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Sounds like naval warfare in a magical universe would resemble modern submarine warfare. The emphasis is on stealth above all, because once they detect you, they can kill you with frightening speed.
Then again, nations would just use Teleportation Circles for transport and Scry & Fry for power projection.
I think a lot of nations would mostly employ magical items and give certain sailors proper training (UMD) in their use. Having actual casters on board would probably be reserved for high value escorts and assault/specialized war ships.
If they were trained as sailors, I'd have casters on small, highly manueverable vessels instead of the big warships. Well, offensive casters on the small, speedy vessels, and casters like artificers or transmuters on bigger ships.
It really depends on a: what is the percentage of casters vs non-casters? and b: how large is the population? Even if casters are only 1% of a nation's population or less, a sufficiently large nation that wants to have naval superiority can afford to have a caster on all military ships.
It really depends on a: what is the percentage of casters vs non-casters? and b: how large is the population? Even if casters are only 1% of a nation's population or less, a sufficiently large nation that wants to have naval superiority can afford to have a caster on all military ships.Sounds like naval warfare in a magical universe would resemble modern submarine warfare. The emphasis is on stealth above all, because once they detect you, they can kill you with frightening speed.
Then again, nations would just use Teleportation Circles for transport and Scry & Fry for power projection.
I think a lot of nations would mostly employ magical items and give certain sailors proper training (UMD) in their use. Having actual casters on board would probably be reserved for high value escorts and assault/specialized war ships.
If they were trained as sailors, I'd have casters on small, highly manueverable vessels instead of the big warships. Well, offensive casters on the small, speedy vessels, and casters like artificers or transmuters on bigger ships.
They could, but I feel that would be a bad strategy. You don't need them on all your vessels to achieve naval superiority. Not only that, but it primarily concentrates an incredibly useful and versitile resource into one area.
Threads should be plentiful in the Skull & Shackles forum.
Our ship has already been hit by the Wall of Force, Wall of Fire, Fog Cloud, and other stuff.
As others have said, Pirates want to capture, not kill, the ships. To that end, I think the best way is via spells. And the most important part about spells is distance. You see ships well out of range. A spellcaster with the Reach metamagic can hurt the enemy at a larger distance, especially with those fun control magics.
/cevah
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If you're going to cast wall of force, don't do it in front of a ship. Do it in between its masts. Then they will be REALLY stuck. If you're lucky, it might even destroy the mast.
When thinking about cost, don't think of big companies and employees, think of family run companies. Imagine something like the Medici family in Italy (I know they were mainly banking). A similar mercantile family in a fantasy setting would be sure to have family members that are wizards, or clerics or druids. Some of the family would surely work on the ships perhaps when young to learn the business or lesser relatives trying to get into the main family.
Lots of businesses work like this. Spell casters would likely not be employees on important ships, they would be owners or family members of the owners. In that case they are working for profit not salary.