D&D 5E SJ Ship to Ship Battles (& Vehicle Rules in General)

[jasper]

1. yes but remember the range
2. yes. during part 2 I targeted all the ships weapons on the students ships. with random rolls for damage I took out all the weapons systems in four rounds.
3. During round 3 the pcs started targeting the mangol crew and dropped them below crew needed.

 

[FitzTheRuke]

1. yes but remember the range
2. yes. during part 2 I targeted all the ships weapons on the students ships. with random rolls for damage I took out all the weapons systems in four rounds.
3. During round 3 the pcs started targeting the mangol crew and dropped them below crew needed.

1) Do you mean the minimum range? It's true that I hadn't noticed that the mangonel can't hit targets within 60 ft of it, which makes it almost useless once a boarding action starts.
2) Nice shootin', Tex!
3) That's what happened to me. I found it unclear if that was supposed to be the intent of the design or not. (So what else is new with 5e).

 

[jasper]

1) Do you mean the minimum range? It's true that I hadn't noticed that the mangonel can't hit targets within 60 ft of it, which makes it almost useless once a boarding action starts.
2) Nice shootin', Tex!
3) That's what happened to me. I found it unclear if that was supposed to be the intent of the design or not. (So what else is new with 5e).

Yes remember both max and min range. Just after Ghost of Saltmarsh was release I was Slot 0 Um debugging the Dragoncon epic with a few DMs. The two navy guys did point out if you had Mangonels you can stay at far end of the close range and whittle away the other ships hit points. So the creator of Epic said all combat begins at 150 foot range.
2. The dice were with me at that tie.
3. What I did in the Academy was allow the Quartermaster reduce the loading time on the cadet ship by two. Since it was taking place on the holodeck.
If I was creating magic items for Spelljammer, ship weapon platforms which reduce loading, and aim times would be a thing.

 

[FitzTheRuke]

Yes remember both max and min range. Just after Ghost of Saltmarsh was release I was Slot 0 Um debugging the Dragoncon epic with a few DMs. The two navy guys did point out if you had Mangonels you can stay at far end of the close range and whittle away the other ships hit points. So the creator of Epic said all combat begins at 150 foot range.
2. The dice were with me at that tie.
3. What I did in the Academy was allow the Quartermaster reduce the loading time on the cadet ship by two. Since it was taking place on the holodeck.
If I was creating magic items for Spelljammer, ship weapon platforms which reduce loading, and aim times would be a thing.

3) Why do you think you'd want to reduce load time? Do you not just use NPCs for those actions and let the PCs be the gunner who fires (IE rolls?).

 

[jasper]

3) Why do you think you'd want to reduce load time? Do you not just use NPCs for those actions and let the PCs be the gunner who fires (IE rolls?).

The way part two read, only the cadets were manning the ship on the holodeck. And I only had six players that night. But your way would work too.

 

[FitzTheRuke]

The way part two read, only the cadets were manning the ship on the holodeck. And I only had six players that night. But your way would work too.

You don't have a ton of NPC cadets running around? It never occurred to me that it might mean "PCs-only". I guess that the ship can operate without a full crew (it's actually unclear as to whether the Spelljammer needs anyone at all to "help" maneuver the ship, though I wonder what the point of sails and rigging would be if that were the case.

Here's another question I have - can the Spelljammer ever leave his chair during a journey? Is there an "autopilot" feature? (Or does he need to stop to go to the head)?

I assume that many Spelljammers would have an apprentice Spelljammer to take a shift or two.

 

[MonsterEnvy]

I would give the members of a crew being targeted by a seigie weapon cover, So if a Seige weapon would miss a crewmate the ship would still take damage if it beats the ship AC.

You don't have a ton of NPC cadets running around? It never occurred to me that it might mean "PCs-only". I guess that the ship can operate without a full crew (it's actually unclear as to whether the Spelljammer needs anyone at all to "help" maneuver the ship, though I wonder what the point of sails and rigging would be if that were the case.

Here's another question I have - can the Spelljammer ever leave his chair during a journey? Is there an "autopilot" feature? (Or does he need to stop to go to the head)?

I assume that many Spelljammers would have an apprentice Spelljammer to take a shift or two.

The Spelljammer can't leave the chair, if there is a back up spelljammer they can transfer attunement so they can quickly swap if needed.

 

[FitzTheRuke]

I would give the members of a crew being targeted by a seigie weapon cover, So if a Seige weapon would miss a crewmate the ship would still take damage if it beats the ship AC.

The Spelljammer can't leave the chair, if there is a back up spelljammer they can transfer attunement so they can quickly swap if needed.

This would mean that unlike "real" ships (or the ones in Saltmarsh), Spelljammers can't travel 24 hours a day. Interesting.

Edit: Oh no, it says that they travel 100 million miles in 24 hours and the spelljamming helm makes "minor course-corrections on its own" which means that the Spelljammer CAN get up and go to bed during long-distance travel. Obviously during combat, the Spelljammer needs to pilot the ship.

I DID see somewhere a mention of a "pilot" separately from a Spelljammer. I wonder if some of the ships can also be sailed "normally" (either on water or in wildspace). I'll see if I can find it...

 

[Weiley31]

IIRC, despite the fact that the various weapons aboard a Spelljammer takes multiple actions to man/load/fire, ships (at least according to Ghosts of Saltmarsh/Aqisitions Incorporated) can take up to three actions as long as their number of crew members don't dip down a certain threshold. As for attacking the Captain or what not, it's quite possible but there is also the possibility that depending on the area WHERE the opposing Captain is at, there could be 5E cover rules in play. Ducking behind a mast/guard rail/or whatever would offer some degree of protection. Whether or not it overcomes the Damage Threshold in the process is another thing altogether.

As for attacking things, there is not only the Siege Weapons aboard a Spelljammer vessel, but also other things, such as Archers and Spellcasters, that can be used to target opposing crew members and/or Siege Weaponry.

I think as well, there is a rule, in Saltmarsh, where the level of a spell you cast gave you a number of D6s you would roll. And the number you rolled on the d6 would've been the number of opposing crew members incapacitated/downed or what not. Perhaps a similar approach could be used for Siege Weaponry when it is used to attack crew directly. (of course, that's for opposing crew that uses the Commoner statblock i would assume. Any special character/npc/whatever would get saving rolls.)

 

[Weiley31]

Also:

Ships, Sailing and Aquatic Adventures – 5th Edition SRD