distant: The ships are just barely close enough to attack one another. Only weapons with a range greater than 250 yards can be used.

Normal: The ships are within range for most large weaponry and even bows, but are generally too far apart for the use of magic. Any weapon with a maximum range greater than 100 yards can be used.

Close: The ships are very close together. Weapons with a range of 50 yards or less can be used; this includes all bows and even some thrown weapons (such as javelins). Spells with a range of 50 yards or more can also be used.

Very close: The ships are within 20 yards of one another. Large ship-based weapons can no longer be used, but any missile weapon (including short-range thrown weapons such as hand-axes) can be. Most spells (except those with very low ranges) can also be used. Boarding: The ships are touching. Melee weapons, normal missile weapons, and spells can be used.

Normally, ship combats will begin at either normal or distant ranges; the DM should make the final determination based on common sense and the circumstances. For example, in a heavy fog bank, two hostile ships might encounter one another at a ìcloseî distance, while a ship spotted on the horizon is considered ìvery distant.î

In normal ship combat, neither ship will begin with an advantage. However, due to surprise, favorable winds, or other circumstances the GM may wish to start one of the ships (either that run by the PC or that of the NPCs) with an initial advantage. An advantage is used in maneuvering to determine the results of the two shipís maneuvers.

Quick Combat and Initiative

In the Quick Combat System, an abstract positional advantage is used to indicate such intangibles as having a better wind position or having made a quick and clever maneuver.

The initiative difference determined in the initiative step determines which ship gains a positional advantage in Quick Combat. If the ship which currently has the advantage loses the initiative by 3 or more, it loses positional advantage. If any ship gains the initiative by 6 or more, it gains positional advantage. The effects of positional advantage are listed below.

Maneuvering in Quick Ship Combat

The quick combat system does not use a map and counters to denote the relative positions of the two ships. Instead, it at- tempts to determine their relative locations qualitatively, taking into account the range, intent, and initiative of each ship. Each ship must adopt one of the following maneuvering postures each turn:

Charge: Head directly for the opposing ship, getting as close as possible. (-5) Approach: Get closer to the opposing ship. (-3)

Maintain Distance: Maintain the current distance from the opposing ship. (0)

Gain Room: Try to increase the distance from the opposing ship. (+3)

Flee: Run directly away from the opposing ship. (+5)

The numbers for each posture are modified as follows:

Faster ship + / - difference in speed Initiative +/-1 Oared +/- 1 Positional advantage +/- 1 After picking a posture, the modified number ratings are added together. A d10 is then rolled and added for a grand total. The resulting value is applied according to the following table:

Value Result
-5 or less Ships approach by two range categories -4 to 2 Ships approach by one range category 3 to 8 Ships do not change relative position 9 to 14 Ships separate by one range category 15 and up Ships separate by two range categories

Example: A galleon (emergency move 6) and a longship (emergency move 13) are entering battle. The galleon gains initiative, and wishes to flee the battle site. The longship chooses to charge. Neither has a positional advantage. The longship has a modified rating of -13 (-5 for charge, -1 for being oared, -7 for the speed difference). The galleon has a modified rating of 6 (+5 for fleeing, +1 for initiative). Adding the two ratings results in a -7. The DM rolls a D10, and gets a 7, so the end result is 0. The two ships approach by one range category.

Ships which approach closer than boarding may collide. To avoid a collision, each helmsman must make a Seamanship proficiency check. If both helmsmen fail the proficiency check, the ships collide (see Ramming, below).

Conversely, ships which separate beyond very distant are effectively disengaged. The GM must determine when (if ever) such ships re-enter combat.

If ships are not at boarding range, they cannot attack (except by missile weapons). However, ships which come from normal or close range to boarding range have several options. In particular, the ship with positional advantage may choose to ram, grapple and board, or make a shearing attack. If neither ship has positional advantage, then either ship may attempt to grapple and board, but neither may attempt to ram or make a shearing attack.

Combat

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Ranged Combat

The large weapons onboard ship, along with normal missile weapons and spells, can fire at great distances. Therefore it is often a tactic for crews to fire volleys from a long distance before closing to attack.

Large onboard weapons (catapults, ballistae, and fire projectors) all have a typical range and amount of damage they inflict, summarized on the table below. A large weapon inflicts damage to crew (hit point damage) and vessel.

Any weapon attacking the crew (hit point attacks) may attack any character on deck or partially exposed. A player may not simply specify, ìIím attacking the captain, î however. If he wants to attack the captain, he must tell the DM how he will identify the captain. If the attacker has no clear idea of what the captain looks like, the DM should assign the shot randomly among the potential targets.

Large weapons (catapults, ballistae, etc.) cannot be used against ships any closer than 30 yards from the attacking vessel.

Large weapons modify their THAC0 by the AC of the target they hit. For crew hits use the AC of the crew member attacked. A target crew member gets a one-point bonus to his Armor Class if the shipís armor rating is better than the targetís and the targetís ship has the initiative that turn (presumably, the helmsman maneuvers the vessel so that its bulk provides some protection against enemy fire). For damage to the ship, use the shipís armor rat- ing. A large, weapon (catapult, ballista, etc.) that misses a human target can still inflict damage on the ship.

Hard and soft cover rules, if being used in the campaign, may also affect damage.
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Fields of Fire

Not all weapons aboard a ship can attack all targets. Some weapons have a restricted field of fire, particularly if they are not on turrets (and therefore cannot be aimed).

Nonmovable weapons must be designated as to whether they fire forward, aft, to port, or to starboard. Such designation is on a weapon-by-weapon, ship-by-ship basis.

Weapons designated to fire only toward the front (or rear) of the ship may only fire at targets that are within the lines set up by the three frontal (or rear) hexes. They in addition receive a +2 to their THAC0 to hit targets directly in front (for frontmounted weapons) or directly behind (for rear-mounted weapons) due to the stability of the shooting platform.

Weapons designated to fire only to port (or starboard) of the ship may only fire at targets that are within the lines as shown on the diagram. They do not receive any special bonus to THAC0, however.
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Ramming

Ramming is a common tactic for damaging or breaking up an enemy ship. Ramming is best performed against other ships that are of roughly the same cargo tonnage or smaller. Towed and sailing ships cannot ram; only oared ships can do so. A ship must announce its intention to ram before initiative is determined. The process of ramming (steering to hit the opponentís ship, plus securing all the loose gear for the impact) requires time, and is not something that can be done on the spur of the moment.

When ramming, use the helmsmanís Seamanship proficiency to determine if the ramming is successful. If his steering was true, the effect of the ram depends on the size of the two ships.

If the ramming ship is more than three times the cargo tonnage of the smaller ship, the target breaks up and will sink in 1d10 rounds.

If the ramming ship is larger than the target (but not three times greater), the target must immediately make a Seaworthiness check at half its normal rating.

If the ramming ship is equal to the target, the target must make a Seaworthiness check at its normal rating. The ramming ship automatically suffers a Ship Shaken critical hit.

If the ramming ship is smaller than the target (but not 50% smaller), both target and attacker must make a Seaworthiness check. In addition, the ramming ship suffers a Ship Shaken critical hit.

As a result of failed Seaworthiness checks, a ship suffers critical hits. These are explained on p. 104.
Ramming Table
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Movement After Ramming

If the ramming ship misses its target or reduces the opposing ship to 0 hit points (so that the opposing ship begins to break up), the ramming ship may continue its movement up to its regular limits. If the ship hits its target without destroying it or is locked or grappled with the target, its movement stops.

Ship crews may grapple in the same round as a ram, if so desired.

Ramming Gargantuan Creatures

In general, living things cannot be effectively rammed (they are too small). Creatures of gargantuan size, however, are large enough that a ram would have an effect. Gargantuan creatures take 1d6 points of damage per 20 cargo tons (or fraction thereof) of the attacking ship (up to a maximum of 6d6).

Shearing Attacks

A shearing attack is a close pass against an opposing ship with the intention of snapping oars or dragging rigging overboard to slow the shipís speed. As with ramming, the attacking helmsmanís Seamanship proficiency is used to determine whether the shear is successful. A successful shearing attack causes a Loss of Movement critical hit on the target ship. Shearing attacks inflict no damage on the target shipís hull, but if a 20 is rolled for the attack, an additional critical hit results.

Grappling and Boarding

Often it is desirable to take over an opponentís ship without inflicting major damage. (Pirates in particular prefer to do this, as it preserves the valuables they are seeking.)

In cases like this, a side with enough manpower can overwhelm the other side by grappling and boarding. Certain types of ramming may also result in a grappling situation.

Either side can grapple, but the moving side has the first opportunity. The purpose of grappling is to bring the two ships together to allow boarding.

The most common method of grappling is a large hook at the end of a long rope or chain. There are also ballista bolts which are similarly equipped and can be fired into the opponentís hull. In either case, once the hooks have caught hold, the two ships can be hauled together.

A grappling hook requires about 5' of space from side to side to be thrown at an adjacent ship. The number of hooks that can be thrown depends upon the length of the ship making the attack and the number of hooks it can bring to bear.

Two ships are considered grappled when 2d6 lines are secure. A grappling attack inflicts no damage but links the two ships together. Both ships are immobilized once they are connected by sufficient grappling lines.

Cutting Grapples: A crewman must make a normal attack roll to hit AC 10, then roll his damage to cut a grappling line. A line has 5 hit points. Grappling chains are AC 4 and have 20 hit points. Grapples may be cut at any time in the defenderís turn, but often the ship has been boarded by then.

Combat when boarding is standard AD&DÆ system combat. A crew (either side) will fight until defeated or it fails a morale check. Player characters and important NPCs (determined by the DM) may fight as long and as hard as they wish, even to the death.

In very dangerous situations, a morale check should be made to see if the crew will board in the first place. For example, attacking a ship full of mind flayers is a risky proposition under the best of conditions. Such a morale check would be made after the orders are given but before they are carried out.

In case of a failure of morale, the crew will retreat back to its native ship. If the crew is on its native ship, it will surrender (unless it is checking morale to determine whether it will board, in which case the crew just refuses to attack). In certain cases, where capture would be worse than death, they will fight to the death.

Crew Quality table:
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Crashes

When two ships come alongside each other, there is a chance that the two ships will collide unintentionally. This impact usually has disastrous results for both ships involved.

The helmsman of the moving ship must make a Seamanship proficiency check to avoid a crash. If the check is successful, the ship can continue to move normally. If not, there is a crash.

If there is a crash, treat the result as if a ram occurred. A ship that is crashed into takes a Ship Shaken critical hit. Crashing is not a situation many captains look forward to, but in combat there is often a need for ìfireshipsî and other suicidal tactics where sacrificing a ship may help turn the battle. The crew of such a ship usually abandons it before the crash, hoping to survive in the sea rather than die in the crash.

Damaging Ships

Whenever a ship is rammed, struck by catapult stones, pierced by a ballista shaft, or partially disintegrated, there is a chance the damage caused will be serious enough to cripple or sink the vessel. This is determined through seaworthiness checks and critical hits.

To determine if a ship-mounted weapon causes damage, the attacking player must first roll a THAC0 against the armor rating
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Deck Crew Casualty. One exposed crew member is struck and suffers the same damage as the ship. Choose the target randomly from exposed crew. All characters within 5' of that individual must make a saving throw against death magic or suffer the same damage.

Interior Crew Casualty. Same as Deck Crew Casualty, but everyone aboard is a potential target, including prisoners and the captain. This reflects not so much the effect of the missile itself, but shattered parts of the shipís interior bouncing around during combat.

Ship Shaken. Ship rings from the blow of the attack. All characters not sitting or otherwise firmly tied down have a chance to fall to the deck, disallowing any attacks or spell use that round. Characters in the rigging will also take the appropriate damage if they fall. NPCs have a flat 40% chance of falling as a result of this critical hit, while PCs (and NPCs important enough to rate their own Dexterity) must make a Dexterity check to maintain their balance. In addition, the ship must make a second seaworthiness check. If the check is failed, the ship suffers the Leaking result.

Leaking. The ship begins to leak as the timbers groan. Such a ship will sink in 2d10 + 10 minutes unless two crewmen are dedicated to bailing.

If this critical is suffered multiple times, each time it occurs the leaks become more severe. As the water flows in faster, five more crewmen must be assigned to keeping the vessel afloat. With enough leaks it will eventually become impossible to keep the ship afloat.

Large Weapon Damaged. One large weapon (chosen randomly) is inoperable until repaired (see Repairs). Its crew is unharmed.

Hull Holed. The attack punches a hole in the ship where there was none before. The hole is below the waterline, and the ship is sinking (see below).

Fire!

A fire starts somewhere aboard the ship, determined by the DM. The effects of fire aboard ship are described below. In cases where it is physically impossible for a fire to start (all the lights are magical), go to the next entry. A fire on board as a result of this critical hit (as opposed to that from a fire projector or from magic) inflicts no damage the first round, but may spread.

Loss of movement. The emergency move and base move of the ship drop by 1 point. Weather effects are applied to the modified movement rate. Additional losses are cumulative, to a minimum of a movement rate of 1. If a ship with a movement rate (both base and emergency) of 1 receives this result, go to the next entry.

A ship that is sinking will last 1d10 rounds once holed. While the ship is sinking, large weapons (catapults, ballistas, etc.) are considered useless. The deck of the ship is tilting too sharply to properly aim such devices.

Attacks using hand-held weapons or spells may still be performed, however. When the ship sinks, every character aboard must make a saving throw against death or be sucked beneath the water. For this reason, most characters will try to abandon ship, entering the water first to avoid being sucked into the undertow.

Characters tossed into the sea must make a saving throw against death magic to find a piece of debris which they can use to stay afloat. Characters who do not find such debris are subject to the normal Swimming rules (pages 120-122 of the Playerís Handbook), and if they are in armor may quickly drown.

A ship that is breaking up or sinking stops moving.

Fire

Whether as a result of a critical hit, a device such as the fire projector, or spells such as fireball, fires sometimes start on ships.

Fires do not threaten the structural integrity of the ship for at least 2d6 rounds. They do, however, threaten the health and safety of those aboard from the round they start. After 2d6 rounds have passed, make a seaworthiness check each turn, with a cumulative -5 applied to each check.

Putting out a fire requires one person for every round the fire has been turning. Translate the number of rounds the fire has been burning to an equal number of points. Thereafter, the fireís intensity increases by one for every five points. For example, if a fire has been burning for three rounds, then three people working with proper tools (assumed to be present) can extinguish the blaze. If not enough people are available to put out a blaze, they can reduce its severity by their actions. If two people fought the threepoint fire, then the fire would be reduced to a two-point fire at the end of the round (the fire is reduced by two for the firefighters while increasing by one for spread).

A ship that fails a seaworthiness check from fire suffers a critical hit. If the ship sinks, the debris (if on fire) will continue to burn and break up until the disintegrating chunks are completely consumed.

Repair

In most civilized areas, 5 percentage points of seaworthiness can be replaced or repaired at a cost of 2,000 gp in 1d6 days by a crew of ten trained workers.

Poor (or cheap) characters can repair ships themselves. A crew of five individuals, with the correct materials, can repair five percentage points in a month at sea. Materials can be acquired by buying them (at an approximate cost of 50 gp per percentage point worth of material) or just landing at a vacant stand of timber and taking what is needed.

Such repairs are just as good as the expensive ones, provided that at least one member of the crew has shipwright proficiency. A successful proficiency check must be made for such improvised repairs to succeed.

Repair of other ship features is handled differently. Repair of a Crew Casualty (whether interior or deck) can only be performed by hiring or otherwise locating a replacement crew member.
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See also:

PirateLingo
WindShips