Of Ships & Cannons – D&D 5e

The Seas of Vodari – 5th Edition Swashbuckling & Sorcery

Everything you need to run exciting seafaring campaigns full of swashbuckling action and magical adventure for Fifth Edition.

The Seas of Vodari is a full-color book that we are offering in hardcover and PDF. This book provides 200+ pages of material for gamemasters to run exciting seafaring campaigns for 5th Edition. Your players will get tons of options for creating characters and you’ll get support to run a world full of swashbuckling action and magical adventure.

Get the Seas of Vodari at DriveThruRPG › Pre-Order the Hardcover ›

Earlier this week, Brandes broke down the Unearthed Arcana: Of Ships and Sea. I thought I’d test out building a few ships more typical of the golden age of piracy and that I use in my Seas of Vodari campaign.

Stats for ships found on the seas of Vodari are provided below.

Brigantine

Gargantuan vehicle (120 ft. by 25 ft.)

A two-masted ship with a square sails on the foremast, a square topsail on the mainmast and triangular mainsail behind the mast. Brigantines are swift and maneuverable, making them a popular choice with pirates and spies.

Creature Capacity 40 crew, 50 passengers
Cargo Capacity 100 tons
Travel Pace 6 miles per hour (144 miles per day)

Damage Immunities poison, psychic
Condition Immunities blinded, charmed, deafened, exhaustion, frightened, incapacitated, paralyzed, petrified, poisoned, prone, stunned, unconscious

Hull

Armor Class 15
Hit Points 500 (damage threshold 20)

Control: Helm

Armor Class 16
Hit Points 50
Move up to the speed of its sails, with one 90-degree turn. If the helm is destroyed, the ship can’t turn.

Movement: Sails

Armor Class 12
Hit Points 100; –10 ft. speed per 25 damage taken
Locomotion (water) sails, speed 55 ft.; 15 ft. while sailing into the wind; 70 ft. while sailing with the wind

Weapon: 9-Pound Cannon (12)

Armor Class 18
Hit Points 30
Ranged Weapon Attack: +6 to hit, range 500/2000 ft., one target. Hit: 22 (4d10) bludgeoning damage.

Actions

On its turn, the brigantine can move using its helm. It can also fire its cannons. If it has half its crew or fewer, it moves at half speed and can fire only half of its cannons.

Galleon

A large, multi-deck ship which operates as armed cargo carrier. Galleons have three masts and use square sails on the foremast and mainmast and triangular sails on the aft-mast.

Gargantuan vehicle (160 ft. by 30 ft.)

Creature Capacity 80 crew, 100 passengers
Cargo Capacity 400 tons
Travel Pace 5 miles per hour (120 miles per day)

Damage Immunities poison, psychic
Condition Immunities blinded, charmed, deafened, exhaustion, frightened, incapacitated, paralyzed, petrified, poisoned, prone, stunned, unconscious

Hull

Armor Class 15
Hit Points 1000 (damage threshold 20)

Control: Helm

Armor Class 16
Hit Points 50
Move up to the speed of its sails, with one 90-degree turn. If the helm is destroyed, the ship can’t turn.

Movement: Sails

Armor Class 12
Hit Points 200; –10 ft. speed per 50 damage taken
Locomotion (water) sails, speed 45 ft.; 15 ft. while sailing into the wind; 60 ft. while sailing with the wind

Weapon: 12-Pound Cannon (12)

Armor Class 17
Hit Points 60
Ranged Weapon Attack: +6 to hit, range 600/2400 ft., one target. Hit: 33 (6d10) bludgeoning damage.

Weapon: 18-Pound Cannon (8)

Armor Class 17
Hit Points 75
Ranged Weapon Attack: +6 to hit, range 600/2400 ft., one target. Hit: 44 (8d10) bludgeoning damage.

Actions

On its turn, the galleon can move using its helm. It can also fire its cannons. If it has half its crew or fewer, it moves at half speed and can fire only half of its cannons.

Sloop

A single-masted ship with two or more triangular sails, fore and aft of the mast. Known for being quick and agile, sloops are a popular choice with pirates and smugglers. This type of ship also includes corvettes and cutters, which vary slightly from the typical sloop.

Gargantuan vehicle (60 ft. by 20 ft.)

Creature Capacity 20 crew, 10 passengers
Cargo Capacity 50 tons
Travel Pace 6 miles per hour (144 miles per day)

Damage Immunities poison, psychic
Condition Immunities blinded, charmed, deafened, exhaustion, frightened, incapacitated, paralyzed, petrified, poisoned, prone, stunned, unconscious

Hull

Armor Class 15
Hit Points 250 (damage threshold 15)

Control: Helm

Armor Class 16
Hit Points 50
Move up to the speed of its sails, with one 90-degree turn. If the helm is destroyed, the ship can’t turn.

Movement: Sails

Armor Class 12
Hit Points 100; –10 ft. speed per 25 damage taken
Locomotion (water) sails, speed 55 ft.; 15 ft. while sailing into the wind; 70 ft. while sailing with the wind

Weapon: 9-Pound Cannon (6)

Armor Class 18
Hit Points 45
Ranged Weapon Attack: +6 to hit, range 500/2000 ft., one target. Hit: 22 (4d10) bludgeoning damage.

Actions

On its turn, the sloop can move using its helm. It can also fire its cannons. If it has half its crew or fewer, it moves at half speed and can fire only half of its cannons.

Check Out Our Naval Combat Guide

Batten Down the Hatches!

Are you looking to run exciting, fast paced naval encounters where all your players have something to do each turn? Do you want to run cinematic sea battles between ships and terrify your players with sea monster attacks?

I wrote this guide after running a weekly seafaring campaign for Fifth Edition for over a year. NAVAL ENCOUNTERS provides GMs with rules, ideas and examples for running combat and other scenarios at sea for your Fifth Edition game. Whether you are looking for rules to run an encounter between ships, naval combat roles to give to each of your players, or ideas on how to handle a sea monster attack, this guide is the answer.

Product Information
This guide provides GMs with rules and ideas to run exciting, fast paced naval combat encounters. In this guide you will find:

• Rules for running lightweight naval encounters
• Example combat encounters
• Shipboard roles for your Captain, Master Gunner, Ship’s Surgeon and other officers
• Stats for guns, cannons and ships

These materials were designed to be used with Fifth Edition rules.

BUY NOW ›

Let us know what you think in the comments below.