D&D General Ships & spellcasters

[Cap'n Kobold]

Fire has been used in the past against ships, and there are more mundane countermeasures that might become commonplace if a fireball into the sails is a known threat. Simply sluicing down the sails and rigging with water to make them non-flammable would be a start.

However this may well be a moot point: while a fireball will be able to set sails alight, it is also fully capable of wiping out most of the deck crew of a ship in one shot as well. That is probably of greater concern when a ship is in battle with an opponent wo has a powerful wizard on their crew.

 

[Micah Sweet]

- There might be international/cultual laws against using certain magic on vessels that is reinforced by sailing culture or by international pacts. Having it be a sailing culture thing will mean that captains themselves will reinforce it. They will not hire wizards who use fire lest other captains and sailors ostracize them or refuse to trade with them. Wizards who use fire have huge bounties laid on them that make them targets for pirates to collect. Pirates refuse to use them lest the wizard attract the ire of both pirates, merchants and naval ships Maybe using fire on a ship comes with a strong superstition. A ship that is known for using fire will find themselves on the receiving end.

- specialized glyphs of warding can be put on sails and various parts of the boat that automatically extinguish flames. Glyph of warding that casts mending on the hull would be useful. Expensive though.

- you can’t plunder a burning ship

Superstition was a big deal at the time too. Having a wizard on board might simply be considered bad luck. In a fantasy setting, of course, it might actually be bad luck.

 

[Micah Sweet]

Is the relative scarcity of gunpowder in your campaign for asthetics, or some in-setting reason?

 

[el-remmen]

There might be international/cultual laws against using certain magic on vessels that is reinforced by sailing culture or by international pacts. Having it be a sailing culture thing will mean that captains themselves will reinforce it. They will not hire wizards who use fire lest other captains and sailors ostracize them or refuse to trade with them. Wizards who use fire have huge bounties laid on them that make them targets for pirates to collect. Pirates refuse to use them lest the wizard attract the ire of both pirates, merchants and naval ships Maybe using fire on a ship comes with a strong superstition. A ship that is known for using fire will find themselves on the receiving end.

This is basically how i handled it in my old homebrew setting Aquerra, which was a world of archipelagos, and in which sailing was a huge focus.

 

[aco175]

Dragon Magazine #235 had a good article on ship mages. There are a few dozen spells in this and the next article on sea spells and such as well. You need to update them though.

 

[MarkB]

I seem to recall the 3.5e Stormwrack book having some very specific rules on ships and spellcasting as part of its narrative combat system, right down to an alphabetical list of major spells and their effects. I never used it in practice though, so I don't know how well it holds up.

 

[Reynard]

D&D needs scaled magic, for everything from ship combat to warfare to rulership, and down to hedge magic and folk magic.

 

[toucanbuzz]

Is the relative scarcity of gunpowder in your campaign for asthetics, or some in-setting reason?

In setting reason. It's a relatively new item to the region, and while it's catching on, very few have any training or skill to handle black powder, much less afford it. However, I want this to be a campaign impetus: the pirate nation faces an outside threat from [insert big nation that has cannons]. They've "weathered the storm" in the past but never faced a threat like this. They're going to need to unite the pirate captains and upgrade their ships, and that means adventuring and raiding and building capital.

 

[toucanbuzz]

Dragon Magazine #235 had a good article on ship mages. There are a few dozen spells in this and the next article on sea spells and such as well. You need to update them though.

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Hehe, Leomund's Many Life Preservers spell...

 

[kigmatzomat]

If you have a 5th level caster, why not think a bit outside the box.

You could set a pursuing enemy's sails on fire....or leave troops submerged beneath the waves with hand drills. Waterbreathing is a 3rd level ritual that affects 10 people and lasts 24 hours. And Mending doesn't work if the drill shavings are discarded in the ocean.

You could prepare to grapple.... or lower a gangplank and send out a cavalry charge. Waterwalk is a 3rd level ritual that affects 10 creatures and lasts 1 hour. Nothing like a couple dozen cavalry harassing the enemy with bows while playing peak-a-boo from behind the waves.