-Creating a vessel- OBS (Own a Big Ship) Cost: 4 points/level Progression: Linear; 10 Ship Points/level Reduction: Less Ship Points/level Restrictions: Under certain conditions, ship construction is flawed in some way, ship is not fully paid for In order to create a vessel at the beginning, OBS is the way to go. Higher levels allow more ship points with which to build this vessel. Most attributes will be allowed within reason. A shipwright can alter these given time, materials and money, except for certain ones such as Awkward Size. A new ship at a new awkward size will require building another ship. Awkward Size determines the amount of Crew/Cargo capacity a ship may have. Each level of AS provides a -1 bonus to be hit as well as other consequences (added port/maintenance costs, harder to maneouver in shallows), but provides 2 points of armor for each level of AS to a max of 10. Additional Armor may be purchased at the 4 points/level cost. Weapon attacks are allowed for ships, usually symbolizing magical cannon shot. Optimised armor can be purchased to protect against this type of shot. Each ship must have the Crew Requirement defect depending on its size (see chart below) and must have the Water Speed attribute. Defects that are assumed from a sailing vessel (Wind-powered, No Ground Movement, Physical Impairment: No arms, Owned (at least by you; Conditional Ownership of the ship is a Defect for the player), etc.) do not give you BP. Obviously too defects and attributes that assume humanoids are not allowed for a ship. Ones such as Cursed however would be allowed. Features (1 point per level) includes things a ship would normally (but doesn't have to) have. Examples include a galley, figurehead, cushy cabin space, a captain's table, crow's nest, emergency row boats, etc. If the item is especially costly, custom-built, and/or usually illegal for the ship to have, it may count as 2 Features (or more). Examples of these include a shallow hull, hidden cargo panels, a golden figurehead, an area for galley slaves (think hard before chosing this one ^^;), etc. Equipment for the ship is best purchased via Gadgets. A ship may have certain magical enhancements as well with discussion. Features (Appearance) can also be bought for ships. As well as the Physically Unappealing Defect. "But it's such a pretty boat...I mean, ship!" -Captain Jack Sparrow, Pirates of the Carribean: The Curse of the Black Pearl -Special Attributes available for ships- Extra Capacity Cost: 1 point/level Progression: Medium Progression Chart, starting at one unit of space Reductions: None Restrictions: Space cannot be redesigned after creation, bunk space and/or cargo hold is costly to maintain A ship without extra space represents a one-man row boat. If a ship is to have a crew and cannons, it needs space to hold it. There are three types of space that can be acquired and the one commissioning the ship must figure out how to split up this extra capacity as they see fit during construction. Bunk Space allows for more crew to be placed on board. A unit of crew space allows for a modest amount of food and water, bunk, personal equipment and the weight of the actual person. Cannon ports allow spots to hold and fire guns, as well as places to tie the cannons so they don't roll all the way across the ship. Cannons themselves are bought as gadgets (see "Arming ships" rule below) and take up one slot of cargo space, unless they are sufficiently heavy. Heavier cannon loads may take up more space due to their excess weight. Cargo Hold is used for any space left over. It can be used to haul goods or carry extra supplies such as food, water, lumber, tar, gun powder, etc. General supplies will be assumed on a ship but limited unless they are purchased as gadgets. Certain bulky features (such as a galley for example) also may reduce cargo hold space. Extra Capacity does have a prerequisite Awkward Size and Crew Requirement. This is a minimum. You are allowed to push it above these amounts (though Awkward Size should't go beyond 6). EC Level Extra Capacity Amount Awkward Size Crew Requirement Ship Example 1 1 1 (2x) Self rowboat 2 Up to 5 2 (4x) 2 Large raft, long boat 3 Up to 10 3 (8x) 2 pinnace, ketch 4 Up to 50 4 (15x) 8 sloop, cutter, small brig, small caravel 5 Up to 100 5 (30x) 15 flute, frigate, large caravel, large brig, small barque 6 Up to 500 6 (60x) 30 large barque, nao, carrack 7 Up to 1000 6 (60x) 60 galleon, great ship *EC above level 7 requires serious GM discussion and probably won't be allowed under any circumstances anyways. Manoeuverability Cost: 1 point/level Progression: Variable, see below Reductions: None Restrictions: Only under ideal conditions, one direction favored, only init bonus, only DCV bonus This attribute represents fore-aft sails, specially designed rudders, streamlining, and other factors that make the ship more manoeuverable to steer. For every odd level, the vessel gains an additional +1 to initiative as well as a -1 bonus to performing tricky maneouvers (such as steering around rocks, sudden turnabouts, etc.). For every even level, the vessel gains a +1 to the ship's DCV. -Special Defects available for ships- Costly Upkeep A ship is usually assumed to be made out of cheap, yet sturdy material so that when it requires repairs, the cost is reasonable. A ship with the Costly Upkeep defect is made out of unnecessarily rare or difficult to cut materials so that extra care must be taken to obtain proper supplies. 1 BP Repairs are 150% normal cost. 2 BP Repairs are 200% normal cost. 3 BP Repairs are 300% normal cost. Crew Requirement This defect follows the Slow Progression Chart starting at 2 crew required (1 BP) and extending to 500 crew required (9 BP). The crew requirement defect refers only to the amount of crew necessary for the vessel to sail properly. Without this crew assigned, the vessel may still sail but will be considerably slower as well as suffer penalties. The vessel still requires crew space for this crew and, if there are any cannons, enough to fire the cannons (one to load, one to fire, unless a multi-fire mechanism is purchased via Features). Certain ships have a minimum crew requirement level (although it may be purchased above this level if desired). Fewer Lifeboats A ship is usually assumed to have sufficient rowboats in case the ship goes down. A ship with this defect has far fewer lifeboats than usual and thus a portion of the crew may be lost. This portion may turn out to be even more as the crew panics, fights, and kills each other in order to save themselves. 2 BP Ship has 1/2 of normal lifeboat capacity. 4 BP Ship has 1/3 of normal lifeboat capacity. 6 BP Ship does not have any lifeboats at all. Important crew members (notably the PCs usually) may be able to save themselves by clinging onto driftwood, but the general crew will be lost if the ship goes down. Gluttonous Crew/Greedy Crew Most crews are assumed to have an average appetite and accept a modest wage. Taking this defect indicates a crew that desires considerably more resources. Gluttonous and Greedy are two seperate defects, but may both be taken to represent a particularly greedy crew. If the crew isn't able to be fed or paid, it increases the likelihood of a mutiny. 1 BP Crew consumes 150% of normal resources 2 BP Crew consumes 200% of normal resources 3 BP Crew consumes 300% of normal resources Poor Maneouverability A ship with this defect is bulky and harder to steer out of the way. A ship with the Poor Maneouverability defect suffers a penalty when trying to perform tight turns, suffers initiative penalties, and takes a penalty to the Defense Combat Value. 2 BP The ship suffers a +1 dice roll penalty to performing complex maneouvers and to DCV. Initiative suffers a -1 penalty. 4 BP The ship suffers a +2 dice roll penalty to performing complex maneouvers and to DCV. Initiative suffers a -2 penalty. 6 BP The ship suffers a +3 dice roll penalty to performing complex maneouvers and to DCV. Initiative suffers a -3 penalty. -Manning the ship- Manning the ship is usually done via the Henchmen attribute. Don't worry too much about the "mook-killing" rule when selecting crew. For the most part, it will be your crew versus their crew (and odds are their crew is just as trained as yours will be). To represent higher ranked officers of your crew, Agents should be taken (or you can hope to promote a PC to first mate). Crew that stick by your side even on shore leave are best purchased outside of the OBS attribute. crew purchased inside the OBS generally work in the background to insure the smooth sailing of your ship. -Arming the ship- Ordinary 6-pound cannons count as two gadgets for two cannons. It is assumed that one cannon will be placed on each of the broadsides of the ship. If fore and aft cannon ports or swivel guns are purchased as features, the ship will be able to place cannons that fire to the front and behind as well. 6-pound cannons do 40 max (10d4) damage. For one minor gadget, the poundage of these two cannons can be upgraded by 4 pounds, increasing the max damage by 10. For two minor gadgets, 2 more cannons can be purchased. Additional cannons allow a limited autofire effect; for every extra cannon on one side, the cannons can inflict up to that amount of autofire shots (thus 4 cannons can inflict up to 2 autofire hits on each side, 6 cannons can inflict 3, etc.). Armor will reduce the damage on each autofire hit, as well as defense avoiding more shots. If cannons of a different weight are used, the autofire hits (if any) alternate between the poundages, starting at the largest cannon and working its way down. Thus if a ship has 4 cannons fired on one side, two 12-pounds and two 6-pounds, the order of damage would go 60, 40, 60, 40. A greater percentage of larger cannons will mean more of that cannon will be fired first. So in the previous example if there were 6 12-pound cannons and 2 6-pounds, the order would go 60, 60, 40, 60, 60, 40. Cannons are fixed, unreliable, inaccurate, slow (x2 if there aren't enough gunners for the ship), and have backblast (i.e. don't stand behind a cannon when it's being fired). Standard Dunlor cannons, which can be purchased for 1 more minor slot, take away the unreliable defect. As well, a captain can choose to fire cannons alternatively (fire half the cannons while the other half are reloaded). Doing this halves the amount of autofire hits they can do but reduces the slow defect by one rank. Inaccurate also only applies when the ship is outside of short range (although cannons can fire much further within reason). Grape shot can be used as an alternative to regular shot. This type of shot consists of shrapnel-like pellets that do minimal damage to the ship itself, but can be used to devastate the on-deck crew of the ship. It deals 20 (5d4) damage, has an Area Effect Level 2, and is Low Penetrating (in addition to all the other cannon defects). Grape shot can be purchased as a minor gadget. Chain/bar shot is another alternative to regular shot and consists of two cannon balls linked together with an iron chain or bar. This type of shot requires two cannons to fire and does 20 damage, is Penetrating (in addition to all other cannon defects.) Unlike the other two shots, the slow defect cannot be eliminated by firing alternating cannons (since it takes two to fire anyways). Also, the gunner can make a called shot (+2) at the ship's rigging and masts. A successful hit will devastate the masts and riggings and has a chance of effectively immobilizing the enemy ship. Each successful hit with the chain shot lowers the water speed of the ship by 1 level and the initiative by 2. This volley can be continued until the ship is brought to a stop. Chain shot is also a minor gadget. There are some unstandard wares for naval combat as well, but I'll let you discover them through possible gadgets. ^_^