* Each round is meant to model five to ten minutes of real-time, versus the standard six seconds.
* The Admiral (GM) determines if the combat begins with a Pursuit (e.g. ships meet by chance on the open sea, one ship is pursuing another that is attempting to flee, etc.) or proceeds directly to an Engagement (e.g. both ships are intent on combat, one ship gets the drop on an unsuspecting ship, a Pursuit has already occurred and the pursued ship failed to flee, etc.).
* A Pursuit is handled much like a Dramatic Task with the result being either that the pursued ship successfully flees or the attacking ship successfully closes the distance initiating an Engagement which allows for actions like firing the cannons or boarding the target ship.
* During an Engagement, there are four range increments: short, medium, long and distance. Distance is the range at which guns are ineffective, and typical encounters will begin at this range. Engagements that were proceeded by a successful Pursuit (attacker closes the distance, pursued failed to flee) begin at medium range.
* If a ship moves beyond distance range during an Engagement, that ship has successfully fled and the encounter is over.
* In Buccaneer, we treat ships much like characters with their own edges, hindrances, and attributes. One ship attribute is the Prow Rating which measures—using a die type—the speed and maneuverability of the ship. Ships with higher Prow Ratings gain bonuses during Pursuits and Engagements.
* Engagements are also handled much like Dramatic Tasks, with each crewman contributing to success by rolling against an appropriate skill for their current task, and the number of successes required being determined by how many player crew are present (one per player, raises count for one additional success).
* Initiative cards are only dealt to the Captains during Pursuits and Engagements unless there’s a sequence of events that requires crew to be dealt cards at the Admiral’s discretion.
* During Engagements, the Captain will give an order to his crew that will either attempt to increase or decrease the range between ships or effect a maneuver that will give bonuses or penalties to ranged combat and determine which guns can be brought to bear against the enemy.
A few example maneuvers:
Decrease/Increase Range: Your ship is trying to move one distance range closer to or further from the enemy vessel.
Result: Ship moves one distance range
Supplemental: You may fire your ship's bow or stern guns.
Evasive Maneuvers: You are moving your ship so as not to give the enemy a good shot.
Result: Until the end of the next round, enemy ships are -2 to fire at you. On a raise you may increase range one step.
Supplemental: You may fire the ship’s stern guns.
Prepare to Board: This order is only available at short range. The crew is preparing to board the enemy vessel.
Success: The ships have come together and movement stops.
Supplemental: Your crew may now perform boarding actions. If one crew mate succeeds, boarding begins, and you are out of ship combat.
* In addition to treating Ships more like characters than vehicles, we are also streamlining ships with hundreds of guns into a more fast and furious mechanic, and we are offering a different mechanic for vehicle damage. More on those elements will be included in a future update.
Thanks for all the comments and questions, and thank you for the support.
Brett
