Arming a Ship
A ship's stat block skips weapons by default; arming one for naval combat means picking ballistae or cannons close to the party's level.
Parent page Sailing Combat
A sailing ship unloading a burst of cannon fire on their enemy is one of the most popular images of naval warfare. Though most ship stat blocks don’t include shipboard weapons by default, if PCs are preparing to have naval battles or are joining a ship that’s already armed, you might want to add siege weapons to the ship. The most common siege weapons to mount on a ship are ballistae (level 5) and heavy ballistae (level 8). If the navy or ship’s crew has access to black powder, these typically get supplanted by cannons (level 8) or hwachas (level 4). It’s usually best to keep the weapons close to the PCs’ level. Ranged weapons, especially cannons, are often mounted below the main deck and shoot out of hatches, so each one can shoot from only one side of the ship.