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Message: <blockquote data-quote="NewJeffCT" data-source="post: 4414934" data-attributes="member: 10784">Imagine you are a pirate hunter/privateer who just found the location of the D&D equivalent of Tortuga from Pirates of the Caribbean – you know, a wretched hive of scum and villainy, a haven for pirates, etc.What is to stop a good-aligned sixth level sorcerer from entering this haven and launching his allotted four fireballs (3 plus a bonus from high CHA) from 640 feet away and torching a bunch of ships?  Or, have two or three sorcerers just lay waste to the whole harbor?  (This is a 3.5E game)What sort of basic defenses would pirates have to keep their ships (and their livelihoods) from being sitting ducks?I generally run a fairly low magic game, so not every pirate ship will have access to a powerful wizard to cast protective spells. However, some of them will have that access, or at least will be wealthy enough to buy some protective items, or have a wizard create them, or force a wizard to create them…But, what about your average run-of-the-mill pirate sloop that is captained by a third or fourth level warrior or rogue and is crewed by mostly first and second level warriors, rogues and fighters? What would they do to protect themselves and their ship?  I know they would have guards on their ships – but, a few guards cannot really stop a sorcerer launching a fireball from 400 or 500 feet away.So, my questions are:1)    What sort of defenses would a low level pirate ship and crew have? (say, the captain is in the level 3-5 range and is the toughest among the crew) - mostly nonmagical, but maybe a minor magic item?2)    What about a more powerful ship? (say, the captain is level 6-8, with several underlings in the 3-5 range) What sorts of ship and personal defenses?  Again, nonmagical, but also maybe a few minor magic items, and one mid-range magic item.3)    And, for the most feared pirates that might have a wizard or sorcerer on board and where the top pirate is level 9-10 or higher? What defenses would a wizard have for a ship?I guess this would also apply to the good guys, too.  What would stop a few evil sorcerers from entering the harbor of kingdom's biggest city and laying waste to a bunch of ships there?Thanks</blockquote>

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