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<blockquote data-quote="Voi_D_ragon" data-source="post: 9214798" data-attributes="member: 6855956"><p>Fair enough, I hadn't really thought of touching that part because it's mechanically unchanged from the last iteration and I've been concentrating on actual gameplay changes, but bad readability certainly is an issue. I'll write up a fix.</p><p></p><p>Edit: something like this?</p><p></p><p>"To determine how many points off a ship's heading a direction is, count how many squares one must move from the square determined by the ship's heading (counting only squares adjacent to the ship's own, but not the ship's square itself) to reach the square pointed to by the direction in question. </p><p></p><p>The distance is how many points off the ship's heading that direction is."</p><p></p><p>At least it's shorter. The diagram helps, of course. I'm not sure how I can reference the actual numbers in the text though :/</p><p></p><p></p><p>That does sound pretty cool, but it's also a bit convoluted. I'd rather keep all the feats on the simple side, but the bonding mechanic might work well as one of the special equipment options.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Yeah, I gave them crazy amounts of HP, considering a decent-sized ship's broadside will be 16-24 cannon shots you're going to need some sturdy vessels to survive more than a couple of rounds in combat (or multiple combats a day).</p><p></p><p>Honestly, hadn't thought about it. I've rolled the idea of battlefield control spells into Navigation Spells just to keep everything streamlined. However, if I did have to come up with a solution, I'd have a few:</p><ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">If the PCs have just hit 7th or 8th level, their highest level slots are going to be few and precious. You could sap them a little with encounters and then hit them with a ship attack as they leave their adventuring location.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Or, just like a normal adventuring day, when you want to run a day of naval encounters, you make sure they have multiple. Maybe they auto-win the first one, so it's a good thing you have 3 or 4.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">It's also not granted that all ship encounters will be 1v1. A frigate could easily take on 2 or more sloops, which should be kept in mind when designing encounters. So sure, a 4th level spell might just devastate one ship, but any others would be fine, since<ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">1) Control Water can't be moved (I'd defend that with <a href="https://rpg.stackexchange.com/questions/89764/can-you-change-the-target-area-of-the-control-winds-spell-after-it-has-been-cast" target="_blank">this</a> argument, which is for Control Winds, but it's the same wording), so you're only affecting 1 square on the map.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">2) The range is a good deal shorter than most cannon's (300 ft is, if you're being generous, up to 2 squares away on a 200ft x 200ft grid). So you'd only be able to cast it at relatively close range.</li> </ul></li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Since the casting time is 1/10th of a ship's turn, if you're facing a "boss" ship, I'd say it's safe to assume they'd have their own mage, and they'd be in time to cast control water themselves with an effect opposite to what you are attempting (so your casting's value would essentially be to shut down their mage - and even then only until the ship leaves the affected square).</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Should you adapt this to fighting with flying ships (in space or otherwise), control water is moot.</li> </ul></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Voi_D_ragon, post: 9214798, member: 6855956"] Fair enough, I hadn't really thought of touching that part because it's mechanically unchanged from the last iteration and I've been concentrating on actual gameplay changes, but bad readability certainly is an issue. I'll write up a fix. Edit: something like this? "To determine how many points off a ship's heading a direction is, count how many squares one must move from the square determined by the ship's heading (counting only squares adjacent to the ship's own, but not the ship's square itself) to reach the square pointed to by the direction in question. The distance is how many points off the ship's heading that direction is." At least it's shorter. The diagram helps, of course. I'm not sure how I can reference the actual numbers in the text though :/ That does sound pretty cool, but it's also a bit convoluted. I'd rather keep all the feats on the simple side, but the bonding mechanic might work well as one of the special equipment options. Yeah, I gave them crazy amounts of HP, considering a decent-sized ship's broadside will be 16-24 cannon shots you're going to need some sturdy vessels to survive more than a couple of rounds in combat (or multiple combats a day). Honestly, hadn't thought about it. I've rolled the idea of battlefield control spells into Navigation Spells just to keep everything streamlined. However, if I did have to come up with a solution, I'd have a few: [LIST] [*]If the PCs have just hit 7th or 8th level, their highest level slots are going to be few and precious. You could sap them a little with encounters and then hit them with a ship attack as they leave their adventuring location. [*]Or, just like a normal adventuring day, when you want to run a day of naval encounters, you make sure they have multiple. Maybe they auto-win the first one, so it's a good thing you have 3 or 4. [*]It's also not granted that all ship encounters will be 1v1. A frigate could easily take on 2 or more sloops, which should be kept in mind when designing encounters. So sure, a 4th level spell might just devastate one ship, but any others would be fine, since [LIST] [*]1) Control Water can't be moved (I'd defend that with [URL='https://rpg.stackexchange.com/questions/89764/can-you-change-the-target-area-of-the-control-winds-spell-after-it-has-been-cast']this[/URL] argument, which is for Control Winds, but it's the same wording), so you're only affecting 1 square on the map. [*]2) The range is a good deal shorter than most cannon's (300 ft is, if you're being generous, up to 2 squares away on a 200ft x 200ft grid). So you'd only be able to cast it at relatively close range. [/LIST] [*]Since the casting time is 1/10th of a ship's turn, if you're facing a "boss" ship, I'd say it's safe to assume they'd have their own mage, and they'd be in time to cast control water themselves with an effect opposite to what you are attempting (so your casting's value would essentially be to shut down their mage - and even then only until the ship leaves the affected square). [*]Should you adapt this to fighting with flying ships (in space or otherwise), control water is moot. [/LIST] [/QUOTE]
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