D&D 5E Saltmarsh: Tell Me About the Vehicle Rules

Reynard · Aug 21, 2019

I do not plan on running the Saltmarsh adventures but my D&D campaign is about to have an extended nautical phase. What does Saltmarsh offer in the way of rules? Is it there enough to justify the cost of the book solely for the vehicle rules and whatever else is presented?

Thanks.

jasper · Aug 21, 2019

No, if you just going to use the boat rules. I was hoping dm's guild would release Appendix A as a separate thing.

Blue · Aug 21, 2019

I'm also interested in this, and would like to add if there are any 3rd party recommendations abotu navel rules that's also oif interest. I'm about to start running a nautical / undersea campaign with a world that has been flooded over centuries and the mountaintops are now an archipelago that is all the above-sea-level land left.

lowkey13 · Aug 21, 2019

*Deleted by user*

robus · Aug 21, 2019

Reynard said:
I do not plan on running the Saltmarsh adventures but my D&D campaign is about to have an extended nautical phase. What does Saltmarsh offer in the way of rules? Is it there enough to justify the cost of the book solely for the vehicle rules and whatever else is presented?

There is the UA article that first explored the new ship rules: https://media.wizards.com/2018/dnd/downloads/UA_ShipsSea.pdf

The DMs Guild supplement seems quite well thought of: Captains and Cannons: A Ship Combat Guide in D&D 5e - Dungeon ...https://www.dmsguild.com/.../Captains-and-Cannons-A-Ship-Combat-Guid...

And this on DriveThru RPG also looks promising: NAVAL COMBAT (5E) - Running Sea Encounters for Ships & Monsters - Tribality Publishing | DriveThruRPG.com

The thing that bothered me most about the UA article was the continuing classification of vessels using humans as a size reference. Thus a small boat is listed as gargantuan. It just doesn't sit right with me. And I don't understand the rationale as most creatures that would threaten a boat would need to be gargantuan from the get go. I know that it's because of mapping it to a grid, but really it's all going to scale down below 1" - 5ft anyway if you want to get a couple of ships on a mat

Anyhoo... I'd also have liked there to be a weather system. Basically a way for the wind to pick into a storm or to drop to a becalmed state. To make navigation across the sea more interesting.

Celebrim · Aug 21, 2019

I've always found that since I have done a lot of reading on the Age of Sail, that for any given system I'm the problem player that always insists that we need new rules because the existing ones are so unrealistic.

Reynard · Aug 21, 2019

I actually need ship combat less than I need exploration pillar rules -- weather, navigation, logistics, etc...

Blue · Aug 21, 2019

Celebrim said:
I've always found that since I have done a lot of reading on the Age of Sail, that for any given system I'm the problem player that always insists that we need new rules because the existing ones are so unrealistic.

So, when can I buy your sailing rules on DMsguild?

Celebrim · Aug 21, 2019

Reynard said:
weather

The best system I've found is go to a site that keeps historical weather almanacs, pick a real world city similar to the climate you are interested in (say San Juan Puerto Rico), pick a year in the database, and pick a date corresponding to the approximate point in the year your campaign is currently set. Then just roll the date forward or switch locations as needed. You get accurate realistic weather data, sometimes down to the hour. (And the fact that real weather is more granular than daily is one of the like 3 things that makes weather simulation with a lightweight system really hard.)

navigation

Get a really big very detailed map. That's the number one thing. Now get two of them, and keep one behind the screen. Hex maps are best because you can use the easiest simulation of getting lost by tracking drift from intended hex based on a failed skill check without getting out the protractor and ruler.

Logistics

Or dear. Let's put it this way. My GM and I are writing a computer program to track this for the current campaign. How much detail do you want?

One thing you really have to consider when you get into a nautical campaign is that it's going to be a BIG sprawling campaign. You can start out with the party in a Yawl and either a couple of NPCs or no NPCs depending on how competent the characters are at sailing a boat. But sooner or later, the player's are going to want ships that look something like those in Captain Blood or Pirates of the Carribean, and at that point you are in for it. Because that's like 200 NPCs. And no you can't sail a 32 gun frigate to Tortuga with just 2 people. It can't be done.