Designing Ship Combat Rules [Archive] - Wizards Community

Designing Ship Combat Rules [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
Gemstone
06-13-07, 08:41 PM So... we kicked up our old pirate campaign again and discovered that some of the rules for ship combat that we developed didn't make any sense at all. Therefore, a revision was made to make the rules easier to understand.

Ship: A ship has some features that resembles that of ordinary characters. These are:
Speed (measured in Distances), Hit Points, Armor Class, Damage Reduction and a type (which we have yet to define).

A ship also has the following characteristics: Crew (measured in number of non-heroic and non-important crew members), Armor Type (Very Light, Light, Medium, Heavy or Very Heavy), Masts (ranging from 1 to whatever god-blessed number you wish), Armament (Batteries of canons) and Important Crew.

Combat:
Ship combat is, as character combat, measured in round.
Chase: Once during the turn (usually at the start of it), all captains on the ships (or shipmates, whichever is better) make a Proffession (Sailor) check. if the chased loses the opposed check, the followers gain a distance. If the chased wins, he gains one. Whenever there is less than 1 distance between ships, melee combat can start. It's possible to fire canons at each other, altough each distance imposes a -1 penalty on the attack roll.

Regular: Regular combat works just as DnD character combat, except that the entire party is often located on a single ship. During the turn, you can either perform one of the following actions:
Increase Morale [Full Round Action]: A DC 15 check (+5 for each additional check after the first), raises the morale one step.
Move Ship [Full Round Action, Only once each round]: You move your ship up to its speed. It's possible to take a double move, but that gives canons a -4 penalty on attack rolls and makes boarding impossible.
Increased Move [Full Round Action, Crew, Only once each round]: By making a DC 20 + manuver modifier for ship, proffession (Sailor) check, you can make an Increased Move. You can move up to 3 times your speed, but at the cost of an additional -4 manuver penalty next round.
Board [Full Round Action, Crew]: Deals 1d12 + bonuses, damage to the boarded ship.
Bind Ship [Full Round Action, Crew]: Makes it impossible to move either of the bound ships. Must be done after Board.
Break Loose [Full Round Action, Crew]: Makes it possible to move after being Bind.
Fire Canons [Full Round Action]: You fire a single battery. The attack roll is equal to 1/3 of your BAB, plus +3 for low quality canons, +5 for medium, +8 for good quality canons.
Ram [Full Round Action]: By ramming into a ship, you deal damage equal to the size damage. Small: 2d12, Medium 3d12, Large 4d12, Huge 5d12, Garganteuan 8d12, Colossal 10d12. The rammer takes damage equal to the target ships damage. Thus, if a large vessal rams a small, the large vessel takes 2d12 damage and the small vessel takes 4d12 damage.

Armor Class: The AC of a ship is equal to 10+size modifier+armor+ (1 per 3 ranks of proffession (Sailor) of either the first mate or captain).

Does this sound resonable? Ship combat is meant to take longer than average combat and this far it has been rather difficult for the players to increase the ship AC (unless you go and by the most heavy armor there is, effectivly turning anything other than a colossal ship into a snail).

Other than that, each ship acts as a character with base speed 30 ft. (or distances as we call it instead). So, basicly, would the following trades be reasonable for a character:

Trade Gain
-5 Speed +2 Hardness
-10 Speed +1 Armor category

Also, we're thinking of incorporating the following manuvers into our game:

Avoid Fire [Full Round Action]: By making a DC 20 Proffession (Sailor) check, the First Mate can avoid fire for the round, gaining an effective +4 AC against enemy fire.
Requirement: Ship must be moving and can't be in Melee Combat

Cannonball Run [Full Round Action]: By making a DC 25 Proffession (Sailor) check, the First Mate can choose to pull fire to his own ship to defend other ships. Each ship firing at the target for this manuver, gains an AoO against the ship that executes the Cannonball Run, but the target ship gains +4 AC against enemy attacks until the end of her next turn.

Jack O'Riley Ram [Full Round Action, Crew]: This daunting manuver is equaly hazardus to both the target and the attacker. Each ship takes rammin damage equal to the ship's size, but in addition, the attacker gets to fire a single battery against the target. No move can be done the round after such a Ram.

There. I cleaned it up a bit and I'll update it as I find our rules. Please ask questions if you wish.
Holy_Beholder
06-13-07, 11:42 PM How exactly is the first mate going to suceed on a DC 205 profession sailer check for cannon ball run. And why doesn't the captain affect this.
RavenDrake
06-14-07, 12:42 AM I'm gonna guess that's a typo and he meant either DC 20 or 25... but I could be wrong.
Gemstone
06-14-07, 08:23 AM How exactly is the first mate going to suceed on a DC 205 profession sailer check for cannon ball run. And why doesn't the captain affect this.
Ahem... yes, I did mean a DC 25 check, not DC 205. A 0 slipped in there... I'm also going to clarify some of the rules above since I was dead tired when I wrote that.
dengarbountyhunter
06-14-07, 01:26 PM It's cool.

The listed times for actions (full-round) means that the whole crew (or the ship as a whole if you prefer) takes that round to do that?
Anodai
06-14-07, 06:23 PM I think I saw published ship combat rules somewhere else... I want to say Arms and Equipment guide, but i could be wrong.
RavenDrake
06-14-07, 06:52 PM Vehicle combat rules were presented in Arms and Equipment Guide, and updated ship combat was presented in Stormwrack.

However, exploring your own rules is nothing to be discouraged. If you're curious, or would like to compare the systems, checking out either of these books can be beneficial to you.
Gemstone
06-14-07, 06:57 PM It's cool.

The listed times for actions (full-round) means that the whole crew (or the ship as a whole if you prefer) takes that round to do that?
These are listed for Heroic characters only, which means that it takes a character that time to do it. But now that you mention it, I may have to add a ", crew" to some of the actions to symbolize that it takes the entire crew + a heroic character to lead them.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Gemstone 06-13-07, 08:41 PM	So... we kicked up our old pirate campaign again and discovered that some of the rules for ship combat that we developed didn't make any sense at all. Therefore, a revision was made to make the rules easier to understand. Ship: A ship has some features that resembles that of ordinary characters. These are: Speed (measured in Distances), Hit Points, Armor Class, Damage Reduction and a type (which we have yet to define). A ship also has the following characteristics: Crew (measured in number of non-heroic and non-important crew members), Armor Type (Very Light, Light, Medium, Heavy or Very Heavy), Masts (ranging from 1 to whatever god-blessed number you wish), Armament (Batteries of canons) and Important Crew. Combat: Ship combat is, as character combat, measured in round. Chase: Once during the turn (usually at the start of it), all captains on the ships (or shipmates, whichever is better) make a Proffession (Sailor) check. if the chased loses the opposed check, the followers gain a distance. If the chased wins, he gains one. Whenever there is less than 1 distance between ships, melee combat can start. It's possible to fire canons at each other, altough each distance imposes a -1 penalty on the attack roll. Regular: Regular combat works just as DnD character combat, except that the entire party is often located on a single ship. During the turn, you can either perform one of the following actions: Increase Morale [Full Round Action]: A DC 15 check (+5 for each additional check after the first), raises the morale one step. Move Ship [Full Round Action, Only once each round]: You move your ship up to its speed. It's possible to take a double move, but that gives canons a -4 penalty on attack rolls and makes boarding impossible. Increased Move [Full Round Action, Crew, Only once each round]: By making a DC 20 + manuver modifier for ship, proffession (Sailor) check, you can make an Increased Move. You can move up to 3 times your speed, but at the cost of an additional -4 manuver penalty next round. Board [Full Round Action, Crew]: Deals 1d12 + bonuses, damage to the boarded ship. Bind Ship [Full Round Action, Crew]: Makes it impossible to move either of the bound ships. Must be done after Board. Break Loose [Full Round Action, Crew]: Makes it possible to move after being Bind. Fire Canons [Full Round Action]: You fire a single battery. The attack roll is equal to 1/3 of your BAB, plus +3 for low quality canons, +5 for medium, +8 for good quality canons. Ram [Full Round Action]: By ramming into a ship, you deal damage equal to the size damage. Small: 2d12, Medium 3d12, Large 4d12, Huge 5d12, Garganteuan 8d12, Colossal 10d12. The rammer takes damage equal to the target ships damage. Thus, if a large vessal rams a small, the large vessel takes 2d12 damage and the small vessel takes 4d12 damage. Armor Class: The AC of a ship is equal to 10+size modifier+armor+ (1 per 3 ranks of proffession (Sailor) of either the first mate or captain). Does this sound resonable? Ship combat is meant to take longer than average combat and this far it has been rather difficult for the players to increase the ship AC (unless you go and by the most heavy armor there is, effectivly turning anything other than a colossal ship into a snail). Other than that, each ship acts as a character with base speed 30 ft. (or distances as we call it instead). So, basicly, would the following trades be reasonable for a character: Trade Gain -5 Speed +2 Hardness -10 Speed +1 Armor category Also, we're thinking of incorporating the following manuvers into our game: Avoid Fire [Full Round Action]: By making a DC 20 Proffession (Sailor) check, the First Mate can avoid fire for the round, gaining an effective +4 AC against enemy fire. Requirement: Ship must be moving and can't be in Melee Combat Cannonball Run [Full Round Action]: By making a DC 25 Proffession (Sailor) check, the First Mate can choose to pull fire to his own ship to defend other ships. Each ship firing at the target for this manuver, gains an AoO against the ship that executes the Cannonball Run, but the target ship gains +4 AC against enemy attacks until the end of her next turn. Jack O'Riley Ram [Full Round Action, Crew]: This daunting manuver is equaly hazardus to both the target and the attacker. Each ship takes rammin damage equal to the ship's size, but in addition, the attacker gets to fire a single battery against the target. No move can be done the round after such a Ram. There. I cleaned it up a bit and I'll update it as I find our rules. Please ask questions if you wish.
Holy_Beholder 06-13-07, 11:42 PM	How exactly is the first mate going to suceed on a DC 205 profession sailer check for cannon ball run. And why doesn't the captain affect this.
RavenDrake 06-14-07, 12:42 AM	I'm gonna guess that's a typo and he meant either DC 20 or 25... but I could be wrong.
Gemstone 06-14-07, 08:23 AM	How exactly is the first mate going to suceed on a DC 205 profession sailer check for cannon ball run. And why doesn't the captain affect this. Ahem... yes, I did mean a DC 25 check, not DC 205. A 0 slipped in there... I'm also going to clarify some of the rules above since I was dead tired when I wrote that.
dengarbountyhunter 06-14-07, 01:26 PM	It's cool. The listed times for actions (full-round) means that the whole crew (or the ship as a whole if you prefer) takes that round to do that?
Anodai 06-14-07, 06:23 PM	I think I saw published ship combat rules somewhere else... I want to say Arms and Equipment guide, but i could be wrong.
RavenDrake 06-14-07, 06:52 PM	Vehicle combat rules were presented in Arms and Equipment Guide, and updated ship combat was presented in Stormwrack. However, exploring your own rules is nothing to be discouraged. If you're curious, or would like to compare the systems, checking out either of these books can be beneficial to you.
Gemstone 06-14-07, 06:57 PM	It's cool. The listed times for actions (full-round) means that the whole crew (or the ship as a whole if you prefer) takes that round to do that? These are listed for Heroic characters only, which means that it takes a character that time to do it. But now that you mention it, I may have to add a ", crew" to some of the actions to symbolize that it takes the entire crew + a heroic character to lead them.