The seas and rivers of adventure offer opportunities for trade, exploration, piracy, and warfare. This section provides guidelines for handling ships and naval engagements in an era reliant on sail, oar, and rudimentary siege engines.
Ship Statistics
Vessels are defined by a unique set of statistics, distinct from characters or creatures. GMs can create specific ship stats or use the examples below as archetypes.
- Type: The name and general class of the vessel (e.g., Rowboat, Longship, Cog, Galley).
- Hull Integrity (HI): Represents the ship’s overall structural resilience. It tracks accumulated damage from impacts, breaches, and stress. Its value is typically calculated based on the ship’s length and purpose: 2 HI per foot of length for civilian vessels and 3 HI per foot of length for warships (GM may adjust). When HI reaches 0, the ship is typically crippled, sinking, or breaking apart.
- Material Soak: A flat damage reduction value based on the hull’s construction (usually wood). Subtract this from incoming physical damage before reducing HI. (Consistent with object damage rules).
- Movement (Tac/Ovl): Tactical speed in feet per round (ft/rd) for combat/maneuvering (varies for Sail vs. Oar). Overland speed in miles per day (miles/day) for long-distance travel. Sail speed is wind-dependent.
- Maneuverability: A rating (e.g., Poor, Average, Good) indicating ease of turning/handling. Affects the difficulty of Piloting (Sea) or Navigation checks for complex maneuvers.
- Crew: Min crew for basic operation / Max individuals (crew + passengers/troops).
- Cargo Capacity: Approximate cargo amount in tons.
- Armaments: Built-in weapons (Ram) or emplacements for siege engines/archers.
Example Ship Archetypes
(Using HI Formula: Rowboat 15ft, Longship 75ft, Cog 80ft, Galley 120ft)
- Rowboat (Civilian): HI: 30 | Soak: 3 | Move (Oar): 15 ft/rd / 5 miles/day | Maneuver: Good | Crew: 1/4 | Cargo: 0.2 tons | Armaments: None.
- Longship (Warship): HI: 225 | Soak: 5 | Move (Sail/Oar): 40/30 ft/rd / 40 miles/day | Maneuver: Good | Crew: 15/60 | Cargo: 5 tons | Armaments: None (troop platform).
- Cog (Civilian): HI: 160 | Soak: 5 | Move (Sail): 35 ft/rd / 35 miles/day | Maneuver: Poor | Crew: 8/20 | Cargo: 50 tons | Armaments: Usually none.
- Galley (Warship): HI: 360 | Soak: 5 | Move (Sail/Oar): 30/40 ft/rd / 30 miles/day | Maneuver: Average | Crew: 50/150 (many rowers) | Cargo: 10 tons | Armaments: Ram, Forecastle/Aftcastle, potential siege engine mounts.
Ship Movement (Tactical)
Maneuvering ships in combat requires skill and understanding the elements.
- Speed: Use the ship’s tactical movement rate (ft/rd).
- Wind Power (Sailing Ships): GM determines wind direction/strength (Calm, Light, Moderate, Strong).
- Tailwind (With the Wind): Full listed sail speed.
- Crosswind (Across the Wind): Roughly half sail speed. Piloting (Sea)/Navigation checks may be needed to avoid leeway.
- Headwind (Against the Wind): Minimal/no speed from sails; relies on oars or tacking (complex maneuver).
- Calm: No movement from sails.
- Oar Power: Consistent speed based on rowers (GM determines base, reduced if rowers incapacitated). Allows movement against wind or in calm. Oars are vulnerable.
- Piloting & Maneuvering: The ship’s pilot uses the Piloting (Sea) skill for direct handling and maneuvering. The captain or navigator might use Navigation for course plotting or instructing the pilot. Checks are made to perform maneuvers like turning, avoiding hazards, or positioning. A ship’s Maneuverability rating affects the difficulty of these checks (e.g., Poor imposes -10%, Good grants +10%).
- Turning: Most ships cannot turn sharply, costing movement and often requiring forward motion first.
- Inertia: Ships have momentum; they don’t start/stop instantly. Rapid deceleration usually requires special actions.
Naval Combat
Engagements involve ranged attacks, ramming, and boarding.
- Initiative: Typically determined by the Quickness of the ship’s pilot or captain. Ship actions occur on this count.
- Attacking Ships:
- Hull: Standard target. Damage reduces HI after Material Soak.
- Specific Components: Target via Threading the Needle rules (p. XX) with GM-set penalties (e.g., Sails/Rigging: -20%; Oars: -20%; Rudder: -30%+). Damage can impair Movement/Maneuverability.
- Siege Weapons: Typically use the Engineering skill to fire (see Siege Combat section, p. XX).
- Ramming: Requires a successful Piloting (Sea) check by the attacker, potentially contested by the target pilot’s Piloting (Sea) or Dodge (using ship’s Maneuverability). Success deals significant damage (e.g., 5d10-15d10 based on size/speed), potentially critical. Ramming ship takes half damage.
- Damage to Ships: Reduce physical damage by Material Soak, then apply to HI.
- Below 50% Max HI: Significantly damaged. -10% on Piloting (Sea)/Navigation checks for complex maneuvers; possible speed reduction. Visible damage.
- Below 25% Max HI: Severely compromised. Penalties increase (e.g., -20% checks). Significant hits risk Critical Damage (GM chooses: Mast Snaps, Rudder Jammed, Major Hull Breach [ongoing HI loss until Crafting repair], Spreading Fire, Crew Panic [Command checks]).
- 0 HI or Less: Catastrophic failure (crippled, sinking, breaking apart).
- Targeting Crew: Attacks can target visible individuals, who may benefit from Cover (-10% to -20%). Volleys might target a “deck section.”
Boarding Actions
Bringing ships together for hand-to-hand combat.
- Closing: Pilots make contested Piloting (Sea) checks to bring ships alongside.
- Grappling: Use Athletics or Ranged Combat checks (difficulty by range/sea state) to throw grappling hooks. Multiple successes usually needed. Enemy crew can attack lines (vs. rope’s SI/Soak).
- Crossing: May require Athletics or Acrobatics checks (Easy to Challenging difficulty based on sea state/gangplanks).
- Deck Fighting: Standard Alacrity combat rules. GM may impose penalties for unstable footing (characters with Sea Legs ability ignore this).
Crew Roles & Actions
Key roles rely on skills:
- Captain: Uses Command (direct crew, rally morale).
- Pilot/Helmsman: Uses Piloting (Sea) (maneuvering the ship).
- Navigator: Uses Navigation (course plotting, advising pilot).
- Sail Master (Sailing Ships): May use Piloting (Sea), Navigation, or Lore: Sea (optimal sail trim).
- Bosun/Lead Rower (Galleys): Uses Command (coordinate rowers).
- Siege Engineers: Use Engineering (operate siege weapons).
- Lookouts: Use Perception/Vigilance.
- Marines/Boarders: Use standard combat skills.
- Carpenters: Use Crafting (Carpentry) (damage control/repairs).
Environmental Factors
Wind, waves, currents, fog, rain, and hazards (reefs, sandbars) heavily influence naval actions, affecting Movement, Maneuverability, visibility (skill check difficulties), and potentially causing direct damage. GM uses Difficulty Ladder and descriptive consequences.
GM Note: Naval Combat – Scaling the Complexity
The naval travel and combat rules in this chapter provide a framework for detailed ship-to-ship engagements, including vessel statistics, ramming, and specific damage effects on ships. While this can create exciting and tactical scenarios, it also introduces a layer of mechanical complexity that might not be desired for every encounter, especially by novice GMs or players, or when a faster-paced scene is preferred.
Keeping it Simple: Ships as Dynamic Terrain
For many encounters involving vessels, you don’t need to engage the full ship combat system to capture the flavor of a naval battle. Consider these simpler alternatives:
- Focus on Character Actions: Treat the ships primarily as moving platforms or dynamic terrain. Characters can use their standard skills to engage opponents on another vessel.
- Use Ranged Combat for characters firing bows, crossbows, or throwing weapons across the water.
- Characters with Magic can target foes or areas on the other ship with their Effects.
- Apply Standard Rules:
- Range: Utilize the normal rules for weapon and effect ranges (Short, Medium, Long) and any associated modifiers. The distance between ships becomes a key tactical element.
- Cover: Ship railings, masts, cargo, or even other crew members can provide cover for characters, imposing penalties on attackers as per the standard cover rules.
- Movement & Positioning: While the ships themselves might be maneuvered narratively by the GM (or with a simple opposed Piloting (Sea) or Navigation check if a contest is needed to get closer), character movement on deck, or attempts to cross between ships (via ropes, planks, or daring leaps with Athletics/Acrobatics), can be handled with standard action and skill rules.
- Narrate Ship Damage (Optional): If ships take significant incidental damage (e.g., from a powerful magical effect or a lucky siege weapon hit if you’re abstracting larger weapons), you can narrate the consequences (ship listing, speed reduced, a fire starting) without meticulously tracking Hull Integrity, unless the destruction of a ship is a central goal.
Benefits of the Simpler Approach:
- Faster Pacing: Keeps the action moving quickly, focusing on player character abilities.
- Reduced Complexity: Easier for GMs and players to manage, especially if new to vehicular combat.
- Maintains Flavor: You can still have thrilling battles on the water, with characters swinging across to enemy decks or exchanging volleys, without needing to manage ship-specific stats in detail.
The full naval combat rules are there for when you want a more in-depth, tactical engagement where the ships themselves are key players. For other situations, feel free to simplify and use the core Alacrity mechanics to keep the focus on fluid storytelling and character action. Choose the approach that best suits the encounter and your group’s play style.
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File Created: 05/06/2025 Last Modified: 05/06/2025