Broadsides!
- Thread starter Kirowan
- Start date
Thanks for writing the review, Psion! I'll be picking up a copy as soon as my local store has one in...
As a comment to your review, I found that several of the sample ships in the Seafarers Handbook did not "add up" according to the construction rules, which made the rules themselves rather suspect (to me). Despite this, I preferred the SH over Seas of Blood -- but I'm hoping that Broadsides can keelhaul them both. Arrrr.....
As a comment to your review, I found that several of the sample ships in the Seafarers Handbook did not "add up" according to the construction rules, which made the rules themselves rather suspect (to me). Despite this, I preferred the SH over Seas of Blood -- but I'm hoping that Broadsides can keelhaul them both. Arrrr.....
JoeGKushner
Adventurer
Donatello said:
No problem. Like I've noted. I've heard a lot about it and have read a review or two on it that makes it sound very appealing. There were several elements I enjoyed about Twin Crowns and hope that Broadside, being the sophmore production, can overcome the starting jitters that many other companies seem to have gone through.
Psion said:
Doesn't that make the SHIP suspect instead of the rules?Anyway, I've spoken to the guy who did the ship design system for the SH and he seems to have done his homework.
That's what I thought at first -- but then I realized that the rules as written don't (for example) let you make a longship with sails and reasonable oar speed. If the rules don't work right for a "classic" ship type, then IMO there's something wrong with the rules.
Of course, this is based on my research and opinion of what a longship "should" be, so I might be way off the norm. I still recommend SH as the book to get for nautical stuff, and if for some reason Broadsides doesn't make the grade, I'll be using my modified SH rules.
Donatello
Explorer
The problem with ship construction rules that encompass both a longship and a galleon are that technology changed so much from 800 AD to 1700 AD that the whole process was literally 100% different.
This was the problem we encountered when trying to design a codified set of rules for Broadsides!. The ships we list are historically accurate to what they could actually accomplish, and because we cover over 900 years of naval advancement, it's impossible to set a system up. Longships were the pinnacle of advancement in 800 AD. Using 800 techonolgy, it's impossible to make a 2 or 3 masted ship. On the other hand, when you're in the Carrack or Galleon era, oars were phased out for the most part. Putting a bunch of oars on a ship like that was not only pointless, but would reduce the overall effectiveness of the design.
We actually explained that in our brief section on Ship Construction. To do it right we would have to have a different set of rules based on each era of naval techonolgy. Since that was impractical (and would have taken up dozens of pages), we decided instead to lay down some helpful guidelines, and left the rest to the DM.
Also to address a point that Psion brought up in the review - the lack of deck plans was not an oversight. Deck plans are huge and complicated, and dont' translate well into the D&D 5' scale standard. Since most of our ships are historically based (unlike SH and SoB, which use mostly fantastic ships), we didn't want to crowd the book with innaccurate or unusable deck plans. We wanted to stay as historically accurate as possible - we did so for the stats, why would we forsake that for some maps?
We are currently looking in to providing deck plans for all of our ships on our webpage, but I cannot say for sure if that will come to fruition.
Regardless - Psion - I thank you for your review, and I'm glad you think that we can successfully go toe to toe with the "Big Boys". We are proud of our system.
This was the problem we encountered when trying to design a codified set of rules for Broadsides!. The ships we list are historically accurate to what they could actually accomplish, and because we cover over 900 years of naval advancement, it's impossible to set a system up. Longships were the pinnacle of advancement in 800 AD. Using 800 techonolgy, it's impossible to make a 2 or 3 masted ship. On the other hand, when you're in the Carrack or Galleon era, oars were phased out for the most part. Putting a bunch of oars on a ship like that was not only pointless, but would reduce the overall effectiveness of the design.
We actually explained that in our brief section on Ship Construction. To do it right we would have to have a different set of rules based on each era of naval techonolgy. Since that was impractical (and would have taken up dozens of pages), we decided instead to lay down some helpful guidelines, and left the rest to the DM.
Also to address a point that Psion brought up in the review - the lack of deck plans was not an oversight. Deck plans are huge and complicated, and dont' translate well into the D&D 5' scale standard. Since most of our ships are historically based (unlike SH and SoB, which use mostly fantastic ships), we didn't want to crowd the book with innaccurate or unusable deck plans. We wanted to stay as historically accurate as possible - we did so for the stats, why would we forsake that for some maps?
We are currently looking in to providing deck plans for all of our ships on our webpage, but I cannot say for sure if that will come to fruition.
Regardless - Psion - I thank you for your review, and I'm glad you think that we can successfully go toe to toe with the "Big Boys". We are proud of our system.
Psion
Adventurer
Donatello said:
Oh, I wasn't suggesting it was an oversight. Each book has its own strengths and the designers took different approaches. Nothing wrong with that. You will note that I pointed out where you were strong WRT SoB and SH. It's just a factor to consider for those who may have trouble deciding between the systems.
Donatello
Explorer
We definately appreciate your time, and value the review.
Between the reviews and the discussion this book has sparked, I feel very good about Broadsides. I feel we have a very strong product, and based on what the buyer is looking for, one that is superior to the other two in many ways.
Between the reviews and the discussion this book has sparked, I feel very good about Broadsides. I feel we have a very strong product, and based on what the buyer is looking for, one that is superior to the other two in many ways.
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