Propulsion and Sailing Skills
Every vehicle has a means of propulsion. Boats and ships are propelled by currents, muscle, wind, or all three forces. The method of propulsion typically affects the speed and maneuverability of a ship, but more importantly, determines the required skill needed to control the ship. Controlling a ship takes common sense, awareness, intuition, and often some amount of skill in the ship’s means of propulsion. In the case of wind or current propulsion, it is about using the current and tools like sails, oars, or a rudder to move the ship. In the case of muscle propulsion, it is about guiding creatures to move the ship. The following are the general methods of ship propulsion, along with the skills typically needed to pilot ships propelled by the specified means.
Current: All boats and ships can use water currents for propulsion, but ships that only rely on currents for propulsion are somewhat limited. These vehicles can only move in the direction and at the speed of a current unless they also employ some other means of propulsion or manipulation, and thus often have an additional form of propulsion, such as muscle in the case of a rowboat, or wind in the case of a sailing ship. A current-propelled ship requires a Profession (sailor) check for the sailing check.
A current-propelled ship’s maximum speed depends on the speed of the current (often as high as 120 feet). The acceleration of a current-propelled ship is 30 feet.
Muscle: Muscle-propelled ships use oars and rowers to push the ship forward. Sailing skills for muscle-propelled ships tend to be Diplomacy, Intimidate, or Handle Animal, depending on the intelligence and attitude of the creatures supplying the muscle for the propulsion.
For intelligent creatures, use Diplomacy if the creatures providing the propulsion have an attitude of indifferent, friendly, or helpful (Core Rulebook 94). If the creatures providing the propulsion are friendly or helpful, Diplomacy sailing checks are made with a +5 bonus. An average crew is considered indifferent, though a particularly loyal crew might be considered friendly. Intimidate is used for intelligent creatures with an attitude of unfriendly or hostile, such as captive rowers on a slave galley. Handle Animal is used if the creatures providing the propulsion are not intelligent.
The maximum speed and acceleration of a muscle-propelled ship depends on the number of creatures providing the propulsion, but most muscle-propelled ship have a maximum speed of 30 feet and an acceleration of 30 feet. Larger muscle-propelled ships with many rowers have a maximum speed of 60 feet and an acceleration of 30 feet.
Oars: All muscle-propelled ships require the use of oars. Oars have their own statistics.
Wind: Wind-propelled ships use sails to harness the power of the wind for propulsion. A wind-propelled ship requires a Profession (sailor) check for the sailing check. Small wind-propelled ships can move at a maximum speed of 30 feet. Larger ships that are also musclepropelled often have a maximum speed of 60 feet when using only wind propulsion. Large ships with multiple masts and many sails can have maximum speeds of up to 90 feet. The acceleration of a wind-propelled ship is 30 feet.
All wind-propelled ships can move twice their normal maximum speed when moving in the direction of the wind. A ship using wind propulsion cannot move in the opposite direction from the wind.
Sails and Rigging: All wind-propelled ships require the use of sails and rigging. To move at full speed, a ship requires 10 5-foot squares of sails per mast per square of the ship. For example, a 3-square ship with three masts requires 90 squares of sails. Sails have their own statistics (see sidebar).
Mixed Means of Propulsion: Some ships use multiple forms of propulsion. Multiple methods of propulsion add f lexibility and can work in concert to create faster movement. If a ship has two means of propulsion, such as wind and muscle, it generally adds its two maximum speeds together to determine its maximum speed. Acceleration remains the same. Nothing is added for a third form of propulsion, except for the f lexibility of having a back-up form of propulsion. A ship with multiple methods of propulsion often requires a large crew to get it going and keep it moving.