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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Stormrunner" data-source="post: 1143122" data-attributes="member: 13471">Cooper is an absolute necessity on any ship expected to spend a week or more at sea: barrels will crack/leak over time if not constantly maintained.  On small ships the cooper and carpenter are probably the same person; on large ships keeping up with all the barrels is a full-time job and so the carpenter is seperate.Sailmaker is obviously necessary; ropemaker is another (he often makes the thread for the sailmaker too).A couple of tools commonly used as weapons by sailors (because any medium to large ship will have lots of them lying around ready to hand):Marlinspike: A long (6-18 inches), heavy iron spike with a crossbar ("T") handle.  Used in ropemaking (rather like a giant knitting needle but requiring more muscle).  Treat as a punch dagger.Belaying pin: A shaft of stout wood (such as oak) an inch or more in diameter and around 2 feet long, with a slightly bulbous handle and often a disklike guard above the handle.  Inserted into holes along the railing to create a temporary anchoring-point for ropes.  Wielded like a policeman's truncheon: treat as a light club.Gaff (more common on fishing boats): a long pole with a big hook on the end (often barbed, like a giant fishhook).  Used to pull large fish(tuna, etc.) into the boat after hooking them with a line.  A polearm that does impaling damage, may or may not have reach depending on the length of the pole.  Designed as a tool not a weapon, so probably does no more than 1d6 and may have an awkwardness penalty (say, -2 or so).  The hook would allow trip attacks.Sailors and swimming: note that it's quite difficult for a big sailing ship to come to a stop in mid-ocean, much less turn around.  If you fall overboard, by the time the ship can drop a sea-anchor, furl all sails, and send out a jollyboat to pick you up, it's probably at least several hundred yards away.  At that distance, just spotting your bobbing head among the waves can be difficult.  Unless you were a very strong swimmer AND lucky, if you fell overboard you were most likely done for.  Therefore, most sailors preferred to max out skills like Balance and Climb, to avoid falling overboard in the first place.The main exception would be fishing-boat crews, who probably grew up in a seaside community and spent their childhood playing on the beaches.</blockquote>

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