RPG Superstar 2012 Top 32
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How would you handle two triremes trying to sink or knock the oars off of one another?
I was thinking of just having them approach one another for a couple of minutes, giving the party the time to change into dolphins or fly and cast fire balls or teleport or whatever it is that player characters do. At the end of that time, if the boats are still on course, I was thinking of just having a single contested Profession roll between their captains to determine the winner.
Been thinking on this one for a bit. We did alot of ship combat when I was running a Shackles adventure. We did ramming but never went for oars. The Fast Play Ship Combat comes pretty close to handling it. I think you are right by using the opposed roles without dealing with the ships AC. But since this is a standard tactic, I would rule that failing means your oars are destroyed. Since the oars on your ship need to be used right up until contact.
That being said, I have a few optional ship combat rules I have gleamed from different systems. I have alot of other types of ships with unique capabilities that have more of a fantasy flavor: Elf Skiffs, Dwarven Barges, Gnome Ironclads, Halfling Catamarans, and Orc Floating Fortresses are a few examples. Also I have optional ship upgrades (ex: +15 HP = -5 ft. speed or darkwood hull = +10-20% speed) and various types/qualities of crews (ex: half-orc rowing crew = 5 ft bonus to speed).
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RPG Superstar 2012 Top 32
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Crew Rules
Profession (Sailor) allows the captain to 'push' a crew. A check must be made for each round.
rowing DC 20 = Increase the speed of a rowed ship by 1/3. The DC increases by 2 for each point of non-lethal damage the crew has suffered.
- speed 30 becomes 40
- speed 60 becomes 80
- speed 90 becomes 120
sailing DC 25 = Increase the speed of a sailed ship by 1/6. The DC increases by 5 for each category away from strong winds. (ex: DC 35 for light winds {2 steps} or DC 30 for severe winds {1 step})
- speed 30 becomes 35
- speed 60 becomes 70
- speed 90 becomes 105
If a ship has both means of motion, checks can be made for each type of motion separately and the bonuses stack.
- speed 30 becomes 45
- speed 60 becomes 90
- speed 90 becomes 135
Crew Quality: These are just the basic sample crews I use.
Poor (slaves or low Con creatures {ex: elves})
- 6 hit points
- each shift can maintain rowing ship speed for 4 hours a day, each additional hour deals 1 nonlethal damage
- crew can be 'pushed' for 1 round, each additional round deals 1 nonlethal damage
Ave (paid crew or ave Con creatures {ex: humans})
- 8 hit points
- each shift can maintain rowing ship speed for 6 hours a day, each additional hour deals 1 nonlethal damage
- crew can be 'pushed' for 3 rounds, each additional round deals 1 nonlethal damage
High (dedicated to captain or high Con creatures {ex: dwarves})
- 10 hit points
- each shift can maintain rowing speed for 8 hours a day, each additional hour deals 1 nonlethal damage
- crew can be 'pushed' for 5 rounds, each additional round deals 1 nonlethal damage
Racial Crews Each race I use gets a ship bonus if the whole crew is made of those creatures.
Dwarf - +2 ship AC
Elf - +10% ship HP
Gnomes - +4 to siege equipment checks
Half-Orc - +5 ft rowing speed
Half-Elf - +5 ft sailing speed
Halfling - +2 ship base save
Human - +4 for captains Profession (sailor) checks
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RPG Superstar 2012 Top 32
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Here are some of the ships I am using.
The elf skiff is similar to the keelboat.
The dwarven Barge is similar to the galley.
The gnome ironclad is similar to the warship.
The halfling catamaran is similar to the sailing ship.
The orc floating fortress is similar to a oil derrick...
Ship Type--AC--hp--Base Save--Maximum Speed--Arms--Ram--Squares--Crew
Elf Skiffs----8---30-----+3-------------40*----------------0----1d6+4-----2---- -2/4+60
Dwarven Barges--6--300--+8-------75*----------------4----4d6+18---4------200/255+20 0
Gnome Ironclads--4--250--+7-------50*---------------3-----3d6+12---4------60/80+1 60
Halfling Catamarans--6--125--+8---75*---------------2-----2d6+12---3------20/50+150
Orc Floating Fortress--0--2,000--+12--5*-------------12--10d6+50--12-----500/750+1000