I Figured Out Ship Combat in D&D and Here's How!
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- Опубликовано: 10 фев 2025
- If you need epic ship battles for your D&D adventure, you found it! All a part of Kraken Week! @pointyhatstudios @GinnyDi
Ship Combat PDF: acrobat.adobe....
Ships PDF:
acrobat.adobe....
Music and Sound Effects from Epidemic Sound
I’ve been looking for good ship rules.
This is amazing
Thank you! I’ve put some time into it so I’m stoked you like it! 😁
3:55 for the actual rules to start.
funny how Kraken Week happens the week before i attempt to dm my first ocean adventure!! thanks for this :)
Enjoy!
I'll test out your ship mechanics. My campaign is on the coast currently. I appreciate the video and your efforts.
Sweet! Haha I’m just a little nervous. I appreciate your willingness to try it! I’m open to all constructive criticism.
For good ship combat conside rules from Mongoose Traveller 2nd Edition. It has rules similar to what you are taling about, pilots fly during combat, gunners shoot at enemies, engineers can divert power to systems, sensor operators deal with electronic warfare. Those would theoretically transition to a sea based combat with a little tweaking.
The very best part of Kraken week is finding new channels! Great ideas, can't wait to try them at the table!
Thank you! Have fun with it! 😁
The players could use a action or a bonus action (player’s choice) to shout orders for npc crew members but they make the roll. That way players can act as normal and interact with the naval combat aspect at the same time without having to choose one or the other. Imagine spending your whole turn just to take aim basically using true strike
Ah yes. I suppose I should clarify, and I’ll need to make this edit in the document as well; the take aim order in and of itself would be a buff, and then the players who are already operating a ship weapon would use their action that round to make a ship weapon attack against the specific area Take Aim is aiming for.
I also like the idea of using NPC crew members to carry out specific orders. Especially if most players are acting freely. NPC ships can replace one of their regular actions on their turn with an order from the same list of orders, so a ship with player characters on board could do the same.
I was sent by the point hat. May his hat pont never dull. I'm also here to escape election news.
Haha welcome!
Dude, oh my gosh! I can’t wait to dive into this more! I have loved watching your channel develop and gain traction as you have refined it. All your hard work shows!
Thanks man! I really pulled out all the stops on this one haha! I hope to replicate its authenticity moving forward.
I’m doing a pirate adventure in the world of critical role’s Wild Mount so this is a perfect video for me to learn ship mechanics for the first time
Good luck! Have fun with it!
Thank you so much for sharing your system.
You are very welcome!
Strength, Dexterity, Constitution, Charisma, Intelligence, Wisdom, You are all covered dude. You know? Maybe I'll do a bunch of adventures and publish them. I've done ocean battles before, not hard. I'm writing a Weather encounter table set right now for my current works. Much more difficult, it can spur weather events such as a mud-slide adventure. Sorry, I wondered.
Haha thanks!
Dude, awesome video! You went so in depth with the rules, that I am going to have to implement it in my next game. I might even build a whole campaign with that supplement you’re making when it comes out. Great job!
That sounds awesome man! For sure I’ll keep things posted about the supplement!
Great stuff! thanks for all your work on these ship combat rules and stat blocks. Well done.
Thank you so much! I hope you enjoy using them!
I LOVE the idea of a capture the flag option for ship to ship combat.
WE MUST PROTECT THIS MAAST!
WE MUST PROTECT THIS MAAAAASST!
I’m super stoked you like it! It can make for some really fun sessions!
I'm definitely going to try this. I'm starting Ghosts of Saltmarsh with my friends this Friday and it's my first time DMing and it's everyone but I's first time playing 😅
That’s so exciting! You’ll have a blast!
I've run the main campaign twice, am currently running an open world game based around Saltmarsh, and my very first D&D experience was the AD&D Sinister Secret of Saltmarsh, you'll have fun.
If you would like some advice (if not, feel free to disregard), the Ghosts of Saltmarsh book does 2 different things. It's part campaign/loose collection of adventures which are kind of nautical themed, but, as mentioned in the video, there's not a ton of ship to ship combat in the main guts of the book. It's also part setting and DMG supplement for all things water. It contains so many random hooks and side quests in Saltmarsh itself with the politics, but also the appendices are the meat of nautical rules, one shot dungeons, ships, nautical rules (including their own semi-order based system and roles on the ship), random island generation, etc. And none of that has any reason to ever show up in the main campaign unless the DM intentionally adds it. Have fun with it, most of the book is only lightly tied together except for 3 adventures.
Love the actions you have in your rule set! I am running a pirate themed campaign and when we played in person I used the x-wing miniatures game as a basis for ship movement and combat. If you play tabletop it's definitely something to look into but I haven't found a good way to do it online yet. But I will definitely be incorporating these rules in my own game!
Thank you! I hope you have a good time!
Your crewmates are adorable!
Haha thanks!
This is fantastic! I've shied away from sea battles and ship combat for the most part because it didn't feel rewarding as a battlefield to my players- but the focus on team thinking and keeping things dynamic is exciting!
Thank you! And enjoy!
This goes so hard. Not sure when I'll get the chance to run ship battles to playtest this but I'm already looking forward to it.
I’m excited that you’re excited haha!
You have a new subscriber! this is so cool!
Actually, dropping anchor in open sea should also stop the ship. It's called a sea anchor. Imagine a canvas parachute on 50 ft of hawser, tied off to the ship. Any actual seaman on board would know the ship is on open ocean and would know which to use, normal anchor or sea anchor.
Ah! You learn something new every day
Great stuff , new subscriber. I think its good reference for developing my own rules.
This is truly amazing I will download and review and use in my next ship to ship event. I have been using the DC20 4AP system I really feel like this will help your rules a ton.
Have fun!
Such a great video!
I am wanting to play a game now with ships and sea monsters!!
I too often look straight up in the middle of swashbucklin' to make sure the flag's still there. Otherwise, I might get too bummed out to fight :C
Haha, did I mention it’s in early development? Lol. 😂
I started my PC's on a schooner in the ocean fighting a giant octopus. Does that count?
As much as any other lol
Nice ideas ands good video, but great caps!
Thank you!!!
4:15 "players are all abord the same vehicle and have to work together to work together to engage the enemy ship...Each player gets a chance to issue an order, that way they all get a chance to participate equally."
In my experience with naval combat in D&D as a player, I have used a mechanic like this, and I absolutely hate this. It is boring. I will not show up for this session and I will tell you why.
Imagine sharing control of one PC with multiple players. Ew. You could also like this to playing a one-player game where everyone gets control of some buttons, and on your turn, you either push your button or you don't. For example, Mario Bros. One person gets the d-pad. One person gets the run button. One person gets the jump button. Are you really playing Mario Bros at this point? It would make more sense to pass the controller to the next person whenever you die or beat a level. This way, everyone gets to participate, and on their turn, they have agency.
Just narrate what happens from round to round until we get within boarding range and melee can begin. Maybe let players coordinate what the ship does via minimal discussion, then narrate. Example "we want to keep fleeing / pursuing" or "we want to move into artillery range."
Alternatively, there are RPGs with a Pilot skill. The PC who is piloting the vehicle gets to control the vehicle. Everyone else sits back and watches, and maybe tries to do something cleaver with magic or gadgets or whatever. The game tends to go by pretty quick when it's one on one (DM and one PC) like this, and all the characters can get involved in a way that feels more meaningful sooner.
Alternatively, give everyone a ship, equivalent to a fighter jet, and the main ship is the battleship. That way they all get autonomy on their turns piloting their individual craft.
Yeah you can do what you want.
What I really am missing is a system for naval battles and ships that are set in the middle ages and not in early modern times. Brigantines etc sound so 17th century and I usually play more in the equivalent of 9th to 12th century. unfortunately there really is not much around for that time. This is not a criticism of your work, mind you. But fantasy settings have unfortunately developed further and further into modern times. A long way from the old myths and legends that I love.
the base mechanics are simple, no one can attack alone, everyone has a post to man, so the mage cant stand on th side and fling fireballs at the enemy ship... it sucks, cause wizards stole it from homebrew im sure haha, but i tried running as stated in the books and its eh, so i ended up just giving them all a seafaring check, their group roll goes against the enemy ships roll and who ever wins boards the other and we go into battle map instead of travel map lol, hope this one its better.
note in base game all ship weapons requires more then one person, for the giant ballista and catabolt one loads, one aims, one fires, which is trash action economy. to explain the reason mages cant solo cast spells off the side, lore wise all ships are made with magic ruins to protect against spells... simple...
i also added a bunch new ships and weapons and armors and what not, for example an artificers mechanic loading arm crane can grapple an enemy ship lol, oars can add a speed boost, secondary rutors to incase the main gets busted so they dont get crippled out right, even ramming plates, and goblin launchers of course haha
I mean, with one of the Orders is Act Freely, so mages can fling all the spells they want. A smart captain would realize magic users operate best in a sea battle if they can use spells, so I designed these with that in mind. I hope you find it better as well!
@@PaddyCapDice oh for sure, sounds like good fleshed out mechanics, very close to the base, but better details. i edited it some btw lol i do that ill edit and add bits as i watch. i have a pdf with the ships and weapons over on homebrewery its not bad, could use some more work tho, its based on an old 3.5e estate mechanic for upgrading castles lol
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