Ship to ship combat

You have seen a ship you wish to close with, or another ship has seen you

• Spot a ship on the horizon and give chase. Ship’s Pilot makes a Seamanship Roll, Vs the Seamanship of the target ship’s captain. Best of three.
  • Target Ship is slower than you – you catch up, unless you lose all three rolls..
  • Target Ship is same speed as you. If you win, you catch the other vessel. If you lose, they escape.
  • Target Ship is faster than you – they escape unless you win all three rolls.
  • Target ship decides to close as well. Automatic catch.
• Unordered List ItemEscape from a vessel chasing you. The same rules, in reverse, if you are trying to escape from another vessel.

As the ships close, you shoot at each other.

• Siege engines – each siege engine gets three attack rolls as you close. You can choose to target Sails, Oars, Structure or Tiller. Do enough damage and the opposing ship will not be able to manoeuvre or escape.
  • Ballistae
  • Light – 3d8:19-20/X2
  • Heavy - 4d8:19-20/X2
• Catapults – Catapults target an area.
  • Light – 4d6 /x2 (Min range 50ft)
  • Standard – 6d6 /x2 (Min range 100 ft)
• Personal Missile weapons – bows, crossbows only. 2 attacks as you close
• Crew – each excess crew member (after minimum sailing crew and siege engine crew) roll to attack. Each natural 20 disables a member of the opposite crew.
• Officers – if an officer is not taking a sailing, crew or siege engine roll – officers may target individuals on the opposing ship with spells of missile weapons. One attack at 150ft, 90ft and 30ft. Check your spell ranges.

Three opposed Profession(Sailor) rolls. If you win two, you can grapple and board. Win all three and you can choose to shear or ram, if you want to. Both give you automatic grapples. If you lose, your opponents get the action, they might break away, shoot at you, or even escape.

• Shear - used against a vessel with oars, damages the oars and limits movement. BUT it only works against a ship with oars.
• Ram – damages the ships structure - BUT you need to do a lot of damage to sink it.

Once you are aboard the opposing vessel, it is normal melee combat. PCs take on the captain and officers. The Petty Officers lead the crew in their attempts to secure the ship. If you win – the crew win.

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.

This list might be easier to read on this web page

• 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. 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 (see page 16).
• 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 (see page 14).
• 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.
• Mage’s 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 on-board 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.