this post was submitted on 11 Jul 2023
22 points (95.8% liked)

Dungeons and Dragons

11054 readers
424 users here now

A community for discussion of all things Dungeons and Dragons! This is the catch all community for anything relating to Dungeons and Dragons, though we encourage you to see out our Networked Communities listed below!

/c/DnD Network Communities

Other DnD and related Communities to follow*

DnD/RPG Podcasts

*Please Follow the rules of these individual communities, not all of them are strictly DnD related, but may be of interest to DnD Fans

Rules (Subject to Change)

Format: [Source Name] Article Title

founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS
Brunbrun6766@lemmy.world
owenfromcanada@lemmy.world
22
Help me flesh out my homebrew pirate world by asking me questions about it (lemmy.ml)
submitted 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) by jossbo@lemmy.ml to c/dnd@lemmy.world
36 comments fedilink hide all child comments
 

First off: Sawbones, Moonie, Reeva or Mygg, if you're reading this, DON'T!

I'm running a pirate-themed homebrew campaign set in a homebrewed place which I've plonked down in The Sea of Falling Stars. I call it The Southern Isles, and its rife with piracy. The de facto 'government' is The Southern Islands Company, who run the place for profit and starve the population with high taxes and tithes, and who brutally suppress any rebellion. I've used every pirate and maritime trope I can think of in planning the plot, creating encounters and filling it with characters.

I figured this will help me add flavour to the world, and could be a good resource for anyone planning a similar campaign, or one shot or whatever.

Edit: I should maybe note I already played quite a bit in this setting and after a long hiatus I am starting it back up for Season 2, so partly this is a way for me to get it all fresh in my head again.

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[โ€“] jossbo@lemmy.ml 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I have cannons in the setting, just cos I wanted the players to be able to use them, cos fun! I've developed a way of doing ship-to-ship combat that has been working quite well.

I balance the encounter with a manageable number of enemies to match the party, and maybe one or two named NPCs. They battle it out while the two crews fight around them. The crews go in with a set strength rating that translates to a modifier. At the start if each round, both crews roll a d20 and the loser takes one away from their modifier. I determines the starting mod for the players by assessing morale if the crew, how well fed and we'll armed they are, etc. I use the results to add flavour to the battle. So it's like the party are fighting some of the crew, but I'm simulating a larger battle around them. If their crew is losing, the PC cam use their actions to affect the larger battle and swing it back in their favour.

Each turn, each ship can move its movement speed and fire cannons/ballet's on either side. The players can use their actions to do these things or, if they have enough crew left, they can give orders to have them do it.

Makes are still very useful aboard ships cos they can do stuff like create a gust of wind for a burst of speed, or create a fog cloud for visual cover. Also fireballs!

[โ€“] cynar@lemmy.world 3 points 1 year ago

If you can, it might be worth looking into the old games workshop game "Battlefleet Gothic". While it's spaceships in space, a lot of the rules and ideas could easily be remapped onto sea battles. Some of the rules would actually make MORE sense for a sea navy rather than a space navy. It could help for things like getting caught in a multi fleet battle, without getting bogged down too much.