D&D 5E Naval Combat? :)

[Corwin]

Hey, don't laugh. Ever get orange juice squirted in your eye while peeling it?

Totally. And, IMO, if you are going to specialize in thrown citrus, its hard to go wrong with navel oranges.

 

[Lanefan]

One method I've seen for those who don't have regeneration handy is petrification, a couple of stone blocks and the stone shape spell, and reverse petrification.

Brilliant!

Although not recommended for 0-1-2e games, where stone-to-flesh requires a system shock roll and failure means death...

Lanefan

 

[Tony Vargas]

Navel combat: improvised weapon damage, 1d2 points of damage per citrus fruit thrown. Double damage to Gray Ooze.
(Sorry, couldn't resist.)

Nonono... Navel Combat is a ritualized 1-on-1 contest of transcendental meditation.


Alternative Fact: The etymology of the navel orange is actually from Naval, because they were used by the Navy to prevent scurvy!

I'm assuming you mean navAl combat; navEl combat probably wants a different forum.

I made up some rules for ship-vs.-ship stuff a long time ago. The main thing you need to realize is that a "combat round" is going to be SLOW - quite possibly several minutes long - as large sailing ships are often slow and always unmaneuverable; this applies until-unless someone gets boarded and hand-to-hand fighting begins.

Seconded. I've been running a campaign since the end of 2011 that has been centered on the party traveling around on a ship (at this point, it has wings and spelljammer helm, but that's not important), so I've done a lot of such combats. I use a 5 minute turn for maneuvers and gunnery exchanges, then switch to a normal combat for boarding actions.

For ship's weaponry I assume ballista fire instead of cannon as my game doesn't have gunpowder.

And I did create magical analogues to Age of Sail guns, charged with alchemical reagents and touched off with an arcane implement, with a matching RoF and requirement for a crew to ready the gun between firings or it becomes /very/ dangerous. They typically had an attack that could only target a vehicle or gargantuan creature, then a secondary attack against crew (or riders) if the primary hit.

 

[Lidgar]

Didn't the old FR book on Drow have a section on grafts? That thing had all sorts of weird stuff in it.

 

[Lanefan]

And I did create magical analogues to Age of Sale guns ...

Age of Sale guns - is that what they use for crowd control on Black Friday at Walmart?

Lan-"I think this thread wins everything for best typos"-efan

 

[Tony Vargas]

Age of Sale guns - is that what they use for crowd control on Black Friday at Walmart?

Lan-"I think this thread wins everything for best typos"-efan

Yes, they fire rubber confetti as a means of 'less-lethal' crowd control. But their use in Navel Combat is purely ceremonial.

 

[Warmaster Horus]

Age of Sale guns - is that what they use for crowd control on Black Friday at Walmart?

Lan-"I think this thread wins everything for best typos"-efan

"Cap'n, Spastic Giant off the port bow!"

 

[LegionError121]

Here's a question that doesn't relate to Oranges or Belly Buttons How realistic should Naval travel and combat be in terms of accuracy and difficulty?

 

[Tony Vargas]

How realistic should Naval travel and combat be in terms of accuracy and difficulty?

I was into Naval fiction for a while, and I'd have to say 'not very,' if you want to have any fun at all. Gloss over navigation, travel times, supplies, privation, &c.

Similarly, missing is boring and 5e tends not to emphasize it too much.

Assuming the usual D&D combat system (hps et al), though, you can go ahead and have people savaged by chain shot and splinters and the like. Sufficiently powerful magic will fix them back up. (Failing that, you might want to come up with some amputee & prosthetics rules...)

 

[Lanefan]

I was into Naval fiction for a while, and I'd have to say 'not very,' if you want to have any fun at all. Gloss over navigation, travel times, supplies, privation, &c.

To get to the combat, sure; but once the shooting starts all these things become rather vital.

Similarly, missing is boring and 5e tends not to emphasize it too much.

Which might be another good reason to go with very long rounds: the 1e mentality where your to-hit roll for the round's broadside represents your best opportunity among many.

Assuming the usual D&D combat system (hps et al), though, you can go ahead and have people savaged by chain shot and splinters and the like. Sufficiently powerful magic will fix them back up. (Failing that, you might want to come up with some amputee & prosthetics rules...)

Another thing to keep in mind is in many instances the goal was not to sink the opposing ship but to disable it so it had to surrender (call it non-lethal damage vs. ships), so it could be claimed as a prize and sold; or repaired and put into service under a different flag. During the age of sail a surprising number of British Navy ships were in fact converted French or Spanish vessels that had been captured and refitted...and reflagged.

This means Fireball, for all its spectacular appeal, is probably a bad idea.

Lan-"spells in general are probably going to mess up naval combat no matter what you do, unless your PCs are very low level"-efan