The Sailing Skill

by **Risa Moontide** on July 18th, 2011, 11:25 am

I'm jut writing this thread to see what you think of my design for the sailing skill.

Now at its basics, this skill could simply be broken down into speed over time. I've done considerable research on the subject as part of my character. From what I can tell an average speed for boats would be about 6 knots per hour including bad weather and about 10 hours per day, if sailing alone and near the coast. In open ocean water you can sail every hour you can keep watch at, so for several people it can be 24 hours a day. Sailing speed is based on understanding of the wind, weather, currents, and underwater topogrophy. The better your knowledge, the more you can utilize the environment to get your ship where you want it to go.

Now I think for the sailing skill to work well we should give each ship type a base speed which will then have a modifier applied based on skill.

For example, the Svefra Casinor (I'm using stats from the Philipine Balangay, the British Yawl, and the Arab Dhow, all older wooden boats) could have a base speed of 6 knots per hour, or 60 knots a day. For a novice they could only travel half that speed, or .5x, and go 30 knots a day. A competant sailor would be able to use the boat as it should be used and go 1x, or 60 knots. A master could push the limits and go 1.5x, or 90 knots a day. Finally the expert could perform amazing feats of seamanship by doubling the normal speed (2x) and travel 120 knots per day.

I think this system would be effective for simplifying and breaking down the complex subject that is sailing in a way that makes our game more readily accessible. I've already posted a help desk ticket, I just want the people's opinion first off as well to see if the system is reasonable.
Let me know! Thanks,
Risa

by **Marlow** on July 18th, 2011, 11:37 am

Risa and I discussed this at length in the chat. The logs of the Philippine Balangay Voyage show that they averaged ~6 kn/hour (2,136 nautical miles in 120 days with at least 3 hours of sailing per day).

This was a point-to-point voyage within the Philippine Archipelago with lots of stop-overs. This meant a lot of coastal sailing and takes into account coastal obstacles and inclement weather (monsoon).

Chat log

by **Bedlam** on July 18th, 2011, 2:11 pm

Have you gone into the HD and requested sailing? Because you need to do that in order to get permission to write the skill.

by **Marlow** on July 18th, 2011, 2:25 pm

Yes, she has. :nod:

Risa wrote:I think this system would be effective for simplifying and breaking down the complex subject that is sailing in a way that makes our game more readily accessible. I've already posted a help desk ticket, I just want the people's opinion first off as well to see if the system is reasonable.

by **Bedlam** on July 18th, 2011, 2:50 pm

Ah. Don't I feel dumb. Carry on. : x

I saw someone post up some work on Sailing that looked very good. Take a glance at it, see if you want to use it.