I've made changes based on feedback from before.
I've altered the attack and weapon systems so that weapons each have an inherent attack roll modifier based on how good the weapon is at hitting a target. This replaces any Dex or Str modifiers from the ship or passenger. Note that some special weapons may use Passenger Dex instead of the weapon bonus, but this is not the defualt.
I also wrote up a new size system. It is basicaly the same as Normal DnD rules, but the names are changed when talking in Vessel terms. The key feature of this system is that regardless of if you are calling it a Tiny Vessel or a Huge Object, the AC modifier is the same. This means every monster, character, and vessel has only one AC instead of one vs vessels and one vs non-vessels. This should be easy and clean, in theory.
________________________________
Terms:
________________________________
Vessel: any craft, creature, or effect that can be attacked, or make attacks in air or space combat. This includes a paladin mounted on a flying horse, a dragon, or 5 adventurers in a deep-space scout ship.
Passenger: a character on a vessel, such a character inside a ship, or riding on a dragon’s back.
Note that some monsters, like a dragon, are effectively their own passengers. Also, some vessels may be “alive,” like a giant animated corpse a lich might use for a ship, and therefore can be their own passengers for some purposes.
Pilot: A passenger with control over a vessel’s movement. This is one of the most important roles on a vessel.
Vessel Dex: used for vessel AC dodge bonus, and effects a vessel’s manuverablity modifier.
Vessel Str: used for determining how strong a vessel is for purposes of breaking moorings, tractor beams etc, and also for any vessel melee damage.
Engineering modifier: how hard is it to fix, repair, or keep the vessel running. Used for engineering skill checks.
Handling modifier: how hard is it to fly the vessel. Used for stunts and reflex saves. Determined by vessel components and size modifier.
________________________________
Vessel Combat Basics:
________________________________
I’ll try to explain this using the format from page 117 of the player’s handbook. I intend to latter add an example of combat in front of this section much as how the combat chapter of the Players handbook introduces the combat mechanic.
Rounds: Vessel combat uses the same rounds as melee combat. They loosely represent 6 seconds or time.
Initiative:
Vessel combat still uses individual initiative. Each player gets to make their actions on their Initiative, regardless of which vessel they are on and weather or not that vessel’s pilot has had his turn yet. A vessel by itself does not have an initiative, but can be moved by a passenger on his initiative using piloting skill checks and rules.
Attacks:
Vessels do not make attacks on their own. Vessel weapons are only usable if being operated by a passenger. Attacks are made on that passenger’s initiative using that passenger’s abilities etc. Passengers can take both a move-equivalent action and an attack action in each round. Note that actual movement is only possible within a ship. A player manning a gun can not move the ship. Most players manning a gun chose the full attack action to get their full number of attacks. It is possible for a passenger to make attacks on their own, but only if they are on the outside of a vessel, such as a paladin mounted on the back of a flying horse, or archers standing on the deck of a flying galleon.
Attack roll:
There are basically four types of attacks possible in Vessel combat, attacks made using vessel weapons, both ranged and melee, and attacks made by hand held weapons of vessel passengers, both ranged and melee. The attack rolls are a bit different between the four.
Ranged Vessel Weapon Attack Roll: 1d20 + the PC’s bab + weapon modifier + Vessel’s size modifier + range penalty
Melee Vessel Weapon Attack Roll: 1d20 + the PC’s bab + weapon modifier + Vessel’s size modifier
Ranged Passenger Weapon Attack Roll: 1d20 + the PC’s bab + PC’s Dex modifier + PC’s size modifier + range penalty (standard d20 rules)
Melee Passenger Weapon Attack Roll: 1d20 + the PC’s bab + PC’s STR modifier + PC’s size modifier (standard d20 rules)
Damage:
If you make a hit against an enemy Vessel, roll for damage according to the weapon used. Ranged Vessel Weapons gain no damage modifier from the Str or Dex or the ship. Ranged Vessel Attacks also don’t gain damage modifiers from the passenger’s Str and Dex abilities. Vessel Melee attacks gains a strength bonus from the ship’s strength not the passenger’s strength. Attacks made by passengers inflict damage normally (thrown weapons and melee attacks gain a strength bonus to damage from the character, ranged attacks suffer strength penalties but not bonuses, two handed, off hand, etc)
Armor Class:
A vessel’s armor class works normally; attacks directed at the vessel must overcome the vessel’s armor class to score a hit. Note that size effects vessels just like it effects creatures. Vessel tend to be much larger then creauters and use a slight variation on the system. The names are shifted 4 spaces, but all modifiers are the same. Extreamly large vessels can be very hard not to hit, and often compensate with massive armor, hitpoints, and damage reduction.
A Vessel’s AC: 10 + armor bonus + vessel size modifier + Dodge modifier from ship Dex.
Hit Points:
Vessels have hit points which represents how much damage the vessel can take and still operate.
Attack Options:
A Passenger manning a ship weapon basically has two options:
Attack & Move-equivalent action: Passengers can not move the ship unless they are the pilot, but they can take other move equivalent actions and combine this with a single attack. This would include firing the weapon once, and then moving away from the gun, or using a scanner system to target a tracking weapon before launching it.
Full Attack: Some passengers can make multiple attacks in a round, using the full attack option at a vessel weapon they can fire their full number of times, assuming the weapon can operate that often.
Pilot Options:
The pilot is a special passenger that actually has control of the vessel. Some larger vessels may have many pilot stations, but only one passenger is actually a pilot, while the others are considered co-pilots and only have the ability to help his skill checks using standard skill check rules. The general activity of piloting is a move-equivalent action, so the pilot can also do something else while piloting a vessel. Most commonly a vessel is built with a weapon system integrated into the controls, so the pilot can use his movement action to fly the craft, and then use his standard action to make a single attack. A pilot can also take a double-move action to allow for better control of the vessel although this doesn’t make the craft fly any faster or farther. If a vessel can hover on its own, like a zeppelin, or a space-craft in 0-g, then the pilot could also take no movement actions and instead take a full attack option. During such a round, the ship hovers where it is.
Stunts: each move-equivalent action a pilot takes at the helm also allows him to make 1 stunt. That means during a double-move action, he can make two stunts. Stunts can be used at any time during the movement, but require a Pilot skill check. Stunts are the only way some vessels are able to turn at all.
Spells:
Spellcasting passengers can make use of their spells while on ships and in vessel combat, although they are logically limited. Many spells require a clean path between the caster and the target, and that is not possible inside a ship. Some ships are designed to handle this problem with special equipment, while some spellcasters actually cast from on deck, or outside an airlock. Ranges in space often push the limits of a spellcaster’s power. Spellcasting on a ship maneuvering in Vessel combat does require concentration checks.
Saving Throws:
A vessel’s saving throws are based on a combination of the ship and passenger’s stats.
Fortitude Saves: based strictly on the ship’s hit dice, although some ships can be built better than average.
Reflex Saves: A ship’s reflex save is based on the pilot’s base reflex save, modified by the ship’s handling modifier.
Vessels generally don’t have Will saving throws, but their pilots often do, and depending on the effect/spell, sometimes an entire crew will need to make a save.
Movement:
Vessels do not move as easily as people walking on the ground, and require special rules to handle maneuvering.
Vessels have a concept of facing. Unlike standard melee combat, vessels can only point in one direction, and require special effort to change this facing. Facing limits a vessel to specific firing-arcs and maneuverability options. A facing in this system is broken down into 45 degree points; or forward, sides, back, and corners. Weapons on a vessel must be facing front, side, or rear, and cover a 90 degree firing arc. Those weapons can only make attacks in that area. Obviously, a pilot can not operate a weapon unless it faces forward.
Vessels have a maximum speed, which represents the vessel’s stop speed in combat. This speed is used normally, and the pilot can move this speed using a single move-equivalent action. If the pilot takes a double-move action, he still can not move more then this speed.
Vessels also have a minimum speed, which represents the need for most vessels to stay in motion in order to stay in the air. A vessel with a minimum speed requires the pilot to use at least a single move-equivalent action in order to move the craft this distance each round. Vessels in zero gravity environments like space do not have this issue to deal with, and some air vessels can hover which gives them an effective minimum speed of 0.
A vessel also has a maneuverability ratting. The ratings use the same terms as those found on page 69 of the Dungeon Master’s Guide, but use a much different system for their effects.
Clumsy Flier: can make use of simple slides (diagonal movement with-out changing facing) but otherwise flies forward. During the one stunt per movement action the Hard Turn stunt can be used to change face and effectively turn.
Poor Flier: can make use of simple slides, and one 45o turn per movement action. Other turns can be made using the single stunt allowed per movement action.
Average Fliers: can slide, and make two 45o turns per movement action.
Good fliers: can slide and make three 90o turns movement action.
Perfect fliers: can slide and make four 180o turns per movement action. This is supposed to be UFO like flight after all.
If a vessel's pilot is disabled or otherwise is removed or leaves the controls, the vessel is considered out of control (to be detailed latter). Even a vessel that can hover or a vessel in zero gravity requires someone at the controls to keep it from drifting. An out of control vessel will continue to move in a random direction, but this does not effect the function of weapons etc on the ship. A vessel can also lose control durring a failed Pilot Skill check.
Attacks of Opportunity:
Vessel combat largely ignores attacks of opportunity with one exception; when a vessel attempts to pass through another vessel’s space. Doing so provokes an attack of opportunity from any vessel weapons on the side facing the approach. The attacks of opportunity can only be made if the passengers manning those vessel weapons have any remaining attacks of opportunity. This most often happens during a dive attack or a ramming attacking.
Vessel Damage, Destruction, and Repairs:
A vessel’s hit points represent how much damage it can take and still remain functioning.
0 Hit points: the vessel loses power and control. For most vessels this means a real danger of crashing. Systems that require no power remain functional (such as sails and blimps).
-1 or less Hit points: All systems become non-functional. This includes sails being ripped, and zeppelins suffering a dangerous leak/hole.
-50% hitpoints: when a vessel takes damage to the point that is has negative hitpoints equal to half its hitpoints, it is considered destroyed beyond repair.
Vessels, with a few exceptions, are immune to both positive and negative energy, and therefore can not be healed or damaged in that fashion. For a vessel to regain hitpoints, it generally needs to be repaired, either through special spells, or actually use of the proper skill or skills.
Critical Hits in Vessel Combat may result in damage to spicific systems or even passengers, but no damage multiplier. System to be detailed.
Scale:
When you use miniatures and grids maps for vessel combat, the recommended size is actually 30’ = inch. This is a much larger scale then normal d20 systems, but it the most compatible with current monsters and spell effects while still providing a larger size needed for vessel combat. Like d20, a battlemat should use a grid, not a hexagon. This is more compatible with current rules. An optional side-bar may be made for using this system with a Hexagon grid, but movement point systems will not be part of the Cosmonomicon.
I've altered the attack and weapon systems so that weapons each have an inherent attack roll modifier based on how good the weapon is at hitting a target. This replaces any Dex or Str modifiers from the ship or passenger. Note that some special weapons may use Passenger Dex instead of the weapon bonus, but this is not the defualt.
I also wrote up a new size system. It is basicaly the same as Normal DnD rules, but the names are changed when talking in Vessel terms. The key feature of this system is that regardless of if you are calling it a Tiny Vessel or a Huge Object, the AC modifier is the same. This means every monster, character, and vessel has only one AC instead of one vs vessels and one vs non-vessels. This should be easy and clean, in theory.
________________________________
Terms:
________________________________
Vessel: any craft, creature, or effect that can be attacked, or make attacks in air or space combat. This includes a paladin mounted on a flying horse, a dragon, or 5 adventurers in a deep-space scout ship.
Passenger: a character on a vessel, such a character inside a ship, or riding on a dragon’s back.
Note that some monsters, like a dragon, are effectively their own passengers. Also, some vessels may be “alive,” like a giant animated corpse a lich might use for a ship, and therefore can be their own passengers for some purposes.
Pilot: A passenger with control over a vessel’s movement. This is one of the most important roles on a vessel.
Vessel Dex: used for vessel AC dodge bonus, and effects a vessel’s manuverablity modifier.
Vessel Str: used for determining how strong a vessel is for purposes of breaking moorings, tractor beams etc, and also for any vessel melee damage.
Engineering modifier: how hard is it to fix, repair, or keep the vessel running. Used for engineering skill checks.
Handling modifier: how hard is it to fly the vessel. Used for stunts and reflex saves. Determined by vessel components and size modifier.
________________________________
Vessel Combat Basics:
________________________________
I’ll try to explain this using the format from page 117 of the player’s handbook. I intend to latter add an example of combat in front of this section much as how the combat chapter of the Players handbook introduces the combat mechanic.
Rounds: Vessel combat uses the same rounds as melee combat. They loosely represent 6 seconds or time.
Initiative:
Vessel combat still uses individual initiative. Each player gets to make their actions on their Initiative, regardless of which vessel they are on and weather or not that vessel’s pilot has had his turn yet. A vessel by itself does not have an initiative, but can be moved by a passenger on his initiative using piloting skill checks and rules.
Attacks:
Vessels do not make attacks on their own. Vessel weapons are only usable if being operated by a passenger. Attacks are made on that passenger’s initiative using that passenger’s abilities etc. Passengers can take both a move-equivalent action and an attack action in each round. Note that actual movement is only possible within a ship. A player manning a gun can not move the ship. Most players manning a gun chose the full attack action to get their full number of attacks. It is possible for a passenger to make attacks on their own, but only if they are on the outside of a vessel, such as a paladin mounted on the back of a flying horse, or archers standing on the deck of a flying galleon.
Attack roll:
There are basically four types of attacks possible in Vessel combat, attacks made using vessel weapons, both ranged and melee, and attacks made by hand held weapons of vessel passengers, both ranged and melee. The attack rolls are a bit different between the four.
Ranged Vessel Weapon Attack Roll: 1d20 + the PC’s bab + weapon modifier + Vessel’s size modifier + range penalty
Melee Vessel Weapon Attack Roll: 1d20 + the PC’s bab + weapon modifier + Vessel’s size modifier
Ranged Passenger Weapon Attack Roll: 1d20 + the PC’s bab + PC’s Dex modifier + PC’s size modifier + range penalty (standard d20 rules)
Melee Passenger Weapon Attack Roll: 1d20 + the PC’s bab + PC’s STR modifier + PC’s size modifier (standard d20 rules)
Damage:
If you make a hit against an enemy Vessel, roll for damage according to the weapon used. Ranged Vessel Weapons gain no damage modifier from the Str or Dex or the ship. Ranged Vessel Attacks also don’t gain damage modifiers from the passenger’s Str and Dex abilities. Vessel Melee attacks gains a strength bonus from the ship’s strength not the passenger’s strength. Attacks made by passengers inflict damage normally (thrown weapons and melee attacks gain a strength bonus to damage from the character, ranged attacks suffer strength penalties but not bonuses, two handed, off hand, etc)
Armor Class:
A vessel’s armor class works normally; attacks directed at the vessel must overcome the vessel’s armor class to score a hit. Note that size effects vessels just like it effects creatures. Vessel tend to be much larger then creauters and use a slight variation on the system. The names are shifted 4 spaces, but all modifiers are the same. Extreamly large vessels can be very hard not to hit, and often compensate with massive armor, hitpoints, and damage reduction.
Code:
[color=white]
Fine Creature +8 AC/Attack 6 Inch or less
Diminutive Creature +4 AC/Attack 6 Inch - 1 Foot
Tiny Creature +2 AC/Attack 1 Foot - 2 Feet
Small Creature +1 AC/Attack 2 Feet - 4 Feet
Medium Creature/Fine Vessel 0 AC/Attack 4 Feet - 8 Feet
Large Creature/Diminutive Vessel -1 AC/Attack 8 Feet - 16 Feet
Huge Creature/Tiny Vessel -2 AC/Attack 16 Feet - 32 Feet
Gargantuan Creature/Small Vessel -4 AC/Attack 32 Feet - 64 Feet
Colossal Creature/Medium Vessel -8 AC/Attack 64 Feet - 128 Feet
Large Vessel -16 AC/Attack 256 Feet - 512 Feet
Huge Vessel -32 AC/Attack 512 Feet - 1024 Feet
Gargantuan Vessel -64 AC/Attack 1024 Feet - 2048 Feet
Colossal Vessel -128 AC/Attack 2048 Feet or more
[/color]A Vessel’s AC: 10 + armor bonus + vessel size modifier + Dodge modifier from ship Dex.
Hit Points:
Vessels have hit points which represents how much damage the vessel can take and still operate.
Attack Options:
A Passenger manning a ship weapon basically has two options:
Attack & Move-equivalent action: Passengers can not move the ship unless they are the pilot, but they can take other move equivalent actions and combine this with a single attack. This would include firing the weapon once, and then moving away from the gun, or using a scanner system to target a tracking weapon before launching it.
Full Attack: Some passengers can make multiple attacks in a round, using the full attack option at a vessel weapon they can fire their full number of times, assuming the weapon can operate that often.
Pilot Options:
The pilot is a special passenger that actually has control of the vessel. Some larger vessels may have many pilot stations, but only one passenger is actually a pilot, while the others are considered co-pilots and only have the ability to help his skill checks using standard skill check rules. The general activity of piloting is a move-equivalent action, so the pilot can also do something else while piloting a vessel. Most commonly a vessel is built with a weapon system integrated into the controls, so the pilot can use his movement action to fly the craft, and then use his standard action to make a single attack. A pilot can also take a double-move action to allow for better control of the vessel although this doesn’t make the craft fly any faster or farther. If a vessel can hover on its own, like a zeppelin, or a space-craft in 0-g, then the pilot could also take no movement actions and instead take a full attack option. During such a round, the ship hovers where it is.
Stunts: each move-equivalent action a pilot takes at the helm also allows him to make 1 stunt. That means during a double-move action, he can make two stunts. Stunts can be used at any time during the movement, but require a Pilot skill check. Stunts are the only way some vessels are able to turn at all.
Spells:
Spellcasting passengers can make use of their spells while on ships and in vessel combat, although they are logically limited. Many spells require a clean path between the caster and the target, and that is not possible inside a ship. Some ships are designed to handle this problem with special equipment, while some spellcasters actually cast from on deck, or outside an airlock. Ranges in space often push the limits of a spellcaster’s power. Spellcasting on a ship maneuvering in Vessel combat does require concentration checks.
Saving Throws:
A vessel’s saving throws are based on a combination of the ship and passenger’s stats.
Fortitude Saves: based strictly on the ship’s hit dice, although some ships can be built better than average.
Reflex Saves: A ship’s reflex save is based on the pilot’s base reflex save, modified by the ship’s handling modifier.
Vessels generally don’t have Will saving throws, but their pilots often do, and depending on the effect/spell, sometimes an entire crew will need to make a save.
Movement:
Vessels do not move as easily as people walking on the ground, and require special rules to handle maneuvering.
Vessels have a concept of facing. Unlike standard melee combat, vessels can only point in one direction, and require special effort to change this facing. Facing limits a vessel to specific firing-arcs and maneuverability options. A facing in this system is broken down into 45 degree points; or forward, sides, back, and corners. Weapons on a vessel must be facing front, side, or rear, and cover a 90 degree firing arc. Those weapons can only make attacks in that area. Obviously, a pilot can not operate a weapon unless it faces forward.
Vessels have a maximum speed, which represents the vessel’s stop speed in combat. This speed is used normally, and the pilot can move this speed using a single move-equivalent action. If the pilot takes a double-move action, he still can not move more then this speed.
Vessels also have a minimum speed, which represents the need for most vessels to stay in motion in order to stay in the air. A vessel with a minimum speed requires the pilot to use at least a single move-equivalent action in order to move the craft this distance each round. Vessels in zero gravity environments like space do not have this issue to deal with, and some air vessels can hover which gives them an effective minimum speed of 0.
A vessel also has a maneuverability ratting. The ratings use the same terms as those found on page 69 of the Dungeon Master’s Guide, but use a much different system for their effects.
Clumsy Flier: can make use of simple slides (diagonal movement with-out changing facing) but otherwise flies forward. During the one stunt per movement action the Hard Turn stunt can be used to change face and effectively turn.
Poor Flier: can make use of simple slides, and one 45o turn per movement action. Other turns can be made using the single stunt allowed per movement action.
Average Fliers: can slide, and make two 45o turns per movement action.
Good fliers: can slide and make three 90o turns movement action.
Perfect fliers: can slide and make four 180o turns per movement action. This is supposed to be UFO like flight after all.
If a vessel's pilot is disabled or otherwise is removed or leaves the controls, the vessel is considered out of control (to be detailed latter). Even a vessel that can hover or a vessel in zero gravity requires someone at the controls to keep it from drifting. An out of control vessel will continue to move in a random direction, but this does not effect the function of weapons etc on the ship. A vessel can also lose control durring a failed Pilot Skill check.
Attacks of Opportunity:
Vessel combat largely ignores attacks of opportunity with one exception; when a vessel attempts to pass through another vessel’s space. Doing so provokes an attack of opportunity from any vessel weapons on the side facing the approach. The attacks of opportunity can only be made if the passengers manning those vessel weapons have any remaining attacks of opportunity. This most often happens during a dive attack or a ramming attacking.
Vessel Damage, Destruction, and Repairs:
A vessel’s hit points represent how much damage it can take and still remain functioning.
0 Hit points: the vessel loses power and control. For most vessels this means a real danger of crashing. Systems that require no power remain functional (such as sails and blimps).
-1 or less Hit points: All systems become non-functional. This includes sails being ripped, and zeppelins suffering a dangerous leak/hole.
-50% hitpoints: when a vessel takes damage to the point that is has negative hitpoints equal to half its hitpoints, it is considered destroyed beyond repair.
Vessels, with a few exceptions, are immune to both positive and negative energy, and therefore can not be healed or damaged in that fashion. For a vessel to regain hitpoints, it generally needs to be repaired, either through special spells, or actually use of the proper skill or skills.
Critical Hits in Vessel Combat may result in damage to spicific systems or even passengers, but no damage multiplier. System to be detailed.
Scale:
When you use miniatures and grids maps for vessel combat, the recommended size is actually 30’ = inch. This is a much larger scale then normal d20 systems, but it the most compatible with current monsters and spell effects while still providing a larger size needed for vessel combat. Like d20, a battlemat should use a grid, not a hexagon. This is more compatible with current rules. An optional side-bar may be made for using this system with a Hexagon grid, but movement point systems will not be part of the Cosmonomicon.
