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JasonZavoda Encyclopedia Greyhawkaniac


Joined: May 29, 2018 Posts: 27
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Posted: Tue May 29, 2018 2:45 pm Post subject: Ships and the Sea |
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How have DMs handled ships and naval warfare? |
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vestcoat Adept Greytalker

Joined: Jul 29, 2006 Posts: 417 Location: Dantredun, MN
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Posted: Wed May 30, 2018 8:16 pm Post subject: |
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Hi Jason, welcome to the forums. I don't know the what went down, but I was sad to see you delete much of your content from dragonsfoot. And I'm glad to see you now talking shop here and on the FB group! Your name recently came up in the GH fiction thread and I need to add your short stories to the list (http://www.canonfire.com/cf/modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&t=8551). Please let me know if any more stories are unearthed!
Getting on topic, I mostly avoid nautical rules. DM'ing, I focus on the core rules and PC's skills. Stats for units and ships put my nose in the rulebooks more than I like, so I simplify things like sailing, flight, psionics, and mass combat as much as possible. That said, I recently referenced some of the easy sailing rules from Adventures Dark & Deep and assembled the old ship from Dragon Magazine as a prop for a few encounters on a Noteboard. My players liked it.
I was a player in a Greyhawk nautical campaign that lasted a couple years. The DM used rules from Of Ships & Sea and Pirates of the Fallen Stars extensively. We had the "character sheet" from the former with all of our ship stats on it and made many rolls for ship chases, ramming, and maneuvers. We made improvements and tracked damage and repairs. The other players and I were never inspired to learn the rules, we just rolled d6's and 20's as we were told. It was very fun, but definitely changed the dynamic of D&D a bit and added more simulation and board game elements. |
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Vulcan Journeyman Greytalker

Joined: Mar 12, 2008 Posts: 99
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Posted: Wed May 30, 2018 9:34 pm Post subject: |
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As someone who's always been interested in seafaring games, I've made a point of reading a lot of related threads on various forums. It seems to be a general agreement that those two books - Of Ships and the Seas, and Pirates of the Fallen Stars - are the best sources for early edition seafaring games. |
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LordGosumba Apprentice Greytalker

Joined: Apr 22, 2018 Posts: 7 Location: South Jersey
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Posted: Thu May 31, 2018 8:28 am Post subject: |
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It is extremely difficult to make a conversion with Naval rules from whichever version of AD&D you are playing. Your best bet is to keep whatever ratios you utilize when using figures or tabletop play, and incorporate basic rules (like ship movement, ship damage, etc.) into your playstyle. Books like Of Ships and the Seas are excellent, but do not convert well for very basic gameplay (especially without a lot of room to game!)
BTW, this will be my 3rd week of using some sea/ship based adventuring with my group. Pics and vids can be found here: www.twitch.tv; channel: LordGosumba. Check it out if your interested, and please feel free to provide me some feedback! _________________ WOG: Knights of Ulek Campaign DM, Going Strong, Since 1980! |
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JasonZavoda Encyclopedia Greyhawkaniac


Joined: May 29, 2018 Posts: 27
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Posted: Thu May 31, 2018 10:24 am Post subject: |
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vestcoat wrote: |
Hi Jason, welcome to the forums. I don't know the what went down, but I was sad to see you delete much of your content from dragonsfoot. And I'm glad to see you now talking shop here and on the FB group! Your name recently came up in the GH fiction thread and I need to add your short stories to the list (http://www.canonfire.com/cf/modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&t=8551). Please let me know if any more stories are unearthed!
Getting on topic, I mostly avoid nautical rules. DM'ing, I focus on the core rules and PC's skills. Stats for units and ships put my nose in the rulebooks more than I like, so I simplify things like sailing, flight, psionics, and mass combat as much as possible. That said, I recently referenced some of the easy sailing rules from Adventures Dark & Deep and assembled the old ship from Dragon Magazine as a prop for a few encounters on a Noteboard. My players liked it.
I was a player in a Greyhawk nautical campaign that lasted a couple years. The DM used rules from Of Ships & Sea and Pirates of the Fallen Stars extensively. We had the "character sheet" from the former with all of our ship stats on it and made many rolls for ship chases, ramming, and maneuvers. We made improvements and tracked damage and repairs. The other players and I were never inspired to learn the rules, we just rolled d6's and 20's as we were told. It was very fun, but definitely changed the dynamic of D&D a bit and added more simulation and board game elements. |
Thank you and glad to be here.
I beleve that at the time I left DF it was just before I had to have my left leg amputated and I was in a strange mood. I no doubt over reacted to my frustration with the DF site but it all seems small potatos to me in the scale of life now. It wouldnt be my reaction now..
As for greyhawk fiction I completed a Novel - The Hill Giant Chief Nosnra's Saga, which Im reposting on my blog; and a novella An Unsung Death in Geoff. I have a few incomplete Greyhawk works that I m still thinking of reworking, The Spear That Roars For Blood which will be novel length will most likely be next. Ive posted all these and some of my other Greyhawk stories (The Light of Pelor's Keep, The Bow of Haladn, The Sentinels of Despair, and Red The Sun With Smoke The Oerth With Blood) in various places.
Now my main goal with the questions about ships is a work Im doing on the military forces of the various nations of the Flanaeess. I find that Harnworld's Pilots Almanac very helpful but I definitely need to get my hands on Ships and the Sea and pirates.
My main thoughts about Greyhaw appropriate naval forces are how to deal with Magic, Airborne and Subsurface creatures. I have some ideas but have never really tried to spell things out for a reference work before. Alreadyyou've pointed me i a good direction, thank you. |
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JasonZavoda Encyclopedia Greyhawkaniac


Joined: May 29, 2018 Posts: 27
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Posted: Thu May 31, 2018 10:26 am Post subject: |
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Vulcan wrote: |
As someone who's always been interested in seafaring games, I've made a point of reading a lot of related threads on various forums. It seems to be a general agreement that those two books - Of Ships and the Seas, and Pirates of the Fallen Stars - are the best sources for early edition seafaring games. |
Excellent. I will trck them down. Hopefully theyhave them on pdf. |
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JasonZavoda Encyclopedia Greyhawkaniac


Joined: May 29, 2018 Posts: 27
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Posted: Thu May 31, 2018 10:30 am Post subject: |
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LordGosumba wrote: |
It is extremely difficult to make a conversion with Naval rules from whichever version of AD&D you are playing. Your best bet is to keep whatever ratios you utilize when using figures or tabletop play, and incorporate basic rules (like ship movement, ship damage, etc.) into your playstyle. Books like Of Ships and the Seas are excellent, but do not convert well for very basic gameplay (especially without a lot of room to game!)
BTW, this will be my 3rd week of using some sea/ship based adventuring with my group. Pics and vids can be found here: www.twitch.tv; channel: LordGosumba. Check it out if your interested, and please feel free to provide me some feedback! |
I will check out your groups adventures.
While Im a 1st edition player most of the information and ideas im looking for and the reference work I want to create will be system neutral.I will be dealing with the types of ships and numbers but need to work o altering medieval and renaissance ships so that theyy would make sense in the Greyhawk setting. |
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LordGosumba Apprentice Greytalker

Joined: Apr 22, 2018 Posts: 7 Location: South Jersey
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Posted: Thu May 31, 2018 12:13 pm Post subject: |
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We are 1st/2nd edition hybrid with customized rules. _________________ WOG: Knights of Ulek Campaign DM, Going Strong, Since 1980! |
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SirXaris GreySage

Joined: Jul 26, 2010 Posts: 2356 Location: LG Dyvers
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Posted: Fri Jun 01, 2018 4:43 am Post subject: |
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Dungeon Magazine #34 has an adventure entitled, La Dama Rosa. It features a ship with some interesting mundane and magical upgrades which may be useful when considering how mariners in the Flanaess deal with sea-going threats.
SirXaris _________________ SirXaris' Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/SirXaris?ref=hl |
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JasonZavoda Encyclopedia Greyhawkaniac


Joined: May 29, 2018 Posts: 27
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Posted: Fri Jun 01, 2018 10:57 am Post subject: |
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SirXaris wrote: |
Dungeon Magazine #34 has an adventure entitled, La Dama Rosa. It features a ship with some interesting mundane and magical upgrades which may be useful when considering how mariners in the Flanaess deal with sea-going threats.
SirXaris |
Thanks. I will have to see if I have that issue. I heard that dungeon mags are available on pdf but not sure if thats true. |
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Raymond Adept Greytalker

Joined: Oct 07, 2008 Posts: 325
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Posted: Fri Jun 01, 2018 10:59 am Post subject: Expert? |
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1981 Expert rules seem simple to follow. There is a section called "COMBAT AT SEA" on page X64. |
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mortellan Forum Moderator


Joined: Feb 26, 2004 Posts: 2554 Location: Ullinois
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Posted: Sat Jun 09, 2018 6:30 am Post subject: |
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I've dealt with seafaring rules many times in my Sea Princes campaigns. Sometimes I leaned toward crunchy rules (used to have 3.5/1E/Expert) hybrid rules. Then other times I went mostly narrative for sake of speed and story, thus focusing on individuals geographic or seafaring skill sets. In combat, often the goal was to get to melee (I do use black powder weapons in Greyhawk) ASAP by boarding or going ashore. I've only entertained mass naval combat once and after planning the whole thing (I believe Pathfinder has good rules for naval battles) I scrapped it halfway thru for a more narrative climax aboard the enemy flagship. |
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Cyrusalthantas Journeyman Greytalker

Joined: Nov 22, 2007 Posts: 62 Location: Denton, Tx
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Posted: Sat Jun 09, 2018 8:08 am Post subject: |
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The 3e book Stormwrack may be of some use. Its been awhile since I've looked at it since the last naval campaign I was in was 10 years ago. |
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JasonZavoda Encyclopedia Greyhawkaniac


Joined: May 29, 2018 Posts: 27
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Posted: Sun Jun 10, 2018 1:03 pm Post subject: |
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mortellan wrote: |
I've dealt with seafaring rules many times in my Sea Princes campaigns. Sometimes I leaned toward crunchy rules (used to have 3.5/1E/Expert) hybrid rules. Then other times I went mostly narrative for sake of speed and story, thus focusing on individuals geographic or seafaring skill sets. In combat, often the goal was to get to melee (I do use black powder weapons in Greyhawk) ASAP by boarding or going ashore. I've only entertained mass naval combat once and after planning the whole thing (I believe Pathfinder has good rules for naval battles) I scrapped it halfway thru for a more narrative climax aboard the enemy flagship. |
In 1e I always winged naval combat and normally had a galley ormedieval sailing ship without cannon. Any extraordinary cricumstances were just part of the storyline.
The difficulty with working o a sourcebook is formalizing very sketchy material. Until I get my hands on the suggessted sourcebooks I'm putting the naaval aspect of the military sourcebook on the back burner. |
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JasonZavoda Encyclopedia Greyhawkaniac


Joined: May 29, 2018 Posts: 27
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Posted: Sun Jun 10, 2018 1:03 pm Post subject: |
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Cyrusalthantas wrote: |
The 3e book Stormwrack may be of some use. Its been awhile since I've looked at it since the last naval campaign I was in was 10 years ago. |
I will keep my eye out for it. Thanks! |
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heychadwick Journeyman Greytalker

Joined: Aug 31, 2004 Posts: 81 Location: Charlotte, NC
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Posted: Fri Jul 13, 2018 3:58 am Post subject: |
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I would think that a lot of details depends on how high/low fantasy the setting is. If there are tons of flying monsters and magic used then I could see at least one wizard per ship on board, as well as all sorts of anti fire magic. There can be something to watch out for underneath. Maybe a warning.
I tend to be a bit more low fantasy, though, and let the fantastical be more exceptional. So, I tend to have ships more like ships were historically on earth. |
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xo42 Journeyman Greytalker

Joined: Jan 11, 2009 Posts: 182 Location: Montgomery, Alabama
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Posted: Sat Jul 21, 2018 7:29 am Post subject: |
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Like many others have mentioned, Of Ships and the Seas, and Pirates of the Fallen Stars have some great rules/info on ship to ship warfare. I really like to use the rules of ship combat from the Spelljammer setting (with some modifications as needed if not in space). I also enjoyed the short naval combat section in the 2d ed. module, Slavers (which had slight alterations from Of Ships and the Seas). Your best bet is probably to look at all three sets of rules and make your own hybrid version from those sources. |
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