Not a conversion as such, but I'm using the following spreadsheet to quickly create FaSB-ships on the fly whenever needed:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/5jwd6e9yjgh01ev/FaSB%20ships.xlsx
Just enter numbers into the designated cells, and everything is calculated from there.
I found the best way was just to round up or down to the nearest 2Oft. Sailing ship like the mans promise I made 100ft long and 4Oft wide with a stern and bow castle. You could make it 120ft if you wanted.
Once you have the hull locations just do a rough guess for the rigging too, 3 masts say two at 60-80ft and one half that as its coming through the stern castle.
Once you have the hull and rigging locations the rest is easy using FASB.
The hardest bit I found is ship speed, the speed in FASB is really fast compared with s&s and there are a lot of squares of movement in one round if you are with the wind. works fine if you have the room or are using smaller squares, if not you may have to adjust the speeds a bit.
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Our Mans Promise was converted into 5 length, 1 height, 1 wide. Then we added 1 castle at front and rear. That's a total of 7 hull locations. This means they're no match for dedicated warships, like the Dominator, but with a broadside of 10 ballistas (they've invested quite heavily in their ship) they are able to outfight most merchants and light escorts.
Yeah I intend to make the dominator a monster (14Oft long, 40ft wide, 40ft high plus a stern and bow castle. Im also giving it 8 cannons port and starboard instead of Balistas), as the players ship has only 1 canon, (along with balistas and catapults), 100ft long, 40ft wide and 2Oft high I think they wil gulp and run lol.
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Our Mans Promise was converted into 5 length, 1 height, 1 wide. Then we added 1 castle at front and rear. That's a total of 7 hull locations. This means they're no match for dedicated warships, like the Dominator, but with a broadside of 10 ballistas (they've invested quite heavily in their ship) they are able to outfight most merchants and light escorts.
So your version is 20 feet tall from keel to main deck, then the castles are another 20 feet tall? I like the fact that it's not huge compared to a standard galleon in FASB, but it seems odd that the first 20 vertical feet contains the hold, the crew deck and the main deck, but then the next 20 feet contains only the roof deck of each castle.
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So your version is 20 feet tall from keel to main deck, then the castles are another 20 feet tall? I like the fact that it's not huge compared to a standard galleon in FASB, but it seems odd that the first 20 vertical feet contains the hold, the crew deck and the main deck, but then the next 20 feet contains only the roof deck of each castle.
Hey KarlBob, remember that in FaSB there is a different (rather abstract) single section of the ship labeled the "Below the Waterline" section.
So a standard 20 ft "hull" section isn't from keel to deck. It represents about 20 feet of freeboard - from waterline to deck.
That means the main hold (and bilge) are probably in the "Below the Waterline" section and the crew deck and main deck are in the "Hull" sections.
We also modeled our Man's Promise as 5 Hull sections long x 1 section wide with a raised sterncastle (for a total of 6 Hull sections).
We just called the 30 ft wide main deck the "Broad Hull" modification as opposed to jumping up to 2 Hull sections wide.
Plus it made sense since the Man's Promise was a cargo ship - the extra STR vice DEX (and maneuverability) worked.
Shrug. Just how we did it.
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Jenner2057 - Good point. I'll probably do something similar. My original version was too good for a "starter ship". I like the idea of giving the PCs some incentive to trade up.
Ryric - Many people read it that way the first time they see it. Sometimes they don't notice the "as", and imagine shipboard catapults lobbing female grizzlies at their targets.
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How have people gone with changing all the other ships in the AP to these rules? I was keen to use FaSB but looking through the book and ideas above, it looks quite daunting to have to change every ship in the game.
Even making The Man's Promise has me scratching my head a little. The steps at the start of the book for calculating AC is different to the actual ship character sheet at the back.
Are the rules presented in the AP Player's Guide that unusable that this is the best option or is this to add further depth to the ship combat?
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I suspect that the Ship Record Sheet is left over from an early draft of the book, that had much more complicated rules for things like AC and the effects of wind direction on sailing speed. I agree, posting a revised ship record sheet would be a good idea for FGG.
I was thinking recently about starting a new thread where people can share their versions of the ships from S&S with FASB. I've only converted the Man's Promise and one other ship so far, but I'd be happy to trade stats with people.
I like using FASB because it gives every player the chance to do something that affects a naval battle. The S&S system seems to work best with a GM and players who agree to skip the chase and all of the maneuvering and siege weapon combat that happens between sighting a ship and boarding it. If you want to play out those events, I think FASB is a better system.
To me, the S&S rules aren't unusable, they just result in the GM and one player rolling dice, while all the other players sit around waiting for the boarding action to start. I think that's why some groups jump straight from "Sail 3 points to starboard!" to "Cap'n Jones, we meet again. En garde!"
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I converted some of the ship upgrades and magical ship-enhancing items to better fit with Fire as She Bears. Haven't had a chance to try them all out yet, but here's what I've come up with so far. I know it's not much but will do more as we use the rules more and I get a better feel for them
Jalhazar's Wheel: (fluff is the same)
For 90 degree turns, the speed used is reduced from 3 to 2
For 180 degree turns, the speed used is reduced from 4 to 2
Three times per day, the ship can make a 90 or 180 degree turn without using up any speed
Silk sails Overland speed increased by 10%; gain +1 to rolls to gain the weather gauge
Overall, many of the items in the Player's Guide and in the AP are still applicable. In most other cases, FaSB items directly replace things from the Player's Guide, such as the hull plating.