Life on the Ship
Avast ye matey! What lies out there in the briney deep? Pirates and smugglers! Kraken and kuo-toa! Mystical islands and floating cities! A sea dragon mayhaps? Who knows what you will find amongst the Never-Ending Sea...
When traveling the high seas you’ll need many things, starting with a ship and a crew. Bravery, luck, and a flair for adventure are helpful too. Arm the cannons and set the sails. We be setting off!
The ship is always on the move, crashing through the waves and swaying with the sea tides. A good sailor has finely developed sea legs to keep balance and move as swiftly at sea as they would on dry land. However, even the best sailor has to work to find sure footing during unpredictable and treacherous movements on board the ship. This can occur when the ship is caught in unstable waves, has a collision with any structure, is struck by a large sea creature, or rammed by another ship at sea. When anything like this occurs which would make standing on the deck of the ship highly perilous the DM may call for a Brace check.
When asked to perform a , a player must succeed on their choice of either a Strength or Dexterity saving throw to avoid being knocked prone. If the ship impact causes an incredibly difficult Brace check or a player performs incredibly poorly, the DM may choose to interpret a failed Brace check as a creature being knocked overboard instead of prone.
When two ships skirmish at sea, the combat has the potential to become pretty stagnant for the party members who thrive best in close combat. One of the goals of this material is to provide a framework for a party of adventurers to give everyone many options while engaging in naval battles.
For a party that plans to spend a great deal of time at sea or aspires to run their own ship, it becomes important that the 5e party members take on new roles beyond their normal party classes. A paladin may become the Master-at-Arms protecting her crew from invaders and sea monsters that threaten the deck. The monk may find himself to be a fierce and noble Captain at the helm, wisely guiding the ship through the stormy seas. The wizard puts their smarts to use as the Master Bosun, keeping the ship afloat and the artillery firing. The cleric offers his divine blessings in the form of a hearty meal each day, providing the crew with additional boons while being the Cook of the ship at sea.
The helm is a crucial place on any vessel. The Captain and the First Mate are the official keepers of the helm, but anyone may potentially find themselves behind the ship’s wheel; and when they do, it requires they be quick and alert, active and reactive.
The DM may call for a "" anytime the ship needs to make a precarious movement, whether it be managing a difficult route through jagged shoals or trying to push the ship’s speed to its maximum during a naval chase.
s are also a functional part of certain aspects of ship-based combat. Any helmsman treats the vehicle as a tool and must consider the ship’s ability to move as well when attempting a . A ship’s quickness and dexterity are represented in its (1-5) which is used as a modifier when a helmsman makes a . The helmsman contributes to the role using either their Intelligence or Wisdom modifier when making maneuvers, and finally adding any proficiency with sea vehicles they may have.
A ship has to do a great deal of things, but floating is likely the most important. When it comes to maintenance and repairs, a ship will live and die by how well each of the moving parts aboard can function. Ship repairs can involve many different disciplines, so the crew of a ship needs access to an assortment of carpentry, smithing, weaving, and leatherworking tools specific to the nature of seafaring needs. These tools are collectively known as the bosun’s kit. When the ship needs repairs, use the . s require a and use the character’s Intelligence modifier, adding any proficiency with the . The DM may make the decision that characters with specific artisan tool proficiencies may use them for related checks with the . For example, a character with a proficiency in carpenter’s tools may add it to a to fix the ship’s gangplanks.
Repairs are the most critical element in combat to determine how much time is required to get something functional again, making the balance of repairing a part of the ship compared to other priorities, such as enemy vessels or combatants, a weighty decision during naval warfare. Many repairs can wait, but the crucial repairs like patching the hull, repairing the masts, or rebuilding a disabled ship’s wheel are not to be ignored for long if you want your ship to last.
A requires a minimum of one action. As a result of a low , sometimes it becomes apparent that a repair is going to take longer than desirable. Characters may abandon a repair at any point after one action to attempt the repairs if they do not want to commit to the full duration. Below is a table for ship repair times for normal crew and for the Master Bosun, a role detailed further in Nautical Roles.
Once advanced sailing ships became the standard over the old galleys of rowing vessels, naval tacticians understood the value of destroying the enemy’s sails. A ship without sails is disabled and dead in the water. Because of this, the professional sailing crews are taught to keep the sails intact through clever use of the mending cantrip. A sail can certainly be fired upon, but unless the ship is run by a fool, the sails will be the most protected part of any ship. Any sailor worth his salt will commission sails from the gnomes of Flimisham. In fact, it's unlikely to find sails throughout the realm not made to the standards of the Flimisham sheets. Fireproof and durable, they cannot be taken out with any normal means and will work long after the ship has sunk below the tumultuous waves.
It’s a cruel irony to have a boat on fire with so much water around, but it does happen. Whether an unlucky lightning strike, a flaming arrow, or sabotage, a fire onboard a ship can be deadly serious. A good crew at sea will know how to quickly put out a fire or stand to lose everything. If the crew is a professional ship of deckhands, they will be able to put out the fire within moments through coordinated magic and discipline. Otherwise, the party must make it their first priority right away. If the fire is allowed to reach the hold and ignites the powder stores, all is lost. When calculating the fire damage and its duration with a deck crew refer to the following fire chart. If the ship has no crew, the DM should make the party members attempt skill checks to put out the fire.
The ship isn’t just your floating home, but also a means of transportation. With a little luck and a bit of smarts, you can take your ship just about anywhere (water is recommended). Navigation on the high seas is more than just a single maneuver, but the choreographed interplay of the wind and the waves, the currents and the tides, and the position of the sun and the stars. When planning a long voyage, a crew will want a first-class navigator. Bringing an official Quartermaster is ideal. Regardless of who’s plotting the route, the actual task of setting the heading can require some careful skill checks. When planning a voyage, the DM should consider the weather, the currents, the state of the ship, how well the route is known, and if the crew has a sea chart or a starmap. To determine the relative success of the journey, the DM may ask for an Intelligence (Nature) check to assess the weather and currents, a Perception check to maintain relative distance to land structures in the distance, or even just a base Intelligence check to read the stars.
Don’t forget that the seas are more than open water spotted with the occasional ships. A whole world lies below the waves and a random encounter might include a sea creature, a shipwreck, a territorial tribe of tritons, an owlbear stranded on a raft, a giant floating fortress, an iceberg with a vendetta, or any other unknown wonder. Random encounters at sea are just as likely as on land.
Ships are expensive - really expensive - so, choose wisely. To keep things simple, it is recommended to make all sizes of one ship cost the same at base and then add the cost of artillery. The actual prices will vary greatly depending on the economy of the game you are running, but a sample cost may look something like this:
For example, a crew may purchase a buccaneer and outfit it to look something like this:
As a general rule, the ship will need a crew to sail. Hiring a crew is an important part of sailing a ship. If the crew is not available for some mundane or possibly horrific reason, the ship will need at least 3 people per mast to sail. Specialist crews are available for hire at daily costs for various tasks about the ship.
A DM may want to get creative in hiring a crew as well. Other alternatives are worth exploring with the crew who may be strapped for gold. Offering passage in exchange for labor is common, or a party may resort to hiring prisoners for a certain contract length in exchange for paying their sentence to get cheap labor. Regardless of the crew type and cost, a DM should have the party establish a hierarchy on board the ship. Who does the crew answer to? If that person goes down, who commands? This helps if crews receive conflicting orders and will allow for the party to delegate responsibilities during combat.
The basic crew, these sailors are hands at the sails and do basic work such as swabbing the deck, manning the jib, pumping the bilge, and other generic sailing jobs. In the arcane realms, the professional ship crews train each deckhand to master the shape water and mend cantrip. Having the ability to move and freeze water is invaluable to a crew at sea. These cantrips keep the sails intact and the water outside the boat. It also helps keep onboard fires from spreading as the crews use coordinated movements of water to help extinguish the blaze. These crews keep the ship running.
They aim. They fire. They reload to do it again. These crews are assigned to one of the crew members during combat and will fire when directed by that crew member. This can be the Captain, First Mate, Master Bosun, or even the Cook. Just pick a party member and give them the job of coordinating the gunner crew’s attacks. They do need guidance on when to fire.
Hire someone to be a sword for you - at sea! Typically these guys will answer to the Master-at-Arms or the Captain /First Mate. These crews can vary greatly in power and therefore cost. There are other resources on hiring combatants for 5e that will be helpful for managing the abilities and cost of a seasword crew. For the DM looking for a generic fighter, the guard stat block is a good baseline hire.
This fix-it crew can make repairs for the ship. They will answer to the Master Bosun or the Captain /First Mate.
For the DM, it is recommended to set a standard DC result for the tinkerer crew to quickly resolve repair checks not made by the party members. For instance, any repairs made might automatically roll a 15 on s if attended to by the tinkerer crew.
Skills and Checks
Brace Check
The ship is always on the move, crashing through the waves and swaying with the sea tides. A good sailor has finely developed sea legs to keep balance and move as swiftly at sea as they would on dry land. However, even the best sailor has to work to find sure footing during unpredictable and treacherous movements on board the ship. This can occur when the ship is caught in unstable waves, has a collision with any structure, is struck by a large sea creature, or rammed by another ship at sea. When anything like this occurs which would make standing on the deck of the ship highly perilous the DM may call for a Brace check.
When asked to perform a , a player must succeed on their choice of either a Strength or Dexterity saving throw to avoid being knocked prone. If the ship impact causes an incredibly difficult Brace check or a player performs incredibly poorly, the DM may choose to interpret a failed Brace check as a creature being knocked overboard instead of prone.
Roles
When two ships skirmish at sea, the combat has the potential to become pretty stagnant for the party members who thrive best in close combat. One of the goals of this material is to provide a framework for a party of adventurers to give everyone many options while engaging in naval battles.
For a party that plans to spend a great deal of time at sea or aspires to run their own ship, it becomes important that the 5e party members take on new roles beyond their normal party classes. A paladin may become the Master-at-Arms protecting her crew from invaders and sea monsters that threaten the deck. The monk may find himself to be a fierce and noble Captain at the helm, wisely guiding the ship through the stormy seas. The wizard puts their smarts to use as the Master Bosun, keeping the ship afloat and the artillery firing. The cleric offers his divine blessings in the form of a hearty meal each day, providing the crew with additional boons while being the Cook of the ship at sea.
Behind the Wheel
The helm is a crucial place on any vessel. The Captain and the First Mate are the official keepers of the helm, but anyone may potentially find themselves behind the ship’s wheel; and when they do, it requires they be quick and alert, active and reactive.
The DM may call for a "" anytime the ship needs to make a precarious movement, whether it be managing a difficult route through jagged shoals or trying to push the ship’s speed to its maximum during a naval chase.
s are also a functional part of certain aspects of ship-based combat. Any helmsman treats the vehicle as a tool and must consider the ship’s ability to move as well when attempting a . A ship’s quickness and dexterity are represented in its (1-5) which is used as a modifier when a helmsman makes a . The helmsman contributes to the role using either their Intelligence or Wisdom modifier when making maneuvers, and finally adding any proficiency with sea vehicles they may have.
Maneuver check = 1d20 +ship’s +any sea vehicle proficiency bonus + your Intelligence or Wisdom Modifier
For example, a rank I captain at 2nd level, with a Wisdom of 16, is sailing a ship with an of 2. A is completed by rolling 1d20 and adding his proficiency bonus of 2, his ship’s of 2, and his Wisdom modifier of 3 giving him a +7 to his .
Repairs
A ship has to do a great deal of things, but floating is likely the most important. When it comes to maintenance and repairs, a ship will live and die by how well each of the moving parts aboard can function. Ship repairs can involve many different disciplines, so the crew of a ship needs access to an assortment of carpentry, smithing, weaving, and leatherworking tools specific to the nature of seafaring needs. These tools are collectively known as the bosun’s kit. When the ship needs repairs, use the . s require a and use the character’s Intelligence modifier, adding any proficiency with the . The DM may make the decision that characters with specific artisan tool proficiencies may use them for related checks with the . For example, a character with a proficiency in carpenter’s tools may add it to a to fix the ship’s gangplanks.
Repairs are the most critical element in combat to determine how much time is required to get something functional again, making the balance of repairing a part of the ship compared to other priorities, such as enemy vessels or combatants, a weighty decision during naval warfare. Many repairs can wait, but the crucial repairs like patching the hull, repairing the masts, or rebuilding a disabled ship’s wheel are not to be ignored for long if you want your ship to last.
A requires a minimum of one action. As a result of a low , sometimes it becomes apparent that a repair is going to take longer than desirable. Characters may abandon a repair at any point after one action to attempt the repairs if they do not want to commit to the full duration. Below is a table for ship repair times for normal crew and for the Master Bosun, a role detailed further in Nautical Roles.
Repair check = 1d20 + your proficiency bonus (if proficient with bosun’s tools) + your Intelligence modifier
Examples of major repairs might include: reassembling the ship’s wheel; remounting a destroyed mast; fixing the rudder; or patching a large hole in the hull.
Minor repairs might include: fixing a disabled cannon; making hull patches; or repairing torn ropes/rigging.
Additionally, a DM may choose to apply the roll result of a directly to the hull in hit points. For instance a crew member may, as an action, roll to repair the hull and result in a 14, restoring 14 hit points to the hull of the ship.
Sails
Once advanced sailing ships became the standard over the old galleys of rowing vessels, naval tacticians understood the value of destroying the enemy’s sails. A ship without sails is disabled and dead in the water. Because of this, the professional sailing crews are taught to keep the sails intact through clever use of the mending cantrip. A sail can certainly be fired upon, but unless the ship is run by a fool, the sails will be the most protected part of any ship. Any sailor worth his salt will commission sails from the gnomes of Flimisham. In fact, it's unlikely to find sails throughout the realm not made to the standards of the Flimisham sheets. Fireproof and durable, they cannot be taken out with any normal means and will work long after the ship has sunk below the tumultuous waves.
Fire
It’s a cruel irony to have a boat on fire with so much water around, but it does happen. Whether an unlucky lightning strike, a flaming arrow, or sabotage, a fire onboard a ship can be deadly serious. A good crew at sea will know how to quickly put out a fire or stand to lose everything. If the crew is a professional ship of deckhands, they will be able to put out the fire within moments through coordinated magic and discipline. Otherwise, the party must make it their first priority right away. If the fire is allowed to reach the hold and ignites the powder stores, all is lost. When calculating the fire damage and its duration with a deck crew refer to the following fire chart. If the ship has no crew, the DM should make the party members attempt skill checks to put out the fire.
Getting There
The ship isn’t just your floating home, but also a means of transportation. With a little luck and a bit of smarts, you can take your ship just about anywhere (water is recommended). Navigation on the high seas is more than just a single maneuver, but the choreographed interplay of the wind and the waves, the currents and the tides, and the position of the sun and the stars. When planning a long voyage, a crew will want a first-class navigator. Bringing an official Quartermaster is ideal. Regardless of who’s plotting the route, the actual task of setting the heading can require some careful skill checks. When planning a voyage, the DM should consider the weather, the currents, the state of the ship, how well the route is known, and if the crew has a sea chart or a starmap. To determine the relative success of the journey, the DM may ask for an Intelligence (Nature) check to assess the weather and currents, a Perception check to maintain relative distance to land structures in the distance, or even just a base Intelligence check to read the stars.
Don’t forget that the seas are more than open water spotted with the occasional ships. A whole world lies below the waves and a random encounter might include a sea creature, a shipwreck, a territorial tribe of tritons, an owlbear stranded on a raft, a giant floating fortress, an iceberg with a vendetta, or any other unknown wonder. Random encounters at sea are just as likely as on land.
Costs of Ships
Ships are expensive - really expensive - so, choose wisely. To keep things simple, it is recommended to make all sizes of one ship cost the same at base and then add the cost of artillery. The actual prices will vary greatly depending on the economy of the game you are running, but a sample cost may look something like this:
| Size Class | Cost |
|---|---|
| 1 | 8,000gp |
| 2 | 20,000gp |
| 3 | 50,000gp |
| 4 | Not available for routine commercial purchase |
| Item | Item Cost | X | Quantity | = Cost |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ship, Size Class 2 | 20,000 gp | x | 1 | 20,000 gp + |
| Cannon | 1,000 gp | x | 6 | 6,000 gp + |
| Ballista | 300 gp | x | 2 | 50,000 gp |
| = 26,600 gp |
Ship Crew
As a general rule, the ship will need a crew to sail. Hiring a crew is an important part of sailing a ship. If the crew is not available for some mundane or possibly horrific reason, the ship will need at least 3 people per mast to sail. Specialist crews are available for hire at daily costs for various tasks about the ship.
A DM may want to get creative in hiring a crew as well. Other alternatives are worth exploring with the crew who may be strapped for gold. Offering passage in exchange for labor is common, or a party may resort to hiring prisoners for a certain contract length in exchange for paying their sentence to get cheap labor. Regardless of the crew type and cost, a DM should have the party establish a hierarchy on board the ship. Who does the crew answer to? If that person goes down, who commands? This helps if crews receive conflicting orders and will allow for the party to delegate responsibilities during combat.
Deckhands
The basic crew, these sailors are hands at the sails and do basic work such as swabbing the deck, manning the jib, pumping the bilge, and other generic sailing jobs. In the arcane realms, the professional ship crews train each deckhand to master the shape water and mend cantrip. Having the ability to move and freeze water is invaluable to a crew at sea. These cantrips keep the sails intact and the water outside the boat. It also helps keep onboard fires from spreading as the crews use coordinated movements of water to help extinguish the blaze. These crews keep the ship running.
Gunner Crew
They aim. They fire. They reload to do it again. These crews are assigned to one of the crew members during combat and will fire when directed by that crew member. This can be the Captain, First Mate, Master Bosun, or even the Cook. Just pick a party member and give them the job of coordinating the gunner crew’s attacks. They do need guidance on when to fire.
Seaswords
Hire someone to be a sword for you - at sea! Typically these guys will answer to the Master-at-Arms or the Captain /First Mate. These crews can vary greatly in power and therefore cost. There are other resources on hiring combatants for 5e that will be helpful for managing the abilities and cost of a seasword crew. For the DM looking for a generic fighter, the guard stat block is a good baseline hire.
Tinkerers
This fix-it crew can make repairs for the ship. They will answer to the Master Bosun or the Captain /First Mate.
For the DM, it is recommended to set a standard DC result for the tinkerer crew to quickly resolve repair checks not made by the party members. For instance, any repairs made might automatically roll a 15 on s if attended to by the tinkerer crew.
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