My Maritime Fantasy

A collection of houserules and tables for maritime adventures.

Updated 4/8 2020

-Not happy with the current sailing rules, so I'm sticking with Skerple's rules for now, any exceptions listed below.

Ship List

Name	Ship Hit Dice		Minimum Crew	Speed Die		Price (in silver pieces)
Raft	1		1	d4		5
Canoe	1		1	d4		30
Lifeboat	1		1	d4		100
Trireme	6		170	d6		10,000
Quadrireme	9		170	d6		50,000
Longship	3		75	d6		30,000
River Galley	3		20	d6		8,000
Riverboat	2		16	d6		2,000
Sailboat	2		1	d6		12,000
Cog	5		20	d8		15,000
Caravel	6		35	d10		39,000
Carrack	9		82	d8		48,000
Galleon	10		150	d8		60,000
Cutter	7		20	d10		45,000
Brigantine	10		45	d10		90,000
Corvette	11		84	d12		135,000
Frigate	15		84	d10		180,000

Ship Stats
Ships have Ship Hit Dice (SHD) and Ship Hit Points (SHP). 1 Ship Hit Point is equal to 10 character-scale Hit Points. Any attack which does less than 10 Hit Points of damage does not cause the loss of a Ship Hit Point. If a vessel is damaged to 0 or fewer Ship Hit Points, it will no longer move and the ship’s weapons will no longer function. The ship will sink within d10 rounds.

Cargo Slots

A ship can carry a number of item slots equal to its Hit Dice. A slot is equal to about 500 kg or 500 coins of treasure.

Speed Dice
A ship’s speed is expressed as a die type (d4-d12). This is important for maneuver rolls in ship-to-ship combat.

Crew
Each vessel listed above need a minimum number of crew members in order to travel at full speed.

• If there is less than a full crew, but more than three-quarters of the full crew, the ship’s captain must decide between reducing the ship's speed dice by one or let the ship take 1d6 SHP in damage. 
• If there is less than three-quarters crew, but more than one-half of the full crew, a ship’s speed dice is reduced by one and the ship takes 1d6 SHP in damage. 
• If there is less than one-half crew, but more than one-quarter of the full crew, a ship’s speed dice is reduced by two and the ship takes 1d6 SHP in damage.  
• If there is less than one-quarter of the full crew, then the ship cannot be controlled. It drifts as decided by the Referee and the ship takes 1d6 SHP in damage.

Wages and Shares (paid daily)

Sailor: 2 sp.

Sailor, Captain: 8 sp. A proper sea captain is necessary to organize and
command a ship’s crew, else the crew’s Morale drops by one.
Sailor, Navigator: 3 sp.
Sailor, Oarsman: 1 sp. If a vessel an oared ship and not a sailing ship, oarsmen
can instead be employed. Other than their pay,oarsmen are essentially the same as sailors.

When the ship docks at a port, add up the total amount of days travelled and pay the wages accordingly. Failure to do so may result in the crew revolting.

Artillery
Each “size category” of artillery costs 250 sp and counts as one encumbrance slot. If artillery hits, it does 1d6 Ship Hit Points (or 1d6 × 10 regular Hit Points) of damage per size category. One crew member dies for every 25 points of damage, rounding up. Artillery can only be fired once per round per size category of the piece.

Name
1. Falcon.
2. Minion.
3. Saker.
4. Demi Culverin.
5. Culverin.
6. Split Cannon.
7. Demi Cannon.
8. Cannon.

Ammunition

Each shot takes up one cargo slot. After a battle where a type of ammunition were used at least once, there is a 50 % chance of losing that shot.

Cannon Balls with Charge 50 sp

Special Ammunition

Grape Shot 50 sp.

Grape shot may be used to sweep the decks. This reduces damage by 50 %, which is then split between the vessel and the crew.

Chain Shot 50 sp.

Fired to dismast ships, chain shot is penalized by -2 to the to-hit roll due to the tumbling nature of its flight. Each successful hit reduces the speed die of the targeted ship by one. If the speed dice is reduced to 0, the ship can no longer sail and will drift randomly on the seas.

Fire Bomb. 50 sp.

Fire Bombs consist of a metal shell filled with flammable substances, such as pitch or turpentine. They cause 50 % less damage as the projectile is softer, but has a high chance of starting a fire (1-2 on a 1d6 per hit)

Supplies
I assume that the ship has enough supplies to go around, unless an event happens that changes that.

Repairing Damage

It takes a half of a crew’s complement a full day to repair 1 SHP while a full complement of crew can repair 2 SHP in a full day.

As long as the ship never loses more than half of its SHP, all damage may be repaired. If the ship takes more than half its shp in damage, then the ship can not be repaired to more than half its original SHP without being in a proper port. If the ship goes below 25% of its original shp, then the ship can not be repaired to more than 25% its original shp without being in a proper port.  Spending a cargo slot of Wood restores 1d6 SHP.

Ship Repairs in Port Prices

Repairment costs in a port town is 20 sp per lost SHP.

Restoring a lowered speed dice: 100 sp per jump upwards.

New rudder: 50 sp

Combat Resolution
When hostile ships or creatures are encountered each party involved makes a Maneuver Roll (1d20+the ship's speed die). The creature or vessel with the highest Maneuver Roll total chooses one of the following actions for the round:

• Close. You can choose to Board or Ram if you win the maneuver roll next round.  
• Board. Can only be chosen if you Closed or Rammed in the previous round. Your vessel comes within boarding range of the target ship. Shift to standard combat.
• Escape. Can only be chosen if you Withdrew in the previous round. Your ship escapes from combat.  
• Fire. Fire your cannons. 1d20+Ship's Hit Dice/shooter's level (whichever is higher) versus an AC equal to Chain.
• Double Loading. By reducing your ship's ammunition dice by one and attacking with disadvantage, you will deal double damage if you hit.
• Ram. Can only be chosen if you Closed in the previous round. Inflict 1d8 damage on the target ship for each SHD your ship has. Your ship suffers 1d6 damage for each SHD the target ship has (1d4 if your ship has a ram). Sea Creatures use this action to make an attack using whatever natural weaponry they have. 
• Withdraw. You can choose to Escape if you win the maneuver roll next round. If you are Grappled, remove one grappling hook instead. After the action is resolved, all parties make another maneuver roll and continue until the combat is resolved.
• Grapple. If Closed in the previous round, make a ranged attack roll using the thrower's stats, against Chain. If successful, you manage to anchor one grappling hook to the ship, preventing it from moving freely.