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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Libertad" data-source="post: 9596063" data-attributes="member: 6750502"><img src="https://i.imgur.com/r5CK3o2.png" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " data-size="" style="width: 514px" />First off, I’d like to note that the four sections I’m reviewing are not done in order with how they’re presented in the book. The reality is that the sections most relevant to each other are located quite far apart. The entry on Ships starts at page 27, but their Upgrades are way back in the Appendices on page 177. As for Factions, they immediately follow Ships on page 58. But the Patrons who supply talents to purchase the prior ships and upgrades, and several of whom are tied to the Factions, are way back on page 169. The 100 or so pages between Factions and Patrons are taken up by Tools & Tables and Ports of the World, which details the sandbox proper. Having relevant entries located so far away results in a lot of unneeded page-flipping, which is a minus against the book.Ships are the most valuable piece of equipment a party can own in the campaign, and the vessels vary widely in stats, function, and customizability. We have 12 major Ship types and 7 Small Vessels. The former are vehicles designed to hold large amounts of people and cargo like the dhow or trireme, while the latter are things that can hold only a few tons or people at most. Every Ship makes use of slots, upon which upgrades can be installed. Most Ships come sold with Upgrades already installed, such as the Veneti’s infamous Dragon’s Breath siege weapon, and removing upgrades costs time and gold but at half of the original cost.Ships and Small Vessels have stat blocks which closely correspond to creature stat blocks, having hit points, armor class, movement, speed values, damage and condition immunities and vulnerabilities, features, and Action Stations. But the new stats include Creature Capacity and Cargo Capacity, which are self-explanatory.  Terrain Modifiers represent how well or poorly a ship handles on a particular body of water and are separated into Sea, Coast, and River. They apply to rolls made during chases, determining initiative order in combat, and the d100 Seafaring Encounter table.Generally speaking, Ships are damage sponges, where ones even unoptimized for warfare have hit points in the triple digits as well as “damage threshold” values where they outright ignore damage below a certain amount. Besides two exceptions and the Fireproofing Hull upgrade, ships are vulnerable to fire damage and suffer the Burning Mishap automatically when taking such damage. Another weakness of ships is that, unlike typical creatures, they cannot move without restriction in terms of grid-based positioning. Most ships can only turn up to 90 degrees every turn, with some particularly unwieldy and nimble ships having 45 or 120 degree limits respectively. And without a tower upgrade, siege weapons have to be installed on a ship’s front, sides, or rear and can only fire in that particular range. This makes facing an important aspect of naval combat.On the positive side, most ship siege weapons have very high range increments, and in terms of movement speed all but the slowest ships are on par with or outrun the average human speed of 30 feet. PCs making use of a Ship against conventional enemies have a massive advantage in long-range attacks, provided they have a large enough body of water on which to move.One major thing to note is that the costs of Ships and Small Vessels don’t evenly match up between gold pieces and talents. It’s always cheaper to buy Ships with talents rather than paying the cost in raw gold. Small Vehicles are the exception: such vehicles are always 1 talent, but 4 out of 7 are cheaper than 650 gold, meaning that buying them with talents is a loss.Small Vessels are easy and straightforward to make, meaning that they can be found and purchased worldwide. However, 9 out of 12 Ships are restricted for purchase in particular regions. For example, the Veneti is only available in Celtic territory, while the speedy Lanong is only found in the eastern seas of India, Sheba, and the South Islands.The Alexandrian is Greek in origin but its popularity means that it can be found worldwide. It was designed as a merchant vessel for long sea voyages, and its slow speed and lack of sturdy defenses are made up for holding an unparalleled amount of cargo space. The vessel has the largest number of upgrade slots in the book, with 5 out of 12 used to boost cargo capacity. Due to this, it’s the most customizable Ship, but in being the second-most expensive it cannot be bought at the start of the campaign. It also has a terrible River Terrain Modifier at -10, meaning that PCs will need to rely on either another Ship or a Small Vessel should they wish to go inland.The Corbita is our other worldwide-available ship, originally designed as grain transports in the Roman Empire and quickly became one of the most popular trade ships. They have ample cargo space, but are much cheaper to acquire than the Alexandrian. They’re also faster and handle relatively well on Sea and Rivers, but are optimized for Coasts. The Corbita only has one open upgrade slot and no in-built weapons, making them rather vulnerable against pirates and tax-loving law enforcement who can catch up to them.The Dhow is another cost-efficient boat optimized first and foremost for speed. They are thus favored for light cargo and message delivery. Despite being common and legal, smugglers are fond of using them, so law enforcement sometimes is suspicious of unrecognized vessels in the area. The dhow has the fastest movement of all ships in this book at 120 feet, is able to turn up to 120 degrees, its Armor Class of 20 is only matched by the Turtle warship, and its Sea and Coast Terrain Modifiers are decent at +2 and +3. Its major weakness is being quite fragile at only 85 hit points, having only a single upgrade slot, and no built-in weapons.The Houseboat is designed for form over function, being comfy ships favored by those with money to spare. They come built-in with Passenger Expansion and Dining Room upgrades as well as Comfortable Quarters, the last of which is usually an upgrade but is a free built-in feature for a Houseboat. To briefly sum it up, passengers transported on this ship will pay more gold to the PCs, taking long rests removes 2 exhaustion levels rather than 1, and the vehicle adds 1d8 to initiative rolls. Needless to say, this is a very good upgrade for just about any vessel. The low points of a Houseboat are its sluggish 20 foot movement speed and having only 2 open upgrade slots.<img src="https://i.imgur.com/P81Zvm4.png" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " data-size="800x591" style="width: 503px" />The Kun-lun Po is a boat of Austronesian origin, its name deriving from Chinese who made first contact with traders from the Southern Islands. Over time, these riverboats incorporated technology from both cultures, becoming a reliable, versatile ship that can work well in all types of aquatic terrain. It is very much a “jack-of-all-trades” vehicle, having good Terrain Modifiers in all three bodies of water, a fast 60 foot movement speed, carries a decent amount of cargo and passengers, and even has a Smuggler’s Hole upgrade for hiding things from casual inspection. It has 4 upgrade slots allowing for some degree of customization, and its reasonable cost of 4 talents puts it within purchasing range of a low-level party beginning play in China or the Southern Islands regions.The Lanong is the first of our warships, a swift vehicle that was first designed by pirates in the Philippines for hit-and-run raids. Cultures across the Indian Ocean reverse-engineered the lanong to use it for a wider variety of non-piracy purposes, and is the iconic ship of choice for the navy of India’s Three Crowned Kings. The ship holds up well in combat and has no real weaknesses to speak of: with 4 open upgrade slots, a movement speed of 80 feet, and an above-average Armor Class of 17, it can weather quite a bit of enemy fire. It comes automatically equipped with a Harpoon Ballista, and a Restraining Mast designed to fall onto enemy ships to slow down their movement and allow them to be boarded.The Liburna is the third and last of our worldwide-availability ships, and at 1 talent is effectively a very large rowboat reinforced with a breaching ram upgrade. It is a popular choice among the criminal element, originating among farmers and fishers turning to piracy. Its 18 Armor Class and 100 foot speed are its only real positives besides its cheap cost. Its low Creature and Cargo Capacities make it a poor fit for long-term exploration and merchant enterprises, and having only one open upgrade slot means that it can’t really be modified outside of its role. For naval combat, it’s really only good for swarm tactics or getting the PCs quickly from point A to point B.The Louchuan is the pride of the Han Dynasty, a fortress ship that even the most bloodthirsty pirates would think twice about engaging. Its primary use is for transporting VIPs, and the expense in their cost along with their fearsome reputation means that they haven’t actually seen much use in warfare. It comes equipped with a siege tower, a pair of thunder-throwers (trebuchets), can hold a lot of Cargo and Creatures, has 6 open upgrade slots, and the largest amount of hit points at 626. Besides being exclusively sold in Chinese territory, the louchuan’s great size and slowness are its main weaknesses, having a meager 10 Armor Class and 25 feet movement speed. It is optimized for operating on the Sea, and its River Terrain Modifier is an atrocious -20. It’s also the most expensive ship in the game, and is unlikely to see play until the later levels of Tier 2.<img src="https://i.imgur.com/XClX3xo.png" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " data-size="800x494" style="width: 495px" />The Quinquereme is the Roman Empire’s signature warship, akin to a larger, sturdier Trireme. The Quinquereme is a common sight in Roman ports, frequently on the lookout for merchant vessels they suspect of transporting illegal cargo and outlaws. The Quinquereme can only be purchased in Roman territory and has no open upgrade slots. Its 9 slots are dedicated to seating for a crew of oarsmen, siege towers with catapults, and a cleaver ram with a huge blade that inflicts great damage on ships it crashes into. It has a slow movement speed when using only its sails, but with oarsmen it can move much faster. The Quinquereme’s major weakness is slow movement speed and Terrain Modifiers, particularly for Rivers.The book notes that the Trireme is the most common warship in the world, which makes me wonder why it’s listed as only purchasable in Rome and Parthia rather than being worldwide. It is of Greek origin and primarily powered by a crew of oarsmen, and comes with a built-in catapult and oculus ram (minimizes damage to the ship when it crashes into another creature or vehicle). Like the Quinquereme it has no open upgrade slots, and while it performs better in Rivers it is not optimized for the open Sea, with a -3 modifier. The ship also doesn’t have much room, having low Creature and Cargo Capacities.The Turtle ship is noted as originating among military engineers of the Han dynasty. However, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turtle_ship" target="_blank">amateur Googling by me points to it being invented in Korea much later,</a> making its inclusion in the setting quite anachronistic. The turtle is designed for transporting soldiers and goods through dangerous territory, optimized for defense and weathering enemy fire. With an Armor Class of 20, 200 hit points, and immunity to fire damage, it is the sturdiest ship in the book if one judges it for overall defense rather than pure hit points. While the Turtle does have 3 open upgrade slots, it doesn’t come with any weapons by default unlike other warships, and its 30 foot movement speed and average Terrain Modifiers makes it less maneuverable than travel-based ships. Like the Louchuan, it is only for sale in Chinese territories.The Veneti is the final Ship, restricted for purchase in Celtic territory. It was designed by a seafaring tribe of the same name and in addition to the advantage in fighting in their home terrain, veneti ships are tougher than triremes which gave the Celts a distinct advantage. Rome was only able to overcome them via superior numbers. The Veneti’s a warship, with high defenses of 375 hit points, 16 armor class, immunity to cold and fire damage as well as resistance to damage from being rammed by another ship. It has 3 open upgrade slots and comes equipped with the Dragon’s Breath siege weapon, which is a long-range ballista whose ammo is coated in naphtha that lights on fire when exposed to air. While it handles relatively well in the Sea and Coast with +2 Terrain Modifiers, its overall low speed of 40 feet and Creature and Cargo Capacities makes other ships better for long voyages and transport.Small Vessels ends our section on Ships with brief write-ups for smaller boats. The book suggests that they can make for “starter ships” for PCs who don’t want to take on a patron, or for scouting purposes by transporting the party as they leave their main vessel. Beyond being smaller and cheaper, these Vessels can be latched to the side of a larger ship for 10 tons of Cargo Capacity, and they all have some kind of specialization. For example, Fishing Boats come with equipment that grants advantage on Survival checks to forage for food in bodies of water, a Peddler’s Boat has an appealing storefront that lets goods be sold on it at 125% value, and a Scavenger Vessel has a jib crane which can salvage 1 ton worth of cargo for every 10 minutes spent scavenging a wreckage site.Thoughts: There’s a good amount of ships with distinct mechanics and benefits here. Even the ones designed for combat have different enough actions and defenses to stand out for different types of tactics. Like other aspects of this book, I do feel that certain ships are going to be more appealing than others. The Alexandrian, while ideally gained at the middle to higher end of Tier 2, is going to be purchased by a majority of gaming groups due to its sheer customization and broad use. I can see most groups also purchasing ships with a decent Sea Terrain Modifier. While one can feasibly stick to the coastal regions and still visit many ports, going across the open ocean can help cut down on travel time, particularly in the Pacific Ocean.<img src="https://i.imgur.com/TCGTcxU.png" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " data-size="" style="width: 495px" />Upgrades are customizations one can make to a ship. They can be purchased either via gold or talents, although unlike ships there are some upgrades which are cheaper to get via gold and others cheaper to get via talents. The former tends to be inexpensive purchases, while the latter tends to be more costly and involved projects. Additionally, some upgrades can take up multiple slots on a ship if they represent a large addition or comprehensive change to a ship’s foundation, while upgrades that require no slots tend to be small or seamless enough to be installed without any trouble. Unlike ships, upgrades aren’t limited by region in regards to where to buy them barring DM Fiat, but certain Patrons can give particular upgrades for free or at a reduced cost.There’s 36 upgrades in this book, with several of them grouped into related categories. For instance, Crew upgrades add NPCs with special skills and roles, Hulls modify the ship such as increasing its Armor Class or altering Terrain Modifiers, and Rams are affixed to the bow of the ship and are designed for frontal assaults.Most upgrades grant something substantial, although there’s a few which I regard as being broad or powerful enough to be of interest to most gaming groups. I mentioned the Comfortable Quarters above in the Houseboat entry already, and is particularly useful for combat as initiative bonuses can be game-changers. Cargo Hold Sealant applies multiple coats of resin and airtight hatches to a ship’s cargo hold, making anything stored inside immune to random encounters that would damage or destroy it. It goes without saying that such an upgrade is vital for PCs leaning into the merchant captain angle of this campaign.The other broadly-useful upgrade is Crew: Marines, which supplies 5 NPCs who are experienced in combat and seafaring. Their stat blocks are drawn from a faction to which the PCs are allied or neutral, and have a hard limit of Challenge Rating ½. The only downside is that there’s a risk of mutiny if the PC’s status of their parent faction turns hostile. In such a case, they need to make a DC 20 Persuasion check to earn the marines’ loyalty. Besides the advantage of action economy, at higher levels the marines can be commanded to take charge of siege weapons and pilot other vessels, so they can still deal out respectable amounts of damage in ship-to-ship combat.The third such upgrade is Sail: Mainsail Improvement, which grants the Bosun a new action to “full sail.” This increases a ship’s speed by 5 feet while on a River, 10 feet on the Coast, and 25 feet while on the open Sea. As mentioned earlier, speed modifications can really cut down on overland travel times, particularly for slower-moving ships.When it comes to siege weapons, there are six such weapons that can be installed on a ship. The more cost-efficient ballista and scorpion (basically a mounted crossbow) can be purchased in sets of 2 and 4 per talent respectively, and are single-target ranged attacks. Scorpions are functionally heavy crossbows in terms of mechanics, but they can swivel 360 degrees so they don’t have to worry about which way the ship’s facing to target others. The catapult is longer-range and stronger, but needs a two-person crew to reliably load and fire it. Dragon’s Breath is a ballista that fires burning bolts that can set an enemy ship on fire, but sets fire to its own ship on an attack roll of natural 1. The Naphtha Siphon is a bellows-powered device that expels a flammable solution as an AoE cone attack. Finally, the Thunder-Thrower is the most powerful siege weapon here, with the longest range as well. There’s also three kinds of rams, but they modify the damage suffered and taken when making the ship make a charge attack, as opposed to adding a new offensive option.Generally speaking, the more longer-range and damaging a siege weapon is, the more expensive it is and the more upgrade slots it requires. Barring the Scorpion, they also cannot attack someone within a certain range and can only fire from the side of the ship to which they’re attached. So while it might seem appealing to attach a Naptha cannon to your ship’s front or a Thunder-Thrower as your main damage-dealer, enemies who approach the vessel’s blind spot or get safely within range can avoid their attacks. Ideally, a combat-ready ship will have two such weapons to reliably defend themselves with in addition to the PC’s own capabilities.Thoughts: I find most of the upgrades to be interesting and innovative, and some of the larger siege weapons deal enough damage at a high enough range to be relevant for the levels of play in this campaign. I do feel that the fire-based weapons are going to not be as appealing: while they can really damage enemy ships, PCs of the more murderhobo/pirate types are going to at least want to get what cargo they can from enemy vessels, to say nothing of potential hostages and allies trapped onboard. Barring a few exceptions, most upgrades are cost-efficient enough that PCs of 5th level and higher can afford to trick out their ships provided that they have the slots to spare. In fact, by that level most parties with multiple patrons are likely going to have enough spare talents left over to purchase additional ships.Split Into Two Posts</blockquote>

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