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    Ships and Naval Travel
    Posted on Mon, July 13, 2020 by LordCeb
    longetalos writes "This article provides high level information on naval travel, ships, crew members, some sample ships, and other information on how to implement ships in your campaign. 

      1. Water transportation


        1. Ship personnel

    The order of command on a ship is first the captain, then lieutenants, middies (midshipmen), sailing master, master's mates, quartermaster, bosun, and finally the master-at-arms.

    Officers: The captain, lieutenants and midshipmen are the commanding officers. Regardless of rank the person commanding the vessel is called Captain.

    • A lieutenant frequently commands cogs, cutters and brigs.

    • A commander usually commands caravel, brig or corvette.

    • A captain commands carrack, frigate, or a ship-of-the-line.

    • A commodore is the captain of their own ship and commands a squadron of 2 to 8 vessels.

    • An admiral commands larger squadrons or fleets, but never a vessel.

    Midshipmen were effectively on board a ship to help the lieutenants control the crew. If good enough, they could take command of small boats or prizes. Winning promotion to lieutenant was the aim of most midshipmen.

    Petty officers and their Mates: Petty officers include quartermasters, master-at-arms, carpenter, bosuns (boatswain), ship master, chaplain, and surgeon. Petty officer grade 2 are standard petty officers and grade 1 are chief petty officers.

    • The Sailing master (or ship master) navigates the ship.

    • Quartermaster (or Chief Mate) is the most junior sailing masters and steers the ship. They also are in charge of the day to day tasks assigned to the crew when not in combat.

    • The Bosun (or boatswain) is in charge of supplies and ship maintenance.

    • The Master-at-arms has charge of ship's weapon locker, training the crew, and administering discipline.

    • Mates are the sailors assigned to help out the petty officers with their duties. They are given titles such as Bosun's mate.

    Able Bodied Sailor: Ordinary sailors are the bulk of those that serve on a vessel.

    Landsman and cabin boys: They have no rank on a ship.

    • Cabin boys: they are sailors in training that do the menial errands required on a ship.

    • Bottom is the landsman. This landlubber has no nautical experience.

    Crew Requirements: Ships going to war are overmanned compared to merchant vessels. This allows for replacement sailors as some are lost in combat engagements. Merchant vessels in hostile environments would increase the size of their crew. As a rule of thumb, the following number of crew members are required to man a vessel.

    • Minimum Crew: The minimum number of crew is the least number (skeleton crew) of required master sailors to get the ship moving and safely to dock. When only skeleton crew the ship moves at one-third of its Best Speed, Manoeuvrability is reduced by one category (to a minimum of Poor) and the ship’s Seaworthiness Aptitude is reduced by 3 points (to a minimum of Aptitude 3). A skeleton crew consists of 1/3 to half the Standard number of sailors and Petty Officers & Mates (rounded up) – i.e. there must be at least one navigator to steer the ship. Although a skeleton crew requires no Officers, there must be at least someone who acts as Captain.

    • Standard Crew: This is the standard number of master sailors to get the ship moving at Best Speed for a full day of sailing and docking at night. They will ensure that the ship has full maneuverability.

    • Long Voyage Crew: This is the number of sailors to run multiple shifts and to sail for many days without stopping (i.e. ocean-going vessels). This is usually double the Standard number of sailors and 1.5x the number of Petty Officers and Mates (rounded up). Officer numbers stay the same as Standard.

    As a general rule, the Standard number of crew members on a ship are provided below. This includes Petty Officers, Mates and Sailors. Officers are added on a case by case basis (minimum of one Captain). The number of crew members is based on the size (empty weight) of the vessel.

    • Small merchant vessels (up to 5,000 kg): 1 per 500 kg of empty weight.

    • Merchant vessel (greater than 5,000 kg): 9+ (1 man per 4,000 kg of empty weight).

    • Armed merchant vessel: 12+ (1 man per 3,000 kg of empty weight).

    • Warship: 20+ (1 man per 2,000 kg of empty weight).


        1. Ship maintenance

    A ship’s yearly maintenance is roughly 5% of its price. This consists of replacing sails, caulking, etc. This assumes that as part of the daily work on the ship, the sailors spend time on maintenance so the manpower is free.


        1. Living conditions on a ship

    Sleeping conditions: the sailors frequently sleep on the deck unless the weather prevents this. Typically, they can cover the deck with a large tarp to prevent most of the weather from penetrating.


        1. Food and Drink

    The amount of food and water carried in the ship depends on the length of voyage between resupply locations. This weight of food and water reduces the tonnage that the ship can carry worth of cargo. An average human will eat 1.5 kg of food per day and drink 3 kg (i.e. 3 litres) of water each day.



        1. Ship descriptive terms

    Description of the ships is from Dragon Magazine Dec 1986.

    Empty weight: This is the weight of the ship without any crew, cargo or weapons of war.

    Carry Tonnage (Deadweight): This is the amount of weight the boat can carry above its own weight (sails, masts, rigging, yards, basic furnishings, etc.) in metric tons without becoming difficult to manage and prone to capsize (i.e. sunk to its Draft load line). Rule of thumb for ships:

    • Less than 6 meters long: Using metric values [Length (meters) x Beam (meters) x 100] kg.

    • More than 6 meters long: [Length (m) x Beam2 (m) x 40] kg.

    • Each full deck adds 50%, and each partial deck adds 25%.

    Note that the weight of the crew members, guests, ship armaments and food/drink reduce the available tonnage for cargo. Assume each human sized occupant with a normal set of travel garb and equipment removes 100 kg worth of cargo from the ship’s Carrying Tonnage. The weight and amount of food needed is available in the Food&Drink section of this chapter.

    Speed: The speed a vessel can achieve are based on the type of ship, the wind condition, the water condition and the involvement/training of the crew. (1 knot = 1.85 km/hour).

    • Rowing speed: this assumes a full complement of rowers. A ship can be rowed with less rowers but at a reduced speed.

    • Best Speed is an average best speed a ship can achieve throughout a long journey (several hours) on a good day – it is not the fastest speed a ship can achieve. This would include going downwind with a fair wind, smooth water and easy climate. The best speed (in Knots) a vessel can sail at is: the Square root of the waterline (in feet) and multiply by 1.35 (Dragon Article “The hull truth about speed”). Assuming an inefficiency because older ships are not as efficient as modern ones, this works out to be [3 x √Length at waterline (m)] in km/hour.

    • Fastest Speed is the speed a ship can safely achieve when it is pushed to the limit (strong winds, fast rowing, etc.) in burst. It is usually 1.25x Best Speed.

    Manoeuvrability: this is the maneuverability category of the ship; either Poor, Standard, Good or Superb. It is used to figure out how quickly a ship can turn. It assumes that at least a Standard number of crew members are manning the ship – less crew members will impact the maneuverability. Use the following as a general rule;

    • Poor: takes 3 minutes to make a full circle and the minimum turning diameter is 6x the ship length.

    • Standard: takes 90 seconds to make a full circle and the minimum turning diameter is 4x the ship length.

    • Good: takes 1 minute to make a full circle and the minimum turning diameter is 2x the ship length.

    • Superb: takes 30 seconds to make a full circle and the ship can turn on its center of mass – this manoeuvrability is usually only for rowboats.

    Seaworthiness: This denotes how well the craft fares in difficult weather. The higher the value, the more stable the craft is. As a general rule, see below.

    • Very Poor (Aptitude = 3); the ship is made for calm water.

    • Poor (Aptitude = 6); the ship can handle choppy water.

    • Standard (Aptitude = 10); the ship can handle moderate waves.

    • Good (Aptitude = 15); the ship can handle rough waves.

    • Superb (Aptitude = 21); the ship can handle turbulent waves.

    Dimensions: The rear half of a ship is called the aft, and the front half is called the fore. If one is facing the fore, the right is starboard, the left is port or larboard.

    • Full length is the length of the ship’s hull.

    • Beam is the width at the center of the ship. Ratio of Length to Beam is usually between 2:1 (for small boats), 3:1 (for cargo ships) and 4:1 (for larger faster ships).

    • Depth: This is the total “height” of the craft from the bottom of the hull to the top of the deck. This is divided by the waterline into Draft and Freeboard. Ships with multiple decks will have a deeper hull (add roughly 1.5 meters to the depth per full deck).

      • Draft is the depth of the keel below the water level at maximum Carrying Tonnage. The Length to Draft ratio is between 6:1 (ocean ships) and 10:1 (flat bottomed ships).

      • Freeboard is the height of the main deck above water at maximum Carrying Tonnage.

    • Decks are added in the following order: (full) upper, orlop, lower, middle, (partial) quarter, forecastle, poop and poop royal. The lowest space in a ship is the hold, where the cargo and supplies are stored. Above the hold is the orlop deck, where there are more supplies, the hearth and the crew's mess table. Above the orlop are the lower, middle and upper decks. The crew slings their hammocks on the lower and middle decks. The deck floor planks are 4 cm thick.

    • Banks: This is the number of levels of oars on the ship.

    • Max rowers/bank: This is the maximum rowers that can be seated at each bank of oars and have cradles to rest their oars in to grant leverage. For smaller boats, additional rowers can grab an oar and of paddle off the side (like in a canoe), but this is less efficient.

    • Masts: These are the vertical poles that hold the sails. They extend from the bottom of the hull, through the decks and into the air above the ship. In order from fore to aft the masts are called the fore, main and mizzen. On a two master they are the main and mizzen and on four masters the are the fore, main, third, mizzen. The main mast is between 60% and 150% of the length of a ship from the bottom of the hull to the top of the mast. To simplify things for the game, assume the main mast height above the deck = length of the ship, all secondary masts are shorter.

    • Rigging and spars: The rigging consists of the lines, pulleys and chains used to hoist the sails. Spars are the crossbeams at the top and bottom of the sails. They are usually half the length of the mast. Running Rigging consists of lines, pulleys and chains to hoist, unfurl and guide the sails. It does not include the Standing Rigging which is permanently in place to support the masts.

    Combat information: These are the defensive characteristics and maximum number of offensive armaments that can be put on the ship. Note that the more armament put on the ship, the less room there is for passengers, goods and crew members.

    • Hull: thickness of the outer hull. Thickness depends on length of boat and civil/military usage. As a guideline, thickness is length/350 for civil and length/200 for military – minimum of 3 cm.

      • Hull section: A hull section is 1 m2 m in size.

    • Mast: The value provided is the average diameter of the mast.

    • Tophamper: A vessel’s sails, spars and rigging is called the Tophamper. Sails are made of linen and are of a heavier weave for larger ships. The weight provided below includes the base sail, double weave at the corners, the grommets, running rigging, spars, etc.

    Length of ship Tophamper Weight

    classification (per m2 of sail)

    8 m or less Light 1 kg/m2

    9 to 15 meters Standard 1.6 kg/m2

    16+ meters Heavy 2 kg/m2

      • Recommended total Sail Area of a ship is:

        • Sail Area (m2) = 0.01138 x Loaded weight (kg)^(2/3) x Ratio

          • Loaded weight is the weight of the ship and all cargo.

          • Where Ratio is 10 for slow ships, 14 for underpowered merchant ships, 16 for reasonable ships and 18 for high performance ships.

      • Tophamper sections: A tophamper section is 1 m2 size and includes the sail, ropes, spars and rigging.

    • Scorpions are small ballista, usually mounted on the sides of the ship.

    • Ballista are large double-armed torsional devices, usually mounted on the bow and/or stern of a ship.

    • Mangonels: these are direct fire artillery engines that use small round stones for ammunition. They are powered by torsion, either a twisted thick ropes or heavy metal springs. As they are less accurate, they are usually used to bombard stationary targets such as settlements.

    Complement: This is the Standard complement on the vessel for day trips and docking at night.

    • Commanding Officers: Includes Lieutenants, Commanders, Captains, Commodores and Admirals.

    • Petty Officers and Mates: Includes sailing masters, quartermasters, bosuns, master-at-arms, and various mates.

    • Sailors: Includes all able-bodied sailors. The ship’s rowing speed assumes a full complement of rowers, less will slow the ship down.

    • Total Occupancy is the maximum number of people (passengers and sailors) that can live (and sleep) on the ship for a Long Voyage (many days) in relative comfort. As a general rule the number of people for a Long Voyage on a ship is [Length (m) x Width (m) / 2]. If the ship has multiple full decks add 50% per additional deck.

      • Medium Term: The maximum number of people that can live (and sleep) on the ship for a few days while being crowded is double the Long Voyage value.

      • Short Term: The maximum number of people that can stand/sit/fill the ship for a day voyage (8 hours), in a very crowded environment and unsafe position is triple the Long Voyage value.


        1. Merchant ships

    These types of vessels are used to carry cargo on rivers and across oceans and seas. These general-purpose ships can also be used as warships, merchantmen and pirate ships.


    R ow Boat: This small ship has no mast and typically comes in two sizes – 3 man and 6 man. They are usually flat bottomed. When stored for use on a larger ship, they are sometimes called “jolly boat”.


    3 man 6 man

    Empty weight: 150 kg 390 kg

    Carry Tonnage: 400 kg 1000 kg

    Best speed (oars only): 4 km/hr 4 km/hr

    Manoeuvrability: Superb Superb

    Seaworthiness Very Poor Very Poor

    Full length: 3 m 5 m

    Beam: 1.3 m 2 m

    Draft: 0.3 m 0.5 m

    Freeboard: 0.2 m 0.3 m

    Minimum Sailors: 1 1

    Occupancy: 3 6

    Max rowers/bank: 1 2

    Hull thickness: 3 cm 3 cm

    Price: (Common rarity) 100 gp 250 gp


    Boat, dinghy: This is a small one or two person sailboat. It looks like a shorter/thinner version of a skiff. It is used as a lifeboat or a go-between for a larger ship. They have one mast with a sail (usually lateen). They have place for 1 oar per side (the same rower can reach to use both oars).

    Empty weight: 260 kg Best speed (sails only): 8 km/hr

    Carry Tonnage: 0.3 tons Best speed (oars only): 6 km/hr

    No. of row boats: 0 Manoeuvrability: Good

    Seaworthiness: Poor

    Full length: 2.5 m No. of masts: 1

    Beam width: 1.2 m No. of full decks: 0

    Draft depth: 0.6 m No. of partial decks: 0

    Freeboard depth: 0.4 m No. of banks of oars: 1

    Sail area 6 m2 Max rowers/bank: 1

    Hull thickness: 4 cm Scorpions: 0

    # of hull sections: 3 Ballista: 0

    Mast diameter: 8 cm Mangonels: 0

    Tophamper: Light

    Tophamper sections:

    Comm. officers: 0 Able-bodied sailors: 1

    Petty off. & Mates: 0 Occupancy: 2

    Base Price: 100 gp (Common rarity)


    Boat, skiff: This is a small ship that is usually used as either a fishing boat (when the shore is nearby), a passenger ferry, a lifeboat or a go-between for a larger ship. They have one mast with a sail (usually lateen). They have place for 1 oar per side (the same rower can reach to use both oars).

    Empty weight: 650 kg Best speed (sails only): 8 km/hr

    Carry Tonnage: 1 ton Best speed (oars only): 6 km/hr

    No. of row boats: 0 Manoeuvrability: Good

    Seaworthiness: Poor

    Full length: 5 m No. of masts: 1

    Beam width: 2 m No. of full decks: 0

    Draft depth: 0.6 m No. of partial decks: 0

    Freeboard depth: 0.4 m No. of banks of oars: 1

    Sail area 13 m2 Max rowers/bank: 2

    Hull thickness: 4 cm Scorpions: 0

    # of hull sections: 10 Ballista: 0

    Mast diameter: 15 cm Mangonels: 0

    Tophamper: Light

    Tophamper sections:

    Comm. officers: 0 Able-bodied sailors: 2

    Petty off. & Mates: 0 Occupancy: 5

    Base Price: 300 gp (Common rarity)

    Boat, fishing: This is a small ship that is usually used as either a fishing boat (when the shore is nearby), a small merchant vessel, to carry passengers for short distances on rivers, a lifeboat or a go-between for a larger ship. They have one mast with a main sail. They have places for up to 3 oars per side.

    Empty weight: 1,615 kg Best speed (sails only): 8 km/hr

    Carry Tonnage: 2.8 tons Best speed (oars only): 6 km/hr

    No. of row boats: 0 Manoeuvrability: Standard

    Seaworthiness: Poor

    Full length: 8 m No. of masts: 1

    Beam width: 3 m No. of full decks: 0

    Draft depth: 0.8 m No. of partial decks: 0

    Freeboard depth: 0.6 m No. of banks of oars: 1

    Sail area 36 m2 Max rowers/bank: 6

    Hull thickness: 4 cm Scorpions: 0

    # of hull sections: 24 Ballista: 0

    Mast diameter: 24 cm Mangonels: 0

    Tophamper: Light

    Tophamper sections:

    Comm. officers: 0 Able-bodied sailors: 4

    Petty off. & Mates: 0 Occupancy: 12

    Base Price: 700 gp (Common rarity)

    R iver galley or Keelboat: This type of galley is used to transport goods and passengers along rivers and coasts. It is a flat-bottomed boat. Although it has a small sail, it is mostly driven by the rowers as the wind on rivers is unpredictable and usually weak. There is a small enclosed area in the center of the deck. The number of sailors listed is to work the sail or have a minimum amount of rowing power.

    Empty weight: 4,100 kg Best speed (sails only): 10 km/hr

    Carry Tonnage: 7.5 tons Best speed (oars only): 6 km/hr

    No. of row boats: 0 Manoeuvrability: Standard

    Seaworthiness: Poor

    Full length: 12 m No. of masts: 1

    Beam width: 4 m No. of full decks: 0

    Draft depth: 0.8 m No. of partial decks: 0

    Freeboard depth: 0.6 m No. of banks of oars: 1

    Sail area 60 m2 Max rowers/bank: 8

    Hull thickness: 4 cm Scorpions: 0

    # of hull sections: 48 Ballista: 0

    Mast diameter: 36 cm Mangonels: 0

    Tophamper: Standard

    Tophamper sections:

    Comm. officers: 0 Able-bodied sailors: 8

    Petty off. & Mates: 1 Occupancy: 35

    Base Price: 1375 gp (Common rarity)

    C ogs: Cogs are the typical merchant ship, with a flat bottom and a ridge (or keel) that runs along the bottom of the ship. It has a large hold (to carry large amounts of cargo), a triangular forecastle and a square rear castle. Both are raised platforms added to the hull. It is mostly used for trade along rivers and coastal areas. It has one large mast in the center of the ship to which is attached a square sail.

    Cog, small: It has a small 3 man rowboat. When equipped for war it can have a ballista at the stern and another at the bow, it also has 2 scorpions installed per side.

    Empty weight: 6,930 kg Best speed (sails only): 12 km/hr

    Carry Tonnage: 23 tons Best speed (oars only): -- km/hr

    No. of row boats: 1 Manoeuvrability: Poor

    Seaworthiness: Standard

    Full length: 15 m No. of masts: 1

    Beam width: 5 m No. of full decks: 0

    Draft depth: 1 m No. of partial decks: 2

    Freeboard depth: 1 m No. of banks of oars: 0

    Sail area 130 m2 Max rowers/bank: 0

    Hull thickness: 4 cm Scorpions: 4

    # of hull sections: 75 Ballista: 2

    Mast diameter: 45 cm Mangonels: 0

    Tophamper: Standard

    Tophamper sections:

    Comm. officers: 0 Able-bodied sailors: 10

    Petty off. & Mates: 1 Occupancy: 55

    Base Price: 2,860 gp + war machines (Common rarity)

    Cog, large: It has a small 3 man rowboat and a larger 6 man row boat. When equipped for war it can have a ballista at the stern and another at the bow, it also has 3 scorpions installed per side.

    Empty weight: 34,140 kg Best speed (sails only): 12 km/hr

    Carry Tonnage: 123 ton Best speed (oars only): -- km/hr

    No. of row boats: 2 Manoeuvrability: Poor

    Seaworthiness: Standard

    Full length: 24 m No. of masts: 1

    Beam width: 8 m No. of full decks: 1

    Draft depth: 2.5 m No. of partial decks: 2

    Freeboard depth: 2.5 m No. of banks of oars: 0

    Sail area 390 m2 Max rowers/bank: 0

    Hull: 6 cm Scorpions: 6

    # of hull sections: 192 Ballista: 2

    Mast diameter: 72 cm Mangonels: 0

    Tophamper: Heavy

    Tophamper sections:

    Comm. officers: 1 Able-bodied sailors: 16

    Petty off. & Mates: 2 Occupancy: 190

    Base Price: 8,170 gp + war machines (Common rarity)

    S loop: This small ship is mostly used for fishing, trade and carrying passengers. A sloop has a single mast with only one head sail (lateen). It is one of the faster ships made and is frequently used by the military in times of war as scouts and to carry military packets and messages. It has a 3 man row boat stowed on the deck. When equipped for war it has a ballista on the stern, along with three scorpions per side.

    Empty weight: 12,300 kg Best speed (sails only): 14 km/hr

    Carry Tonnage: 26 tons Best speed (oars only): -- km/hr

    No. of row boats: 1 Manoeuvrability: Good

    Seaworthiness: Good

    Full length: 15 m No. of masts: 1

    Beam width: 5 m No. of full decks: 1

    Draft depth: 2 m No. of partial decks: 1

    Freeboard depth: 1.5 m No. of banks of oars: 0

    Sail area 170 m2 Max rowers/bank: 0

    Hull thickness: 6 cm Scorpions: 6

    # of hull sections: 75 Ballista: 1

    Mast diameter: 45 cm Mangonels: 0

    Tophamper: Standard

    Tophamper sections:

    Comm. officers: 0 Able-bodied sailors: 12

    Petty off. & Mates: 1 Occupancy: 65

    Base Price: 5,750 gp + war machines (Uncommon rarity)

    C aravels: This merchant vessel is quite seaworthy and fast. It comprises the largest part of a merchant's ocean fleet. Its low draft makes it excellent for trade without the benefit of ports. The Nina and the Pinta were caravels. The caravel was an improvement on older ships because it could sail very fast and also sail well into the wind (windward) due to its lateen sails. Caravels were broad-beamed ships that had 2 or 3 masts with lateen sails (one of the masts were rigged with square sails when going downwind).


    Caravel, single deck: This caravel has one full deck and two masts. It usually carries two row boats (one 3 man and one 6 man) and a skiff hanging off the back. When equipped for war, it can have a ballista at the stern, another at the bow and 8 scorpions (4 per side).

    Empty weight: 28,500 kg Best speed (sails only): 14 km/hr

    Carry Tonnage: 67 tons Best speed (oars only): -- km/hr

    No. of row boats: 3* Manoeuvrability: Standard

    Seaworthiness: Superb

    Full length: 20 m No. of masts: 2

    Beam width: 6.5 m No. of full decks: 1

    Draft depth: 2.5 m No. of partial decks: 2

    Freeboard depth: 2.5 m No. of banks of oars: 0

    Sail area 360 m2 Max rowers/bank: 0

    Hull thickness: 6 cm Scorpions: 8

    # of hull sections: 130 Ballista: 2

    Mast diameter: 60 cm Mangonels: 0

    Tophamper: Heavy

    Tophamper sections:

    Comm. officers: 1 Able-bodied sailors: 15

    Petty off. & Mates: 2 Occupancy: 130

    Base Price: 10,650 gp + war machines (Uncommon rarity)


    Caravel, dual deck: The dual deck caravel has two full decks. It usually carries two row boats (one 3 man and one 6 man) and a skiff hanging off the back. When equipped for war, it can have a ballista at the stern, another at the bow and 8 scorpions (4 per side).

    Empty weight: 58,400 kg Best speed (sails only): 14 km/hr

    Carry Tonnage: 153 tons Best speed (oars only): -- km/hr

    No. of row boats: 3* Manoeuvrability: Standard

    Seaworthiness: Superb

    Full length: 24 m No. of masts: 3

    Beam width: 8 m No. of full decks: 2

    Draft depth: 4 m No. of partial decks: 2

    Freeboard depth: 3 m No. of banks of oars: 0

    Sail area 610 m2 Max rowers/bank: 0

    Hull thickness: 6 cm Scorpions: 8

    # of hull sections: 192 Ballista: 2

    Mast diameter: 72 cm Mangonels: 0

    Tophamper: Heavy

    Tophamper sections:

    Comm. officers: 1 Able-bodied sailors: 21

    Petty off. & Mates: 3 Occupancy: 240

    Base Price: 17,200 gp + war machines (Uncommon rarity)


        1. Warships

    These types of vessels are used for purely military purposes, thus having thicker hulls. Note that Sloops and Caravels were frequently used as military vessels to support the larger warships.


    G alleys: This type of vessel is the smallest military vessel around. It has very little cargo room and little chance to survive a storm in high seas due to its low freeboard. These ships are mostly used to patrol the rivers. They are named based on the number of banks of rowers they have: bireme (two banks of oars), trireme (three banks of oars), quadrireme (four banks of oars). They had one rower per oar. The galleys were undecked (aphract) and as such had little or no room to cook or sleep. They can be beached easily and portaged by its crew at a rate of 4 kilometres/day. On the same ship, some banks of oars had more oars than other banks as the ship is made longer at higher levels than it is in the deeper levels. In addition to the rowers, galleys have a single-mast sail.


    Trireme: This type of galley is used as a war ship and its method of combat is to ram an enemy ship and then board the opponent's ship with its sailors. Note that the occupancy of a War Trireme is always crowded as the decks are filled with rowers – if required they will sleep at their seats.

    Empty weight: 50,500 kg Best speed (sails only): 8 km/hr

    Carry Tonnage: 33 tons Best speed (oars only): 10 km/hr

    No. of row boats: 0 Manoeuvrability: Poor

    Seaworthiness: Poor

    Full length: 35 m No. of masts: 1

    Beam width: 4 m No. of full decks: 1

    Draft depth: 1 m No. of partial decks: 0

    Freeboard depth: 1.5 m No. of banks of oars: 3

    Sail area 180 m2 Max rowers/bank: 50

    Hull thickness: 12 cm Scorpions: 0

    # of hull sections: 140 Ballista: 2

    Mast diameter: 105 cm Mangonels: 0

    Tophamper: Heavy Ram: 1

    Tophamper sections:

    Comm. officers: 1 Able-bodied sailors: 150

    Petty off. & Mates: 6 Occupancy 200*

    Base Price: 7,600 gp + war machines (Common rarity)


    G alleons: This is the biggest and most expensive military vessel around. It is slow, not manoeuvrable and prone to capsize. It compensates for these issues by its sheer size and power. It carries a full complement of marines on board as well as replacement sailors. It has a thickened hull and multiple siege weapons mounted on board.


    Galleon, large: It has a large forecastle and a two-story rear castle. In addition, it has three fully covered decks below the castles. It usually has 2 large row boats and an 8-meter-long sailing boat (hanging off the rear of the galleon) it can deploy. Due to its parabolic trajectory the mangonel is always at the front of the ship. It has a ballista at the stern and one per side.

    Empty weight: 275,300 kg Best speed (sails only): 14 km/hr

    Carry Tonnage: 710 tons Best speed (oars only): -- km/hr

    No. of row boats: 3* Manoeuvrability: Poor

    Seaworthiness: Standard

    Full length: 38 m No. of masts: 3

    Beam width: 12 m No. of full decks: 3

    Draft depth: 5 m No. of partial decks: 3

    Freeboard depth: 6 m No. of banks of oars: 0

    Sail area 1510 m2 Max rowers/bank: 0

    Hull thickness: 15 cm Scorpions: 20

    # of hull sections: 456 Ballista: 3

    Mast diameter: 114 cm Mangonels: 1

    Tophamper: Heavy

    Tophamper sections:

    Comm. officers: 5 Able-bodied sailors: 140

    Petty off. & Mates: 18 Occupancy: 740

    Base Price: 51,100 gp + war machines (Uncommon rarity)


    Galleon, small: It has a single-story forecastle and rear castle. It only has two full decks instead of three. It usually has 2 large row boats and an 8-meter-long sailing boat (hanging off the rear of the galleon) it can deploy.

    Empty weight: 107,700 kg Best speed (sails only): 14 km/hr

    Carry Tonnage: 190 tons Best speed (oars only): -- km/hr

    No. of row boats: 3* Manoeuvrability: Poor

    Seaworthiness: Standard

    Full length: 27 m No. of masts: 3

    Beam width: 9 m No. of full decks: 2

    Draft depth: 4 m No. of partial decks: 2

    Freeboard depth: 4 m No. of banks of oars: 0

    Sail area 730 m2 Max rowers/bank: 0

    Hull thickness: 12 cm Scorpions: 14

    # of hull sections: 243 Ballista: 3

    Mast diameter: 81 cm Mangonels: 1

    Tophamper: Heavy

    Tophamper sections:

    Comm. officers: 3 Able-bodied sailors: 65

    Petty off. & Mates: 9 Occupancy: 300

    Base Price: 24,300 gp + war machines (Uncommon rarity)



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    Associated Topics

    Greyhawk- AD&D 1EGreyhawk- AD&D 2EGreyhawk- Basic D&D Greyhawk- D&D 3.0/3.5/D20/PathfinderGreyhawk- D&D 4E

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    Re: Ships and Naval Travel (Score: 1)
    by Theala_Sildorian on Tue, July 14, 2020
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    Excellent article, LordCeb!

    I have one suggestion.  The terms able bodied seaman, ordinary seaman, and landsman have some play in them.  In the British Royal Navy, able bodied seaman had at least 2 years experience at sea and were either rated by their captains or passed a series of tests to take on tasks like standing watch or manning the wheel. 

    Ordinary seaman had some experience but less than two years, and would be paired with an AS to learn these jobs.

    Landsmen had less than 1 year experience.

    In the RN, volunteers were rated higher than sailors who had been "pressed."

    AS were paid more, so there was incentive for sailors to learn these jobs to qualify for the rating, and you had to be an AS to become a mate or petty officer.



    Re: Ships and Naval Travel (Score: 1)
    by Longetalos on Tue, July 28, 2020
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    I created an Excel sheet to calculate all the items in this article.  The Ship Designer excel sheet is available on Canonfire under Downloads/ Software. File name is Ship Designer.



    Re: Ships and Naval Travel (Score: 1)
    by richardsikes18 on Sat, November 05, 2022
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    never thought this shoul be how naval travel will look like. everything is so well-organized and labeled. long distance towing NJ




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