Spelljamming: Who's the captain now?

 Spelljammer: Adventures in Space just released and with it comes a whole host of new mechanics for the fifth edition of Dungeons & Dragons. Most notable of these is probably the titular spelljamming which allows a spellcaster to control a space-faring vessel and control its movement.

Ship-to-ship combat gets a good section explaining the mechanics of such combat and as far as I can tell it is similar to the ship rules in Ghosts of Saltmarsh, but as I was reading these rules, something jumped out at me that I thought could use some attention. When onboard a spelljamming craft, one player must necessarily be the spelljammer for the vessel, guiding it through Wildspace and the Astral Sea. Other characters can man the variety of weapons that may be fixed to their ship, a vital task since operation of a single weapon requires multiple actions. The last required role onboard the ship is that of Captain.

Now, you might think that someone designated as captain would have a pivotal role to play in commanding the ship and getting it to work as a single cohesive unit. Any such idea is really at the mercy of the character who is designated as the Captain. They can say encouraging things to the other characters, and could help them prioritize targets or maneuvers, but there's nothing mechanical for them to do on their turn except help out with the weapons really, or engage in combat if boarding an enemy vessel or repelling enemy boarders.

I believe the captain needs something more meaningful to do. I think there are a few simple actions and checks that a captain should have access to and be able to choose from on their turn:

  • Concentrate Fire: As an action, the captain may attempt a DC 15 Intelligence (Investigation) check to deduce the next best target in range. On a success, all attack rolls made by ship members this turn have advantage. This action has no effect on targets at Long Range.
  • Evasive Maneuvers: As an action, the captain may provide clear instructions to the spelljammer on where to pilot the ship with a DC 15 Wisdom (Perception) check. On a success, the ship gains +2 AC due to improved threat assessments until the start of the ships next turn.
  • Lead from the front: As an action, the captain may stand on the prow of the ship and shout encouraging slogans to their crew. On a successful DC 15 Charisma (Performance) check all crew members who can hear the captain gain 8 temporary hit points.
  • Lead from the rear: As an action, the captain consults their knowledge of historical battles and decides what the ships next course of action should be. If they succeed on DC 15 Intelligence (History) check they can see similarities between the current battle and a historical one of note. All crew members aboard the ship gain Inspiration. This action may only be used once per encounter.
These are just a quick couple of options I came up with to add some more mechanical depth and uniqueness to the character taking on the role of captain.

My home campaign will be taking to the stars shortly where I hope to test out some of these idea. Stay tuned for the results! And if you use these in your game, please let me know how they worked out for you!

The RPG Study

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