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! :)
Madiya drinks a little, but she's happy to let the others celebrate while she watches. She is a bit concerned about Tammy's mood, but Sven seems to be trying to take care of it, and she'd rather let the tiefling be as long as it doesn't affect her too much. As the night wears on, Madiya excuses herself from the celebrations and heads back out to the Challenger, just to make sure everything is still fine.
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
Once victory is declared, Madiya duly heads over to the other ship and helps with the looting and healing and corpse-clearing. She leaves the ballista alone for now.
Madiya doesn't have a clear shot at the halfling after Sven's hammertime, so she targets the half-orc with her still-magically-charged crossbow this time.
The sailing ship in the S&S players' guide (different from other sourcebooks) has 1620 hp and hardness 5.
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?
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. :)
As the Challenger turns in pursuit of its prey once again, Madiya makes sure the ballista and catapults are loaded and ready, and takes up her usual position at the bow.
catapults with chain shot, of which I think we have 3 left
Well, that wouldn't have worked this time, for example. I figure that for the most part we'll still be disabling and boarding as we have been, but in case we want or need to actually just straight-up destroy a ship in an emergency of some sort, it just won't be possible for a long while (both long-term, until we get better weapons and spells and such, and short-term, there just isn't enough damage that can be done per turn even with better equipment for it to be done quickly).
Okay, so far we've used 2 chain shot and 1 alchy's fire. I believe we bought 5 of each, does anyone remember?
Also, if we've got the time and resources, we could invest in bigger and better weapons, whether by crafting or purchasing. But, there's really no way we're going to be able to damage a ship enough to actually sink it anytime soon, minus taking everyone off and setting it on fire.
With enough time to prepare, Madiya makes sure the aft catapult is loaded with alchemist's fire. As the Challenger sails away, she launches the projectile, leaving the deck of the bait ship - and anyone unfortunate enough to be close to the impact - on fire.
well, technically the sailors would need a reflex check, but who cares. they'll probably be able to put it out either way once we're gone, but hey, style points.
With their crew leaving the bait ship, Madiya directs the crew helping her to fire at it, hoping to sink it quickly so that anyone remaining belowdecks wouldn't be able to reemerge and join the fight.
targeting dc15, not that it matters:1d20 + 3 + 10 ⇒ (4) + 3 + 10 = 17 damage vs ship hull:4d6 ⇒ (3, 1, 5, 4) = 13
ballista broadside vs ship:1d20 ⇒ 13not sure about crew modifiers, but given the AC of 2, it'll prooobably hit damage is 3x average, which is 40 - for a total of 53, which is nowhere near close to enough...
Unfortunately, the Challenger's light siege weapons don't look like they'll be up to the task.
I'd personally suggest blocking off access topside, setting fire to the ship, and leaving with whatever loot and prisoners we can get from the deck.
As the fight on deck ends, Madiya shouts out as best she can so that the others can hear: "We need hurry, they sent distress sign. Reinforcement will be soon." She keeps an eye out for any approaching ships in the meantime.
Madiya looks over at the opposing ship, clearly not very comfortable with the Chelish marines' delaying tactics. However, there's not much she can do at this point other than keep an eye out for reinforcements. She once again charges up and fires at the catauplt crew that she'd hit with her first shot, her bolt crackling with electricity this time.
Madiya directs her helpers to keep the catapult loaded with round shot (2 turns) while she charges up her weapon to continue taking shots at the opposing catapult crew.
storm strike, +1d4 electricity damage on weapon for 10 rounds
"Watch catapults!" Madiya shouts out as the boarding begins. Grabbing her crossbow, she charges up and fires at the nearest enemy catapult crew while her helpers aim their own catapult at the one on the opposite side of the Chelish ship.
assuming there was enough time to unload the chain shot and switch to regular shot, which would probably take up the buffing rounds
"Distress sign! We need attack fast!", Madiya shouts out as she sees the flare. Signalling to the crew helping her out, she makes sure the preparations for the catapult are right, letting loose at the enemy ship's sails with chain shot.
once again, I'll take 2 crew with me on the catapult, for a total of 3. I believe this is the third chain shot we've used, I'll go back and check later.
Without much to do the past few days, Madiya has been starting to go a bit crazy, but the sighting of a prize sets her mind straight. She works as hard as she can to get the ship's weapons straight and ready, then takes up position near the front catapult to await the coming fight.
Oh, I'd missed the part where they said we'd gotten back to the ship and thought we were still in the castle, so I was waiting for the Lady's reaction. Oops.
Madiya hasn't said much, but she has been keeping a close watch on their hosts - all of them. Once the Lady makes her offer, she clearly notices the Sergeant's reaction. She keeps it to herself for now, but makes sure to keep an eye on him.
sorry for the delay...was reading more about Hei Feng and I can say that Madiya is a...neglectful priestess, thus far... :D I'm going to try to be more in touch with the philosophy of the faith from now on, but some things are a bit too far gone already. Chalk it up to not getting the full teachings before.
After listening to the debate for a while, Madiya pipes up: "Fate never decided by old tales of fortune. If will of gods is change, then defenders will attack us. If not, we can try ally. We prepare for both. And...they not need be ally forever."
"Okay, we go." Madiya gets to work on the ship's weapons once again, making sure that they aren't in a threatening position. Then, she readies her own weapons.
Once the ship lands, Madiya wanders off in search of supplies. Given that it's just a small fishing village, there isn't much that she can use, so she instead purchases some raw materials that she can use to replenish the ship's supply of ammo. just mundane, nothing special
She returns to the ship just in time to see the captain talking to a green-skinned fellow. There doesn't seem to be a fight, so she approaches cautiously and curiously.
So we still have red, and we're replacing Blue with UrGreen... :D
Madiya nods. "I will do. Make sure some trained crew go with." She points out some of the sailors who she's been working with.
So that'll be: 2 catapults, one bow one stern, and 6 ballista, 3 per broadside, on the Challenger, one ballista on the unnamed lugger...let's put it on the bow. The distinction between "trained"/"untrained" is mostly just fluff, they'll still be non-proficient, I assume.
As usual, Madiya gets to work on the siege engines, quickly disassembling them and bringing them aboard the Challenger, then reassembling them on the ship. Rearranging the weapons currently onboard, she positions the catapult at the stern and the ballista on one of the broadsides.
so that's one catapult each at bow and stern, and...I think 4 ballista on one side and 3 on the other. Also, we used one chain shot, not entirely sure how many we bought.
You don't want mine. In another game, I just rolled a 1 on a true strike'd attack (auto-miss) and a 20 on a useless flavor skill check right afterwards.
