D&D 5E Roles of a ship, what Cr?

[Shades of Eternity]

Pulling out an old project and seeing what Cr you would expect for the captain, quartermaster, etc, all the way to a swabbie. Also which NPCs from the various monster books would you use?

 

[DEFCON 1]

If just generic sailor types, then probably ranging from CR 1/8 up to CR 3 like most of the NPC statblocks. As far as which specific statblocks... the guard, scout, thug, priest, and berserker blocks most likely in some form or fashion.

 

[Shiroiken]

5E has Ghosts of Saltmarsh for this. I recall the regular sailors being commoners, with the various leaders being up to CR 3. The ships themselves have CR as well, IIRC, being designed like monsters.

 

[Rabbitbait]

Depends. If you are in Eberron then the captain of a ship would generally be a level 3 NPC. If you are in the Forgotten Realms the captain of a ship would be a level 20 NPC.

 

[aco175]

A decent list of types would help. I'm not that up on my sailing professions.

Some may depend on the level of the PCs. If a group of 10th level PCs are hiring a ship for a dangerous mission like Jason and the Argonauts, then I would think to bump some/most.

I could also see a 1-off like the cook, Long-John Silver being something more special and tie it to an adventure.

 

[Ixal]

Why would the captain always have the highest level anyway?

 

[MarkB]

Why would the captain always have the highest level anyway?

Because he's generally the most experienced member of the crew.

 

[Ixal]

Because he's generally the most experienced member of the crew.

Not necessarily. Military ranks were often given not by merit but by wealth, titel and influence, meaning the captain does not always have to be the most experienced and brightest of the crew. Same applies to civilian ships.
When lord Land of Lubber wants to be captain he gets to be captain.
And even if you use a more modern way of rankings you could have a fresh captain and a very experienced enlisted sailor.
Generally there could be crew changes which mixes experienced sailors with not so experienced officers either by bureaucratic blunder or intentional to mix experienced and green crews for training.

 

[LordEntrails]

What type of ship? And where? Ships that sail in a sea beset by pirates and sea monsters are going to be much more experienced and capable of combat than a ship that sails in a "civilized" sea where the worst thing they have to contend with is a gale storm.

These are the same considerations for a town guard, or a caravan guard.