Naval Battle Issues

[MrZJunior]

I am running a campaign now using a system that uses the old school one gp = one xp (Swords & Wizardry.) I decided to be more proactive with this campaign and plan some possible scenarios out ahead of time, one of which is a large naval expedition. Do you think that providing the opportunity for the party to board ships and seize them along with any prize money that entails is enough to fulfill the gold as xp requirement or should I find some other way of getting them their treasure?

[LibraryOgre]

Remember that the prize ships themselves would count as VERY VALUABLE treasure. They'd have to share with their crew, but capturing a prize and selling it would give them a nice XP cushion.

[MrZJunior]

According to the distribution scheme the Royal Navy used during the Napoleonic Wars only two eighths of the money is to be divided amongst the entire crew. Since they will be in galleys there will be an awful lot of crew for the treasure to be divided between.

[shadow_archmagi]

I would say that sounds just fine!

Wait, 2/8ths for the crew? Not 1/4th?

[MrZJunior]

Wait, 2/8ths for the crew? Not 1/4th?

If you don't mind me quoting Wikipedia:

"Two eighths of the prize money went to the captain, generally propelling him upwards in political and financial circles. One eighth of the money went to the admiral or commander and chief who signed the ship's written orders (unless the orders came directly from the Admiralty in London, in which case this eighth also went to the captain). One eighth was divided among the lieutenants, sailing master, and captain of marines if any. One eighth was divided among the wardroom warrant officers (surgeon, purser, and chaplain), standing warrant officers (carpenter, boatswain, and gunner), lieutenant of marines, and the master's mates. One eighth was divided among the junior warrant and petty officers, their mates, sergeants of marines, captain's clerk, surgeon's mates, and midshipmen. The final two eighths were divided among the crew, with able and specialist seamen receiving larger shares than ordinary seamen, landsmen, and boys."

[LibraryOgre]

I'm guessing, from your Wiki quote, that they're going to fall into that final 2/8s, getting only a share as crewmen, not any of the officers, warrant officers, or NCOs?

(Even then, the value of galleys is pretty immense; 2e PH lists them at 15,000-30,000; assuming the 2/8th is split among 100 able seamen, they're looking at 40-75 gold per ship they take, with the danger being spread among 100 other seamen).

[MrZJunior]

Yes, they will count as part of the crew, sorry about the confusion. Additionally, prize money was also handed out to all freindly ships in the vicinity, since their prezence was considered to contribute to any combat or surrender.

[hamlet]

It might just be a case of overthinking it here.

Might just be simpler to decide how much GP/XP you want them to have, then announce "your share of the prize money amounts to X" and leave it at that.

Such a system gives you a tighter control over what they receive and spares you from having to detail too much what's on each ship and so on. It's just worth whatever you need it to be worth and the rest is flavor text.

[MrZJunior]

I don't want their reward to be independant of their actions. That would be removing agency from the players.

[LibraryOgre]

I don't want their reward to be independant of their actions. That would be removing agency from the players.

Then maybe set it up like XP rewards... they get a base, but their commander gives bonuses for extraordinary bravery. So, everyone on the crew gets 50gp, but you're the one who did the thing, so you get a bonus of 25gp.

[Saladman]

Do you think that providing the opportunity for the party to board ships and seize them along with any prize money that entails is enough to fulfill the gold as xp requirement or should I find some other way of getting them their treasure?

The broader game world should have other treasure hoards in it, and you should be open to any plundering or money making schemes the players come up with, but it's certainly not your job to script those other things in and spoonfeed them to the players.