I'm The GM. The Group is Level 10.
The group has completed the Curse of the Golden Spear mini-arch. At the end of that, they escaped with a sailing ship named the Scarlet Harlet. It is described as a brigantine, 3 masted, 20' at the widest point of the deck, and 95' long on the deck.
One of the PC's is planning to use leadership to crew it. Cohort is a human samuri 5 / expert 3. For followers I would put him at a leadership rating of 15 for a total of 1 * 3rd, 2 * 2nd, and 20 * 1st level NPC's to use for crew.
So some questions:
Any one know of any decent scale maps/schematics we can use for it?
What would be the standard and/or skeleton crew for such a vessel?
If they configured for passengers, how many could they reasonably carry (not packed slaves)?
If used for cargo, how much could they reasonably carry?
If all of them are needed for crew, that would make them all experts. although I might give the 2nd and 3rd a level of warrior. Sound right?
Haven't done any GM'ing of waterborne stuff since 2nd Ed. What would be a reasonable opponent that might give them a scare, but won't kill off all their crew or sink them?
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Skulls and shackles was ALL about ships. (we named ours "Your Mother"). That should have all that you need.
Contributor
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Hi, ElterAgo.
If your story is going to continue on the water (as opposed to simply using the ship as a means to get from one land-based adventure location to another), I would recommend looking at the Skull & Shackles Player's Guide which provides information about ship maneuvering, combat, and other aspects of waterborne adventure.
For maps, you can look at the following:
Gamemastery Map Pack: Boats & Ships
Gamemastery Map Pack: Ship's Cabins
Flip-Mat: Pirate Ship
Later this year, you can also look at:
Pathfinder Map Pack: Boarding Action
For maps and actual campaign information, you can check out:
Pathfinder Campaign Setting: Ships of the Inner Sea
Ships of the Inner Sea also has stat blocks for the ships presented that use the rules in the Skull & Shackles Player's Guide.
I hope those help.
Hmm... I don't know how central the ship will be to what they want to do in the future. So I don't know if I really want to buy a bunch more books and map packs just for that.
I downloaded the S&S players guide. That helps some. I'll have to think about it before I decide whether or not to put much more cash into this.
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20 is usually min crew size - see skulls and shackles players guide for stats on ships
You should have his cohort max out profession sailor if you want to stand a chance to survive at sea.
Higher dex characters should man the ballistas. Give one of them the exotic weapon prof to wield them.
For catapults you need a guy maxed out on knowledge engineering in addition to exotic weapon prof
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They are level 10? they are going to use the ship for fun but nothing serious.
Assuming you have full spellcasters, they are probably just going to enjoy casting any spells which allow them to travel around more easily. Having a boat is nice but doesn't come close to how fast casters can go around the world.
Cohort has max ranks in prof sailor, craft ships, climb, and acrobatics. Also skill focus prof sailor and craft ships.
They have not yet equipped any ballistae or catapults.
They have one guy with teleport as a class ability. Rarely used. Is paranoid about not knowing the target well enough.
I read a lot of naval stuff.
A fighting ship of that size would need a two or three watch system. People have to sleep. Assuming british naval stds, each man would get a 40 by 20 inch hammock. If 1/3rd of ship is for bulk quartering, thats about 60 dudes worth of space (with seaman'chests). However as half of a crew is sleeping or idle then you could reasonably have 40 passengers and 60 sailors (they really crammed them in), plus some specialists, a few in officer bunk rooms but most in the common room. The galley and crew deck are usually the same convertible space.
A typical compliment is 50 percent able seaman (some as first and second mates (LTs amd Sgts), 30 percent landsmen (unskilled) and 20 perc specialists - a bosun (discipline guy), purser/quartermaster (food/supply/money guy), navigator/helmsman (at least 2), officers (2), artisans (smith and carpenter with 1 or 2 mates), a cook and cooks mate. Sometimes crew also has "marines", skilled dedicated warriors to fight the ship and put down mutinies.
The vessel, if viking like, would probably go about 6-8 knots, and have a crows nest, supply room and lower hold for spare canvas, spars, rope. Also probably row ports, for maneuvering without wind, so another 20-30 landsmen to row and commensurately less passenger space. If more european, then also a chiurgeons bay and forecastle winch room for hoisting masts and anchors with a top speed of 10 knots.
I think a humane and sustainable skelton crew is 40-50. You half to really know sailing and ship ops to understand why so many. It could be less if you drop anchor at night and post a light watch, but you get half move.
Hope that helps.
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Skeleton Crew
School necromancy; Level cleric 3, sorcerer/wizard 4,
summoner 4, witch 4
Casting Time 1 standard action
Components V, S, M
Range touch
Targets one or more humanoid corpses touched
Duration 1 day/level
Saving Throw none; Spell Resistance no
This spell turns corpses into skeletons (Pathfinder RPG Bestiary
250) that act as crew and obey your commands to the extent of
their abilities.
The undead you create are 1 Hit Die skeletons that possess
Profession (sailor) scores equal to half your character level plus
your Wisdom modifier (for clerics), Intelligence modifier (for
witches and wizards), or Charisma modifier (for sorcerers and
summoners). Each skeleton can perform the duties of one crew
member but has no other abilities. The created skeletons cannot
speak, attack, or even defend themselves. The only orders they
obey are ones pertaining to the operation of a ship. Skeletal crew
members are not proficient with any weapons or armor.
You can’t create more Hit Dice of skeletal crew members
than twice your caster level with a single casting of skeleton
crew. The desecrate spell doubles this limit.
The undead you create by casting skeleton crew remain
under your control for the duration of the spell, and do not
count against your limit of total Hit Dice worth of undead
creatures you can control.
A skeletal crew member can only be created from a mostly
intact humanoid corpse. The corpse must have bones. When you
cast this spell, any flesh left on the corpses melts away into fog.
Track Ship
School divination (scrying) [travel]; Level bard 2, cleric 2,
sorcerer/wizard 2
Casting Time 1 standard action
Components V, S, F (piece of ship)
Range see text
Effect magical icon
Duration 1 hour/level
Saving Throw Will negates (object); Spell Resistance yes (object)
In order to cast this spell, you must have a piece of the ship you
wish to track. Merchants often preserve slivers from their trade
ships specifically for this purpose. You also need a nautical chart.
When you cast this spell, an icon of the targeted ship appears
on the nautical chart. The icon moves as the ship moves for the
duration of this spell. If the ship is not within the area delineated
by the chart, the spell fails. If the ship is reduced to 0 or fewer hit
points, its icon changes from a ship to a skull and crossbones.
Unseen Crew
School conjuration (creation); Level bard 4, sorcerer/wizard 5,
summoner 5, witch 5
Casting Time 1 standard action
Components V, S, M
Range long (400 ft. + 40 ft./level)
Effect one invisible sailor per level
Duration 1 day/level
Saving Throw none; Spell Resistance no
An unseen crew member is an invisible, shapeless force that
performs the duties of one crew member. It can tie off ropes,
hoist sails, swab decks, and other such duties. An unseen crew
member possesses no other skills. It cannot fight, speak, or
even defend itself.
An unseen crew member has a Strength score of 10 and a
Profession (sailor) score equal to half your character level plus
your Intelligence modifier (for witches and wizards) or your
Charisma modifier (for bards, sorcerers, and summoners). It
cannot fly, but it can climb, swim, or walk with a base speed of
20 feet.
An unseen crew member cannot be killed, but it dissipates
if it takes more than 1 point of damage per caster level you
possess from area attacks (it gets no
saves against attacks). If you attempt
to send an unseen crew member
beyond the spell’s range
(measured from your current
position), the crew member
ceases to exist.