Zardnaar
Legend
Going back as far as 2E we have done the naval thing both at sea and in space including a roll over into 3E with the Seafarers Handbook which was a 3pp detailing naval combat for D&D.
The main problem IMHO is that D&D is not really equipped for this and you're really getting into a different genre which is a naval tactical game. The time period is also pushing it for what PCs tend to want to run it which is basically using gunpowder weapons which D&D also struggles with.
D&D technology basically tops out at the mid 16th century and as late as the Battle of Lepanto (1571) naval combat was not that drastically different than the Battle of Salamis in 480 BC- ramming, boarding and archery. Things started to change around 1588 and the defeat of the Spanish Armada but you're getting beyond the tech levels of the average D&D game at this point (AD&D 2E did have books covering the Elizabethan era).
Having two ships of the line do naval broadsides at each other came centuries later and D&D has generally had problems with very slow reload speeds on cannons even in 5E which is actually generous compared to real life.
Even Spelljammer which added a hex based tactical rules of it I don't think they thought it out that well. For example we had a tricked out Elven Man O War (speed+ manoeuvrability) which was basically a Battlecruiser as manoeuvrable as a TIE fighter. Get a decent spellcaster to jam in it and the basic idea was to one shot an opposing ship via a high speed ramming attack they could not dodge (A manoeuvrability class when C was considered good). They could outfight anything fast enough and agile enough to catch them and they could outrun/avoid anything bigger than them. Spelljammer made the battlecruiser concept work.
The other problem from games like Star Wars and D&D is the ship often becomes a centre point of the game and it can turning D&D the Accounting and having a character sheet for the ship. The ship in effect is a home based, stronghold and/or is used for smuggling which tends to distract from traditional D&D adventures the DM may or may not to run. It can work but the DM has to fully on board. See the Skull and Shackles AP for Pathfinder a few years ago.
Spellcasters are also difficult to work in as Fireball is a great crew killing spell, in the 2E days the crew were probably level 0 and even in 5E getting a crew of CR2+ mooks is a bit unrealistic and can be a pain to keep track of. For example perhaps the PCs want to recruit 20 odd veterans the DM either says no or has to deal with it when the PCs want to run 20 odd CR 3 veterans into combat. Every opposing ship needs to have a spellcaster on board to counter fireball in some way or cast meteor swarm 1st before the PCs do and blow them all to hell.
The final problem I have noticed is ranged PC often want to snipe with longbows and/or artillery (Ballista through to cannons) which leaves non ranged characters bored. In an extreme case we had a long bow user who could fire out to close to a half mile to a mile in range IIRC in 3E. The other PCs were useless if he wanted to snipe. Works great if you are reading a book with Martin in it from the Riftwar Saga, not so good for a DM to deal with at the table.
And the above problems are from before you consider the rules themselves. From Of Ships and Sea, Spelljammer, Stormwrack, The Seafarers Handbook and some other 3pp book I have never seen any D&D regarding naval combat that are actually that good. Ships are best used as low level floating Dungeons where the idea IMHO should be to get close and board ASAP or as a way of travel from point A to B with adventures along the way. We have tried everything from an Age of Heroes ancient Greek type galley though to magitech airships and ironclads and beyond into fleet battles in Star Wars (D6, d20, Saga). D6 Star Wars may have done it the best as it covered things like scale.
One good game we did have in the 90's took a lot of work and the PCs basically became merchant/pirate princes and they ended up owning hidden shipyards in the equivalent of fantasy American colonies.
TLDR version.
1. Numerous problems logistically speaking/genre wise.
2. The rules usually suck (to fast, slow, wrong genre etc)
3. Requires a lot of work and buy in from both players and DM.
The main problem IMHO is that D&D is not really equipped for this and you're really getting into a different genre which is a naval tactical game. The time period is also pushing it for what PCs tend to want to run it which is basically using gunpowder weapons which D&D also struggles with.
D&D technology basically tops out at the mid 16th century and as late as the Battle of Lepanto (1571) naval combat was not that drastically different than the Battle of Salamis in 480 BC- ramming, boarding and archery. Things started to change around 1588 and the defeat of the Spanish Armada but you're getting beyond the tech levels of the average D&D game at this point (AD&D 2E did have books covering the Elizabethan era).
Having two ships of the line do naval broadsides at each other came centuries later and D&D has generally had problems with very slow reload speeds on cannons even in 5E which is actually generous compared to real life.
Even Spelljammer which added a hex based tactical rules of it I don't think they thought it out that well. For example we had a tricked out Elven Man O War (speed+ manoeuvrability) which was basically a Battlecruiser as manoeuvrable as a TIE fighter. Get a decent spellcaster to jam in it and the basic idea was to one shot an opposing ship via a high speed ramming attack they could not dodge (A manoeuvrability class when C was considered good). They could outfight anything fast enough and agile enough to catch them and they could outrun/avoid anything bigger than them. Spelljammer made the battlecruiser concept work.
The other problem from games like Star Wars and D&D is the ship often becomes a centre point of the game and it can turning D&D the Accounting and having a character sheet for the ship. The ship in effect is a home based, stronghold and/or is used for smuggling which tends to distract from traditional D&D adventures the DM may or may not to run. It can work but the DM has to fully on board. See the Skull and Shackles AP for Pathfinder a few years ago.
Spellcasters are also difficult to work in as Fireball is a great crew killing spell, in the 2E days the crew were probably level 0 and even in 5E getting a crew of CR2+ mooks is a bit unrealistic and can be a pain to keep track of. For example perhaps the PCs want to recruit 20 odd veterans the DM either says no or has to deal with it when the PCs want to run 20 odd CR 3 veterans into combat. Every opposing ship needs to have a spellcaster on board to counter fireball in some way or cast meteor swarm 1st before the PCs do and blow them all to hell.
The final problem I have noticed is ranged PC often want to snipe with longbows and/or artillery (Ballista through to cannons) which leaves non ranged characters bored. In an extreme case we had a long bow user who could fire out to close to a half mile to a mile in range IIRC in 3E. The other PCs were useless if he wanted to snipe. Works great if you are reading a book with Martin in it from the Riftwar Saga, not so good for a DM to deal with at the table.
And the above problems are from before you consider the rules themselves. From Of Ships and Sea, Spelljammer, Stormwrack, The Seafarers Handbook and some other 3pp book I have never seen any D&D regarding naval combat that are actually that good. Ships are best used as low level floating Dungeons where the idea IMHO should be to get close and board ASAP or as a way of travel from point A to B with adventures along the way. We have tried everything from an Age of Heroes ancient Greek type galley though to magitech airships and ironclads and beyond into fleet battles in Star Wars (D6, d20, Saga). D6 Star Wars may have done it the best as it covered things like scale.
One good game we did have in the 90's took a lot of work and the PCs basically became merchant/pirate princes and they ended up owning hidden shipyards in the equivalent of fantasy American colonies.
TLDR version.
1. Numerous problems logistically speaking/genre wise.
2. The rules usually suck (to fast, slow, wrong genre etc)
3. Requires a lot of work and buy in from both players and DM.
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