Vehicles
Vehicles
In the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game, low-level characters do most of their traveling on their own two feet. At higher levels, magical travel becomes a common occurrence, as does travel by horseback, atop animal companions, or via more exotic mounts. Every so often, travel may involve a vehicle of some sort—the wagons of a caravan, a wind-tossed galley, some fantastic form of aerial transport, or even a planes-hopping device. If you like your games with a dose of weird, such vehicles may be as strange as a crashed space vessel. Whatever the case, vehicles in the Pathfinder RPG are often treated as either mobile terrain or adventure sites in their own right.
Many of the iconic motifs that inspire roleplaying games touch on vehicular adventures, from the voyages of Jason and the Argonauts to pirate tales, from charioteers in blood-soaked arenas under a drone of cheers to those who would chase and tame dragons. History and fiction are full of interesting vehicles performing death-defying actions. The rules in this chapter allow you to run combats with vehicles in the Pathfinder RPG, rather than just treating them as objects or terrain.
The following rules attempt to strike a balance between verisimilitude and ease and speed of play during combat. In areas where those two balancing points are conflicted, ease of use should always prevail.
Vehicle Basics
What follow are the basic rules for using vehicles in the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game. They give an overview of the rules that all vehicles use.
Drivers
Drivers control vehicles. A driver is a creature with an Intelligence score of at least 3 who is physically able to manipulate a vehicle's driving device and who is both within the driving spaces of a vehicle and actively manipulating the driving device.
Occupants
Any creature riding, driving, serving as crew on, or providing propulsion for a vehicle is considered its occupant.
Facing
Unlike characters, vehicles have a forward facing. A vehicle moves best when it moves in the direction of its forward facing.
Acceleration/Deceleration
Vehicles must accelerate to reach their maximum speed. Each round, with the proper driving action and a successful check, the driver can increase the vehicle's movement by its rate of acceleration, as long that value is no greater than the vehicle's maximum speed. Vehicles must decelerate to slow down and are hard to stop at an exact point.
Initiative
A vehicle moves at the start of its driver's turn. If a vehicle has no driver, it moves on the turn of the last creature that was its driver, or on a turn determined by the GM.
Controlling a Vehicle
If a vehicle has a driver, before the driver does anything else on her turn, she must determine what drive action she is taking, and take that action. If the driver takes no action, takes some other action instead of driving the vehicle, or delays or readies an action—or if there is no driver—the vehicle takes the "uncontrolled" action. A driver can only take one action each turn to control a vehicle. Once the driver has selected the action, or takes some other action forcing the vehicle to become uncontrolled, the vehicle moves.
Driving Check
When a driver takes a driving action, she must make a driving check to determine the maneuverability and speed of the vehicle that round. The vehicle's propulsion determines what skill is used for the driving check. A driver can always make a Wisdom check in place of a driving check. The base DCs for all driving checks are DC 5 and DC 20. Use the lower DC when the driver is not in combat and the higher DC when the driver is in combat.
In Combat
Vehicles, creatures used as propulsion, and crew members do not threaten any area around them, but their drivers and their non-crew occupants do. Vehicles can enter the spaces of objects and creatures smaller than themselves. Vehicles do not have attacks, but they can—and may be required to—make vehicular bull rush, vehicular overrun, and ramming combat maneuvers.
Full Vehicle Rules
The basic rules give a general idea of how vehicles act in the structure of the combat round, and how they are different than creatures. The following sections go into greater depth about running vehicles in combat.
Drivers
A vehicle is a special movable object that requires two things to keep it moving—a driver and a method of propulsion. A driver is a creature with an Intelligence score of 3 or more who is physically able to use the vehicle's driving mechanism. In other words, the creature needs to be the correct size and have the correct anatomy to use whatever tool is used to drive the vehicle. Sometimes a driving mechanism may have its own requirements for use. The driver uses that mechanism and her skill (or her Wisdom) to control the vehicle. Without a driver, a vehicle will not move or will continue moving in a straight line, depending on the vehicle's state when it becomes driverless.
A creature must be the size of a vehicle or smaller in order to drive it.
Occupants
Drivers, riders, any crew, and creatures that serve as propulsion for a vehicle are all considered occupants. All occupants except for crew members and creatures used for propulsion can take actions and threaten areas as regular creatures. Crew members can take no actions nor threaten areas—their actions and concentration are all consumed by the act of providing propulsion or upkeep for the vehicle.
Propulsion and Driving Checks
Every vehicle has a method of propulsion. Creatures pull chariots and wagons. Boats and ships are propelled by water currents, wind, muscle, or all three forces. Fantastical airships are held aloft by a variety of propulsion sources, both magical and mundane. The method of propulsion typically affects the speed and maneuverability of a vehicle, but more importantly, a vehicle's propulsion determines the required skill needed to control a vehicle. The following are the general methods of vehicle propulsion, along with what skills are typically needed to drive such vehicles.
Alchemical
Rarely, an alchemical engine may propel a vehicle. Powered by steam or more volatile gases and reagents, a vehicle with an alchemical engine requires either a Knowledge (arcana) or Craft (alchemy) check to be driven. The base DC to drive an alchemical vehicle is 10 higher than normal. Alchemical engines can be extremely powerful, with the ability to propel vehicles hundreds of times their size. They can also be very fickle when driven by creatures uninitiated in the secrets of alchemy.
When a driver makes a driving check to control an alchemically propelled vehicle with a Wisdom check or a skill she is not trained in and rolls a natural 1, the vehicle's alchemical engine gains the broken condition. When it gains the broken condition, the vehicle's maximum speed and acceleration are both halved, and if the vehicle is currently moving at a rate faster than its new maximum speed, it immediately slows to that speed.
Current
From canoes and large ships to winged gliders, vehicles propelled by currents typically manipulate an already existing power source within or outside of nature—an air current, a water current, or more exotic currents, like conduits of magical energy. Usually, manipulating a current-propelled vehicle requires a skill like Fly, Knowledge (nature), Profession (sailor), Survival, or even Acrobatics or Knowledge (arcana), depending on the nature or makeup of the vehicle and the current the vehicle is manipulating.
Water Current
Vehicles that only rely on currents of water for their propulsion are somewhat limited. These vehicles can only move in the direction and at the speed of a current unless they also employ some other means of propulsion or manipulation, and thus often have an additional form of propulsion, such as muscle in the case of a canoe, and wind in the case of a galley. A current-driven ship such as a river barge with a crew of two or more creatures requires either a Profession (sailor) or Knowledge (nature) check for the driving check, as ships require precision, discipline, and knowledge of the natural world. Smaller water-current vehicles, like canoes, use the Survival skill as the drive skill, as reading the terrain is a very important aspect of maintaining control over those types of vehicles.If it moves with the current, a water-current vehicle's maximum speed depends on the speed of the current (often as high as 120 feet). The acceleration of a water-current vehicle is 30 feet.
Air Current
Air-current vehicles are rather diverse. They can be sailing ships, airships, land ships, or even gliders. A vehicle propelled by air with a crew of two or more creatures requires a Profession (sailor) or Knowledge (nature) check as its driving check. Because of their complexity, air-current vehicles always have their driving check DCs increased by 10. Smaller air-current vehicles, such as gliders and wind sleds, use Acrobatics or Fly instead. Much of their control depends on knowledge of flight or proper movements of the body to control the vehicle. Smaller vehicles (size Large or smaller) can move at a speed of 60 feet, can move at twice that amount when they are moving with the air current, and have an acceleration of 30 feet. Larger vehicles can move at a speed of 90 feet, or twice that amount when they are moving with the air current, and have an acceleration of 30 feet.
Weird Current
Navigating currents of magical energy, burning magma, or the murky rivers of the Shadow Plane could use a number of skills, but likely use skills similar to those needed to operate water-current and air-current vehicles. Weird-current vehicles always have their driving check DCs increased by 10, and sometimes by 15 in more exotic locales and conditions.Weird-current vehicles typically move at the speed of water or air currents, depending on their nature, but have been known to move twice or even triple those speeds.
Magic provides some of the most powerful and easy-to-use methods of propelling a vehicle, such as an elemental-powered juggernaut or an airship with an arcane device at its heart. Often simply identifying the properties of the magic item providing propulsion gives a creature the ability to use it, but sometimes more complicated magical devices require Spellcraft or Use Magic Device to drive properly.
Muscle
From a chariot to a slave ship filled with captive rowers, moving a vehicle powered by muscle is all about getting a creature or creatures to push, pull, or otherwise propel the vehicle. Based on the type and intelligence of the creatures moving the vehicle, checks for driving muscle-propelled vehicles can use a diverse number of skills, including, but not limited to, Diplomacy, Handle Animal, Intimidate, and Profession (driver).
Muscle-propelled vehicles come in two forms: pulled and pushed.
Pulled
This type of propulsion involves one or more creature pulling a vehicle. Unless the creature pulling the vehicle is intelligent (Intelligence score of 3 or higher), either Handle Animal or Profession (driver) is used for the driving check (driver's choice). Intelligent creatures must be convinced with a Diplomacy check (decrease the driving check by 5 if the creature or creatures have the helpful attitude), or forced with an Intimidate check. Forcing an intelligent creature to pull a vehicle increases the DC by 20.A creature can pull a number of vehicle squares equal to the number of squares in the creature's space to a top speed equal to twice the creature's speed. It can accelerate its space in vehicle squares up to its speed. For instance, a single horse takes up 4 squares, and can pull a 4-square cart 100 feet each round with an acceleration of 50 feet.
Pushed
Pushed vehicles are the exact opposite of pulled vehicles—vehicles that are pushed by muscle, usually using some form of device manipulated by crew members. Aquatic vehicles are the most likely to be pushed. Lines of rowers use their oars to push the vehicle forward, or a pair of cloud giants may churn a propeller at the aft end of a dirigible. Driving checks for pushed vehicles tend to be Diplomacy, Intimidate, or Handle Animal, depending on the intelligence and attitude of the creatures supplying the muscle for the propulsion.For intelligent creatures, use Diplomacy if the creatures providing the propulsion have an attitude of indifferent, friendly, or helpful. Decrease the Diplomacy driving check by 5 if the creatures providing the propulsion are friendly. Intimidate is used for intelligent creatures with an attitude of unfriendly or hostile. Handle Animal is used if the creatures providing the propulsion are not intelligent.A creature that is pushing a vehicle with the proper mechanical help can push between 5 times to 20 times its space in vehicle squares.The maximum speed and acceleration of a muscle-propelled vehicle depends on the mechanism used to assist the pushing—see the sample vehicle statistics for examples.
Mixed Methods of Propulsion
Large and complicated vehicles, such as large sailing ships, often use multiple forms of propulsion. Sometimes multiple methods add flexibility, but often they work in concert to create faster movement. A vehicle with multiple methods of propulsion often requires a large crew to get it going and keep it moving. If a vehicle has two methods of propulsion, it uses its fastest speed and acceleration and then adds half the speed and acceleration of the second-fastest propulsion. Nothing is added for a third form of propulsion, except for the flexibility of having a back-up form of propulsion.
Vehicle Size and Space
Vehicles have sizes and spaces different from creature sizes and spaces. Many vehicles are long and thin rather than taking up a space of an equal number of squares per side like creatures do. A wagon, for instance, may take up a 10-by-10-foot square, or may be 10 feet wide and 15 feet or more long. Often one of the shorter sides of the vehicle serves as a vehicle's forward facing.
Size Conversion
Often it is important to know the size category of a vehicle. Use Table 4–1 to determine the size of a vehicle or its propulsion based on the number of squares it occupies.
Driving Space
At least one 5-foot-by-5-foot square on each vehicle must be designated as its driving space—often such an area encompasses multiple squares. In order to drive a vehicle, an intelligent creature must be within at least one square of the driving space and able to manipulate its driving device. The typical sizes and locations of driving spaces are detailed in the individual vehicle descriptions.
Table: Vehicle Size by Squares
| Vehicle Squares | Vehicle Size |
|---|---|
| 2–6 squares | Large vehicle |
| 7–12 squares | Huge vehicle |
| 13–20 squares | Gargantuan vehicle |
| 21+ | Colossal vehicle |
Vehicle Facing and Movement
Vehicles do not move like creatures, even when they use creatures as propulsion. They tend to move in the direction of their forward facing, and do so quickly.
Facing
Unlike creatures, most vehicles have a forward facing. The facing of the vehicle determines its best path of propulsion. Vehicles are very good at moving in the direction of their forward facing, but it takes time and skill to move them in other directions. A horse-pulled wagon moves forward quickly and with ease, but turning a corner requires proper timing and a crack of the whip. A ship propelled by an air current can take a great deal of effort to stop, especially once it has reached top speed. Vehicle facing represents the effect of inertia on vehicles.
When driven correctly, vehicles can move straight ahead, diagonally, or a mix of both within the same movement. Skilled drivers can make a vehicle zigzag in a forward direction with ease.
Movement
Vehicles have a maximum speed and an acceleration listing. The speed is the fastest rate the vehicle can travel. When a creature or creatures pull a vehicle, the vehicle's maximum speed is equal to twice the speed of the creature providing the propulsion, and its acceleration is the creature's speed. (Teams of mixed creature types use the slowest creature's speed.) A vehicle cannot start at its maximum speed, unless it has some form of high-level magic propulsion. Each round, the driver can attempt to accelerate the vehicle or decelerate it by a rate equal to its acceleration (see Driving Vehicles below). The rate at which a vehicle is currently moving is called its current speed.
Driving Vehicles
Controlling a vehicle takes common sense, awareness, intuition, and often some amount of skill in its method of propulsion. In the case of muscle propulsion, it is about guiding the creatures to move the vehicle. In the case of current propulsion, it is about using the current and tools like sails, oars, or a rudder to move the vehicle. With magic, it is typically about understanding the magic device that powers the propulsion and using the device properly.
Driving Actions
A driver can, at the start of her turn, before taking any other action, take any of the following actions (except the "uncontrolled" action) to control a vehicle. If the driver does not take an action, takes another action, or delays or readies an action, she loses control of the vehicle and the vehicle takes the "uncontrolled" action.
Accelerate
With a successful driving check, the vehicle's current speed increases up to its acceleration (in 5-foot increments; minimum 5 feet), but no higher than its maximum speed. The vehicle can move forward or forward diagonally. In other words, each time a vehicle enters a new 5-foot square, it can choose any of its forward-facing squares—the ones directly in front or either of the squares directly forward and diagonal. This allows the vehicle to swerve. A driver who fails her driving check can only move into squares directly in front of the vehicle's forward facing.
Decelerate
With a successful driving check, the vehicle's current speed decreases by a rate up to its acceleration (in 5-foot increments; minimum 5 feet). On a failed check, the vehicle does not decelerate. Either way, the vehicle can move forward diagonally. If deceleration reduces a vehicle's speed to 0, some amount of inertia will continue to move the vehicle forward. The vehicle moves forward (either directly forward or forward diagonally) 1d4 × 5 feet before coming to a complete stop. Having the Expert Driver feat reduces this distance by 10 feet (minimum 0 feet).
Keep It Going
With a successful driving check, the driver can move the vehicle forward on its current facing at its current speed, and it can move forward diagonally. Failing the check keeps the speed constant, but you cannot move the vehicle forward diagonally.
Reverse
A vehicle may only be moved in reverse if it is at a full stop (movement of 0 feet). On a successful driving check, a vehicle can move backward at half its acceleration, moving either directly backward (the reverse of its forward facing) or backward diagonally. On a failed check, it does not move backward.
Turn
The driver takes this action to turn a vehicle's forward facing 90 degrees. The vehicle moves its current speed. If a vehicle's current speed is twice its acceleration, the driving check DC increases by 5. If a vehicle's movement is three times its acceleration, the driving check DC increases by 10. If it is four or more times its acceleration, the DC increases by 20. With a successful driving check, the vehicle changes its facing either left or right by 90 degrees at any point during its movement. Do this by pivoting the vehicle so that the left rear or right rear side of the vehicle takes the place of the vehicle's former forward facing side. On a failed check, the vehicle does not turn, but can be moved forward diagonally during its movement.
Uncontrolled
When the driver does nothing or there is no driver, the vehicle is uncontrolled. An uncontrolled vehicle moves forward only (it cannot move forward diagonally). If a vehicle has muscle propulsion, it decelerates a rate equal to its acceleration. If a vehicle is powered by an air current, water current, or some form of weird current, it slows by 10 feet. These decelerations are cumulative. If a vehicle does nothing, it cannot perform vehicular bull rushes, but can still perform a vehicular overrun or a ramming maneuver.
Driving a Vehicle Outside of Combat
Since driving a vehicle outside of combat is easily accomplished by taking 10 on the skill check, driving checks are not normally needed. Almost every character can do it with relative ease; the DCs are given only to adjudicate special situations that may come up in your game.
Driving a Vehicle with Magic Propulsion
Typically, a vehicle with magic propulsion requires actions but no driving checks in order to drive it. When driving a vehicle with magic propulsion, treat every action as though the driver succeeded at the driving check.
Driving a Vehicle without the Proper Skill
If a driver lacks the proper skill to drive a vehicle, the driver can always make a Wisdom ability check instead of the appropriate skill check. The driver can even take 10 or gain the benefits of aid another when using Wisdom instead of the vehicle's normal driving skill.
Vehicle Crews
Some vehicles require a crew. A vehicle with a full crew complement is as easy to control as any other vehicle. A vehicle without a full crew complement, but with at least half its crew, increases all driving check DCs by 10. A vehicle needs at least half its crew complement in order to be driven at all. Crew members can take no action while the vehicle is in motion except to aid in that vehicle's movement. A crew member does not threaten an area.
Vehicles in Combat
A vehicle in combat can become a target for attacks and can affect combatants with special vehicular maneuvers. The following are the rules for how a vehicle acts in the combat round.
Initiative
A vehicle moves on its driver's initiative. If a driver delays or readies an action, the vehicle goes out of control, and does nothing except take the uncontrolled action until it stops or someone becomes its new driver.
Movement
At the start of the driver's turn, she makes a driving check to control the vehicle as detailed in the Driving Vehicles section. When doing so, she takes whatever action is required before doing anything else that turn.
Vehicles usually ignore difficult terrain due to rubble and foliage, but treat steep inclines as difficult terrain, and depending on the vehicle type and GM judgment, they may be affected by other difficult terrain types as well.
Vehicles and creatures that occupy vehicles can enter the spaces of other vehicles and creatures, though doing so usually provokes a vehicular overrun or ramming maneuver. A vehicle can even end its turn in the space of a creature or another vehicle.
Threatening
Vehicles cannot threaten areas, but their non-crew occupants can. A character driving a vehicle still threatens the squares around her, though she may have limited options for attack depending on the requirements of the device used to drive the vehicle. Creatures used as propulsion do not threaten areas, and are treated as part of the vehicle for purposes of vehicular combat maneuvers.
Line of Sight and Cover
Vehicles typically grant their occupants partial cover (+2 to AC and +1 on Reflex saving throws) against those outside the vehicle, and may grant partial cover against opponents within the vehicles as well. Vehicles with more protection or internal chambers can offer greater cover and can even block line of sight.
Jumping On or Off a Vehicle
Jumping on a vehicle is a normal jump of its distance assuming the vehicle has a deck or handholds within the character's height from the ground. Increase the DC of the Acrobatics check by 5 for every 30 feet of the vehicle's current speed. If the jumping creature is on a moving vehicle, calculate the increase in the Acrobatics skill check DC by calculating the difference between the current speeds of the two vehicles. For every difference of 30 feet (round up), the DC increases by 5.
For example, jumping onto a vehicle with a current speed of 90 feet increases the DC by 15 if the jumper is not also on a moving vehicle. If the jumper is on a moving vehicle, and that vehicle is moving at the same current speed as the vehicle the jumper wants to jump to, there is no increase to the DC. If the difference between their speeds is less than 30 feet, the DC of the Acrobatics check increases by 5. If it's between 30 and 60, it increases by 10, and so on.
Jumping off a vehicle onto the ground is considered a fall, and treated as if the fall were an additional 10 feet farther for every 30 feet of the vehicle's movement for the purposes of determining damage. Acrobatics can be used to soften this fall, and magic abilities such as feather fall can be used to negate the effects of jumping off a vehicle.
Taking Control of a Vehicle
If a vehicle has no driver, any creature can take control of the vehicle as long as the creature is within the driving space of the vehicle and makes a driving check as a free action. The vehicle's driver can always give over control to another adjacent creature that is within the driving space of the vehicle as a free action. When a new creature becomes the driver, the vehicle moves on the new driver's turn, but not on the new driver's first turn after taking control of the vehicle.
If a creature wants to take control of a vehicle from another forcefully, it must pull the driver off the controls as part of a grapple and take over the driving device as part of a pin. When a creature successfully pins a vehicle's driver, it can choose to end the grapple immediately. When it does, the creature moves the current driver 5 feet to any unoccupied space within the vehicle (this movement does not provoke attacks of opportunity) and becomes the vehicle's new driver.
Vehicle Statistics
Below are explanations of some of the traits noted in vehicle statistics. If information for a given category is not listed in a given stat block, it is not applicable.