This is a game I designed while on deployment, but have never been able to actually get people to play (not many gamers when you work 12+ hours a day) I am looking for the help of a few individuals that would be willing to help me playtest this (via posts) so I can find and iron out any bugs that may (and probably will) ensue. All I ask is that those willing to participate are flexible enough to help me with editing mechanics while still being able to have fun in this mutual learning experience. Should I get enough followers (only looking for 2-4, so shouldn't be too difficult) I will post the schematics and game rules that I have derived. Or, should you prefer, I can email you the document with all the rules/mechanics I have derived.
Barque:
A Barque is a type of sailing vessel with three or more masts. A barque can outperform a schooner, and is both easier to handle and better at going to windward than a full-rigged ship. While a full-rigged ship is the best runner available, and while fore-and-aft rigged vessels are the best at going to windward, the barque is often the best compromise, and combines the best elements of these two.
Crew: 80
Speed: 3
Guns: 1
Maneuverability: 1
HP: 80
Rigging HP: 5
Price: 400 gold
Brig:
A brig is a sailing vessel with two square-rigged masts. The square-rigged brig's advantage over the fore-and-aft rigged brigantine was "that the sails, being smaller and more numerous, are more easily managed, and require fewer men or 'hands' to work them." While brigs could not sail into the wind as easily as fore and aft rigged vessels such as schooners, a trait that is common to all square-rigged ships, a skilled brig captain could "maneuver it with ease and elegance; a brig could for instance turn around almost on the spot.
Crew: 100
Speed: 3
Guns: 2
Maneuverability: 1
HP: 200
Rigging HP: 10
Price: 1000 gold
Caravel:
The lateen sails gave her speed and the capacity for sailing to windward. Being smaller and having a shallow keel, the caravel could sail upriver in shallow coastal waters. With the lateen sails attached, it was highly maneuverable and could sail much nearer the wind, while with the square Atlantic-type sails attached, it was very fast.
Crew: 60
Speed: 4
Guns: 1
Maneuverability: 1
HP: 60
Rigging HP: 5
Price: 300 gold
Clipper:
A clipper was a very fast sailing ship that had three or more masts and a square rig. Given their speed and maneuverability, clippers frequently mounted cannon or carronades and were used for piracy, privateering, smuggling, or interdiction service.
Crew: 80
Speed: 4
Guns: 2
Maneuverability: 2
HP: 160
Rigging HP: 10
Price: 800 gold
*Special: If you have the engineering upbringing, you may change this ship to a sloop of war for 500 gold.
Corvette:
Corvettes were smaller than frigates and larger than sloops-of-war, usually with a single gun deck. The role of the corvette consisted mostly of coastal patrol, fighting minor wars, supporting large fleets, or participating in show-the-flag missions. Most Corvettes were around 40 to 60 feet in length and measured 40 to 70 tons burthen.
Crew: 90
Speed: 3
Guns: 3
Maneuverability: 3
HP: 270
Rigging HP: 15
Price: 1350 gold
Fluyt:
The vessel was designed to facilitate transoceanic delivery with the maximum of space and crew efficiency. The inexpensive ship — which could be built in large numbers — usually carried 12 to 15 cannons, but was still a somewhat easy target for pirates. The standard fluyt design minimized or completely eliminated its armaments to maximize available cargo space, and used block and tackle extensively to facilitate ship operations. The fluyt was square rigged with two or three masts. Masts were much higher than those of galleons to allow for greater speed.
Crew: 60
Speed:4
Guns: 2
Maneuverability: 3
HP: 120
Rigging HP: 10
Price: 600 gold
Frigate:
These could be warships carrying their principal battery of carriage-mounted guns on a single deck or on two decks with further smaller carriage-mounted guns usually carried on the forecastle and quarterdeck of the vessel. The term was generally used for ships too small to stand in the line of battle, although early line-of-battle ships were frequently referred to as frigates when they were built for speed. Frigates were usually as long as a ship-of-the-line and were square-rigged on all three masts, but were faster and with lighter armament, used for patrolling and escort.
Crew: 120
Speed: 2
Guns: 5
Maneuverability: 4
HP: 480
Rigging HP: 25
Price: 2400 gold
Galleon:
The galleon was powered entirely by wind, using sails carried on three or four masts, with a lateen sail continuing to be used on the last masts. They were used in both military and trade applications. A lowering of the forecastle and elongation of the hull gave galleons an unprecedented level of stability in the water, and reduced wind resistance at the front, leading to a faster, more maneuverable vessel. The galleon differed from the older types primarily by being longer, lower and narrower, with a square tuck stern instead of a round tuck, and by having a snout or head projecting forward from the bows below the level of the forecastle.
Crew: 110
Speed:1
Guns: 4
Maneuverability: 4
HP: 440
Rigging HP: 20
Price: 2200 gold
India Merchantman:
The India Merchantman is a large merchant vessel designed to transport a large amount of goods large distances. It was lightly armed to help protect it from pirates on these long journeys. It looked like a large warship to deter attacks.
Crew: 100
Speed: 2
Guns: 2
Maneuverability: 3
HP: 1200
Rigging HP: 30
Price: 6000 gold
*Special: The India Merchantman, because of its design, will allow you to get 2 gold per remaining HP when it arrives into a port. This is increased to 2 1/2 if you have the merchant upbringing. If you have the engineer perk, you may modify it to a Ship of the Line.
Man-of-war:
The man-of-war design had three masts which could be up to 200 feet long and required three cannon decks to hold the guns, one more than any earlier ship. It derived from the caravel ship design.
Crew: 200
Speed: 1
Guns: 10
Maneuverability: 4
HP: 2000
Rigging HP: 50
Price: 10000 gold
*Special: If you have the Engineer upbringing, you may modify this ship to a Razee for 1000 gold; change its guns to 6, Speed to 3, Maneuverability to 3, crew to 150, and HP to 1500.
Schooner:
A schooner is a type of sailing vessel characterized by the use of fore-and-aft sails on two or more masts with the forward mast being no taller than the rear masts. Two-masted schooners were and are most common. They were popular in trades that required speed and windward ability, such as slaving, privateering, and blockade running. They were also traditional fishing boats, used for offshore fishing. A two or three masted schooner is quite maneuverable and can be sailed by a smaller crew than some other sailing vessels.
Crew: 70
Speed: 4
Guns: 2
Maneuverability: 3
HP: 140
Rigging HP: 10
Price: 700 gold
Ship of the Line:
Ships of the Line were 500 tons burthen with a keel of over 106 ft. The natural progression was to build sailing vessels that were the largest and most powerful of their time.
Crew: 200
Speed: 2
Guns: 8
Maneuverability: 5
HP: 1600
Rigging HP: 40
Price: 8000 gold
*Special: If you have the Engineer upbringing, you may modify this ship to a Razee for 1000 gold; change its guns to 6, Speed to 3, Maneuverability to 3, crew to 150, and HP to 1500.
Sloops of war:
A sloop is a sail boat with a fore-and-aft rig and a single mast farther forward than the mast of a cutter. A ship sloop was generally the equivalent of the smaller corvette.
Crew: 70
Speed:4
Guns: 3
Maneuverability: 3
HP: 210
Rigging HP: 15
Price: 1050 gold
Xebec:
Xebecs were similar to galleys used by Berber corsairs and Barbary pirates having both lateen sails and oars for propulsion. Early xebecs had two masts; later ones three. Xebecs featured a distinctive hull with pronounced overhanging bow and stern, and rarely displaced more than 200 tons, making them slightly smaller and with slightly fewer guns than frigates of the period. Sea-going peoples greatly favored xebecs as corsairs, and for this purpose built them with a narrow floor to achieve a higher speed than their victims, but with a considerable beam in order to enable them to carry an extensive sail-plan. The lateen rig of the xebec allowed for the ship to sail close hauled to the wind often giving it an advantage in pursuit or escape. The use of oars or sweeps allowed the xebec to approach vessels that were becalmed.
Crew: 100
Speed: 5 (2 with oars)
Guns: 3
Maneuverability: 1
HP: 300
Rigging HP: 15
Price: 1500 gold
Game Play:
Each player plays the role of a sailor taking his first command of a ship. His actions will dictate the enemies he encounters and how different ports will react to him. One player will control the game, telling players what their objectives are and determining the encounters. Once given an objective, players can choose how they will accomplish it, either by acting as a privateer clearing the area of pirates and protecting ports or as a pirate stealing his way to glory and challenging the might of the local navies. The controller (Game master or GM) must ensure objectives are specific enough to ensure the player knows exactly what they have to do but loose enough to allow players to act as they choose. (Example, by directing a player to eliminate the pirate threat in the vicinity would require them to act as a legitimate force, but if they were to eliminate a specific pirate ship or fort would enable a player to act as a pirate eliminating a rival). Each player will dictate how their fleet acts, such as having them all sail together for safety or splitting them up to patrol a specific coast line or port. There is no limit to how many ships a player may control, however the GM should ensure that it does not get too overwhelming for each player (As nice as it would be to have a fleet of 30 Man of Wars, who would want to negotiate 300 guns in a single battle?). It is recommended that each player keep fleets down to around 5 ships, although their entire force may be much larger. Trading and raiding have been parameterized for ease, although a GM could incorporate a system for those that like a micromanaging system. Outside of battle, players may play concurrently directing where their fleets are traveling, but when battling each player involved will roll a dice to determine who goes first. Inside battle, the GM should have enough space between fleets at the start so the player going first does not have a significant advantage (the exception being a staged ambush in certain coastal areas). Each ship has a minimum manning of ¼ of its crew score. When you have minimum manning, you may not use any guns and immediately try to flee when engaged in battle. For every 10 crew members beyond minimum, you gain the use of 1 gun. You may not board another ship until you are beyond ¾ of your ship’s crew score. The recommended starting ship is a Caravel, although this is subject to the GM’s decision.
Movement:
When going with the wind, your speed is three squares for every rank your ship has in speed. It is 2 times your speed stat when traveling perpendicular, and one when traveling against. Your maneuverability stat dictates how many squares you travel forward while making a complete u-turn. For example, if your maneuverability stat is 3, you must move three squares forward to complete your turn. In calm winds, your speed stat is reduced to 1 unless your ship has oars. For an emergency turn (dropping anchor and banking towards it), cut the maneuverability in half, rounded down, and lose 30 hp from the ship. This may only be done once per in port repair. If you are towing a ship, cut your speed in half and double your maneuverability. You may not tow a ship that has more hp than your own. While towing, you may not engage in battle, although you may fire your guns when not able to escape. If necessary, you may drop the towed vehicle to defend yourself. Beware; your enemy may decide to pick up the new ship while you are battling with his friends. If you decide to transport troops to help a port at war, you can carry your HP worth of soldiers. These may be used in a boarding action, but you cannot carry them around full time. They do not count for your crew score when determining surrender, but do count as cargo when you are losing ship HP. If you lose too many soldiers, you may not get paid for your service, since you were unable to transport them the entire way.
Combat:
You get one attack for each gun, and may only fire when a ship is on your broad side (no forward or rear mounted guns. You shoot round shot unless you specify otherwise when loading a gun. You may mix which ammo is in which gun, but must specify which gun is shooting which ammo. Your crew score dictates the amount of people you have on your ship; ship hp is equal to its crew multiplied by its gun scores, while the ship’s rigging hp is equal to its gun score times 5. Each attack is a rolled d20, with a dc 0f 10 to hit. Add 3 to each dc to hit when firing to a perpendicular ship. Round shot has a range of 10 squares, chain shot with a range of 6 squares, and grape shot and fire darts with a range of 3 squares. With the round shot, reduce your hit dc by one for each square closer than 10 you are to your target. On each successful hit, roll damage. When a ship’s hp is reduced to 0, the ship is sunk and all loot is sunk with it. Each time you lose 20 crew members, you lose the use of one of your guns. Each time you lose 30 ship hp, you lose one gun and 10 crew members. When ½ the crew is lost, the ship will surrender. When all guns are lost, the ship will flee if able. If unable, it will surrender. When all rigging hp is lost, the ship can no longer move. Each time you shoot, it takes three turns to reload your guns on that side. You also have the option to board the enemy ship. There is no limit to the amount of ships you can have in any battle. When battling a hostile town, you must destroy all the guns in the fort. That town becomes unfriendly. To put out a fire on your ship caused by fire darts or heated rounds, you must spend 2 turns of no changing direction or firing. Heated rounds are only fired by Forts. As your ship becomes more and more victorious, it starts to gain bonuses. For every 5 victorious battles a ship participates in, reduce the “to hit” dc by one (for a maximum of 3). Also, add 2 to each dice for damage done by a boarding party for every 2 ships it captures (to a maximum of 6). An enemy ship may also surrender at ¾ total crew members for a ship that has captured three other ships. Captured crew members may either be recruited (roll 2d6) or executed. They may also be kept as ransom for an additional profit, although other ships may just come to annihilate your fleet. This is a 70% failure chance, minus 10% for each 3 ships your force has sunk or crews your captain has executed (minimum failure chance is 30%). These do not count for towed ships you commandeered. These bonuses also count for a ship you have captured that has already achieved them (the ship itself will be well known). The failure chance will increase if you try to ransom for an amount that is considerably more than the crew is worth (for instance, if you ransom ½ of the crew of a fluyt for a ship of the line, you will not succeed at all, no matter how many crews you have executed). When you acquire a new ship, you must pick a captain for that ship. Their upbringing can be either sailor, gunner, or soldier. If that captain becomes extremely successful, and your ship is less, he may decide to break off and start his own crew.
If you leave a fleet to protect an area, the most senior captain will take the largest ship as a flag ship and command the group. You still control their movements and battles.
Actions: Not in Battle
Pirate hunt: Patrol a specific area for pirate activities. Any seen you will be given an option whether or not you would like to attack or not. However, you may be attacked as well.
Merchant hunt: Same as Pirate Hunt, but searching for merchant vessels as well. They may be escorted. You may be attacked by a country’s naval forces.
Merchant run: Run from one port to another carrying cargo. You may be attacked as a merchant vessel.
Protect port: Patrol a port area protecting merchant vessels and the port itself. You will be expected to aid in any defense.
Escort: You may escort a merchant vessel between ports. You may be attacked as a merchant vessel.
Assault: Conduct an assault on an unsuspecting port. You will be attacked by any garrison as well as the fort.
Explore: Take your crew on a tour of unknown waters. Any port you come across will be at best neutral.
Port: Repair your vessel, sell your goods, recruit new members, and buy a new ship.
Transport Troops: Self explanatory. You may be attacked by an enemy of the troops you are carrying
Search for hideout: You may search for a cave or other hard to find area to set up a base of operations.
Set up Hideout: You may disassemble a Man of War or Ship of the line and create a hide out for yourself. You can use this to create a fort where you are able to make free repairs and keep extra crew members as well as hostages. This fort will have as many guns as the ship used to create it and have 300 HP.
Search for Enemy Hideout: Take some of your fleet and find where a group of pirates has already made a hideout. If you clear one out, you may take it for yourself, but will still have to set it up yourself. After you have destroyed the cannons, it is assumed you spent the rest of the time bombarding the area with grape shot to eliminate any remaining enemy crew.
Actions: in Battle
Fire: Loose all guns upon victim
Board: Attempt to steal enemy ship
Retreat: Tuck tail and run
Surrender: Give up fight
Boarding:
If you are in an adjacent square to an enemy, declare that you are boarding. For every 10 crew members you have remaining, roll 1d6 damage to the enemy crew. They do the same. First one to surrender loses their ship. When boarding a towed vessel, you automatically send the minimum crew to it to man the ship and cut the tow lines. If you do not have enough men to reach this point, you must destroy the guide vessel first. If the towed vessel is larger than your ship, you must send all your crew to the larger ship and tow your own vessel behind. If the ship you are boarding is larger than your own, they will not surrender until they reach the minimum manning level. If you are known for executing the opposing crew, they may battle you to the last man. If you are in a losing battle, you may retreat. Declare you are retreating and only your opponent will roll damage for the turn. Your crew returns to your ship and cuts all grappling hooks. This can only be done if you initiated the boarding. If you were boarded and the enemy tries to retreat, you may attempt to board them instead of rolling damage. Play will continue as normal.
Port:
As soon as you reach port, you receive one gold for each ship hp you have remaining. Repairs cost 1 gold for every 2 ship hp and 1 for 1 to repair rigging. Buying a new ship requires 5 gold per ship hp. (For example, a new Sloop of war costs 1050 gold). You can sell a ship for 3 gold per remaining hp. You may not buy, sell, or repair your ship in an unfriendly port. You cannot recruit in an unfriendly port (You may find hostile ships in port as well). You may also roll 3d6 each day you are in a neutral port, 4d6 in a friendly port, and 5d6 in an allied port. This is the number of sailors you recruit to your fleet. Any that you do not have room for will be added to the next ship you acquire once you re-enter this port. (Take note of where and how many recruits you have)
Morale:
Each ship starts off with morale of 5. Each time you lose ¼ of your crew, retreat from battle, or lose a cannon, your morale lowers by one. When you sink a ship, raid a port, or steal a new ship, it increases by one to a maximum of 5. Your crew will mutiny when your morale reaches 0. If it is your flag ship, you lose ½ of your gold, must return to the nearest neutral or friendly port and buy a new ship and recruit a new crew. If you cannot afford a new ship, you will receive a Fluyt with 80 HP and only one gun (in other words, a used ship in need of repairs).
Changing a port’s friendliness:
Allied=>Friendly=>neutral=>unfriendly=>hostile
Every time you attack a ship from a port, its friendliness changes to hostile. All ports allied with that port change to unfriendly. If you are allied with a port and it comes under attack by a ship, and you are close enough to assist and don’t, or fail to exact revenge, that port changes to friendly. If that port is friendly, it changes to neutral. In order to exact revenge you must either raid the port the ship hailed from or sink/steal the ships involved. When you achieve the retribution, the port’s friendliness returns to its previous state. If you get into a battle in port without being either attacked first or aiding the port, its friendliness is reduced by one. If you assist a port that is under attack, it may improve its attitude towards you. Every 2 times you assist improve the port’s friendliness by one. (It is easier to make a port hate you then to win back its trust)
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Topic: Playtesting: Homebrew Nautical Design (Read 11497 times)