Ultimate Ships

The sea is calling, and these rules are the perfect resource to make your aquatic adventures amazing in your campaign! This incredible expansion brings you everything you need to expand the nautical options in our campaign, with with rules for shipboard combat, simple and advanced ship-to-ship combat, and easy-to-use fleet battles! You’ll find detailed options for ships large and small from ancient times to the Age of Sail, with naval siege weapons from cannons to catapults, ballistae to firedrakes, as well as special ship modifications like concealed weapon ports, silk sails, and smuggling compartments. Add in spell effects on ships, shore bombardment rules, ramming, repairs, boarding actions, plus tons of sample ships, and you can play at the level of detail that suits your game and your players, from simple to complex.

The core mass combat rules offer a terrific integrated system of kingdom management, nation-building, and battles on sea, sky, and land, but if you’d like to run a fun and fast fleet battle without quite that level of detail you’ll love the fleet battle rules presented here. Form up your squadrons and bring out your fleet for fast-paced skirmishes at sea, with plenty of tactical options to make every sea battle unique but without bogging down in complexity. Drive to the enemy flagship and bring out your heroes to face down their foes on deck and claim the spoils of victory!

Introduction

A ship can be as much of a character as the heroes or scoundrels crewing it, and once the PCs get their own ship, it will likely see as much action as do the PCs themselves.

Whether the PCs are fighting rival pirates in hand-to-hand combat on the deck of a sailing rig, attacking a merchantman with a hold full of riches to plunder with their own pirate ship, or sending an entire fleet of ships against an enemy armada, naval combat plays a significant role in a nautical campaign. Generally speaking, naval combat is handled in one of three ways: shipboard combat (normal combat on board a ship), ship-to-ship combat (combat between two or more individual ships), and mass naval combat (combat between two or more fleets of multiple ships). The rules for these three types of naval combat are detailed in the following sections, along with rules for building and modifying individual ships or entire fleets or squadrons.

Part 1: Shipboard Combat

Shipboard combat is just like any other combat between the PCs and their opponents, except the encounter takes place on board a ship, rather than in a dungeon or on a forest path. For the most part, shipboard combat can be resolved normally.

The only constraints are the size of the ship (and therefore, the size of the battlefield), the danger of falling overboard into the water, and the effects of weather on the ship.

If the combat happens during a storm or in rough seas, treat the ship’s deck as difficult terrain. Characters climbing into the rigging or diving into the sea to swim from one ship to another or to climb out of the water up an anchor chain or up the hull of a ship must succeed on Climb checks, while moving across a crowded deck, leaping across open hatches or from mast to deck, or negotiating pitching boards slick with spray must succeed on Acrobatics checks. The DC of such checks depends on how severe the wave and weather conditions are and how great a challenge you want the environment to be. Experienced sailors and aquatic races may have advantage on such checks, while creatures unsuited to shipboard combat like horses or large creatures may have disadvantage. The following sample DCs and modifiers can be used to adjudicate movement on board a ship.

Table 1: Typical Shipboard DCs

Acrobatics DC	Task
10	Move at normal speed on a cluttered deck
15	Stand or move, heeling deck (a sloping or slanted deck, such as in high winds or sharp turns)
15	Swing on ship’s rigging to another location on the same ship.
20	Swing on ship’s rigging to land on a different ship grappled or rammed by your ship.
20	Stand or move, rolling deck (violently rocking back and forth, as in a severe storm)
25	Swing on ship’s rigging to a nearby ship that has not been grappled or rammed.
30	Stand or move along a yardarm or rope.

Climb DC	Task
5	Climb anchor chain
5	Climb ship’s rigging
10	Climb ship’s mast
15	Climb onto horizontal spar or yardarm
20	Climb hull

Modifiers

Modifier	Condition
+2	Wet surface
+2	High winds
+2	Rolling deck
+5	Icy surface or wave surge (1 foot deep or less)
-2	Use one hand to brace yourself
-5	Use both hands to brace yourself
-10	Use both hands and a rope (does not apply to climbing the rigging)

If a combatant falls overboard, use the standard rules for aquatic terrain and water dangers from swimming and possibly drowning. In all other ways, shipboard combat functions no differently than combat on land.

Shipboard vs. Ship-to-Ship Combat

A typical nautical campaign presupposes that assumes that the PCs are more interested in capturing enemy ships than in sinking them. After all, if they sink a ship, they can’t plunder its cargo, ransom its crew and passengers, and sell (or use) the ship themselves. So once a ship has been boarded, ship-to-ship combat ends and shipboard combat begins on whichever ship was boarded first.

Shipboard combat is normally a battle between the “primaries” of the two ships—usually meaning that the PCs fight the enemy ship’s captain and any other major NPCs on the enemy ship in normal combat. Meanwhile, the two ships’ crews are assumed to be fighting each other in the background.

Whoever wins the “primary” combat (either the PCs or the enemy NPCs) wins the entire battle. In other words, a ship’s crew is victorious over an enemy crew if their captain defeats the enemy captain. While a ship’s crew will likely take losses in a battle, it is assumed that enough members of the defeated crew join the victorious crew to replenish any losses. This keeps the PCs from having to play out combat between large numbers of low-level opponents, and from needing to track exactly how many casualties their crew takes in each battle.

The PCs earn normal XP for the foes they defeat in shipboard combat. In most circumstances, a ship-to ship battle just serves as a prelude to the main combat. If, however, the PCs decided to fight out an entire ship-to-ship battle and they sink or destroy a ship without ever fighting the ship’s captain and key NPCs, then they should be awarded XP based on the captain’s CR, as the captain is the only one piloting the enemy ship in ship-to-ship combat).

Part 2: Ship Combat

When ships themselves become a part of a battle, combat becomes unusual. The following rules are not meant to accurately simulate all of the complexities of ship-to-ship combat, only to provide you with a quick and easy set of rules to resolve such situations when they inevitably arise in a nautical adventure, whether it be a battle between two ships or between a ship and a sea monster. These rules represent an attempt to strike a balance between verisimilitude and ease and speed of play during combat and can be applied to a vessel of any size, from a simple dinghy to a multi-deck man-o’-war. These rules focus only on piloting and fighting with a ship on the water.

Simple Ship-to-Ship Combat

Decide what type of ships are involved in the combat (see Table: Ship Statistics). Use a large, blank battle mat to represent the waters on which the battle occurs. A single square corresponds to 30 feet of distance. Represent each ship by placing markers that take up the appropriate number of squares (miniature toy ships make great markers and should be available at most hobby stores).

Starting Combat: When combat begins, allow the PCs (and important NPC allies) to roll initiative as normal— the ship itself moves and attacks on the captain’s initiative result. If any of the ships in the battle rely on sails to move, randomly determine what direction the wind is blowing by rolling 1d8 and following the guidelines for missed splash weapons.

Movement: On the captain’s initiative count, the ship can move its current speed in a single round as a move-equivalent action for the captain (or double its speed as a full-round action), as long as it has its minimum crew complement. The ship can increase or decrease its speed by 30 feet each round, up to its maximum speed. Alternatively, the captain can change direction (up to one side of a square at a time) as a standard action. A ship can only change direction at the start of a turn.

Attacks: Crewmembers in excess of the ship’s minimum crew requirement can be allocated to man siege engines. Siege engines attack on the captain’s initiative count. A ship can also attempt to ram a target if it has its minimum crew. To ram a target, the ship must move at least 30 feet and end with its bow in a square adjacent to the target. The ship’s captain then makes a Profession (sailor) check— if this check equals or exceeds the target’s AC, the ship hits its target, inflicting damage as indicated on the ship statistics table to the target, as well as minimum damage to the ramming ship. A ship outfitted with an actual ram siege engine inflicts an additional 3d6 points of damage to the target (the ramming vessel suffers no additional damage).

Sinking

A ship gains the sinking condition if its hit points are reduced to 0 or fewer. A sinking ship cannot move or attack, and it sinks completely 10 rounds after it gains the sinking condition. Each hit on a sinking ship that inflicts damage reduces the remaining time for it to sink by 1 round per 25 points of damage inflicted. Magic (such as make whole) can repair a sinking ship if the ship’s hit points are raised above 0, at which point the ship loses the sinking condition.

Generally, non-magical repairs take too long to save a ship from sinking once it begins to go down.

Ship Statistics

A vast variety of boats and ships exist in the real world, from small rafts and longboats to intimidating galleons and swift galleys. To represent the numerous distinctions of shape and size that exist between water-going vessels, Table 2 describes several standard ship sizes and their respective statistics. Just as the cultures of the real world have created and adapted hundreds of different types of seafaring vessels, races in fantasy worlds might create their own strange ships.

GMs might use or alter the statistics below to suit the needs of their creations and describe such conveyances however they please. All ships have the following traits.

Table 2: Simple Ship Statistics

Ship Type	AC	hp	Base Save	Maximum Speed	Arms	Ram	Squares	Crew
Raft	9	10	+0	15 feet	0	1d6	1	1/4
Rowboat	9	20	+2	30 feet	0	1d6+6	1	1/3
Keelboat	8	60	+4	30 feet*	1	2d6+6	2	4/15+100
Longship	6	75	+5	60 feet*	1	4d6+18	3	50/75+100
Sailing ship	6	125	+6	60 feet* (sails only)	2	3d6+12	3	20/50+120
Warship	2	175	+7	60 feet*	3	3d6+12	4	60/80+160
Galley	2	200	+8	90 feet*	4	6d6+24	4	200/250+200

Ship Type: This is a general category that lists the ship’s basic type.

AC: The ship’s base Armor Class. To calculate a ship’s actual AC, add the captain’s Profession (sailor) modifier to the ship’s base AC. Touch attacks against a ship ignore the captain’s modifier. A ship is never considered flat-footed.

hp: The ship’s total hit points. In addition, all ships have a hardness rating based on their construction material (hardness 5 for most wooden ships). At 0 or fewer hit points, a ship gains the sinking condition as described above.

Base Save: The ship’s base save modifier. All of a ship’s saving throws (Fortitude, Reflex, and Will) have the same value. To determine a ship’s actual saving throw modifiers, add the captain’s Profession (sailor) modifier to this base value.

Maximum Speed: The ship’s maximum tactical speed in combat. An asterisk indicates the ship has sails and can move at double speed when it moves in the same direction as the wind. A ship with only sails can only move if there is some wind.

Arms: The number of siege engines that can be fitted on the ship. A ram uses one of these slots, and only one ram may be fitted to a ship.

Ram: The amount of damage the ship inflicts on a successful ramming attack (without a ram siege engine).

Squares: The number of squares the ship takes up on the battle mat. A ship’s width is always considered to be one square.

Crew: The first number lists the minimum crew complement the ship needs to function normally, excluding those needed to make use of the vessel’s weapons. The second value lists the ship’s maximum crew plus additional soldiers or passengers. A ship without its minimum crew complement can only move, change speed, change direction, or ram if its captain makes a DC 20 Profession (sailor) check. Crew in excess of the minimum have no effect on movement, but they can replace fallen crewmembers or man additional weapons.

Advanced Ship-to-Ship Combat

For players and GMs who want to get into a much more detailed version of how ships and their crews interact in running battles, whether on rivers, lakes, or seas, the following rules are a modified version of the vehicle rules, focusing only on piloting and fighting with a ship on the water. Alternatively, if you’d prefer a quicker and easier way of resolving ship-to-ship combat, you can instead use the fast-play ship combat rules. It is important to note that while ships can be attacked in combat, it is difficult to significantly damage such large vehicles. In addition, a captured ship is usually worth more as a prize to be towed or sailed home than sunk to the bottom of the sea. As a result, most ship-to-ship combat ends when the crew of one ship boards another to fight the enemy crew in hand-to-hand combat (see Boarding and Grappling).

Ship Basics

The following overview presents more extensive rules for ship-to-ship combat. All ships use these rules for movement and combat.

Pilots

A ship requires two things to keep it moving—a pilot and a means of propulsion. A pilot is a creature with an Intelligence score of 3 or higher who is physically able to use the ship’s control device. A ship’s captain is often (but not always) the pilot. The pilot uses the control device and either her sailing skill (see Sailing Checks) or her Wisdom to control the ship. Without a pilot, a ship will not move or will continue moving in a straight line, depending on the ship’s state when it becomes pilotless.

Crews

Most ships require a crew. A ship without a full crew complement, but with at least half its crew, takes a –10 penalty on all sailing checks. A ship needs at least half its crew complement in order to be piloted at all. If more than half of a ship’s crew is killed, dazed, stunned, or rendered unconscious, the ship can only take the “uncontrolled” action. Crew members can take no action while the ship is in motion except to aid in that ship’s movement. Any crew required to operate siege engines are in addition to those crew needed to operate the ship.

Size and Space

Ships have sizes and spaces different from creature sizes and spaces. In order to play out ship-to-ship combat on a Flip-Mat or battle mat, a single square on the map corresponds to 30 feet of distance, rather than 5 feet. Most ships are long and thin; rather than taking up a space of an equal number of squares per side like creatures do, a ship’s width is always considered to be one square.

Facing and Movement

Ships do not move like creatures, even when they use creatures for propulsion. They tend to move in the direction of their forward facing and do so quickly.

Facing: Unlike creatures, ships have a forward facing. Usually one of the shorter sides of a ship serves as the ship’s forward facing. Facing represents the effect of inertia on vehicles. Ships move best when moving in the direction of their forward facing, and it takes time and skill to move them in other directions. When piloted correctly, ships can move straight ahead, diagonally, or a mix of both within the same movement. Skilled pilots can make a ship zigzag in a forward direction with ease.

Movement: Ships have a maximum speed and an acceleration listing. The maximum speed is the fastest rate the ship can travel per round (though a wind-propelled ship sailing in the direction of the wind can double this speed). A ship cannot usually start at its maximum speed. Each round, the pilot can attempt to accelerate the ship or decelerate it by a rate equal to its acceleration (see the Movement section). The rate at which a ship is currently moving is called its current speed.

Edge of the Map: When playing out ship-to-ship combat on a Flip-Mat or battle mat, the edge of the map forms an artificial boundary—on the open sea, there is no edge of the map. As a result, if a ship moves off the edge of the map, you should extend the map with a new blank Flip-Mat or battle mat, or reposition the ships so they have room to maneuver.

Waterborne Movement: Travel over long distances across seas or oceans uses waterborne movement, measured in miles per hour or day. For muscle-propelled ships, a day represents 10 hours of rowing. For a wind-propelled sailing ship, it represents 24 hours. Waterborne speeds for the most common ship types can be found under Vessels and Vessel Customization.

Sailing Check

To control a ship in combat, a pilot must make a sailing check to determine the maneuverability and speed of the ship that round. The ship’s propulsion determines what skill is used for the sailing check (see Propulsion and Sailing Skills). If a ship is using two means of propulsion at the same time, such as wind and muscle, the pilot chooses which skill to use, and takes a –5 penalty on all sailing checks. A pilot can always make a Wisdom check in place of a sailing check. Outside of combat, the base DC for all sailing checks is DC 5. In combat, the base DC for all sailing checks is DC 20. A ship without a full crew complement, but with at least half its crew, takes a –10 penalty on all sailing checks.

Aid Another: Just as with other skills, a character can spend a standard action to use the aid another action. This represents an extra pair of eyes observing the enemy, giving orders to the crew, or simply helpful advice. The helping character makes a sailing check as well. If the result is 10 or higher, the pilot gains a +2 bonus on her sailing check. Only one character can use the aid another action to help a pilot on a single sailing check.

Controlling a Ship Outside of Combat: Since piloting a ship outside of combat is easily accomplished by taking 10 on the skill check, sailing checks are not normally needed. Almost every character can do it with relative ease; the DCs are given only to adjudicate special situations that may come up in your game.

Controlling a Ship without the Proper Skill: If a pilot lacks the proper skill to control a ship, the pilot can always make a Wisdom ability check instead of the appropriate sailing check. A pilot can even take 10 (when outside of combat) or gain the benefits of the aid another action when using Wisdom instead of the ship’s normal sailing skill.

Control Devices

Every vehicle has a control device for steering. A control device is typically an object with object immunities and resistances and with its own statistics. The following are some of the typical control devices for ships, plus their usual Armor Class, hit points, and hardness. When a control device gains the broken condition, all sailing checks take a –10 penalty. When a control device is destroyed, a ship cannot be piloted until the control device is repaired.

Table 3: Control Devices

Control Device	AC	Hit Points	Hardness
Oars*	12	10 per oar	5
Steering wheel	10	25	5
Tiller	10	25	5
Magically treated*	—	×2	×2

* Oars gain the broken condition if at least half the oars on a ship are destroyed.

** More information on magically treated control devices can be found in Ship Modifications.

Propulsion and Sailing Skills

Every vehicle has a means of propulsion. Boats and ships are propelled by currents, muscle, wind, or all three forces.

The method of propulsion typically affects the speed and maneuverability of a ship, but more importantly, determines the required skill needed to control the ship. Controlling a ship takes common sense, awareness, intuition, and often some amount of skill in the ship’s means of propulsion. In the case of wind or current propulsion, it is about using the current and tools like sails, oars, or a rudder to move the ship. In the case of muscle propulsion, it is about guiding creatures to move the ship. The following are the general methods of ship propulsion, along with the skills typically needed to pilot ships propelled by the specified means.

Current: All boats and ships can use water currents for propulsion, but ships that only rely on currents for propulsion are somewhat limited. These vehicles can only move in the direction and at the speed of a current unless they also employ some other means of propulsion or manipulation, and thus often have an additional form of propulsion, such as muscle in the case of a rowboat, or wind in the case of a sailing ship. A current-propelled ship requires a Profession (sailor) check for the sailing check. A current-propelled ship’s maximum speed depends on the speed of the current (often as high as 120 feet). The acceleration of a current-propelled ship is 30 feet.

Muscle: Muscle-propelled ships use oars and rowers to push the ship forward. Sailing skills for muscle-propelled ships tend to be Diplomacy, Intimidate, or Handle Animal, depending on the intelligence and attitude of the creatures supplying the muscle for the propulsion.

For intelligent creatures, use Diplomacy if the creatures providing the propulsion have an attitude of indifferent, friendly, or helpful. If the creatures providing the propulsion are friendly or helpful, Diplomacy sailing checks are made with a +5 bonus. An average crew is considered indifferent, though a particularly loyal crew might be considered friendly. Intimidate is used for intelligent creatures with an attitude of unfriendly or hostile, such as captive rowers on a slave galley. Handle Animal is used if the creatures providing the propulsion are not intelligent.

The maximum speed and acceleration of a muscle-propelled ship depends on the number of creatures providing the propulsion, but most muscle-propelled ship have a maximum speed of 30 feet and an acceleration of 30 feet. Larger muscle-propelled ships with many rowers have a maximum speed of 60 feet and an acceleration of 30 feet.

Oars: All muscle-propelled ships require the use of oars. Oars have their own statistics.

Wind: Wind-propelled ships use sails to harness the power of the wind for propulsion. A wind-propelled ship requires a Profession (sailor) check for the sailing check. Small wind-propelled ships can move at a maximum speed of 30 feet. Larger ships that are also muscle-propelled often have a maximum speed of 60 feet when using only wind propulsion. Large ships with multiple masts and many sails can have maximum speeds of up to 90 feet. The acceleration of a wind-propelled ship is 30 feet. All wind-propelled ships can move twice their normal maximum speed when moving in the direction of the wind. A ship using wind propulsion cannot move in the opposite direction from the wind.

Sails and Rigging: All wind-propelled ships require the use of sails and rigging. To move at full speed, a ship requires 10 5-foot squares of sails per mast per square of the ship. For example, a 3-square ship with three masts requires 90 squares of sails. Sails have their own statistics.

Mixed Means of Propulsion: Some ships use multiple forms of propulsion. Multiple methods of propulsion add flexibility and can work in concert to create faster movement. If a ship has two means of propulsion, such as wind and muscle, it generally adds its two maximum speeds together to determine its maximum speed. Acceleration remains the same. Nothing is added for a third form of propulsion, except for the flexibility of having a back-up form of propulsion. A ship with multiple methods of propulsion often requires a large crew to get it going and keep it moving.

Evasion and Pursuit

On the wide, open sea, one ship can spot another from miles away, making it virtually impossible to surprise another ship. If both ships want to engage in combat, the ships close with one another and begin ship-to-ship combat normally. If one ship wants to avoid combat, however, a chase ensues. At the GM’s discretion, a faster ship can always catch a slower ship, but even slow ships can take advantage of favorable winds, currents, or coastal terrain to make good their escape.

When two ships first encounter one another, the pilots of the two ships must make three opposed sailing checks.

Whichever pilot wins at least two out of three of the opposed checks is victorious. If the pursuing ship wins, it catches up to the fleeing ship and ship-to-ship combat begins. If the fleeing ship wins, it escapes. If the result is a tie, the pilots should begin a new series of three opposed checks.

Means of Propulsion

The following are some of the various means of propulsion for ships, plus their base Armor Class, hit points, and hardness. To calculate the actual AC of a ship’s propulsion, add the current pilot’s sailing skill modifier (or Wisdom modifier, if she is using that ability to drive the ship) to the base AC. When a means of propulsion gains the broken condition, the ship’s maximum speed is halved, and the ship can no longer gain the upper hand until the propulsion is repaired or replaced. If the ship is in motion, and is traveling faster than its new maximum speed, it automatically decelerates to its new maximum speed.

Oars: Oars are often weaker than the vessels they propel and are difficult to replace. Destroying a ship’s oars is a good way to capture a vessel. Oars gain the broken condition if at least half the oars on a ship are destroyed. If all of a ship’s oars are destroyed, the ship can no longer use muscle propulsion and must rely on current and/or wind propulsion only.

Sails and Rigging: Sails (including the rigging that controls them) are often weaker than the vessels they propel, though they are relatively easy to repair. Destroying a ship’s sails is a good way to capture a vessel. Sails take double the normal damage from acid and fire attacks (multiply the damage roll by 2). Sails gain the broken condition if at least half the squares of sails on a ship are destroyed. If all of a ship’s sails are destroyed, the ship can no longer use wind propulsion and must rely on current or muscle propulsion only.

Table 4: Propulsion

Propulsion	Base AC	Hit Points	Hardness
Oars	12	10 per oar	5
Sails	6	4 per 5-ft. square	0
Magically treated*	—	×2	×2

* More information on magically treated means of propulsion can be found in the Ship Modifications section.

Such chases can take days, as one ship struggles to outmaneuver the other. At the GM’s discretion, roll 1d4 to determine the number of days a chase lasts.

Withdrawing: Once in ship-to-ship combat, a ship can withdraw from combat by simply moving off the edge of the battle mat, ending ship-to-ship combat immediately. At the GM’s discretion, the ship has either escaped completely, or the two ships can go back to the evasion and pursuit rules above.

Ships in Combat

The following are the rules for how ships act in the combat round. Once at least two ships are ready to engage in combat, you can use a large map grid, whether printed paper or a dry-erase or wet-erase battle mat, with each square corresponding to 30 feet of distance (see Size and Space).

Determine which ship is the attacker and which is the defender. As pirates, the PCs will usually be the attacking ship, and their opponent will usually be the defending ship (though the tables might be turned in specific encounters).

Represent each ship by using markers that take up the appropriate number of squares, or use the counters provided at the end of this book.

To establish the position of the ships on the battle mat, roll 1d4 to determine the ships’ heading (the direction they are facing). Since both ships are coming out of a chase, they are both assumed to have the same heading. A roll of 1 is north, 2 is east, 3 is south, and 4 is west. Place the defending ship as close to the center of the map as possible on the correct heading.

Next, roll 1d8 to determine the bearing of the attacking ship (its position relative to the other ship). Follow the guidelines for missed splash weapons, with a roll of 1 indicating north, and counting squares clockwise for a roll of 2 through 8 to determine the bearing. In some cases, this will put the attacking ship ahead of the defending ship—this simply means the attacking ship overshot its quarry as the chase came to a close.

Finally, roll 1d4+2 to determine the number of squares on the battle mat between the two ships. Place the attacking ship on the map at the appropriate bearing and distance from the opposing ship. Unless otherwise detailed in an encounter, assume that each ship begins combat with a speed of 30 feet. Any siege engines carried on a ship are likewise assumed to be loaded at the beginning of combat.

Wind: If any of the ships in the battle rely on sails and wind to move, randomly determine what direction the wind is blowing by rolling 1d4 and using the same guidelines for determining heading.

Initiative

When combat begins, the pilot of a ship should roll initiative as normal—the ship moves at the start of its pilot’s turn. If a ship has no pilot, it moves on the turn of the last creature that was its pilot, or on a turn determined by the GM. If they wish to take actions in combat, the PCs (and important NPCs involved in the combat) should roll initiative at this time as well.

The Upper Hand

At the beginning of every round, each pilot makes an opposed sailing check to determine who has the upper hand that round. This represents the vagaries of luck, skill, and the environment, whether catching a favorable gust of wind, taking advantage of a fast current, sliding down the back of a large wave, or disrupting an opposing ship’s wind with your own ship’s “dirty air.” The pilot who succeeds at the check gains the upper hand and can immediately reposition her ship by one square in any direction as a free action. For every 5 by which the successful pilot’s check exceeds the opposing pilot’s check, the pilot with the upper hand can reposition her ship by an additional square. On a tie, neither pilot gains the upper hand.

Alternatively, the pilot who wins the upper hand can change the heading of her ship by 90 degrees. For every 5 by which the successful pilot’s check exceeds the opposing pilot’s check, the pilot with the upper hand can change the heading of her ship by an additional 90 degrees.

A ship that is upwind of another ship (closer to the direction of the wind) is said to “hold the weather gage,” and gains a +2 bonus on the opposed check to gain the upper hand.

Movement

At the start of a pilot’s turn, she can take any of the following sailing actions (except the “uncontrolled” action) by making a sailing check to control the ship. The pilot must take whatever action is required before doing anything else that turn. Just as in normal combat, a pilot can perform a standard action and a move action each round. Once the pilot has selected an action, or takes some other action forcing the ship to become uncontrolled, the ship moves.

If a ship has less than half its crew or has no pilot, or if the pilot takes no action, takes some other action instead of piloting the ship, or delays or readies an action, the ship takes the “uncontrolled” action.

Full Ahead (standard action): With a successful sailing check, the ship’s current speed increases by its acceleration (usually 30 feet), but no higher than its maximum speed. The ship can move forward or forward diagonally. In other words, each time a ship enters a new 30-foot square, it can choose any of its forward-facing squares—the one directly in front or either of the squares directly forward and diagonal. This allows the ship to swerve. A pilot who fails her sailing check does not accelerate and can only move into a square directly in front of the ship’s forward facing.

Hard to Port or Hard to Starboard (standard action): The pilot can turn the ship while it moves forward at its current speed.

With a successful sailing check, the pilot can change the ship’s forward facing either left (port) or right (starboard) by 90 degrees at any point during the ship’s movement. Do this by pivoting the ship so that the rear square of the ship takes the place of the ship’s former forward-facing square.

If a ship’s current speed is twice its acceleration, the pilot takes a –5 penalty on the sailing check. If a ship’s current speed is three times its acceleration, the pilot takes a –10 penalty on the sailing check. If its current speed is four or more times its acceleration, the pilot takes a –20 penalty.

On a failed check, the ship does not turn, but can be moved forward diagonally during its movement. Note: A windpropelled ship that turns into the wind (its forward facing is pointed in the opposite direction from the wind) is said to be “in irons” and takes the uncontrolled action until its pilot turns it to face another direction.

Heave To (standard action): With a successful sailing check, the ship’s current speed decreases by 30 feet. On a failed check, the ship does not decelerate. Either way, the ship can move forward on its current facing and can move forward diagonally. If deceleration reduces a ship’s speed to 0, some amount of inertia will continue to move the ship forward. The ship moves forward (either directly forward or forward diagonally) 1d4×30 feet before coming to a complete stop. Having the Expert Driver feat reduces this distance by 30 feet (minimum 0 feet).

Make Way (standard action): With a successful sailing check, a pilot can make a tricky or difficult maneuver that forces an enemy pilot to react. The result of this sailing check then becomes the DC of the enemy pilot’s next sailing check. On a failed check, the ship’s speed remains constant, but the ship cannot move forward diagonally, and the enemy pilot makes his next sailing check at the normal DC.

Stay the Course (move action): With a successful sailing check, the pilot can move the ship forward on its current facing at its current speed, and it can move directly forward or forward diagonally. Failing the check keeps the speed constant, but the ship can only move directly forward, not forward diagonally.

Full Astern (full-round action): With a successful sailing check, the pilot can move the ship backward at a speed of 30 feet, moving either directly backward (the reverse of its forward facing) or backward diagonally. On a failed check, it does not move backward. A ship may only be moved in reverse if its current speed is 0.

Uncontrolled (no action): When the pilot does nothing, if there is no pilot, or if the ship has less than half its crew, the ship is uncontrolled. An uncontrolled ship does nothing except take the uncontrolled action until it stops or someone becomes its new pilot. An uncontrolled ship moves forward only (it cannot move forward diagonally) and automatically decelerates by 30 feet. Even if a ship does nothing, it can still perform ramming maneuvers (see Ramming).

Attacks

Ships typically don’t have attacks and do not threaten any area around them, though some ships can be fitted with rams. Some ships also carry siege engines. Provided that the ship has enough additional crew to operate them, these siege engines can make attacks. While individuals aboard a ship generally don’t play a significant role in ship-toship combat, important characters such as PCs might still become involved if they wish to fire siege engines or if an enemy ship is in range of their ranged attacks or spells.

When attacking a ship, you can attack the ship’s structure, occupants, propulsion, or control device. You can also attempt to grapple and board a ship. In addition, a ship can make a ramming maneuver or shearing maneuver as part of its movement.

Attacking the Structure: This is an attack against the ship itself. If the attack is successful, the ship takes damage normally.

Attacking an Occupant: This is a normal attack against a ship’s occupant—any creature that is a passenger, pilot, crew, or providing propulsion on a ship. Occupants get partial cover (+2 to AC and +1 on Reflex saving throws) or greater against attacks coming from outside of the ship. Occupants in a forecastle or sterncastle have cover (+4 to AC and +2 on Reflex saving throws), while those inside a port or hatch have improved cover (+8 to AC and +4 on Reflex saving throws). In general, once combat begins among the occupants of two ships (such as when boarding), ship-toship combat should be replaced with shipboard combat.

Attacking Propulsion: A ship’s means of propulsion usually has its own set of statistics, while creatures propelling a ship use their own statistics. See Attacking an Occupant above if crew members providing propulsion are attacked. Individual ship stat blocks detail their means of propulsion.

Attacking the Control Device: A ship’s control device is an object with its own statistics. When a control device is destroyed, the ship can no longer be piloted.

Attacking a Siege Engine: Siege engines mounted on a ship have their own statistics. Siege engines benefit from cover as occupants on a ship.

Broadsides: Some ships can carry a large number of siege engines. Rather than bog down ship-to-ship combat with numerous individual attack rolls, siege engines can be fired in “broadsides.” All siege engines of the same type on a single side of the ship can fire at once. Broadside attacks can only be used to attack the structure of a ship or propulsion. Make a single attack roll for all of the siege engines in the broadside. If the attack roll is successful, all of the weapons hit their target. If the attack roll fails, all of the weapons miss. On a successful attack roll, take the average damage of a single weapon and multiply it by the number of weapons in the broadside to determine the total damage dealt. For example, a sailing ship with a bank of 10 light ballistae on its port side fires a broadside attack. A single light ballista deals 3d8 points of damage, for an average of 13.5 points of damage. If the attack hits, the broadside deals 13.5 × 10, or 135 points of damage.

Grappling and Boarding

When the crew of one ship wishes to board an enemy ship and attack its crew, they must first grapple the other ship. To grapple, the two ships must be within 30 feet of one another (in other words, they must be in adjacent squares on the battle mat). If both pilots want to grapple, grappling is automatically successful. The two crews throw out grappling lines and draw the ships together. If both ships are reduced to a speed of 0 as the result of a ramming maneuver, they are also considered grappled.

If only one pilot wants to grapple, she must make a combat maneuver check against the target ship’s CMD, using the base CMB of the ship plus the pilot’s sailing skill modifier (or Wisdom skill modifier if she is using that ability to control the ship) as the total CMB of the grappling maneuver. If the check is successful, the target ship is grappled. On the next round, the two ships are moved adjacent to one another, and the speed of both ships is reduced to 0. If a ship has less than its full crew complement, the pilot takes a –10 penalty on her combat maneuver check to make a grappling maneuver.

Breaking a Grapple: The pilot of a grappled ship can attempt to break the grapple by making a combat maneuver check against the opposing ship’s CMD, but at a –4 penalty. If the check is successful, the crew has cut the grappling lines and the freed ship may now move as normal.

Boarding: Once two ships are grappled, a crew can board the other ship. The pilot with the highest initiative can choose whether to board the opposing ship with her crew first or wait for the opposing crew to board her ship. Characters boarding an opposing ship are considered flatfooted for the first round of shipboard combat, due to the difficulty of climbing over the ships’ rails and finding footing on the enemy deck. Characters using a corvus to board another ship are not considered flat-footed.

Ramming

To ram a target, a ship must move at least 30 feet and end with its forward square in a square adjacent to the target.

The ship’s pilot must make a ramming combat maneuver check against the target’s CMD, using the base CMB of the ship plus the pilot’s sailing skill modifier (or Wisdom skill modifier if she is using that ability to control the ship) as the total CMB of the ramming maneuver. If the check is successful, the ship hits its target, dealing its ramming damage to the target. The ramming ship takes half that damage. A ship’s base ramming damage is listed in its stat block. If the pilot’s combat maneuver check exceeds the target’s CMD by 5 or more, the target takes twice the ship’s ramming damage. If the combat maneuver check exceeds the target’s CMD by 10 or more, the target takes twice the ship’s ramming damage and the target’s speed is immediately reduced to 0. Regardless of the result of the combat maneuver check, the ramming ship’s speed is reduced to 0.

If a ship collides with another ship or a solid object (an immobile structure with a hardness of 5 or more), it also makes a ramming maneuver, regardless of the pilot’s intent.

There is no combat maneuver check for this ramming maneuver; its effects happen automatically. When a ship makes a ramming maneuver against a solid object, to determine how much damage both the solid object and the ship take, allow the ship to enter the solid object’s space.

The ship will only travel through that space if the damage is enough to destroy the solid object; in all other cases, the ship takes the damage and its speed is immediately reduced to 0 as it comes to a sudden stop directly in front of the solid object.

A ship can be outfitted with a ram on its forward facing. A ship equipped with a ram deals an additional 2d8 points of damage with a ramming maneuver and ignores the damage for the first square of a solid object it enters, and all damage from ramming creatures or other objects (such as other ships). A ram can be added to a Large ship for 50 gp, a Huge ship for 100 gp, a Gargantuan ship for 300 gp, and a Colossal ship for 1,000 gp.

If a ship has less than its full crew complement, but has at least half its crew, the pilot takes a –10 penalty on her combat maneuver check to make a ramming maneuver.

A ship without at least half its crew complement cannot make a ramming maneuver.

Combat After Boarding

Ship-to-ship combat assumes that the PCs are more interested in capturing enemy ships than in sinking them.

After all, if you sink a ship, you can’t plunder its cargo, ransom its crew and passengers, and sell (or use) the ship yourself. So once a ship has been boarded, ship-to-ship combat ends and shipboard combat begins on whichever ship was boarded first.

Shipboard combat is normally a battle between the “primaries” of the two ships—usually meaning that the PCs fight the enemy ship’s captain and any other major NPCs on the enemy ship in normal combat. Meanwhile, the two ships’ crews are assumed to be fighting each other in the background.

Whoever wins the “primary” combat (either the PCs or the enemy NPCs) wins the entire battle. In other words, a ship’s crew is victorious over an enemy crew if their captain defeats the enemy captain. While a ship’s crew will likely take losses in a battle, it is assumed that enough members of the defeated crew join the victorious crew to replenish any losses. This keeps the PCs from having to play out combat between large numbers of low-level opponents, and from needing to track exactly how many casualties their crew takes in each battle.

The PCs earn normal XP for the foes they defeat in shipboard combat. In most circumstances, the ship-toship battle just serves as a prelude to the main combat. If, however, the PCs decided to fight out an entire ship-to-ship battle and they sink or destroy a ship without ever fighting the ship’s captain and NPCs, then they earn XP based on the captain’s CR (as the captain is the only one piloting the enemy ship in ship-to-ship combat).

Shearing

A ship may attempt to shear off the oars of an opposing ship, if the target ship uses oars for muscle propulsion. To attempt a shearing maneuver, a ship must be adjacent to the target’s forward or rear square and move along the side of the target for a number of adjacent squares equal to the target ship’s number of squares. The ship’s pilot must make a shearing combat maneuver check against the target’s CMD, using the base CMB of the ship plus the pilot’s sailing skill modifier (or Wisdom skill modifier if she is using that ability to control the ship) as the total CMB of the shearing maneuver. If the check is successful, the ship shears the target’s oars. The target’s oars take damage that reduces their hit points to half their maximum hit point total and gain the broken condition, thus reducing the ship’s maximum speed by half and preventing its pilot from gaining the upper hand. If the target ship is in motion, and is traveling faster than its new maximum speed, it automatically decelerates to its new maximum speed. A ship that does not use oars for muscle propulsion is unaffected by a shearing maneuver.

If a ship has less than its full crew complement, but has at least half its crew, the pilot takes a –10 penalty on her combat maneuver check to make a shearing maneuver.

A ship without at least half its crew complement cannot make a shearing maneuver.

Taking Control of a Ship

If a ship has no pilot, another creature can take control of the ship as long as the creature is adjacent to the ship’s control device and makes a sailing check as a free action.

The ship’s pilot can always give over control to another adjacent creature as a free action. If a creature wants to take control of a ship from another forcefully, it must kill the pilot or otherwise remove the pilot from the control device.

When a new creature becomes the pilot, the ship moves on the new pilot’s turn, but not on the new pilot’s first turn after taking control of the ship.

Damaging a Ship

Ships have hit points and hardness based on their primary components. Most ships are made of wood (15 hit points per 5-foot-square, hardness 5). When a ship is reduced to below half its hit points, it gains the broken condition.

When it reaches 0 hit points, it gains the sinking condition.

Broken Condition: Ships—and sometimes their means of propulsion—are objects, and like any other object, when they take damage in excess of half their hit points, they gain the broken condition. When a ship gains the broken condition, it takes a –2 penalty to AC, on sailing checks, saving throws, and on combat maneuver checks. If a ship or its means of propulsion becomes broken, the ship’s maximum speed is halved and the ship can no longer gain the upper hand until repaired. If the ship is in motion and traveling faster than its new maximum speed, it automatically decelerates to its new maximum speed.

Sinking Condition: A ship that is reduced to 0 or fewer hit points gains the sinking condition. A sinking ship cannot move or attack, and it sinks completely 10 rounds after it gains the sinking condition. Each additional hit on a sinking ship that deals more than 25 points of damage reduces the remaining time for it to sink by 1 round. A ship that sinks completely drops to the bottom of the body of water and is considered destroyed. A destroyed ship cannot be repaired—it is so significantly damaged it cannot even be used for scrap material. Magic (such as make whole) can repair a sinking ship if the ship’s hit points are raised above 0, at which point the ship loses the sinking condition.

Generally, non-magical repairs take too long to save a ship from sinking once it begins to go down.

Repairing a Ship

The fastest and easiest way to repair a ship is with spells.

Mending is not powerful enough to meaningfully affect an object as large as a ship, but make whole affects a ship as if it were a construct, repairing 1d6 points of damage per level. In addition, more mundane methods can also be used to repair ships. Because of their specialized construction, ships (as well as oars and sails) usually require the Craft (ships) skill to repair. Depending on the nature of the damage, skills such as Craft (carpentry) or Craft (sails), or even various Profession skills, can be used to repair ships with the GM’s approval. In general, a day’s worth of work by a single person using the appropriate skill to repair a ship requires 10 gp of raw materials and a DC 10 skill check, and repairs 10 points of damage on a success, or 5 hit points on a failure. Fabricate can also be used to create the raw material needed for repairs. New oars can be purchased for 2 gp each.

Fire

Fire is an ever-present danger on every wooden ship, but while most ships are not in danger of going up in flames from a dropped torch or lantern, alchemical or magical fires can be much more dangerous. Note that many instantaneous fire spells do not automatically catch a ship on fire, but those that deal fire damage over multiple rounds have a better chance of causing a fire on board a ship (see Magic).

When a ship takes fire damage (such as from alchemist’s fire, flaming arrows, certain spells, and other effects at the GM’s discretion), it must immediately make a Fortitude save (DC 10 + damage dealt) or catch fire. Unless an attack specifically targets a ship’s means of propulsion (such as sails), it is assumed that such attacks affect the structure of a ship itself.

Once a ship has caught fire, it automatically takes 2d6 points of fire damage per round (ignoring hardness) as the fire spreads. The ship’s crew can attempt to extinguish the flames as a full-round action for the entire crew, allowing the ship to make a Reflex save (DC 15 + the number of rounds the ship has been on fire). A successful saving throw means the fire has been put out. A failed saving throw results in the ship taking the normal 2d6 points of fire damage for the round.

A ship must take the “uncontrolled” action each round that its crew attempts to put out a fire, as they are not sailing the ship at this time.

Attacking a Ship with Magic

Creatures can attack ships with spells. Ships are objects, so spells that can only target creatures have no effect on ships. However, because a ship is actively crewed and piloted, it can make saving throws against spell effects.

Ships are immune to most spells that require a Will save. A ship without a crew is considered an unattended object and cannot make saving throws.

The effects of most spells on ships can be determined normally. However, certain spells have different effects in naval combat. The effects of these spells are detailed on in the Spell Effects in Naval Combat section. GMs can use these examples as guidelines for determining how other spells not listed here affect ships. For the most part, these effects only apply during ship-to-ship combat, not during normal combat aboard a ship, though some affects (such as starting fires), could still apply, at the GM’s discretion.

Part 3: Naval Siege Weapons

Siege engines assault structures and people from a distance by propelling ammunition in some fashion. All siege engines in a pirate campaign use the following basic rules, unless stated otherwise in an individual siege engine description.

Proficiency: Siege engines are exotic weapons. The Exotic Weapon Proficiency feat allows a character to fire a single type of siege engine without penalty. A creature with the Siege Engineer feat is proficient with all siege engines.

Feats: Several feats can be used with siege engines. These include: Master Siege Engineer, Siege Commander, Siege Engineer, and Siege Gunner.

Crew: The sheer size of a siege engine often necessitates a crew for its use. One person of that crew is the crew leader. Usually the crew leader controls the movement of a siege engine or designates its targets; sometimes the crew leader does both. Often the crew leader is required to take actions and make specific checks in order for a siege engine to function. The rest of the crew members are required to spend actions and make checks in order for a siege engine to function. The crew of a siege engine is in addition to the crew needed to operate the ship.

Constructing Siege Engines: A siege engine is a complex device requiring a DC 20 Craft (siege engine) skill check to build.

Magical and Masterwork Siege Engines: Siege engines can be masterwork, increasing their Craft DC by 5 and cost by 300 gp. A masterwork siege engine can be enchanted at twice the cost for a normal magical weapon. The enhancement bonus of a siege engine applies on attack rolls and targeting checks (in the case of indirect-fire siege engines).

Disabling Siege Engines: A siege engine is considered a difficult device to disable, requiring 2d4 rounds of effort and a DC 20 Disable Device check to do so. When a siege engine is disabled, it either doesn’t work or is sabotaged and stops working after 1d4 minutes of use.

Repairing Siege Engines: Repairing a broken or disabled siege engine requires a DC 20 Craft (siege engine), Disable Device, or Knowledge (engineering) check. It takes 10 minutes to fix the device, and the check can be retried if the fix fails.

Defense and Hit Points: All siege engines are objects, typically crafted out of wood. A siege engine has a Dexterity of 0 (–5 penalty) and a further penalty based on its size. Each type of siege engine has its own hardness and hit points. Siege engines can be armored—treat the siege engine as a creature of its size to determine the cost of the armor. Masterwork siege engine armor can be enchanted for twice the normal cost to enchant armor. Armored siege engines gain an armor bonus to AC equal to that normally granted by the specific armor (shields have no effect on a siege engine), a hardness and hit points equal to that of the armor, and bonus hit points equal to the armor bonus ×5.

Assembling Siege Engines: Siege engines can be broken down for storage or transport and can be reassembled on a ship’s deck. A Large siege engine requires 1 hour and four workers to assemble. A Huge siege engine requires 2 hours and six workers to assemble. Each assembly worker must make a DC 10 Craft (siege engine) check; if untrained, the worker may not take 10. Assembly can be performed with at least half the required number of workers by doubling the time required. If fewer than half are available, the siege engine cannot be assembled.

Firing Siege Engines

Siege engines hurl massive projectiles in one of two ways: direct fire or indirect fire. Both take a number of actions to load or aim, and the basic rules are described below.

Load Ammunition: In order for a siege engine to fire, it must be loaded with ammunition. Loading ammunition takes a number of full-round actions depending on the siege engine (this time can be reduced to move actions if the crew leader has the Master Siege Engineer feat. For example, a light ballista loaded by two creatures takes 1 round to load the siege weapon, since the creatures each take one of the two necessary full-round actions to do so.

Aiming a Siege Engine: Siege engines must be aimed in order to attack a desired target (in the case of direct-fire siege engines) or square (in the case of indirect-fire siege engines). Aiming takes a number of full-round actions depending on the siege engine. Aiming a siege engine with a diminished crew doubles the amount of time it takes to aim the siege engine. Each time a new target or square is chosen as the target of a siege engine’s attack, that siege engine must be aimed anew. For example, a light catapult aimed by two creatures would have to spend a turn aiming the catapult in order to fire it on the next round, since a light catapult takes two full-round actions to aim. If the same light catapult were instead crewed by three creatures, two could spend full-round actions aiming it and the remaining creature could fire it with a standard action.

Direct-Fire Siege Engines: Direct-fire weapons launch their projectiles on a relatively flat trajectory, allowing them to more easily target creatures or pummel barriers directly in front of them.

A direct-fire weapon uses a normal ranged attack roll, with the normal penalty for non-proficient use if none of the crew operating it have proficiency in siege engines. In addition, a direct-fire weapon takes a penalty on attack rolls of –2 per size category that the weapon is larger than the creature aiming it. Creatures with ranks in Knowledge (engineering) are not adversely affected by their size when firing direct-fire siege engines. Sheer manpower can also reduce the penalties for size.

Increasing the crew of these weapons by 1 or more can reduce the attack roll penalty for creature size: as long as an extra crew member is no more than three size categories smaller than the direct-fire weapon, it can reduce the penalty due to the aiming creature’s size by 2. For example, a Huge ballista fired by a Medium creature that is part of a crew of four (one more than the minimum number of crew members required) takes only a –2 penalty on attack rolls, and a crew of five would negate the penalty altogether.

Indirect-Fire Siege Engines: Indirect-fire weapons launch projectiles in high arcs toward their targets. They typically lob heavier missiles and payloads than direct-fire weapons, but they are harder to aim accurately. Indirect-fire weapons can bypass many forms of fortification, delivering their payloads of solid shot, scatter shot, or even disease-ridden offal to targets on other ships. Indirect-fire weapons use a targeting mechanic similar to that described for catapults, hereafter referred to as an indirect attack. The following is an update to those rules.

Indirect Attack: To fire an indirect-fire siege engine, the crew leader makes a targeting check against the DC of the siege engine. This check uses his base attack bonus, his Knowledge (engineering) skill modifier if trained in that skill (or his Intelligence modifier, if not trained), any non-proficiency penalty, and the appropriate modifiers from Table: Indirect Attack Check Modifiers. If the check succeeds, the ammunition of the indirect attack hits the square the siege engine was aimed at, dealing the indicated damage or effect to any object or creature within the area of its attack. Creatures may get a saving throw to limit the effect of the attack; this is typically based on the type of ammunition used. If the attack misses the intended square, roll 1d8 to determine in what direction the shot veers. A roll of 1 indicates the ammunition falls short (toward the siege engine), with rolls of 2 through 8 counting squares clockwise around the target square. Roll 1d4 for every range increment at which the attack was made (1d4 if the target square is within the engine’s first range increment, 2d4 if the target square is within the second range increment, and so on). The total is the number of squares by which the attack misses. The ammunition deals its damage and any other effects in the square it lands on.

Critical Hits: When a direct-fire siege engine scores a critical hit, it confirms the critical and deals critical hit damage just like any other weapon. If an indirect-fire siege engine rolls a natural 20 on its targeting check, it can also score a critical hit. The crew leader must reroll the targeting check to confirm the critical. If the confirmation targeting check is successful, the attack is a critical hit, and the siege engine multiplies its damage by its critical multiplier. Unlike normal attacks, siege engine attacks can deal critical hit damage to objects. Siege engines do not gain the benefit of critical feats the crew or the crew leader may have.

Mishaps and Misfires: Rolling a natural 1 on an attack roll with a direct-fire siege engine or a targeting check made by an indirect-fire siege engine produces a mishap. Usually a mishap applies the broken condition. A siege engine with the broken condition takes a –2 penalty on attack rolls, targeting checks, and damage rolls. If the creature that serves as crew leader has the Siege Engineer feat, that creature does not generate a mishap on a natural 1 when firing the siege engine.

Table 5: Indirect Attack Check

Condition	Modifier
No line of sight to target square	–6
Successive shots	+2* (crew can see where most recent miss landed)
Successive shots	+1** (crew can’t see where most recent missed shot landed, but observer is providing feedback)
Successive shots after a hit	+10

* Cumulative +2 per previous miss (maximum +10)

** Cumulative +1 per previous miss (maximum +5)

Ships can mount Large or Huge siege engines; Gargantuan siege engines are included here for the purpose of shorebased fortifications that might be armed with such weapons to defend against attacks from enemy ships.

Table 6: Siege Weapon Statistics

Direct Fire Engines
Large	Cost	Dmg	Critical Range	Type1	Crew	Aim	Load	Speed
Ballista, light	500 gp	3d8	19-20/x2	120 ft.	P	1	0	2	10 ft.
Cannon	6,000 gp	6d6	x4	100 ft.	B and P	2	1	3	10 ft.
Huge	Large	Cost	Dmg	Critical Range	Type1	Crew	Aim	Load	Speed
Ballista, heavy 800 gp 4d8 19-20/x2 180 ft. P 3 2 30 ft. Cannon, fiend’s mouth 9,000 gp 8d6 x4 150 ft. B and P 3 130 ft. Firedrake 4,000 gp 6d6 – – fire 32 510 ft.

GargantuanLargeCostDmgCritical RangeType1CrewAimLoadSpeed

Ballista, gate breaker 1,200 gp 6d8 19-20/x2 100 ft. B5350 ft. Firewyrm 6,000 gp 6d6 – – fire 5260 ft.

Indirect Fire EnginesLargeCostDmgCritical RangeType1CrewAimLoadSpeed

Bombard, light6,000 gp5d6x4100 ft. (50 ft. min.)B and P213 10 ft. Catapult, light550 gp4d6x2150 ft. (50 ft. min.) B223 10 ft. Trebuchet, light800 gp4d6x2200 ft. (100 ft. min.) B32 30 ft.

Huge Cost Dmg Critical Range Type1 Crew Aim Load Speed

Bombard, standard8,000 gp7d6x4150 ft. (100 ft. min.)B and P2130 ft. Catapult, standard800 gp6d6x2200 ft. (100 ft. min.)B3230ft. Springal, arrow1,000 gp3d8x3100 ft. (50 ft. min.)P3230 ft. Springal, rocket6,000 gp3d10x4100 ft. (50 ft. min.)fire3230 ft. Trebuchet, standard1,000 gp6d6x2300 ft. (50 ft. min.)B4230 ft.

Gargantuan Cost Dmg Critical Range Type1 Crew Aim Load Speed

Bombard, heavy16,000 gp9d6x4200 ft. (100 ft. min.)B and P4350 ft. Catapult, heavy1,000 gp8d6x2300 ft. (100 ft. min.)B4330 ft. Trebuchet, heavy1,500 gp8d6x2400 ft. (200 ft. min.)B4330 ft.

A weapon with two types of damage is both types if the entry specifies “and.”

Other Name Cost Dmg Critical Range

Type

Crew Aim Load

Corvus 100 gp————1—1

Siege Engine Qualities

The siege engine table is presented in the following format:

Cost: This value is the siege engine’s cost in gold pieces (gp). The cost includes gear needed to work the engine as well as gear for upkeep. Typical ammunition costs and weights are given in the siege engine descriptions.

Damage: This entry gives the damage typically dealt by the siege engine. Unlike normal ranged weapons, siege engines deal full damage to objects. Siege engines do not deal sneak attack damage or any other kind of precision damage.

Critical: The entry for this column notes how the engine is used with the rules for critical hits. Unlike normal ranged weapons, siege engines can deal critical damage to objects as well as creatures.

Range: Any attack at a distance greater than that listed in this entry is penalized for range. Beyond this range, the attack or targeting check takes a cumulative –2 penalty for each full-range increment (or fraction thereof ) of distance to the target. Some siege engines have a minimum range for effectiveness, listed in parentheses after its range.

Type: Like weapons, siege engines are classified according to the type of damage they deal: B for bludgeoning, P for piercing, or S for slashing. Some siege engines deal energy damage. In those cases, the type of energy damage is listed instead.

Crew: This column gives the number of Medium creatures needed to properly operate the siege engine.

Aim: This column gives the number of full-round actions required to aim a siege engine. If the siege engine is being controlled by less than its normal crew complement, the number of actions it takes for the crew to aim the siege engine is doubled.

Load: This column gives the number of full-round actions required to load a siege engine.

Siege Engine Descriptions

The following siege engines are available for use on board ships and in shore fortifications where their defenders may return fire to ships attacking them from the water. Bombards, cannon, and rocket springals are gunpowder weapons, and so their availability depends on whether the campaign features firearms and similar gunpowder technology. In a more purely medieval-style campaign, such weapons might be unknown, or might be an exclusive secret held by a far-off island nation or a society of mad tinkers.

Ballista

A ballista resembles a massive crossbow, and its power is provided by twisted skeins of animal sinew used as torsion springs driving a pair of adjustable arms. A cord attached to both arms is winched back and a projectile is loaded into a grooved slider for release. Ballistae are direct-fire siege engines.

Light: This common type of ballista, also called an arbalest or scorpion, is Large, maneuverable, and often mounted on ships. Light ballistae have a hardness of 5 and 50 hit points. Light ballista bolts cost 10 gp each and weigh 10 pounds.

Heavy: These Huge siege engines are commonly used as castle defenses, as well as on large warships. Heavy ballistae have a hardness of 5 and 100 hit points. Heavy ballista bolts cost 30 gp and weigh 20 pounds each.

Gate Breaker: This massive ballista fires specially weighted quarrels with blunt metal tips. These are used as long-range battering rams, shot at walls or the gates of castles. When they hit a wooden structure, they have a critical range of 19–20/×3. Gate breaker ballistae have a hardness of 5 and 200 hit points. Gate breaker ballista bolts cost 50 gp and weigh 30 pounds each.

Bombard

Resembling either large cauldrons or more traditional cannons, these firearms lob their ammunition in an arc in order to deliver their deadly payloads over troops or castle walls. Bombards are normally fired indirectly but also can be fired as direct-fire siege engines. When they are used for direct fire, they take a –4 penalty on attack rolls and have their range increment halved, but do not have a minimum range. Like all firearms, bombards do not suffer mishaps, but instead have a misfire chance.

Light: These bombards resemble cauldrons attached to swivels. Often they are mounted into the ground or into the stone of castle walls because of the mighty power of their recoil. The targeting DC of a light bombard is 15. A light bombard has a base misfire range of 1–2 (10 feet). Light bombards have a hardness of 10 and 70 hit points. Light bombard balls cost 30 gp each and weigh 25 pounds.

Standard: These bombards feature the greatest diversity of forms. Many take the cauldron shape of the light bombard, but they may also take the forms of more traditional cannons, albeit featuring stabilizing mechanisms that allow them to fire at a much steeper incline. The targeting DC of a standard bombard is 20. A standard bombard has a misfire range of 1–2 (20 feet). Standard bombards have a hardness of 10 and 140 hit points. Standard bombard balls cost 35 gp each and weigh 30 pounds.

Heavy: These massive siege engines are often fixed to positions on high hilltops or atop massive keeps, raining death down on a valley or strait. Often these firearms come in two pieces connected by a screw mechanism. The bombard is unscrewed to be loaded, and then the main part of the muzzle is screwed back on to the barrel section in order to be fired. Heavy bombards are too large and powerful to mount on vehicles. The targeting DC of a heavy bombard is 25. A heavy bombard has a misfire range of 1–2 (30 feet). Heavy bombards have a hardness of 10 and 280 hit points. Heavy bombard balls cost 45 gp each and weigh 50 pounds.

Cannon

Cannons are crafted of metal—some are cast in one piece, others welded with iron bands—and mounted either in the ground or on wooden frames. Cannons use black powder to propel their projectiles with great force. A cannon has a misfire range of 1 (20 feet). Cannons have a hardness of 10 and 70 hit points. Cannon balls cost 30 gp each and weigh 25 pounds.

Catapult

Catapults are stone-throwing siege engines powered by winched arms that run through torsion skeins and hold their payload in a cup that swings up and over the weapon when released. Catapults can hurl a variety of different types of ammunition (the damage given is for stone projectiles; other types of ammunition can be found in the Special Siege Engine Ammunition section, below). Catapults are indirect-fire siege engines.

Light: These catapults are Large and often mounted on wheels. The targeting DC of a light catapult is 15. Light catapults have a hardness of 5 and 50 hit points. Light catapult stones cost 10 gp and weigh 50 pounds each.

Standard: These Huge catapults are too large to be transported in one piece and require assembly. The targeting DC of a standard catapult is 20. Standard catapults have a hardness of 5 and 100 hit points. Standard catapult stones cost 15 gp and weigh 75 pounds each.

Corvus

A corvus is a boarding device that features a hinged counterweight system for mounting a bridge vertically on the side of a ship, with a hooked end to grab onto a target ship. A corvus is usually 10 feet wide and 15 feet long. It has a hardness of 5 and 10 hit points per square. Using a corvus requires a DC 10 Profession (siege engineer) check as a full-round action, provided the corvus is in the correct position, which is within the length of the corvus and adjacent to another ship. If the check fails, the corvus fails to catch on the target and must be reset (a full-round action). Once a corvus is attached, it takes a Strength check as a full-round action to dislodge the corvus. Alternatively, if the corvus is attached to a ship, the pilot of either ship can make a sailing check as a standard action to dislodge the corvus (a check that succeeds by 5 or more destroys the corvus). The base DC for either of these checks is 15, and the DC increases by 5 for every Small or Medium creature currently standing on the corvus. If a corvus is disengaged while creatures are standing on it, those creatures must make a DC 15 Reflex saving throw or fall. Succeeding at the saving throw allows them to move to the nearest area of safe ground, but such movement provokes attacks of opportunity. A corvus cannot be armored. A corvus does not count toward a ship’s maximum number of siege engines.

Cannon, Fiend’s Mouth: These massive cannons are usually crafted in multiple pieces, and sometimes feature the heads of demons, devils, or other fiends at their mouths. Like normal canons, they propel their projectiles with great force. A fiend’s mouth cannon has a misfire range of 1 (30 ft.). Fiend’s mouth canons have a hardness of 10 and 140 hit points. Fiend’s mouth cannon balls cost 45 gp and weigh 30 pounds each.

Flame Caster

Flame casters are devices constructed to project a gout of flame at a target to set it alight, using clinging alchemist’s fire as their fuel and with a bellows or pump apparatus to force the flaming substance at the target.

Firedrake: These Huge siege engines are often mounted on wheels. This apparatus fires gouts of Alchemist’s fire in either a 60-foot line or a 30-foot cone (siege crew leader’s choice). Targets in the area take 6d6 points of fire damage (DC 15 Reflex save for half damage); those who fail their saves also catch on fire. A firedrake with the broken condition that suffers a further mishap explodes, dealing its damage to all creatures within a 20-foot-radius burst (DC 15 Reflex save for half damage). Firedrakes have a hardness of 10 and 70 hit points. One use of firedrake ammunition costs 200 gp and weighs 20 pounds.

Firewyrm: This siege engine is a larger version of the firedrake. A firewyrm is too large to be transported to the battlefield in one piece and must be assembled once the component parts reach the battlefield. A firewyrm fires its gout of flame in either a 120-foot line or a 60-foot cone (crew leader’s choice). Targets in the area take 6d6 points of fire damage (DC 20 Reflex save halves). Those who fail their saves catch on fire. A firewyrm with the broken condition that suffers a further mishap explodes, dealing its damage to all creatures within a 30-foot blast (DC 20 Reflex save halves). Firewyrms have a hardness of 10 and 140 hit points. One use of firewyrm ammunition costs 400 gp and weighs 40 pounds.

Springal

A springal uses a torsion-cranked composite paddle to strike a firing rack containing multiple arrows, which rain down in an arc over a burst area. Springals are indirect-fire siege engines that affect the targeted square and a 15-foot burst around that square.

Arrow: This springal propels a group of arrows that rains down on the targeted square and in a 15-foot burst around that square. One use of arrow springal ammunition costs 20 gp and weighs 10 pounds.

Rocket: This highly volatile springal propels a group of black-powder rockets that rain down on the targeted square and in a 15-foot burst around the area. If the rocket springal misfires, it explodes, dealing its damage in a 20-foot blast around the springal. This explosion destroys the rocket springal. One use of rocket springal ammunition costs 500 gp and weighs 30 pounds.

Trebuchet

Trebuchets are similar in form to catapults, with the payload placed into a basket, cup, or sling at the end of a long lever, and a counterweight (often with crew or animals pulling attached ropes) close to the fulcrum. The leverage imparted by a trebuchet allows it to hurl massive missiles that scatter to a number of squares around the target square based on the size of the trebuchet. Trebuchets are too bulky to move on wheels or vehicles and must be assembled on the battlefield. Trebuchets have a minimum range of 150 feet.

Light: These Large siege engines typically hurl large stones indirectly at a target (targeting DC 15). A light trebuchet’s ammunition scatters on contact, dealing full damage to the target square and half its damage to creatures and objects within 5 feet of the target square (creatures can make a DC 15 Reflex save to halve the damage again). Light trebuchets have a hardness of 5 and 50 hit points. One use of light trebuchet stones costs 15 gp and weighs 60 pounds.

Standard: These Huge siege engines typically hurl large stones indirectly at a target (targeting DC 20). A standard trebuchet’s ammunition scatters on contact, dealing full damage to the target square and half damage to creatures and objects within 15 feet of the target square (creatures can make a DC 20 Reflex save to halve the damage again). Standard trebuchets have a hardness of 5 and 100 hit points. One use of standard trebuchet stones costs 30 gp and weighs 110 pounds.

Heavy: These Gargantuan siege engines typically hurl large stones indirectly at a target (targeting DC 25). A heavy trebuchet’s ammunition scatters on contact, dealing full damage to the target square and half its damage to creatures and objects within 30 feet of the target square (creatures can make a DC 25 Reflex save to halve the damage again). Heavy trebuchets have a hardness of 5 and 200 hit points. One use of heavy trebuchet stones costs 40 gp and weighs 120 pounds.

Special Siege Engine Ammunition

The following kinds of ammunition can be used in select types of indirect-fire siege engines. The ammunition description specifies which types of siege engines can use the special ammunition. The costs and weights on Table 7: Special Siege Engine Ammunition are for individual uses of special ammunition.

Table 7: Special Siege Engine Ammunition

Ammunition Cost Weight
Alchemist’s fire	200 gp	10 lbs.
Chain shot	50 gp	30 lbs.
Liquid ice	400 gp	20 lbs.
Plague bundle	80 gp	20 lbs.
Smoke shot	250 gp	20 lbs.

Alchemist’s Fire: This is either a hard, ceramic container of Alchemist’s fire that can be used as ammunition in catapults, or a ceramic bulb of Alchemist’s fire mounted on the tip of a ballista bolt to be fired from ballistae. When it hits its target square, it deals 4d6 points of fire damage to each creature and wooden structure within 5 feet of the target space, and each creature must make a DC 20 Reflex saving throw or catch on fire (wooden objects automatically catch on fire). Every creature and wooden object within the area between 5 and 30 feet of the target space must make a DC 20 Reflex saving throw or take half the fire damage but does not catch on fire. On a siege engine mishap, this ammunition explodes before it is launched, dealing its damage to the siege engine and all nearby creatures and wooden objects as if one of the spaces of the siege engine (crew leader’s choice) were the target square. This alchemical fire ignores the hardness of wooden objects.

Chain Shot: Made of two small catapult stones chained together, this ammunition can be fired from catapults. Chain shot is especially good at tearing through sails and rigging, dealing double its normal damage to that form of propulsion. It deals normal damage to a creature, and if hit, the creature must succeed at a DC 20 Fortitude saving throw or be knocked prone. Chain shot is relatively ineffective against ships themselves, dealing only 2d6 points of damage for a light catapult, or 4d6 points of damage for a standard catapult.

Liquid Ice: This hard, ceramic canister filled with alchemical liquid ice can be used as ammunition in catapults. When it hits its target square, it deals 4d6 points of cold damage to each creature within 5 feet of the target space, and each creature must make a DC 20 Fortitude save or become entangled for 1 round. Every creature within the area between 5 and 30 feet of the target space must make a DC 20 Fortitude saving throw or take half damage. On a siege engine mishap, this ammunition explodes before it is launched, dealing its damage to all nearby creatures as if one of the spaces of the siege engine (crew leader’s choice) were the target square.

Plague Bundle: This hard, ceramic canister is filled with a noxious mass of diseased carrion and offal that can be used as ammunition for a catapult. It deals only half damage, but every creature hit by it is exposed to filth fever. A GM might allow a plague bundle to inflict other diseases.

Smoke Shot: This hard ceramic sphere contains two alchemical substances separated by a thin barrier, much like a smoke pellet in larger form. It can be used as ammunition in catapults. When smoke shot hits the target space, it deals 2d6 points of damage to any creature in that space, and the substances mingle and then create an area of foul but harmless yellow smoke radiating 30 feet from the target square. Treat the effect as a fog cloud spell. On a siege engine mishap, the ammunition explodes before it is launched. Its effect is centered on one of the spaces of the siege engine (crew leader’s choice).

Shore Bombardment

While most of the rules for siege engines given above are intended to facilitate ship-to-ship combat, ships armed with siege engines also can attack fortifications or buildings on land, pounding them to rubble and demoralizing their defenders to the point of surrender. The following rules give the statistics for various buildings and barriers that are often the targets of siege engine attacks. They are split up into three different categories: buildings, gates, and walls.

When any of these structures gain the broken condition, their hardness is halved, along with any other effects of the broken condition.

Buildings

Buildings are sizable structures with many hit points and very poor ACs (a Large building is AC 4, a Huge building is AC 3, and a Gargantuan or larger building is AC 0). When a building is reduced to half its hit points, it is broken—it still stands, but only partially. It can be easily entered, and for all intents and purposes it has been breached. Reducing a building to 0 hit points completely destroys that building.

Creatures inside the building suffer the effects of a cave-in.

All these building statistics assume that the structure’s inside is somewhat hollow but sturdily built, with enough space for its occupants to walk around inside. Flimsy buildings have half the hit points of the buildings detailed in Table: Buildings. Buildings can be magically treated, like dungeon walls and doors can. Doing so doubles their hardness and hit points. Magically treating a building costs 5,000 gp for a Large building, 10,000 gp for a Huge building, 20,000 gp for a Gargantuan building, and 40,000 gp for a Colossal building. A spellcaster with the Craft Magic Arms and Armor feat can magically treat buildings.

For larger buildings, put together multiple buildings of these sizes and add the hit points together.

Table 8: Buildings

Hit Points Material Hardness Large Huge Gargantuan Colossal
Wood	5	120	270	960	3,240
Stone	8	200	450	1,600	5,400
Iron or steel	10	400	900	3,200	10,800
Adamantine	20	560	1,260	4,480	15,120

Gates

Gates serve as the entrances and exits to fortified structures and are typically the weakest spots in any fortification’s defenses. Gates are at least Large but can be as large as Colossal. It typically takes three full-round actions to open or close a Large gate (up to three creatures can work together to close a Large gate as a full-round action), and larger gates typically take at least a minute to close or open.

Gates have ACs based on their size (a Large gate is AC 4, a Huge gate is AC 3, and a Gargantuan or larger gate is AC 0).

Gates can be magically treated. Doing so doubles the hardness and hit points. Magically treating a gate costs 2,000 gp for a Large gate, 4,000 gp for a Huge gate, 8,000 gp for a Gargantuan gate, and 16,000 gp for a Colossal gate. A spellcaster with the Craft Magic Arms and Armor feat can magically treat gates.

Gates can be attacked and damaged, or they can become broken (as the condition) with a successful Strength check, usually as a result of ramming. When a gate gains the broken condition, it is effectively breached, and can be moved through as if it were an opening one size smaller.

Table 9: Gates

Hit Points Material Break DC1 Hardness Large Huge Gargantuan Colossal
Wood	35	5	60	135	240	540
Stone	38	8	100	225	400	900
Iron or steel	24	10	200	500	800	1,800
Adamantine	48	20	280	630	1,120	2,520

1 The DC assumes the gate is size Large and is barred and locked.

Huge doors increase the break DC by 5, Colossal doors increase the DC by 10, and Gargantuan doors increase the DC by 15. Arcane lock increases the DC by 10.

Walls

The walls that guard castles and cities are sturdy fortifications, usually constructed in a series of 5-foot squares. A square of wall has an AC of 5, and hardness and hit points equal to its type.

Squares of walls can be magically treated. Doing so doubles the hardness and hit points. Magically treating wall squares costs 500 gp per wall square. A spellcaster with the Craft Magic Arms and Armor feat can magically treat walls.

When a wall gains the broken condition, its hardness is halved, but the wall is not breached. Only destroying a section of wall allows it to become breached. When a square of wall is breached, any sections directly above it fall onto the missing section of walls. Doing this reduces the falling wall section to half its current hit point total –1, which applies the broken condition to that square of wall.

Table 10: Walls

Material Hardness Hit Points per 5-Foot Square
Wood	5	30
Stone	8	45
Iron or steel	10	90
Adamantine	20	120

Part 4: Spell Effects in Naval Combat

Creatures can attack ships with spells. Ships are objects, so spells that can only target creatures have no effect on ships. However, because a ship is actively crewed and piloted, it can make saving throws against spell effects. Ships are immune to most spells that require a Will save. A ship without a crew is considered an unattended object and cannot make saving throws.

The effects of most spells on ships can be determined normally. However, certain spells have different effects in naval combat.

The effects of these spells are detailed on the following page. GMs can use these examples as guidelines for determining how other spells not listed here affect ships. For the most part, these effects only apply during ship-to-ship combat, not during normal combat aboard a ship, though some affects (such as starting fires), could still apply, at the GM’s discretion.

Acid Fog, Solid Fog: The effects created by these spells do not move with a ship, but they do reduce the speed of a ship moving through them to half.

Align Weapon, Keen Edge, Magic Weapon, Greater Magic Weapon: These spells also affect siege engines and siege engine ammunition.

Animate Objects: A ship under the control of a pilot cannot be animated with this spell without the pilot’s consent. An animated ship moves as the caster directs. It needs no crew other than the caster, who is considered the ship’s pilot. An animated ship’s statistics, such as its hit points, do not change.

Black Tentacles: This spell can be cast on the surface of the water or on a ship’s deck. The tentacles do not attack ships.

Blade Barrier, Cloudkill, Fog Cloud, Mind Fog, Obscuring Mist, Pyrotechnics, Stinking Cloud, Storm of Vengeance: The effects created by these spells do not move with a ship.

Call Lightning, Call Lightning Storm, Chain Lightning, Lightning Bolt, Scorching Ray, Storm of Vengeance: These spells do not start fires on a ship.

Control Water: A ship cannot leave the area affected by this spell and must take the “uncontrolled” action for the duration of the spell.

Control Winds: The area of winds created by this spell does not move with a ship.

Delayed Blast Fireball, Fireball, Fire Seeds, Flame Arrow, Flame Blade, Flaming Sphere, Meteor Swarm, Produce Flame: These spells can start fires on a ship.

Dimension Door, Greater Teleport, Teleport, Teleportation Circle: Because ships are constantly in motion, the caster of spells of the teleportation subschool must have line of sight to teleport onto a ship. Otherwise, a caster must scry upon a particular ship first, then immediately teleport to the scryed destination in the same round. Any delay in casting means the ship has moved from its scryed location and the spell fails.

Disintegrate: This spell deals 2d6 points of damage per caster level (maximum 40d6) to a ship.

Earthquake: This spell has no effect in the deep waters of the ocean.

Fabricate: The materials created by this spell can be used to repair a ship.

Fire Storm, Flame Strike: These spells do not start fires on a ship unless the ship rolls a natural 1 on its saving throw against fire damage.

Forcecage, Resilient Sphere, Wall of Force: The effects of these spells move with a ship if they are anchored to it. Otherwise, they do not move with a ship, and a ship running into them makes a ramming maneuver.

Freezing Sphere: This spell can be used to attempt to trap a ship in ice by targeting the water around the ship rather than the ship itself. The ship’s speed is reduced to 0 for the duration of the spell unless the pilot of the ship makes a DC 25 sailing check to break free of the ice.

Gaseous Form: A creature in gaseous form does not move with a ship.

Globe of Invulnerability, Lesser Globe of Invulnerability, Tiny Hut, Wall of Ice, Wall of Thorns: The effects created by these spells move with a ship.

Guards and Wards, Mage’s Private Sanctum, Screen: These spells can be cast on a ship.

Make Whole: This spell affects a ship as if it were a construct.

Magnificent mansion, Rope Trick: The entrances to the extradimensional spaces created by these spells do not move with a ship.

Mirage Arcana: Ships are considered structures for the purposes of this spell.

Ice Storm, Sleet Storm: The sleet, snow, and ice created by these spells do not move with a ship, but the deck is considered icy. These spells also allow a ship to make an additional saving throw to extinguish fires.

Incendiary Cloud: The cloud created by this spell does not move with a ship, but the caster can concentrate to move the cloud along with a ship. This spell can start fires on a ship.

Passwall: A ship can make a Fortitude save to negate the effects of this spell. A ship affected by this spell gains the broken condition and the sinking condition, but the ship is restored to its normal condition when the spell ends (though a sunken ship remains sunk).

Polymorph Any Object: A ship is a collection of numerous objects. As a result, any ship of Huge size or larger is too big to be affected by this spell.

Prismatic Sphere, Prismatic Spray, Prismatic Wall: These spells do not start fires on a ship unless the ship passes through the spell effect and rolls a natural 1 on its saving throw against fire damage. A prismatic sphere or prismatic wall moves with a ship if it is anchored to the ship. Otherwise, it does not move with a ship.

Repel Wood: If you are standing on a ship, that ship is considered a fixed object in relation to you and is not affected by this spell. Loose objects on your ship, or on other ships within range, are affected normally. A ship under the control of a pilot can make a Will save to negate the effects of this spell.

Reverse Gravity: A ship must fit entirely within the spell’s area to be affected by this spell, though creatures and objects on a ship’s deck are affected normally. If an entire ship is affected and falls back down more than 50 feet, the pilot must succeed at a DC 20 sailing check when the ship lands or it gains the sinking condition.

Sunbeam, Sunburst: These spells deal only half damage to ships.

Sympathetic Vibration: A ship is considered a freestanding structure for the purposes of this spell.

Wall of Fire: A wall of fire cast on the deck of a ship moves with the ship and can start on-board fires. Otherwise, the wall does not move with the ship, and does not start onboard fires.

Warp Wood: A warped ship springs a leak and gains the broken condition. If the ship is reduced to below half its hit points while warped, it gains the sinking condition.

Whirlwind: Most ships are too large to be affected by this spell, but loose objects and creatures on the ship’s deck may still be affected.

Wind Wall: The effects of this spell move with a ship if it is anchored to the ship.

Part 5: Ship Statistics

A vast variety of boats and ships exist in the real world, from small rafts and longboats to intimidating galleons and swift galleys. To represent the numerous distinctions of shape and size that exist between water-going vessels, the following stat blocks categorize several standard ship sizes and their respective statistics, including all water vehicles that characters can purchase. GMs can use or alter the statistics below to create new ships for specific cultures or races to suit the needs of their individual campaigns. All ships have the following traits.

Name: The name or type of the ship.

Size and Type: The size and type of the ship.

Squares: The number of 30-foot squares the ship takes up on the battle mat, followed by the ship’s actual dimensions. A ship’s width is always considered to be one square.

Cost: The ship’s cost in gp. Sometimes the description or the weapons section provides possible modifications for the ships. These are not included in the cost of the ship, nor are additions like rams or siege engines.

AC and Hardness: The ship’s base Armor Class and hardness, based on its size, defenses, and its construction material (hardness 5 for most wooden ships). To calculate the ship’s actual AC, add the current pilot’s sailing skill modifier (or Wisdom modifier, if she is using that ability to drive the ship) to the ship’s base AC. Touch attacks against a ship ignore its pilot’s sailing skill or ability modifier; thus, a ship’s base AC is its touch AC. A ship is never considered flat-footed. If the ship is not in motion, it has an effective Dexterity of 0 (–5 penalty to AC), and an additional –2 penalty to its AC.

hp: The ship’s total hit points. A ship that takes damage exceeding half its total hit points gains the broken condition. At 0 or fewer hit points, a ship gains the sinking condition. A ship that sinks completely is considered destroyed. Ships do not have ability scores and are immune to ability score damage or drain. They are also immune to bleed damage. Unlike other objects, ships do not take half damage from energy attacks, but do take half damage from all ranged weapons except siege engines. This line also lists the total hit points for the ship’s oars and sails, if any.

Base Save: The ship’s base save modifier. All the ship’s saving throws (Fortitude, Reflex, and Will) have the same value. To determine a ship’s actual saving throw modifiers, add half the pilot’s sailing skill modifier (or half the pilot’s Wisdom modifier) to the ship’s base saving throw. A ship is immune to most effects that require a Will saving throw (though pilots, crew members, and passengers typically are not).

Maximum Speed: This is the fastest that a ship can move. When a ship has more than one means of propulsion, it may also have more than one maximum speed. If a ship has sails, it can move at double its maximum wind propulsion speed when it moves in the direction of the wind.

Acceleration: This is how fast a ship can increase its speed each round. It also determines the maximum amount a ship can safely decelerate each round.

CMB and CMD: The ship’s base CMB and CMD. To calculate the ship’s actual CMB and CMD, add the current pilot’s sailing skill modifier (or Wisdom modifier, if she is using that ability to drive the ship) to the ship’s base CMB. A ship is never considered flat-footed. If the ship is not in motion, it has an effective Dexterity of 0 (–5 penalty to CMD), and an additional –2 penalty to its CMD.

Ramming Damage: The base damage dealt by the ship on a successful ramming attack (without a ram).

Propulsion: The types of propulsion used by the ship.

Sailing Check: The skills typically used to make a sailing check with this type of ship.

Control Device: The typical control device the pilot uses to steer the ship.

Means of Propulsion: The actual means and amount of propulsion used to move the ship.

Crew: This is the minimum number of crew members needed to move the ship, in addition to the pilot. If a ship uses muscle propulsion, the number and size of creatures providing the propulsion are listed here as well. Any crew required to operate a ship’s siege engines is in addition to this number.

Decks: The usual number of decks on a ship and any important information about those decks is given in this section.

Cargo/Passengers: The amount of cargo (in tons) a ship can hold, as well as the number of non-crew passengers it can carry.

Sample Ships

Galley

Colossal ship
Squares 4 (20 ft. by 130 ft.)
Cost 30,000 gp

DEFENSE

AC 2; Hardness 5 hp 1,560 (oars 1,400, sails 320)
Base Save +8

OFFENSE

Maximum Speed 60 ft. (muscle), 60 ft. (wind), or 120 ft. (muscle and wind); Acceleration 30 ft.

CMB +8; CMD 18

indirect-fire siege engine. Siege engines on the fore and aft firing platforms can be swiveled to fire out the sides of the ship or either forward or aft, depending on their position.

A siege engine on the amidships can be swiveled to fire out either side of the ship.

Junk

Colossal ship
Squares 3 (20 ft. by 75 ft.)
Cost 15,000 gp

DEFENSE

AC 2; Hardness 5 hp 900 (sails 360)
Base Save +6

OFFENSE

Maximum Speed 90 ft. (wind); Acceleration 30 ft.
CMB ++8; CMD 18
Ramming Damage 8d8

STATISTICS

Propulsion wind or current
Sailing Check Profession (sailor)
Control Device tiller
Means of Propulsion 90 squares of sails (three masts)
Crew 10
Decks 2
Cargo/Passengers 100 tons/100 passengers
Ramming Damage 8d8

STATISTICS

Propulsion muscle, wind, or current
Sailing Check Diplomacy or Intimidate (when using muscle); Profession (sailor) (when using wind or current)
Control Device tiller
Means of Propulsion 140 oars, 80 squares of sails (two masts)
Crew 200 (60+140 Medium rowers)
Decks 3
Cargo/Passengers 150 tons/250 passengers

One of the largest sailing ships on the sea, a galley has 70 oars on either side. A galley can be any large ship that primarily relies on oars for propulsion, but also contains one to three masts with sails. Galleys typically stick close to the coast, as long ocean voyages are risky in such vessels. This stat block can be used to represent a variety of historical galleys, from biremes and triremes to galliots and dromonds.

Weapons: Up to 40 Large direct-fire siege engines in banks of 20 positioned on the port and starboard sides of the ship, or up to 12 Huge direct-fire siege engines in banks of six on the port and starboard sides of the ship. These siege engines may only fire out the sides of the ship that they are positioned on and cannot fire toward. the forward or aft sides of the ship.

These siege engines cannot be used while the galley is being rowed.

For an additional 8,000 gp, a galley can be fitted with a ram and castles with firing platforms fore, aft, and amidships.

Each of these firing platforms can hold a single Large or Huge direct-fire or OFFENSE Maximum Speed 30 ft. (muscle), 30 ft. (wind), or 60 ft. (muscle and wind); Acceleration 30 ft.
CMB ++4; CMD 14
Ramming Damage 4d8

STATISTICS

Propulsion muscle, wind, or current
Sailing Check Diplomacy or Intimidate (when using muscle); Profession (sailor) (when using wind or current)
Control Device tiller
Means of Propulsion 8 oars, 20 squares of sails (one mast)
Crew 15 (7+8 Medium rowers)
Decks 1
Cargo/Passengers 50 tons/100 passengers

This flat-bottomed ship has a few oars to supplement its single mast with a square sail. It can make both sea and river voyages. Keelboats are designed to carry cargo, rather than for fighting. Types of keelboats include the cog, hoy, hulk, karve, and knarr.

Weapons: One Large direct-fire or indirectfire siege engine positioned on the forward or aft side of the ship. This siege engine can be swiveled to fire out either side of the ship, or either forward or aft, depending on its position.

This flat-bottomed sailing ship has two or three masts with junk-rigged sails, allowing it to be easily sailed by a small crew. Junks typically have a high poop deck and a flat bottom with no keel, and so rely on daggerboards, leeboards, or large rudders for stability. A junk’s hull is divided into several watertight compartments, like a stalk of bamboo, which strengthen the hull and slow flooding.

Junks are capable of ocean travel and have a waterborne speed of 2 miles per hour or 48 miles per day.

Weapons: Up to 12 Large direct-fire or indirect-fire siege engines in banks of six positioned on the port and starboard sides of the ship, or up to four Huge direct-fire siege engines in banks of two on the port and starboard sides of the ship. These siege engines may only fire out the sides of the ship that they are positioned on and cannot fire toward the forward or aft sides of the ship. In addition, up to two Large direct-fire or indirect-fire siege engines may be positioned one each on the forward and aft sides of the ship (one Huge direct-fire or indirect-fire siege engine may be positioned on the aft side of the ship instead, but the forward side can only fit a Large siege weapon). These siege engines can be swiveled to fire out either side of the ship, or either forward or aft, depending on their position.

Keelboat

Gargantuan ship
Squares 2 (15 ft. by 50 ft.)
Cost 3,000 gp

DEFENSE

AC 6; Hardness 5 hp 600 (oars 80, sails 80)
Base Save +4
CMB +1; CMD 11
Ramming Damage 1d8

STATISTICS

Propulsion muscle or current
Sailing Check Diplomacy or Intimidate (when using muscle); Profession (sailor) (when using current)
Control Device oars
Means of Propulsion 2 oars
Crew 1 (the pilot, who is also a rower, plus up to 3 additional Medium rowers)
Decks 1
Cargo/Passengers 1,000 pounds/up to 3 passengers (a raft can carry a total of 4 Medium creatures, either as crew or passengers)

The most basic and primitive type of ship, a raft is a simple, flat boat with no hull, often made of logs lashed together, using two to four oars for propulsion. Rafts are not designed for ocean travel. A raft cannot carry any siege engines.

Longship

Colossal ship
Squares 3 (15 ft. by 75 ft.)
Cost 10,000 gp

DEFENSE

AC 2; Hardness 5 hp 675 (oars 400, sails 120)
Base Save +5

OFFENSE

Maximum Speed 30 ft. (muscle), 60 ft. (wind), or 90 ft. (muscle and wind); Acceleration 30 ft.
CMB ++8; CMD 18
Ramming Damage 8d8

STATISTICS

Propulsion muscle, wind, or current
Sailing Check Diplomacy or Intimidate (when using muscle); Profession (sailor) (when using wind or current)
Control Device tiller
Means of Propulsion 40 oars, 30 squares of sails (one mast)
Crew 50 (10+40 Medium rowers)
Decks 1 (with small cargo area under the deck)
Cargo/Passengers 50 tons/100 passengers

This long and relatively narrow boat has a single mast with a square sail and 40 oars. It can traverse lakes, oceans, and deep rivers. This stat block can be used to represent Norse longships such as the karvi, snekkja, and skei, as well as the balinger and birlinn.

Weapons: Up to two Large direct-fire or indirect-fire siege engines positioned one each on the forward and aft sides of the ship. These siege engines can be swiveled to fire out either side of the ship, or either forward or aft, depending on their position.

Raft

Large ship
Squares 1 (10 ft. by 10 ft.)
Cost —

DEFENSE

AC 9; Hardness 5 hp 30 (oars 20)
Base Save +0

OFFENSE

Maximum Speed 30 ft. (muscle); Acceleration 10 ft.

CMB +8; CMD 18
Ramming Damage 8d8

STATISTICS

Propulsion wind or current
Sailing Check Profession (sailor)
Control Device steering wheel
Means of Propulsion 90 squares of sails (three masts)
Crew 20
Decks 2 or 3
Cargo/Passengers 150 tons/120 passengers

This massive sailing ship has one to four masts (usually two or three) with either square or lateen sails. Often they have raised forecastles and sterncastles. Sailing ships are primarily used for ocean travel. Most merchant ships, and many military and pirate vessels are sailing ships of one type or another. Sailing ships come in a variety of different designs, including barques, brigantines, caravels, carracks, larger cogs, frigates, galleons, schooners, sloops, and xebecs.

A sailing ship with four masts and outfitted with siege engines is often known as a man-o’-war.

Rowboat

Large ship
Squares 1 (5 ft. by 10 ft.)
Cost 50 gp

DEFENSE

AC 9; Hardness 5 hp 60 (oars 20)
Base Save +1

OFFENSE

Maximum Speed 30 ft. (muscle); Acceleration 30 ft.
CMB ++1; CMD 11
Ramming Damage 1d8

STATISTICS

Propulsion muscle or current
Sailing Check Diplomacy or Intimidate (when using muscle); Profession (sailor) (when using current)
Control Device oars
Means of Propulsion 2 to 4 oars
Crew 1 (the pilot, who is also a rower, plus up to 1 additional Medium rower)
Decks 1

Cargo/Passengers 1,000 pounds/up to 3 passengers (a rowboat can carry a total of 4 Medium creatures, either as crew or passengers)

This small boat has two to four oars and is primarily used to ferry a few passengers across small areas of water such as a harbor, stream, or small lake. Larger ships use rowboats as tenders or lifeboats. A rowboat cannot carry any siege engines. This stat block can be used to represent any small, open boat propelled by oars, such as dinghies, dories, skiffs, and wherries.

Sailing Ship Colossal ship
Squares 3 (30 ft. by 90 ft.)
Cost 10,000 gp

DEFENSE

AC 2; Hardness 5 hp 1,620 (sails 360)
Base Save +6

OFFENSE

Maximum Speed 90 ft. (wind); Acceleration 30 ft.

Ship’s boats are usually carried on the decks of larger ships to use as tenders to ferry passengers and cargo from ship to shore or between ships. Some ship’s boats are reserved for the use of officers, while others are used as landing craft or to carry boarding parties. An average ship’s boat is 16 to 24 feet long (though the largest ship’s boats can be upward of 30 feet long) and has anywhere from four to 10 oars as well as a single mast with a square or lateen sail. A ship’s boat has a waterborne speed of 2 miles per hour or 20 miles per day. A ship’s boat cannot carry any siege engines. This stat block can be used to represent any of several types of ship’s boats, such as cutters, gigs, jolly boats, launches, longboats, or pinnaces, as well as other small, open boats such as faerings, sampans, and whaleboats.

Warship

Colossal ship
Squares 4 (20 ft. by 100 ft.)
Cost 25,000 gp

DEFENSE

AC 2; Hardness 10 hp 1,200 (oars 600, sails 320)
Base Save +7

OFFENSE

Maximum Speed 60 ft. (muscle), 30 ft. (wind), or 90 ft. (muscle and wind); Acceleration 30 ft.
CMB ++8; CMD 18
Ramming Damage 8d8

STATISTICS

Propulsion muscle, wind, or current
Sailing Check Diplomacy or Intimidate (when using muscle); Profession (sailor) (when using wind or current)

Weapons: Up to 20 Large direct-fire siege engines in banks of 10 positioned on the port and starboard sides of the ship, or up to six Huge direct-fire siege engines in banks of three on the port and starboard sides of the ship. These siege engines may only fire out the sides of the ship that they are positioned on and cannot fire toward the forward or aft sides of the ship. In addition, up to two Large or one Huge direct-fire or indirect-fire siege engine may be positioned on both the forecastle and sterncastle of the ship. These siege engines can be swiveled to fire out the sides of the ship or either forward or aft, depending on their position.

Ship’s Boat Large ship
Squares 1 (10 ft. by 20 ft.)
Cost 500 gp

DEFENSE

AC 9; Hardness 5 hp 120 (oars 60, sails 40)
Base Save +2

OFFENSE

Maximum Speed 30 ft. (muscle or wind); Acceleration 30 ft.
CMB ++1; CMD 11
Ramming Damage 1d8

STATISTICS

Propulsion muscle, wind, or current
Sailing Check Diplomacy or Intimidate (when using muscle); Profession (sailor) (when using wind or current)
Control Device oars
Means of Propulsion 6 oars, 10 squares of sails (one mast)
Crew 4 to 10 Medium rowers
Decks 1
Cargo/Passengers 2 tons/up to 12 passengers (depending on size, a ship’s boat can carry up to a total of 16 Medium creatures, either as crew or passengers) parts. Another shipwright must be consulted to complete the work, but the DC for his check is increased by 2 if any previous modifications were made by another shipwright (different builders have different techniques).

Ship Improvements

The following ship improvements can be added to a ship.

Additional Crew Quarters

The ship’s sailors have more space to sleep and eat.

Benefit: The ship may support 10% more passengers, but its cargo capacity is decreased by 10%.

Requirements: Craft (ships) DC 22; Cost: 20% of base ship cost.

Armor Plating

The ship’s sides are clad in iron to shield it from attack.

Benefit: By attaching metal plates to the ship, the hull’s hit points are increased by +15% and its hardness is increased by +4. This modification reduces a ship’s cargo capacity by 15%. The armor plating slows the ship, imposing a –1 penalty on all sailing checks. The ship’s tactical speed in ship-to-ship combat is not affected, but its waterborne speed is reduced by 20%.

Requirements: Craft (ships) DC 28; Cost: 30% of base ship cost.

Broad Rudder

The ship’s larger rudder helps make crisper turns.

Benefit: A wide rudder makes a ship nimbler, granting a +1 bonus on all sailing checks.

Requirements: Craft (ships) DC 16; Cost: 500 gp

Concealed Weapon Port

The ship can disguise its cruel intentions with hidden armaments.

Benefit: The ship’s belowdecks area undergoes major reconstruction in order to house Large direct-fire siege engines, such as light ballistae or cannons, if they are in use in the campaign. A concealed weapon port can only be recognized on a successful DC 15 Perception check. Each concealed port reduces a ship’s cargo capacity by 5 tons, in addition to the space required by the weapon itself.

Requirements: Craft (ships) DC 16; Cost: 100 gp per port (in addition to the cost of the weapons)

Control Device tiller

Means of Propulsion 60 oars, 40 squares of magically-treated sails (one mast)
Crew 80 (20+60 Medium rowers)
Decks 2
Cargo/Passengers 50 tons/160 passengers

This ship is crafted of reinforced wood with a single mast and magically treated sails, although oars can also propel it. A warship is used for short-distance forays and troop deployment, as it does not have cargo space to carry supplies for large numbers of passengers over a long distance. Like galleys, warships are not designed for sea voyages and tend to stick close to the coast. A warship is not used for cargo.

The largest Norse longships, called drekar or drakkar, as well as very large galleys such as galleasses and lantern galleys, are all considered warships.

Weapons: Up to 20 Large direct-fire siege engines in banks of 10 are positioned on the port and starboard sides of the ship, or up to six Huge direct-fire siege engines in banks of three on the ship’s port and starboard sides. These siege engines may only fire out the sides of the ship that they are positioned on and cannot fire toward the forward or aft sides of the ship. These siege engines cannot be used while the warship is being rowed.

For an additional 8,000 gp, a warship can be fitted with a ram and castles with firing platforms fore, aft, and amidships. Each of these firing platforms can hold a single Large or Huge direct-fire or indirect-fire siege engine.

Siege engines on the fore and aft firing platforms can be swiveled to fire out the sides of the ship or either forward or aft, depending on their position. A siege engine on the amidships can be swiveled to fire out either side of the ship.

Ship Modifications

Not all ships are created equally. Players looking for a ship that is faster, tougher, or more agile might consider adding modifications to their vessels. Each of the following ship improvements must be planned, built, or installed (as appropriate) by someone with the Craft (ships) skill or other skill or feat, as described in the Requirements line. In order to alter a ship with one of the following modifications, the shipwright must make a skill check, with the final DC dependent upon the overall complexity of the desired modification. A failed check means that this particular ship-builder is unable to install that feature, though 1/2 of the cost of the feature is nonetheless expended on wasted Glass Bottom

The bottom of the ship is inset with wide windows, permitting those inside to gaze into the ocean.

Benefit: This has no effect on ship performance, other than making the ship’s bottom only as strong as thick glass (hardness 1, hp 3, Break DC 8).

Requirements: Craft (glass) DC 19; Cost: 5% of base ship cost.

Increased Cargo Capacity

An efficient remodeling of the ship’s layout means more room for the ship’s stores.

Benefit: The ship’s cargo capacity is increased by 10%.

Requirements: Craft (ships) DC 22; Cost: 15% of base ship cost.

Magically Treated Control Device

The ship’s controls are enchanted to make them harder to disable.

Benefit: The ship’s steering wheel or tiller is magically treated, doubling its hit points and hardness. This also increases the DC by 5 on any attempts to disable the ship’s control device with a Disable Device check. This improvement can only be added by a spellcaster with the Craft Wondrous Item feat.

Requirements: Craft Wondrous Item, Craft (ships) DC 15; Cost: 1,000 gp Extended Keel

The ship’s keel is longer than usual for a vessel of its type.

Benefit: The ship’s measurements from bow to stern are 10% longer than normal, though cargo capacity is not appreciably affected. The ship is more stable, granting the pilot a +1 bonus on all sailing checks. This improvement must be installed at the time of the ship’s construction and cannot be added later.

Requirements: Craft (ships) DC 19; Cost: 10% of base ship cost.

Figurehead

Some ships sport fanciful carvings on their bowsprits.

Benefit: This modification is strictly cosmetic, with no real impact on game play. Players are encouraged to design their own custom figureheads, such as dolphins, mermaids, and other such creatures of myth.

Requirements: Craft (carpentry) or Craft (sculptures) DC 10; Cost: 100–1,000 gp, depending on the port and the craftsman cargo capacity is reduced by 10%. However, the ship gains a +2 bonus on all sailing checks. This improvement must be installed at the time of the ship’s construction and cannot be added later.

Requirements: Craft (ships) DC 22; Cost: 15% of base ship cost.

Ram

The ship bears a standard ram, usually sheathed in bronze or iron, mounted on its bow.

Benefit: A ship equipped with a ram deals an additional 2d8 points of damage with a ramming maneuver and ignores the damage for the first square it enters of a solid object, and all damage from ramming creatures or other objects (such as other ships).

Requirements: Craft (ships) DC 10; Cost: 50 gp (Large ship), 100 gp (Huge ship), 300 gp (Gargantuan ship), or 1,000 gp (Colossal ship)

Rapid-Deploy Sails

The ship’s rigging undergoes a wholesale change as improvements in engineering enable the sails to be raised and lowered much faster than normal.

Benefit: Any sail adjustments can be made in half the normal time, granting a +1 bonus on all sailing checks.

Requirements: Craft (sails) or Knowledge (engineering) DC 25; Cost: 10% of base ship cost.

Silk Sails

Few ship improvements are as beautiful as the addition of silk sails. These sails can be designed in whatever color the player desires; they are often embroidered with striking images of the sea. Such sails are usually imported from faraway lands. Silk sails give the ship superior rates of movement, as they capture and displace the wind more efficiently.

Benefit: A ship with silk sails gains a +1 bonus on opposed sailing checks to gain the upper hand. The ship’s tactical speed in ship-to-ship combat is not affected, but its waterborne speed is increased by 10%.

Requirements: Craft (sails) DC 16; Cost: 15% of base ship cost.

Smuggling Compartments

The ship’s bulkheads are modified so that gaps between them can serve as hidden cargo storage areas.

Benefit: This does not change a ship’s cargo capacity. A smuggling compartment can hold anything that fits within

Magically Treated Hull

The ship’s sails are enchanted for greater resistance to impact.

Benefit: The ship’s hull is magically treated, doubling the ship’s hit points and hardness. This improvement can only be added by a spellcaster with the Craft Wondrous Item feat.

Requirements: Craft Wondrous Item, Craft (ships) DC 15; Cost: 4,500 gp per square of ship

Magically Treated Oars

The ship’s oars are enchanted for greater strength.

Benefit: The ship’s oars are magically treated, doubling their hit points and hardness. This improvement can only be added by a spellcaster with the Craft Wondrous Item feat.

Requirements: Craft Wondrous Item, Craft (carpentry) or Craft (ships) DC 15; Cost: 100 gp per oar

Magically Treated Sails

The ship’s sails are enchanted for greater durability.

Benefit: The ship’s sails are magically treated, doubling their hit points and hardness. This improvement can only be added by a spellcaster with the Craft Wondrous Item feat.

Requirements: Craft Wondrous Item, Craft (sails) DC 15; Cost: 500 gp per 5-foot-square of sails Movable Deck

The features of the ship’s decks are designed to be moved in order to disguise the ship as an altogether different vessel.

Benefit: After pulling up dozens of kingpins, the crew can slide the sterncastle forward on hidden rails, rearrange the position of the masts, extend the gunwales, lower the poop deck, transfer the ship’s wheel, and make other cosmetic changes such as a new figurehead and different-colored sails. The secret pins, levers, and tracks can only be found with a DC 20 Perception check during a close examination of the ship.

Requirements: Craft (ships) DC 28; Cost: 40% of base ship cost.

Narrow Hull

The ship has been intentionally designed with a slenderer hull, enabling it to slip through smaller spaces.

Benefit: The ship’s beam (width) is decreased by 20%, and

Sample Modified Sailing Ship

Pirate Brig (sailing ship) Colossal ship
Squares 3 (30 ft. by 100 ft.)
Cost 14,500 gp
Init +8

DEFENSE

AC 16; Hardness 5 hp 1,620 (sails 240)
Base Save +13

OFFENSE

Maximum Speed 90 ft. (wind); Acceleration 30 ft.
Ranged 6 light ballistae +10 (3d8), 4 light catapults +15 (4d6)
CMB +22; CMD 32
Ramming Damage 10d8

STATISTICS

Propulsion wind or current
Sailing Check Profession (sailor)
Control Device steering wheel
Means of Propulsion 60 squares of sails (two masts)
Decks 3
Cargo/Passengers 150 tons/120 passengers

CREW

Captain NE female human rogue [pirate] 5/deep sea pirate 6
Other Crew CN female dwarf bard [sea singer] 5 First Mate CN male human sorcerer 8 CN male human rogue 2 NE female half-orc barbarian 6 N male human rogue [knife master] 6 45 pirate cutthroats (CE human fighter 6)

EQUIPMENT

Armaments 6 light ballistae (port and starboard) with 200 light ballista bolts; 4 light catapults (fore and aft) with 50 light catapult stones and 10 alchemist’s fire canisters
Modifications ram, rapid-deploy sails, silk sails, 2 smuggling compartments
Cargo 4 points of plunder a 5-foot cubic space. If you are using the plunder rules (see the Pirate Campaign Compendium from Legendary Games for details on the plunder system), in general, two smuggling compartments are required to hold 1 point of plunder. A DC 20 Perception check is required to locate smuggling compartments in a search of the ship.

Requirements: Craft (ships) DC 19; Cost: 500 gp per 5-foot-square compartment

Sturdy Hull

The ship’s body has had additional supports and layers of wood added to it, making it thicker and more resilient.

Benefit: The hull’s hardness is increased by 2, but the ship’s cargo capacity is reduced by 10%.

Requirements: Craft (ships) DC 16; Cost: 10% of base ship cost.

Wooden Plating

For protection during naval combat, this ship has received additional wooden planks nailed to its hull.

Benefit: The hull’s hit points are increased by 5% and its hardness is increased by 2. However, this reduces cargo capacity by 10% as extra room must be made inside for beams to support the reinforcements. The ship’s tactical speed in ship-to-ship combat is not affected, but its waterborne speed is reduced by 10%.

Requirements: Craft (ships) DC 25; Cost: 20% of base ship cost.

Fleet Basics

A fleet consists of multiple ships organized under a single admiral. A fleet is made up of squadrons, each led by a commodore. Each individual ship in a fleet is crewed by a captain and her crew. For the sake of simplicity, all ships in a squadron should be of the same ship type, such as a longship, junk, sailing ship, or warship. Each squadron must have at least one ship, with a maximum number of ships equal to 3 + the commodore’s Charisma modifier.

Likewise, the fleet as a whole must have at least one squadron and can have a maximum number of squadrons equal to 3 + the admiral’s Charisma modifier. A character with a Charisma modifier of -3 or worse cannot serve as a commodore or admiral. If using rules such as Fame or Infamy for PCs in a nautical campaign, as described in the Pirate Campaign Compendium from Legendary Games, the PCs (or specific NPCs with a Fame or Infamy score) can use this score divided by 10 plus their chosen admiral’s Charisma modifier.

Command Bonus: Many rolls in fleet combat use a simple statistic for admirals or commodores called their Command Bonus, which has a base equal to +1 for every 5 ranks of Profession (sailor), with the caveat that sailors and soldiers recognize and respect experience and reputation as much as or more than academic knowledge of the seas and battle upon it. As a result, ranks of Profession (sailor) obtained through magical means, such as a headband of vast intellect, provide only half the normal LB. In addition, a commander’s Command Bonus is increased by 1 for each of the following that apply: base attack bonus +6, base attack bonus +11, base attack bonus +16, Charisma modifier +3 or greater, Intelligence, modifier +3 or greater, Wisdom modifier +3 or greater, 5 or more ranks in Knowledge (geography), 5 or more ranks in Survival, favored terrain (water), terrain mastery (water), terrain dominance (water), Leadership, or Skill Focus (Profession [sailor]). Ability modifiers that are magically enhanced provide this increase only if that bonus is permanent, such as through a magical headband.

A character with a class archetype or prestige class that is specifically focused on sailing and ships, such as a pirateUC rogue, buccaneer gunslinger, or deep sea piratePIS, gain an additional +1 bonus to their Command Bonus, increased to +2 if they have 10 or more levels in such a class. At the GM’s option, other feats or class features that are specifically relevant to ships and sailing, such as Expert Driver (water vehicles), may also add to a commodore’s Command Bonus. Class features that deal with water or aquatic creatures but not specifically with ships and sailing, such as a cleric with the Water domain or a shark shamanUM druid, do not generally affect a commodore’s Command Bonus unless the GM wishes it.

Command Checks: A Command Check is determined by rolling 1d20 and adding the Command Bonus, plus any other relevant modifiers based on flagship boons or other factors determined by the GM.

Part 6: Fleet Battles

Historically speaking, battles at sea were nearly as important as battles on land just because of the outsized importance that control of the waterways has always had on commerce, communication, and transport. Cities and fortifications sprang up around water both to take advantage of the natural barriers they provide but also to deny free passage to their rivals. Control of the waters, whether on rivers, lakes, or ocean sea-lanes, is a critically important element in a holistic view of warfare.

Naval engagements are a much closer approximation in a fantasy RPG to their real-world equivalents, with the primary anachronisms being the decision of whether to incorporate gunpowder weapons and how to integrate magical artillery alongside weapons powered by tension and torsion. More tellingly, of course, naval combat requires the integration of traditional ships under oar and sail and the crews and soldiers that inhabit their decks with savage sea monsters of every description. The presence of water-breathing sentient races and monsters also brings the realities of submarine warfare into play in an RPG campaign in an analogous way to the elevation of aerial combat through various elevation levels. A battle at sea may take place primarily at the surface, but it may be joined on multiple levels by battles in the heavens above and the deeps below.

For players and GMs who wish to integrate fleet battles and naval combat into a broader uniform system for building and managing kingdoms of their own, building up their militaries, and engaging in large-scale warfare. Ultimate War deals specifically with naval combat above and below the waves, integrating it with mass combat on land and in the air and with siege warfare; however, the rules presented there depend on the use for the other products in that line. While those rules are engaging and exciting in their own right, not all GMs and players want that level of detail. The fleet rules here occupy a middle space, between fully detailed military expeditions between rival nations using the kingdom-building and mass combat rules, but that are larger than a skirmish between just a few ships, which are best handled with the ship-to-ship combat rules in the previous section. If you want to be able to pull together a short series of fleet battles without a ton of prep time, these rules are for you.

Flagship: This lists the name of the fleet’s flagship.

Significant Characters and Boons: This lists the fleet’s significant characters, their location in the fleet, and the boons they provide to the fleet.

Squadrons

The second half of a fleet stat block lists the fleet’s individual squadrons. The entries below are repeated for each of the fleet’s squadrons. Some fleets may have all unique squadrons (this is likely to be the case for the PCs’ fleet) while others might simply have multiple essentially identical squadrons (as far as game statistics go).

Configuration: This lists the number and type of ships in the squadron.

Commodore: This lists the name of that squadron’s commodore, along with the commodore’s relevant modifiers.

Hits: The amount of damage a squadron can take before all its ships sink.

Morale: This lists the squadron’s morale score.

Fleets

A fleet is represented in text as a stat block, as follows: Name: This lists the fleet’s name.

XP: This lists the number of experience points earned by the PCs for defeating the fleet. Experience point awards for defeating a fleet should be tailored to match a CR roughly equal to the party’s average level at the time the battle took place. For particularly tough or easy battles, the GM can adjust this award upward or downward as she sees fit.

Admiral: This lists the name of the fleet’s admiral, followed by the admiral’s Charisma modifier, Profession (sailor) bonus, and Command Bonus.

Morale: Every squadron has a morale score ranging from 1 to a maximum of 10. When a squadron’s morale score drops to 0, that squadron mutinies and is lost.

Morale Check: This check is made during the rout phase of a fleet battle and requires rolling a d20 and adding the squadron’s morale check modifier. This check determines whether a squadron mutinies and is removed from play.

Round: A round consists of a battle phase and a rout phase. A single round of mass naval conflict generally accounts for 10 minutes of open warfare in game time.

Rout Phase: Period after a battle phase when each squadron must make a morale check to avoid mutiny.

Ship: A single ship in a fleet, which is commanded by a single captain.

Significant Character: A PC (in the case of a player fleet) or a named unique NPC (in the case of a GM-controlled fleet) whose presence in a fleet grants additional boons and bonuses.

Squadron: A number of similar ships commanded by a single commodore.

Sunken: When a ship sinks, it is removed entirely from a fleet. A new ship must be purchased or recruited to replace it. Survival of any characters on a sunken ship is subject to the GM’s discretion and how quickly and successfully the PCs undertake rescue attempts (in the case of a player fleet).

Building a Fleet

The point of these rules is not to create multiple small fleets under PC control, but rather to create one single large fleet—as such, any one party might only ever control a single fleet at a time in a typical nautical or pirate campaign, though if desired you could create a number of squadrons which might operate independently if the campaign demanded it. In this way, the heroes might fight a rival pirate lord’s fleet in one area of the campaign while their allies fought off an invading flotilla sent by a hostile nation or merchant consortium, with those squadrons.

Defense Value: This is the DC of any attack against the squadron in order to cause significant damage.

Attack Value: This modifier applies on attack rolls made by the squadron.

Damage: This lists the damage the squadron deals on a successful hit.

Morale Check: This lists the squadron’s morale check modifier.

Terminology

Listed below are key terms for describing fleet battles.

Admiral: Commander of a single fleet. An admiral influences a fleet’s morale score and determines the fleet’s maximum size.

Battle Phase: Period during which each squadron attacks the enemy fleet.

Captain: Commander of a single ship.

Commodore: Commander of a single squadron. A commodore primarily influences a squadron’s Attack Value and Defense Value.

Disabled: A ship that has taken an amount of damage equal to its hits is disabled. A disabled ship does not count toward its squadron’s damage rolls or the squadron’s number of hits. A ship that takes further damage while it is disabled sinks.

Flagship: The ship in a fleet on which that fleet’s admiral is located.

Fleet: A number of squadrons that are commanded by a single admiral.

Hits: Every ship in a squadron takes up a certain number of squares—this number represents the number of times the ship can be damaged during fleet combat before becoming disabled and is referred to as its hits. As long as the amount of damage a ship has taken does not equal its number of hits, the damage is automatically repaired at the end of the fleet battle. A squadron has a number of hits equal to the sum of its ships’ hits. The number of hits it takes to sink a ship and how much damage a squadron of ships of each type does in fleet combat is listed below.

Table 11: Ship Types

Ship Size	Damage	Hits/Ship	Ships
Boats	1d2	1	Raft, rowboat, ship’s boat
Small	1d3	2	Keelboat
Medium	1d4	3	Junk, longship, sailing ship
Large	1d6	4	Galley, warship

Creating a Squadron

A squadron consists of a number of individual ships, each commanded by a captain. The squadron (and its captains) are in turn commanded by a single commodore. A squadron can have no more ships than its commodore’s Charisma modifier + 3. Each squadron and its statistics is listed in its fleet’s stat block under a separate subheading.

Step 1—Name the Squadron: Record the squadron’s name at the top of the box—this name can be whatever you want.

Step 2—Determine the Configuration: Record the number of ships in the squadron, along with the type of ships in the squadron. Record how many hits each ship contributes to that squadron’s total hits. Ship type determines how many hits each ship contributes. All ships in a squadron must be the same type of ship. The types of ships available for use in a fleet are listed in the sidebar, including the hits for each ship of that type.

Step 3—Select Commodore: List the name of the squadron’s commodore, along with her Charisma modifier, Profession (sailor) skill modifier, and Command Bonus. An admiral can never serve as a commodore. If a commodore is also a significant character (either a PC or a significant named NPC), that squadron gains a +2 bonus on all attack rolls, damage rolls, and morale checks. (As a general rule, most NPC fleets should have 2–4 significant named NPCs serving as commodores.) recombining into a large fleet or trading squadrons between them for later actions. Generally speaking, much as a party of heroes tends to stick together during the course of an adventure rather than separating and pursuing their own subplots independently, so too should they stick together when running fleet battles. Regardless of how you organize fleets, use the following steps to get the fleet organized.

Step 1—Fleet Name, Home Port, and Flagship: The name the PCs choose for their fleet and the names of their home port and the fleet’s flagship have no effect on the fleet’s statistics—these are purely flavor elements.

Step 2—Select an Admiral: A fleet can have only one admiral. Whether this is a PC or an NPC ally is in large part irrelevant, but you should explain to the PCs that a fleet admiral should have a strong mental ability scores (especially Charisma) and should possess skills, talents, or knowledge about ships and the sea. Note that non-admiral PCs can still bolster a fleet by granting flagship boons (see Step 4). Record the admiral’s name and his or her command bonus on the sheet.

Step 3—Determine Maximum Squadrons: A single fleet can consist of a maximum number of squadrons equal to the party’s Infamy score divided by 10 (rounded down)— this initial value is increased or decreased by the admiral’s Charisma modifier. For NPC fleets, this maximum is 3 + the admiral’s Charisma modifier.

Step 4—Assign Significant Characters: Each fleet possesses a number of significant characters—either PCs (in the case of a player-controlled fleet) or unique, named NPCs (in the case of a GM-controlled fleet). Record the names of the significant characters here, as well as their location in the fleet (either on the fleet’s flagship, or in a squadron). If a significant character is an admiral, he must be located on the flagship—if a significant character is a commodore, she must be located in the squadron she commands. Finally, each significant character grants the fleet a boon—record that significant character’s boon here.

See Flagship Boons on below for more details.

Step 5—Begin Recruiting Squadrons: Each squadron recruited has its own statistics to go along with it, but if the PCs wish to build up their own squadrons from scratch, they can do that as well (although this is fantastically expensive—it’s generally faster and easier to recruit existing squadrons of allies or hired mercenaries).

Flagships and Significant Characters

A flagship is the ship on which the fleet’s admiral is located. A flagship moves around during a fleet battle, issuing orders and providing support as needed, but does not itself belong to a specific squadron. A flagship cannot be damaged or sunk during a fleet battle and is generally regarded as a prize or trophy of any conflict. See the Victory section for more details on the fate of a flagship once a fleet battle is resolved.

A flagship’s primary purpose in a fleet is to grant boons to the fleet. Boons are advantages granted by the fleet’s significant characters. For a party-controlled fleet, each PC counts as a significant character. A GM-controlled fleet’s significant characters are unique NPCs—a GM-controlled fleet generally has four significant characters.

A fleet gains one boon for each significant character who travels with the fleet. If the significant character associated with a particular boon is not present in the fleet (either because that character was elsewhere at the time of the battle or because that character’s squadron was destroyed), the fleet does not gain that boon.

Flagship Boons

Flagship boons must be chosen when the fleet is created, and once chosen, they cannot generally be changed. Adding a new significant character to the group allows a new boon to be selected, but otherwise, you must decommission the current flagship and place a new flagship in command of the fleet in order to be able to pick different boons.

Decommissioning a flagship in this way deals 1d4 points of damage to each squadron’s morale score—which can result in the need to replace squadrons if mutinies result from this morale damage. The available flagship boons are as follows. A boon cannot be taken more than once for a fleet unless otherwise noted.

Advanced Tactics: At the start of a battle phase, select a squadron. That squadron gains a +2 bonus to its Attack Value. Whenever that squadron deals damage during that battle phase, you can determine which enemy ships take the damage, rather than the damaged fleet doing so. Requirement: Significant character with at least 11 ranks each in at least 5 different skills, one of which must be Profession (sailor).

Step 4—Determine Hits: A squadron’s hits equals the number of ships in the squadron multiplied by the number of hits each ship contributes. For example, a squadron of five rafts would have only 5 hits (since a raft is only a 1-hit ship), whereas a squadron of five warships would have 20 hits (since a warship is a 4-hit ship). This number is temporarily reduced by disabled ships and permanently reduced by sunken ships.

Step 5—Determine Morale: Morale for each squadron fluctuates during a battle. A newly created or recruited squadron has a starting morale score of 3. A typical NPC fleet’s squadron has a starting morale score of 3 points. Inexperienced crews or sailors press-ganged or enslaved into service might have a lower starting morale of 2 or even 1, while veteran or elite crews might have a morale score of 4 or 5. If a squadron’s morale score is ever reduced to 0, the squadron mutinies and is lost—it cannot be “repaired” in this case and can only be replaced by a new squadron. A single squadron’s morale score can never be higher than 10.

Special: If using the Infamy rules in the Pirate Campaign Compendium from Legendary Games, a newly consigned squadron’s morale is equal to the party’s Infamy score divided by 10 (round down), with a minimum morale score of 1 and a maximum score of 10.

Step 6—Determine Defense Value: A squadron’s Defense Value (DV) is equal to 10 + the commodore’s Command Bonus, further increased by some flagship boons.

Step 7—Determine Attack Value: A squadron’s Attack Value is equal to its commodore’s Command Bonus, plus any relevant flagship boons. This value can be increased by flagship boons or the presence of a significant commodore.

Step 8—Determine Damage: A squadron’s base damage is determined by the size of the ships in the squadron, plus an additional point of damage per ship in the squadron. This damage can be further modified by flagship boons and the presence of significant commodores.

Step 9—Determine Morale Check: A squadron’s base morale check is equal to its commodore’s Charisma modifier, further modified by flagship boons and the presence of significant commodores. Each time that squadron has a ship become disabled, add +1 to its loss count. Each time a squadron has a ship sink, add +1 to its loss count. Each time an entire squadron is destroyed or mutinies, add +1 to each surviving squadron’s loss count. A squadron’s total morale check is equal to its base check minus its loss count.

Swift Repairs: At the end of a battle phase, roll 1d6. You may remove this amount of damage from any combination of non-sunken ships from any single squadron, including disabled ships. Requirement: Significant character capable of casting at least one 4th-level spell.

Swift to Battle: The admiral gains a +4 bonus on Command Bonus checks made to determine initiative. Requirement: None. Special: This boon may be taken multiple times—its effects stack.

Vengeance: The first time one of the fleet’s ships sinks in a battle phase, all allied squadrons become overwhelmed with a need for vengeance and gain a +2 bonus on attack rolls and morale checks for the rest of that battle phase. Requirement: None.

Defensive Tactics: At the start of a battle phase, select a squadron. That squadron gains a +2 bonus to its Defense Value for that battle phase. Requirement: None. Special: This boon may be taken multiple times. Each time it is taken, you may add a +2 bonus to a different squadron at the start of the battle phase. (This bonus does not stack if it is placed on the same squadron.)

Divine Protection: At the start of a battle phase, select a squadron in the fleet. That squadron takes 1 fewer point of damage than it normally would when attacked by a squadron in the other fleet. Requirement: Significant character with the channel positive energy class feature.

Special: This boon may be taken multiple times. Each time it is taken, it must be applied to a different squadron at the start of the battle phase. (This bonus does not stack if it is placed on the same squadron multiple times.)

Loyalty: Whenever you recruit a new squadron, all squadrons gain a +2 bonus on morale checks (this bonus does not stack if multiple squadrons are recruited). Requirement: Significant character with a Charisma score of 15 or higher.

Magical Artillery: All squadrons gain a +1 bonus on damage rolls and a +1 bonus on morale checks. Requirement: Significant character capable of casting at least one 6thlevel spell.

Overwhelming: The fleet’s maximum number of squadrons increases by 1. If this boon is lost, the squadron with the lowest morale (determined randomly if multiple squadrons have equally low morale) immediately mutinies. Requirement: Significant character with the Leadership feat. Special: This boon may be taken multiple times—its effects stack.

Reckless Maneuver: At the start of a battle phase, select a squadron in the fleet. That squadron gains a +4 to its Attack Value for that round, but these maneuvers leave it open to attacks. The selected squadron takes a –2 penalty to its Defense Value until it acts in the next battle phase. Requirement: None. Special: This boon may be taken multiple times. Each time it is taken, it must be applied to a different squadron at the start of the battle phase. (This bonus does not stack if it is placed on the same squadron multiple times.)

Remorseless Advance: At the start of a battle phase, select a squadron. That squadron gains a +2 bonus on attack rolls and damage rolls for the duration of that battle phase. Its morale increases by +1 at the start of the battle phase. Requirement: Significant character with a base attack bonus of +11 or higher.

Running Fleet Battles

A fleet battle begins as a result of two fleets encountering each other on the high seas. During a mass naval conflict, players do not draw upon their characters’ abilities—instead, they use their fleet’s squadrons to make attacks against the enemy, with their characters serving as commanders on the ships. A mass naval combat plays out over the course of multiple rounds, with each round consisting of a battle phase and a rout phase. At the start of a combat, place each fleet’s ships on the table as representations for the attack, using any tokens, miniature ships, or other similar markers you wish. For each squadron, place a number of appropriately sized ship counters on the table so that they are adjacent to each other. For ease of reference, you can use a card (of any kind) to indicate each squadron, with a number of counters on that card equal to the number of ships in the squadron. Alternately, a square of graph paper with the name of the squadron at its top and a number of rows marked to indicate the ships in the squadron, so that squares of the graph paper or tally marks can be used to indicate damage to the ships in battle (see below). Actual placement on the table is irrelevant as the placement of ships in the battle is purely abstract using these rules. The allocation of damage represents the ships maneuvering and shifting position during the battle.

Battle Phase

At the start of a battle phase, each fleet’s admiral makes a Command check to determine initiative. The admiral whose result is higher gains the upper hand in that battle phase, which grants all of his squadrons a +1 bonus on attack rolls. This Command check is repeated at the start of each battle phase. Each fleet then takes turns making attacks with their squadrons. The winner of the initiative roll gets to make the first attack, using any one of his squadrons. The other fleet then makes its first attack, using any one of its squadrons. Attacks with squadrons go back and forth during the battle phase until all squadrons able to attack have done so—a single squadron can only attack once per battle phase. If one fleet has more squadrons than the other, the additional squadrons attack at the end of the battle phase after the other fleet has used up all of its attacks for that round.

Attacking: When you attack with a squadron, pick one of the enemy fleet’s squadrons as your target. Roll 1d20 and add that squadron’s attack value. If the result equals or exceeds the enemy squadron’s Defense Value, you deal damage as appropriate for your squadron. If you miss, you still deal damage to the target squadron, though your base damage die is reduced by one size and you subtract 1 point and apply no other increases from any boon or effect. Hence, a squadron of 4 warships deals 1d6+4 hits to the target on a successful attack, 1d6 for its Large ship size plus 4 for the number of ships. On failed attack, it deals 1d4-1 points of damage (1d4 for smaller ship size, with no bonus for the number of ships and applying an additional -1). Small ships and boats deal no damage on attacks that fail to overcome the target squadron’s Defense Value. This damage is an abstract combination of siege weapons, ramming, spellcasting, missile fire, and even boarding actions against enemy crews.

Assigning Damage: The damaged fleet normally gets to assign its damage by marking (either by crossing out of by placing a marker such as a die, penny, or some other counter) the amount of damage on the targeted squadron. This damage doesn’t all have to be on the same ship—you can spread it out in any way you wish among all of the nonsunken ships in your squadron.

Critical Hits and Fumbles: A natural 20 on an attack roll always hits and allows you to assign damage to the enemy as you wish, rather than allowing the defender to allocate it (you do not deal double damage with a critical hit, though). A natural 1 always misses entirely (and results in no damage at all to the enemy fleet). Every time a squadron scores a critical hit, its morale score increases by 1; each time it rolls a fumble, its morale score decreases by 1.

Effects of Damage: Each point of damage reduces a squadron’s total hits. When a particular ship takes an amount of damage equal to its hits, it becomes disabled. A disabled ship does not count toward its squadron’s damage rolls when it attacks, and it increases that squadron’s loss count by +1. A ship that takes damage while it is disabled sinks and is removed entirely from the fleet, increasing that squadron’s loss count by an additional +1.

Losing a Squadron: Each time you lose an entire squadron (as a result of either damage or mutiny), increase the loss count for each surviving squadron by +1.

Abandoning Ship: For simplicity’s sake, you can assume that a commodore’s ship is the last to sink in any squadron. Note that not all characters on a sinking ship automatically perish. Typically, a ship sinks slowly enough that officers and crew can abandon ship, and there’s usually ship’s boats and other pieces of wreckage to grab onto. Once a battle is over, you can assume that any significant characters who were on a sinking ship survive, either by escaping in a boat, by clinging to flotsam, or by fleeing via magical means. The ultimate fate of a significant character on a sunken ship depends more on the results of the actual battle itself. If the imperiled character’s fleet wins, she can be rescued after the battle, but if her fleet loses, the best she may be able to look forward to is capture by the enemy—more often, such victims are merely left to perish via the countless methods the sea presents for death.

Special Rules

These fleet battle rules are intentionally abstract, so a great many special cases and unusual situations are not addressed in the interest of simplicity and playability.

However, if you wish to incorporate some additional rules, you can include the following.

Creatures as Ships: In most cases, you should use the ship-to-ship combat rules to deal with sea creatures attacking ships and vice versa. However, in an exotic scenario with large numbers of large aquatic creatures that were either intelligent enough to behave tactically or could be controlled by magic or other means, you could treat Huge or larger creatures as if they were ships, with each creature being able to take a number of hits equal to its hit points divided by 60 (rounding down; hence, creatures with fewer than 60 hit points should not be treated as ships). Squadrons made up of creatures with strong attack abilities, such as a dragon turtle’s breath weapon, are treated as if you had the magical artillery boon. You can assign other boons that fit the theme and abilities of such creatures, such as granting a squadron of krakens the advanced tactics boon due to both their high Intelligence and their magical abilities.

Rout Phase

A rout phase occurs after each battle phase. At this point, each surviving squadron must succeed at a DC 10 morale check by rolling 1d20 and adding its morale check modifier. Failure indicates that the squadron takes 1d4 points of damage to its morale score. A squadron whose morale score is reduced to 0 immediately mutinies and is removed from play. Mutinied squadrons that have fled can be brought back into the fleet later if the admiral of the fleet survives and can persuade them to rejoin.

Fleeing a Battle: At the end of a rout phase, an admiral can attempt to flee the battle entirely. When he does so, the other fleet immediately gets one free attack using any one of its squadrons and can target any one of the fleeing fleet’s squadrons. The fleeing admiral makes Command check with a –4 penalty, opposed by the other admiral’s Command check. If the fleeing admiral’s check result is higher, his fleet escapes; otherwise, every squadron in the fleeing admiral’s fleet takes 1 point of morale damage and the battle continues into a new round.

Victory

A fleet wins a battle once all of the enemy’s ships are removed from play, either by disabling or sinking all the ships in play or by causing squadrons to mutiny and flee. When victory is secured, the enemy fleet’s flagship is rendered defenseless, allowing the victors to board the flagship at once.

PC Defeat: If the PCs are defeated, the repercussions of that defeat depend on the course of the adventure you wish to create. In general, the enemy captures the PCs’ flagship and seeks to take them captive or execute them. Allies or NPCs on their crew are considered to have surrendered or been overcome by their enemies and defeated in combat. You could play out a boarding action on board the PCs’ flagship, assuming that PCs have taken 1d6 x 10% of their hit points in damage throughout the course of the battle. If the PCs surrender or escape before their fleet is destroyed, every squadron in their fleet takes 1d8 points of damage to its morale score, in most cases causing their fleet to disband. Squadrons that do not mutiny may keep fighting even without the PCs in command or may flee and seek shelter with allies remaining loyal to the PCs (and perhaps even trying to recruit other mutinied crews to reform the fleet and seek to effect a ransom or rescue).

PC Victory: If the PCs win the battle, they capture the enemy flagship. In most cases, the fleet’s commanders refuse to go down without a fight. At this point, the PCs resolve the conflict by engaging in shipboard combat against the enemy, but because of their recent triumph, all PCs and their allies gain a +2 bonus on attack rolls, skill checks, and saving throws made during this shipboard combat.

Each surviving squadron gains 1d4 points of morale with a fleet victory, minus 1 point for every ship in that squadron that was sunk during battle (minimum 0 morale gain). After a battle, any damage to non-disabled ships are repaired at the rate of 1 hit per hour as the crew works to recover from the battle. disabled ships must be towed back to a harbor or beached on shore for repairs (unless the fleet has the Swift Repairs boon). A disabled ship is reduced to 5% of its total hit points. Sunken ships and ships that fled a battle after their squadron was reduced to 0 morale cannot be repaired—they must be replaced.

Shore Fortifications: Fleet combat assumes an engagement on the high seas, but if one fleet is defending a port, you could allow a portion of the fleet to remain sheltered within the harbor. Possession of the harbor could grant one squadron the benefits of the defensive tactics or swift repairs boon (or even both, for a dedicated naval base). A squadron in the harbor, however, may be either unable to attack or may have disadvantage on Command rolls made to attack. In addition, for a battle near shore you could designate shore fortifications as a special type of squadron. Wooden forts can take 2 hits (with a +1 bonus to DV), while stone forts can take 6 hits (with a +3 bonus to DV). Forts may be purely defensive, offering shelter and forcing their destruction before the harbor or city they protect can be attacked directly. However, most shore forts are armed with siege weapons and soldiers. Still, their range is limited and they are unable to move, so a short fort squadron cannot attack a squadron of ships unless that squadron attacks the forts first, indicating that they have come close enough that the forts can return fire.

Time: The amount of time each turn of a fleet battle takes is abstract, but if tracking time is important due to other events occurring at the same time, including a fleet action going on in the background so to speak while PCs are adventuring nearby, each turn (including both rout and battle phase) can be treated as taking 1d4 hours.

Wind and Weather: The effects of high winds or severe weather generally are not addressed by these rules either, as they are assumed to affect both fleets equally. If that is not the case and such conditions offer an advantage to one side or the other, you may add a +2 bonus on Command checks to determine initiative during a battle phase, and an additional +1 bonus on Command checks made to attack. In addition, in conditions of fog, darkness, or heavy weather that similarly obscures vision, attack rolls take a -2 penalty for dim light, light fog, or typical rain and heavy weather, increased to -4 in total darkness, heavy fog, or severe weather, and any attack has a 50% chance to miss entirely, dealing no damage. The above penalties apply instead as a bonus on Command checks made to flee from battle.

In stormy conditions, you may require commodores to make Profession (sailor) checks for their squadrons at the end of each rout phase, with a DC set by the severity of conditions. A failed check results in 1d3 hits of damage to their squadron. This damage may be increased if there are reefs or shoals, and if land or a harbor is nearby ships retreating from battle may be able to take shelter or beach themselves to avoid damage or potential sinking.