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[[Category:Epic Path]]
[[Category:Epic Path]]
[[Category:Naval Combat]]
[[Category:Vehicles]]
* ''Go back to the [[Epic Path]] page.''
<small>[[Epic Path]] \</small>


==Vehicle Combat==
These rules are intended to provide a fun, interesting means of simulating vehicular combat, whether a sailing ship on the high seas, an armored horse-drawn carriage, or a sleek flying vessel which uses ley lines to propel itself. These rules are optional, since some campaign settings will have no use for them.


==Ship Combat==
The primary purpose of these rules is to provide a crew role for each player character, allowing them to contribute, as a team, to the success or failure of the vehicle's combat prowess. One way to imagine this is that the vehicle itself is run like a character, where each of its primary attributes are modified by the individual actions of the player characters.
These rules are intended to provide a fun, interesting means of simulating ship-to-ship combat, or any vehicular combat, whether a sailing ship on the high seas, an armored horse-drawn carriage, or a sleek flying vessel which uses ley lines to propel itself. These rules are optional, since some campaign settings will have no use for them.


The primary purpose of these rules is to provide a crew role for each player character, allowing them to contribute, as a team, to the success or failure of the vehicle's combat prowess. One way to imagine this is that the vehicle itself is run like a character, where each of its primary attributes are modified by the individual actions of the player characters.  For example, the speed of a medium-sized galleon, when traveling in the same direction as the wind, might be 6, but a competent rigging crew can modify this each round with their skill checks (similarly, they can hinder this if they are unskilled).
These rules are focused only on combat between vehicles.  Outside of combat, vehicles should be fairly easy to handle, with only the occasional skill check to see if the vehicle remains on course and how quickly it can arrive at its destination.


These rules are focused only on vehicle combat.  Outside of combat, vehicles should be fairly easy to handle, with only the occasional skill check to see if the vehicle remains on course and how quickly it can arrive at its destination.
.  , and maneuverability is abstracted.  


Combat is performed on a square-based grid, just like standard Epic Path melee combat.  Similarly, diagonals do not cost any more movement than cardinal directions.  This results in eight possible directions from each square, which lines up nicely with compass directions.  Granted, in 'real' ship movements, the compass is divided up in 16 directions (featuring directions like East-south-east), but these rules aren't intended to be accurate depictions of naval warfare, just a fun simulation.  Over several turns, it is very possible to achieve nuanced directions like east-south-east, but it requires multiple squares of movement to depict.
===The Basics===
At the start of combat, each PC declares which station of the ship he or she wishes to occupy.  PC's may change which station they are at, but it requires a full turn to change stations.


Unlike traditional combat, vehicles have a facing that must be tracked, as vehicles may only move in the direction they are facing.
Each station has a profession skill associated with it, which determines expertise at that particular station's duties.  On your turn, you make a skill check against this skill.  If you do not have any ranks in this skill, you may instead use any bailiwick skill in its place.


If you used the appropriate Profession skill, you divide your skill check's result by 5 (round down), and take this many d6 dice into your action pool for the round.  If you used a bailiwick skill instead of the appropriate Profession skill, you divide your skill check's result by 10 (round down) instead.  No matter how poorly you roll on your skill check, you always get a minimum of 2d6 for your action pool.


===Indirect and Direct Control===
You then roll your action pool of d6's, and may spend the resulting pips of those dice on actions appropriate to your station.  A PC in the Ship's Channeler role can grant power to other PC's, either for a single round, or, if they spend even more pips from their action pool, can increase a PC's power for the remainder of the encounter.  A captain can reduce the cost of actions for other stations.  A gunner can fire on enemy vehicles, and a navigator can oppose the enemy navigator to alter the distance between the two vehicles.  Other crew positions are Spotter and Repair Crew.  Each of these stations is described in more detail below.
In broad terms, there are two major types of vehicles: indirectly controlled and directly controlled.


Indirectly controlled vehicles rely on an external force to propel or steer them, and do not exert total control over that external force.  For example, a sailboat is at least partly at the mercy of wind.  While a skillful crew can use this external force to great effect, they still must adapt to the conditions available to them.  If the wind is heading East and they want to travel West, they'll have to tack into that wind and travel a zig-zag pattern to achieve a westerly direction and it will be much slower than if they were sailing with the wind.
In the event that you don't have enough pips in your action pool to perform an action, or you have left over dice which you weren't able to use this round, you can also bank those unused dice until the next turn, adding their existing pips to your next round's action pool.


Directly controlled vehicles are those which can be sped up, slowed down or otherwise directed without relying on an external force to cooperate.  A galleon being propelled by rowers is directly controlled, as is an automobile or jet aircraft.  A skilled crew is still necessary to wring the maximum efficiency out of these vehicles, but that crew only needs to adapt to the limitation of their vehicle, not any external forces, to achieve that efficiency.
Note that pips from d6's in your action pool cannot be split up.  That is, you must use all of the pips on a single die if you use any of them.  This means if you wish to purchase an expenditure which costs 12 pips, and you have three 5's on your action pool dice, you must spend all three dice to pay for the 12 pip cost.  Alternatively, you could bank your dice until next turn, and hope that your next turn's action pool dice allow you to divide your results less wastefully.


Some vehicles are a little bit of each, such as a horse-drawn war wagon.  If the horses are well-trained and feeling cooperative, it is a directly controlled vehicle.  If the horses are unruly or scared, the vehicle is indirectly controlled -- the driver may be able to issue some commands successfully, while others might not have the exact desired outcome due to the horse's will to do something else.
No matter how poorly you roll on your skill check, you always get a minimum of 2d6 for your action pool.


In game terms, a directly controlled vehicle is easier to operate, and can more immediately respond to the commands of its crew.  An indirectly controlled vehicle requires greater planning to successfully manipulate the external force to the crew's will.
===Vehicle Ranges===
* Long (horizon from the deck; 1 to 15 miles)
* Medium (barely within the max range of spells or bows; 1001 feet to 1 mile)
* Short (50 feet to 1000 feet)
* Close (adjacent; within 50 feet, can be boarded or rammed; also the range where docking at port happens)


Ships with good maneuverability or good speed can move up one or more range bands with a single roll


Similarly, ships with bad maneuverability or speed might require more than one roll to move through one or more of the bands.


===Wind===
of , that ship may declare that combat is over.
The direction of the wind is determined by the GM at the beginning of the encounter.  While this direction can be anything the GM wants, it is important to remember that simple is better.  As a result, the wind's direction should always be one of the cardinal directions (north, south, east or west).  While this isn't realistic, it makes descriptions of the combat much simpler.


Another break from realism is the fact that these rules do not care how fast the wind is blowing, nor does the direction of the wind shift over the course of a battle.
There is that, .


For the purposes of these rules, all examples will pretend that the wind is traveling from the South to the North.  As a result, ships moving North are considered to be moving with the wind.
of Range is equal to .  Note, however, that a ship with a spotter station, but no PC manning it can still spot ships at Out of Range, as the NPC can spot on the .


===Vehicle Weapons===
Weapons on ships are siege weapons, which do sunder attacks. Depending on the siege weapon, the range, damage


===Initiative===
Attacks always hit one of the stations of the ship, and each station has its own durability score.  If a station has its durability reduced to 0, it can no longer generate dice on its own.
Like standard combat, ship combat begins with an initiative roll.  Surprise rounds are also possible, though sneaking up on a ship at sea can be pretty difficult.  Once initiative has been rolled, the first combat round begins.


However, the channeler may grant dice to that station to allow it to function. This includes any dice the channeler has already given to that station


===Combat Rounds===
When a station gets hit, any PC acting in that area also takes hit point damage.
Each combat round is broken into four phases, each of which is completed by all ships in the combat before the next phase begins.


* Planning phase - Where a vehicle's orders are set and ongoing damage or conditions are applied.
Half of all damage dealt is irreparable until the vehicle can be put into dock for repairs. However, this only applies to single hits which deal 2 or more durability damage. damage is halved, round down, to determine how much, if any, of the damage is irreparable.  Thus, a bunch of 1 point hits are all repairable, but a 3 point hit causes one point of irreparable damage.
* Move phase - Where the ship's actual movement occurs. This can differ from the desired course, if the rigging crew and/or helmsman crews fail to achieve the needed results for complex maneuvers.
* Attack phase - Where attack rolls and defense rolls are made by the Gunner crew and Watch crew respectively.
* Damage phase - Where damage is applied and Fire Crews attempt to mitigate the incoming damage, or prepare for future damage.


Each of these phases is described in greater detail below in the 'Phases of Combat' section.
Damage is repaired by the Repair Crew


If any three of a ships stations are reduced to 0 durability, the ship is considered destroyed.


===Small, Medium and Large Ships===
In general, low-level siege weapons will deal 1-2 base damage, which can be upgraded by a talented gunner
Every ship is categorized as either a small, medium or large ship.  The size of a ship can never be changed.  Instead, if a captain and his crew want a larger ship, they must acquire a new one.


There are obvious reasons to want a larger ship -- more cargo space, more room for offensive capabilities, and greater hull strength for defense.  However, larger ships are not agile, and this lack of agility is reflected in the way that orders to maneuver them are implemented.
High level siege weapons deal up to 10 base damage, which can be modified higher by talented gunners


A small ship can move through its environment with relative ease.  It can turn twice as quickly as a medium ship and in far less space. Furthermore, small ships tend to have the highest base speed (assuming they are sailing ships, and not rowed) of the various ship classes.  However, small ships are more fragile and carry fewer weapons and less cargo.
===Length of Turns===
The length of each turn varies by what range the ships are at in relation to each other.
* Turns at Short range are 1 minute each
* Turns at Close range are 3 minutes each
* Turns at Medium range are 5 minutes each
* Turns at Long range are 10 minutes
* Turns at Out of Range are 1 hour each


Medium ships are slower than small ships, and have limited maneuverability each round.  Without a skilled helmsman, turns are complex affairs which usually take more than one round to complete.  However, medium ships can carry a decent arsenal of offensive weapons, or they can haul significant quantities of cargo.
Boarding actions take place with normal 6-second rounds, as with normal combat, however, boarding actions always take a minimum of 5 minutes.


Large ships are very slow, but they are also very tough to disable or sink.  They can carry an absurd amount of weaponry and still carry large amounts of cargo. Large ships have terrible maneuverability, though, with turns often taking two or even three rounds to complete and a great deal of space to do so.  Maneuvering a large ship takes a great deal of advance planning and a comfortable knowledge of the nearby obstacles (reefs, shoals, etc.), as a large ship has a much harder time avoiding these things.
Note that boarding merely gives you control of the vessel. Clearing, searching and looting a .  Typically, looting takes a minimum of 1 hour.


==Crew Stations==
Not all vehicles will have all stations available to them.  A flying carpet may only have a navigator station, and nothing else.  Furthermore, some vehicles will have limitations on how many crew can occupy a given station.


==Ship Attributes==
===Ship's Channeler===
A ship has several key attributes, each of which changes each round, depending on its circumstances, the skill of its assigned officer, and the base attribute of the ship itself.  These attributes are:
* '''Skill Required:''' Profession (Ship's Channeler)


* Speed - the number of squares the ship can move, in total, each round
All vehicles have a motive source/power source:
* Maneuverability - the number of squares off of a straight line that the ship can move in a given round.
* Can be sails or rowers or horse-drawn
* Defense - the target DC an enemy must achieve to hit this ship in combat
* Can be dweomer-crystals or turning stones
* Accuracy - the to-hit number for firing the ship's offensive weapons
* Can be lay sigils or channeled magic
* Repairs - the amount of damage that a ship can recover each round


These base attributes describe how a ship would perform if without an officer assigned to each of the ship's stations.  If no officer is assigned to a particular station, that station uses the base attribute of the ship, as described below.  If an officer is assigned to each of the various roles of the ship, the ship's performance can be improved by the officer's efforts and skill.  For details on how officers affect a ship's base attributes, see the Crewing a Ship section, below.
A ship's channeler is responsible for making the motive force of the vehicle as efficient as possible.  This could be as mundane as beating a drum to keep time for the rowers, cropping the horses to make them go faster, or tweaking the magical matrix of the vehicle to coax a little more power out of it.


A Ship's Channeler may apply the pips of his action pool for the following expenditures:
* any number - improve next turn (allocate dice to next round's rolls)
* 12 - buy temporarary d6 to grant to someone on the ship
* 25 - buy permanent d6 to grant to someone on the ship


===Speed===
* '''If Unmanned:''' A vehicle which has a ship's channeler station, but is not crewed by a PC will grant no benefits to other stations.
A ship's speed is determined at the start of each round, and is based on the bearing it has in relation to the wind (or Aether, or whatever other external locomotive force is being used).  This speed does not change until the beginning of the next round, regardless of the turns into or out of the wind the ship makes during the round.  Only its final bearing matters for its speed the following round.  This is to simulate the effects of the ship's momentum gained from its initial bearing.  (As a result, these rules break from normal Epic Path rules in that ships have 'facing'.  The direction the front of the ship is pointed is always the direction it must move for its next square of movement. See Maneuverability, below.)


Unlike moving around on land, a ship must move its full speed each round, even if it would prefer to move slower (or faster).  A rigging crew can slow down or speed up a ship, depending on just how skilled they are.  See Crewing a Ship, below, for details.  Also unlike land movement, there are no double-moves or 5-foot-steps in ship combat.
===Ship's Captain===
* '''Skill Required:''' Profession (Ship's Captain)


A ship's top speed is always the speed it moves when it is going in the same direction as the wind. The top speeds are determined by the size of the ship:
A ship's captain issues orders to the crew to make them operate more efficiently, or pay attention to something important.  


* small ships have a top speed of 8 squares
A Ship's Captain may apply the pips of his action pool for the following expenditures:
* medium ships have a top speed of 6 squares
* any number - improve next turn
* large ships have a top speed of 4 squares
* 12 - temporarily lower the cost of one ability for someone on the ship by 2
* 25 - permanently lower the cost of one ability for someone on the ship by 2


Once a ship tries to move off of the wind's main direction, its speed is reduced.
* '''If Unmanned:''' A vehicle which has a ship's captain station, but is not crewed by a PC will grant no benefits to other stations.


A move 45-degrees off the wind (if the wind is blowing North, this would be Northeast or Northwest) results in a speed penalty of -1 square.
===Ship's Gunner===
* '''Skill Required:''' Profession (Ship's Gunner)


* small ships move 45-degrees off the wind at a speed of 7 squares
A ship's gunner is responsible for firing the siege weapons of the ship against enemy ships.
* medium ships move 45-degrees off the wind at a speed of 5 squares
* large ships move 45-degrees off the wind at a speed of 3 squares


A Ship's Gunner may apply the pips of his action pool for the following expenditures:
* any number - improve next turn
* enemy ship's hardness - fire a shot at the ship
** For each 5 by which the gunner exceeds the enemy ship's hardness (target DC), he inflicts 1 additional sunder.
* 12 - a shot this round inflicts a penalty on one role of the enemy ship
* 25 - all shots rest of the encounter inflict a penalty


A move 90-degrees off the wind (if the wind is blowing North, this would be East or West) reduces base speed by half.


* small ships move 90-degrees off the wind at a speed of 4 squares
A Gunner may only fire once per round, and only at a single target per round, regardless of how many siege weapons are equipped on the vehicle.  A vehicle with multiple siege weapons deal additional durability damage on successful hits.
* medium ships move 90-degrees off the wind at a speed of 3 squares
* large ships move 90-degrees off the wind at a speed of 2 squares


Note, however, that if multiple PC gunners are present, and multiple siege weapons, they may split the siege weapons between them, and each of them may select a different target, or fire separately on the same target, as they wish.


A move 135-degrees off the wind (if the wind is blowing North, this would be Southeast or Southwest) reduces base speed as described below:
* '''If Unmanned:''' A vehicle which has a ship's gunner station, but is not crewed by a PC will fire no more than once per 3 rounds, assuming the enemy vehicle is in range.


* small ships move 135-degrees off the wind at a speed of 3 squares
===Ship's Navigator===
* medium ships move 135-degrees off the wind at a speed of 2 squares
* '''Skill Required:''' Profession (Ship's Navigator)
* large ships move 135-degrees off the wind at a speed of 1 squares


A Ship's Navigator may apply the pips of his action pool for the following expenditures:
* any number - improve next turn
* any number - close distance, open distance or hold steady, in relation to the enemy ship. Opposed by the enemy navigator's expenditure of pips this round.


A move directly into the wind (180-degrees off the wind; if the wind is blowing North, this would be South) reduces speed to zero. Rowed ships, or ships which do not rely on the wind (or Aether) for propulsion are always treated as having a speed of zero.
The navigator has to guess how much of his action pool to spend to maneuver his vehicle in relation to the enemy vehicle.  Each round, he records how many of his pips he is spending as well as whether he is attempting to close, open or hold his position, and the GM records the same for the enemy vehicle (or vehicles). Both sides reveal their results simultaneously, and the highest total gets their way, if the chosen actions are opposites.  That is, if the PC's vehicle wishes to close the distance, and the enemy vehicle wishes to open the distance, the winner of this bidding war will succeed in moving 1 success closer to the next range band (see maneuverability classes below). However, if the chosen actions are not contradictory, like both ships wish to close, they both succeed, as long as they each spent any pips at all to perform the action.


* '''If Unmanned:''' A vehicle which has a ship's navigator station, but is not crewed by a PC will generate 2 pips of action dice per campaign level (so 20 pips at campaign level 10, etc.).  These can be banked or spent as needed, for use on navigation-related expenditures.


===Repair Crew===
* '''Skill Required:''' Profession (Ship's Repair Crew)


===Maneuverability===
A Ship's Repair Crew may apply the pips of his action pool for the following expenditures:
A ship's base maneuverability, like its speed, is dictated by the ship's size.  A ship's maneuverability score is a measure of how many 45-degree turns it can take each round, as well as how close together these 45-degree turns can be performed.  Ships cannot turn on a dime, though the smaller the ship, the easier it is to turn.
* any number - improve next turn
* 12 - reduces existing damage
* 12 - removes penalties to roles
* 25 - can harden one role against one shot's worth of damage


Ship maneuverability is written as a two-number format.  For example, a small ship's maneuverability score is listed as "4/1", meaning that the small ship can perform four 45-degree turns each round, and can perform each turn with only 1 square of movement. That is, a small ship can move forward one square on its current bearing, and upon entering the new square, choose a new bearing within 45-degrees of the old bearing.  It can then move forward one square on its new bearing, and upon entering the new square, choose another bearing within 45-degrees of its new bearing.  It can do this up to four times per round.  As a result, a small ship can make a 90-degree turn in two squares of movement, or make a 180-degree turn in four squares of movement.
* '''If Unmanned:''' All vehicles have a repair crew station. If it is not manned by a PC, and the vehicle has an NPC crew available, the repair crew will remove 1 point of (repairable) durability damage from the ship every 5 rounds.


A medium ship has a maneuverability score of "2/2", meaning it can only make a 45-degree turn after moving forward on its current bearing at least 2 squares, and that it can only perform two such 45-degree turns per round.  This means that a medium ship must move forward on its current bearing two squares, can shift its bearing 45 degrees in the second square, then move forward on its new bearing at least two squares, at which point it can make a second 45-degree bearing change.  It takes 4 squares of movement for a medium ship to make a 90-degree course change.
===Ship's Spotter===
* '''Skill Required:''' Profession (Ship's Spotter)


A large ship has a maneuverability score of "1/-", meaning that it can make only a single 45-degree turn each round, and it may do so only after it has completed its forward movement for the round.
A Ship's Spotter may apply the pips of his action pool for the following expenditures:
* 12 - can assess target ships' Hardness/Durability and which roles are present, and whether or not the ship appears hostile (has gone to battle stations)
* 12 - can lower the gunner's next shot's target number by 2 (helps with aim)
* 25 - can make the


* '''If Unmanned:''' A vehicle which has a ship's navigator station, but is not crewed by a PC can still spot vehicles in the Out of Range range band, and can still assess the target ship, per the first action above. However, an NPC spotter cannot provide any other bonuses to the vehicle.


====Special Rule: Turn In Place====
======
Much like the "Move Five Feet Through Difficult Terrain" rule, a ship with a speed of zero may always spend its entire movement phase to make a single 45-degree turn in place. This allows a ship which is set on a bearing directly into the wind to move out of that bearing and regain some speed, at the cost of its movement for the round.
the same station, there are diminishing returns.
* Each person must declare who is primary, secondary, tertiary, etc. before any die rolls are made.
* The secondary halves all of his pips rolled at that station
* The tertiary divides his rolled pips by 1/3rd
* (quaternary is quartered, etc.)


This rule also allows ships to maneuver through very tricky reefs, shoals or other obstacles, if they first slow down their ship to a speed of zero.  Note that rigging crews can adjust the speed of a ship, in spite of its bearing, with successful skill checks.
The sum of all pips, after division, may be used on expenditures for that station


The "One Free Turn" rule can always be used by any ship that is not disabled or sunk, if its speed is zero, even if it has sustained critical damage reducing its maneuverability.
===Ship Maneuverability Classes===
Maneuverability describes how many expenditures are required to move into a particular range from the one adjacent to it.  For example, for maneuver class 0, it costs 3 expenditures to move from Long Range to Medium Range.


Maneuver class 1 requires 3 expenditures to change each of the 5 ranges.  This is represented by 3 3 3 3 3.


===Defense===
Maneuver class 2 requires 3 expenditures to change 4 of the 5 ranges, but only 2 to change one of them (selected at the time the maneuver class of the ship .  This is the 2 may be in any of the slots.  The order of the .
A ship's defense score works just like a player character's armor class.  It is the target DC that enemy ships must match or exceed in order to successfully hit the ship.


However, unlike a PC's armor class, a ship's Defense score changes each round based on its speed.  Slower ships are easier to hit, and faster ships are harder to hit.  (Additionally, there are range penalties for shooting at ships further away, but that is covered in the Accuracy section, below).
Maneuver class 3 = 3/3/3/2/2, and in the 5 slots.


A ship with a speed of zero has a Defense score of 7.  For each square of movement performed during the current round's Movement Phase, the ship's Defense score increases by 1.  Thus, a small ship which has moved with the wind for 8 squares this round would have a Defense score of 15.
Maneuver class 4 = 3/3/2/2/2


A ship's Watch crew can affect the ship's Defense score as well, depending on how skillfully they perform their duties.  See Crewing a Ship, below, for details.
Maneuver class 5 = 3/2/2/2/2


Maneuver class 6 = 2/2/2/2/2


===Accuracy===
Maneuver class 7 = 2/2/2/2/1
A ship's base accuracy is zero.  This means that a purely-NPC crew of gunners firing against a stationary target will hit on a roll of 7 or better. 


A ship's accuracy can be improved by a Gunnery Officer.  See Crewing a Ship, below, for details.
Maneuver class 8 = 2/2/2/1/1


Maneuver class 9 = 2/2/1/1/1


===Repairs===
Maneuver class 10 = 2/1/1/1/1
A ship can mitigate incoming damage with a talented Fire Crew.  However, a purely-NPC crew as a base Repairs score of zero.


Maneuver class 11 = 1/1/1/1/1


===Hit Points===
Maneuver class 12 = 1/1/1/0/1 - the range which is a zero can be skipped if desired, when changing ranges.  This means that a ship with 1/1/0/1/1 can go from long range to short range, skipping medium, with only 1 expenditure.  (They can still move into medium range if they wish, but it costs 1 expenditure to do so.
A ship also has a hit points value, just like a player character.  This value is determined by the ship size.


* Small ships have 25 hit points
Maneuver class 13 = 1/1/0/0/1
* Medium ships have 40 hit points
* Large ships have 60 hit points


Maneuver class 14 = 1/0/0/0/1 - this means you can cover 50+ miles in 1 minute, equal to approximately 3,000 miles per hour. Wow!


==Ship Upgrades==
==Enemy Vehicles==
It is possible to purchase or build upgrades to a ship to improve its base scores above those listed above.  These upgrades are constructed similarly to magic items, in that they require weeks of work in a safe port, and cost many thousands of gold pieces to procure.  However, in a ship-based campaign, such upgrades can make a huge difference in a ship's overall performance.
enemy ships should have as few stats as we can get away with, but should be capable of being better or worse, depending on the CR of the encounter.  A ship 5 cr's higher than the player level should crush them, while a ship 5 cr's lower should be trivial.


Stats we know we need:
* Ship's hardness (target DC to hit the ship with siege weapons)
* Durability for each station (and which stations exist)
* Maneuverability Class
* Weapon Range
* Weapon Damage (number of sunders it performs)
* Navigation pool (how many pips it generates each turn to use for maneuvers; can be banked)
* Gunner's pool (how many pips it generates each turn to use for attacks; can be banked)
* Captain's pool (a rolled action pool which grants the GM additional pips to apply to expenditures that turn; can be banked)


==Crewing a Ship==
If a ship has officers assigned to direct the work of a crew, the ship performs better.  Player Characters, being heroes, make great officers, assuming the captain recognizes their potential.  These rules describe the benefits of assigning a PC to the role of an officer on a ship.  Note that enemy ships can sometimes have named NPC's, granting that ship the same competence as a ship manned by PC officers.


In cases where the party has fewer players than the officer roles listed here, the GM has two choices: either the ship uses its default value for that position, as the NPC crew manages itself, or create an NPC officer to serve in the role.  In general, friendly NPC officers should never be as good as a PC officer would be (though there could be story reasons to break this rule; beware the mutiny of a competent NPC!).
===rules for crashing===
 
===rules for boarding===
It is possible, though discouraged, that a single PC could serve as the officer for more than one role on the ship.  However, doing so imposes a -8 penalty to all skill checks made by that character for each officer role beyond the first that they attempt to perform.  A single character attempting to perform the role of three officer positions would have a -16 penalty to all skill checks!
===rules for destroying target ship, instead of merely disabling it===
 
If a party consists of more than 5 player characters, some roles can be doubled-up to allow additional bonuses during combat.  The effects of doubling up each officer role is detailed below, in the section for each officer.
 
The primary officer roles of a ship are:
 
* Boatswain (Bosun) - in charge of the rigging and stowage; responsible for the ship's speed
* Master of the Helm - in charge of the helm, rudder and navigation; responsible for the ship's maneuverability
* Officer of the Watch - in charge of all spotters; responsible for the ship's defense (AC)
* Gunnery Officer - in charge of the ship's weapons and selecting targets; responsible for the ship's accuracy
* Chief Engineer - in charge of the bilge pumps, suppressing fires, patching hull breaches, etc.; responsible for making emergency repairs to a ship during combat
 
While acting as an officer on a ship during combat, PC's cannot take other actions (e.g. cast a spell, heal an ally, etc.) as they are too busy directing the actions of their crew and directly assisting with those actions themselves.  PC's who choose to take other actions anyway must relinquish their officer role for the round, and the ship uses the default attribute value for that station until the PC stops being a diva.
 
 
===Skill Checks===
While serving as a ship's officer during combat, the PC's make skill checks against the skills of their role.  In campaigns dedicated to sailing ships, GM's are encouraged to add the following 5 skills to the list of available skills in the game:
 
* Rigging
* Piloting
* Spotting
* Gunnery
* Engineer
 
However, in campaigns that only include ships for an adventure or two, or where ships and ship combat are not intended to be a primary focus, GM's are encouraged to allow substitutions for these skills.  Here are some recommended substitutions:
 
* Rigging - Naturalism, Divinity, Climb
* Piloting - Logic, Ride
* Spotting - Spycraft, Perception
* Gunnery - Spellcraft, Use Magic Device
* Engineer - Warcraft, Disable Device
 
 
 
===Boatswain (Bosun)===
 
===Master of the Helm===
 
===Officer of the Watch===
 
===Gunnery Officer===
 
===Chief Engineer===
 
 
 
==Phases of Combat==
 
 
==Damage and Critical Hits==
 
==Disabling and Sinking a Ship==
 
==Boarding a Ship==
 
 
==Example of Play==
 
 
==Non-Combat Roles==
A number of important roles exist on a ship that aren't terribly relevant during combat.  It's recommended that PC's not be in charge of these, or serve in these roles secondarily to their combat stations.  Examples of these roles are quartermaster, chief carpenter, cook, and possibly even navigator.  Really, these roles make an excellent place for GM's to insert some NPC's to add memorable characters to the crew.

Revision as of 22:09, 4 June 2016

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