Adventurers' Guild 2: Cap'n Marko and the crew of the Sampo

[TwoCents]

Dragutin Tadijanovic, Paladin of Garl

"So you abandoned your companions, eh? Oathbreakers rarely prosper, as you have discovered." With that, Dragutin turned his back on Matthias.

[DavidByron]

Sampo continues its voyage the next morning. Another quiet day. River traffic is quiet but there are sometimes other small boats on the river, mostly on the East bank. There are no river dwarf rafts heading south. A few water rats, several hawks and a river shark (one of the smaller fresh water sharks; not that dangerous except to smaller sized people). On the third day out from Bridgeport the marsh on the West bank gradually gives way to a more grassy wooded terrain and one or two buildings are seen in land.

In the late afternoon of the third day Dragutin sees, from the mast top, a couple of rafts heading downstream. They seem to have a mass of people on each and no mast or sail. Could be oarsmen. They are still some way off; about two miles perhaps. (They are close to the West bank which is against river protocol for downstream headed traffic)

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The river is still almost a mile wide here. You'll be able to see much more detail about the craft as they get to within a half mile to a mile distance.

[TwoCents]

Dragutin Tadijanovic, Paladin of Garl

Dragutin stared at the oncoming vessels for a moment and then called down to the quarterdeck, "Ahoy on deck! Two rafts, heavy laden with crew, half a league off the larboard bow! Close on to the west bank." Having given his report, he returned to his lookout, making a tube with his hands to keep out the glare as he stared at the rafts.

[Daryk]

Marko

"Gunner! Ready the guns! Mr. Woetjans, two points to larboard! We'll take a closer look at these rafts," Marko called in response to Dragutin's report.

[DavidByron]

At the pace both parties are currently traveling, those with some nautical expertise estimate it would take about 15 minutes to draw level. As the rafts get a little closer Feodor is the first to shout out.

Feodor:
It's goblins sir.

There look to be somewhere around twenty goblin rowers per raft. They have seen Sampo by now but have not increased the pace of their oars yet. The crew of the Sampo is 28 all told (water rat excluded), though most are not professional fighters they all have knives. Captain Marko holds the weather gauge but on the river the current is equally important and the result is that the rafts and the Sampo are both going about the speed of a fast walk. The Nose produces a couple of light crossbows. About one mile distance now and it looks like the lead raft is slowing down to let the other come parallel to it so that they will be one to either side of the Sampo. At the current speeds another seven minutes until contact and bow range won't be attained until close to the end of that time.

[Daryk]

Marko

"Mr. Woetjans, beat to quarters and come about! We'll hold the range and use the guns. Gunner, engage the rafts when you think you can hit. Sink 'em if you can," Marko said, loading his own crossbow.

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So, what's the AC of a raft? I think they're 'Gargantuan' ("narrow side of a barn", -4 AC), but I'm not sure exactly how "inanimate" they are (PHB p. 165 refers, and I'm all for Feodor taking full round actions to line up his shots). Marko's plan is to hold the range and sink the rafts. They shouldn't be able to close Sampo, and it will only cost us time and ammunition.

[Thymin]

Dravick:

As the rafts get closer, Dravick feels the exhilaration of the battle to come. His heart races and he feels like he finally has something that he can contribute to. He begins singing the song of the river that he had learned from Marko, praising Ahto and asking for his blessing in this battle.

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Inspire Courage

He takes a seat behind one of the harpoon guns, and trains the weapon on one of the rafts, following it in his sights until it gets within firing range.

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Dravick will continue to sing as he fights, and will continue to aim at the construct of the raft until it becomes clear that either it isn't damaging it enough, or until the goblins begin to make ranged attacks of their own, in which case he will begin targeting the attacking goblins.

[DavidByron]

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Avast ye! Getting past my limit of nautical terms matey!

"beat to quarters and come about"

OK "beat to quarters" means "quit rowing and get ready to fight"? or does quarters mean their usual quarters which as oarsmen - well they're already rowing.

And "come about" do you mean-- what do you mean? I think it means to change course but I'm not sure in which direction.

To clarify the rafts' apparent strategy here, there's two of them and they used to be coming along one after the other down the river but upon spotting the Sampo the lead one waited for the other to draw up next to it and now they're trying to get to where the Sampo would be between them if all the boats continued to head towards each other -- to prevent the sort of move you are in fact suggesting right now, of keeping your distance and peppering them (due to their lack of ranged missiles) so one is to your NW and the other to your NE - that's their goal. Then when they have you in this "pincer" they'd want to close quickly (presumably).

Your strategy is to stand off (keep the distance) and shoot them. Are you keeping your distance by reversing down the river? or by trying to edge across the river to the East at least until you run out of space because of the East bank? ie. Are you trying to avoid their pincer move or not bothering to since you plan is to keep distance by heading down river? If you are manouvering South, down river the sail won't be much help since the wind is blowing from the South.

And yes I'll get a diagram up tonight.

As the craft try to get into positions preferable to them in the coming fight the rafts come to about 1000 feet and 1200 feet of the Sampo.

Feodor:
Don't shoot yet; they're still a little too far and its not like we can punch a hole in their hull or shoot their mast out.

[Daryk]

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Bah! Landlubbers!
"Beat to quarters" means "tell everyone on the ship we're about to be in a fight", so for the oarsmen, yes, they stay where they are. Everyone else (i.e. anyone below deck/in a deck cabin in Sampo's case) will know to come on deck ready to fight. The beat for this is a syncopated drum roll (ref "Master and Commander").

"Come about" means "reverse course", so yes, I intend to head down river, maintain distance and sink them from range with the big guns. The heavy crossbows will also be in range (since size bizarrely doesn't seem to affect a weapon's range).

Make sense so far?

[Shades of Gray]

"Ready to help Cap'n Marko!"

Durx casts Magic Weapon on one of the ballistae (Ballistas?) He can't do much at a range, so this is the best he can do.

[Daryk]

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I... I'm speechless... I never before considered casting Magic Weapon on a siege engine. Brilliant!!
Make it the aft gun, and you might want to wait on the spell until Feodor is actually ready to fire...

[Shades of Gray]

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Meh, it lasts three minutes... Then again, I don't know anything about boats, neither does Durx.

[DavidByron]

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It's invent some rules time, yeah!

Rowing Race
The speed of a craft under oars will be calculated every minute and will be the base speed (eg 40 for double time, which is standard for combat) plus 1d20. This means there's always a small random element to the distance between the craft. For example starting at 500 feet apart with both moving at 40, craft1 moves at - (1d20+40)[56] and craft2 moves at - (1d20+40)[46]. Over 10 rounds these speeds mean that the distance between the craft closes to 400 feet apart. If the oar crew falls below the minimum then reduce speed in proportion to the number of rowers missing. For short bursts the oarsmen can row at triple time (60) using the same rules as for running (p144 PHB): a number of rounds equal to Con and thereafter a DC 10 Con check that increases in DC 1 per round. Once the check is failed speed is reduced to normal for ten rounds and you can't triple time until you've all rested. Use the average Con of the crew assuming there's no great difference between them.

Swimming
Unless you're a good swimmer you'll be a lot slower than a boat rowed at speed.

Shooting with ballista vs hull
This is the hardest to figure out.

A ship hull would be hardness 5 HP 20 (as a heavy wooden door or tower shield) but unless you hit hard enough to do the full 25hp in one shot you have to aim for the same small sized area of the hull again to try and do cumulative damage to effect a breakage. A ballista however is not going to do damage enough to sink a ship (I'm assuming the damage is above the waterline) or a raft (which doesn't really have a waterline) unless it has a number of these breaches targeting vital parts of the craft (eg the rudder, the mast, a key crossbeam etc). Again these vital points would be considered small targets of AC 6. ballista per heavy crossbow has range increment of 120 feet (eg at a range of 601 feet there is a -10 penalty to hit, at 1000 feet a -16 to hit, max range is 1200 feet). For simplicity assign a craft a number of structure points and when that number of breaches equals that number it sinks the craft (smaller effects may be felt before then). You can usefully stand someone with a shield to protect the vital spot. They have a 50% chance of being hit instead.

For the Sampo let's say the structure number is 5, for these rafts it is 3.

Shooting at crew
oarsmen are considered sitting (+2 AC) and often they are hidden behind the hard cover of the ship hull (+4 AC or can't be targeted).

The two rafts get into a position they like to either side of Sampo, upstream about 1000 feet. You can hear the drummer beat from the two rafts pick up the pace as their oarsmen switch to double time. So far you can see no missile weapons except spears on the enemy vessels. The rafts are pretty flat and simple things. A number of goblins take up croaching positions to the fore of the rafts to protect their oarsmen with shields and their own bodies. The rafts start to close in gradually while the Sampo waits for them to reach the optimum shooting distance before her own oarsmen shift to double time.

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I'll assume that all the good stuff about singing and casting spells happens at the appropriate time. How close does the captain want to let them get? You can pick your starting distance by posting "when they close to 600 feet we open fire and command the oarsmen to maintain the distance."

[Daryk]

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We'll pick up the pace when Feodor opens fire. He's already tasked with making that call. If I had to guess, I imagine he'd start shooting when he has at least a 50/50 chance of hitting (i.e. somewhere around 600 feet/200 yards). I'm inclined to stick with firing on the rafts themselves because by "lining up" his shots, Feodor can get an additional +5 to hit not available when aiming at goblins. That makes the to hit advantage +10 or so (goblins start at AC 10, and have at least shields vs. AC 6, less the +5 bonus to hit). And there's also a chance we could do 25 hp in one shot, if we're lucky (26, actually, with Magic Weapon and Dravick singing). If the goblins close to within 120 feet, we can certainly shift to shooting them.
What are Feodor's total bonuses? I only know of the Magic Weapon and Bard Song for certain. And did you want to roll for him, or should I?

[DavidByron]

Feodor waits until the nearer of the two rafts is about 650-700 feet from the Sampo. "Any particular choice of target captain?" He fires at the raft to starboard.

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670 feet / range increment 120 = -10 to hit.
Feodor is +4 same as Dravick, gets +1 each from magic Weapon and courage.
shoot raft hardpoint needs AC 6 - (1d20-4)[6], damage - (4d6+2)[15]
What is the damage on a ballista? is it 4d6 (guessing)?

A hit! subtracting 5 for hardness, leaves 10 damage to that hardpoint (out of 20).

The harpoon hits the front of the raft but the goblins there do not break rank. Instead a shout in goblin goes up and the drum beat of the goblin boatswain increases to triple time as they attempt a rush. The other raft continues its same speed.

Feodor:
Dravick, can you shoot while I reload? You're just as good a shot as me.

The Nose:
They're too far away for a dash, surely they will never keep that pace up.

[Thymin]

Dravick:

Hearing the sound of Feodor's gun, Dravick let's his own shot fly.

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Shoot the Port side raft - (1d20-5)[4]
Crit Confim - (1d20-5)[11]
Damage - (4d6)[12]
Crit Damage - (4d6)[19]

After firing he agrees that he can fire while Feodor reloads.

[DavidByron]

Dravick's first shot on the raft hits but not in an especially vulnerable spot.

[Shades of Gray]

We can do better than this! St. Cuthbert, give me the power to crush these unlawful beasts under our mighty heel!

Durx casts Divine Favor on himself. He draws his crossbow and takes cover.

[Daryk]

Marko

Marko nodded at Woetjans' assessment and said, "Aye, true. Resume a normal pace, if you please. If they get too close, we'll sprint ourselves. Gunner, fire at will!"

[DavidByron]

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Over the next ten rounds the vessels move.....
Raft1 speed - (1d20+40)[55], start 670', end 570' distance
Raft2 speed - (1d20+60)[61], start 670', end 510' (2 ballista shots at -10, 3 at -8)
Sampo speed - (1d20+40)[45]

Both rafts get a little closer and the damaged one surges ahead some more with it's triple time rowing. You can see now that there is a human among the goblins on the nearer raft. Leather armor, sword and a crossbow which he has aimed toward the aft gunners, Dravick and Feordor. However he is not shooting yet. There seem to be two rows of eight goblin rowers and another five to the fore, a drummer and a helmsman. There's some arguing between the human and one of the goblins.

[Thymin]

Dravick:

Dravick begins firing at the raft using the magically enchanted weapon.

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Attack 1 - (1d20-4)[-1]
Crit Confirm - (1d20-4)[3]
Damage - (3d8+2)[11]

Attack 2 - (1d20-4)[16]
Crit Confirm - (1d20-4)[5]
Damage - (3d8+2)[14]

Attack 3 - (1d20-4)[16]
Crit Confirm - (1d20-4)[6]
Damage - (3d8+2)[21]

Attack 4 - (1d20-4)[8]
Crit Confirm - (1d20-4)[4]
Damage - (3d8+2)[21]

Attack 5 - (1d20-4)[2]
Crit Confirm - (1d20-4)[3]
Damage - (3d8+2)[20]

[DavidByron]

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Attack 1 - miss
Attack 2 - hit, 9 hp damage
Attack 3 - hit, 16 hp damage, destroyed fore hardpoint

Firing at the next hardpoint (the rudder area)
block - (1d100)[54], shot not blocked.
Attack 4 - hit, 16 hp damage
block - (1d100)[81], shot not blocked.
Attack 5 - miss

Over the next ten rounds the vessels move.....
Raft2 rowers Con checks. Extra 4' traveled for each check passed.
5 checks passed = extra 20 feet.

Raft1 speed - (1d20+40)[59], start 570', end 470' (ballista to hit penalties: -8,-8,-8,-8,-6)
Raft2 speed - (1d20+28)[39], start 510', end 410' (ballista to hit penalties: -8,-6,-6,-6,-6)
Sampo speed - (1d20+40)[49]

Dravick and Feodor work away at the aft gun shooting at the main crossbeam at the front of the nearer raft. Once this is destroyed they switch to shooting at the rear of the raft. The rowers on the nearer raft are quickly becoming too tired to continue their rush. They manage to close another 100 feet before they grow too tired to continue their rush.

The Nose:
Aye, their captain does not seem to know the river. They are within bow range now though.

[Daryk]

Marko

"Aye, that they are. Pick up the pace for short bit to get them back out of bow range, if you please, Mr. Woetjans," Marko said.

Turning to Dravick, he added, "Good shooting! Keep it up, and they'll be swimming with the sharks in no time!"

[Shades of Gray]

Durx tries sniping some of the enemy crewmen.

attack - (1d20+5)[22]
damage - (1d10+1)[3]
[roll=confirm]1d20+5

attack - (1d20+5)[17]
damage - (1d10+1)[4]
[roll=confirm]1d20+5

attack - (1d20+5)[8]
damage - (1d10+1)[2]
[roll=confirm]1d20+5

attack - (1d20+5)[19]
damage - (1d10+1)[2]
[roll=confirm]1d20+5

attack - (1d20+5)[12]
damage - (1d10+1)[2]
[roll=confirm]1d20+5

[Thymin]

Dravick:

Dravick continues to sing, his glee apparent in each note as his sees the shots hit their mark. Taking heed of what Marko said, Dravick continues firing at the raft as it nears.

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Attack 1 - (1d20-2)[8]
Confirm - (1d20-2)[1]
Damage - (3d8+2)[14]
Crit - (3d8+2)[14]

Attack 2 - (1d20-1)[7]
Confirm - (1d20-1)[5]
Damage - (3d8+2)[15]
Crit - (3d8+2)[24]

Attack 3 - (1d20-1)[7]
Confirm - (1d20-1)[3]
Damage - (3d8+2)[14]
Crit - (3d8+2)[18]

Attack 4 - (1d20-1)[3]
Confirm - (1d20-1)[14]
Damage - (3d8+2)[11]
Crit - (3d8+2)[12]

Attack 5 - (1d20-1)[13]
Confirm - (1d20-1)[9]
Damage - (3d8+2)[8]
Crit - (3d8+2)[11]

[DavidByron]

Durx find the goblin crew annoyingly hard to hit, small and crouching down as they are and still a fair way off, however he manages to hit one, and possibly another though he's not sure about that shot.

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Human leader's crossbow shots return fire vs the gunners:
shoot - (1d20+0)[5], damage - (1d10)[10]
shoot - (1d20+0)[10], damage - (1d10)[1]
shoot - (1d20+0)[5], damage - (1d10)[5]
shoot - (1d20+0)[6], damage - (1d10)[1]

Feodor and Dravick notice a couple of crossbow shots whistling past them but continue to work away.

[DavidByron]

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Dravick's shooting:
attack 1:block - (1d100)[9]% - blocked by goblin, fails to hit goblin
attack 2:block - (1d100)[93]% - hits, destroys rudder
attack 3:block - (1d100)[47]% - blocked by goblin, fails to hit goblin
attack 4:block - (1d100)[95]% - not blocked but misses 3rd and final hardpoint.
attack 5:block - (1d100)[14]% - blocked by goblin, fails to hit goblin

Dravick and Feodor have a bit less success with shooting now that the goblins are in the way but manage to smash the nearer rafts rudder. The raft would normally be able to move around without one without much difficulty but the oarsmen are tired from their rush and the raft begins to drift towards the bank and the other raft.

Seeing the Sampo oarsmen taking off quickly with triple time rowing the craft's captain seems to shout some orders and the damaged raft tries to come about but it is all they can do to try and stop moving with the current. The other raft moves to come along side them. The Sampo quickly puts some distance between themselves and the rafts and when they reach about 650 feet, the distance that Feodor chose to start shooting, the Nose asks, "Is that far enough captain?"

Feodor checks the supply of ammunition. "We have enough for another five volleys of five."

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Actually you've shot 16 and let's say you had 45 harpoons. You can just roll the d20s and damage and I'll figure out the penalty if you like. The distance varies between -6 to hit and back to -10 again.

The two rafts are doing something. Looks like they may be going to abandon the damaged one.

[Daryk]

Marko

"Perfect, Mr. Woetjans. Maintain this distance, if you would," Marko said to his bosun.

"Nice shooting! Let's sink that raft!" he called encouragingly. "Gunner, make a note we need more ammunition the next time we get underway!" he added with a grin.

Looking up, he called, "Ahoy at the mast! A count of our foes for the log, if you please, Dragutin!"

[Thymin]

Dravick:

Continuing his song, Draivck accedes to Markos calls and continues firing at the enemy.

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(1d20)[3]
(1d20)[17]
(1d20)[18]
(1d20)[3]
(1d20)[7]

[DavidByron]

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You need a 10 to hit for most of this volley so only #2 and #3 are possible hits.
The magic weapon spell has worn off now (three minutes).
Attack 2:block - (1d100)[46]%, damage - (3d8+1)[11]
Attack 3:block - (1d100)[42]%, damage - (3d8+1)[16]

Dravick and Feodro continue to shoot after the target but appear to do no serious damage. Meanwhile the goblins on the damaged raft seem to be abandoning it for it's partner with just a couple of goblins left doing something on board.

From the mast top Dragutin sees that they are scuttling their own raft -- a task made quite simple due to the extensive damage already taken. With the last cross beam attacked by the former crew the raft begins to break up and several large logs scatter and start to slowly drift downstream towards the Sampo. Meanwhile the other raft has come about and points towards the shore line. Dragging the dwindling remains of its damaged partner behind it the overcrowded raft heads towards shore at triple time. It's no more than about one thousand, maybe twelve hundred feet away.

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ie it will be able to get to the West bank of the river (the bank Khorinis is not on) in about two minutes. The logs being scattered as the damaged raft is scuttled would reach the Sampo in three or four minutes -- if the Sampo stayed exactly where it is.

The Nose, for the benefit of the oarsmen:
They've give up lads. They're running for shore!

A cheer goes up from the crew, still tired from the recent triple time rowing.