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Message: <blockquote data-quote="utopia27" data-source="post: 5214683" data-attributes="member: 26707">prevalence and universe consistencyPart of the question is how prevalent Mages are in your universe.  If 1 in 1000 ships has a magically-capable crew, then there will be very few anti-magic counter-measures in place.  If, on the other hand, there's a reasonable expectation that any given pirate ship, privateer, or other hostile force will have a magically-capable individual on the crew, then there will be a variety of magical countermeasures in common use. Let's look to evidence...  sailors are commonly understood to be among the most superstitious of all people.  In a Mage universe, these superstitions may be vulgar evidence of actual effective magics (perhaps not Mage-style magics, but formulaic...).  So if the prevalence of shipboard superstition is evidence of continuing use of magery in ship's operation, it's natural to assume that these magics are also battle-effective.  I have a mental vision of two ship's powder rooms: first, a pirates-of-the-carribean pirate ship, and second a lord-nelson's-navy 'scientifically' managed ship.  On the first, The powder room door has a hoodoo warding sign scribed on it 'for protection'.  Inside, each barrel of powder has a lump of pitch on an edge, and a red thread around the top of the barrel, and dangling to a broadly-frayed end, "to catch the sparks, keep 'em away from the powder".  Wadding and match-cord are stored coiled counter-clockwise above the equator, and clockwise below the equator.  Tools for mixing and measuring all have deer-horn in their construction - as weights on scales, handles for tools, etc.  All taken together, these magics and fetishes (as administered and maintained by the ship's hoo-doo man from the exotic locale and strange accent, reinforced by the belief and indoctrination of the crew...) raise the target numbers for magical effects (protective sigil against Cor, horn implements against Prim), and raise the required successes for a major effect (red cords, coiling and storage).  Note that these also lead to 'by other means' attacks on the guards and wards... Mat attacks on the material of the door to weaken protective wards, Mind effects to make ship's rats hunger for red cords and rearrange coiled matchcord for bedding, etc.On the Lord-Nelson's-Navy ship, it's a much more technocrat focused.  The powder room is a separate vault built into the ship - the vault is installed permanently, but on 'motion-isolating' chocks of some springy exotic wood.  The door is actually a double door - one that opens into the ship, one that opens into the vault "serving as both a reminder to personnel of the unique risks of the powder room, and to ensure final defensability of the powder room from any accidental entry to the powder room".  Within the powder-room/vault, the individual casks are stored in a specially-designed honeycomb-structured, baffled rack holder, "to isolate any accidental sparks or small explosions".  A regular maintenance procedure is to ensure the separations between the baffles "is optimal for safety".  Cord and wadding is stored with felt spacers, and all storage boxes are designed without hinges or clasps.  Tools are regulation, properly shaped and of the right weights, stored in carefully labelled leather satchels, and the powder monkeys are regularly drilled on replacing each tool in the stachel after each use, before taking out another tool.  Note that the game-mechanical effects are the same as above.Also note - there's not a lot of skepticisim floating around at sea.  The reality of the Emprium is subject to local belief systems - and if the only ones around to believe are sailors indoctrinated into the superstitions of their ship, then they're going to have an unusually high impact on local reality.  The magics (whether superstitious magic hoo-doo, or technocratic magic of scientiifc design) used on a ship, reinforced by the belief of the crew, should have a higher level of impact than standard game-mechanic ritual magery.  Your friendly neighborhood Mage will not necessarily benefit from this boost due to isolation.  Note also that many shipboard situations will have wonky Paradox impacts.  A very superstitious, open-minded crew will be much more directly accepting of magical effects - Paradox will be mitigated.  A Nelson's-Navy style ship and crew will have a more regimented local reality, and Mager may invite Paradox much more readily.  Finally, note that privacy and 'out-of-the-way'ness is very rare shipboard.  It will require substantial planning and stage-management to be 'unobserved'.</blockquote>

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