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Sailing through a storm
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<blockquote data-quote="CarlZog" data-source="post: 4480732" data-attributes="member: 11716"><p>Good advice here on skills and mechanics.</p><p></p><p>In no particular order, here's a few other circumstances associated with a sailing ship in heavy weather that you may want to consider as possible events or plot devices:</p><p></p><p>-- One of the biggest risks a ship faces in heavy weather is losing all or part of the rig. Because the structural support for a sailing ship rig is so integrated, even losing one section of a mast or having one small element of rigging fail has the potential to cause a chain reaction that brings down the rest of the rig. A falling mast in any conditions might damage the hull, but in a storm the debris, half hanging in the water and slamming up against the hull, can be disasterous.</p><p></p><p>Consider, as a failure of complex seamanship skill checks, including a chance of all or partial rig failure. If it happens, the crew must immediately turn to the task of cutting away debris (agility, seamanship). If it's only an upper spar that's broken or fallen, this task may include going aloft amid the swinging debris to get it under control. It's a highly chaotic, terrifying situation.</p><p></p><p>In describing climbing the rigging in a storm, keep in mind that when a ship rolls in a heavy sea, the impact aloft is like hanging onto the end of a giant whip. Every wave threatens to toss you off like a dog shaking water off its back.</p><p></p><p>-- On deck, large swells may be washing over the deck on a regular basis. The power of green water coming over the deck is always amazing to see. Not only does it stand the chance of taking out crew members, but a good smack from a wave may cause damage to deck structures and/or exposed cargo. Steering mechanisms are particularly susceptible to this. Losing the wheel or tiller can mean losing control over the ability to direct the ship at all.</p><p></p><p>-- One of the things that keeps a crew most busy on a wooden ship in a storm is pumping bilges. Because of how wooden ships are built, they flex in heavy seas, opening the seams between the hull planks and letting in water. The older and worse shape a ship is in, the more pronounced this effect can be. Your PCs will have to allocate substantial crew to pumping, and if resources run short or men get tired, they may no longer be able to keep up with the flow. </p><p></p><p>If so, then it becomes slow death. As she loses buoyancy, she loses maneuverability too, and the wind and seas slamming her around inflict more and more damage. It's like watching a fighter, no longer even able to put up his guard or seemingly aware of what's happening, just get pummelled until he collapses.</p><p></p><p>-- One of the tactics of making it through a bad storm is minimizing the sails set and positioning the ship to minimize the impact of the wind and seas. There are various methods of doing this (heaving to, lying ahull, etc.), but often the net effect is that you are no longer controlling the direction of the ship's movement. You're just riding it out.</p><p></p><p>Offshore this may mean that you are more than just "off course", you may be hundreds of miles from where you were when the storm hit. In game terms this may mean being way late to wherever you were going; or ending up somewhere different altogether. Consider a randomized distance and direction table for assessing the impact of the storm. The longer it lasts, the further off you're likely to be. If your navigation system is based on celestial observation, you not only have to wait for the wind to die down, but also for the skies to clear before you can begin to work on where you've ended up.</p><p></p><p>If the storm hits along a coast (within 100 miles or so) you could stand the chance of being set aground. Obviously, a shipwreck can drastically change the course of your game, but grounding doesn't always equal total loss. There could be a lot of damage that needs to be repaired and they may have to wait for an extra high tide to get them off.</p><p></p><p>For whatever it's worth,</p><p>Carl</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="CarlZog, post: 4480732, member: 11716"] Good advice here on skills and mechanics. In no particular order, here's a few other circumstances associated with a sailing ship in heavy weather that you may want to consider as possible events or plot devices: -- One of the biggest risks a ship faces in heavy weather is losing all or part of the rig. Because the structural support for a sailing ship rig is so integrated, even losing one section of a mast or having one small element of rigging fail has the potential to cause a chain reaction that brings down the rest of the rig. A falling mast in any conditions might damage the hull, but in a storm the debris, half hanging in the water and slamming up against the hull, can be disasterous. Consider, as a failure of complex seamanship skill checks, including a chance of all or partial rig failure. If it happens, the crew must immediately turn to the task of cutting away debris (agility, seamanship). If it's only an upper spar that's broken or fallen, this task may include going aloft amid the swinging debris to get it under control. It's a highly chaotic, terrifying situation. In describing climbing the rigging in a storm, keep in mind that when a ship rolls in a heavy sea, the impact aloft is like hanging onto the end of a giant whip. Every wave threatens to toss you off like a dog shaking water off its back. -- On deck, large swells may be washing over the deck on a regular basis. The power of green water coming over the deck is always amazing to see. Not only does it stand the chance of taking out crew members, but a good smack from a wave may cause damage to deck structures and/or exposed cargo. Steering mechanisms are particularly susceptible to this. Losing the wheel or tiller can mean losing control over the ability to direct the ship at all. -- One of the things that keeps a crew most busy on a wooden ship in a storm is pumping bilges. Because of how wooden ships are built, they flex in heavy seas, opening the seams between the hull planks and letting in water. The older and worse shape a ship is in, the more pronounced this effect can be. Your PCs will have to allocate substantial crew to pumping, and if resources run short or men get tired, they may no longer be able to keep up with the flow. If so, then it becomes slow death. As she loses buoyancy, she loses maneuverability too, and the wind and seas slamming her around inflict more and more damage. It's like watching a fighter, no longer even able to put up his guard or seemingly aware of what's happening, just get pummelled until he collapses. -- One of the tactics of making it through a bad storm is minimizing the sails set and positioning the ship to minimize the impact of the wind and seas. There are various methods of doing this (heaving to, lying ahull, etc.), but often the net effect is that you are no longer controlling the direction of the ship's movement. You're just riding it out. Offshore this may mean that you are more than just "off course", you may be hundreds of miles from where you were when the storm hit. In game terms this may mean being way late to wherever you were going; or ending up somewhere different altogether. Consider a randomized distance and direction table for assessing the impact of the storm. The longer it lasts, the further off you're likely to be. If your navigation system is based on celestial observation, you not only have to wait for the wind to die down, but also for the skies to clear before you can begin to work on where you've ended up. If the storm hits along a coast (within 100 miles or so) you could stand the chance of being set aground. Obviously, a shipwreck can drastically change the course of your game, but grounding doesn't always equal total loss. There could be a lot of damage that needs to be repaired and they may have to wait for an extra high tide to get them off. For whatever it's worth, Carl [/QUOTE]
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