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In May of 2019, Ghosts of Saltmarsh was released bringing official rules for naval combat in the form of Appendix A: Of Ships and the Sea. This appears to be the culmination of the published "Unearthed Arcana" versions of the same name.

However, there is still the Ships and Sailing material from the 5th Edition SRD, and there are significant differences between that and the GoSM Appendix A. I understand that this material is the Open Source information Wizards of the Coast allows people to use in their own published material. I'm just confused as to while WotC would have Open Source info that contradicted their official published material.

Question: Does WotC have two different official material for rules for naval combat? Which is the definitive set of rules?

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    \$\begingroup\$ Are you sure those are officially pubished rules and not some homebrewed adaptation? I do not see anything on this site which might tell about it official status or WotC affiliation. \$\endgroup\$
    – Revolver_Ocelot
    Jan 8, 2020 at 19:53
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    \$\begingroup\$ Those rules do not appear in the D&D 5e SRD, which can be found here on the Wizards of the Coast website. As far as I know, they do not appear in any official D&D 5e book. \$\endgroup\$
    – David Coffron
    Jan 8, 2020 at 19:55
  • \$\begingroup\$ @Revolver_Ocelot That site does mark some of its content as 3rd party (3pp), but does not appear to have one on the linked content. \$\endgroup\$
    – Someone_Evil ♦
    Jan 8, 2020 at 19:57
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    \$\begingroup\$ If you look at the "breadcrumbs" at the top of the linked page, you can see that this is part of a section called "gamemastering". There are definitely other sections in there which are not marked 3pp but which are also not from the SRD. Honestly, I'd just avoid this site entirely. \$\endgroup\$
    – mattdm
    Jan 11, 2020 at 14:57
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    \$\begingroup\$ It took some sleuthing, but the rules presented at 5esrd.com/gamemastering/ships-and-sailing appear to be lifted from Ultimate Ships 5E, by third-party publisher Legendary Games. \$\endgroup\$
    – Carcer
    Jan 11, 2020 at 17:11

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There are two sets of rules for ship combat, but the ones you link are not both official

The first set of rules we get for ship combat appears in the Unusual Environments section of Chapter 5 of the Dungeon Master's Guide:

Traveling through the wilderness doesn’t always mean an overland trek. Adventurers might ply the open sea in a caravel or an elemental-powered galleon...

The rules here are very sparse and not the most detailed, but include such things as describing the HP and defenses of various ships.

The later addition of the rules from Ghosts of Saltmarsh provide a much needed improvement on these rules for that setting. These rules appear in Appendix A of the book under Ships in Combat:

Whether sailing to war or hunting notorious pirates, ships make deadly weapons and dramatic battlefields. This section provides guidance on using ships in combat.

The D&D 5e SRD

The D&D 5e SRD does not contain any rules about ship combat. I'm not sure what the source of the rules you link are, but I don't recognize them from any official rulebook. You can find the actual D&D 5e SRD on the Wizards of the Coast website.

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