Re: Ships and Durability

> 1. How many solid hits (i.e. average damage)  from a _heavy_
> catapult should a hammership be able to take before breaking up?

first of all, i'm not an expert, but i did read a bit about the
napoleonic wars while i was lookinh into cannons. it was practically
unheard of for a ship to actually break up. they would either be holed
under the waterline (and even that wasn't a big problem unless it'd been
done several times), catch fire, or loose their rigging. the biggest
cause of ships being "lost" was crew casualty. when the cannonballs hit
the side of the ship, the shrapnel would kill lots of people: this was
far more relevant than the actual damage to the hull. a big ship of the
line could recieve fifty cannon hits easily and not be worried. after
all, some broadsides were delivered from about a hundred feet!

> 3.  How effective should ballistas be against ships?  While they are
> going to be very good at penetrating a hull, how much actual damage
> are they going to be able to do to the hull?  The frame?

less than a catapault, certainly. a better chance of criticals perhaps?

> 5.  There are three sizes (light, medium, heavy) for most of the
> ship weapons, but bombards have only one size (disregarding the
> great bombard).  Should there be some variety there?

hmmmmmmm. cannons on ships were pretty much of a muchness, actually.

> 6.  If there were three sizes of bombard, should they do more, less
> or the same damage as a catapult of the same size?  Should they be
> more or less accurate than a ballista of the same size?

weeeeel.. are you asking about bombards or cannon? the standard
barrel-and-stave construction bombard is a pretty ropey weapon.

i've always felt that the range of bombards was far too short. that's
fair enough if the desired effect is to simulate a primative weapon,
however it's not really value for money :)

> 7.  Ten points of normal damage equal one hull point.  This means a
> third level fighter with a Strength of 16 and specialized in long
> sword destroys one ton of a galleon every three whacks, on the
> average.  That's 120 whacks to _destroy_ the ship.  Does this seem
> reasonable?  A galleon is 108,000 cubic feet in size.  Is ten hit
> points per hull point a good ratio?

it's okay. put it this way: has anyone in your game actually tried doing
this? until someone does, i think you can ignore it :)

> 9.  Is it reasonable for a full power explosive ball of searing
> flame over 12 tons in size (a.k.a a fireball from a tenth level
> wizard) to do 3 hull points of damage, on the average?

yes, i think. that'll be enough to start a fire, at any rate. i've
always interpreted a fireball as doing most of its damage through heat,
rather than blast. it's most useful against rigging, weapons and crew
IMO.


--
rad.

he's not the messiah,
he's a very naughty boy!