Celestia II

I will be posting in all threads tomorrow, unless my daughter's fever comes back, which doesn't seem likely. She's doing much better now.

That thing's a SHIP with a cargo capacity of 90 tons?? Everyone was saying boat boat boat, I had assumed it was a small watercraft!

Well, obviously that won't work, then. Oh well. So much for that idea.

Be a good time to have the spell: Summon Chulthu.


Actually I can't think of a good time not to have that spell memorized.

Thanks, I'll take you up on that kind offer.

Are the stars right?

Sorry for the ship/boat confusion. But I think a size small octopus would not be likely to grapple a fishing boat either... and its size was not apparant until it drew nearer. Remember, you guys are backlit by the moon and traveling in a white vessel, while the approaching vessel has the mainland behind it.

The rule of thumb for the ship/boat distinction is that a boat can fit in a ship, but a ship can't fit in a boat. So, yeah, it could be called a ship, however...

A Cromster is about the size of a Sloop, which is commonly considered a boat. It has a draft of 2 fathoms (it needs 12 feet of water to avoid running aground), and cargo capacity of 90 tons, whereas a Sloop (also a 2 fathom draft) has a cargo capacity of 80tons. A Cromster is less maneuverable than a Sloop, though more heavily armed and with a slightly larger cargo capacity.

Compared to what you were traveling in before, it's a pretty small ship though. And there are larger ones in the fleet you were accompanying. The HMS Sea Stag, a Third Rate, has a draft of 4 fathoms (meaning it needs ~24 feet of water depth to avoid running aground) and a cargo capacity of 120 tons, which is low for its size because it's not fitted to haul cargo. The flag ship, a First Rate, has a draft of 5 fathoms and a cargo capacity of 200 tons (also not built for hauling cargo... built for blowing stuff up). A galleon, which is smaller than a First Rate, has a cargo capacity of 400 tons.

The speed of these ships is a lot faster than that given in the DMG, but wind conditions are not ideal. I am using the Corsair rules for ships because this is a port city and the DMG rules are inadequate. Stormwrack has a few rules, but doesn't really suffice.

I guess I also called it a boat because I tend to include larger vessels in what I call boats... my dad had a boat that was 30' long. I was raised on boats. I think an octopus would have a hard time grappling a good sized rowboat, really.

Boats are big. Ships are bigger. Yes, a Cromster is a ship, though not a big one, but I doubt a size small octopus, fiendish or not, could grapple anything larger than a canoe.

How many people typically crew this size ship? Dozen?

The stars are confused!

A dozen is the minimum crew requirement for this size ship. The maximum is 50 crew and 10 passengers, so a maximum of 60 on board. If the boat is not sea-faring but coastal, it is less likely to have a full complement.

Remember, the swan boat can hold thirty-two Medium characters, so this is not as outrageous a number as it might first seem. There are also variations on how a ship of this sort handles its rigging that reduce crew requirements.

Perhaps I'm confused again, or maybe I'm not conveying my idea properly. My thought was to go a couple of miles outside of town, find a beach or somewhere we can land, ditch the boat (which only lasts for one day, in any event), and then filter into the city via land in groups of twos and threes. Gates or no, I have to imagine that as a trading city, there is a significant amount of foot traffic through the gates during the day? Perhaps this might not work for the most conspicuous among us, but my thought had been that it would work for most of us.

More confusion......is Galendrill casting the spell from the scroll he just took out? or is he just reading it out loud (and is that allowed on a magical scroll) or silently?
Just a few questions from Nordengienst's house.