The primary sections of each ship have been divided into “components”, each with their own total hit points, their AC, and a fancy new attribute called a “damage threshold”.Don’t confuse a damage threshold for a DR or damage resistance. This simplifies a lot of interactions that were before quite problematic. We already know that they plan on using these rules for all vehicles moving forward so it’s a great idea to get familiar with them.Firstly, vehicles now get their own stat block, including all the ability scores that a creature has (though with typically 0 in Wisdom, Intelligence, and Charisma). There’s a lot to be gained from roleplaying extended stays underwater and all the odd inconveniences it brings.However you go about it, just make sure that you keep tabs on how well your party can fare if they all go overboard.The new Ghosts of Saltmarsh book for 5e D&D has filled in a so far missing element from our 5e campaigns, an official set of rules for ships and other vehicles. This will help cut down on faffing about and it will make every dive a bit more stressful, even if the time limits never really get pressed upon.Or, if you want to have Atlantis style sea-bottom living, make your water breathing macguffins easy and risk-free. You can go about this in 2 ways.If you want a campaign in which diving into the depths still feels dangerous, limit the amount of breathing time your water breathing macguffins provide.
Travel Dmg 5E Full 11 DamageAn attack that deals 11 damage deals the full 11 damage, because it was higher than the damage threshold.Crewing ships has been streamlined and trimmed down from previous editions. An attack that deals 9 damage to the hull instead deals 0 damage, because it was lower than the damage threshold. This doesn’t reduce the damage if you pass the threshold like damage resistance would.Say the hull of your ship has a damage threshold of 10. If damage dealt to an object doesn’t pass the damage threshold, it doesn’t do any damage.![]() ![]() Unlike most combats that occur on a nice flat 2D plane, almost all encounters that occur underwater will have to deal with that troublesome 3rd dimension.Underwater combat is just more complicated, you can’t get around it but you can definitely make it easier on yourself.The easiest way to think of underwater combat is to think of all of your players and monsters as flying. 3D CombatWhere most DMs get tripped up the most with aquatic campaigns is the combat. And for you as a DM, you can stop worrying about the stats of dozens of crew members, that whole issue got rather cleaned up. These new rules go quite far towards bringing that player agency back. One of the primary problems with ship combat throughout multiple editions was the loss of player agency and “uniqueness” while serving the needs of a vessel. You can now let your players take on specific roles on a ship such as captain, bosun, or first mate, which all have special actions they can take while amid ship on ship combat. Kinivo bluetooth adapter driver for macI like to cover miniatures with a dice box when they submerge like this, but any clear indication works.Sadly, this all gets further confounded when creatures start swimming above and below each other. Keep track of how many feet below the surface each creature is, just as if the creatures were “flying below” the surface. If you’re using miniatures, flying stands work well for representing this, or you can use the old standby of standing your minis up on dice boxes.If you are out in the open ocean or some similar area where the bottom is leagues away, instead think of the surface of the water as the “ground”. Open OceansA rather unexpected consequence that I and other DM’s have felt in nautical adventures is a feeling of harsh railroading. Swimming players will likely start at the top and work their way down, so make sure you place your intended final rooms deep within your structures, rather than at the tops of towers or similar heights. If you want to constrict your player’s path through a dungeon (boss at the end, etc.) you’ll need to place it within a sea-cave or similarly enclosed area. Having a ship or ruin nearby makes it easier to identify that the shark is “20 feet from the bottom of the ship” rather than “20 feet over that way”.Also keep in mind your player’s freedom of movement underwater when you design their encounters. We like to always keep some kind of reference point or landmark clearly visible for your players, especially if you’re playing without minis in the “theater of the mind”. When multiple creatures share a “space” by swimming above and below each other, I like to remove both minis and place a die there showing the number of creatures in that “space”.Overall, you may find that in underwater combats, the more open the space gets the more confused players become. Create storms that move naturally as the players move, possibly blocking travel or creating a disturbance depending on where your players go. Especially in charted waters, there’s not a lot of logical reasons for exploration unless you create the reasons.Open ocean has a lot of empty space in it and big nautical campaigns can really suffer from empty world syndrome, with lots of wide empty areas that just turn into a string of railroaded encounters.I highly recommend creating dynamic maps and using exploration rules while running a nautical campaign. Unless you place something in the way as a specific hindrance, the players are likely to simply sail to their destination without encountering anything else. You shouldn’t be counting every scrap of hard-tack, but dynamically using supplies can force your players to make port, resupply in strange locales and generally have more of an adventure rather than just bee-lining it for the quest objective.We realize all that is a lot of work, but believe me, nautical campaigns will be so much more memorable when your players can really feel like they’re exploring uncharted waters and making discoveries rather than just being strung along between encounters.Thinking about other classes? Check out our giant list of D&D 5e Tools and Tips here. Need to get your party into conflict? Good thing that midshipman was actually a spy for the pirates this whole time!We also recommend keeping track of supplies (or at least better track than normal). Have numerous points of interest that your players can choose to investigate or leave behind.Also, now with clear rules for crewing ships, you as DMs have been given one of the greatest gifts, dozens of NPCs that travel with the party! These nameless, faceless crew members can become interesting side-quests or memorable NPCs at a moment’s notice! Need a lead to the bad guy’s lair? Good thing your deck-swab was raised on the BBEG’s island. Blueshift Nine, LLC reserves the right to make additions, deletions, or modification to the contents on the Service at any time without prior notice. 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