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Rules for Vehicles🔗

Game Statistics🔗

Hull Points (hp)🔗

The vehicle’s structural integrity and ability to keep moving when damaged. Analogous to a character’s hit points. A vehicle that reaches 0 hull points is destroyed.

Armor Class (AC)🔗

The vehicle’s ability to resist damage from attacks.

Movement Rate🔗

The speed at which the vehicle can move. Every vehicle has a 'base movement rate' and an 'encounter movement rate' (noted in parentheses). The encounter movement rate is one-third of the base movement rate.

Cargo Capacity🔗

The maximum load the vehicle can carry; measured in coins (see Time, Weight, Movement).

Required Crew🔗

The number of people or animals (e.g., sailors, oarsmen, horses required for the vehicle’s normal operation.

Passengers or Mercenaries🔗

Some vehicles have extra space aboard explicitly intended to carry passengers or mercenaries of any type (see Mercenaries) and the normal crew. Suppose a vehicle’s description does not mention this space for passengers. In that case, it is assumed only to have space for the crew—the referee may rule that cargo hold space could be converted into additional living quarters.

Seaworthiness🔗

Water vessels are divided into two categories, each behaving differently under different wind conditions (see Wind Conditions). Seaworthy vessels are suitable for use on the high seas, away from coastal waters. Unseaworthy vessels are restricted to rivers, lakes, or coastal waters.

Damaging Vehicles🔗

In combat, attacks and damage may be directed at vehicles, characters, and monsters.

Normal attacks: Unless noted in a vehicle’s description, attacks with normal weapons (e.g., bows, swords, etc.) do not inflict hull damage.

Magical attacks: Damaging spells or magical attacks inflict one point of hull damage per five points of normal hit point damage the attack does.

Giant monsters: Can damage vehicles, inflicting one point of hull damage per five points of normal hit-point damage the attack does.

Mounted weaponry: Some vehicles carry mounted weaponry specifically designed for vehicle-to-vehicle combat. Such weapons inflict hull damage directly. The rules for attacking with ship-mounted weapons are described in Water Vessels.

Effects of Hull Damage🔗

When a vehicle loses hull points, its movement rate is also affected. This may be due to structural damage influencing how the vehicle moves or, in the case of water vessels, due to taking on water.

Movement rate reduction: For every 10% a vehicle is reduced from its maximum hull points, its movement rate is reduced by an equal percentage. For example, if a vehicle loses 20% of its hull points, its movement rate is reduced by 20%.

Destruction🔗

If a vehicle is reduced to 0 hull points:

  • It will lose structural integrity in 1d10 rounds (e.g., a water vessel sinks).
  • Any mounted weaponry is no longer functional.

Repairs🔗

In a workshop: Vehicle damage can be repaired by experienced technicians working in a suitable workshop or dock.

In the field: A vehicle’s crew can repair up to half of sustained damage. The remaining damage can only be repaired in a suitable workshop or dock.

Time: It takes five crew members one turn to repair one hull point. This task requires full attention, so any crew involved in repair cannot take any other action during a turn repairing a vessel.

Boarding🔗

When the occupants of a vehicle wish to board another vehicle, the two vehicles must be brought alongside one another.

Forceful boarding: If the occupants of one vehicle wish to board the other vehicle forcefully, there is a 2-in-6 chance of successfully maneuvering the vehicle into a boarding position. The two vehicles may then be clamped together with grappling hooks.

Mutual boarding intent: If the occupants of both vehicles wish to board one another, their mutual goal makes the action succeed with no chance of failure.

Boarding characters: Characters who are in the act of boarding another vehicle suffer a -2 penalty to attack rolls and Armor Class for one round.

Rowed Water Vessels🔗

Rowing Encounter Speeds🔗

Some rowed vessels may have an increased encounter movement rate. This represents the tremendous effort of the oarsmen that may be exerted during combat. Such speeds cannot be maintained for long periods; thus, such vessels' per-turn and per-day movement rates are much slower.

Reduced Oarsmen🔗

Having less than the required number of oarsmen reduces a vessel’s speed.

Movement rate reduction: For every 10% reduction in the available rowing crew, the vessel’s rowing speed is reduced by an equal percentage. For example, if 10% of the oarsmen are used to repair hull damage, the vessel moves at 90% of its normal speed (i.e., 10% slower than normal).