Approach and first cannon blows
Who's actually boarding whom?!
This is actually not that simple and the final approach of the ennemy Ship (or the avoidance thereof) is managed by opposing the manoeuvring capability of the Crews competing to reach the more favourable position to fire the Broadside and rush for Boarding.
This is the first Strategic Action to implement in the course of a Boarding. The Captains roll versus their respective Level of (Command + Naval Battle Tactics) and / or the Crews roll for their Coordination Level as usual versus (Cleverness – Got a Nerve! + Boarding!) to determine the Boni or Mali for the subsequent Crew members' actions. (For the case when the notion of Captain is unknown to the Crew or if the said Captain has already been killed – the Crew has to handle this as a Coordinated Action and can suffer some additional Mali according to circumstances…)
Generally, the Look-Outs have to go down the Mast, however not until reaching the Deck, to embush in the Sails, aim at the opponent's Deck as soon as possible and, in the best case, shoot down the ennemy Captain or the Officer who is leading the operations… The Sailors finish strengthening the Rails, the Crews climb in the Riggings and prepare the ropes to dash on the ennemy Deck or they prepare the corbels to fix the ennemy Ship… The Gunners are of course all ready, ready to light the fuse and fire.
Those actions require Rolls or not, according to the decision of the Game Master and according to the level of preparation of the Crews. In case of a Roll, Boni from the Command or Coordination phase are applicable.
The critical action at that point is that of the Pilot and the Sailors who have to manage the Sails and the direction followed by the Ship in a very precise and reactive way. The Characters in charge of those operations thus absolutely have to oppose their Rolls to those of the opposing Crew: generally Dextérity + Piloting) or possibly (Got a Nerve! + Piloting) according to the exact circumstances for the Pilots, (Nimbleness + Riggings & Ropeworks) for the Sailors.
In case the Approach failed
Such a situation can occur if either, after decision of the Game Master, both Strategic Actions for Boarding or simply the Piloting actions: then the Ships pass too far away from each other to allow Boarding; or if one of the Captains or Crews succeeds better than the other and precisely aim to avoid a Boarding…
In case of repeated Critical Failures the situation can become even worse with increasing consequences up to collision of the two Ships, an event with possibly desastrous consequences for both Crews!
Transposition of the individual fighting system
By adapting the system for Naval Battles you can, dear friend Game Master, decide to apply the Initiative and Action Sequence system, already developped for fights between individuals. Of course, the time scale is not the same anymore and each Action at Ship Level lasts as much as one complete Sequence at the level of individuals in Crews. Furthermore, some Actions do not exist at that Level, such as Parry, but for instance Dodging is adaptable without difficulty, as well as Reserving one's Action is also acceptable if you think a bit about it. In fine, this is all up to you! We will also see next how to transpose the Damage system, provided the Ships be granted Skulls (which we will call Levels of Fluctuat Nec Mergitur), as Characters are, and that Damage incured by cannons be defined.
Broadsides
The result of this Rolls in Opposition designate the Crew which took the better off the other (or not!). Following each case, Gunners at Cannons will be granted a Bonus, a Malus or possibly nothing at all to roll versus their (Nimbleness + Powder & Cannonballs). Beware Boy! Don't stay like that bent over looking through the Cannon port, it's quite risky!
Unless the Ship be equipped with an ingenious system to allow a fired Cannon pulling back and a second one coming forth to fire in turns, it is quite clear that Cannons will in most cases fire only once (or twice if the Boats are firmly bound to each other by ropes and crooks). Thereafter, either the Boarding starts or the to Ships cross each other and a new Approach will have to be attempted if one aims to do so.
Damage inflicted by Broadsides: small Shot (Langrage)
As already discussed, if the Cannons are loaded with Langrage, Damage to Ship is neglectable or in the worst case equivalent to « Just Fine! », at least in what concerns its Level of Fluctuat Nec Mergitur. We will come back to that notion in a few lines, so please be patient!
After a successful Broadside armed with Langrage, the possibly existing Ship Rails to protect the Deck are probably splintered away and the Crew members very likely take some Damage, which can be computed according to the usual table of individual fights previously in that Chapter. The existence of a Ship Rail in the first place, despite the projection of splinter, grants some protection , so you can consider, Game Master, that Damage can at least be reduced by one in terms of Amount and by one also in terms of Level possibly even more for the lucky ones not in the first row. (After that, it depends of course also on the quality of the Ship and of her possibly installed backings, a wooden Corvette having surely not the same Characteristics as the metallic hull of the Nautilus but one could wonder what is that thing we are talking about now…)
It goes without saying that in case of a second Broadside the Ship Rail will probably be destroyed for most of its parts and thus much less efficient… We let you manage that, Friend Game Master!
Sinking a Ship to the bottom
We deal here with Cannons shooting either simple Cannonballs or variations of those, such as double balls linked by a string with the aim to destroy the Masts for instance.
Aside of the (terrible) potential collateral Damages to Crews, the details discussed here about Damage inflicted to Ships are, of course, transposable to Chases between Ships by, in particular, adapting the type of the Cannons used and, to increase the range, their reduced calibre - thus Damages. Out of small variations according to the type of Cannon and the Armour of the Ship, for which we let you the full responsibility, Friend Game Master, for instance by increasing or decreasing the Damage Level by one unit, the following rules apply and follow the same scheme as Damages inflicted and taken by two opponents in a standard fight. You'll also have to vary the description in function of the type of ammunitions used.
Remains to be clarified the number of Skulls which a Ship possesses at each Health Level in function of its Armour and Size and you are done! We'll call Architecture the Ships' Attribute corresponding to the Constitution of a Character. The charts of the section regarding Damage to Ships will give all the necessary details to whom, who'll click on the link to learn more about it!