V. Of grappling and boarding

When two ships reach close range, one or both may attempt to grapple the other. This takes place before cannon fire, and a ship which has been grappled may only fire into the enemy Hull. An enemy who fails to grapple, however, may face the possibility of a broadside of grapeshot. The chance of grappling each turn is based on the relative sizes of the two ships. Roll one die and consult the table below:

Size Relationship Chance of Grappling

Grapple Ship is Smaller Roll of 8 or Higher

Grappling Ship is Same Size Roll of 6 or Higher

Grappling Ship is Larger Roll of 4 or Higher

Once an enemy ship has been grappled, boarders (usually lead by the Master-at-Arms or Quarter Master) may swarm aboard. At this point it is necessary to determine how many trained fighters there are in each crew, as shown below :

• 1/4 of a Merchantman Crew are Trained Fighters

• 1/3 of a Naval Ship or Privateer Crew are Trained Fighters

• 1/2 of any Avalon Crew are trained Fighters

• All Pirate and Vesten Crews are Trained Fighters

• All Marines are Trained Fighters

• All of a Ship’s Officers, Major NPCs, and Player Characters are Trained Fighters

Each ship’s boarding party and defense party may only be made up of trained Fighters.

At the start of boarding, divide the number of Trained Fighters by six to determine the number of six man Brute Squads that will participate in the boarding action. Combat will then take place using the combat rules from the 7^th Sea Player’s Guide (Alternately the quick combat rules from The Pirate Nations Book may be used).

Before melee combat begins, each side may fire its Pont guns (if so equipped and manned) at the enemy crew once before melee combat starts. Boarding melee combat is faught using the standard combat rules and turns for 7^th Sea. A ship’s Trained Fighters will normally be Threat Rating 2 Brute Squads, unless they are considered a green/poor quality crew (Ship has the Modification of “Poorly Trained Crew), in which case they are considered Threat Rating 1. If the ship has the Modification of “Well Trained Crew”, then its Brute Squads are Threat Rating 3. All the ship’s officers and one fifth of the Trained Fighters are considered to be armed with firearms in addition to their melee weapons. During any turn that an opposing crew’s Trained Fighters are outnumbered by a factor of three or more to one odds, they will surrender.

Alternately, if the GM does not wish run long, drawn out battles, the following quick combat method may be used to resolve boarding melees between crews:

Divide the ship’s Trained Fighting crew into Brute Squads. But instead of fighting out the melee with the 7^th Sea Combat rules, have each side role a number of dice equal to the number of Brute Squads plus any manned Pont guns. Each result of 9 or 10 indicates that one enemy Brute squad is killed. (NOTE: If using this quick combat system, anyone leading the boarding party or the defense party who has the Roger’s Pirate trick of “Over the Side” will modify the result so that an 8 or higher will result in a kill.)

Grappled ships fighting a boarding melee are effectively immobile and indefensible to other ships. Any ship circling nearby may loose a broadside on them with a –15 on the TN to hit, but must divide the damage equally between the grappled ships.

Once a boarding melee has ended, either through surrender or other means, ships may be ungrappled (cut away) in one turn.