Rules edition: This guide uses the 2014 fifth-edition rules and the 2014 Dungeon Master’s Guide as its baseline. Ghosts of Saltmarsh is an optional supplement with additional ship and sea procedures. Any extra crew, treasure, or ship-upgrade systems below are identified as table-made options, not default rules.
A pirate campaign can combine voyages, rival crews, port intrigue, and treasure hunts. Start by deciding how much ship detail your group wants. A ship can be a moving base between ordinary adventures, or the group can spend sessions on navigation, cargo, and naval encounters. Either approach works when players know which procedures are official and which ones the table is adding.
Choose a ship-rules baseline
The 2014 rules include waterborne vehicles and ship-travel guidance. The 2014 Dungeon Master’s Guide offers additional vehicle and ship material, while Ghosts of Saltmarsh adds ship statistics, crew and officer roles, ship upgrades, sea travel, and more structured ship combat. Pick the material you plan to use before a ship fight starts. Mixing several different ship systems can give the same action or upgrade conflicting effects.
You can keep the ship in the background: resolve a voyage with a few choices and checks, then focus play on the destination. If the players want tactical ship-to-ship encounters, use one published procedure consistently and tell the group how characters participate. Let each player know what their character can attempt and which roll or rule will resolve it.
Swimming and falling overboard
Under the 2014 movement rules, each foot of swimming costs one extra foot of movement unless a creature has a swimming speed. Rough water might call for a Strength (Athletics) check at the DM’s discretion. The rules do not give characters a slower swimming speed because they wear light or heavy armor, and plate armor does not make a character drown automatically.
Use the 2014 suffocation rules if someone is trapped underwater: a creature can hold its breath for a number of minutes equal to 1 + its Constitution modifier, with a minimum of 30 seconds. After it runs out of breath, it can survive for a number of rounds equal to its Constitution modifier, with a minimum of one round, before it drops to 0 hit points at the start of its next turn. Underwater combat has its own restrictions on weapon attacks; it is separate from the rules for swimming at the surface.
If you want armor to affect swimming or make a fall overboard more dangerous, write that as an optional house rule and agree on it before play. Avoid presenting an armor-based swim penalty as an existing fifth-edition rule.
Give the crew and ports a reason to matter
Make the crew memorable with a few names, loyalties, and personal goals. A rigger who wants to return home, a navigator hiding a debt, or a cook who knows every port can create story hooks without requiring a morale score or a new subsystem. Ask players which crew members their characters know and what the ship means to them.
Ports can offer repairs, rumors, jobs, and consequences. A letter of marque, a disputed cargo, or a rescue request can put the crew between competing interests. Use local laws and factions to shape these choices; do not assume that every port follows one universal pirate code.
Make treasure lead to another choice
Treasure can point toward the next adventure. A stamped coin might identify a lost fleet, a captain’s log could name a rival, and a map fragment might lead to an island the crew has heard about but never visited. Mix valuables with clues, favors owed, or objects someone wants returned. Give players more than one way to respond: sell the cargo, bargain with its owner, hide it, or use it to gain passage.
Published treasure rules can supply rewards, while fixed crew shares, price changes between ports, infamy tracks, and ship-upgrade costs are campaign choices unless you use a named source that defines them. If you add these systems, show the group how they work before characters invest money or take a risk based on them.
Plan voyages without turning every mile into a roll
Choose a destination and one or two things that could complicate the trip: a storm, a blocked channel, a suspicious sail, or a disagreement among the crew. The 2014 travel rules use a Wisdom (Survival) check for navigation when the DM calls for one; they do not require a check for every sea journey. A failed check can change the situation or cost time without making the whole campaign hinge on a single roll.
Weather, reefs, and fog can change what the crew sees and which routes are safe. Use them to create decisions. Players might choose a slower protected route, risk a shorter passage, or stop at a port where a rival crew is waiting. Keep ship speed, checks, and any travel complications tied to the rules system you selected for the campaign.
Make character options fit the voyage
Ask each player how their character contributes aboard ship and what they want from the campaign. A character might read charts, negotiate in port, repair equipment, keep watch, or solve problems during a boarding action. These are story roles; they do not grant new proficiencies or automatic bonuses unless a feature or rule says so.
For a rules-based benefit, point to the character’s actual class, background, tool proficiency, spell, or feat. For example, the 2014 Ranger’s Natural Explorer includes Coast as a favored terrain option, but that feature does not itself grant proficiency with water vehicles. Check the chosen version and its exact text before promising a mechanical advantage.
Label table-made ship procedures
Grouped crew turns, a single check for a broadside, morale meters, custom ship upgrades, pirate reputation tracks, and fixed treasure shares can all be useful house rules. They are not interchangeable with a published ship-combat system. Write down the action costs, checks, benefits, and risks before play, then adjust them with the group if they slow down the story or make one character’s role irrelevant.
A clear baseline leaves room for improvisation: use the published rule when it fits, call a new procedure a house rule when you invent it, and let the crew’s decisions—not hidden penalties—drive the adventure.
Official Rules Sources
- 2014 Basic Rules: Adventuring — swimming movement, navigation, and suffocation.
- 2014 Basic Rules: Combat — underwater combat rules.
- 2014 Basic Rules: Equipment — waterborne vehicles and vehicle proficiency.
- 2014 Basic Rules: Classes — the 2014 Ranger’s Natural Explorer.
- 2014 Dungeon Master’s Guide — vehicle and ship guidance.
- Ghosts of Saltmarsh — Appendix A: Of Ships and the Sea.
