A ship requires a competent team of crew members to keep it operational when traveling or even harboring. As detailed in the "Crew Roles" in section 4 of the Unofficial One Piece D&D Player's Guide, ship crews may require a diverse mix roles on board a ship to safely adventure into dangerous waters. Disease, malnutrition, poor direction, injury, infection, and ship damage or degradation are all potential threats to any crew attempting to sail into open waters. And on the Grand Line, these risks are even further amplified. Characters that take on special roles required to deal with these threats are referred to as "Officers". Additional NPC crew members and lackeys may be added to the ship later on, called "Hirelings".
Here are officer roles to determine which player will fill which role on a ship:
Crew Roles
Establishing a crew requires someone to have trained to be a Captain. Once a crew is formed, potential members within the faction can join by investing 5 DT. Organizing a crew is crucial not only for survival but also for maintaining order and efficiency. Further, after joining a crew each member can train themselves to be assigned a specific role within the crew to gain benefits. It costs the additional DT listed to train a role. After your Crew reaches the next rank of the game (Blues, Paradise, Ocean floor, etc) your character unlocks the next tier of that crew role after investing the required DT to train into it.
Captain Role
The Captain serves as the authoritative figure, leading the crew through perilous contracts and missions.
Captain I
Requirement: 8 DT for training
Benefit: +2 to either Persuasion or Intimidation, your choice.
Captain II
Requirement: Level 5, 12 DT for training
Benefit: Extra +1 to Persuasion or Intimidation
Morale Boost - May give encouragement to crewmates to raise their morale and productivity. A captain may choose up to 2 crewmates per week to receive a +3 bonus to their specific downtime activity or skill check. The crew-mates must have a crew role for this to be applicable, and the +3 bonus only applies to the skill check mentioned in the crew role bonus. This extra bonus may be used when on the same island or ship as the Captain. Resets at the end of the Game week (Monday is the first day of the new game week)
First Mate Role
First mates are the second command and the backbone of the crew
First Mate I
Requirement: 5 DT for training
Benefit: +1 to any one Skill/Tool Check. This must be decided upon training and can only be changed if you retrain the Crew Role.
First Mate II
Requirement: Level 5, 7 DT for training
Benefit: You gain an additional +1 to the Skill/Tool Check chosen at Rank I.
First Mate may now do one influence DTA per day in the name of their crew.
Engineer Role
The Engineer is responsible for the maintenance of the ship's weapons and ensuring that all crew members' weapons are in optimal condition.
Engineer I
Requirement: 5 DT for training
Benefit: +2 to Weapon OR Armor crafting (Choose 1)
Engineer II
Requirement: Level 5, 8 DT for training
Benefit: Extra +2 to Tool selected at Rank I
Selfless Work Ethic - Once per week you may change a crafting dice roll to 20
Entertainer Role
The Entertainer is tasked with boosting crew morale.
Entertainer I
Requirement: 5 DT for training
Benefit: +2 to Performance Checks
Entertainer II
Requirement: Level 5, 7 DT for training
Benefit: Extra +2 to Performance Checks
Cheer up Everyone! - On an island where 1 or more crewmates are present besides the entertainer, you can make a performance check once a day as a DTA to cheer up your team for up to a week. If you succeed, they gain +1 to any DTA done for the rest of the week. You may retry again the next day if you failed, but failing for the 3rd time will instead sour the moods of your crew, giving them a -1 to their DTA for the rest of the week. Once you have succeeded once or failed for the third time, you cannot do this DTA until next week.
The DC to beat is 10 + 2 per crewmates present on the island including the entertainer. (Only the crew mates present on the island may be affected by the buffs or debuffs from this DTA)
With a Nat 20 on the performance check, you may choose to add the results to Influence an island, with all the pros and cons from doing so.
Hunter Role
The Hunter is the tracker, the one who keeps a watchful eye on the enemies of your crew, to evade them or to find them.
Hunter I
Requirement: 7 DT for training
Benefit: You may do an extra Track/Evade DTA per day
Hunter II
Requirement: Level 5, 10 DT for training
Benefit: Can't Hide/Can’t Catch Me - Each DT point used for tracking or evading counts as 2 DT points, allowing you to make two checks as part of one DTA rather than one.
Cook Role
The Cook ensures that everyone on board is well-fed, providing bonuses and boons to their crew by way of meals.
Cook I
Requirement: 5 DT for training
Benefit: +2 to Cooking Tools Checks
Cook II
Requirement: 5 DT for training
Benefit: You may add 1 extra ingredient to each meal you cook without raising the tier
Navigator Role
Navigators are responsible for planning and charting courses to guide the crew through the seas to their destinations.
Navigator I
Requirements: 5 DT for training
Benefit: +2 to Navigator's Tool Checks
Navigator II
Requirements: 10 DT for training
Benefit: The goal for mapping an island is halved for you
Treasurer Role
Treasurers manage the crew funds and ship's supplies, ensuring the crew is well-stocked before every voyage.
Treasurer I
Requirement: 5 DT for training
Benefit: 10% Discount from Island Shops (excluding Docks and Black Market)
Treasurer II
Requirement: Level 5, 10 DT for training
Benefit: 5% Discount in the Black Market and Weapon/Armor shop
Buying in Bulk: Once a week at any store (except Docks and Black Market), when buying the same item up to 10 times from any store in one trip, you get 50% discount on all items.
Price is reset to normal after items have been bought.
Shipwright Role
Shipwrights maintain the ship's optimal condition, both before and after sailing or naval combat.
Shipwright I
Requirements: 5 DT for training
Benefit: +2 Carpenter’s Tools Checks
Shipwright II
Requirements: 10 DT for training
Benefit: Your ships gain an additional 10 BP to work with
Helmsman Role
Helmsman steer the ship on the crew. They know the ocean well enough to steer the ship through perilous waters.
Helmsman I
Requirements: 5 DT for training
Benefit: +2 to Water Vehicles checks, traveling costs 2 less TP.
Helmsman II
Requirements: 10 DT for training
Benefit: advantage on Water Vehicles checks, traveling costs another 2 fewer TP.
Scholar Role
Scholars are entrusted with preserving knowledge about the ship and possessing extensive knowledge about the world.
Scholar 1
Requirement: 5 DT for training
Benefit: +2 to History checks.
Scholar II
Requirement: 10 DT for training
Benefit: You can perform the Research downtime activity once per week at no cost.
Doctor Role
A vital role, the Doctor ensures the well-being of the crew, a crucial asset recognized by every good Captain.
Doctor I
Requirement: 5 DT for training
Benefits: +1 to Medicine checks, +1 to Botanist's tools checks, +1 to Medical tools checks
Doctor II
Requirements: Level 5, 10 DT for Training
Benefit: +2 to Medical Tools Checks
Check-Up - Your crew becomes your patients. You can spend a Short Rest granting a member of your crew one the following benefits. You must pass the corresponding Medicine skill check/Medicine Kit check to grant the benefit. These benefits last until the selected crew member has finished a long rest.
Choose one of the Following:
- +1 to Armor Class | DC 15
- +1 on one Ability Saving Throw of your Choice | DC 20
- You spend more time to seeing to a specific crew mate, on a short rest, you can choose one specific crew mate and make a doctors tools check and if you make the dc they get a long rest in place of the short rest(Once per mission) | DC 25
You and the selected crew member must be on the same island to perform this feature.
Hirelings
On ships that require smaller crew sizes, 4-5 player characters with different roles should be sufficient early on. On larger ships, however, crew size may need to be increased and additional officer positions may need to be taken to meet the needs of the increased population on board. Large crews may want to designate officer positions for managing each section of the crew.
When the size of a crew's ship increases, most captains will need to hire additional crew members to keep the ship running. To find more people to fill these spots, hirelings are used. Hirelings can be found in places where seafaring communities are more common, typically in large port cities.
For every 10 hirelings on board a ship, there should be at least one officer managing them to maintain order. This officer can take on a leader position in the chain of command under the captain and first mate, reporting to them at the end of each day. If there aren't enough player characters to fill the number of officer positions required, the captain may enlist a specialist to take on the role of an officer on the crew. Additional crew roles can be filled by hired officers or they can be ordered to assist other officers with their job (A chef that needs help in the kitchen may make one officer their assistant chef).
Hirelings use normal 5e Sidekick rules. They require 500k berry per week to keep on the crew. If you keep them on the crew for one month, the captain can make a DC 15 persuasion check. On a success, they permanently join the crew. They start at the lowest level of anyone on the crew, and anyone on the crew can contribute AP to level up the Sidekick. They are a race of your choice. They gain 1 DT per day and anyone on the crew can contribute their own DT to the Sidekick. They can do 2 DTAs per day. They can take a crew role. The Sidekick can use either point buy or roll for stats. They do not roll for a starting devil fruit or conqueror's haki. They cannot take spirit surges.
Mutiny
If hirelings are underpaid, neglected, or underfed, they will grow to resent the captain and crew over time. Each instance of neglect has an additive 10% chance of leading to a mutiny among hirelings who feel neglected. This chance is reduced when they are given reparation or compensation. When a mutiny occurs, if less than half of the crew partakes in the mutiny, the neglected crew members will simply attempt to commit acts of theft, violence, and subterfuge to sabotage the crew and damage the trust toward the captain without detection, until they manage to escape or resign. If more than half of the crew partakes in the mutiny, a full-scale assassination plot or battle will take place until crew demands are met or the captain is overthrown.
Bonds
Alternatively, if a hireling is treated well and bonds with the crew over time, they might eventually graduate to becoming a permanent member of the crew. After some time has passed, these NPC crew members may start to work as apprentices under player characters, learn new skills, or even receive increases to stats. Higher level NPCs and skilled mercenaries may also end up in the crew over time, creating bonds with the crew. See the optional loyalty rule from chapter 4 of the Official D&D Dungeon Master's Guide for more information on determining the bond and loyalty between NPC crew members and player characters.
Once both the captain and the designated commander reach a certain rank, the commander can make a subcrew
Pirates:
Corsair 1
Supernova 2
Warlord/Infamous 3
Yonko 4
Pirate King 5
Revolutionaries:
Guerilla 1
Rebel Leader 2
Revolutionary General 3
Icon of Rebellion 4
Revolutionary Hero 5
Marine:
Commodore 1
Rear Admiral 2
Vice Admiral 3
Admiral 4
Fleet Admiral 5
Bounty Hunter
B 2
A 3
S 4
Ultra 5