possibly insane gencon idea. takers?

alsih2o · Jan 7, 2004

i have become fascinated with the boat that Zheng he (supposedly) used as his treasure boat, and want to build one. (see illustration at bottom)

built to 1"=5' scale it would 6 2/3 feet long. my idea involves getting 1 or 2 co-DM's and splitting the players into 2 teams, the sackers and the defenders.

if i can build the boat, and have it all statted up, is anyone up for trying this with me?

we could submit character in a rogues gallery thread pending approval by a dm, split by teams and have a major epic, bring your own mini, keel-hauling, good time.

anyone have any suggestions or wann play along?

edit: needed- major rules lawye as final word on any rules dispute (head gm)

2-4 dms for fore, aft, central bowels.

a cast of thousands to assault and defend.

i would like to be one of the gm's, but i am not the ultima rules lawyer, i am sure we can find a rules person here willing to fill that role

DonAdam · Jan 7, 2004

I'll volunteer to help DM if it's not at the same time as the ENWorld mass game that was being planned a while back

alsih2o · Jan 7, 2004

DonAdam said:
I'll volunteer to help DM if it's not at the same time as the ENWorld mass game that was being planned a while back

good point, i will have to avoid that as i am in on that one too. i am sure we can schedule around it

alsih2o · Jan 7, 2004

here is a possibly cool article on the boat, some physics guy figuring out how it moved.. http://www.owlnet.rice.edu/~giles/archives/ChineseNav.html

Rel · Jan 7, 2004

alsih2o said:
here is a possibly cool article on the boat, some physics guy figuring out how it moved.. http://www.owlnet.rice.edu/~giles/archives/ChineseNav.html

I'll say right up front that I don't have a degree in physics (though I've read a few physics textbooks for fun over the years) but the fact that he's even considering the possibility that it has a draft of anything in the remote neighborhood of "1.24 feet" and that it can turn 90 degrees over a distance less than the length of the ship makes his calculations very questionable.

A fricken Jet Ski can't turn 90 degrees in less than its length.

Of course if (for purposes of your adventure) these are Magical Chinese ships, that's a whole other kettle of fish.

Angcuru · Jan 7, 2004

Ok, I'm confused. Are you suggesting that we get together and actually build a scale replica of the boat? And then draw a grid system on the decks and use it as makeshift gridpaper to form the base of a huge epic sea battle??!! That would be AWESOME!!!

But I think I've interpereted this COMPLETELY wrong.

Still a neat idea tho.

MarauderX · Jan 7, 2004

Rel said:
I'll say right up front that I don't have a degree in physics (though I've read a few physics textbooks for fun over the years) but the fact that he's even considering the possibility that it has a draft of anything in the remote neighborhood of "1.24 feet" and that it can turn 90 degrees over a distance less than the length of the ship makes his calculations very questionable.

A fricken Jet Ski can't turn 90 degrees in less than its length.

Of course if (for purposes of your adventure) these are Magical Chinese ships, that's a whole other kettle of fish.

I don't have a degree in physics either, but in engineering, and had a class with an ex-ship design engineer. The ratio of the weight of the ship is relative to the thickness of the hull, despite it's capacity, and at a certain weight it becomes a behemoth unfeaseable to build, let alone manage. The diagram above shows the masts to be far too high to ever build (most masts were of single column of wood), and the weight of the ship with cargo would make it just a floating barge, if nothing else. There are other 'issues' that I could delve into, but I think it's a cool idea to do something like this at a Con. I wonder how much wood would go into your 6'+ long ship...

Now, magic that up and you could be plane sailing through the Con with it soon enough.

alsih2o · Jan 7, 2004

Angcuru said:
Ok, I'm confused. Are you suggesting that we get together and actually build a scale replica of the boat? And then draw a grid system on the decks and use it as makeshift gridpaper to form the base of a huge epic sea battle??!! That would be AWESOME!!!

But I think I've interpereted this COMPLETELY wrong.

Still a neat idea tho.

well, i am suggesting i prebuild the boat with a grid and then we have an epic sea battle.

epic in scale, but not in level. the boat had a royal guard, and a bunch of npcs and a captain.

we can play it however tho.

but yes, huge boat, big sea battle crazines. physics or not.

maybe just a boarding, maybe a short chase and boarding....

alsih2o · Jan 7, 2004

MarauderX said:
I wonder how much wood would go into your 6'+ long ship...

Now, magic that up and you could be plane sailing through the Con with it soon enough.

well, i have more than one 30 foot long pile of wood. with some work and some cheap bitties i think it would be very doable.

i originally did 3 ships, a 3 mast, a viking warboat and a junk. they were sent to the fellow who does molds for me and he promptly had a heart attack (at 36!) so those are on some kind of hold..

Angcuru · Jan 7, 2004

Ooohhh. I wish I were going to Gencon.

Now I wonder, what kind of wood are you thinking of making it out of? I'm thinking a douglass fir rough frame with an outer layer of oak, mahogany, or cherry with a nice stain or polish.

And how will you be making it stable to keep it level during the game? Flat bottom resting directly on the ground/table, or supporting diagonal struts protruding from the sides of the ship?

And after the game we can have an auction for the boat! OOH, the possibilities!

possibly insane gencon idea. takers?

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