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Message: <blockquote data-quote="mmaranda" data-source="post: 4360426" data-attributes="member: 55071">I like some of these but in some ways I feel that saying one person needs to be good at Nav, another Sailing, another Carpentry etc... is limiting in an entirely different way.  Eitehr way a skill challenge is a very good way to describe a naval conflict without breaking everything down into an actaul combat.  But keep in mind there will be some "fights" where the skill challenge should be used to set up an actual combat where the PCs can cast fireball at an oncoming hammerhead and make a classic pirate battle come to life.The cost of a helm is a throwback to the 2nd Ed. Mentality that Magic Items weren't readily available to purchase.  Plus there are additional costs to think about crew's need pay, they also need food and other supplies.  Then there are docking fees for a Jammer and the cost of resources to repair your ship.  I think in a campaign where money really isn't the way to go about procuring magic items it doesn't matter if the PCs become extremely wealthy.  It also doesn't matter as much if they loose large portions of their wealth when a crew mutinies trys to steal their ship or the ship is lost in some cataclysmic plot event.Yes, giving those powers to the helm allowed the PCs to meta-game the combat and what functions each PC would play during a battle.I think it should go beyond profession checks, and if the PCs hire the proper crew they shouldn't even need all of the professions outlined above.  The party Paladin could use intimidate on the crew to make them fear his wrath more than the boarders attempting to take the ship.  The Ranger might use Knowledge: Flogiston/Space to help the crew navigate a tight area.  The Warlord uses Perception to hep the canoneers find the range of the attacker.  While the wizard or Warlock ar at the helm using arcana to eek out the most speed from the ship.I'd look very carefully at the Spelljammer rules and what you want to cpapture from them.  Then make as few skills as possible to encompass those parts of ship performance, repair, etc. Also think about how you can structure your campaign.  If it is just going to be Heroic Tier perhaps the PCs don't own the ship but are serving under another captain. Maybe near the end of Heroic they become captain(s) of the ship but don't own it until paragon level.  Throughout paragon they jump to bigger and better ships until they have a fleet of crews loyal to them.  Over the course of the epic tier the PCs hunt for "The Spelljammer" or deal with a Beholder plot to destroy a sphere.But your outline for the campaign will also shift what rules you need from the begining of your campaign and what rules you can try and decide on the best implimentation.  Perhaps the PCs start as crew members and need to use the Spelljammer specific skills.  Over time they become captain(s) or officers and cease using those skills and retrain them into less specific skills (or the PCs continue needing the spelljammer specific skills) so that they might command the crew better.  These rules can even shift and vary slightly depending on the sphere, ship, or captain until you have determined the set that works best for you.</blockquote>

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