Underwater fighting / fighting on ships

[vlysses]

Hi there,

Having received many useful tips in the past in this forum, I was wondering if someone could help me with the following questions:

- Underwater fighting is not described in any meaningful way in the core books. Any tips on where I could find them? Or any tried and tested house rules that you use? I'm thinking here penalties for various (esp. larger) weapons, on AC, effects on movement etc... and how would natural weapons be affected (e.g. unarmed attack)?

- Fighting on a ship, especially a swaying one in strong wind/storm. What sort of checks or penalties can be applied and what would lead to the worst consequence of all: falling overboard ;-) hehe

Many thanks,

vlysses

 

[roguerouge]

Try Stormwrack for the weather question, but Sinister adventures has a pdf for the former question, here: Indulgences, Waves One and Two

Wolfgang Bauer: "There is no greater frontier of mystery and danger than the crushing black depths of the unforgiving sea. Underwater adventures send heroes into a hostile realm where ichthyoidal alien things prowl the cold currents, and the environs themselves choke off life. Running a game beneath the waves isn’t easy. Thankfully one of the world’s best fantasy game designers offers six pages of pdf packed with a plethora of tips, tricks, rules, and a brand new beastie to pump air into the gills of any GM brave enough to delve the watery deeps."

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

My $0.02? Barring actual published rules on the subject, this is how I'd handle those situations.

Underwater Fighting:

In general, thrusting/piercing weapons would have the best utility underwater. Weapons you swing- slashing and most (but not all) bludgeoning weapons depend upon a motion which is greatly impeded by water. Weapons that take advantage of a flexing or whipping motion- whips, chains, flails, etc.- would be virtually useless if not entirely so.

Ranged weapons designed for surface use should have their RI dropped to 10'- those with RIs already that short cannot be used at range.

I'd reduce the damage die of a weapon you swing by at least one die, and if you allow a flexible weapon to work at all, I'd max its damage at 1HP.

Natural attacks would be affected as per their type. A slashing claw would be diminished in potency, but a grasping, crushing tentacle would be entirely unaffected.

Fighting aboard a ship:

No penalty for calm seas (or air, if your campaign is like that).

-4 in choppy seas (turbulent air).

-10 in rough seas (a storm).

-20 in a major storm.

Also, there may be a helpful thread to be found in the Aquatic Database (see my sig).