I'm with Madiya in this. Mechanically, yes, Sven could take care of it with an adamantine weapon... but cinematically, siege weapons would be nicer.
Soooo, where are we at, game wise?
I was just coming in here to update that. So, my life is taking/has taken a turn for the crazy. My daughters schedules have changed somewhat and it has really thrown my life for a loop, at least the pbp part of it. I'm still plugging along and will update this game tonight, but I know I owe you all an explanation for the slowdown. My apologies. Hopefully my ship rights itself soon. It just feels like Sven's little trick reached through the game world and stuck that feather token on my own life.
I take full responsibility. :p
All joking aside, take care of yourself and thanks for letting us know.
I was going to make a reply with a bunch of ship puns, but that'd probably be bad taste. So, I'll just say, take care of yourself first, and hopefully things calm down soon. :)
It can mount:
-up to 10 large direct-fire siege engines per side
-up to 3 huge direct-fire siege engines per side
-up to 2 large or 1 huge siege engine to fore and aft
Here are the basic siege engines:
-Light ballista (large) 3d8 (avg 13.5)
-Light catapult (large) 4d6 (avg 14)
-Heavy ballista (huge) 4d8 (avg 18)
-Standard catapult (huge) 6d6 (avg 21)
Let's use the simplified broadside rules, where you roll once and take average damage times the number of engines. That allows for 12 light ballista at once, or 5 heavy ballista. I'll ignore catapults because those are more complicated and can't be fired in broadsides, so they barely do any damage at all.
Light: 12*13.5 = 162 (the seemingly-random HP makes sense now), but it takes 11 broadsides (without a crit) to destroy an equal sailing ship, due to hardness.
Heavy: 5*18 = 90, which is worse than light in just about every way, needing more crew and reload/aim actions for far less damage.
Then, what about sails? On a standard sailing ship, those have 360 hp, so it'll take 3 full light-ballista broadsides, or 2 with chain shot (which doubles the damage to 324). It's possible that flaming bolts or alchemist's shot could burn the sails away, but that's firmly in the realm of houseruling, and we could just have Tammy do the same with an arrow anyways (which we've already done before).
So, what did we learn?
1) Stick with light ballista, they are far more efficient (which isn't saying much).
2) If we want to sink ships, stick with weird tricks like Passwall (5th level arcane) and Sven-smashing. Siege weapons just won't do mechanically, especially when considering cost.
3) Siege weapons are far more useful for anti-personnel use during boarding combat than anti-shipping, even against sails. This applies for both us as players and GM-run boats.
But, of course, they're cool and give me something to do during ship combat, so why not, eh?
Sorry for going dark. Started my second playthrough of Three Houses. It's even more soul-devouring the second time.
And yeah, the siege engine rules aren't all that great. If we can get cannons, on the other hand....
Is everything going okay, Choon? No rush, just wondering.
Thanks for asking. Things are going... hectically. My mother in law went into the hospital for a week (she's doing better now, marginally), my job might be changing here soon and interviews for a new position start sometime next week (I still haven't been told when), and now my younger daughter is sick.
So things aren't ideal. Sorry that it has impacted my posting so much.
Completely understandable. Wishing the best for you
Yikes. I'm sorry to hear that. Take your time, man. I don't think anyone here will mind, so long as you don't just up and disappear on us.
Good to hear you're still alive and, well, surviving, I guess. Hopefully it starts getting better sometime soon :)
Man, what the hell are up with my dice?
Well with True Strike you can afford to have bad dice.
True strike, many shot, deadly aim = win regardless of BaB or dice rolls
Sorry life got a bit crazy.
Happy Halloween! Everyone still okay?
I am... mostly. Life is really being needy right now and all my GM games are suffering, not just you guys. I'm interviewing for a manager position which has taken up most of my attention recently. The initial interview is done now, so we'll see how that turns out!
I'm doing good. I get to run You Only Die Twice tonight for my local group. Hopefully it will be fun.
Blessings of Samhain to all.
Hope everyone is doing well.
@Choon: It's all good, man. I hope it goes well for you.
I lost that entire post near the end and had to start over from scratch.
*sobs*
But yay, nihilism!
I lost that entire post near the end and had to start over from scratch.
*sobs*
But yay, nihilism!
I pretty much always write my posts in notepad and only transfer them over when I'm done. Quick preview to check formatting, adjust for dice results, then post. It only took the website timing out on me a dozen times to make the change... :D
Everything I do here is on the phone. I feel the pain!
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”Bad for morale it’d be.”
Wise words you speak, jedi master you resemble!
Moving on at some point tonight.
Ok, it's time.
My family has recently been beset by several medical issues that are taking up a lot of the time I used to use for GMing. My wife's spine is causing her debilitating pain and my colon is planning a revolt that must be squashed before it causes real trouble. This has left me with no time at home were I traditionally have had the time I need to run this game.
I'm sorry, but I need to step back from this experience. If you wish to proceed with a new GM, that is perfectly fine and I encourage you to do so. You're a good group. It's I that has failed you.
I'm so sorry. But I just can't run this one anymore.
Don’t be sorry. Life happens and you have far too much on your plate.
Wish you all the best, focus on what is important
Thanks for time you put in for us. I understand your decision. Family ALWAYS comes before gaming. Best wishes for you and your wife's health to improve.
Yup, don't worry about us and good luck with everything!
Yikes, that sounds horrible. I'm sure you'll crush the revolt, catch the ringleaders, and execute their entire families before their eyes...erm...I mean...don't worry about us, focus on your health, and hopefully everything goes well. Thanks for stepping in when we needed you, it's been a fun ride! :)
No worries, family comes first.
I'm obviously late to the party....
Don't apologize, man. Real life comes first. It's the nature of play by post games that they tend to fizzle out. We, at least, made it to book 2.
I hope to see you all out there in the forums again, sometime.