Sky Ship Rules, Stats and Combat
Sky Ships are an important part of the Fractured Skies, and the following rules and statistics are suggested to adjudicate their use in travel, combat, and exploration. Both players and dungeon masters looking to explore the Skies should have a basic understanding of these rules in order to facilitate the ease of play. The core mechanics that make up these rules are taken from Appendix A of the Ghosts of Saltmarsh module published by Wizards of the Coast, with necessary edits to accommodate a game in the Skies. All credit for these rules goes to their original authors on the Wizards RPG Team.
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, come to a stop, or careen out of control.
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.
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 wings, 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.
A ship rolls initiative using its Dexterity, and it uses its crew’s quality score as a modifier to that roll. On a ship’s turn, the captain decides which of the ship’s actions to use.
Managing a ship’s entire crew in combat can prove cumbersome, especially as larger ships often host dozens of sailors. Typically the crew is too busy managing the ship to do anything else during combat. Don’t worry about tracking their specific positions unless you want to add that complexity. You can assume that the crew is evenly divided among the upper two decks of a ship.
If a ship moves into the space occupied by a creature or an object, the ship might crash. A ship avoids crashing if the creature or object is at least two sizes smaller than it. When a ship crashes, it must immediately make a DC 10 Constitution saving throw. On a failed save, it takes damage to its hull based on the size of the creature or object it crashed into, as shown on the Crash Damage table. It also stops moving if the object or creature is one size smaller than it or larger. Otherwise the ship continues moving and the creature or object collided with moves to the nearest unoccupied space that isn’t in the ship’s path. At the DM’s discretion, an object that is forced to move but is fixed in place is instead destroyed. A creature struck by a ship must make a Dexterity saving throw with a DC equal to 10 + the ship’s Strength modifier, taking damage based on the ship’s size (as shown on the Crash Damage table) on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one. Crash Table:
Obviously, sky ships have a benefit that nautical ships don't: They can move in 3 dimensions rather than 2. Rules for ascent and decent are simple, and act as opposites. Ascent takes double movement, similar to difficult terrain. Decent, however, makes it so that for every 5 ft you spend to move down, you move an additional 5 ft. This represents the ships interaction with gravity, and how it is much easier to plummet then it is to rise. Turning And Headwind:
Sky ships move in a slightly different way than creatures, or smaller craft. When moving, the direction the ship is pointing is important, and should be known by everyone in combat. A ship can not move backwards, and can only move forward. The ship can bank left and right, but it still requires time to turn. In combat, this means that ships can only move to spaces directly in front of it, or diagonally left and right of its forward facing side. Normal moving rules apply. Some ships ignore this rule, but these are specialty vehicles that are rare and extremely expensive. This exception will be listed in their statblock. The DM must also be conscious of the headwind at any given time, as it may effect the way ships who partially rely on sails may move. The headwind can change at any time, and to an experienced DM, this can be used as a tool to alter the flow of combat on a dime.
When a vehicle goes over a cliff or otherwise falls, the vehicle and all creatures on or inside it take damage from the fall as normal (1d6 bludgeoning damage per 10 feet fallen, maximum 20d6) and land prone.
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, 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. Sky-sick merchants and marines thoroughly capable of facing menaces from the endless blue 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 plummeting — 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. An Elemental Engine indicates how far a ship can fly on a single charge. A ship can have multiple engines, allowing for further travel.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 wings, 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.
Ships and Initiative:
A ship rolls initiative using its Dexterity, and it uses its crew’s quality score as a modifier to that roll. On a ship’s turn, the captain decides which of the ship’s actions to use.
Crew in Combat:
Managing a ship’s entire crew in combat can prove cumbersome, especially as larger ships often host dozens of sailors. Typically the crew is too busy managing the ship to do anything else during combat. Don’t worry about tracking their specific positions unless you want to add that complexity. You can assume that the crew is evenly divided among the upper two decks of a ship.
Crew Casualties:
Slaying a ship’s crew reduces the number of actions most ships can take, making the crew a tempting target in combat. Resolve individual attacks as normal, using the guidelines for resolving many, identical attacks at once from the Dungeon Master’s Guide as needed. In the case of spells that cover an area, such as fireball or lightning bolt, you might track the exact location of the spell and crew to determine how many sailors it affects. Alternatively, you can roll 1d6 per level of the spell. The total of the dice is the number of crew members caught in the spell’s area. When a ship suffers a critical hit, it loses 1d2 general crew. Officers cannot be lost in this way.Crashing a Ship:
If a ship moves into the space occupied by a creature or an object, the ship might crash. A ship avoids crashing if the creature or object is at least two sizes smaller than it. When a ship crashes, it must immediately make a DC 10 Constitution saving throw. On a failed save, it takes damage to its hull based on the size of the creature or object it crashed into, as shown on the Crash Damage table. It also stops moving if the object or creature is one size smaller than it or larger. Otherwise the ship continues moving and the creature or object collided with moves to the nearest unoccupied space that isn’t in the ship’s path. At the DM’s discretion, an object that is forced to move but is fixed in place is instead destroyed. A creature struck by a ship must make a Dexterity saving throw with a DC equal to 10 + the ship’s Strength modifier, taking damage based on the ship’s size (as shown on the Crash Damage table) on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one. Crash Table:
| Size | Damage |
| Small | 1d6 |
| Medium | 1d10 |
| Large | 4d10 |
| Huge | 8d10 |
| Gargantuan | 16d10 |
That Troublesome Y Axis:
Obviously, sky ships have a benefit that nautical ships don't: They can move in 3 dimensions rather than 2. Rules for ascent and decent are simple, and act as opposites. Ascent takes double movement, similar to difficult terrain. Decent, however, makes it so that for every 5 ft you spend to move down, you move an additional 5 ft. This represents the ships interaction with gravity, and how it is much easier to plummet then it is to rise. Turning And Headwind:
Sky ships move in a slightly different way than creatures, or smaller craft. When moving, the direction the ship is pointing is important, and should be known by everyone in combat. A ship can not move backwards, and can only move forward. The ship can bank left and right, but it still requires time to turn. In combat, this means that ships can only move to spaces directly in front of it, or diagonally left and right of its forward facing side. Normal moving rules apply. Some ships ignore this rule, but these are specialty vehicles that are rare and extremely expensive. This exception will be listed in their statblock. The DM must also be conscious of the headwind at any given time, as it may effect the way ships who partially rely on sails may move. The headwind can change at any time, and to an experienced DM, this can be used as a tool to alter the flow of combat on a dime.
Falling:
When a vehicle goes over a cliff or otherwise falls, the vehicle and all creatures on or inside it take damage from the fall as normal (1d6 bludgeoning damage per 10 feet fallen, maximum 20d6) and land prone.
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