Naval Combat Rules

As I foresee a sea-bearing future for our would-be heroes, I'm preparing for the inevitable.

Unsatisfied with the rules set for Ocean Warfare in D&D, I went about making my own (borrowed and compiled from sources online).

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Roles:

Captain/First Mate -

Rally: Intimidate/Inspire(Persuade) DC10 grant Advantage on next attack roll (1/battle)

Weak Spot: Investigation DC15, grants advantage to attack the weakness (1/battle)

Order Broadside: Fire all one side at once, use 1 attack roll, miss = half damage (1/battle)

Pilot - (If proficient in sailing: add DEX to ship AC, use pilot’s Initiative modifier)

DEX for steering (DC5-15 depending on weather), STR if stormy/rammed

Fail: lose speed and/or turning

Ramming: +(prof+dex/or +6) attack roll, (speed of boat x 1d4) damage, own ship takes 1/2

(Built in Battering Ram: speed x 1d6, take 1/3 damage)

Boarding: Grapple w/Advantage, must make DC10 check vs enemy (enemy has DA)

Crow's Nest -  Scan: Perception DC10 to spot  (10 miles perfect weather, 5 if colder than normal, 1 light rain; 300 ft heavy rain light/no wind, 100 ft heavy rain strong wind)

During Battle: Perception DC15 to negate cannon Disadvantage at long range (DC20 Light Rain, DC30 Strong Rain)

Navigator - Proficiency with Navigator's Tools, can use tools to give Advantage to Hide/Scan

25% faster travel speed when not in combat, can't get lost at sea

Crew - ranged/spell attacks, repairs, put out fires, hook/board enemy ships for melee battle, man the bilge pumps, etc

Cannoneers - attacks, damage (2 needed per cannon, can use NPC to assist)

Medic - DC10 to revive 1 crew per round, if NPC has healing spells as cleric level ½ of captain

Boarding - Acrobatics DC10-20, depending on weather

Movement:

·         Wind power only provides forward movement; to go backwards, the crew must row.

·         Rowing requires at least ½ of the max crew for a vessel to obtain full speed; else, speed is relative to number of rowers divided by half of max crew.
(For example, with a max crew of 40, full speed requires 20, and half speed requires 10.)

·         Turning under wind power requires forward movement of ½ move speed for every 45 degrees.
(For example, if the ship move speed is 30 feet, then to turn 45 degrees requires at least 15 feet of forward movement, and 90 degrees requires 30 feet of forward movement.)

·         Turning under rowing power slows movement speed by ½ per 45 degrees.
(For example, if the ship move speed is 30 feet, then to turn 45 degrees uses 15 feet of movement; to turn 90 degrees in one turn, no forward or backward movement occurs.)

·         Weather affects wind power:
no wind, no speed; strong head wind, half speed; strong tail wind, 1.5 x speed.

Weapon	Value	Damage	Range	Special
Pistol	250 gp	1d10 piercing	30/90	Takes an action to reload
Musket	500 gp	1d12 piercing	40/120	Takes an action to reload, 2-handed
Bullets (10)	3 gp	-	-	Purchase includes powder per shot
Gunpowder keg	250 gp	-	-	Use 1/4 to 1/2 of weight of cannon ball per shot

Weapon	AC	HP	Hit/Damage	Range	Special
Ballista	15	50	+6/3d10	120/480	can attach rope, for boarding and stopping ships
Medium Cannon	19	60	+6/6d10	500/2000	requires 2 operators, fire every other round
Large Cannon	19	75	+6/8d10	600/2400	requires 2 operators, fire every other round
Swivel Cannon	17	35	+6/4d8	250/500	cannot fire special ammunition

Medium/Large Cannon Ammunition Options:

Round Shot: regular cannon damage, used against ship/crew

Chain Shot: 2 balls connected by chain, used against rigging/sails

Explosive Shell: shrapnel (2d10 damage, but area effect on impact)

Grape Shot: used against crew, 30' cone (3d8 damage to crew DEX for half damage; 1d8 damage to ship)

Canister Shot: used against crew, hits 10' space (2d8 regular round shot damage to crew, 1d8 to ship)

Note: Can use INT + Proficiency for cannons instead of +6

Ship Damage:

·         Sails:

o   If sails reduced to under 50% HP, wind power speed reduced 25%.

o   If sails reduced to 0 HP, wind power speed reduced to 0.

·         Sinking:

o   When ship is under 50% HP, all bilge pumps must be manned or start taking on water.

§  (taking on water causes, ship speed to slow 25%, reduces crew movement on lower deck by 50%)

o   When ship is under 0 HP, bilge pumps must be used to reduce sinking speed.

§  DC10 Athletics checks at the pumps to maintain bouyancy.  Advantage if 2 crew per pump.  All pumps must be manned.

§  Each hit above Damage Threshold when sinking counts as a failed bilge pump round.

§  Sinking takes 3 failed rounds

Repair:

·         Manually patching holes takes (ship max HP divided by 10) minutes, and restores ship to 1 HP.

o   Work can be divided by number of crew working on patching.

o   For example, 300 HP ship would take 30 minutes to patch; with 10 crew working on patching, it takes 3.  The ship is then restored to 1 HP.

o   Manual repair beyond patching requires dry dock.

·         Fabricate heals ship to full and patches all holes, but takes 10 minutes, requires material.

·         Wood Shape patches holes and stops sinking, but does not restore ship HP.  [Homebrew Spell]

·         Steelbeard can be healed by normal healing spells, but will continue to sink until patched.

Inspired by:

https://www.tribality.com/2014/12/26/naval-combat-rules-dd-5th-edition-part-1/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3A19q7rysLs

The Bower's Book

 

The Bowyer's Book

The wizard Cyril Bowgentle was a half-elven adventurer of great renown. He was widely hailed as a pure-hearted and good soul, whose efforts brought light to the world. His deeds are numerous, with even more attributed to him since his death. Whether or not all such tales are true is left to the listener, though any good deed might plausibly be of his making.

This codex was created by one of Cyril's last apprentices, shortly after the wizard's death of old age in his tower. Wanting to commemorate the great hero, the apprentice gathered together the greatest spells her master had wielded for good, and assembled them into a codex of wizardly heroics. She named the result The Bowyer's Book in honor of the wizard's humble origins as a bowyer's son.

The book's front bears the rune of Bowgentle, symbolizing the simple man next to the complexity of the magical dragon.  There are 48 sheets of vellum in the book, sewn into the spine with silk.

Contents

The book's pages contains a number of spells, many of which are simple wizard's favorites. Some of the spells are unique - magic the great Bowgentle found in his travels - which are bolded in the following list, and detailed in full below. Additionally, the book contains a slightly modified form of burning hands that was known to be one of the wizard's enduring favorites.

Cantrips: Control Flames (Nobrow's fire effect), Mending, Read Magic

1st Level: Detect Evil/Good, Identify, Sleep, Undine's Hold Portal

2nd Level: Arcane Lock, Bull's Strength (Enhance Ability), Continual Light, Darkness, Detect Thoughts, Hold Person, Infravision, Knock, Levitate, Locate Object, Magic Mouth, Protection from Arrows/Missiles (M'dhal's missile shield), Rope Trick, See Invisibility

3rd Level: Blink, Dispel Magic, Dispel Silence, Fireball, Fly, Forget, Leomund's Tiny Hut, Lightning Bolt, Magic Circle, Remove Curse, Slow, Tongues, Water Breathing

4th Level: Arcane Eye (Wizard Eye/Trebbe's eye), Charm Monster, Confusion, Dimension Door, Fire Shield, Greater Magic Weapon, Minor Globe of Invulnerability, Polymorph Self/Other (Quantoul's morph)

5th Level: Bigby's Hand (Interposing), Bowgentle's Fleeting Journey, Cone of Cold, Hold Monster, Passwall, Wall of Force,

New Spells

The following spells are new or modified as they appear in this book. New spells can be learned by classes as shown in each spell.

Read Magic
Enchantment Cantrip
Casting Time: 1 bonus action
Range: touch
Components: V, S
Duration: 1 action
Classes: Any Spellcaster

Allows use of spell scrolls outside class restriction; must still have some spellcasting ability to use a scroll, level restrictions apply.

At Higher Levels. When cast as a 2^nd level spell, this can be used to enchant a lens made of sapphire-infused glass (such as a monocle or reading glass) worth 100 gp to provide same spell effect, allowing cross-class use of scrolls.

Undine's Hold Portal
1st-level Transmutation
Casting Time: 1 action
Range: 100 feet
Components: V, S
Duration: 1 hour, concentration
Classes: Bard, Cleric, Druid, Sorcerer, Warlock, Wizard

Holds any one door, or similar opening less than 20 feet wide by 20 feet tall, magically closed.  You must remain in line of sight of the door during the spell.

Attempting to break through the spell requires a Strength (Atheletics) check of the normal DC to open the door, plus Spell DC of the caster. The spell can be dismissed by casting Knock or Dispel Magic.

Continual Light
2nd-level Evocation
Casting Time: 1 action
Range: 60 feet
Components: V, S
Duration: 1 round, Permanent
Classes: Bard, Cleric, Druid, Paladin, Ranger, Sorcerer, Wizard

As per Daylight spell for 1 round, then as per Light spell permanently until dispelled.

Infravision
2nd-level Transmutation
Casting Time: 1 action
Range: Touch
Components: V, S, M (a red carrot)
Duration: 8 hours
Classes: Druid, Ranger, Sorcerer, Wizard

As per the Darkvision spell, but the target’s eyes glow red.

Protection from Arrows/Missiles (M'dhal's missile shield)
2nd-level Abjuration
Casting Time: 1 action
Range: Touch
Components: V, S, M (a piece of turtle shell)
Duration: 1 minute, concentration
Classes: Cleric, Druid, Sorcerer, Wizard

For the duration, the willing creature you touch has resistance to bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing damage from non-magical ranged weapons.

Dispel Silence
3rd-level Abjuration
Casting Time: 1 reaction
Range: 120 feet
Components: S
Duration: Instantaneous
Classes: Bard, Cleric, Ranger, Sorcerer, Warlock, Wizard

You cancel and interrupt the effects of a Silence spell.

Forget
3rd-level Enchantment
Casting Time: 1 action
Range: touch
Components: V, S, M (a handful of clay, crystal, glass, or mineral spheres)
Duration: Instantaneous, 24 hours
Classes: Bard, Druid, Warlock, Wizard

WIS save or forget all that occurred over last 5 minutes, memory of events returns after 24 hours.

Greater Magic Weapon
4th-level Transmutation
Casting Time: 1 bonus action
Range: Touch
Components: V, S
Duration: 1 hour
Classes: Paladin, Wizard

You touch a non-magical weapon. Until the spell ends, that weapon becomes a magic weapon with a bonus to Attack rolls and Damage Rolls, equal to +1 plus (caster level divided by 4) rounded down.

Minor Globe of Invulnerability
4th-level Abjuration
Casting Time: 1 action
Range: Self
Components: V, S, M (a small glass bead)
Duration: 1 minute, concentration
Classes: Sorcerer, Wizard

An immobile, faintly shimmering barrier springs into existence in a 5-foot radius around you and remains for the Duration.

Any spell of 3rd level or lower cast from outside the barrier can't affect creatures or Objects within it, even if the spell is cast using a higher level spell slot. Such a spell can target creatures and Objects within the barrier, but the spell has no effect on them. Similarly, the area within the barrier is excluded from the areas affected by such Spells.

Polymorph Self/Other (Quantoul's morph)
4th-level Transmutation
Casting Time: 1 action
Range: 60 ft
Components: V, S, M (a caterpillar cocoon)
Duration: up to 1 hour
Classes: Bard, Druid, Sorcerer, Wizard

As per Polymorph spell, with changes:

The target retains their mental stats (Intelligence, Wisdom, Charisma).  The maximum Challenge Rating for the new form is equal to the Caster Level divided by 2, and must be within 1 size category of the target.

Bowgentle’s Fleeting Journey
5th-level conjuration
Casting Time: 1 action
Range: Touch
Components: V, S, M (an elastic cord or a rubber ball)
Duration: Special
Classes: Bard, Cleric, Druid, Wizard

Touch one creature and teleport them to an area within 500 feet, only to have them return one round later. The creature teleported must be willing, and no movement on the part of caster or target changes where the creature teleports back.

A maximum of 500 pounds of creature and equipment can be transported by this spell. If the creature is Grappled, Restrained, or loaded with more weight than it can carry, the teleportation fails.

The target immediately disappears and reappears in the chosen location, facing the direction of your choice. The target remains there until the end of your next turn, at which time they are instantly teleported back to the location they occupied prior to the spell being cast. If either the target or return location is obstructed, the target is shunted to the nearest open space.  (For every 10 feet of shunted movement, the target takes 1d6 of force damage.)

At Higher Levels. If this spell is cast with a slot of 6th level or higher, for each level above 5th the maximum teleport distance increases by 250 feet, the maximum weight by 250 pounds, and the duration increases by 1 round.

http://forgottenrealms.wikia.com/wiki/Bowgentle%27s_Book

http://homebrewery.naturalcrit.com/share/rJWZvfENBZ