Solarships Statblocks

These Rules are from the Secrets of Saltmarsh Appendix.

Ship Stat Blocks

To aid in running adventures where ships engage in combat, undertake precise navigation, or face situations where their various capabilities become relevant, the following section presents new rules and stat blocks for a spectrum of vessels.

Basic Statistics

A ship stat block has three main parts: basic statistics, components, and action options. Ships can’t take any actions on their own. Without effort from its crew, a ship might drift on the water, come to a stop, or careen out of control.

Size

Most ships are Large, Huge, or Gargantuan. A ship’s size category is determined by its length or width, whichever is longer. For instance, a ship that is 10 feet long and 20 feet wide would use the size category that has a 20-foot width, which means the ship is Gargantuan.

Space

A ship doesn’t have a square space unless its stat block specifies otherwise. For example, a ship that is 20 feet long and 10 feet wide occupies a 20-by-10-foot space.

A ship can’t move into a space that is too small to accommodate it. If it tries to do so, it crashes, as described in the “Crashing a Ship” section.

Capacity

A ship’s stat block indicates how many creatures and how much cargo it can carry. Creatures include both the crew of the vessel and any passengers who might ride along. Passengers don’t generally engage in running a ship, but they also don’t need to be mere bystanders. Seasick merchants and marines thoroughly capable of facing menaces from the deep both count as passengers.

Cargo capacity notes the maximum amount of cargo a ship can carry. A vessel can’t move — or might even start taking on water — if its cargo exceeds this capacity.

Travel Pace

A ship’s travel pace determines how far the vessel can move per hour and per day. A ship’s movement-related components (described later in the stat block) determine how far the vessel can move each round.

Ability Scores

A ship has the six ability scores (Strength, Dexterity, Constitution, Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma) and the corresponding modifiers.

The Strength of a ship expresses its size and weight. Dexterity represents a ship’s ease of handling. A ship’s Constitution covers its durability and the quality of its construction. Ships usually have a score of 0 in Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma.

If a ship has a 0 in a score, it automatically fails any ability check or saving throw that uses that score.

Vulnerabilities, Resistances, and Immunities

A ship’s vulnerabilities, resistances, and immunities apply to all its components, unless otherwise noted in the stat block.

Ships are typically immune to poison and psychic damage. Ships are also usually immune to the following conditions: blinded, charmed, deafened, exhaustion, frightened, incapacitated, paralyzed, petrified, poisoned, prone, stunned, and unconscious.

Actions

This part of the stat block specifies what the ship can do on its turn, using its special actions rather than the actions used by creatures. It even relies on its actions to move; it doesn’t have a move otherwise. The ship’s captain decides which actions to use. A given action can be chosen only once during a turn.

Components

A ship is composed of different components, each of which comprises multiple objects:

Hull. A ship’s hull is its basic frame, on which the other components are mounted.

Control. A control component is used to steer a ship.

Movement. A movement component is the element of the ship that enables it to move, such as a set of sails or oars, and has a specific speed.

Weapon. A ship capable of being used in combat has one or more weapon components, each of which is operated separately.

A ship’s component might have special rules, as described in the stat block.

Armor Class

A component has an Armor Class. Its AC reflects the materials used to construct it and any defensive plating used to augment its toughness.

Hit Points

A ship component is destroyed and becomes unusable when it drops to 0 hit points. A ship is wrecked if its hull is destroyed.

A ship doesn’t have Hit Dice.

Damage Threshold

If a ship component has a damage threshold, that threshold appears after its hit points. A component has immunity to all damage unless it takes an amount of damage that equals or exceeds its threshold, in which case it takes damage as normal. Damage that fails to bypass the threshold is considered superficial and doesn’t reduce the component’s hit points.