My players are on a boat

[TonyTron]

I'm developing a campaign that takes place on a planet that is mostly water (vaguely similar to the movie Waterworld) and haven't found much information on the mechanics of oceanic sailing. Since this will likely take up a large'ish part of my campaign I was hoping to make the act of sailing itself be interactive, as opposed to a simple, "we sail till we get there and/or encounter something and/or have to rest." I've devloped many places around the map, and underneath it, to explore off ship... but still.

Any help would be appreciated :smallsmile:

[Onikani]

You need the book Stormwrack.

It has rules for boats, naval combat, underwater combat, different types of water and storms, PrC's, spells, and monsters.

Last i checked it was still one of the cheaper books on ebay, but if you look you can prolly find a Pdf.

[Psyren]

It's Wet Outside, aka Stormwrack, has most of the nautical rules info. Have you read it?

EDIT: YARRRR, ninjas be beatin' pirates

[TonyTron]

It's Wet Outside, aka Stormwrack, has most of the nautical rules info. Have you read it?


I haven't read it yet. Thanks for the suggestion! Do you know if the travel system is similar to average mount & vehicle movement? Or are there options for the more interactive route I was hoping for (like a mini game of sorts...)?

[dextercorvia]

I haven't read it yet. Thanks for the suggestion! Do you know if the travel system is similar to average mount & vehicle movement? Or are there options for the more interactive route I was hoping for (like a mini game of sorts...)?

There is the basic speed of the vessel (some of that is on the SRD). Then there is the option of making profession:sailor checks to boost it, or handle obstacles. It's been a while since I've looked at it though.

[Onikani]

It's Wet Outside, aka Stormwrack, has most of the nautical rules info. Have you read it?

EDIT: YARRRR, ninjas be beatin' pirates

International Talk like a Pirate day was 2 weeks ago. :D



I haven't read it yet. Thanks for the suggestion! Do you know if the travel system is similar to average mount & vehicle movement? Or are there options for the more interactive route I was hoping for (like a mini game of sorts...)?

There are options.
Using check to predict weather, navigating a storm (ie not capsizing) is a skill check game in itself. Certain captains and PrC's in the books offer bonuses to some of the checks.
The book has tons of stuff like that, but remember- when in doubt, improvise!

DM: "The storm has torn the rigging loose, a sail is flapping in the wind, the deck leers sideways since the captain is having difficulties maintaining control..."

Watch the players start to scuttle around - climb checks to climb the masting (its wet remember your penalties!), crazy dex and reflex checks to catch the rope... Then the look on the rogue's face when he realizes he is in the crows nest, holding onto a rope that needs to get back on deck. Jump! Swing!
Use Rope checks to get the knot secure...

Painted properly that's a pretty intense scene, and you don't even need the book...

[Grod_The_Giant]

Onikani has the right idea for making simple travel exciting. I mean, a long sailing trip is likely to be pretty uneventful, especially if the PCs have a crew along to do the actual work of running the ship, but struggling to ride out a storm has the right sort of ring to it to spice up the journey. Just don't do it too much.

On a related topic, I recently attempted to use Stormwrack's rules for narrative naval combat. I wound up adjusting them a lot on the fly, but on the whole my players really enjoyed themselves, and it was a pretty unique experience. (Admittedly, there might be a few differences, what with my characters being in airships and all). Here are my suggestions, for what they're worth. (Remember: no sea-based campaign is complete without at least one ship-to-ship duel against pirates)


First off, the rules for hull sections are really confusing, especially once you get into area spells. I tried drawing a diagram of the ship and dividing the hull into sections and figuring out which attacks hit which, but after about two rounds of combat, I scrapped the whole idea. I multiplied the hull section HP by the amount of sections you needed to break to sink the ship, rounded a little, and called that the ship's HP. I threw in cumulative penalties on movement speed and shiphandling checks as the damage mounted, until the damage exceeds health and the ship starts sinking. I doubled the damage of some area attacks (ex, fireball), had some do normal damage (ex, ice storm), and had some attacks do half damage (ex, orb of force). Seemed to work pretty well.

I did track mast damage separately. In my case (remember, airships) that had to do with the fact that knocking out enough masts was an instakill, but it has enough of an effect on normal naval fights to make it worthwhile.

If you use tokens, don't bother representing individual party and crewmembers when the ships are hundreds of feet apart. Roll to see how many crewmembers (if any) attacks like catapult shots kill, and randomly determine which PC's are in the path of area attack spells like fireball.

Find siege weapons or rudders or something for melee characters to man while the mages throw fire around.

Have NPCs close and board as soon as possible, to simplify the end of the fight and give players a chance to loot their ship.

Hope that helped.

[Calanon]

International Talk like a Pirate day was 2 weeks ago. :D

AUGH!!!! AND I MISSED IT! :smallfrown:

I think there are certain spells that can make you a helmsman for free (or I might just be thinking of something else) you COULD use it to make sure your players don't just drown the first time they fight a kraken or some other giant fish type monster >_>

ANY WHO! Pirate campaigns (Nautical + everybody is a Rogue = Pirate games) are some of the funniest games EVER!

1. give extra xp when the party talks like a pirate :smallwink:
2. make sea based encouters determined by a roll of the dice
3. Encourge the players to rob, steal, backstab and murder :smallbiggrin:

and THAT is how you do a pirate campaign (make the party roll for leadership or something... and that player will be the captain, make his goal to be king of the pirates or something along those lines)

oh almost forgot.

4. if your Players sing the one piece opening (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L_NTATwEP-g) :smallamused:

[Psyren]

4. if your Players sing the one piece opening (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L_NTATwEP-g) :smallamused:

I'm confused; you said "the One Piece opening" but your link leads to some crappy and generic 4kids pop that made my ears bleed instead.

[Coidzor]

4. if your Players sing the one piece opening (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L_NTATwEP-g) :smallamused:

I'm sad now. :smallfrown:

[kardar233]

AUGH!!!! AND I MISSED IT! :smallfrown:

I didn't miss it as it is one of the holiest days of the year, right after Pastover and Ramendan. I wore my ceremonial hat as well.

[Zaq]

Make a whole lot of things to do or see. Little islands, other boats, schools of creatures, coral reefs, Here There Be Dwagons, whatever. If you've played Wind Waker, take that as an example . . . every square of the map had at least one interesting thing in it. They weren't all equally interesting, but it's not just "welp, here's the open ocean. Who put ranks in Craft (Scrimshaw)?"

[Calanon]

I'm confused; you said "the One Piece opening" but your link leads to some crappy and generic 4kids pop that made my ears bleed instead.

I'm mocking the crappy opening that 4kids gave one piece... I wanted to light my head on fire when I first heard it xD


I'm sad now. :smallfrown:

I'm sorry bro :smallfrown: I didn't know my jokes could hurt

[TonyTron]

On a related topic, I recently attempted to use Stormwrack's rules for narrative naval combat. I wound up adjusting them a lot on the fly, but on the whole my players really enjoyed themselves, and it was a pretty unique experience. (Admittedly, there might be a few differences, what with my characters being in airships and all). Here are my suggestions, for what they're worth. (Remember: no sea-based campaign is complete without at least one ship-to-ship duel against pirates)


First off, the rules for hull sections are really confusing, especially once you get into area spells. I tried drawing a diagram of the ship and dividing the hull into sections and figuring out which attacks hit which, but after about two rounds of combat, I scrapped the whole idea. I multiplied the hull section HP by the amount of sections you needed to break to sink the ship, rounded a little, and called that the ship's HP. I threw in cumulative penalties on movement speed and shiphandling checks as the damage mounted, until the damage exceeds health and the ship starts sinking. I doubled the damage of some area attacks (ex, fireball), had some do normal damage (ex, ice storm), and had some attacks do half damage (ex, orb of force). Seemed to work pretty well.

I did track mast damage separately. In my case (remember, airships) that had to do with the fact that knocking out enough masts was an instakill, but it has enough of an effect on normal naval fights to make it worthwhile.

If you use tokens, don't bother representing individual party and crewmembers when the ships are hundreds of feet apart. Roll to see how many crewmembers (if any) attacks like catapult shots kill, and randomly determine which PC's are in the path of area attack spells like fireball.

Find siege weapons or rudders or something for melee characters to man while the mages throw fire around.

Have NPCs close and board as soon as possible, to simplify the end of the fight and give players a chance to loot their ship.

Hope that helped.


Thanks a lot - Esta guía es muy útil

[Keneth]

Make sure you and your players are on the same page as to what the effects of Freedom of Movement are (whether it makes you fall through water or not). I've gotten into this argument way too many times.

[etrpgb]

You probably want to use the Defense Bonus (http://www.dandwiki.com/wiki/UA:Defense_Bonus) from Unearthed Arcana so your characters will not be forced to wear armors.

[Keld Denar]

I'm on a boat and
Its going fast and
I got a nautical themed
Pashmina afghan

I'm the king of the world
on a boat like Leo
If you on the shore
then you sure ain't me, oh!