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<blockquote data-quote="jgsugden" data-source="post: 9218342" data-attributes="member: 2629"><p>I've tried this before and always found that the bang was not worth the buck.</p><p></p><p>The problem with designing a set of naval / ship rules is that they tend to end up lacking importance. Once the combat begins, the actions of the PCs outweigh the impact of the features of the ship, the setting, etc... We generally want this to be true as the characters, not the ships, are the stars of the story. The rules end up being a fun toy for the DM, but the players just don't tend to care overall.</p><p></p><p>To that end, I minimize rules for naval combat and instead focus on the PCs. I do the same for mass war rules. I put the PCs in a situation where they make a meaningful impact and their actions decide how the situation arises around them. For the actual ship rules, I try to minimize them and just announce them on the fly to accomodate the situation. This keeps the focus on making the storytelling dynamic and making the heroes the central figures - which tends to be the best way to focus the game in D&D, regardless of whether you're in a dungeon, on a ship, or in the middle of a battlefield.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="jgsugden, post: 9218342, member: 2629"] I've tried this before and always found that the bang was not worth the buck. The problem with designing a set of naval / ship rules is that they tend to end up lacking importance. Once the combat begins, the actions of the PCs outweigh the impact of the features of the ship, the setting, etc... We generally want this to be true as the characters, not the ships, are the stars of the story. The rules end up being a fun toy for the DM, but the players just don't tend to care overall. To that end, I minimize rules for naval combat and instead focus on the PCs. I do the same for mass war rules. I put the PCs in a situation where they make a meaningful impact and their actions decide how the situation arises around them. For the actual ship rules, I try to minimize them and just announce them on the fly to accomodate the situation. This keeps the focus on making the storytelling dynamic and making the heroes the central figures - which tends to be the best way to focus the game in D&D, regardless of whether you're in a dungeon, on a ship, or in the middle of a battlefield. [/QUOTE]
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