Boats

Kitsune
09-09-2007, 06:25 PM
Sailor characters are allowed to operate and own various types of ships. A sailor can start as a naval officer, pirate or merchant--each of the choices has its own types of ships for varying purposes. However, all boats selected must be of semi-traditional eastern design at this time. Gaijin ships are likely to be attacked without warning and/or assumed to be part of some invading force.

Ships are defined by their design and by their purpose. First we shall look at the three most common uses for ships in the empire and what type of ships these sailors will aquire.

Pirate: Pirate ships selected often hybrid the other two types of vessels that sail the seas and rivers of Saiken. They must have spacious cargo areas while being able to be fast enough to be able to outrun naval boats. These ships are the most frequently "customized" out of the three types of ships, and the most likely to be the most noticeable (as a pirate's primary weapon is, without a doubt, fear). Although many pirates are semi-officially "clan sanctioned", they are still very much breaking the law. Having a ship obviously rigged to be a pirate vessel will cause you undesired stress at docks and bays, not to mention when sailing even the most legal of missions.

Young pirates have to face a critical decision: to be a part of a gang tied to their major clan (or a ronin crew), or have their own ship. Starting your own crew of more than 5 NPCs requires station points, however for a koku per mission you should be able to get a decent crew of men to simply allow your ship to operate. It is hard starting your own crew at such a small level though--expect your ship to be under constant attacks not only from angry merchants and the dutiful navy, but other pirates who want to pick off the younger competition.

Joining a pirate crew of a major clan allows you access to effectively any place in the empire you need to be free of cost, at the minor risk of arrest, to get to where you need to be during plots and missions. Furthermore, special "raid" missions and even personal chapters can be made in which great treasures can be taken from merchant vessels.

To make a "raid", simply add the tag [raid] to your post. You are under control of your crew up until the time when you board an enemy ship. This raid is considered a mission for all purposes other than grading, and a quest master or clan-head will post the results of the raid, including possible naval interference in which you may have to fight, sneak or charm your way out of a tight-spot. You can raid other merchant ships or small towns off shores or (most commonly) rivers. You will probably never raid your own clan's town, however.

Navy: Naval ships are in many ways like their pirate counter-parts, however usually with less cargo space and much more fire-power. The job of the navy is to protect merchant ships and coastal/riverside towns from pirate threats--and they pride themselves on their ability to get their job done well. They are usually the fastest, strongest and best armed of all three ship types of ships.

However, one sacrifices their freedom by declaring themselves a naval officer. You will receive a stronger ship than most pirates, however you cannot go on raids (without sacrificing your honor, reputation and possibly position in the navy) and may be called even during plots to your post to aid in the defense of a town, naval or merchant ship to stop a raid in progress.

You cannot start with your own ship and be considered in the navy, however by climbing the ranks of the military, you can find yourself with more power then even the strongest of pirate-kings could ever hope to obtain.

Merchants: From seaweed collectors and fishermen to cargo ships and mailmen, merchants of the seas and rivers of the empire are found in every clan and faction across the empire. The lifeblood of commerce, merchant ships are fast, reliable and can carry more cargo than any other. They usually have limited weapons on board, but are allied with the naval ships. Furthermore, merchant ship players are able to do almost whatever they want with their ships (as long as its not illegal or they carry the right amount of "paper work", or koku, with them), and not have to worry about the navy threatening to blow their ship apart like the pirates.

Merchants are allowed to obtain funds periodically through [jobs] in the same way pirates raid. They choose a job they want to work at...pay a crew, usually 10 bu a day per person, and go out and do a job. There is a chance of a raid, but the less high profile job (like fishing), the less chance there is of pirates wanting to attack you. But the less chance there is also of a higher reward.
Kitsune
09-10-2007, 06:18 AM
Boat Types:

Note:

Durability: This simply reflects about how strong the ship is compared to other ships. A base durability of 10 generally means the ship can be easily cracked open by a canon-ball and sunk, but would take several arrows to lite aflame and at least a level 5 spell to pierce the hull (or several lower level spells). This number is not to be taken as an absolute: certain parts of a ship will be more durable then others.

Capacity: Each point of capacity is essentially "1 person" and enough provisions/weapons for that person to keep them alive for a single voyage. Weapons take up different amounts of capacity, as do different types of cargo, which can be found in the post beneath this one.

Speed: The speed of a ship really only compares to that of other ships. Each point here is essentially 1 knot (nautical mile per hour, or 1.8 km/h). For simplicity sake, assume all boats can increase or decrease in speed 20% of their top speed per round (round down to the nearest whole number) with adequate crew.

Banca:

A small one, two or three person canoe-like ship with an outrigger on the side for balance and support. They come from designs taken from southern islands during an invasion by the wolf. But their sturdy and quick design quickly made it a relatively popular boat in all clans in the empire, perfect for quick travel (albeit without much cargo space). These boats are best used in rivers around the empire or bays. They are not meant to be sailed in the open seas as they cannot hold much in terms of supplies and can tip in the event of a rogue wave.

Kobune:

Kobune are the small-medium sized ships most common in the seas and bays around Saiken. Although rarely outfitted for sea travel beyond the central seas (i.e. the northern seas or the ocean away from Wolf clan lands), they are very reliable ships. Most fishermen, merchants and river-pirates use this ship, as well as newer pirates. The navy usually uses these ships only in rivers where Djong cannot travel, or when transporting a small amount of troops, cargo or post.

They range in size between 80 feet long and 40 feet wide, to 130 feet long and 60 feet wide. They have flat bottoms, but the surface area of this flat keel is much smaller then that of Djong. They are faster than Djong, but slower than Outriggers.

The base price for these ships is 5,000 koku (80x40), with a durability, capacity and speed of 10. Each 10'x5' size category larger increases this cost by another 700 koku. Each size category lowers the speed of these ships by 1, to a minimum of 5.

Djong/Junk:

* "Treasure ships", used by the commander of the fleet and his deputies (Nine-masted junks, about 400 feet long and 160 feet wide).
* "Horse ships", carrying tribute goods and repair material for the fleet (Eight-masted junks, about 339 feet long and 138 feet wide)
* "Supply ships", containing food-staple for the crew (Seven-masted junks, about 257 feet long and 115 feet wide).
* "Troop transports" (Six-masted junks, about 220 feet long and 83 feet wide).
* "Fuchuan warships" (Five-masted junks, about 165 feet long).
* "Patrol boats" (Eight-oared, about 120 feet long).
* "Water tankers", with 1 month supply of fresh water and sustainability.

Atakebune:

These iron-clad ships are as expensive as they are rare. Only a few select ship makers in the entire empire can build these ships--and they belong only to the Wolf clan. Reputation with the wolf clan is required to get these ships built for you, however over the years it has been said one or two of these rare vessels have been successfully stolen by pirates...

Only 10 of these vessels are currently in service. 3 reside in the Wolf Islands, and 7 belong the emperor himself and are named after each of the emperor's most beloved kami kin. They reside in the Ki-Rin bay--at least one is on constant patrol.

The iron plating on these ships slows them down dramatically, however it makes them floating fortresses--it takes nearly 10x the beating of a normal wooden vessel (if not more) and is resistant to many magics as well (when these ships are build, Ofuda are placed between the iron panels and the wood of the ship. After all, if your going to spend this much money, you might as well protect yourself from the wrath of the sea, other sailors and the kami).


Exotic Boat Types:

Exotic boats range in type from simple primative canoes, hollowed out of single large pieces of wood, to full sized Galleons and fast Columbian era ships from the west. However, no exotic of these are available to players as of now.