Abstract Ship Combat (Apath)
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This is a variant of the the Ship Combat rules from the Skull & Shackles Player's Guide. and Apath Ship Combat rules that does not use a map and is played entirely with pen and paper.
Introduction
These rules are designed for two ships or small fleets of ships, where one side tries to intercept and the other tries to escape. The interceptor is called the hunter, the ship trying to escape is called the prey.
Ranges
Ship combat happens at different ranges, and depending on the range it works quite differently. The approximate distance between ships, the available maneuvers, and the length of each turn depends on the range. Range can change quite often, making it quite hard to keep track of time in abstract ship combat.
Chases always begin at the horizon. At this distance, turns are in watches of 4 hours - the period sailors regularly work between rest periods. Ships are specks on the horizon, at first only visible from the mast top. Even a small obstruction, such as heat haze, can hide a ship at this range.
Distant range is still way too far for combat, but by now ships have a good opportunity to study each other. Hulls are visible, revealing a lot of significant detail about the other ship. Flags are displayed at this range if not earlier; a ship refusing to show the flag at this range can be presumed to be hostile.
Long range is where the first spells and long-range weapon fire becomes possible. The time scale abruptly changes to rounds - which is an abstraction, but works well with rate of fire and other such limitations.
Medium range is where weapons and spells become really effective and ship combat can start in earnest. Aligning siege weapons at this rage is still a problem, but but spells and normal missile weapons can always fire.
Close range is just beyond boarding, point-blank range for spells and missile weapons. Even siege engines can always fire now.
| Range | Distance | Time | Tactics | Maneuvers |
| Horizon | 15 miles (25 km) | 4 hours | Evade | Cat & Mouse, Outmaneuver , Race |
| Distant | 1 miles (2 km) | 4 hours | Evade | Bluff, Outmaneuver, Race |
| Long | 400 ft. | 1 minute | Evade, Chase, Broadside | Bluff, Outmaneuver, Race |
| Medium | 100 ft. | 1 minute | Evade, Chase, Broadside, Boarding, Ramming | Bluff, Outmaneuver, Race |
The Turn
Turns have a variable length depending on whether the combat takes place at interception or combat range. At Interception range, the turn is 4 hours. At combat range, turns are one minute. If time is critical, keep track of time as it happens. In most cases, you only need to track time in hours and thus only at interception range.
Each turn plays out the same, regardless of how long it is.
- The disadvantaged side picks a Maneuver, and both sides make opposed rolls to determine advantage for the rest of the turn.
- The side with the advantage picks a Tactic
- Resolve all attacks from the side with advantage, then resolve all attacks from the side with disadvantage.
- Each attacker has a full rounds worth of action. A combat turn is one minute long, but each attacker only has a clear line of fire during a single round. The remaining time is spent waiting for an opportunity, reloading and so on.
- Change range as appropriate for the type of attack chosen.
- If a boarding action occurred, ship combat ends and personal combat begins.
- If range is increased beyond Horizon, ship combat ends and the prey escapes.
Advantage
One side always has the advantage. The advantage always starts with the ship trying to escape. Depending on the range, the side with the advantage decides a tactic. The other side is at a disadvantage. The disadvantaged side chooses what maneuvers to use, giving it a good chance to gain the advantage for the next turn.
Tactics
Tactics represent attack vectors that the side with advantage can choose. These are generally mutual; either both ships fire, or neither ship fires.
Evade
The ship with advantage seeks a position where weapons will not bear, reducing the amount of attacks possible. At Long or longer range, no attacks are possible. At medium range, spell attacks are possible. At close range, missile weapon attacks are possible, but not siege weapon attacks. The side with advantage can increase or reduce range by one category.
Chase
The hunter can fire any forward-firing or swivel-mounted siege engines. The prey can fire any rear-facing siege engines. Spells and missile weapons fire normally. The side with advantage can increase or reduce range by one category.
Broadside
Both ships can fire their side-mounted and swivel siege engines. Spells and missile weapons fire normally.
Ramming
The ship with advantage can fire any forward-firing weapons. Spells and missile weapons fire normally. Then the disadvantaged ship fires a broadside. Then the ship with disadvantage rams the disadvantaged ship and decides whether to board or to disengage. Boarding is bow to side.
Boarding
Spells and missile weapons fire normally. Siege engines may not fire. Then the two ships come up alongside and boarding begins. Boarding is side to side.
Maneuvers
Maneuvers are used to gain advantage. The disadvantaged ship from last turn decides what maneuver to use. Suitable magics add spell level to the check, one spell per side.
Bluff
Tactics like fake flags or other subterfuge. Disadvantaged side rolls Bluff vs. Sense Motive. A ship that fails a bluff maneuver or that uses any tactic except evade cannot try to bluff again in this ship battle except at medium or close range. At such short range, bluff is always a viable tactic. A Bluff maneuver only takes one hour at interception range.
Cat & Mouse
Trying to use night, sun glare, mist or some such to hide. Roll opposed Perception. If one side has a perception advantage the other lacks, such as lowlight vision at night or high-flying scouts in the day, it gains a +5 bonus. A Cat & Mouse maneuver takes 2 hours.
Cat and mouse is special in that it can either increase or decrease range, but also gives away the advantage; the side that wind a cat and mouse maneuver is considered disadvantaged at the beginning of the next turn, and picks next turn's tactic.
Outmaneuver
Using terrain, wind, and waves against the opponent. Each side rolls Knowledge (geography) or Survival in an opposed check. Ships in home waters may also use Knowledge (local). An attempt to Outmaneuver takes 4 hours at interception range.
Race
This is the default maneuver. Both sides roll Profession (sailor), with a +5 bonus per 30 ft. of maximum speed. A Race maneuver takes 4 hours at interception range.
Attacks
In ship combat, only ships and targets away from ships can be targeted, not individual crew members on board ships. An attacker can choose to attack the target ship's hull, or a propulsion system (rigging, oars) in use.
Attacks must hit the ship in order to cause damage, and saving throws are allowed as normal.
Once a hit is scored or a saving throw made, subtract the Hardness of the target and then multiply by a factor depending on the type of attack used. Use the first category that applies
| Attack | Hull or Oars | Rigging |
| Siege engine firing burning or chain shot | x½ | x1 |
| Siege engine | x1 | x½ |
| Slashing weapon | x1 | x1 |
| Fire arrow or bolt | x½ | x½ |
| Other personal weapon | x½ | x0 |
| Fire or Acid energy damage | x1 | x2 |
| Cold, enervation, dessication, positive or negative energy damage | x½ | x½ |
| Other energy damage | x1 | x1 |
All parts of a ship are vulnerable to area attacks. If an area attack has a radius of 15 ft. or more, is a cone of 30 ft. or more, or has a remaining length of line of 30 ft. or more once it reaches the ship, it causes double damage. This doubling is made last, after all other modifications.
Effects and spells that technically cannot affect objects (such as magic missile' and cloud kill can be used in shipboard combat. Apply their damage to the ship, despite that it really affects the crew. If the effect has no damage normally, assume it does 1d6 per caster level, with a damage cap depending on spell level as normal.
Sneak attack can be used against ships, regardless of range. The rogue aims at a vital component of the target ship and attacks using the lower of his attack bonus and his Disable Device skill. One attempt per round only, and normal range penalties apply.
Indirect fire weapons have a hard time hitting a moving target, such as a ship. There is no accumulation of attack bonus from round to round. A failed targeting roll when firing at a ship from the front has a 50% to hit the water. If the miss did not hit the water, or the attack was from the arft or stern, the shot scatters normally.
Salvo Fire
Multiple identical weapons firing together are resolved with a single attack roll. The threat range of the attack is increased by one for each weapon beyond the first in the salvo, but only a single critical threat is scored with each salvo. Critical hits can be ignored on salvo fire with non-siege-engine missile weapons.
Fires on Board
Fire attacks to a ship's hull can start fires. Each round's worth of fire arrows and each individual attack by a fire weapon requires the ship to pass a saving throw. The DC is equal to 10 + ½ the fire damage dealt. This is based on damage after Hardness but before multipliers.
A ship on fire takes 2d6 damage each round to the ship's hull, ignoring hardness.
A ship's crew can try and put out a fire, this needs a ship's officer and a fire-fighting party from the crew. A ship with several heroic officers (such as player characters) can make one attempt for each such person not otherwise engaged. This requires a Saving throw with a DC of 25, +1 for each round the ship has been burning. A ship that puts it entire crew on fire-fighting duties, taking no other actions, gains a +10 bonus on this check. These checks do not automatically succeed on a roll of 20, it is possible for a ship to be burning so badly that the fire cannot be put out.
A ship is either on fire or it is not - multiple fires are not tracked. Once fire on a ship is put out, the ship can be lit again normally, but the difficulty of putting out the fire is back to 25.
Effects of Damage
Broken Condition
Ships—and 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 or its means of propulsion gains the broken condition, it takes a –2 penalty to AC, on sailing checks, saving throws, and on combat maneuver checks. 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.
If the hull is broken, half of all siege engines are inoperable (check separately for each). Only half of the ship's complement of missile troops may fire.
Immobilized Condition
A ship whose means of propulsion is reduced to 0 or fewer hit points is immobilized. It can no longer move or take maneuvers. Half its crew is incapacitated. The means of propulsion can be repaired, but to no more than half it's normal hit points and it retains the broken condition until the ship undergoes extensive repairs on shore.
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 in 1d100 x5 minutes after it gains the sinking condition. Each additional point of damage reduces the remaining time for it to sink by 1 minute. A sinking ship can still burn.
Generally, nonmagical repairs take too long to save a ship from sinking once it begins to go down, but it is not impossible if it sinks slow enough. Magic (such as make whole) can repair a sinking ship. If the ship’s hit points are raised above 0 before it sinks, the ship loses the sinking condition. A ship that has been sinking can be repaired to a maximum of half its hits points until repaired on shore, and the hull retains the broken condition.
A sinking ship will drift at 5 ft. per round and can be towed at 30 ft. speed, either to a port or onto a beach. During ship combat, it is considered immobile.
A sinking ship has half its cargo destroyed by water. As the hull is normally used to provide cover for incapacitated crew, the mortality rate among incapacitated crew increases dramatically as well, see Crew below.
Sunk Condition
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. ¾ of its cargo is lost, as well as any crew still left on board.
Crew Casualties
For each damage condition a ship suffers, ¼ of its crew are incapacitated. If the hull suffers a damage condition, ¼ of its passengers are incapacitated. A ship that has a section both broken and destroyed (sinking/immobilized) has taken 50% casualties. This has no immediate effect besides the effects of the damage itself, but it depletes the ships crew for future engagements.
How many of these actually die depend a lot on the medical abilities of the ship's officers. At the end of the battle, make a Heal skill check for each incapacitated crew member to save his life. A character capable of casting the stabilize spell can substitute a concentration check for the Heal check. Using healing spells or powers adds a +5 bonus; one spell or power use is required for each such roll, but the decision to use healing can be made after the roll.
The difficulty depends on the damage suffered, and on whether medical attention was provided during the battle or only after the engagement was over. To provide medical attention during ship combat, the healer can provide no other function in the turn after the ship gains a damage condition. Each time the ship suffers a damage condition and no healer does so, the DC increases. Checks are made at the end of the battle.
In general, officers, player characters, and important NPCs are not taken out by random damage like this; it is an attrition on the crew, not a way to kill plot-worthy characters. If no nameless crew members remain to suffer incapacitation or damage, the GM has to decide what happens based on the situation.
| Circumstance | DC |
| Base DC | 10 |
| Propulsion destroyed | +5 |
| Hull broken | +5 |
| Hull damage "sinking" | +10 |
| Ship Sunk | +15 |
| Each damage step not attended to immediately | +5 |
External Links
- Points of Sail on Wikipedia.
- Nautica Maritime History Virtual Archives