MetaMythos - RPG Campaign and World Design

RuneQuest Companion SRD - Water Travel

Each ship detailed shares the following characteristics, whether the ship in question is a mighty warship or a simple canoe.

Length: The distance from bow to stern.

Beam: The widest part of a ship - usually in the middle. Ships equipped with oars will have the beam of the ship increased when the oars are employed. The inclusion of oars is considered to increase a ship’s beam to half again its original rating.

Draft: The depth of water needed for the ship to manoeuvre effectively and avoid running aground. This is the distance between the ship’s keel and the waterline.

Freeboard: The minimum height between the ship’s gunwale and the waterline. Comparing two ships’ freeboards can help give the vertical distance a character needs to achieve when jumping from one to the other.

Capacity: This indicates the cargo capacity of the ship in tons. This number reflects the ship’s cargo capacity in addition to the weight of the ship’s rigging, crew, provisions and so forth.

Speed: The speed at which the ship travels per Combat Action / per 12 hour period. A ship that relies solely upon sails for propulsion is dependent on the wind for its speed.

Seaworthiness: The ability of the ship to stand up to the rigours of sailing. All ships must undergo frequent maintenance in order to keep their Seaworthiness rating from deteriorating.

Hull: The hull acts as the ship’s armour, just as a suit of chainmail does for a man.

Structure Points: Essentially, structure points are a ship’s hit points. Damage to these represents damage to the integrity of the ship itself and ships do not heal of their own accord. A ship must be hauled into drydock for structure points to be repaired.

Weapons: This entry denotes the number of naval weapons that can be mounted on the ship.

Ram: This entry denotes whether or not the ship is capable of mounting a ram. Just because a ship can mount a ram, does not necessarily mean it will. The statistic given in parentheses indicates the damage a mounted ram will cause to a rammed ship.

Skill: Every ship has its own peculiarities and each design presents different challenges. This entry firstly denotes which skill is used when operating the ship (nearly always either Boating or Shiphandling). Also, though any ship can be operated under ideal conditions without the necessity of a skill test, when the ship and crew are called upon for more extreme endeavours , this modifier is applied to the skill test. Note that this modifier is in addition to any others the Games Master feels are appropriate.

Barge

Hull: 3
Structure Points: 100
Seaworthiness: 10
Length: 12m
Beam: 8m
Capacity: 12 tons
Freeboard: 0.3m
Draft: 0.5m
Crew: 4 rowers or polemen
Speed: 1m / 8.4km
Weapons: One
Skill: Boating +0%
Cost: 500 silver

Bireme

Hull: 3
Structure Points: 60
Seaworthiness: 12
Length: 20m
Beam: 3m
Capacity: 1 ton
Freeboard: 1m
Draft: 1m
Crew: 60 rowers, 10 officers and sailors, 10 soldiers or archers
Speed: 5m / 43.2km when rowed
Weapons: Two
Ram: Yes (D3 points of damage for every metre of speed)
Skill: Shiphandling +0%
Cost: 15,000 silver

Canoe

The statistics for this ‘dugout’ canoe are placed in parentheses after the statistics for the hide canoe. A hide canoe weighs approximately 75 kg. A dugout canoe weighs in at 200 kg.
Hull: 1 (2)
Structure Points: 4 (6)
Seaworthiness: 7
Length: 3m
Beam: 0.75m
Capacity: 0.25 tons
Freeboard: 0.3m
Draft: 0.3m
Crew: 1-2 rowers
Speed: 4m / 69.6 km
Weapons: None
Ram: No
Skill: Boating +20%
Cost: 100 silver

Cog

Hull: 4
Structure Points: 80
Seaworthiness: 28
Length: 24m
Beam: 7m
Capacity: 75 tons
Freeboard: 4m
Draft: 3.5m
Crew: 25 officers and sailors
Speed: Sail only
Weapons: Two
Ram: No
Skill: Shiphandling +10%
Cost: 20,000 silver

Longship

Hull: 3
Structure Points: 70
Seaworthiness: 20
Length: 28m
Beam: 6m
Capacity: 20 tons
Freeboard: 1.5m
Draft: 1.5m
Crew: 50 rowers, up to 200 soldiers or archers
Speed: 5m / 43.2km when rowed
Weapons: Two
Ram: Yes (D2 points of damage for every metre of speed)
Skill: Shiphandling +20%
Cost: 20,000 silver

Knorr

Hull: 3
Structure Points: 40
Seaworthiness: 22
Length: 21m
Beam: 5m
Capacity: 17 tons
Freeboard: 2m
Draft: 1m
Crew: 15 officers and sailors
Speed: Sail only
Weapons: One
Ram: No
Skill: Shiphandling +0%
Cost: 8,000 silver

Raft

Hull: 1
Structure Points: 50
Seaworthiness: 10
Length: 6m
Beam: 2m
Capacity: 4 tons
Freeboard: 0.1m
Draft: 0.3m
Crew: 2 polemen
Speed: 1m / 8.4km
Weapons: None
Ram: No
Skill: Boating -10%
Cost: 50 silver

Rowboat

Hull: 2
Structure Points: 15
Seaworthiness: 15
Length: 3m
Beam: 1.5m
Capacity: 0.5 tons
Freeboard: 0.6m
Draft: 0.3m
Crew: 1 rower
Speed: 2m / 16.8km
Weapons: None
Ram: No
Modifier: Boating +0%
Cost: 300 silver

Trireme

Hull: 4
Structure Points: 80
Seaworthiness: 18
Length: 37m
Beam: 4.5m
Capacity: 1.5 tons
Freeboard: 3m
Draft: 2.5m
Crew: 170 rowers, 25 officers and sailors, 20 soldiers or archers
Speed: 6m / 51.6km when rowed
Weapons: Three
Ram: Yes (D4 points of damage for every metre of speed)
Skill: Shiphandling +0%
Cost: 25,000 silver

War Galley

Hull: 3
Structure Points: 40
Seaworthiness: 12
Length: 27m
Beam: 6m
Capacity: 2 tons
Freeboard: 1m
Draft: 0.5m
Crew: 50 rowers, 10 officers and sailors
Speed: 4m / 34.8km when rowed
Weapons: Two
Ram: Yes (D2 points of damage for every metre of speed)
Skill: Shiphandling -10%
Cost: 7,000 silver

Movement

There are two means of propelling a ship in the days before mechanised engines - rowing/poling and sails. Many of the ships listed are capable of using both and each has its own advantages.

Rowing

Each vessel capable of movement by rowing or poling has a Speed entry in its description. This is the ship’s base Movement in normal operating conditions. Rowing a vessel at this normal speed counts as medium activity for determining Fatigue.

The vessel can be slowed to half speed, which counts only as light activity for the rowers to maintain. The speed of the vessel can also be doubled, a gruelling activity which counts as heavy activity for the rowers.

If the vessel is operating against a fresh gale or heavier wind, the level of activity is increased by one step. Thus moving at half speed counts as medium activity, moving at normal speed counts as heavy activity and the vessel cannot move at double speed.

That said, if the vessel is operating before a fresh gale or heavier wind, the level of activity is decreased by one step. Thus moving at normal speed counts as light activity and moving at double speed counts as medium activity.

Wind Speed: The speed of the prevailing winds.

Against: The vessel is moving against or perpendicular to the direction of the wind.

Before: The vessel is moving with the prevailing winds.

Skill Modifier: The modifier to the Boating skill imposed by the winds. This modifier is in addition to the modifiers of the ship itself and any others the Games Master feels are appropriate.

• Rowing vessels cannot make headway in a hurricane.

Sailing

Sails offer some significant advantages over rowing. A sailing ship requires a much smaller crew, for example, and the ship relies on wind, rather than broad backs, for its propulsion.

The speed of a sailing ship depends upon the angle of the wind in relation to the ship, as well as the speed of the wind itself. For the sake of simplicity, these rules incorporate four wind directions: before the wind, quarter wind, half wind and head wind.

Before the Wind: The wind is coming directly from the stern of the ship toward the bow.

Quarter Wind: The wind is blowing against one of the ship’s rear quarters, at a roughly 45 degree angle to the length of the ship.

Half Wind: The wind is blowing across the ship, at a roughly 90 degree angle to the length of the ship.

Head Wind: The wind is blowing directly from the bow of the ship toward the stern.

The Sailing Speed table gives the speed a sailing ship will travel under different wind speeds, presented in the following manner: Speed per Combat Action / Speed per 12 hour period. The rules assume all sailing ships travel at roughly the same speed, the heavier ships using more sails to offset their weight. In the event of one ship chasing another, the outcome of the race will depend upon the Boating or Shiphandling skills of the captains of either ship, just as with any other pursuit.

• The winds of a full gale or a hurricane will shred a ship’s rigging. In such a situation, the best that can be done is to deploy a small amount of sailcloth to keep the ship steady and hope to ride out the storm. Alternatively, the truly reckless or desperate may press onward, at the same speed as a fresh gale but with double the normal skill penalty.

A Day at Sea

Each 12 hour period spent sailing or boating, the captain of a ship must test his Shiphandling (or Boating) skill. If the test is successful, the ship makes it through the day’s travel without incident. If the captain fails his Shiphandling skill test, the ship’s Seaworthiness is reduced by a single point.

Vessel Damage

A ship can meet its end in one of two ways. A ship that loses all its Seaworthiness points will begin taking on water at a rate faster than the water can be expelled, causing it to sink. A ship may also be destroyed through the loss of all its structure points as a result of damage from weather and enemies.

Seaworthiness

All ships are fashioned from timber and nails, and all of them continually take on water. The question is exactly how much water. Bailing water from a ship’s bilge is a normal part of a sailor’s daily duties and larger ships always carry at least one carpenter (and spare lumber) to make emergency repairs when needed.

So long as a ship has at least one Seaworthiness point remaining, the water comes into the ship at a slower rate than it is expelled by the actions of the crew. One the ship’s Seaworthiness falls to zero, its day is done. The vessel will begin to swamp, a process that takes one Combat Round for every metre of the ship’s length. When a ship is fully swamped, it will sink.

Every time a ship suffers five or more points of structural damage from a single attack (after the Hull has been deducted), reduce the Seaworthiness of the ship by one point per five points of damage.

Structure Points

A ship’s structure points are exactly like a human’s hit points, just as a ship’s hull is exactly like a human’s armour. Any incoming blow is first compared to the ship’s current Hull rating. If the damage is less than or equal to the Hull rating, the blow causes no damage. If it is greater, the hull’s rating is subtracted from the damage. Any damage remaining is deducted from the ship’s structure points.

If a ship’s structure points are ever reduced to zero, the ship immediately begins to break apart. What remains is useful only as life rafts for the surviving crew.

Dangers

The sea is a dangerous place to be. Even without the potential dangers of enemy ships, monsters and pirates, threats such as storms and fires can imperil a ship.

Fire

Small fires are very common aboard ships, though they are always carefully contained. A fire that escapes control is, however, a real danger to a ship. If not extinguished, an uncontrolled fire aboard a ship will grow one size category every 2D6 minutes.

The ship’s Hull rating does not protect it against fire damage, though the fire will certainly damage the ship. Every Combat Round during which the fire rages, the Games Master should roll damage dice and apply the damage directly to the ship’s structure points.

Monsters

Most sea creatures will not attack a ship on the open sea unless they are controlled or starving.

Storms

Greater than monsters, greater than fire, the most terrible danger facing a ship at sea is the weather. Much like monsters, storms occur as part of the Games Master’s plot for the RuneQuest SRD. The wind and the sea combine to strike at the tossing ship with a primal fury, as masts creak and crack in the gale, leaks spray water into the hold and cargo bursts its ties to tumble about the storm-wracked deck.

For a ship to survive a storm intact, the captain must employ his Shiphandling skill (or Boating skill if necessary) to keep the vessel steady and turned into the storm. If the skill test is successful, the ship endures one hour of storm weather at a cost of only one Seaworthiness. If the skill test fails, the ship endures one hour of storm weather at a cost 1D6 Seaworthiness.

Naval Warfare

As if ship captains did not already have enough to worry about on the waves, there is always the concern of running

Naval Weapons

Larger ships have the ability to mount siege engines, such as arbalests, ballistae and springals. The rules for these engines are given in the Naval Equipment & Personnel section.

Though they are deadly weapons, engines are very difficult to use in ship to ship combat. For example, the springal is essentially a small catapult. If employed in ship to ship combat, its operator is attempting to use a weapon mounted on the pitching deck of a ship to hit a moving target with indirect fire. The Games Master should certainly apply a penalty of at least 25% to such attack rolls.

Rams

Rams are exceptionally dangerous weapons in naval combat, though they are not without their disadvantages. The weight of a ram on the bow of a ship will slow its base movement (or sailing speed, if under sail) by 1m. Additionally, the ram’s weight makes manoeuvring the ship more difficult, imposing a -10% penalty on the Shiphandling skill tests involving swift or reactive sailing.

The damage dealt by a ram is dependent upon the size of the ship and the speed at which it is travelling when it strikes its target. The exact damage is listed above under the descriptions for individual ships.

Note that even a ship not equipped with a ram can choose to ram another ship if it so wishes. Such rams will only ever inflict one point of damage per metre of the ship’s speed, to a maximum of the ship’s Hull score.

Soldiers

Perhaps the best weapon a ship has at its disposal is its crew. When two ships enter bow range of each other is when combat between them truly begins. The most common combat tactic of warships, in fact, is to strike once with the ram and remain in contact with the enemy ship, allowing the soldiers aboard to attack in hand-to-hand combat.

Naval Equipment & Personnel

It has often been said that a boat is a hole in the water you must fill with money. Though RuneQuest streamlines the process of buying and repairing ships immensely, Player Characters will surely find that owning their own ship is an expensive undertaking.

Like any other item, the cost for ships and their equipment varies from place to place. Most of the larger ships are unavailable in any settlement size smaller than a small city. As with all equipment, the costs given for ships in the descriptions are the small city prices. Rams and engines cannot be acquired outside of a small or large city.

Personnel

Unlike equipment, ship personnel do not vary in price from place to place. Each shipboard job has a standard daily pay rate, which the personnel will expect, whether they are hired in a small village or a great city.

Weapons

This section deals with various shipboard weapons. Of course, there are a vast number of items needed to operate a ship effectively and efficiently, but such things as line, sailcloth and other sundries are folded into the costs for maintenance and repair of a ship.

Arbalest, Siege : A siege arbalest is essentially a large crossbow. Serviceable by one man, it takes full minute to load and requires a stand to support it. The bolts fired from an arbalest are too big to be affected by the Rune Magic spell Multimissile.

Ballista: A ballista is a much larger and deadlier version of the arbalest, requiring at least three men to crew it. The bolts fired from an arbalest are too big to be affected by the Rune Magic spell Multimissile.

Ram: A ram is a heavy metal spike attached to the front of a warship, used to stave in the hulls of enemy ships. A ram differs in size and price depending upon the kind of ship it will be attached to. If a ram is included in the ship’s construction, it increases the ship’s price by 10%. If it is added later, the additional work needed to reinforce the ship’s structure will raise the ram’s price to 15% of the ship’s original purchase price.

Springal: The springal is a small catapult, designed to lob its ammunition in an arc at the enemy. The ammunition fired from a springal is too big to be affected by the Rune Magic spell Multimissile.

Repair

One thing is certain about a ship - it will always be in need of repair. Ships lose Seaworthiness as part of their normal operation, wear and tear that must be attended to eventually. In addition to this is the damage to a ship’s structure points that occur through combat.

Cost of Repair

A ship requires 10 silvers worth of materials to repair every lost point of Seaworthiness. Repairing lost structure points requires 100 silvers worth of materials for every point.

Repair Crews

Ship repair crews work in exactly the same manner as construction crews and cost the same. A standard repair crew can repair ten points of Seaworthiness or four structure points per day on a beached or dry docked ship.

If he is working alone, a ship’s carpenter can repair three points of Seaworthiness or one structure point per day on a beached or dry docked ship.

Repairs at Sea

While at sea, any Craft (Woodworking) skill tests suffer a -40% penalty.

When attempting to repair a ship at sea, the carpenter must attempt a Craft (Woodworking) skill test every twelve hours. Success indicates he has repaired one lost point of lost Seaworthiness or one structure point. This can be increased by an additional +1d4 points if there are sufficient crewmen available to form a work squad.

If the ship’s carpenter fails his Craft (Woodworking) skill test, no repairs are made but the supplies used in the attempt are still consumed.

Dry Docks

Aside from magic (which offers near immediate repair), dry docking a ship is the best way to repair it. A dry dock is normally only available in small cities or larger and cost 50 silver per day to rent (or 100 silver per day in a large city).

Beaching a Ship

Beaching a ship is normally only done in the most dire circumstances. Canoes, rowboats and rafts can be beached with impunity, though even they have a 25% chance of losing a point of Seaworthiness when they do so.

Beaching other ships requires the captain to make a Shiphandling or Boating test with a penalty equal to the length+beam+capacity of the ship. Success on this test merely results in the ship losing 1D6 Seaworthiness and 1D6 structure points. Failure results in the ship losing its draft x D10 (minimum of 1D10) in both Seaworthiness and structure points, as the ship effectively crashes into the shore.