Quick and dirty naval combat

[Kane0]

Hey all, just putting together some 5 minute rules for naval combat just in case our pirate adventure need it. Feedback appreciated!

Ship types:
Sloop: AC 12-14, 6d8 Hull HP, 4d6 Rigging HP, speed 8 spaces, mobility 1 per 1, 3dx crew, total 4 cannons (2x2 sides)
Corvette: AC 13-15, 10d8 Hull HP, 8d6 Rigging HP, speed 7 spaces, mobility 1 per 2, 6dx crew HP, total 11 cannons (2 frontal, 2x4 sides, 1 rear)
Frigate: AC 14-16, 12d8 Hull HP, 10d6 Rigging HP, speed 7 spaces, mobility 1 per 2, 9dx crew HP, total 19 cannons (4 frontal, 2x6 sides, 2 rear, 1 top)
Galleon: AC 15-17, 16d8 Hull HP, 14d6 rigging HP, speed 7 spaces, mobility 1 per 3, 12dx crew HP, total 30 cannons (6 frontal, 2x9 sides, 4 rear, 2 top)
Warship: 16-18, 20d8 Hull HP, 18d6 Rigging HP, speed 6 spaces, mobility 1 per 3, 15dx crew HP, total 42 (8 frontal, 2x12 sides, 6 rear, 4 top)

Crew:
Skeleton: +2 attacks/checks, +2 saves, d4 HP
Rough: +4 attacks/checks, +3 saves, d6 HP
Standard: +6 attacks, checks, +4 saves, d8 HP
Veteran: +8 attacks/checks, +5 saves, d10 HP
Elite: +10 attacks/checks, +6 saves, d12 HP

Cannon types:
Chase gun: Range 8/24, d6 damage (H, R)
Grapeshot: Range 4/12, d8 damage (R, C)
Broadsider: Range 6/18, d8 damage (H, R)
Bombard: Range 8/24, d8 damage (R, C)
Carronade: Range 4/12, d10 damage (H, R)

Alternate weapons:
Longbow: Range 6/18, d2 damage (R, C)
Crossbow: Range 4/12, d2 damage (R, C)
Ballista: Range 6/18, d4 damage (R, C)
Catapult: range 8/24, d6 damage (H, R)
Spell: 1 space = 25'

Combat:
- Roll initiative
- Your turn: perform movement (see mobility for turning) then select action (attack, evade, board) and a possible bonus action (hero/PC action)
- Attack action: make attack in one direction of choice using crew bonus (or hero if applicable). A hit causes damage based on cannons facing in that direction.
- Evade action: +2 speed and disadvantage to hit you until your next turn
- Board action: Attempt one opposed check using crew bonus (or hero if applicable) against another ship within reach. Each turn spend an action to attempt another opposed check. Three successes before three failures are required to claim ship.

Taking damage
At 0 Hull HP the ship begins to sink (Death saving throws at DC 18)
At 0 Rigging HP the ship is immobilized and cannot take attack or evade actions
At 0 Crew HP the ship has insufficient manpower and has disadvantage on all attacks, checks and saves.

Have at it!

Edit: Version 2 has three HP pools and adds damage types to weapons to specify what HP pools they can target, plus adds in hero (PC) options and simplifies taking damage. Speed and maneuverability values are also tweaked.

[Laserlight]

Is there a particular era you're aiming for? Galleons were gone before carronades appeared.
Small ships aren't necessarily faster; they're more maneuverable and can run in shallower water.
The key component of naval maneuvering was wind direction, and you don't mention that. Broad reach is faster than running directly down wind, which is faster than close hauled.
I wouldn't expect a bombard / mortar to be used against maneuvering ships.
You may find it useful to separate each vessel's hit points into Hull, Rigging and Crew. Some attacks might be ineffective against some targets--forex, arrows aren't going to do anything to Hull and barely more to Rigging, but would be effective against Crew. If you're trying to capture a ship, you'll want to attack the Rigging and possibly the Crew but not the Hull.

[Kane0]

Thankyou for your input! My experience and source material is largely limited to AC: Black Flag and a bit of googling.

Time period is not important. To put it in perspective one player aspires to run a fleet of mercantile triremes while another wants nothing less than to captain a man o' war.

I will have to put in maneuverability somehow, probably when it comes to turning.

Wind direction won't be a factor. Quote the DM, "Any self-respecting ship will have a storm sorcerer on board to enable favourable winds"

Bombard/mortars would more likely be used on immobile targets, the campaign is focusing on coastal activity so it will come up sooner or later.

Indeed, I will start working on differentiating hull, rigging and crew. It's hard to balance simplicity against options.

[djreynolds]

Do you have a PDF? It sounds cool.

Lots of variables to consider.

Are the PCs sailors manning weapons? Are they additions to the crew?

Do they have mission to that is apart?

Perhaps the PCs have to kill the enemy ship's captain or save others, or destroy the rudder of the flagship.

You could have one PC in command of a vessel, or doing something important that keeps the crew functioning.

[Kane0]

PDF? Hahaha no, i'm more of a spreadsheet warrior myself

PCs are part of the crew, and are the major contributors of it being considered standard rather than rough.

We are part of the navy fleet of a country going to war in aid of an ally. They are losing the land war but we have the seas under our control so we are going to start hitting coastal centres in an attempt to take some pressure off our beseiged ally. We specifically have a frigate (our ship) and four corvettes loaded up with bugbear marines to make enough of a fuss as possible. I am captain of the Frigate leading this detachment, our storm sorcerer is my first hand and spiritual advisor, the fighter is our lead boarder and the druid is our 'support officer' (meaningless title).

I'm working on a 2.0 draft that removes some fiddliness and enables heroes (PCs) to contribute.

[djreynolds]

I have played lots of simulation games like MBT and squad leader, but those are usually you in charge of an element or group.

It might be easier to have PCs responsible for a portion, like at different time frames

PCs have to help reload the cannons or crosswbows, then...

they may have to tend the wounded, or board, or fix the sail.

If you can whittle it down to individual actions, even an awesome speech after a fellow ship is sunk

Otherwise, for some PCs it might become to big.

Shouting proper orders might be an action. It may not be the D&D they are used to, but here they may have roll persuasion to see if the sailors respond, or an intelligence check to make sure the order is correctly given.

See if you can break it up, your captain may have to direct fire or ship alignment. Your first mate might be in charge of actual firing of weapons when other ships are within range.

[BeefGood]

You may find it useful to separate each vessel's hit points into Hull, Rigging and Crew. Some attacks might be ineffective against some targets--forex, arrows aren't going to do anything to Hull and barely more to Rigging, but would be effective against Crew. If you're trying to capture a ship, you'll want to attack the Rigging and possibly the Crew but not the Hull.

somewhat related--damage resistance and vulnerability. A vessel could have resistance to piercing damage, vulnerability to fire damage.
Maybe instead of considering each vessel as three sets of hit points (not that that's a bad idea!) you could say something like "A galleon is mostly hull, so it has resistance to piercing and slashing damage, whereas a sloop is mostly sail, so it has resistance to..."
You'd want to attach damage types to the various cannons.

[Laserlight]

Incidentally, if you have the budget and the interest, the best Age of Sail (~1720-1820) tactical game is Mark Campbell's Close Action, although you really need several players per side to get the most of it; a new edition should be coming out in the next year or so. Avalon Hill's Wooden Ships & Iron Men is a predecessor, out of print but probably available on Ebay. For the Armada period, you might look at The Perfect Captain's Spanish Fury: Sail (http://perfectcaptain.50megs.com/sfsail.html); I haven't tried it but it's free. I don't have any suggestions for medieval naval battles, but google "Battle of Sluys game rules" and you might find something.

[Kane0]

somewhat related--damage resistance and vulnerability. A vessel could have resistance to piercing damage, vulnerability to fire damage.
Maybe instead of considering each vessel as three sets of hit points (not that that's a bad idea!) you could say something like "A galleon is mostly hull, so it has resistance to piercing and slashing damage, whereas a sloop is mostly sail, so it has resistance to..."
You'd want to attach damage types to the various cannons.

I went with the three HP pools because its easy to determine how a ship has been defeated (sinking, immobilized, undermanned). Different naval weapons will deal different kinds of damage akin to B/P/S. Besides a ship is treated as an object anyway so has resistance against most damage types, fire and bludgeoning being the major exceptions.


A merchantman will ordinarily be a sailing ship with a small crew rather than a trireme; you want to keep wages down and tonnage up.

How is the storm sorc going to do that? Cantrip Gust isn't strong enough. L5 Control Winds will do it for an hour but you need a 9th level sorc; I wouldn't expect that "any self-respecting ship" could afford the salary. And what happens if your sorc gets hit by cannonball or arrows?

One way to handle maneuverability is to say once the ship makes a turn, it must move so many spaces before it can change direction again. Clumsy ships, such as a galleon, might need to make a skill roll to turn in the space they want; failing means they move an extra space or two before they turn.

Tasks you might want: Captain in charge of maneuvering; gunner; pilot, who's familiar with reefs, shoals, and currents in the area; sail handlers, who might give you a little better speed or maneuverability, or repair rigging; carpenter, to repair hull; surgeon, to repair crew; marine lieutenant.

I believe he was referring to the UA Storm sorcerer, specifically the level 6 ribbon Storm Guide. You can't alter the speed but you can change the direction at will, and it protects against rain too. Its also a convenient way to handwave extra complexity in these rules while allowing the DM to make use of it during a game if they wish.

I've altered the above so that you get a possible bonus action each turn to use for a 'hero action', which is essentially a PC doing something. Heroes can also use appropriate bonuses in place of the crew's in certain situations (such as the lieutenant using his check when boarding or head gunner using his attack bonus for cannonfire). More people contributing is always good.

[Laserlight]

I believe he was referring to the UA Storm sorcerer, specifically the level 6 ribbon Storm Guide. You can't alter the speed but you can change the direction at will, and it protects against rain too.

I wouldn't think L6 storm sorcs would be a dime a dozen either, but YMMV and if you don't want to bother with wind direction, that would do it. However, if you don't bother with wind direction--which acts as a form of terrain--then you will probably want shoals, reefs, currents, and/or shorelines; otherwise you're fighting on a blank map, which is dull. Or set out a warship escorting some slow, clumsy merchants, and the mission of keeping fast pirates away.

[Kane0]

There will definitely be shallow water, reefs, islands and other terrain features to keep us busy.

Two locations already noted are 'The Everstorm' and the 'Risen Sea' (also called the high sea). Plus the possibility of naval mines (curse you gunpowder gnomes!)

[djreynolds]

There will definitely be shallow water, reefs, islands and other terrain features to keep us busy.

Two locations already noted are 'The Everstorm' and the 'Risen Sea' (also called the high sea). Plus the possibility of naval mines (curse you gunpowder gnomes!)

Hello underwater demolition team

[Laserlight]

Hello underwater demolition team

Merman mercenaries. Don't bother boarding; just hang onto the hull, wait until the rudder is hard to starboard, and jam it.

Perhaps Hallucinatory Terrain: making reefs look like deep water, or vice versa.

[Kane0]

Just for the hell of it, ill throw up the current party members of this game:
- Hobgoblin dex pally of conquest w/ mariner FS and Shark mount (captain)
- Minotaur vanguard fighter w/ mariner FS (boarder)
- Water genasi storm sorcerer w/ acolyte background (right hand man and religious representative)
- Firbolg coast druid (navigation and surgeon)
- Goblin gunsmith artificer w/ mechanical octopus and waterbreathing cap/ring of swimming (chief gunner and repairs)

Planning for a game tomorrow, will report in if these rules get used.