IV. Of naval combat
THE TURN: Time in ship encounters is measured in Ship Turns. Each Ship Turn equals about two standard 7th Sea turns. Unless otherwise stated, all turns listed in this section are assumed to be Ship Turns. Maneuvers, Boardings, and Cannon Fire occur simultaneously. During the turn:
a. The initial distance of each ship will be determined.
b. Each Captain will then choose a tactic, which will determine the relative positions and distances between the ships.
b. Then any ships within close range may attempt to grapple and board.
c. And finally, each ship will fire its cannon and apply damage.
SCALE: Distance in ship encounters is measured simply as one of six possible ranges as described in the previous section: Extreme, Far, Long, Medium, Short, or Close. These range intervals are abstract distances and do not have a set actual length. Exact footages are not considered, and are not necessary for the cinematic feel of the game.
The normal sighting distance between ships is Extreme range. The recognition distance (i.e. being able to tell what kind of ship it is and what colors it is flying) is Far range. Again, as described in the previous section, posted lookouts must be able to make their Observation checks in order to see and recognize another ship. In rough weather, sighting distances are reduced to Long range, and recognition down to Medium. In a storm or in foggy weather, sighting distance becomes Medium and recognition is at Short.
TACTICS: At the beginning of each turn, the Captain of each ship involved must in the encounter must choose a tactic. The three possible tactics are:
(1) Evade. A ship which hopes to escape and leave an encounter may evade. This indicates that the ship is attempting to sail away from all other ships in the encounter, and to move out of sighting range.
(2) Bear Down. A ship which hopes to close with an enemy quickly, to board and capture, or just get into better range for guns, may bear down. This indicates that the ship is pursuing its prey at maximum speed.
(3) Circle. A ship which is maneuvering to gain a better position for gunfire may circle. This indicates that the ship is not trying to get any closer to or farther away from its enemy, but is attempting to loose a broadside without being caught in one herself.
Captains (controlled by the players aboard their ships, and by the GM for non-player Captains) write down one tactic at the beginning of each turn. In a particularly perilous situation, a Captain may also choose a Desperate Strategy at the beginning of the turn. The two possible Desperate Strategies are:
(1) Wet Sails. A ship which needs more speed may wet its sail, to catch more wind, at the risk of tearing the sails and straining the rigging. Wetted sails last two turns before they dry, and add 2 points to the ship’s Speed each turn. Each turn that the sails are wet, roll one Die; on a roll of 9 or 10 the rigging is damaged causing 1K1 (non-exploding) to the Rigging Points, and the ship moves at half normal Speed next turn.
(2) Hard Turns. A ship that requires more Handling may make hard turns, at the risk of straining the rudder. Each turn spent making hard turns, add 2 to the ship's Handling, and roll one Die. On a roll of 9 or 10 the rudder is damaged causing 1 point of damage to the Hull, and subtracting 1 point from the Handling permanently, until the rudder is repaired in port.
After Tactics and Desperate Strategies are revealed at the beginning of a turn, each Captain may roll to perform a Brilliant Maneuver. This requires either a Contested Roll using opposing Tactics Knacks if fighting a single opponent, or with Strategy if fighting more than one ship. The winner of the Contested Roll gains a free Raise to all further rolls against that opponent for that turn.
EVASION: If all the ships in an encounter choose the Evade tactic in the same turn, all of them escape, and the encounter ends.
When one ship chooses the Evade tactic, and one or more of the other ships choose to Bear Down on her, a chase ensues. Each ship involved in a chase rolls a number of dice equal to the ship’s current Speed. If the pursued ship’s total is higher than the pursuer’s, the range between them increase by one range increment. If the pursuer’s total is greater than the pursued ship’s, the range between them decreases by one. For every 10 points the winner exceeds the loser’s total by, the range is further increased or decreased by another range increment. If the totals are the same, the range remains the same, and a roll is made on the mishap table. Roll one die and consult the following table:
Roll Mishap Results
1 or 2 A sail comes loose from the rigging of the pursuing ship and must be re-rigged. The ship slows to a speed of 1 while the sails are fouled until the ship’s Master o’ Tops makes a Rigging Knack roll with a TN of 15.
3 or 4 The pursued ship is hit by a large swell/wave. Everyone near a deck rail or in the rigging must make a Finesse + Balance Roll with a TN of 15 or fall overboard. Anyone falling into the water must make a drowning check as per the GM’s Guide. The ship’s Captain must choose to either slow the ship to turn around and rescue the unfortunate persons, or leave them to their own fate.
5 or 6 The wind in becalmed for 1K1 turns. Unless the ships are equipped with oars, they may not move for that number of turns. However, ships so equipped may still move, but the ship’s Speed is considered two less, to a minimum of one.
7 or 8 A major/important crewman or NPC from the pursuing ship falls overboard. The ship’s Captain must choose to either slow the ship to turn around and rescue the unfortunate individual, or leave crewman/NPC to their own fate. This could be bad on moral, depending on the popularity of the person, or could effect the operation of the ship.
9 or 10 The pursued ship’s anchor has come loose and will fall into the water unless someone climbs down and either cuts it loose or secures it. The individual must make a successful Finesse + Climbing Roll against a TN of 15 or fall into the sea. If the climbing roll was successful, then the individual may either cut the anchor loose, or roll Finesse + Knotwork with a TN of 15 to secure the anchor. If a tethered anchor falls into shallow water it will take hold and the ship will make a sudden stop (GMs may roll for damage against the ship and crew if they are so inclined). If the anchor hits deep water then it slows the ship and reduces its speed by 1 until the anchor is either hauled up or cut loose.
If a pursued ship manages to escape past the sighting range of all pursuers, she has successfully evaded, and is removed from the encounter. When one ship Evades, and no enemy Bears Down on her, the range automatically increases by one
An Evading ship may only fire its stern guns at enemy ships, until a pursuing ship reaches Close Range. When an enemy ship closes to this range, the Evading ship may automatically fire a broadside. Ships Bearing Down on another ship may only fire their chasers, until the get within Close Range. At this range, pursuing ships may grapple and/or fire broadsides. If a ship is Circling while another is Evading, the Circling ship may automatically fire a broadside at the Evading ship (the Evading ship may only fire its stern guns back).
BEARING DOWN: If two ships in an encounter Bear Down on each other, then the range between them decreases by two. If a ship Bears Down on an Evading ship, a chase ensues, as detailed above. If a ship Bears Down on a Circling ship, the range between them decreases by one.
A ship Bearing Down may only fire chasers against another ship Bearing Down, or against an Evading ship, until she reaches Close Range (as mentioned above). A ship Bearing Down may have a chance to fire a broadside at a Circling ship, depending upon the rolls detailed below.
CIRCLING: A ship which is Circling stays in roughly the same position. So, against an Evading ship, range increases by one automatically, against a ship Bearing Down, range decreases by one. If two ships Circle on the same turn, their range remains constant.
A Circling ship always has a chance to fire a broadside at an Evading ship within range. Against a ship that is Bearing Down on it, a Circling ship has a chance of firing a normal broadside. Both ships roll a number of Dice equal to their current Handling Attribute (plus two Dice for Hard Turns, and the bonus for Brilliant Maneuver). If the Circling ship gets a higher total, she may fire a broadside at the ship Bearing Down without suffering one herself. If the ship Bearing Down gets a higher total, or if the totals are the same, both ships may fire broadsides.
If two ships are Circling each other, each ship makes the roll listed above. If one ship beats the other by 20 or more, she may fire a broadside, and the target may only return fire with chasers or stern guns (Captain’s choice). Otherwise, both Circling ships may fire broadsides.
In a group of ships, a given ship may not fire more than two broadsides per turn (one from each battery of guns). When two broadsides are fired, they must be designated against separate ships.
CANNON FIRE: A ship’s guns may be fired as broadsides, or the stern guns or the chasers may be fired as their own batteries. No two of these four batteries (each broadside is a battery) may be fired at the same enemy ship, however. Each battery may fire once per turn, and then requires one turn to reload. Therefore, none of a ship’s batteries may be fired twice in two turns, as one turn is required to reload the cannon.
At the end of a turn, after the new range has been calculated, and after grappling attempts (see the next section), ships may fire their guns, as indicated by the Tactics used that turn. Before a battery is fired, the Captain of the attacking ship must choose to either fire at the defending ship’s Hull or Rigging. The roll to hit with cannon is made by rolling a number of dice equal to the Threat rating of the Crew. A normal Crew will have a Threat rating of 2, or 3 if the Well Trained Crew modification is taken). The TN to hit is five times the Handling Trait of the targeted ship (i.e. a ship with a Handling of 3 would have a base TN of 15 to be hit). This roll will be modified as follows:
a. For each Range Increment over close range, add five to the TN.
b. If firing at the ship’s Rigging, add 10 to the TN.
c. Subtract five from the TN for each level of Gunnery Knack possessed by the that gun battery’s assigned Gunner (the individual in charge of that battery’s guns) (i.e. if the Gunner in charge of the broadside has a Gunnery Knack of 3, then subtract 15 from the TN to hit). If the battery is not manned by a player character, the Game Master will need to calculate the levels in Gunnery for the NPC gunners in charge of each of the ship’s batteries. An average Gunner will have 1 or 2 levels of Gunnery.
d. If the enemy ship is larger than the attacking ship, add five to the TN.
e. If the enemy ship is smaller than the attacking ship, subtract five from the TN.
Once the Target Number to hit has been determined, roll to hit the targeted ship. If all ones are rolled on the dice (i.e. a roll of three on three dice), a mishap has occurred and one randomly determined gun explodes, killing its crew.
The damage done by a successful volley of cannon fire is determined by rolling two dice and adding the firepower of the battery firing. A battery’s firepower is determined by taking the number of guns in the battery and multiplying them by “.1” (i.e. a battery of 15 guns would have a firepower of 1.5). Thus, when a battery hits, it does its firepower x 2K2 (Rounded Up) in damage to either the Hull or Rigging of the enemy ship, depending upon the aim. If grapeshot was fired at close range, assume that the damage done is the number of enemy crew on deck killed.
The effects of damage are simple. For every ten points of damage to the Hull, a gun and its crew are destroyed. When the amount of damage to the Hull exceeds half of its normal Hull Points, the ship loses one point of Handling and starts taking on water. When the Hull Points are reduced to zero, the ship sinks (the crew has two turns to get away).
For every five points of damage to the Rigging, a crewman on sail duty is killed. When the amount of damage to the Rigging exceeds half of its normal Rigging Points, the ship loses half of its speed, and may only roll half the number of dice for maneuvers during chases. When the Rigging Points are reduced to zero, the ship is crippled, and may not move (although it may still Circle, with –5 to its Handling (If this reduces the Handling to a negative number, then it reduces the TN to hit the damage ship by five for each level. For example a damage ship with a Handling of –2, would reduce its TN to be hit by 10).