[pnpgm] Game Update #9 - File #112 - Z'leyra pays ship Fares

John Stowman johnstowman at gmail.com
Sat May 23 18:46:48 CEST 2009


More OOC:

You may be right although I was guessing that it was either junk rigged or
lateen rigged but unlikely to be square rigged.  The only sailing vessel of
any size that I have ever seen up close was a circa 1600 ship called the
Dove. (addresses below if you want to look at it)  I think its about half
the size of the boat were on.  I think that to do things like furl sails (I
believe it involves a lot of tying and untying) they would lock there legs
in the rigging and then use both hands to work.  Ive never seen anything
that shows how they used bows while in the rigging.

>From a game mechanics perspective the only comparable the thing I found was
mounted archery which had a 0 modifier while stationary  and a 10 modifier
while charging.  I was hoping that it was going to give a wider range of
movement modifiers.  I haven't checked the version 2 rules yet.  For my own
opinion I think I would rather be on a moving ship than a stationer horse if
the water is calm but if the water is rough I think it would be more
difficult than on a charging horse.

The only time I was ever on the water where the swells where higher than the
deck of the fishing boat we were on I cant imagine trying to hit another
boat with an arrow.  If the other boat were more than a few hundred feet
away you wouldn't have been able to see anything but the top of the mast (at
least while in the trough) and these were gentle swells. Obviously I'm no
seaman.  I'm sure that navel battles must have been conducted under less
than ideal conditions but I'm guessing that both sides just have to deal
with the fact that every action will just take 2 to 10 times as long
depending on how bad the conditions.  If the seas were really rough then I'm
beating that they all would be more focused on surviving than fighting.

**http://www.stmaryscity.org/Virtual%20Tour/Waterfront/Waterfront.html


On Fri, May 22, 2009 at 9:36 PM, Schnockel <dasandersx at comcast.net> wrote:

>  The technology of the naval capacity here is at the trireme level.
>
> The ship we are on is a merchant ship...and with very little rigging...it
> wouldn't be like a pirates of the carribean ship.  Also, to be in the
> rigging, shooting, would require good footing, one arm wrapped around the
> rigging, and holding the bow, and the other one free to draw and fire.
>
> The combats at this level tened to be deck to deck...heck, they'd mostly be
> oar-drawn fighting ships...much faster than a merchant...
>
> ----- Original Message -----
>  *From:* John Stowman <johnstowman at gmail.com>
>  *To:* Schnockel <dasandersx at comcast.net>
> *Cc:* pnpgm at abroere.xs4all.nl
> *Sent:* Friday, May 22, 2009 8:27 PM
> *Subject:* Re: [pnpgm] Game Update #9 - File #112 - Z'leyra pays ship
> Fares
>
> OOC Continued:  In thinking more about the doge and cover issue I think I
> both agree and disagree.
>
>  While I'm not sure what the effect would be on dodging.  The people I have
> seen who are proficient at working in the rigging move pretty well but I'm
> not sure what it would be like if the were trying to dodge something, but
> they do have cover a mast is bigger than a telephone pole and if you were
> standing behind a telephone pole you would have pretty good cover .  That
> said I think of the photos of civil war sniper who had excellent cover and
> was a probably a better shot than most of those shooting at him but while he
> may have fired a dozen shots he was fired on several hundred times and hit
> once.  So he may have hit half of his targets but he may have been the only
> target for a battalion and they only had to hit him once.
>
>  In terms of game mechanics while the GM may asses a penalty (though I
> think it would be difficult because of historical precedent) for being in
> the rigging but even if he did it would probably be worth it since from that
> location he could hit targets such as a captain or pilot (which could change
> the outcome of the battle).  These targets would have to much cover
> otherwise.  There cover would include the side of the ship those lining the
> railings those firing volley fire (ie indirect fire) as well as masts
> rigging ships wheel etc. each of these layers of cover would effectively
> double or possibly even quadruple the range there is also a -5 modifier for
> firring from above.
>
> On Fri, May 22, 2009 at 5:52 PM, John Stowman <johnstowman at gmail.com>wrote:
>
>> OOC:  You do know that the normal place that archers were placed during
>> the age of sailing ships was in the rigging.  They were a target but it was
>> also the best place for a sharpshooter to pick off the high value targets
>> during ship broadsides.  During the early days of black powder guns the long
>> bow was much more accurate and so the best archer (long bowman in the case
>> of the English) got the job as late as I believe the 1700s.  He would be a
>> sitting duck but there may be ways to modify that.
>>
>>
>> On Fri, May 22, 2009 at 11:16 AM, Schnockel <dasandersx at comcast.net>wrote:
>>
>>>  Kiet says, "Rigging is far too 'loose' for archery...it's a poor
>>> stability platform...plus it makes the man on it a sitting duck.  He can be
>>> easily picked off as he cannot dodge at all."
>>>
>>>  ----- Original Message -----
>>>  *From:* John Stowman <johnstowman at gmail.com>
>>> *To:* Mark <love_to_travel_mark at yahoo.com>
>>> *Cc:* PBEM List <pnpgm at abroere.xs4all.nl>
>>> *Sent:* Friday, May 22, 2009 12:03 PM
>>> *Subject:* Re: [pnpgm] Game Update #9 - File #112 - Z'leyra pays ship
>>> Fares
>>>
>>>   On Fri, May 15, 2009 at 3:04 PM, Mark <love_to_travel_mark at yahoo.com>wrote:
>>>
>>>>
>>>
>>>    Kell also looks the ship over for defenses, and discusses this with
>>>> whoever else cares to discuss it.
>>>
>>>
>>> Will looks the length of the ship and up to the rigging and says " having
>>> an archer or two in the rigging would be a start"
>>>
>>>  ------------------------------
>>>
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