We’re back to the high seas! Today I have around twenty ship stat blocks for you from the Age of Sail. Starting with the stat blocks from Sid Meier’s Pirates! and the Dungeon Master’s Guide, I tinkered with the statistics to come up with a meaningful manner of integrating ships into the Naval Travel & Combat system put together so far. First, let me walk you through the DMG’s ship stats, where it’s lacking and what’s needed to fix it.
In the Dungeon Master’s Guide all ACs are 15. Every ship having the same AC regardless of size or maneuverability really bungles up verisimilitude, so I gave big ships AC 13 and small ones AC 17. HP went the same way, with small ships getting 100, medium 300, and warships 500. Damage Thresholds are all very close, but I can see the Damage Threshold values all being relatively close since wood is wood. Though again size needs to be incorporated and that should give some variation.
As for crew, the Max Crew functions as the total capacity for people on board the ship. Any more and it’ll be too crowded for the crew to function effectively. Min Crew is the minimum amount of crew needed just to make the ship sail. Ideal Crew is the minimum number of crew to operate the ship without penalties, which gives disadvantage on all Sailing checks.
Max Cannon is the amount of guns that can be fired on both sides of the ship, meaning half this number is the amount of cannons that can fire on each side. I can’t quite seem to determine whether the numbers of max cannon correlate historically with the number of gun ports on each side of a ship or both. To preserve previous number crunching in terms of amounts of damage and average length of combat, I’m going with the number representing the total gunports on both sides of the ship. If you happen to have any expertise on the matter feel free to correct me.
Speed was a little tricky. Different speeds add up quickly over a few rounds, especially with limited turning. So again went with three different speeds of 4, 5, and 6 squares. At least with the sailing system of being able to change speeds will allow skilled captains to outmaneuver faster ships. I’d recommend going full X-wing style with hidden reveals for ship movements.
Without any further ado:
War Canoe
Speed 6 sq; AC 17; HP 100; Damage Threshold 10
Best Wind: Broad Reach; Max Cannons: 8; Cargo: 20 tons
Max Crew 50; Min Crew 6; Ideal Crew 30
Cost: 2250g
Pinnace
Speed 6 sq; AC 17; HP 100; Damage Threshold 10
Best Wind: Beam Reach; Max Cannons: 10; Cargo (tons): 25
Max Crew 60; Min Crew 6; Ideal Crew 36
Cost: 2250g
Mail Runner
Speed 6 sq; AC 17; HP 100; Damage Threshold 10
Best Wind: Beam Reach; Max Cannons: 12; Cargo (tons): 30
Max Crew 80; Min Crew 8; Ideal Crew 44
Cost: 2250g
Sloop
Speed 6 sq; AC 17; HP 100; Damage Threshold 10
Best Wind: Broad Reach; Max Cannons: 12; Cargo (tons): 40
Max Crew 75; Min Crew 8; Ideal Crew 44
Cost: 3000g
Sloop of War
Speed 6 sq; AC 17; HP 100; Damage Threshold 10
Best Wind: Broad Reach; Max Cannons: 12; Cargo (tons): 50
Max Crew 100; Min Crew 10; Ideal Crew 58
Cost: 3000g
Royal Sloop
Speed 6 sq; AC 17; HP 100; Damage Threshold 10
Best Wind: Broad Reach; Max Cannons: 20; Cargo (tons): 60
Max Crew 125; Min Crew 12; Ideal Crew 72
Cost: 3000g
Coastal Barque
Speed 5 sq; AC 15; HP 300; Damage Threshold 15
Best Wind: Broad Reach; Max Cannons: 12; Cargo (tons): 60
Max Crew 75; Min Crew 10; Ideal Crew 46
Cost: 3750g
Barque
Speed 4 sq; AC 15; HP 300; Damage Threshold 15
Best Wind: Broad Reach; Max Cannons: 16; Cargo (tons): 70
Max Crew 70; Min Crew 12; Ideal Crew 60
Cost: 3750g
Ocean Barque
Speed 4 sq; AC 15; HP 300; Damage Threshold 15
Best Wind: Broad Reach; Max Cannons: 16; Cargo (tons): 80
Max Crew 125; Min Crew 14; Ideal Crew 62
Cost: 3750g
Brigantine
Speed 4 sq; AC 15; HP 300; Damage Threshold 15
Best Wind: Broad Reach; Max Cannons: 20; Cargo (tons): 60
Max Crew 125; Min Crew 12; Ideal Crew 72
Cost: 4500g
Brig
Speed 4 sq; AC 15; HP 300; Damage Threshold 15
Best Wind: Broad Reach; Max Cannons: 24; Cargo (tons): 70
Max Crew 150; Min Crew 14; Ideal Crew 86
Cost: 4500g
Brig of War
Speed 4 sq; AC 15; HP 300; Damage Threshold 15
Best Wind: Broad Reach; Max Cannons: 32; Cargo (tons): 80
Max Crew 200; Min Crew 18; Ideal Crew 114
Cost: 4500g
Merchantman
Speed 4 sq; AC 13; HP 300; Damage Threshold 15
Best Wind: Broad Reach; Max Cannons: 16; Cargo (tons): 100
Max Crew 125; Min Crew 16; Ideal Crew 64
Cost: 6000g
Treasure Galleon
Speed 4 sq; AC 13; HP 500; Damage Threshold 20
Best Wind: Running Before the Wind; Max Cannons: 40; Cargo (tons): 140
Max Crew 200; Min Crew 12; Ideal Crew 100
Cost: 5000g
Fast Galleon
Speed 4 sq; AC 13; HP 500; Damage Threshold 20
Best Wind: Broad Reach, Running Before the Wind; Max Cannons: 24; Cargo (tons): 80
Max Crew 160; Min Crew 12; Ideal Crew 100
Cost: 5000g
War Galleon
Speed 4 sq; AC 13; HP 500; Damage Threshold 20
Best Wind: Running Before the Wind; Max Cannons: 32; Cargo (tons): 90
Max Crew 200; Min Crew 13; Ideal Crew 107
Cost: 5000g
Flag Galleon
Speed 4 sq; AC 13; HP 500; Damage Threshold 20
Best Wind: Running Before the Wind; Max Cannons: 40; Cargo (tons): 100
Max Crew 250; Min Crew 15; Ideal Crew 105
Cost: 6000g
Frigate
Speed 5 sq; AC 13; HP 500; Damage Threshold 20
Best Wind: ; Max Cannons: 32; Cargo (tons): 80
Max Crew 160; Min Crew 16; Ideal Crew 112
Cost: 6000g
Large Frigate
Speed 5 sq; AC 13; HP 500; Damage Threshold 20
Best Wind: ; Max Cannons: 40; Cargo (tons): 90
Max Crew 250; Min Crew 40; Ideal Crew 112
Cost: 6000g
Ship of the Line
Speed 5 sq; AC 13; HP 500; Damage Threshold 20
Best Wind: Broad Reach; Max Cannons: 48; Cargo (tons): 100
Max Crew 300; Min Crew 18; Ideal Crew 112
Cost: 6000g
