D&D 3E/3.5 pirate campaign 3.5

I am starting a 3.5 campaign in a pirate era setting, the players are starting at 3rd level and it seems they have chosen to start with a boat (though it is a small shabby one) and decided to set off to sea seeking fame and fortune. The time is set when the navy has just begun to gain influence in some major port towns so their power is equivalent to stronger pirates, but they do not have the power yet to just force every pirate into submission. the pirates run rampant some other protective services raid islands or just attack other vessels, often they are tied to a code to avoid open conflict amongst one another but the code is old and often forgotten by the younger pirates. Many youths have set off to become privateers and become renowned for either finding amazing treasure or defeating enemies.

I need some advice on how to make a decent starting ship for the players, they have decided to save up and set off as youths after purchasing their own boat. It has to be able to house 10-15 people not necessarily comfortably. and i was wondering if anyone had any designs or ideas for how to go about it. They start off at 3rd level and we have a ranger/scout engineer human, an orc rogue, and an elf sorcerer. all have been playing around 1 year.

Start them off with a small barque or schooner, about 60' in length. You should be able to find pictures and deck plans online. The more you read about seafaring the better. College libraries often have tons of material on the great age of sail, with lots of diagrams and other useful information. You should be able to find a decent amount online as well.

The better your seafaring rules the better, but I can't recommend any published ones because mostly they stink. Google or search EnWorld. There should be plenty of threads on this. Keep in mind that most D&D rules assume naval technology of between 1300 and 1600, but most people when they think pirates are thinking 1650-1820. Things as ubiquitous as a crow's nest didn't exist in the middle ages, so keep in mind that you'll probably want to adopt somewhat anachronistic naval technology. Whether or not to have gunpowder, or to use torsion engines, and whether torsion engines can be used like cannons with limited range because you like 'guns' but don't want explosives in your game will have a big impact on your campaign.

When I played my pirate captain, I had a Caravel. They're small, can sail into the wind and can sail on the open sea and in deep rivers. This would work for your crew size, too!

We handled ship to ship combat with missile fire and boarding actions. Remember, boats are expensive! If you can take over the enemy's boat I bet one of your world's navies is willing to buy it! And if you sink it, all your loot goes to the bottom with it.

Anything that required my attention (navigating, handling the boat in a storm, etc) was handled by a Profession (Sailor) check. The crew gave me bonuses or penalties based on their check. I think they were mostly experts.

I had a pirate code (Articles of Agreement) that everyone agreed to in order to be on the crew. It handled everything from distribution of loot to punishments for the crew. One thing to keep in mind is that pirate crews, historically, were quite democratic.

Grogg of the North said:

When I played my pirate captain, I had a Caravel. They're small, can sail into the wind and can sail on the open sea and in deep rivers. This would work for your crew size, too!

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If you are playing with less anachronistic naval technology, then a small Caravel is perfectly appropriate as a starting vessel for a crew of low level PC's.

However, in this time period, most piracy would be conducted with galley's, which can go directly against the wind and sprint over short distances faster than most sailing vessels except with the best winds. The idea would be to hide behind a spit of land or a small island, and then as something goes past, rush out and grab them with grappling hooks and boarding planks before they can respond.

Viking's with their longships would have used similar strategies to board slow moving cogs, and also engaged heavily in coastal raiding using 'hit and run strategies'. The main difference being that the Viking longship was also very seaworthy compared to a Mediterranean galley (and not nearly the nimble sprinter as a consequence).

The other reason we went with a Caravel is because we did a lot of river travel, too. Caravels were developed in 1450s. So if your game is set closer to the golden age of piracy, then it's about 200 years early. In fact it's too early for even the golden age of sail!

I had my players start out with a Caravel too. We're relying on the rules of Stormwrack for most of our campaign, which does an adequate job. As mentioned by Celebrim, none of the published books on this are perfect. But I think Stormwrack is the best available for 3.5. However, it is extremely limited in regards to ship weaponry. There's no mention of cannons, or any firearms at all. It also doesn't provide ship upgrades. So as the players progress through the campaign and gather more wealth, I guess they are just supposed to keep buying more expensive ships? So I decided to houserule the heck out of it. I made extensive illustrated equipment lists, full of firearms, cannons and shipupgrades. Special coatings for sails and hulls, to protect against fire. Magical figure heads that bless the ship with the powers of my deities. Better rigging, rudder, tackle, and support beams, to improve shiphandling, hitpoints, hardness and sailing speed.

Feel free to make use of this HUGE list.

View attachment PirateWeapons.docx

And if you're hungry for more, be sure to check out my Pirates of the Emerald Coast thread for more ideas.

The Arms and Equipment Guide (3.0) has a bunch of boat stuff in it. A few rules on sinking, hit points for some boat types and, of course, magical upgrades for your boat.