“The way you kept track of exactly where the enemy aircraft were, if you didn’t know, was that first of all the 5-inch battery would open up and you’d hear all that racket and feel the ship shaking as those guns were going off. We had twenty of them, ten on each side. They would open up at a range of approximately 14,000 yards. As the aircraft drew in closer, the next battery that would open would be the 40mm guns, which made a distinctive noise that was decidedly different from the 5-inch guns. Finally, when the range was very close, the 20mm guns would open up, and even if you know nothing else, you could tell from that sound essentially how close the enemy aircraft were and when to begin praying.”—Lieutenant Blee, Combat Intelligence.
“I never did get scared at the time because we were all well trained. We knew our jobs and we did them. It was just automatic. You didn’t question. You didn’t have time to get scared. You were doing a job. After it was over and you could think about it a little bit, you could say, ‘Man, what could have happened?’ At the time you were actually engaged in action, you didn’t think about things like that. You just did what you were to do…. I knew I had good shipmates. They were trained and they knew what to do and they did it.”—Donald Rogers, Boswain's Mate 2/c.
Do you dream of your wizard captaining a cruiser, using spells to enhance the ship's abilities as it cuts through the waves? Ever wanted to watch your player's characters suffer under the bombardment of massive naval guns? Have you wanted to recreate the great naval battles of old inside of your D&D campaigns? Do your PCs ask for unique warships for their budding nations they are creating? Ever wished you could sail into battlewhile your bard captain sings an off-key rendition of Johnny Horton's Sink the Bismarck? Well, now you can, with this collection of warships from the Second World War that nobody asked for! Mighty battleships, cruisers, and destroyers can now replace the weak wooden warships of standard D&D, with massive cannons instead of undersized ballistae and thick armor that can shrug off all but the hardest hits. This is General Quarters, General Quarters, my WWII homebrew warships collection. Even if you just want to use these as jumping-off points for importing your own ship ideas into D&D, then it will have served its purpose. I was unfortunately forced to make the ships Monsters because D&D Beyond does not support homebrew vehicles, but fortunately, with some minor changes, it should be easy to make them workable as vehicles.
THESE SHIPS ARE NOT BUILT FOR COMBAT WITH STANDARD D&D WARSHIPS. PITTING ONE OF THESE AGAINST A WOODEN VESSEL WILL END QUICKLY WITH A PILE OF BURNING PLANKS.
Changelog
4/7/25: Added North Carolina and Bismarck class battleships.
Have Questions? Ask Below! But First, Check This List to See if I Already Answered:
Why are these ships so resilient? 900+ HP is crazy! These vessels are designed to resemble the basic theory of real battleship combat: not to sink the enemy but to put enough holes in them so that they stop working. The chances of actually sinking a battleship in direct combat are low, but disabling one is not. This system is designed to simulate that to the limited degree that can be done with D&D mechanics. When I get around to destroyers and cruisers, their HP counts will be far smaller.
Why do they do quadruple damage against wooden ships?The decision to add that rule was a balance choice on my part. While I wanted to show that WWII-era ships were significantly more dangerous than wooden sailing ships, I didn't want their guns to do so much damage that their HP pools would become even more overinflated to the point of absurdity. Solution? Make them more powerful against wooden ships. Now their guns won't be able to one-shot Tiamat or anything, but they can still punch holes in older vessels.
Nobody wants World War II warships in D&D!I know. Still, I'd made these as a sort of personal project, and I wanted to share them for others to enjoy.
Questions? Comments? Concerns? Errors in my math? Let me know!
The battleships of the Second World War era (Bismarck, Tirpitz, Prince of Wales, Iowa, New Jersey, Missouri, Wisconsin and others) had their armor on their sides and their lower hulls to provide protection from torpedoes and the relatively flat trajectories of ship borne cannon. They were vulnerable to the armor piercing bombs that dive bombers used in high angle 'dive for hell' attacks. Imperial Japan's two super battleships (Yamato and Musashi) were disabled and sunk due to a combined attack with torpedo bombers and dive bombers. The classic battle between the British warships Hood and Prince of Wales versus the German warships Bismarck and Prinz Eugen turned out the way it did because Hood was a battle cruiser and not a true battleship. Battleships usually carry more armor than do battle cruisers. Bismarck was disabled due to a lucky hit on its rudders by a British torpedo bombers, which locked the ship into turning in a circle.
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General Quarters, General Quarters.
All hands, man your battle stations!
“The way you kept track of exactly where the enemy aircraft were, if you didn’t know, was that first of all the 5-inch battery would open up and you’d hear all that racket and feel the ship shaking as those guns were going off. We had twenty of them, ten on each side. They would open up at a range of approximately 14,000 yards. As the aircraft drew in closer, the next battery that would open would be the 40mm guns, which made a distinctive noise that was decidedly different from the 5-inch guns. Finally, when the range was very close, the 20mm guns would open up, and even if you know nothing else, you could tell from that sound essentially how close the enemy aircraft were and when to begin praying.”—Lieutenant Blee, Combat Intelligence.
“I never did get scared at the time because we were all well trained. We knew our jobs and we did them. It was just automatic. You didn’t question. You didn’t have time to get scared. You were doing a job. After it was over and you could think about it a little bit, you could say, ‘Man, what could have happened?’ At the time you were actually engaged in action, you didn’t think about things like that. You just did what you were to do…. I knew I had good shipmates. They were trained and they knew what to do and they did it.”—Donald Rogers, Boswain's Mate 2/c.
Do you dream of your wizard captaining a cruiser, using spells to enhance the ship's abilities as it cuts through the waves? Ever wanted to watch your player's characters suffer under the bombardment of massive naval guns? Have you wanted to recreate the great naval battles of old inside of your D&D campaigns? Do your PCs ask for unique warships for their budding nations they are creating? Ever wished you could sail into battle while your bard captain sings an off-key rendition of Johnny Horton's Sink the Bismarck? Well, now you can, with this collection of warships from the Second World War that nobody asked for! Mighty battleships, cruisers, and destroyers can now replace the weak wooden warships of standard D&D, with massive cannons instead of undersized ballistae and thick armor that can shrug off all but the hardest hits. This is General Quarters, General Quarters, my WWII homebrew warships collection. Even if you just want to use these as jumping-off points for importing your own ship ideas into D&D, then it will have served its purpose. I was unfortunately forced to make the ships Monsters because D&D Beyond does not support homebrew vehicles, but fortunately, with some minor changes, it should be easy to make them workable as vehicles.
THESE SHIPS ARE NOT BUILT FOR COMBAT WITH STANDARD D&D WARSHIPS. PITTING ONE OF THESE AGAINST A WOODEN VESSEL WILL END QUICKLY WITH A PILE OF BURNING PLANKS.
Changelog
Warships List
Have Questions? Ask Below! But First, Check This List to See if I Already Answered:
Questions? Comments? Concerns? Errors in my math? Let me know!
Tank, submarine, plane, and D&D nerd. I'm just here for the forum games and maybe some D&D every once in a while.
For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.-John 3:16
The battleships of the Second World War era (Bismarck, Tirpitz, Prince of Wales, Iowa, New Jersey, Missouri, Wisconsin and others) had their armor on their sides and their lower hulls to provide protection from torpedoes and the relatively flat trajectories of ship borne cannon. They were vulnerable to the armor piercing bombs that dive bombers used in high angle 'dive for hell' attacks. Imperial Japan's two super battleships (Yamato and Musashi) were disabled and sunk due to a combined attack with torpedo bombers and dive bombers. The classic battle between the British warships Hood and Prince of Wales versus the German warships Bismarck and Prinz Eugen turned out the way it did because Hood was a battle cruiser and not a true battleship. Battleships usually carry more armor than do battle cruisers. Bismarck was disabled due to a lucky hit on its rudders by a British torpedo bombers, which locked the ship into turning in a circle.