Xavier gives a nervous laugh as Erma came back to the ship, logbook in hand. He had done his bust, but he wasn't the strongest fellow and the dwarf was so dang HEAVY. "Sorry, I, um, yeah. Let's get back to the ship." Without another word Xavier runs back to the ship, and begins preparing to launch, trying his very best to hide his embarrassment
You're practiced at this now, and have no trouble making your way out of the asteroid field.
However, as the Foundling steers clear of the asteroids, another ship appears from behind a large asteroid to starboard. Its sleek frame is painted in a wild shade of pink and is designed to resemble an immense squid. Starlight reflects off the ship's hull—illuminating two turret-mounted ballistae rotating slowly to face your ship!
So here's how I think we'll run this. This is a combination of what little the 5e Spelljammer stuff gives me to work with, some bits of Ghosts of Saltmarsh, some stuff cribbed from board games like Fantasy Flight's X-Wing, and some bits I've just plain made up to try to make sure everyone gets something interesting to do in the play-by-post format.
The nominal crew of a Hammerhead is fifteen, which, if I've done my maths right, is more than the six of you, so I'm going to give you a few NPC shipmates to fill out the action economy a little. We'll use a modified side initiative: each ship rolls a straight d20 for initiative. The round is divided into two sections: Maneuver and Attack. The Captain and Spelljammer act in the Maneuver phase, and everyone else in the Attack phase. In each round, both ships first Maneuver, in initiative order, and then Attack, again in initiative order.
The Captain acts first to issue any general orders for the round, and can use their action normally or take a special Help action by giving one crewmate specific orders: make a DC15 Charisma or Wisdom check; on a success in addition to granting advantage to that crewmate's check or attack roll, it grants a +2 bonus.
The Spelljammer acts next. The Spelljammer moves the ship up to its speed (35ft for the Hammerhead) in any direction (including vertically: space is three-dimensional, though I haven't quite figured out how to represent that on a battle map). Technically flying the ship doesn't use your action or movement, though I'm not sure how much that matters given you have to stay at the helm and maintain concentration to keep control. The Spelljammer can also, as a bonus action, take a gamble: make a ability check using your spellcasting ability; on a 15 or higher the ship's speed is increased by 5ft for this turn, but on a 9 or lower it is decreased by 10ft instead.
In the Attack phase, the remaining player characters act, in no particular order, and then the NPC crewmates. The enemy ship is initially too close for the mangonels, but the ballista can be used to target the ship or its siege weapons; it takes 3 actions to fire, and if (at least) one of those actions is a player character's, you make the attack roll with advantage, and you can choose whether to use the average damage (which is guaranteed to get past the damage threshold) or to roll the damage. Otherwise the NPCs will operate the ballista taking the average damage, unless otherwise ordered by the Captain.
You can also use your normal ranged attacks (weapons and spells), targeting either the enemy ship's siege weapons, or its crew on deck, which might be an equally effective option (you can also target the ship itself, but you might have trouble beating the damage threshold). For simplicity, we'll ignore movement for the moment, and just assume you can move around the ship freely (if we get to the point of needing to zoom in and track individual crew positions on deck (e.g. one crew boards the other's ship) we'll deal with that as required); the range to any target is just the closest distance between any two points of the ships; I'll try to remember to call out the range at the start of each phase. There's also no 'facing'; ships can rotate on their axes as needed to bring their weapons to bear (I'll do Pythagoras to track range but I draw the line at doing calculus to work out ballistic trajectories!).
There are multiple ways to succeed at this encounter; they don't all involve destroying the enemy ship.
Whew, that sure was a wall of text. Any questions/suggestions/etc before we get into it?]
Rel smiles at the sight of the enemy ship. He is enjoying the simulation immensely and wasn't ready for it to be over yet.
"Mr Zaius! You are in charge of weapons and security.. make your assignments. Someone with good perceptive skills should go aloft and take a sighting of yonder vessel, and give us a report of range to target, heading, and any crew that they can see. Don't forget our simulated crew-mates, that you can position on weapons or wherever you like! I suggest we begin defending ourselves as soon as the enemy comes within range. Inform me immmediately if they make any attempt to ram or board us. We will not surrender the Foundlingwithout a fight, gentlepersons! When your assignments are made, please report back to me to discuss our strategy."
BA- Rel will give Zaius a physical pat on the back as well as expressing confidence in his first mate. Inspiration die granted (1d6 to a skill, ability or attack roll, may be used after you see the result)
Move- Rel will jog to the helm to join Gloix.
Action- Once there, he smiles and begins to drum out a martial beat on the bulkhead wall. "Gloix, you big beautiful bug, you are gonna do awesome! How did we get so lucky to land the best pilot in our class?" (Special Help action, CHA roll (no proficiency?) 22 (game log))
The squid ship bears down on you, close enough already that you can hear its captain shouting orders to open fire on you! As you raise the alarm, the off-duty crew emerges from the cabins belowdecks. Armed with scimitars and light crossbows, two take up defensive positions at the entrance to the chart room and helm cabin, and five more report to the main deck and castles, ready to assist with operating the ship's weaponry.
The enemy ship draws parallel to you, maintaining their 50' range.
[Flighty Foundling Maneuver, Captain Rel posted his turn above, so Gloix is up; I'll also say while the enemy ship moves into position you have a few moments to discuss your options/strategy with the crew; someone could also make, e.g. an Arcana check to see what they know about the Squid class, or Insight to predict the enemy behavior, etc]
(OOC looking at the enemy ship, wondering about trying to get above her and then a diving ramming maneuver straight down at her 'midships, try and break her in half. Thoughts?)
That sounds frickin cool but is that an option? Also I feel like me making a dude who just has a stick to fight with probably wasn't the best decision in this format 🤔
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
“All hands to the deck! Man your stations”Zaius bellows after receiving the Captain’s orders. As the off duty crew reaches the deck, he gives out his assignments, pointing to several of the crew“We are two close for the mangonels. You two, go man the forward ballista. Load it, put it into action and follow Mr. Roy’s lead.” He raises his voice to Roy “Focus your fire on their ballista if you please, Mr. Roy. Put them out of action.” He turns back to the others. “The rest of you lot, to the side, ready your crossbows or whatever else you have and target the ballista crew. Look a hard target that makes them think twice at taking us.”
He climbs up the rigging to get a better view, readying his own heavy crossbow
Ready crossbow targeting ballista crew if the other ship engages first. Attack: 24 Damage: 9.
.(OOC: posting a little early, but will have limited access this weekend. Ramming is an option and we could take the fight to them. We could also try to outmaneuver or outrun them. Up to the Captain! )
[To use one of a DM's favourite phrases: you can certainly try! The handout earlier has the stats for the ship's ram for a reason :) Thinking about the geometry, length of the ship, etc, I think you'd probably need to spend a round or two gaining height (say, 50ft+ higher than the squid?) in order to have room to bring your ram down on it.]
Also I feel like me making a dude who just has a stick to fight with probably wasn't the best decision in this format
[I'm sure Xavier will get something to hit with a stick soon enough... in the meantime you could help with the ballista or Help one of the NPCs taking potshots at the enemy crew (and if you do the latter, feel free to make the roll for them (+3 to hit with advantage from Help, 1d8+1 piercing; they're using the bandit stat block))]
(OOC Well, here's the thing: If our characters' lives were actually on the line, Rel would be a little more hesitant to risk crippling their ship on a crazy maneuver. But, he figures, it's a simulation, might as well take a chance that might work out brilliantly or might fail spectacularly, but there's no real penalty other than perhaps some hazing from other cadets, or peeling potatoes as punishment from superiors. He's a "go for broke" sort of guy. Plus, one day, we might actually need to do this in a battle, and it will/would be nice to have at least attempted it once before, so that we have some experience when it really counts. My two cents. Rel will listen to the others if they have strong opinions on the topic.)
(OOC Question for the DM. Not to strain the maths skills, but does rotating our orientation around a central axis (say changing the ship from east-west facing to north-south facing) use movement? Technically the center of the ship won't move at all, but the bow and stern would. I ask this because if we revise the plan to ram them from the side rather than from above, we could probably do it next round, if our movement isn't all used up by rotating. I guess they could do the same to us, too, if that is in the programming.)
Rel lets out the breath he had been holding since Xavier heaved Erma over the side. Wow... that actually worked. Sort-of.
"Excellent work, all! Quick thinking, Erma! We're on the home stretch now, let's show that other squad what a real 'jamming crew can do! Cowabunga!"
Persuasion check 21
Erma rolls back on to the deck and just lays there for a while.
She says to Xavier, "That was almost exactly as I imagined it would go, thank you!"
Rolling over to her knees and getting back upright she puts away the logbook, secures the rope and gets ready to help out again on the journey back.
Atheltics check: 6
Xavier gives a nervous laugh as Erma came back to the ship, logbook in hand. He had done his bust, but he wasn't the strongest fellow and the dwarf was so dang HEAVY. "Sorry, I, um, yeah. Let's get back to the ship." Without another word Xavier runs back to the ship, and begins preparing to launch, trying his very best to hide his embarrassment
That moment when you realize you didn't actually roll the skill check
Acro: 23
Arcana: 11
Gloix watches the others settle back to the ride side of the deck before manning the helm to set them on their way again
You're practiced at this now, and have no trouble making your way out of the asteroid field.
However, as the Foundling steers clear of the asteroids, another ship appears from behind a large asteroid to starboard. Its sleek frame is painted in a wild shade of pink and is designed to resemble an immense squid. Starlight reflects off the ship's hull—illuminating two turret-mounted ballistae rotating slowly to face your ship!
[Ship-to-ship combat
So here's how I think we'll run this. This is a combination of what little the 5e Spelljammer stuff gives me to work with, some bits of Ghosts of Saltmarsh, some stuff cribbed from board games like Fantasy Flight's X-Wing, and some bits I've just plain made up to try to make sure everyone gets something interesting to do in the play-by-post format.
The nominal crew of a Hammerhead is fifteen, which, if I've done my maths right, is more than the six of you, so I'm going to give you a few NPC shipmates to fill out the action economy a little. We'll use a modified side initiative: each ship rolls a straight d20 for initiative. The round is divided into two sections: Maneuver and Attack. The Captain and Spelljammer act in the Maneuver phase, and everyone else in the Attack phase. In each round, both ships first Maneuver, in initiative order, and then Attack, again in initiative order.
The Captain acts first to issue any general orders for the round, and can use their action normally or take a special Help action by giving one crewmate specific orders: make a DC15 Charisma or Wisdom check; on a success in addition to granting advantage to that crewmate's check or attack roll, it grants a +2 bonus.
The Spelljammer acts next. The Spelljammer moves the ship up to its speed (35ft for the Hammerhead) in any direction (including vertically: space is three-dimensional, though I haven't quite figured out how to represent that on a battle map). Technically flying the ship doesn't use your action or movement, though I'm not sure how much that matters given you have to stay at the helm and maintain concentration to keep control. The Spelljammer can also, as a bonus action, take a gamble: make a ability check using your spellcasting ability; on a 15 or higher the ship's speed is increased by 5ft for this turn, but on a 9 or lower it is decreased by 10ft instead.
In the Attack phase, the remaining player characters act, in no particular order, and then the NPC crewmates. The enemy ship is initially too close for the mangonels, but the ballista can be used to target the ship or its siege weapons; it takes 3 actions to fire, and if (at least) one of those actions is a player character's, you make the attack roll with advantage, and you can choose whether to use the average damage (which is guaranteed to get past the damage threshold) or to roll the damage. Otherwise the NPCs will operate the ballista taking the average damage, unless otherwise ordered by the Captain.
You can also use your normal ranged attacks (weapons and spells), targeting either the enemy ship's siege weapons, or its crew on deck, which might be an equally effective option (you can also target the ship itself, but you might have trouble beating the damage threshold). For simplicity, we'll ignore movement for the moment, and just assume you can move around the ship freely (if we get to the point of needing to zoom in and track individual crew positions on deck (e.g. one crew boards the other's ship) we'll deal with that as required); the range to any target is just the closest distance between any two points of the ships; I'll try to remember to call out the range at the start of each phase. There's also no 'facing'; ships can rotate on their axes as needed to bring their weapons to bear (I'll do Pythagoras to track range but I draw the line at doing calculus to work out ballistic trajectories!).
There are multiple ways to succeed at this encounter; they don't all involve destroying the enemy ship.
Whew, that sure was a wall of text. Any questions/suggestions/etc before we get into it?]
Oriovar - Wood Elf Cleric (1) - Sword Coast Campaign
Roy Quigley - Human Artificer (1) - Karrion's Spelljammer Academy Starboard
Rel smiles at the sight of the enemy ship. He is enjoying the simulation immensely and wasn't ready for it to be over yet.
"Mr Zaius! You are in charge of weapons and security.. make your assignments. Someone with good perceptive skills should go aloft and take a sighting of yonder vessel, and give us a report of range to target, heading, and any crew that they can see. Don't forget our simulated crew-mates, that you can position on weapons or wherever you like! I suggest we begin defending ourselves as soon as the enemy comes within range. Inform me immmediately if they make any attempt to ram or board us. We will not surrender the Foundling without a fight, gentlepersons! When your assignments are made, please report back to me to discuss our strategy."
Round 1
BA- Rel will give Zaius a physical pat on the back as well as expressing confidence in his first mate. Inspiration die granted (1d6 to a skill, ability or attack roll, may be used after you see the result)
Move- Rel will jog to the helm to join Gloix.
Action- Once there, he smiles and begins to drum out a martial beat on the bulkhead wall. "Gloix, you big beautiful bug, you are gonna do awesome! How did we get so lucky to land the best pilot in our class?" (Special Help action, CHA roll (no proficiency?) 22 (game log))
"The Foundling crew's known far and wide,
Our deeds, the envy of all,
Acad'my instructors swell with pride,
Our portraits hung on their walls.
Pirates flee and corsairs quake,
'Pon sighting our fearsome flag,
Losing hope, they shiver and shake,
To face us, they know, it's a drag.
First Mate Zaius, a Hadozee,
Known for his fearsome muscles,
'Don't mess with him,' our enemies say,
'He always will win in a tussle."
Second Mate Erma, a sturdy wench,
wise beyond her years (that's a lot!)
She'll bury your body in a shallow trench,
And shed... nary a tear.
Pilot Gloix, the famous Thri-Keen,
His mighty maneuvers unmatched,
A greater spelljammer has ne'er been seen,
'Mongst all the Thrikes e'er hatched.
Roy is the fixer, good with his hands,
Tinkering gives him most pleasure,
Give him a wrench, and give him some plans,
His skills, more precious than treasure.
The fey monk, Xavier, last but not least,
His hand-to-hand skill without equal,
You look at him funny, he'll knock out your teeth,
And his lovers all wish for a sequel.
And let us remember the Cap-i-tain, Rel,
Most handsome and gifted of bards,
What goes on in that head of his no one can tell,
But defeating him's not in the cards."
OOC: I’m on a Scouting campout with my son until tomorrow. Bot Roy if needed, he’s manning the forward ballista.
Oriovar - Wood Elf Cleric (1) - Sword Coast Campaign
Roy Quigley - Human Artificer (1) - Karrion's Spelljammer Academy Starboard
The squid ship bears down on you, close enough already that you can hear its captain shouting orders to open fire on you! As you raise the alarm, the off-duty crew emerges from the cabins belowdecks. Armed with scimitars and light crossbows, two take up defensive positions at the entrance to the chart room and helm cabin, and five more report to the main deck and castles, ready to assist with operating the ship's weaponry.
[Initiative: Flighty Foundling 9; Squid ship 13]
[Current range: 50ft]
[Squid ship Maneuver:]
The enemy ship draws parallel to you, maintaining their 50' range.
[Flighty Foundling Maneuver, Captain Rel posted his turn above, so Gloix is up; I'll also say while the enemy ship moves into position you have a few moments to discuss your options/strategy with the crew; someone could also make, e.g. an Arcana check to see what they know about the Squid class, or Insight to predict the enemy behavior, etc]
[Will do, thanks for letting us know]
(OOC looking at the enemy ship, wondering about trying to get above her and then a diving ramming maneuver straight down at her 'midships, try and break her in half. Thoughts?)
That sounds frickin cool but is that an option? Also I feel like me making a dude who just has a stick to fight with probably wasn't the best decision in this format 🤔
“All hands to the deck! Man your stations” Zaius bellows after receiving the Captain’s orders. As the off duty crew reaches the deck, he gives out his assignments, pointing to several of the crew “We are two close for the mangonels. You two, go man the forward ballista. Load it, put it into action and follow Mr. Roy’s lead.” He raises his voice to Roy “Focus your fire on their ballista if you please, Mr. Roy. Put them out of action.” He turns back to the others. “The rest of you lot, to the side, ready your crossbows or whatever else you have and target the ballista crew. Look a hard target that makes them think twice at taking us.”
He climbs up the rigging to get a better view, readying his own heavy crossbow
Ready crossbow targeting ballista crew if the other ship engages first. Attack: 24 Damage: 9.
.(OOC: posting a little early, but will have limited access this weekend. Ramming is an option and we could take the fight to them. We could also try to outmaneuver or outrun them. Up to the Captain! )
[To use one of a DM's favourite phrases: you can certainly try! The handout earlier has the stats for the ship's ram for a reason :) Thinking about the geometry, length of the ship, etc, I think you'd probably need to spend a round or two gaining height (say, 50ft+ higher than the squid?) in order to have room to bring your ram down on it.]
[I'm sure Xavier will get something to hit with a stick soon enough... in the meantime you could help with the ballista or Help one of the NPCs taking potshots at the enemy crew (and if you do the latter, feel free to make the roll for them (+3 to hit with advantage from Help, 1d8+1 piercing; they're using the bandit stat block))]
(OOC Well, here's the thing: If our characters' lives were actually on the line, Rel would be a little more hesitant to risk crippling their ship on a crazy maneuver. But, he figures, it's a simulation, might as well take a chance that might work out brilliantly or might fail spectacularly, but there's no real penalty other than perhaps some hazing from other cadets, or peeling potatoes as punishment from superiors. He's a "go for broke" sort of guy. Plus, one day, we might actually need to do this in a battle, and it will/would be nice to have at least attempted it once before, so that we have some experience when it really counts. My two cents. Rel will listen to the others if they have strong opinions on the topic.)
(OOC Question for the DM. Not to strain the maths skills, but does rotating our orientation around a central axis (say changing the ship from east-west facing to north-south facing) use movement? Technically the center of the ship won't move at all, but the bow and stern would. I ask this because if we revise the plan to ram them from the side rather than from above, we could probably do it next round, if our movement isn't all used up by rotating. I guess they could do the same to us, too, if that is in the programming.)