| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| Mindseye |
Posted - 01 Nov 2019 : 22:02:20
Are there any good pirate sources out for FR?
mostly wanting to have a ballpark idea on boat size and crew complement. They don't have cannon do they?
What about wizards as cannons?
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| 12 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| Ayrik |
Posted - 03 Nov 2019 : 07:28:20
Of Ships And The Sea was one of the "historical series" (green) 2E softcovers. I recall it being comprehensive and meticulously researched... but also dry and dull reading, slow and dreary playing, of little value in D&D campaigns. I also recall it being a very popular "must have" resource with the historical wargaming crowd. |
| Mindseye |
Posted - 03 Nov 2019 : 04:29:55
Hmm. Not really sure how much in depth I want to get. I don't want to have to learn naval tactics at this point.
Would probably would distill weather to a modifier from -2 to +2 for unfavorable to favorable winds/currents. Storms would just be bad times lose a day of sail time.
That said, the sources already pointed out, especially Pirates of the Fallen Stars has been quite useful!
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| AuldDragon |
Posted - 03 Nov 2019 : 03:13:24
As much as I love Spelljammer, I don't agree that it is a good source for groundling pirates. It doesn't have a whole lot of actual *rules* about Piracy, for one thing, or cargo (cargo capacity listed as tons, but it is displacement, not weight).
That said, if you want tactical ship-based combat, the Spelljammer combat system can easily be turned into a sea-based one, although you'd want to add in rules for winds, change how things move, and add in rules for capsizing.
Another book you might want to look at is Of Ships and the Sea. That details a lot of different ship types, weight-based cargo, crew complements, etc.
Jeff |
| Wooly Rupert |
Posted - 03 Nov 2019 : 01:47:55
quote:
Originally posted by Mindseye
quote:
Originally posted by Wooly Rupert
Any ruler who got his hands on a spelljammer -- or better, more than one -- would have options for moving his armies in ways no groundling military could counter. And aerial attacks against otherwise impregnable military defenses becomes an option, too.
Suddenly I'm seeing Feather Falling Paratroopers
That's just one option.
Drop javelins, boulders, or caltrops on defenders, in the field or in a castle.
Under cover of darkness, airlift some of your troops to a better position, or airlift them past otherwise difficult barriers...
Or simply have your army show up in a very unexpected place. If your neighbor to the north is expecting hostilities and has a lot of his army on his southern border, move some of your army to a place north of his capital. He'll never expect it, and his forces will not be in a position to defend the capital. Drop in a single squad of airborne troops to open the gate, and your army is marching into his capital before the enemy knows the war is started.
How about flying battle platforms? Simple wooden platforms, covered with archers, flying just above the range of the defending archers... The attackers will be firing down, and have gravity on their side, so they can really put a hurting on the defenders without being all that exposed.
Or a flying siege tower. Keep it back (or really high) where it can't be seen, have your troops assault the walls... Once the battle is going good, this flying platform comes in, drops a hundred men or so at one spot on the wall -- now they hold that spot while your ground troops start coming up the wall right there, reinforcing them. Instead of the standard breach of getting a handful of attackers to the top of the wall and hoping they can hold out long enough for more to get there, you throw a buttload of men directly on top of the wall, all at once, and they can easily hold while more men come up ladders.
And that's all the offensive angles. Don't forget about simple reconnaissance -- that's how aircraft were first used in war, in the real world.
Even if you've only got one flying ship, you can still do a lot with it, militarily. |
| sleyvas |
Posted - 02 Nov 2019 : 22:29:46
quote:
Originally posted by Mindseye
quote:
Originally posted by Wooly Rupert
Any ruler who got his hands on a spelljammer -- or better, more than one -- would have options for moving his armies in ways no groundling military could counter. And aerial attacks against otherwise impregnable military defenses becomes an option, too.
Suddenly I'm seeing Feather Falling Paratroopers
given that there are flying races, this isn't extremely overpowering. Whether it be mounted on flying mounts or a race that naturally has wings, a lot of the traditional protections we think of from our world won't stand up in FR. Which is of course why magic often comes into play as well as things like certain courtyards that may be able to be blocked from above by physical and/or magical means, etc... I think it would be a really interesting article to discuss various ways that FR castles would be protected. For instance, one castle I had discussed using magnetism spells along the tops of the walls to draw arrows and armored opponents. That might be an interesting defense say in Nimbral where glassteel is known to be used for armor. A spell that varies gravity randomly above a certain height might also really mess with fliers. |
| Mindseye |
Posted - 02 Nov 2019 : 22:10:14
quote:
Originally posted by Wooly Rupert
Any ruler who got his hands on a spelljammer -- or better, more than one -- would have options for moving his armies in ways no groundling military could counter. And aerial attacks against otherwise impregnable military defenses becomes an option, too.
Suddenly I'm seeing Feather Falling Paratroopers
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| Ayrik |
Posted - 02 Nov 2019 : 21:15:04
I think it's fair to assume most watery pirates do not have access to spelljammer helms - or airhelms, or even wizards.
But pirates still gotta eat, still need to fight off scurvy and disease, still need rum and grog, still need some kind of ship along with sufficient maritime/nautical terminology to make use of it. Spelljammer material can provide many of these things where other D&D materials are found lacking. |
| Wooly Rupert |
Posted - 02 Nov 2019 : 20:01:02
One of the failings of the Spelljammer setting, in my mind, was that it didn't address the issue of giving groundlings access to flying ships. The default assumption is that if someone gets a spelljamming vessel and figures out how to use it, they're going into space.
But imagine the advantages a groundling merchant would have if he could lay hands on a spelljammer -- he could sail that ship to anywhere there was a body of water, and even if he just stayed in one particular sea, he could transport his goods much faster -- and with less concern about pirates or weather -- than his competitors.
Any ruler who got his hands on a spelljammer -- or better, more than one -- would have options for moving his armies in ways no groundling military could counter. And aerial attacks against otherwise impregnable military defenses becomes an option, too.
A crystal sphere I made up for my own usage included a world where something very similar* to spelljamming was discovered by accident, by a merchant mage. And that discovery lead to forging a worldwide empire, because of those things I mentioned above.
*My "airhelms" acted pretty much the same as spelljamming helms, but they could be used in series**, and did not include interplanetary speeds.
**I wanted a really, really big ship to be an option. |
| Ayrik |
Posted - 02 Nov 2019 : 16:34:57
Spelljammer has little to do with water travel.
But it has plenty of pirates. And rules about piracy. And rules about the merchants and couriers they prey on. Rules about shipboard capacities, provisions vs consumption, and travel times.
Perhaps better to think of these rules as more like guidelines. |
| Mindseye |
Posted - 02 Nov 2019 : 15:43:00
How much does Spelljammer relate to ships on the Seas of Faerun?
Does the average scalawag know about the ships that sail the Crystal spheres?
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| Ayrik |
Posted - 01 Nov 2019 : 22:18:45
Sea of Fallen Stars
Pirates of the Sea of Fallen Stars
Spelljammer
Thar be rules aplenty for ye to plunder. |
| Dalor Darden |
Posted - 01 Nov 2019 : 22:18:34
Try this link:
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/16831/FOR3-Pirates-of-the-Fallen-Stars-2e
The Thayans do indeed have bombards on at least one of their ships that I know of; but I can't remember all the information off the top of my head.
There are sometimes wizards on ships; but it isn't as common as you might think...though that statement comes from me, who only uses the Old Grey Box as my go to setting material for the Forgotten Realms. I do enjoy many of the "Golden Age" materials (a plethora of resources from 2nd edition AD&D made for the Realms). |
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