Re: Ships and Age

> Ships and Age
> Spelljammer doesn't really have any sort of rules concerning ships
> and age, but it is something I would like to introduce into my games.
> It makes a good factor to help determine ship costs, both for
> buying and selling used ships.  Old ships should be less durable
> (i.e.
> fewer hull points), and cost more to upkeep.  Thusly, they should
> also cost less to buy and bring in less money when sold.
>
> The problem is I don't really know anything about how well ships age,
> and how long before a ship really starts to show signs of aging.
> I understand that it will depend on how well taken care of it is,
> and how much action it sees, but lets suppose a baseline of a
> standard trade ship that sees lots of use but virtually no combat,
> and gets the "standard" level of attention to it.  Given this, how
> long is this thing going to last?  How long is it going to function
> at peak performance?  At what age does it become a little less
> durable and a bit hard to upkeep?  Ten years?  Twenty?  Fifty?  Two
> hundred?  At what point does the ship become so old it simply isn't
> any good any more?  Three hundred years?  A thousand?
>
> I am guessing that spelljamming vessels will hold up better than
> seagoing vessels, since there are two forces of erosion they do not
> have to deal with: sea water and strong winds.  Not that they might
> not deal with such forces on occasion, but not to the extent that
> seagoing vessels do.  I am also guessing that bugs and parasites
> such as termites and barnacles (how common are flow barnacles? I
> don't recall off the top of my head) are going to be much more rare.

Not to mention SJ vessels generally face no wind at all when flying and
they are much easier to maintain (they exist in a sort of near
permanent drydock situation).  Also magical spells will aid you quite a
bit.  A simple mending can fix minute cracks you only suspect and don't
know exist and the 1st Edition exterminate cantrip (and thus presumably
the 2nd Ed cantrip spell) can clean out a lot of bug problems.  Unseen
servatn and cantrips can clean the ship very well and keep in in such
condition fairly easily.  Was the wood grown using plant growth spells
that made it especially healthy?  Did the Chauntean priest that ran the
tree farm cast cure disease spells on the trees on a regular basis?
What quality of wood do we have here?

My father's job deals with old wood on a daily basis (from living trees
to buildings and fallen logs) so I've seen a lot of it.  I can tell you
a wooden structure that isn't maintained but was well built in the
first place can exist in areas like Georgia and the mid-West US (areas
that are about what is generally considered average "temperate" in game
terms with rain, snow, cold, heat, humidity, bugs, etc.) can last for
over 300-400 years in pristine condition.  The resilliance of wood,
even without petrifying is astounding.

> In the end I am trying to come up with a system that modifies
> aspects of a ship based on it age (which can be modified by the
> level of care it receives).  It would affect its hull points, basic
> repair cost, saving throws and prices.  My current charts have six
> groupings, but I am not sure if they are at all realistic...

I could see adjusting MC because a mast needs replacing or the like but
hull points would seem to only be affected by general hull rot.
Petrification and rot will affect AR before they affect HP.  Note also
that Paul Westermeyer and others consider many parts of ships to come
from Kindori bones and such so a purely wood based system may not be
the best.

> 0-25
> 26-50
> 51-100
> 101-200
> 201-400
> 401-600
> 601-1000

I would use even smaller groupings but most groups will have no effect
on ships with average or excellent maintenance.  Also initial quality
will have a great deal of effect.

=====

Do you really think I'd admit to stealing that much money in my email sig?  Uhh, don't answer that.

The crazier the people are around me the saner I am.  That's why I work
in an asylum.  No, not the rubber room again!  No, but, but, my email...



__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Talk to your friends online with Yahoo! Messenger.
http://im.yahoo.com