Spellcasting in the Age of Sail

[Bobitron]

I'm considering running a game set in the height of England's naval might (mid-1700's) using a modified d20 Modern or Grim Tales ruleset. I'm not concerned about the rules generally, but I am curious how you feel minor spellcasting would change life about a military sailing ship during the Age of Sail.

One low level spellcaster on board each significant ship is likely. I have visions of a Royal Academy of Naval Magics that produces Lt. grade officers to serve on each ship of the line. What sort of spells (level 1-2 or so) would be useful in daily life aboard a ship? I'm not looking for the effect of combat spells, which are pretty easy to imagine (Flaming Sphere or Scorching Ray on board a ship? It gives me chills...). I'm more looking for the little spells that would really make dramatic changes to how life would go aboard ship logistically. Things like communication, weather, food, moving ammo and supplies about, that sort of thing.

What are some of the obstacles to life on a ship that minor magic could simplify or eliminate?

 

[gizmo33]

It's hard to imagine that someone shells out 10,000+ gp for a ship and hasn't taken any steps to protect it against a 2nd level fire spell.

 

[SteelDraco]

There are all kinds of problems that even 0th level magic would make much easier to deal with on a ship. Dancing Lights and Message make communication much easier. I'm picturing a system like semaphore with dancing lights, where different colors and movement patterns convey all kinds of information to other ships or landed allies. Mending makes life much easier, with perfect repairs on worn or damaged objects. Animate Rope and Feather Fall makes life easier and safer for crewmembers.

Honestly, though, I'd rather have a 1st level cleric hanging around than a 1st level wizard. Create Water, Cure Minor Wounds, and Purify Food and Drink remove the biggest impediments to long voyages, so a ship with even a minor cleric has greater range than real-world equivalent ships. It would mean they wouldn't have to store water for the voyage, and spoilage wouldn't be a concern - 0th level magic solves both problems. Each casting of Purify Food and Drink purifies eight gallons of seawater per level, meaning even a 1st level cleric can make 24 gallons of drinkable water per day. A 3rd level cleric can provide enough water for 96 people per day, just with his 0th level spell slots.

 

[SiderisAnon]

Having done some research into sailing because my current campaign has become sea based, I would have to say that from historical references, the biggest effect magic could have on a sailing ship, particularly one a long time at sea, is in the food. Sailors were often not well fed. Even when they were, there were diseases and conditions that afflicted them on long voyages because of poor quality food and no health care. (Scurvy probably being the most well known one.)

Low level spellcasters who could make or purify foods would be of great benefit. Anyone who could create fresh water would also be very useful. Anyone who could season food to make it taste better would also be very popular.

Beyond that, the use of spells such as "mend" would be very beneficial to maintenance on a ship. The "continual flame" would be a much safer light than a lantern, and wouldn't require storing quantities of oil.

There are also illusions and other spells used for entertainment. Keeping up crew morale is very important. (And, frankly, having a spellcaster on board to help protect you would help morale too.)

If you're using PHB classes, I would say that sorcerers would be more useful than wizards, because a wizard is going to waste spells every day allocating them to attack spells they won't need if a pirate doesn't come along. Clerics would be also be quite useful because of their spell selection and their positive effect on morale.

I don't use core classes in my campaign... don't bards get both spontaneous casting, healing spells, and fancy abilities that can boost morale? If I'm remembering correctly, they'd be even more useful (as far as class abilities) than the other classes.

 

[Bobitron]

I'd probably make a new spell list from various sources, grabbing all sorts of things that make sense rather than concerning myself with divine vs arcane magic. A bard-like class is a great idea.

 

[RichGreen]

Give Skull & Bones a try from Adamant/Green Ronin. It's set in the Golden Age of Piracy rather than the mid 1700s but would work very well for what you're suggesting. There are spellcasting classes but they're much lower-powered than D&D spellcasters.

Cheers


Richard

 

[Thornir Alekeg]

Oddly, the 0 level spells are mostly the more useful ones until you get into mush higher levels. Other spells don't have the range or area of effect to be that much use outside of combat.

I would contend that a Druid would be more useful than a Cleric because in addition to Create Water and Purify Food and Drink they also have:

• Faerie Fire for marking ships in stormy conditions.
• Know Direction for those cloudy nights
• Wood Shape for repairing parts of the ship.
• Unwarp Wood (Warp Wood reversed) could be useful for repairs as well.

Other useful low level spells from Wizard/Sorcerer lists:

• Animate Rope could have many different uses, but its duration is so short that it would need a higher level caster or multiple castings to be really useful.
• Message for passing on information from the lookouts in poor weather or when trying to avoid notice and shouting from the crow's nest wouldn't be useful.

 

[Roger]

Three necessary new spells:

Create Rum
Inflict Sodomy
Summon Lash



Cheers,
Roger

 

[The Lost Muse]

You probably don't want to seek it out, but Seas of Blood (or any of the other nautical books by Mongoose, Adamant, Green Ronin, et. al - all based on the same open game content) contains a bunch of spells for ships.

 

[Pyrex]

It's hard to imagine that someone shells out 10,000+ gp for a ship and hasn't taken any steps to protect it against a 2nd level fire spell.

In general there aren't a lot of spells to protect objects, but there obviously should be.

*ponders what a 2nd level "Protect Ship from Fire" spell would look like*