Dungeon's new pirates of the caribbean series

[James Jacobs]

Thought I'd weigh in for a second on the controversy...

Growing up on the coast with a commercial fisherman for a father more or less infected me with boat/ship/ocean fascination from the start, and that'll certainly be carrying over into Savage Tide. It's one of the reasons, truth be told, that there's such a strong naval element to the campaign; it's ripe with adventure possibility.

As for historical accuracy, D&D's never really been about being a real-world medieval simulation. It takes that era of technology as a starting point, but there are syringes and nails and spyglasses and all sorts of other things that are a bit more modern than one might expect to find back then. Or maybe not. Magic would change the world in a lot of ways—Eberron's a good example of how things would be different, but even in less magic-heavy campaigns it would have an impact. So it's a bit unrealistic to expect everything in D&D to match real-world analogs exactly.

In any event, the scandalous ship in question isn't part of the Savage Tide. For a look at the ship the PCs will be in charge of for this campaign, check out page 106 of Dungeon #138. The Sea Wyvern's going to be a recurring character in the campaign, and the PCs will be quite familiar with its decks by the campaign's end. The ship itself is about 70 feet long, and is basically a caravel.

 

[CarlZog]

It's a 15th century carrack. Cover over those four gun ports and it's groovy. Maybe a tad late, but, certainly not too bad. But, later ships are just so bloody BIG. A sloop carries around 100 crew. This is a HUGE ship compared to period ships. This thing would eat viking ships for breakfast. To give you an idea, Captain Cook sailed around the world in a sloop.

I think you might be getting some of your nomenclature a little muddled, but I do understand your point.

Despite the presumably pre-gunpowder medieval context of most D&D, the sailing ships depicted in fantasy rpg material are almost invariably representations of late 16th to early 19th century designs. I suspect that this is because the vast majority of popular notions of sailing ships are derived from that period -- essentially the Spanish Armada through Trafalgar.

For an artist or a game designer without a lot of nautical background, it's a lot easier to find reference material for ships of this time period than it is to find decent pre-gunpowder medieval ships. And, even if he does, the resulting image isn't likely to resonate very well with a public raised on Captain Blood, Horatio Hornblower, and, now, Jack Sparrow.

Although it can be viewed as an anachronism, it's not one that particularly impinges on my fantasy gaming. Actually, I'm certain it's the least of the historical mistakes one could find if D&D was going to be held up to a strictly historical standard for an early medieval setting.

Carl

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

For a look at the ship the PCs will be in charge of for this campaign, check out page 106 of Dungeon #138. The Sea Wyvern's going to be a recurring character in the campaign, and the PCs will be quite familiar with its decks by the campaign's end. The ship itself is about 70 feet long, and is basically a caravel.

This whole Adventure Path makes me weep with joy.

 

[Nightfall]

While I would be extactic that Orcus is the new top dog of the Abyss, there's still the matter of Graz'zt and a few guys below him and Orcus to deal with. A "split" Demogorgon does leave Orcus vulnerable if Demogorgon's cultists some how reconstituted him. Even so, I hope Orcus makes for a power play. A new layer or two is something he could use to his advantage.

 

[Arnwyn]

Growing up on the coast with a commercial fisherman for a father more or less infected me with boat/ship/ocean fascination from the start, and that'll certainly be carrying over into Savage Tide. It's one of the reasons, truth be told, that there's such a strong naval element to the campaign; it's ripe with adventure possibility.

For a look at the ship the PCs will be in charge of for this campaign, check out page 106 of Dungeon #138. The Sea Wyvern's going to be a recurring character in the campaign, and the PCs will be quite familiar with its decks by the campaign's end. The ship itself is about 70 feet long, and is basically a caravel.

Hee hee! <girlish giggle>

As more information is released, I cannot help but get more and more giddy with excitement over time.

 

[Nightfall]

I know how you feel Arn. I'm certainly pretty well pleased with these seeds and the potential it will have for years to come.