Menu
News
All News
Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
Pathfinder
Starfinder
Warhammer
2d20 System
Year Zero Engine
Industry News
Reviews
Dragon Reflections
White Dwarf Reflections
Columns
Weekly Digests
Weekly News Digest
Freebies, Sales & Bundles
RPG Print News
RPG Crowdfunding News
Game Content
ENterplanetary DimENsions
Mythological Figures
Opinion
Worlds of Design
Peregrine's Nest
RPG Evolution
Other Columns
From the Freelancing Frontline
Monster ENcyclopedia
WotC/TSR Alumni Look Back
4 Hours w/RSD (Ryan Dancey)
The Road to 3E (Jonathan Tweet)
Greenwood's Realms (Ed Greenwood)
Drawmij's TSR (Jim Ward)
Community
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Resources
Wiki
Pages
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Downloads
Latest reviews
Search resources
EN Publishing
Store
EN5ider
Adventures in ZEITGEIST
Awfully Cheerful Engine
What's OLD is NEW
Judge Dredd & The Worlds Of 2000AD
War of the Burning Sky
Level Up: Advanced 5E
Events & Releases
Upcoming Events
Private Events
Featured Events
Socials!
EN Publishing
Twitter
BlueSky
Facebook
Instagram
EN World
BlueSky
YouTube
Facebook
Twitter
Twitch
Podcast
Features
Top 5 RPGs Compiled Charts 2004-Present
Adventure Game Industry Market Research Summary (RPGs) V1.0
Ryan Dancey: Acquiring TSR
Q&A With Gary Gygax
D&D Rules FAQs
TSR, WotC, & Paizo: A Comparative History
D&D Pronunciation Guide
Million Dollar TTRPG Kickstarters
Tabletop RPG Podcast Hall of Fame
Eric Noah's Unofficial D&D 3rd Edition News
D&D in the Mainstream
D&D & RPG History
About Morrus
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*TTRPGs General
Good Sailing/Seafaring Sourcebooks?
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="Janx" data-source="post: 1443890" data-attributes="member: 8835"><p>My current campaign is entirely sailing based. It is in the age of sail (1700-1800 style ships). Some races have cannons (elves).</p><p></p><p>I bought the SeaFarer's Handbook, and after seeing Master and Commander, I rewrote the ship design rules and combat rules.</p><p></p><p>I made a spreadsheet to calculate the ship stats based on length and width.</p><p>I increased the number of weapons a ship can have SFH says a 150 foot long ship gets 3-4 weapons. The Master and Commander ship was 130' long and carried 30 cannons. Just a hunch, but I think we can pack a few more catapults and ballistae.</p><p></p><p>My rules assume each weapon takes 10'x10' of space, and it seems to fit on my paper ship layout I built.</p><p></p><p>I kept parts of the SFH combat (movement), but made paper ruler templates and I use $2 wooden ship models from the local craft store.</p><p></p><p>I streamlined ship damage tracking by making 2 HP pools Hull and Sails.</p><p></p><p>Hull = AC10, if you miss by 5, you hit the sail (drift)</p><p>Sail = AC8, if you miss by 3, you hit the hull (drift)</p><p></p><p>AC Speed bonus = current speed / 5</p><p></p><p>Every 20% damage has a side effect on the ship. Hull affects weapons, sails effects speed.</p><p></p><p>Ships have a Current Speed, Top Speed, and Turning Rate (distance they must go before they can turn again).</p><p></p><p>Cannons are far more powerful than Catapult and Ballista due to increased range. Cannons shoot 900 feet, Heavy Cats shoot 600 feet. The range difference slaughters ships. We ran a 3 elf vs. 4 human ship battle. Even weapon points. Difference was Cannons versus traditional weapons. The humans died. Badly. I would suggest tweaking the ranges or avoid mixing the two weapon technologies. In my game, the elves are newly discovered and are supposed to be higher tech (and now at war with the humans). Eventually, I'll rebalance the game, by giving the humans some weapons that are equivalent.</p><p></p><p>Let me know if you'd like to see the spreadsheet. I did extensive research on real ships (I even have a glossary of nautical terms my players looked up). I tuned my spreadsheet to produce numbers similar to real sailing ships of all sizes and eras. It seems close enough.</p><p></p><p>Happy Sailing,</p><p>Janx</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Janx, post: 1443890, member: 8835"] My current campaign is entirely sailing based. It is in the age of sail (1700-1800 style ships). Some races have cannons (elves). I bought the SeaFarer's Handbook, and after seeing Master and Commander, I rewrote the ship design rules and combat rules. I made a spreadsheet to calculate the ship stats based on length and width. I increased the number of weapons a ship can have SFH says a 150 foot long ship gets 3-4 weapons. The Master and Commander ship was 130' long and carried 30 cannons. Just a hunch, but I think we can pack a few more catapults and ballistae. My rules assume each weapon takes 10'x10' of space, and it seems to fit on my paper ship layout I built. I kept parts of the SFH combat (movement), but made paper ruler templates and I use $2 wooden ship models from the local craft store. I streamlined ship damage tracking by making 2 HP pools Hull and Sails. Hull = AC10, if you miss by 5, you hit the sail (drift) Sail = AC8, if you miss by 3, you hit the hull (drift) AC Speed bonus = current speed / 5 Every 20% damage has a side effect on the ship. Hull affects weapons, sails effects speed. Ships have a Current Speed, Top Speed, and Turning Rate (distance they must go before they can turn again). Cannons are far more powerful than Catapult and Ballista due to increased range. Cannons shoot 900 feet, Heavy Cats shoot 600 feet. The range difference slaughters ships. We ran a 3 elf vs. 4 human ship battle. Even weapon points. Difference was Cannons versus traditional weapons. The humans died. Badly. I would suggest tweaking the ranges or avoid mixing the two weapon technologies. In my game, the elves are newly discovered and are supposed to be higher tech (and now at war with the humans). Eventually, I'll rebalance the game, by giving the humans some weapons that are equivalent. Let me know if you'd like to see the spreadsheet. I did extensive research on real ships (I even have a glossary of nautical terms my players looked up). I tuned my spreadsheet to produce numbers similar to real sailing ships of all sizes and eras. It seems close enough. Happy Sailing, Janx [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*TTRPGs General
Good Sailing/Seafaring Sourcebooks?
Top