Take Cover the Captain orders the crew protect themselves from incoming siege weapon fire, magical attacks, or to brace for the impact of a ram etc. This is basically an Aid Another, a good default for when the other actions don't apply. With a successful DC10 Profession (sailor) check you grant the Pilot a +2 on Profession (sailor) checks to pilot the ship. Look Alive the Captain drives the crew to pay close attention to their jobs making the ship sail smoothly and well. This changes the ship's speed by its acceleration up or down a step not exceeding maximum speed. In my game this has ended up being the Captain.įull Ahead/Heave To the Captain is in charge of determining the speed of the vessel by ordering the crew to lay on more sail or draw the sails in. Imagine them standing in the bow or on the sterncastle with a spyglass. This role is for someone on the deck of the ship shouting orders to the crew, relaying info from the lookout to the pilot and so on. Success allows them one of the following effects:Įnemy Pilot is -4 on Profession (Sailor) checks for a roundĮnemy Ship is -4 on AC and saves for a roundĮnemy Siege Gunners are -4 on attacks for a roundĪlternatively the Bosun, First Mate, or Sailmaster. Make Way The pilot makes an opposed Profession (sailor) check against the other pilots in the combats. For each 5 that the pilot beats her opponents she may increase this bonus by +2. A success grants the ship a +4 to its AC and saves for the next round, but a -8 to the Master at Arms for any siege weapon attacks. When the ship is just moving straight forward the pilot may do these other actions.Įvasive Maneuvers The pilot makes an opposed Profession (Sailor) check against the other pilots in the combat. This will be the action pilots will need to take every round they want to do anything but move the ship straight forward. Make a Profession (sailor) check DC10 with the following difficulty modifiers:įor example a pilot on a ship moving twice it's acceleration trying to execute a 90degree turn to Port would need to succeed on a DC20 Profession (sailor) check. Tack or Jibe (Wearing Ship) The pilot turns the ship or moves diagonally forward on the battlemat. The pilot should be the PC with the highest Profession (Sailor). The pilot rolls against all other pilots in the combat to determine who has the Upper Hand each round. Much as in the basic rules, the pilot's initiative determines when that ship acts. It's meant to be a fun and fast minigame involving everyone. I recognize these may not be super historical or accurate from a simulationist perspective. To address these complaints I've divided Naval Combat into 4 roles to be filled by party members, each with a few possible actions. Something that resolves in 5ish rounds and where people don't have to deliberate overlong on actions. I want a system that is fast-paced enough to feel like an action sequence in a move. I'd like crew quality and involvement to be a factor, but without being overly complicated. They do pitiful damage, easily surpassed by a level 4-5 caster and require a ton of feats to be useable. #2 - Siege Weapons are just not satisfying. Ideally, I want a system that gives every player something to do every round, so you don't have to just rush past the ship stuff in order to keep people awake. The pilot has a lot to do, but the other players just get to sit and wait for boarding to begin. #1 - It gives almost all the control to a single player. But I have some problems with the ruleset too. To me it just isn't a Pirate campaign without yelling "Hard to Starboard!" and such once in a while. It seems a number of groups are more or less skipping this rules subset and just going straight to boarding. The ship to ship combat rules in the Skull & Shackles Player's Guide have come under some criticism in these threads.
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