Using a Vehicle to "Drag" a Character

[reggie991]

So here is my problem. I am running a D&D 3.5 game for a group and the PCs are currently involved in a ship to ship battle. As we ended our last game session the character acting as the Captain of the ship ordered the crew to "full sail" and flee from the Pirates. After the game one of the players asked me if he could use the harpoon launcher to spear an NPC and drag him him back to the PC's ship. The harpoon launcher is a small siege weapon type with a standard harpoon from the Frostburn book and has a rope attached from the harpoon to a crank.
Now, with a standard harpoon thrown from a character if the harpoon hits than it is an opposed strength check to determine if the harpooned character is dragged back to the thrower of said harpoon or if the thrower is pulled to the character that was harpooned. So my question is two fold:

1. Since the rope is tied to a crank does it provide a bonus to the character for his/her strength check? If so, what would it be?
2. Assuming all the PC does is harpoon an NPC and the ships travel away from each other does a ship have a "strength score" to set against the NPC's for the opposed strength check.

I have looked through every book I own and through several forums, including these, and cannot find an answer to this question. I really would like to know if there is such a thing as a "strength score" for a vehicle because this scenario could become something I see a lot more and maybe even use later on because the Players are about to learn their true destination to the Astral Plane and the Gith that live there use airships and kidnapping or even just having them almost get kidnapped could be a useful hook to move the story in the correct direction. I appreciate all your help in answering this!

[HunterOfJello]

If the harpoon hits properly and is lodged into the npc to the point where they could be dragged by it, I would just make the person automatically dragged.

The amount of strength the ship would provide is magnitudes above what even a Frost Giant could likely muster. No person could resist that much force exerted upon them. Could a deity like Zeus even resist it? Maybe, but that's even unlikely.

The normal situation of throwing a harpoon and then having a single person pull on the line is far different than hitting something with a harpoon from a ship and then having both a crank and the entire ship pull the person. The second method is what sailors have used to capture entire whales.

Is there some reason that the person who is hit by the ship's harpoon to be able to pull back and resist being pulled by it? If so, then you have a situation that is far more like Quartering and that person is probably going to be completely ripped apart. Remember, a couple horses can rip a person limb from limb when pulled in opposite directions. Two ships can achieve the same outcome without effort.

~

A far more important question will be: Is this NPC capable of actually surviving all of this once he's been shot through with a ship's harpoon and dragged along the ocean at high speeds?

[Inkpencil]

Depends on the NPC. If it's not a STR based character, I'd make the roll against removing the harpoon in time. Any other resistance is not happening. Really, just stopping the movement of a wind-powered ship from the deck of another isn't going to happen.

But: with a suitably high STR check, the NPC could brace himself against the ship, making the player ship pull the NPC one. That's especially fun if the players are actually trying to get away. Also, the NPC could have help from others.

[kitcik]

The bonus you would get from the crank and the movement of the ship, not to mention the penalty the NPC would receive for not having anything solid to brace on, would make this automatic in my book as well - unless the NPC is like colossal size or some other factor comes into play.

On the other hand, the speed of the ship and the drag from the water should be enough force to rip the harpoon through the NPC in a matter of seconds - maybe minutes if the NPC is strong and is holding the rope to prevent this - but in the end it is inevitable.

Therefore, when they reach land and pull the harpoon in, they are likely to find it empty (I was going to say "holding a hunk of meat" but the fish would've gotten that).

[reggie991]

Appreciate the feedback and I guess, yeah, it would just be an automatic since the ship is moving and anyone of sufficient strength to resist would probably exceed the strength check to burst the rope or break the launcher and any wooden rail its attached to.

[karkus]

Unless if the NPC in question is Epic, he could not drag the ship back, but he would instead be able to break free from the water and begin climbing up the harpoon's rope. Also, he could just make some Escape Artist checks each round in order to get out (I'm not actually sure on that one; I haven't read the rules for harpoons), and be in the water, wherever he was last affixed to the harpoon.

[kitcik]

Unless if the NPC in question is Epic, he could not drag the ship back, but he would instead be able to break free from the water and begin climbing up the harpoon's rope. Also, he could just make some Escape Artist checks each round in order to get out (I'm not actually sure on that one; I haven't read the rules for harpoons), and be in the water, wherever he was last affixed to the harpoon.

Maybe they could under RAW, I have no idea.

But not in real life. Unless they could swim faster than the ship is moving.

Otherwise, they are getting dragged and the force of the water would be incredible.

[nedz]

Once the NPC hits the water the drag should cause the harpoon to be pulled out. This will probably hurt, and then he is likely to be run over by his own ship.

[LTwerewolf]

Keep in mind that the ships d&d models after cap out at a speed under sail of around 6-7 knots. That's about 7-8 mph and 12-14 km/h. These same ships could also be well over 50 tons if they're stocked. Assuming they're carrying a full size crew and combat equipment, you're talking about a lot of force. It may jerk him off his own ship, but there's no way that he's going to keep up with yours for more than a second or so.

Even if your character had a swim speed of 30, that's only about 3.4 miles per hour, or about half what you would need to keep yourself alive.