ZEITGEIST Rules Supplement Seas of ZEITGEIST A Fantasy Role-Playing Supplement by EN PUBLISHING 7 Rutland Court, Balaclava Road Southampton, Hampshire England SO18 6RX From the Pen of Ryan Nock Evocative Cover Illustration by Edward Moran Stunning Cartographic Displays by James Hazelett Jonathan Roberts Masterful Interior Illustrations by Brian Lindahl ShenFei EN Publishing is and artists of history an imprint of with Layout and Graphic Design by Eric Life-Putnam EN World. Please visit Thoroughly Playtested for Maximum Enjoyment by www.enworld.org Jason Boss, David Braught, Josh Brzinski, Ted Brzinski, Sam Coman, Neil D’Cruze, Francis Dickinson, Robert M. Everson, Michael Gallogly, Matthew J. 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All rights reserved. and place names, story elements, trade dress, “EN Publishing” and the EN Publishing logo, “EN World” and the EN World logo, and EN Publishing product titles and product logos. “For Fourth Edition D&D®” i “For Pathfinder® Role-Playing game” ZEITGEIST Rules Supplement Table of Contents Seas OF ZeiTgeisT ................................................................1 THE BASICS .........................................................................................1 STERN CHASES .................................................................................... 6 The Command Check. .......................................................................1 SHIP DAMAGE ...................................................................................... 7 Ramming. ..........................................................................................3 Campaign Tips, or What Do You Mean, They Both Sank? .................7 OFFICER ROLES ................................................................................... 4 SAMPLE SHIPS ...................................................................................... 8 Shuffling Crew. ................................................................................. 4 OPEN GAME LICENSE 1.0A ....................................................................14 Sample file ii SEAS OF Zeitgeist .N. Publishing’s naval supplement Admiral o’ the High The Command Check. E Seas has a full set of rules for adventures at sea, but Various actions in naval adventuring call for a Command check, to see how well the captain is directing his crew. For a Command check, a cap- herein we present enough rules to handle basic naval combat tain rolls 1d20 + his Command score. A captain’s Command score is equal to half his level plus the highest between two ships. If your group particularly likes ship en- bonus among his Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma. So a 6th level char- acter with an 18 Intelligence would have a +7 Command score. counters, your DM can use the additional material in Admiral A ship with less than full crew but at least minimum crew imposes a –5 penalty to Command checks. With less crew than minimum, the captain o’ the High Seas to spice up nautical engagements. takes a –10 penalty. A ship without a captain treats the result of all Com- mand checks as a –10. THE BAsiCS Ship Saving Throws. When ships are closing for battle, but still too far away to fight hand- Some effects call for a ship saving throw. The ship’s captain, who has an to-hand, action occurs in naval combat. Time and distance are a little ineffable bond with the ship, rolls this save: 1d20 + Charisma modifier flexible, but rounds are generally somewhere between one minute and versus DC 10. five minutes long, during which a ship might travel hundreds or even These saves are usually to determine if a ship can weather some dan- thousands of feet. Once within range of boarding actions, the game ger, like flooding or fire. Often a result of 20 or higher not only prevents switches to tactical combat, which are the normal 6-second rounds. the situation from getting worse, but actually improves circumstances. Officer Roles. Player Character Skills. During naval combat, each PC chooses one officer role, which lets them These rules are intended for use with both the PATHFINDER ROLEPLAYING GAME contribute to the battle: and DUNGEONS & DRAGONS 4TH EDITION, which have different skill lists and rates * Captain has final authority. of skill progression. So when the rules require a skill check, we’ll list the * Bosun directs the crew. DUNGEONS & DRAGONS mechanics first, then the PATHFINDER. * Navigator aids maneuvers. PATHFINDER characters have the option to take the skill Profession (sailor), * Gunner aids attacks. which can stand in for many other checks required in seafaring. We think * Engineer repairs damage. Sample fileit’s a fair trade for a character who picks a comparably less-useful skill * Look-Out warns of danger. like Profession to be able to use it in multiple situations. A character who’s A character can change his role each round, with some restrictions. A good at navigating in the wilderness, as described in the Survival skill, can ship cannot benefit from more than six officers at a given time. Characters do decently navigating at sea, but a sailor is specifically trained for this. might also spend their turn as an attacker, using their weapons or spells against an enemy crew; this doesn’t count against the six-officer limit. them the weather gage the following round. The Naval Turn. It is never possible to hold the weather gage against a ship that doesn’t A naval turn consists of five phases—maneuvers, location, terrain, rely on sails for movement. If a sailing vessel and a steam vessel engage, bearing, and attack. Some of these phases require the captain of each being downwind (on the leeward gage) is no disadvantage for the steam- ship to make a Command check (see sidebar) to determine who gets the ship, so the sailing ship gains no bonus. However, if the steamship is upper hand. Officers can choose to handle some of these tasks, rolling in upwind, the sailing ship’s options are limited, so the steamship does the captain’s stead, typically with a bonus. Different tactics and maneu- gain the bonus for holding the weather gage. vers can grant a bonus in one stage in exchange for a penalty in another. Normally wind is steady during a given naval encounter, but magic might change it, and battles near landforms can mean that in different Wind and the Weather Gage. stages of battle, the wind flows different directions. Being upwind of an enemy, known as holding the weather gage (or wind- ward gage), is of great value in battles between vessels reliant on sails. Multiple Ships. While this system tries to keep location somewhat abstract, at the start If more than two sailing ships engage, resolving weather gage is a bit of each encounter, determine the relative positions along the flow of the more complicated. During Location and Bearing phases, each captain wind for each ship. rolls normally with no modifier for weather gage. First compare just the A ship that holds the weather gage against its opponent gains a +2 two highest results, then apply the bonus for weather gage to whoever is bonus to Command checks in the Location and Bearing phases. The upwind, then let