Advanced Dungeons & Dragons - Free

The ships are two large merchant
vessels, identical to the PCs'
ships.
Movement Rates and Times
The rate of the pirates' approach
will vary by PC actions. If PC ships
turn to attack, the Rate of Approach
(ROA) is the sum of the two ships'
movement rates. If PC ships continue
on course, the ROA is 80% of the
pirate ship movement. If the PCs
turn away from their attackers, the
ROA is the pirates' rate minus the
PC rate. Thus, the third PC ship
(not towing) can evade the pirates
by abandoning her comrades but,
because the two towing ships can
only move at half speed, the obelisk
cannot be kept without a fight.
If the PC ships do not change
maneuvers, the
following rates and
times apply,
counting from the
original 5-mile
sighting:
PC ship turns to
attack
ROA: 7 1/2 mph
Time Contact:4 turns
PC ship continues on
course
ROA: 4 mph
Time Contact: 7 1/2
turns
PC ship turns and
flees
ROA: 2 1/2 mph
Time Contact:12
turns
Each pirate ship is
equipped with a
ballista and a
catapult (statistics
given in the PC ship
description section)
,with plenty of
ammunition. They use
flaming catapult
missiles (pitch).
The pirate ships
start attacking when
in range for both
the catapult and
ballista (30" range;
this is 900', or
about 1/6 mile). All shots are aimed
at the PC ships; the pirates are
very careful to avoid striking the
obelisk raft. When they close to 17"
range (510' or about 1/10 mile), the
pirate magic-users start throwing
their fireballs, aiming for the
largest visible groups of people or
the sails of the PC ships.
At the first sign of danger, most of
the PC expedition goes below decks.
A few sailors (10-15 per ship) stay
topside to keep the boat moving and