weapon question for ships

[techpriest35]

ok i have this pdf from darkfurries publishing. the pdf maps out a particular ship called "salient ormralest the lady liaenestra".
there are several parts of this ship that i do not know what they are. forinstance how do you translate knots into dnd speed terms i have storm wrack and the arms and equipment guide and many other books i havent read much of them yet. my second question is why does the hull wieght matter? it says in the stat block that the hull has 1715 tons its made of 12 inches of wood .
under crew it has 3 colums by 4 rows( rows are left to right?)
it says
CREW QTY RATING
maximium 388
minimum 85
deck 343 skilled
weapons 45 skilled

my question is why do they have to be skilled and in which skills im not understanding that entry.
then they go to talk about weapons
they list 3 types of weapons
1. the oxbelle( it says there are two of them) it says they are stationed at 1P and 1S(im assuming this means starboard and port) im not at all sure what an oxbelle is other than some type of weapon can some one explain these weapons to me
2.scorpion (it says they have 6 of these) they are stationed at 1FP, 1P, 1AP, 1FS, 1S, 1AS(i am not sure what each of those positions are i am guessing that theres 1 on the portside theres 1 aft port 1 starbord side 1 aft starboard but im not sure what the f stands for. i know what a scorpion is its pretty much a giant balista the romans used them all the time for siege warfare
3the pegger(it says they have 3 of these) what the hell is a pegger and how does it work i mean im assuming since its listed in the weapons section that its a weapon of some type but can any one explain this to me

i also have a question about what a ravin is. it has a picture of something called a ravin flea and something called a ravin leech im not sure what either are.

also while searching on the internet i kept seeing people say that " dnd is not built for gunpowder age combat" and other similar comments . yet if you look in the dmg for version 3.0 and version 3.5 they have many different types of weapons and eras represented. for instance they have plasma rifles they have one shot pistols they have muskets and gernades and m16 machine guns they have stats for each of these and other similar weapons. if they have stats in the core rule books for gunpowder weapons then why would gunpowder weapon combat be outside of the normal dnd era? its just funny is all. cause people where all like gunpowder doesnt exist theres no rules for weapons that use it yet on page145 of the dmg there are rules for gunpowder and pistols and muskets and asian weapons theres even bombs and smoke bombs of course those bombs are ren fair tech level but still gund powder is realativly cheap at 250 gp per 15 pound water tight keg with 1 ounce buring away in one round and 1 ounce required to fire one bullet

any ways if you can help me with the questions i had above that would be great thx

[Bronk]

Well, it looks like your PDF comes from a website that puts out its own rule sets, so you might have to drop 22 dollars to download their book in order to find out what everything is.

Otherwise, you could just use the floor plans of the ship and make something up using the rules in Stormwrack. However, the picture looks more like a flying ship, so you might want to find some online rules for Spelljammer.

[Firest Kathon]

forinstance how do you translate knots into dnd speed terms
A knot is one nautical mile per hour, or 1.1 US miles per hour. In D&D terms, 1kn would be approx. 10ft/round.

my second question is why does the hull wieght matter? it says in the stat block that the hull has 1715 tons its made of 12 inches of wood .
The thickness of the hull will be relevant if it comes to damaging it, and the weight will be relevant for attempts to move the boat (e.g. via magic) as well as weather (and other environmental) effects.

my question is why do they have to be skilled and in which skills im not understanding that entry.
Crew members must be trained in their tasks to perform the correct and efficiently. The deck hands would need Profession (Sailor), for the weapons crews I would say Profession (Sailor)*, Profession (Gunner) or Weapon Proficiency (Ship Cannon/Siege Weapon).
*Sailors were usually used for many jobs, both above and below decks, so I would accept that as well to use the cannons or at least assist in the usage (cleaning, reloading).


1. the oxbelle( it says there are two of them) it says they are stationed at 1P and 1S(im assuming this means starboard and port) im not at all sure what an oxbelle is other than some type of weapon can some one explain these weapons to me
2.scorpion (it says they have 6 of these) they are stationed at 1FP, 1P, 1AP, 1FS, 1S, 1AS(i am not sure what each of those positions are i am guessing that theres 1 on the portside theres 1 aft port 1 starbord side 1 aft starboard but im not sure what the f stands for. i know what a scorpion is its pretty much a giant balista the romans used them all the time for siege warfare
3the pegger(it says they have 3 of these) what the hell is a pegger and how does it work i mean im assuming since its listed in the weapons section that its a weapon of some type but can any one explain this to me

A scorpion is indeed a large ballista, but no idea on the weapons, sorry. My guess would be that they are cannons, with the oxbelle firing cannonballs and the pegger firing shrapnel. For more info you will need to follow Bronks advice. The stations would be forward port (FP), port (P), aft port (AP) and the same for starbord.

i also have a question about what a ravin is. it has a picture of something called a ravin flea and something called a ravin leech im not sure what either are.
Wikipedia redirects ravin to raven, but I do not know if that has any significance.

also while searching on the internet i kept seeing people say that " dnd is not built for gunpowder age combat" and other similar comments . [example of rules from DMG]
The usual campaign settings assume a medieval technology level without gunpowder. The rules for more advanced weapons are indeed mentioned in the DMG, but that is already the only mention (outside of campaign settings which assume gunpowder availability). I have not checked the rules, but I have seen mentions that they are not very well designed. A more common approach seems to be to use d20 Modern (http://www.systemreferencedocuments.org/resources/systems/pennpaper/modern/smack/srdhome.html) rules.

any ways if you can help me with the questions i had above that would be great thx
Always happy to answer questions, though I would appreciate it if you could run your next one through a spell checker :smallsmile:.

[Bronk]

I would only add that, judging from the picture, the 'ravin flea' could be some kind of separate life boat, and the 'ravin leach' could be some kind of small yacht or runabout type thing, with the little ovals being a judge of size.

I'm only basing this on the fact that they're not listed as part of the ship and they're on the same line as the 'imperial fantail', which is clearly another ship.

[BowStreetRunner]

i also have a question about what a ravin is. it has a picture of something called a ravin flea and something called a ravin leech im not sure what either are.

Apparently the Ravin are "an eight-legged bug-like race resembling ticks". From this Review (http://www.examiner.com/review/pdf-review-of-aether-flux-sailing-the-traverse).

[Bronk]

Apparently the Ravin are "an eight-legged bug-like race resembling ticks". From this Review (http://www.examiner.com/review/pdf-review-of-aether-flux-sailing-the-traverse).

Nice find! Those are definitely different ships. Very boring ships, but definitely ships from this Ravin race.

You know, on second or third perusal of that ship PDF, there's no possible way 388 crew would ever fit on there, maybe not even the 85 they've listed as a minimum, unless it was standing room only!

[Firest Kathon]

You know, on second or third perusal of that ship PDF, there's no possible way 388 crew would ever fit on there, maybe not even the 85 they've listed as a minimum, unless it was standing room only!
You'd be surprised how tight you can pack humans. Take for example the HMS Victory (Nelson's flagship at the battle of Trafalgar): it's crew of 850 was packed on 230ft of ship, so the same size as this ship, but it is even wider than Victory (75 ft. vs. 50 ft.).

I should add that I based my answers on seafaring ships, not spaceships, and that I have no access to the book this PDF is taken from.

[BowStreetRunner]

You'd be surprised how tight you can pack humans. Take for example the HMS Victory (Nelson's flagship at the battle of Trafalgar): it's crew of 850 was packed on 230ft of ship, so the same size as this ship, but it is even wider than Victory (75 ft. vs. 50 ft.).

I should add that I based my answers on seafaring ships, not spaceships, and that I have no access to the book this PDF is taken from.
On the Victory and other ships of that era the British Sailors got 14 inches (wide) to swing their cot and the cots were hung side by side by side in long rows - they were packed in there pretty tightly. On modern naval vessels even though they have more width they make up for a lot by stacking bunks three high. It's not luxuriously comfortable, but it can be done.

[techpriest35]

so i know this is long over due but i wanted to thank every one for helping with the info.
also i think i figured out what the pegger weapon might be. i was playing assassin's creed black flag when i saw this tiny mini gun type thing. the weapon was used to fire about 30-100 arrow bolts in about 6 -15 seconds. it was super rapid fire and best used to mow down the crew on the enemy ship, or used to do massive damage to the mast sails and or other weak but important parts of the ship.i think the oxbelle might be a fancy name for the cannons. in history the ship called "the queen anne" had a lot of cannons and the biggest ones had special names from the captain. i think this might be the case for the oxbelle weapons