Type BM EM Crew AR Power Type Cargo Keel Beam Armament Ram Cost
Caravel 4 5 15/50 9 Sail 30,000 70 feet 20 feet 1 L weapon NA 10,000
Coaster 3 4 12/40 9 Sail 20,000 60 feet 20 feet 1 L weapon NA 5,000
Cog 3 4 10/25 9 Sail 30,000 85 feet 20 feet 1 L weapon None 10,000
Currach 2/3 3/10 2/4/10 10 Sail & Oars 1,000 20 feet 8 feet None NA 500
Drakkar 2/4 3/12 20/60/250 7 Sail & Oars 8,000 100 feet 20 feet 1 L weapon None 25,000
Dromond 2/9 3/12 200/400 9 Sail & Oars 18,000 175 feet 15 feet 3 L weapons Allowed 15,000
Galleon 3 6 80/800 7 Sail 250,000 130 feet 30 feet 3 L weapons NA 55,000
Galley, Great 3/6 4/11 40/140/200 7 Sail & Oars 25,000 130 feet 20 feet 3 L weapons Allowed 30,000
Knarr 4/2 5/12 8/14 9 Sail & Oars 8,000 60 feet 15 feet None NA 3,000
Longship 5/2 6/13 40/200 8 Sail & Oars 10,000
75 feet 15 feet 1 L weapon Allowed 10,000
Ship Improvements
Armaments:
Ship weapons are the descendants of siege machinery. In addition to the wide variety of personal weapons and magical abilities, there is a collection of catapults, ballistas, trebuchets, and scorpions available to ship captains, as well as a variety of rams.
All of the standard ships are capable of carrying a base number of large weapons. The weapons themselves are not included in the cost of the ship-- these are merely places where the owner can install weapons without eating up living or cargo space. For each weapon added beyond that, some cargo space must be sacrificied. Some weapons counts as two or three for this purpose, and these are noted accordingly.
A ship can have only one ram. It must be bought and installed. (Ships with the "NA" entry under "Ram" cannot have them attached under any conditions.)
Damage for each of the weapons is listed in term of hit points. The rate of fire (in number of shots per round) assumes a full crew manning the weapon. A "1/2" rating means that the weapon fires one shot every two rounds. For every man less than the required minimum manning a weapon, reduce the rate of fire to the next slower level.
For example, a medium catapult with a crew of three
and a rate of fire of 1/2 would have a rate of fire of 1/3 with
a two-man crew and 1/4 with a single crewman trying to operate
the weapon. A weapon cannot fire without at least one crew member.
Catapults:
Catapults are large stone-throwing devices operated by springs and cranks. Catapults are fixed in position once mounted and can fire in only one direction.
Catapults can be loaded with stone shot instead of
large rocks. Stone shot is most effective as an antipersonnel
weapon and will not affect a ship. It inflicts the listed damage
on every target within a 10-foor radius of the spot where it hits
(make a separate attack roll against each target in the area).
Type Range Damage Crew Rate of fire THAC0 Critical Hit Cost Notes
Light 15/30 2D10 1 1/2 16 20 500
Medium 18/30 3D10 3 1/2 17 19,20 700
Heavy 18/36 3D10 5 1/3 18 18,19,20 1,000 2 slots
Ballistae:
Ballistae include all devices which throw large bolts,
javelins, and spears with greater force than possible by human
(or inhuman) strength. Most are built along the lines of the crossbow
, and are mounted on pivots on the ship´s deck to fire at
any target.
Type Range Damage Crew Rate of fire THAC0 Critical Hit Cost Notes
Light 1/27 2D6 1 1/2 16 NA 400
Medium 3/30 3D6 2 1/3 14 20 600
Heavy 6/36 3D10 4 1/4 12 19,20 800
Rams:
The effect of ramming are covered in combat. They
depend on the relative sizes of the ship doing the ramming and
its target.
Ram:
Cost: 10 gp per cargo ton of ship
A ram is a long, sharp prow used to break open and
break apart an enemy ship. This type of attack is likely to sink
the attacked ship, as the ram is usually mounted near the waterline.
An attack with a ram can sometimes result in the two ships being
locked together.
Fire Projectors:
These devices shoot a thin stream of flaming, explosive liquid. Though they can be devastating in combat, they are not popular because of the chance of the liquid catching fire or detonating on the launched ship. Only the galleys of Mulhorand make extensive use of these devices.
Projectors affect the target and all other targets within a 5-foot radius. A successful save against Breath Weapon halves the damage.
Ships carrying fire projectors are more vulnerable
to critical hits, and ships attacking them add +1 to their die
roll to determine whether a critical hit occurs. For example,
a medium catapult causes a critical hit with a modified attack
of 19 or 20. Against a ship carrying a fire projector, a medium
catapult causes a critical hit with a roll of 18, 19 or 20.
Fire Projectors:
Cost 1,000 gp
Range: 18/40
Damage: 3D10 hit points + fire
Crew: 3
Rate of Fire: ¼
THAC0: 16
Critical hit on 18,19 or 20
Defensive Improvements
Castles
Cost: medium 500gp, large 1,000gp /cn
A common sight on many warships are armored castles or towers. These provide protection for marines, platforms for archers to fire down onto enemy vessels, and ramps for boarding. Most are fitted with crenelations and arrow slits.
One castle can be fitted for every 50 feet of keel
length on the ship, typically allowing only one or two. A single
castle will be mounted amidships; if there are two, they are at
bow and stern. A small castle is 10 feet tall and provides protection
for ten men and a firing platform for five archers. A large castle
is 15 to 20 feet tall and provides protection for twenty men,
plus a firing platform for ten archers. The protected men may
use a drop-away gangplank, fitted with hooks to hold the enemy
ship, in a boarding action.
All ship´s hull come with a standard Armor Rating
(AR), determined by the ship´s shape and construction. A
hull´s armor rating can be improved by increasing either
the thickness of the hull or bu plating the hull with other materials
(usually metal). The option and costs are:
Increased Thickness
Cost: 10gp /cn
Increasing the thickness of the hull improves the
ship´s AR by 1. However, this thickening also reduces available
cargo space by 20 procent. A ship can have its hull thickness
increased only once.
Plating
Cost: 30gp /cn
Also called barding, plating a ship consists of covering it in metal plates or scales. This improves the AR of the ship by 1 but downgrades the speed of the shup by one third.
Further, it is obvious to anyone looking at it that
the ship is plated. Plating can only be performed once on any
given ship. A plated ship still uses its original saving throw
type.
Netting
Cost: 3gp /10 cn
Ships with large, open decks are often covered with thick, twisted ropes bound into a net. These nets serve to partially protect the crew from catapult fire and boarding from other ships. Attacks coming from abode must destroy the nets first before hitting crew members.
Ship with netting gain +2 on saving throws for their crews against missile weapons or magical which creates solid objects.
In addition, the presence of netting allows those personnel hit by catapult stones a saving throw against death magic to avoid the effects of being hit by such weapons.
The netting is destroyed once it is hit by a heavy catapult shot, or two medium catapult shots. Fire projectors destroy the netting in two rounds. Light catapults and ballistas causes no damage to netting.
In a boarding action, boarders must cut through the
netting before they can attack the enemy crew. Netting can be
cut the same as grappling lines; it has five hit points and AC
10. Defenders under the netting can attack boarders above the
netting if the defenders are armed with piercing (P) type weapons.
Speed Improvements
Rigging
Cost: 10gp /cn