This signature subsystem adds a sequence of play and two contests to Core Rules, Vehicles, and The Heavy Armory: Crews, Loading, and Firing; Batteries and Broadsides; Ramming; Fire; Sails and Sinking; and the Sea rows. Apply those books' gun, hull and damage rules unchanged. Era Rules supplies Company Quality, Size and Morale, alongside the Prize and Fence Loop and Infamy.
| Phase | What it settles | Rule |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Sighting | Who sees whom, and at what distance | Perception |
| 2. Chase | Who closes, who escapes | A contest of Operate (Sail) |
| 3. Gunnery | Hull, rigging and hands | Heavy Armory batteries |
| 4. Boarding | Whose Company holds the deck | A contest of Companies |
| 5. Quarter | What the winner does with the loser | The articles |
Sighting
Adds. Articles may reward the first lookout to spot a sail. First sighting determines the opening distance.
TERMS: SIGHTING
I Both lookouts roll Perception: Average with a clear daytime horizon, Hard at dusk or through haze, Severe at night. More net Successes means earlier sighting; a tie means simultaneous sighting.
II First sighting establishes Distance at Long in daylight, Medium at dusk or Short at night. If still unseen, that ship's Master can attempt an Average Stealth check to approach unnoticed. The opposing lookout then rolls Perception opposed by that Stealth result. Losing surprises the lookout's side, which forfeits the Chase's first round.
Chase
Adds. Resolve pursuit through seamanship across Distance bands, from Engaged to Hull-down. Modifies The Heavy Armory, Crews, Loading, and Firing, The Attack: use Distance instead of Range bands at sea.
TERMS: DISTANCE
I Distance has five bands: Engaged (the ships are alongside), Short, Medium, Long and Hull-down (the hull is below the horizon). A gun's Range band is the farthest Distance at which the gun can fire. Every gun that can reach Long Distance fires there at the Heavy Armory's Long difficulty (Hard); a gun of Extreme Range may also fire at Hull-down Distance, at the Extreme difficulty (Severe).
II The pursuer attempts to close. Its opponent is the prey, including any stationary ship.
TERMS: THE CHASE ROUND
I Resolve each round with opposed Operate (Sail) checks by the ships' sailing masters or characters at their helms.
II Dice. Each side adds 1 Boon Die for each point its Speed is higher than the other ship's Speed, and 1 Boon Die for each point of positive Handling. It adds 1 Bane Die for each point of negative Handling. The ship with the weather gauge (upwind) adds 1 Boon Die.
III Result. A pursuer winning by 1 or 2 net Successes closes one Distance band; by 3 or more, two. A prey victory of 1 or more opens one band. Ties leave Distance unchanged. At Engaged, pursuit ends and the pursuer can board (Boarding). Beyond Hull-down, the prey has escaped.
IV Weather gauge. Give the initial gauge to the upwind ship favoured by the situation. If unclear, masters each roll an ordinary six-sided die; highest takes it, with ties favouring prey. Gaining it during pursuit requires a Hard Operate (Sail) check in addition to the round's check; Reading the Wind eases this (Skills and Talents). With three ships, each master rolls once per round and compares against both opponents. Retain the gauge until losing a round by 3 or more net Successes or encountering a squall, then pass it to the other side.
V Dusk. After six rounds, nightfall ends the day's chase. Hold the current Distance until dawn, then resume there. The prey can instead escape overnight with a successful Average Operate (Sail) check.
EXAMPLE: THE SIXTH RATE AND THE SLOOP
On a Fair day Whitcombe sights Salazar's Jamaica sloop at Long Distance, holding the weather gauge. His sixth rate has Speed 3, Handling 0; Salazar's sloop has Speed 3, Handling +1. Whitcombe rolls 3 Mastery Dice and 1 Ability Die from Agility 3 and Operate 4, plus 1 Boon Die for the gauge. Salazar rolls 2 Mastery Dice and 1 Ability Die from Agility 3 and Operate 2, adding 1 Boon Die for Handling.
Round 1: Whitcombe's 2 net Successes beat Salazar's 1, closing to Medium. Round 2: Salazar wins 2 to 0, reopening to Long. Round 3: each rolls 1, leaving Distance unchanged. Round 4: Whitcombe wins by 3 net Successes, closing two bands to Short.
Whitcombe's Medium Guns (Range Long) could fire from round 1. At Short, every gun aboard is in range. Salazar must keep running or turn to fight.
Wind and Weather
TERMS: WIND
I Set daily wind as Calm, Fair, Fresh or Gale, or determine it with an ordinary six-sided die: 1 Calm; 2 or 3 Fair; 4 or 5 Fresh; 6 Gale.
| Wind | Effect |
|---|---|
| Calm | Every ship's Speed is 1 lower (to a minimum of 1); a ship with oars or a tow may use Speed 2 |
| Fair | No change |
| Fresh | Ships with Handling +1 or better add 1 Boon Die to chase checks; ships with Handling -2 or worse add 1 Bane Die |
| Gale | No ship may fight or chase: Speed is 1 for all, and a Hard Operate (Sail) check each round keeps a ship off the shore |
II Hurricane season lasts June to November, peaking in August and September. Once per session during those months, the GM may spend a Peril Point for a storm. This brings a full day of Gale and a Hard Operate (Sail) check to retain the masts. Failure causes 2 System Damage.
Gunnery
Modifies The Heavy Armory, Sails and Sinking, and Great Guns, Shot.
TERMS: THE BROADSIDE
I Fire batteries at reachable targets at Short, Medium or Long Distance (The Heavy Armory, Batteries and Broadsides). At Engaged, every gun within range can fire. A battery uses its guns' Range band.
II Targets. Before rolling, the Gunner selects the target area.
| Target | What is hit | Effect |
|---|---|---|
| The hull | The ship | Hull Damage; the Heavy Armory rule for Armor |
| The rigging | The ship | System Damage, with chain or bar shot (the Heavy Armory, Great Guns, Shot) |
| The hands | The Company | Grape or canister (this Modifies The Heavy Armory, Great Guns, Shot, against a Company): the battery's one attack removes 1 hand per net Success for each 10 hands of the target's Size, at least 1, and the gun's Range becomes Short, so grape and canister fire only at Short or Engaged Distance; the target loses 1 Morale if it loses a quarter of its Size in a single broadside |
III Rigging. At half System Points in System Damage, reduce Speed by 1 until repairs. At full System Points, the ship is dismasted and drifts (Heavy Armory, Sails and Sinking).
IV Surrender. Hull Damage equal to Hull Points disables a ship and forces it to strike. Earlier surrender is possible: at Morale 2 or below, the Captain must succeed at an Average Leadership check each round to continue fighting. Failure lowers the colours.
Boarding
Adds. Companies contest the deck while player characters fight individual combats.
TERMS: GRAPPLING
I At Engaged Distance, attempt to grapple with opposed Operate (Sail). Winning binds the ships with grapnels and starts Boarding. The opponent can attempt to cut away once per round with a Hard Operate (Sail) check.
II Disabled, dismasted and grounded ships cannot cut away.
TERMS: THE BOARDING CONTEST
I Calculate Fighting Strength, the hands available to board or defend, as Company Size minus one hand in four assigned to helm, sails and guns.
II Each round each Company rolls its Quality pool (Era Rules, Crew and Articles). Each side adds 1 Boon Die for a Fighting Strength 1.5 times the other's, 2 for 2.5 times, and 3 for 4 times.
III More net Successes wins the round. For each net Success of the winning margin, capped at 3, remove 10 in 100 of the loser's starting Fighting Strength in hands, at least 1. Ties cause no losses.
IV At half its starting Fighting Strength, or when its Captain is captured, a Company strikes. Its opponent has won the deck.
V Player characters. Each player character fights one Core combat round per Boarding round, against an NPC officer or a pair of hands. A player character who beats an officer gives the Company 1 Boon Die next round. A player character who is dropped (incapacitated) costs it 1 Boon Die.
TERMS: THE GUN TO BRING TO
I A merchant captain whose ship is overtaken by a pirate ship whose Captain or officers have Infamy 3 or more, or by a King's ship or a commissioned privateer, may strike without a fight once the pursuer is within Medium Distance. The pursuer's Captain makes an Intimidation check, Average. On a success the merchant's Company makes no resistance: the prize is taken and the Company may be given quarter. On a failure the merchant fights.
Quarter
TERMS: QUARTER
I After an opponent strikes, the winning Captain decides quarter according to the articles. "quarter when called for" obliges the Company to grant it; articles promising none permit refusal.
II What the winner may do. Seize and release the vessel; take cargo and free the Company; recruit or force skilled men aboard, including carpenters, surgeons, navigators and sailmakers; or burn or sink the ship. The Quartermaster boards first, reserving goods the Company wants (the Prize and Fence Loop).
III Prisoners. Ask the captured crew about its master's treatment. The Company may vote to punish an abusive master. Refusing quarter to a surrendered Company in breach of the pirate Company's own articles costs 1 Morale.
