Ship Equipment

Ship Equipment Ranges from weapons, ammunition to other things. For base ship upgrades see the upgrades page

Siege Engines

Siege engines assault structures, ships and people from a distance by propelling ammunition in some fashion.

Crew:The sheer size of a siege engine often necessitates a crew for its use. One person of that crew is the crew leader. Usually the crew leader controls the movement of a siege engine or designates its targets; sometimes the crew leader does both. Often the crew leader is required to take actions and make specific checks in order for a siege engine to function. The rest of the crew members are required to spend actions and make checks in order for a siege engine to function. The crew of a siege engine is in addition to the crew needed to operate the ship.

Disabling Siege Engines: A siege engine is considered a difficult device to disable, requiring 2d4 rounds of effort and a DC 16 Thieves’ Tools check to do so. When a siege engine is disabled, it either doesn’t work or is sabotaged and stops working after 1d4 minutes of use.

Repairing Siege Engines: Repairing a broken or disabled siege engine requires a DC 16 Thieves’ Tools, or Tinker’s Tools. It takes 10 minutes to fix the device, and the check can be retried if the fix fails.

Assembling Siege Engines: Siege engines can be broken down for storage or transport and can be reassembled on a ship’s deck. A Large siege engine requires 1 hour and four workers to assemble. A Huge siege engine requires 2 hours and six workers to assemble. Make a group Dexterity check to assemble it. Assembly can be performed with at least half the required number of workers by doubling the time required. If fewer than half are available, the  engine cannot be assembled.

Operating a Siege Engine: In order to operate a siege engine the crew must fulfill the required actions to Load, Aim, Fire. Typically one person is required to spend an action to achieve each of these requirements, some siege engines have more requirements such as requiring more loader actions.

Sample Siege Engines:

Note: All Attack Bonuses here are from DMG or similar which make use of trained siege engineers on stable ground. Player siege engines will either need trained siege engineers or will use crew or player stats.

Medium Ballista
Direct Fire-Type, Large object, Cost: 600 gp, Armor Class: 15

Hit Points: 50

Damage Immunities: poison, psychic

A ballista is a massive crossbow that fires heavy bolts.

Before it can be fired, it must be loaded and aimed. It takes one action to load the weapon, one action to aim it, and one action to fire it.

Ballista Bolt -M: Ranged Weapon Attack: +6 to hit, range 120/480 ft., one target. Hit: 16 (3d10) piercing damage.

Broadside Ballista
Direct Fire-Type, Large object (Skinny), Cost 700, Armor Class: 15, Hit Points: 80

Damage Immunities: poison, psychic

The Bertoald /Broadside ballista is a Special Heavy Ballista that fires medium bolts harder and farther than then other ballistas of the same size, the trade off is that they cannot be so easily aimed on a swivel like its lighter cousins restricting it to firing in one direction with only slight adjustments,  this so happens to be perfect for Ship broadside armaments. Cannot be swiveled to aim at things not in front of it.

Before it can be fired, it must be loaded and aimed. It takes one action to load the weapon, one action to aim it, and one action to fire it.

Ballista Bolt -B: Ranged Weapon Attack: +6 to hit, range 120/480 ft., one target. Hit: 16 (3d10) piercing damage.

15gp for 10

DM Note: This ballista is identical to medium ballistas but are skinnier to make them actually fit in ships.

Heavy Ballista
Direct Fire-Type, Huge object, Cost 1000, Armor Class: 15, Hit Points: 100

Damage Immunities: poison, psychic

A ballista is a massive crossbow that fires heavy bolts.

Before it can be fired, it must be loaded and aimed. It takes one action to load the weapon, one action to aim it, and one action to fire it.

Ballista Bolt -H: Ranged Weapon Attack: +6 to hit, range 210/570 ft., one target. Hit: 16 (6d10) piercing damage.

Cannon
Direct Fire-Type, Huge object, Armor Class: 15

Hit Points: 100

Damage Immunities: poison, psychic

A cannon uses gunpowder to propel heavy balls of cast iron through the air at destructive speeds. In a campaign without gunpowder, a cannon might be an arcane device built by clever gnomes or wizardly engineers. A cannon is usually supported in a wooden frame with wheels. Before it can be fired, the cannon must be loaded and aimed. It takes one action to load the weapon, one action to aim it, and one action to fire it.

Cannon Ball: Ranged Weapon Attack: +6 to hit, range 600/2,400 ft., one target. Hit: 44 (8d10) bludgeoning damage.

Indirect Fire Siege engines
Mangonel

Thrower-Type,Large object, Armor Class: 15

Hit Points: 100

Damage Immunities: poison, psychic

A mangonel is a type of catapult that hurls heavy projectiles in a high arc. This payload can hit targets behind cover. Before the mangonel can be fired, it must be loaded and aimed. It takes two actions to load the weapon, two actions to aim it, and one action to fire it.

A mangonel typically hurls a heavy stone, although it can hurl other kinds of projectiles, with different effects.

Mangonel Stone: Ranged Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, range 200/800 ft. (can't hit targets within 60 feet of it), one target. Hit: 27 (5d10) bludgeoning damage.

Trebuchet

Thrower-Type, Huge Mount object, Armor Class: 15

Hit Points: 150

Damage Immunities: poison, psychic

A trebuchet is a powerful catapult that throws its payload in a high arc, so it can hit targets behind cover. Before the trebuchet can be fired, it must be loaded and aimed. It takes two actions to load the weapon, two actions to aim it, and one action to fire it.

A trebuchet typically hurls a heavy stone. However, it can launch other kinds of projectiles, such as barrels of oil or sewage, with different effects.

Trebuchet Stone: Ranged Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, range 300/1,200 ft. (can't hit targets within 60 feet of it. one target. Hit: 44 (8d10) bludgeoning damage damage.

Ammunition
There are a variety of different ammunition available the different siege weapons. Their default ammo damage is listed in their stat blocks, below lists them in detail and additional types.

 Standard Ballista Ammo 

Medium:This common type of ballista ammo. Medium ballista bolts cost 10 gp each and weigh 10 pounds.

Heavy : Heavy ballista bolts cost 30 gp and weigh 20 pounds each.

 Standard Catapult Ammo 

Standard catapult stones cost 10 gp and weigh 50 pounds each.

Heavy: Huge catapult stones cost 15 gp and weigh 75 pounds each.

 Special Bolt Ammo (Ballista) 

Split Bolt

A Ballista bolt Slotted and jointed linked by a length of chain or a solid bar, and used to slash through the rigging and sails of an enemy ship so that it could no longer maneuver. It was inaccurate and only used at close range.

Effects: Double damage on Sails, 1/2 normal range

Canister shot

An anti-personnel projectile which included many small iron shrapnel pieces in a head, which broke up when fired, scattering the shot throughout the enemy personnel, like a large shotgun.

Effects: Damage from siege engine not treated as siege for the purposes of bonuses,  Damage done to personal in x4,

Flaming Bolt

An flammable Head that is lit at the time of Firing, To accommodate the flaming payload the Bolt is not as devastating physically.

Effects: Damage from siege engine not treated as siege for the purposes of bonuses, Gives a level of Fire.

 Payloads (Indirect Thrower) 

Alchemist’s Fire: This is either a hard, ceramic container of alchemist’s fire that can be used as ammunition in catapults, or a ceramic bulb of alchemist’s fire mounted on the tip of a ballista bolt to be fired from ballistae.

When it hits its target square, it deals 4d6 points of fire damage to each creature and wooden structure within

5 feet of the target space, and each creature must make a DC 20 Ref lex saving throw or catch on fire (wooden

objects automatically catch on fire). Every creature and wooden object within the area between 5 and 30 feet of the

target space must make a DC 20 Ref lex saving throw or take half the fire damage, but does not catch on fire. On

a siege engine mishap, this ammunition explodes before it is launched, dealing its damage to the siege engine and

all nearby creatures and wooden objects as if one of the spaces of the siege engine (crew leader’s choice) were the

target square. This alchemical fire ignores the hardness of wooden objects.

Liquid Ice: This hard, ceramic canister filled with alchemical liquid ice can be used as ammunition in catapults. When it hits its target square, it deals 4d6 points of cold damage to each creature within 5 feet of the target space, and each creature must make a DC 20 Fortitude save or become entangled for 1 round. Every creature within the area between 5 and 30 feet of the target space must make a DC 20 Fortitude saving throw or take half damage. On a siege engine mishap, this ammunition explodes before it is launched, dealing its damage to all nearby creatures as if one of the spaces of the siege engine(crew leader’s choice) were the target square.

Plague Bundle: This hard, ceramic canister is filled with a noxious mass of diseased carrion and offal that

can be used as ammunition for a catapult. It deals only half damage, but every creature hit by it is exposed to

filth fever or some other disease.

Smoke Shot: This hard ceramic sphere contains two alchemical substances separated by a thin barrier.. It can be used as ammunition in catapults. When smoke shot hits the target space, it deals 2d6 points of damage to any creature in that space, and the substances mingle and then create an area of foul but harmless yellow smoke radiating 30 feet from the target square. Treat the effect as a fog cloud spell. On a siege engine mishap, the ammunition explodes before it is launched. Its effect is centered on one of the spaces of the siege engine (crewleader’s choice)

 Secret Cannon Ammo (Cannon) 

Shell

An explosive anti-materiel and counter-battery projectile, of iron with a cavity packed with a high explosive bursting charge of powder used to destroy enemy wagons, breastworks, or opposing artillery. Two types of fuses were used—impact fuses that detonated the bursting charge by percussion, and time fuse cut to length measured in seconds and ignited by flame from the propellant charge.

Heated (or hot) shot

A process where a solid iron cannonball is heated red hot in a specially-designed wood- or coal-fired furnace and then is loaded in a muzzle-loading cannon, cushioned by a substantial thickness of wet wads, and is then fired while still red hot, at flammable targets with the intention of setting them on fire. This was a much advocated tactic (and many times a very successful one) for shore-based forts defending against attacks by wooden warships.

Chain shot

Made of two small catapult stones chained together, this ammunition can be fired from catapults. Chain shot is especially good at tearing through sails and rigging, dealing double its normal damage to that form of propulsion. It deals normal damage to a creature, and if hit, the creature must succeed at a DC 20 Fortitude saving throw or be  knocked prone. Chain shot is relatively ineffective against ships themselves, dealing only 2d6 21points of damage for a light catapult, or 4d6 points of damage for a standard catapult.

TABLE 4: SPECIAL SIEGE ENGINE

AMMUNITION

Ammunition Cost Weight

Alchemist’s fire 200 gp 10 lbs.

Chain shot 50 gp 30 lbs.

Liquid ice 400 gp 20 lbs.

Plague bundle 80 gp 20 lbs.

Smoke shot 250 gp 20 lbs.