RangerWickett
Legend
This is all very rough. Please bear with me. (Some revisions on August 21, but I'm not done yet.)
Still to do: List of maneuvers, rules for crews, stats for ships, and playtesting.
My goal with these rules is to provide a way for PCs to make use of a ship in combat with other ships. I recognize that actual pre-steam engine naval battles were typically slow, and vehicle combat is notoriously awkward, so I'm trying to riff on 4e's skill challenge system to make this work.
The core of the system is inspired by the four class roles: controller, defender, leader, and striker.
Crew Roles
A huge sailing ship might have a crew of a hundred men tending a dozen sails, a smaller vessel might get by with a skeleton crew of five guys, and the tiniest ships can even be controlled by a single sailor. Whatever the size, however, there are four key roles that almost every ship needs filled to sail effectively.
A character can assume any of these roles as needed (potentially even acting in multiple roles during a single round if he uses an action point). However, it is seldom useful for multiple characters try to perform the same role at the same time.
Short rundown. The Captain gives orders (leader). The Pilot figures out where the ship should be to best attack from or be hardest to hit (controller). The Rigger makes sure the ship actually is in the right spot (defender-ish). The Gunner shoots things (striker).
Basics
Tactical Range -- If ships are within a hundred feet or so, you can use normal tactical combat with a grid. Most skill checks for tactical maneuvers require a standard action.
Mid-Range -- Outside of tactical range, you define spaces in 'arenas' (if you have a better, more nautical name, please tell me), each of which is maybe a quarter-mile across. Multiple ships can share the same arena. A turn in mid-range is about a minute. Any skill check for mid-range maneuvers takes the whole round.
Naval Range -- Beyond that, it's pretty much open ocean, where the only real action is chases, escapes, and surviving storms. These would be resolved by skill challenges. Turns here are hours long.
Captain
Role: Leader.
While an adventuring party might all do their own thing to collaborate in combat, on a ship it sure helps to have one person directing everyone else. On decisions of maneuvers and tactics, the captain has the final say.
Pilot
Role: Controller.
Maneuvering is vitally important in naval combat, and reaching the ideal position is much more difficult in a ship than on foot. Most maneuvers a ship makes require a Pilot check. (Pilot is an Intelligence-based skill.)
Rigger
Role: Defender.
The captain gives the order, and the navigator figures out how to get into the right position, but the rigger actually gets it done, either single-handedly adjusting lines and sails, or by leading the crew's efforts. Most maneuvers a ship makes require a Rigger check. (Rigger is a Strength-based skill.)
Gunner
Role: Striker.
Someone's got to kill the bad guys. Cannons should probably be military weapons, because they're hard to aim. The gunner usually ones gets to have fun in tactical range.
There's also the pseudo roles of engineer and officer.
The engineer handles repairs of the ship. Usually PCs will be too busy fighting to worry about repairs, but if there's a lull in combat someone can try to keep the ship from sinking.
The officer is the player responsible for keeping track of the crew's stats. If you have a really large ship, you might assign multiple officers, so one handles the deck crew, another does the guys in the rigging, a third deals with the belowdecks cannoneers, and a fourth handles the efforts of the repair crew trying to keep the hold from flooding.
Combat Timing.
When in tactical range, use normal 6-second tactical rounds and normal initiative. The captain can give an order as a standard action (a minor action on a Small vessel), and then any crewmember can contribute skill checks toward that maneuver as a standard action. Once the crew accrues enough successes, the maneuver is finished.
When in mid-range, a round lasts a minute. The captain of each ships rolls initiative for his or her vessel. The initiative modifier is X (??? probably based on Charisma and ship size rather than Dexterity ???). On a ship's turn, the captain decides what maneuver to perform, and then each major crewmember can take one action. Specific order of individuals on the ship does not matter.
Maneuvers
Most maneuvers only matter in mid-range combat. Those that matter in tactical combat have the [tactical] tag.
Depending on the maneuver, failing a check will have different consequences. But typically if either the Pilot or Rigger fails his check, the ship won't move on its turn.
xx Note to Self: Edit from here xx
Move. Go some place. (I'm thinking of defining naval battles by small 'arenas,' which are contained in larger 'waters.' Inside a particular arena, ships maneuver for optimal positioning, and can choose to move to tactical range.)
Approach. Pick a ship in the same arena. You try to close to tactical range. When you finish this maneuver, you end up 100 ft. from an enemy ship, and need to start tracking tactical rounds (the normal 6-second ones).
Evade. Exit tactical combat with another ship. This action is always performed when you're already using tactical rounds, so it would require multiple successes. If you succeed, you end up in the same (Things get complicated here; if they're trying to close, and you want to move from this arena to another one, what happens? Maybe you need to 'pursue' before you can close?)
Board on Point. Close-range only. You align your ship so you can board an enemy ship from the head of your ship. This is easier than . . .
Board Broadsides. Close-range only. You align your ship so people can board from its whole length.
Drive. Like Pursue, but harder. If the other ship wants to evade, it has to move in the direction you want.
Match. Maintain speed, distance, and orientation.
Ram. Close-range only. You ram them.
Go Broadsides. You present one side, so you can fire all your cannons/wands/etc. Usually this is only effective at close range.
Scuttle. Hey, sometimes you want to sink your own ship.
(Unfinished planning: For instance, the Go Broadsides maneuver requires a moderate Pilot check as a standard action and a hard Rigger check as a standard action, with the restriction that it must be accomplished before the end of the Captain's next turn. Once successful, the Gunner can make an attack roll with a +xx bonus against a specific target.)
Character Options
If you're using these rules in your campaign, let each character select a Sailing schtick. Some schticks make a character particularly suited to one task on a ship.
Also, I found this cool toy to show how simple sailing works: http://www.thepirateking.com/ships/sail_simulator.htm
Still to do: List of maneuvers, rules for crews, stats for ships, and playtesting.
My goal with these rules is to provide a way for PCs to make use of a ship in combat with other ships. I recognize that actual pre-steam engine naval battles were typically slow, and vehicle combat is notoriously awkward, so I'm trying to riff on 4e's skill challenge system to make this work.
The core of the system is inspired by the four class roles: controller, defender, leader, and striker.
Crew Roles
A huge sailing ship might have a crew of a hundred men tending a dozen sails, a smaller vessel might get by with a skeleton crew of five guys, and the tiniest ships can even be controlled by a single sailor. Whatever the size, however, there are four key roles that almost every ship needs filled to sail effectively.
A character can assume any of these roles as needed (potentially even acting in multiple roles during a single round if he uses an action point). However, it is seldom useful for multiple characters try to perform the same role at the same time.
Short rundown. The Captain gives orders (leader). The Pilot figures out where the ship should be to best attack from or be hardest to hit (controller). The Rigger makes sure the ship actually is in the right spot (defender-ish). The Gunner shoots things (striker).
Basics
Tactical Range -- If ships are within a hundred feet or so, you can use normal tactical combat with a grid. Most skill checks for tactical maneuvers require a standard action.
Mid-Range -- Outside of tactical range, you define spaces in 'arenas' (if you have a better, more nautical name, please tell me), each of which is maybe a quarter-mile across. Multiple ships can share the same arena. A turn in mid-range is about a minute. Any skill check for mid-range maneuvers takes the whole round.
Naval Range -- Beyond that, it's pretty much open ocean, where the only real action is chases, escapes, and surviving storms. These would be resolved by skill challenges. Turns here are hours long.
Captain
Role: Leader.
While an adventuring party might all do their own thing to collaborate in combat, on a ship it sure helps to have one person directing everyone else. On decisions of maneuvers and tactics, the captain has the final say.
Pilot
Role: Controller.
Maneuvering is vitally important in naval combat, and reaching the ideal position is much more difficult in a ship than on foot. Most maneuvers a ship makes require a Pilot check. (Pilot is an Intelligence-based skill.)
Rigger
Role: Defender.
The captain gives the order, and the navigator figures out how to get into the right position, but the rigger actually gets it done, either single-handedly adjusting lines and sails, or by leading the crew's efforts. Most maneuvers a ship makes require a Rigger check. (Rigger is a Strength-based skill.)
Gunner
Role: Striker.
Someone's got to kill the bad guys. Cannons should probably be military weapons, because they're hard to aim. The gunner usually ones gets to have fun in tactical range.
There's also the pseudo roles of engineer and officer.
The engineer handles repairs of the ship. Usually PCs will be too busy fighting to worry about repairs, but if there's a lull in combat someone can try to keep the ship from sinking.
The officer is the player responsible for keeping track of the crew's stats. If you have a really large ship, you might assign multiple officers, so one handles the deck crew, another does the guys in the rigging, a third deals with the belowdecks cannoneers, and a fourth handles the efforts of the repair crew trying to keep the hold from flooding.
Combat Timing.
When in tactical range, use normal 6-second tactical rounds and normal initiative. The captain can give an order as a standard action (a minor action on a Small vessel), and then any crewmember can contribute skill checks toward that maneuver as a standard action. Once the crew accrues enough successes, the maneuver is finished.
When in mid-range, a round lasts a minute. The captain of each ships rolls initiative for his or her vessel. The initiative modifier is X (??? probably based on Charisma and ship size rather than Dexterity ???). On a ship's turn, the captain decides what maneuver to perform, and then each major crewmember can take one action. Specific order of individuals on the ship does not matter.
Maneuvers
Most maneuvers only matter in mid-range combat. Those that matter in tactical combat have the [tactical] tag.
Depending on the maneuver, failing a check will have different consequences. But typically if either the Pilot or Rigger fails his check, the ship won't move on its turn.
xx Note to Self: Edit from here xx
Move. Go some place. (I'm thinking of defining naval battles by small 'arenas,' which are contained in larger 'waters.' Inside a particular arena, ships maneuver for optimal positioning, and can choose to move to tactical range.)
Approach. Pick a ship in the same arena. You try to close to tactical range. When you finish this maneuver, you end up 100 ft. from an enemy ship, and need to start tracking tactical rounds (the normal 6-second ones).
Evade. Exit tactical combat with another ship. This action is always performed when you're already using tactical rounds, so it would require multiple successes. If you succeed, you end up in the same (Things get complicated here; if they're trying to close, and you want to move from this arena to another one, what happens? Maybe you need to 'pursue' before you can close?)
Board on Point. Close-range only. You align your ship so you can board an enemy ship from the head of your ship. This is easier than . . .
Board Broadsides. Close-range only. You align your ship so people can board from its whole length.
Drive. Like Pursue, but harder. If the other ship wants to evade, it has to move in the direction you want.
Match. Maintain speed, distance, and orientation.
Ram. Close-range only. You ram them.
Go Broadsides. You present one side, so you can fire all your cannons/wands/etc. Usually this is only effective at close range.
Scuttle. Hey, sometimes you want to sink your own ship.
(Unfinished planning: For instance, the Go Broadsides maneuver requires a moderate Pilot check as a standard action and a hard Rigger check as a standard action, with the restriction that it must be accomplished before the end of the Captain's next turn. Once successful, the Gunner can make an attack roll with a +xx bonus against a specific target.)
Character Options
If you're using these rules in your campaign, let each character select a Sailing schtick. Some schticks make a character particularly suited to one task on a ship.
- Navigator. You are trained in Pilot.
- Able Bodied Sailor. You are trained in Rigger.
- Master and Commander. You can spend a minor action once per round to give an ally a +2 bonus to either his Pilot or Rigger checks until the end of your next turn.
- Landlubber. You gain a +5 bonus to saves to avoid being sent overboard by forced movement.
- Shipwright. xx Something repair based. xx
Also, I found this cool toy to show how simple sailing works: http://www.thepirateking.com/ships/sail_simulator.htm
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