Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 Ctenophore718 Aug 18, 2014 16:19:42	So I've just started up a new campaign with a character creation session as well as deciding a campaign theme. The group loved the idea of having an airship campaign in a high-fantasy world. While much of the campaign would involve traveling to different lands and adventuring off of their main airship, there will inevitably be airship combat. This could be both combat with other creatures (i.e. dragons) while aboard the deck and airship-to-airship combat.   Does anyone have any good ideas for how to run this kind of campaign? I'm thinking of making some basic rules for airship combat but I'd like to get some outside perspectives on it first.   Here's what I've thought of so far:   With a party of 4 or 5 running a ship, you'll need at least one person steering the vessle. Others might be in charge of weapons (magical cannons, harpoons, etc.) while others may be in charge of maintenance and on-the-spot repairs in case there's a massive chunk ripped out of the hull.   On top of that, there should be some basic rules about movement, steering, ascending and descending, etc. Hit points for ships, or something along those lines. What happens when a ship goes loses control/crashes.    I'm not even sure if the rules for this kind of combat would be available in the 5e DMG or not, or possbily in some later text, but I'd love to see anybody's homebrew rules for this kind of thing until then. Thanks!
#2 Centauri Aug 18, 2014 16:25:19	Ctenophore718 wrote:
#3 masterfat78 Aug 18, 2014 16:43:01	I agree, make it skill based with a narrative descirbing what happens, giving advantage and disadvantage depending on DCs and opposing rolls.
#4 Dreamstryder Aug 18, 2014 18:14:15	You could handle ship-to-ship combat the same as inter-character combat using ship movement and vehicle weapons and hp. The craft could use the skill of the pilot for intitiative and evasion. The crew of a ship that fails against an area attack are exposed to the area attack (they have to make saves, too). Non-area, non-vehicle weapons could attack passengers aboard an enemy craft (not the craft itself) if in range. At close enough range, characters could also swing on ropes or use planks to board enemy crafts. At close range to a dragon, however, it means opening your craft and crew to claws and bites (dragon's choice; crew, if it wants to keep the cargo intact). Excepting ramming and odd things like mechanical tentacles, your craft probably won't have close range attacks, so you'd normally want to keep distance.   There are other sides to inter-vehicular combat that this doesn't cover, like maneuvering to place your opponent in your firing arc while avoiding theirs (but, likewise, the equivalent maneuvering for inter-character combat isn't covered by the basic combat rules either). I imagine maneuverability and flight may be touched upon somewhere in the tactical battle rules, when they are released.   Storms could deal damage to a ship that fails a save. You could make repairs on the ship only available in a proper port (one that has the materials and trained persons required) or pull a Skies of Arcadia and allow healing spells to actually work on the ship as it does for characters.
#5 seti Aug 18, 2014 18:33:30	I third the idea of just handling it like a skill challenge. Maybe with breaks for an actual combat or two as an airship was boarded, or attacked by monsters. I did airship combat this way in 4e, and it worked well, was fun to discribe, quick to run and resolve, and using a grided out deck map with minis/tokens was fun for a few short combats.   There's just too much to track, and if you really wanted to get all tactical, with HP (hull points), fire arcs, rate of fire, speed, speed relative to other vessels, elevation changes, etc, etc...Well, that's a whole other game, IMO.
(Reply to #5) Ctenophore718	seti wrote:
(Reply to #4) Ctenophore718	Dreamstryder wrote:
#8 Aavarius Aug 18, 2014 19:33:27	This sounds like fun.   The first thing I thought about was giving players the option to invest into the airship systems if they wanted to.  I think the proficiency system could handle that without overcomplicating things.  Tool/profession proficiencies you might include would be piloting, navigation, command, gunnery, and engineering.  Players could probably interract with these parts of the ship through skill (and attack for gunnery) rolls, probably opposed by NPC skill rolls.  Additionally I seem to recall there being a supplement called Stormwrack for a previous edition that had both a simulationist and narrativist naval combat system.  You could mine those for ideas as well.
#9 seti Aug 18, 2014 19:42:13	Spelljammer (2e) had a boxed set with air/space ship combat rules as well...If you can find it. It had hullpoints, rules for hex movement, and damage tables for spells, ballistae, catapaults, cannons, etc. with both hitpoint and hullpoint listings...Kind of cool, and the air/space ship art was interesting. Dwarf ships looked like hammers or floating mountains, elf ships looked graceful, mind flayer ships had tenticles...
#10 Aavarius Aug 18, 2014 19:48:09	I got to thinking about this and realized that you proably want your NPC ships to be handled like a single "creature" so as to make it easier to manage them at the table.  At least, that's my recommendation.
#11 Ctenophore718 Aug 22, 2014 11:35:24	I decided to write up my own Airship Combat rules, trying to keep it simple and more on the improvisational side. Feedback is appreciated!   Rules for Airship Combat v1 The following rules apply to airship combat only. If a ship is boarded or grounded at any point, the normal combat rules of D&D apply.   Turns Each ship by itself does not have a turn. Rather, each crew member’s turn determines what the ship does over the course of a round. Alternate rules about a ship’s turn are below.   When a ship encounters an enemy, whether it is another ship or a single creature (i.e. dragon) each individual crew member and creature rolls initiative and combat order is played out through normal rules. A crew member’s action on his turn can be used in the following generic ways: ·         Maneuver the ship ·         Maintain the ship ·         Attack using the ship’s weaponry ·         Any other action used in normal combat, including ranged attacks and casting spells.   The crew member in charge of elevation/propulsion (EP) uses his turn to determine the distance the ship travels while the crew member in charge of yaw/roll/pitch (YRP) uses her turn to determine the direction of the ship before the ship’s movement occurs.   If EP is determined before YRP acts, the ship moves in the bearing it had at the beginning of combat. Alternatively, a crew member in charge of EP can choose to use the Ready action and move the ship after YRP is determined.   Alternate Turn Rules When combat commences between multiple ships, each ship’s captain rolls initiative for the ship as a whole. Each ship acts on its own turn. Its crew members each have a turn within the ship’s overall turn, which allows them all to move and take an action. Once an entire crew has taken their turns, the next ship in initiative order takes its turn.   Edge A primary function for Airship Combat is known as the Edge.   Determining Who Has the Edge At the beginning of combat, determining which ship(s) have the edge works in tandem with the rules of hiding and perception. A ship can attempt to hide as part of the crew members’ Dexterity (Air Vehicles) check. Alternatively, the DM may call for different ability checks, depending on the situation. These checks are made by the two crew members in charge of EP and YRP and are averaged (rounded up) to make a single result.   This check is contested by another ship’s Wisdom (Perception) check, usually made by a crew member who is on lookout. If nobody is actively keeping watch, use the crew members’ passive Perception.   Is the ship is successfully hidden, it has the edge. Alternatively, if a ship successfully approaches an enemy ship’s flank, it has the edge.   A ship either has the edge or it doesn’t. There are no directly negative effects from not having the edge.   Effects of the Edge ·         Advantage on attack rolls made by the ship (weaponry) ·         Advantage on maneuvering rolls   Gaining the Edge A ship gains the edge after the start of combat in the following ways: ·         The ship successfully flanks an enemy ship within range ·         The ship becomes hidden from an enemy ship   Losing the Edge A ship can lose the edge in the following ways: ·         A ship’s hit point total drops below half for the first time ·         The ship is flanked by an enemy within range ·         The ship loses sight of the enemy ship   Maneuvering Maneuvering a ship is separated into two different segments, each controlled by a different crew member: Yaw/Roll/Pitch and Elevation/Propulsion.   Yaw/Roll/Pitch The yaw, roll, and pitch (YRP) determine the direction of the ship at any given moment. A crew member usually controls this through the rudder of the ship, but some ships have special control systems that might deviate from the norm.   On the ship’s turn, the crew member in command of YRP makes a Dexterity (Air Vehicles) check to determine the overall bearing of the ship before movement commences.   The DM determines an appropriate DC depending on the ship’s capability and the difficulty of the particular maneuver. For example, most ships won’t be able to turn 180 degrees in one round, but an exceptionally skilled crew member might be able to pull it off with the right ship, if his or her roll matched the higher DC.   If successful, the ship’s bearing is the direction that the crew member intended. If not, the result is determined by the DM.   Elevation/Propulsion The elevation and propulsion determine the distance traveled of the ship in a round. This takes into account both the horizontal distance and the vertical distance.   The crew member rolls a Dexterity (Air Vehicles) check to determine the distance traveled in a turn. The maximum distance depend on the rate of elevation and speed of the ship, shown in the ship’s stat block.   If successful, the ship moves the distance intended by the crew member. If not, the DM determines how far the ship actually travels.   Maintenance Combat maintenance is an essential function of airship combat. If a ship’s hull is breached by a projectile, a successful crew will need a repairman (usually referred to as an engineer) to take care of it while others fight off the enemy.   The crew member in charge of maintenance rolls a Dexterity (Air Vehicles) check to determine the extent of the repair of damage. The DM may call for a different ability check, depending on the situation. The check’s result directly correlates to the hit points of the ship. For example, if an engineer rolls a 17 on a Dexterity (Air Vehicles) check, she heals the ship 17 hit points.   The location of the damage done is determined by the DM. With this in mind, the engineer may have to move around on the ship. Depending on where the engineer is and where the damage is dealt, the engineer may have to take multiple turns to reach the area damaged.   Multiple engineers can work in tandem during combat. They can either repair the same area or each repair different areas simultaneously.   In order for a crew member to attempt to repair the ship, he must have Maintenance Tools on his person. Otherwise, the check’s result is automatically 0.   Weaponry A ship’s weapon capabilities are described in the ship’s stat block.   Any crew member can choose to use his turn to fire weaponry available on the ship. All airship weapons are classified as martial weapons for the purpose of determining whether or not a crew member has proficiency.   Some weapons are secured to the ship in a particular way, limiting its firing radius. The DM determines whether or not a ship’s weapon can fire at a target at a particular bearing.   If a ship has the edge, advantage is applied only to the ship’s weaponry. Weapon and spell attacks that don’t originate from the ship do not gain advantage from a ship that has the edge.