Privateer/Naval Combat
Contents
Crew Roles
Fighting against another ship is a dangerous and perilous affair. Everyone in the crew is vital to a ship's survival. Each ship moves as one character rather than individual characters as the crew must work together to keep the ship both upright and fighting. The ship's dice pools are derived from which character performs certain functions on the ship.
As stated above, the ship moves as one unit in combat. PCs, fulfilling the crew roles, provide certain pools for actions the ship takes. These roles are...
The Captain (Tabin)
The Captain is the final arbiter of actions on a ship, and therefore the crew can only act as effectively and as quickly as it's captain. The Captain determine's the Ships Initiative based on their Wits+Leadership
The Bosun
Keeping the crew in line, the Bosun is useful for organizing the crew at a moment's notice. They're Perception+Firearms forms the base dice pool for the Shoot em! Action.
The Gunner
The Gunner is in charge of the cannons. Their Dex+Firearms forms the base pool of the Broadside! Action.
The Helmsmam
The Helmsman is the one who steers and maneuvers the ship. Their Dex + Boat-Handling constitutes the Ram 'em! action. They also are the ones who steer the ship, maneuvering it in combat.
The Mariner
The Mariner is in charge of keeping people off the ship, manning the port and starboard sides and clearing them of threats. They're also in charge of boarding, and their Dex+Athletics forms the dice pool for the Board 'em! action.
The Master of the Tops
The Master of the Tops is the lookout. Scanning the enemy to see what they do next. The Master of the Tops builds the ship's base soak pool with their Perception+Alertness. Including ship armor, this forms the soak pool.
The Midshipman (Conn)
The Midshipman is the head gopher of the crew, running around and getting everything prepared. During a Brace! the Midshipman's ability to gopher shines through, and can roll Dex+Crafts/Repair, diff 6/5, to restore up to 3 Health Levels to the ship.
Combat Actions
What can a ship do in combat? Like WoD combat, each ship can move and perform 1 of several actions below to be determined by the crew. If it's a toss-up, decision-making falls to the Bosun.
Broadside!
The ship unleashes a full round of cannonfire. This is a basic attack performed by The Gunner. After a round, it takes a round to reload a side.
Brace!
The ship doesn't act, instead the crew hunker down and tend to collateral damage as the ship is attacked. This increases the soak pool by 3 dice. The Midshipman can perform their repair roll during this action.
Board 'em!
A last ditch effort, a ship can attempt to board an opposing ship. This pool is derived from The Mariner, difficulty 8. A single success is needed to initiate a boarding as the Mariner locks the ships together with grappling hooks and rope and taut lines. The difficulty decreases to 6 if this is preceeded by a Ram em! action. Following a successful boarding action, combat returns to the usual rules.
Ram 'em!
The ship's bow collides into the enemy ship, causing potentially severe damage (to both ships!). Ramming uses The Helmsman's Dex+Boat-Handling vs 6. A successful hit turns the ship's current health levels into it's damage pool that must be soaked by both ships, plus extra successes from the attack roll. For every two successes in damage, it decreases the opposing ship's armor by 1. Successfully ramming also makes Board 'em! easier.
Shoot 'em!
A dirty tactic, the crew pick up guns and bows and arrows and lob a round at the opposing crew. This works off the Bosun's Perception+Firearms, base damage of 3 plus additional successes from the attack roll. This damage must be soaked by each crew member normally. Brace! cancels a Shoot 'em!
