Shipboard slang - Was: Mammoth -> Horseshoe Crab

>From: jamesriley <jamesriley@???.net>
>Reply-To: Spelljammer Setting Discussion <SPELLJAMMER-L@??????.???????.com>
>To: SPELLJAMMER-L@??????.???????.com
>Subject: Re: [SPELLJAMMER] Mammoth -> Horseshoe Crab
>Date: Mon, 12 Dec 2005 18:42:33 -0500
>
>Yes you are right about the square meal bit. I only wish the USN was as
>enlightened as you on sleep and meal requirements for its sailors. Lol. On
>further reflection I have decided that I will probably need to add about 6
>more crew to the vessel to round out two full strength shifts.

<snip>

>	Just a fun little factoid British sailors got tagged with the
>nickname "limey" by American sailors, because of the English navy policy of
>requiring English sailors to drink lime juice to prevent scurvy. But the
>healthy British sailors got the last laugh I guess.

I did know that one, thanks, James. Here is another bit of navy slang for 
you:

Back when gun powder was used on ships, it wasn't safe to keep it all next 
to cannons. Young apprentices (probably in their early teens) had the job of 
running down ladders to the hold to fetch more gun powder from stores and 
bring it back up to the gun crews. They were known as "powder monkeys" - 
(presumably because they climbed up and down like a monkey).

In time a lot of things monkey got associated with guns and the stand for 
balancing cannon balls got called a "brass monkey". A "brass monkey" is a 
large squarish device with holes in. Putting cannon balls into the holes 
stops them from rolling away. Because it is square you can stack another 
layer of balls on top, and another layer on top of that, until you end up 
with a pyramid of cannon balls.

The only problem with "brass monkeys" was that because they were made from a 
different metal to the cannon balls they contract and expand at a different 
rate. In very cold weather they would crack and the pyramid of cannon balls 
would come falling down. This is why when it is cold people say "it is cold 
enough to freeze the balls off a brass monkey."

I used to really puzzle over that expression until I saw a program about the 
British Navy.

(Maybe we should have a navy slang postfest and collect it all for BtM).

By the way, if you are desiging crew for a ship you might want to make sure 
you have some very young "powder monkeys" as well as some very old 
experienced spacehands (perhaps with an injury from long ago). A bit of 
variety will stop your crew looking like a bunch of clones to your players. 
Players may prefer to talk to the older newer crew members, and the variety 
will justify you using certain crew members to pass on background 
infomation* or ask questions to the players**.

Having a variety in the crew is also useful if NPCs get killed in battle. 
Instead of killing one of three catapult crewmen, you can now decide to kill 
the one who is an expert, the one who is an apprentice or the one that has 
been doing it for a few seasons. If everyone with identical jobs has some 
sort of role in the structure, they might actually get missed by players if 
they get killed.

More importantly, as players are usually not counted as part of the crew, if 
you know the exact role of someone that gets killed or injured a player can 
attempt to fill their shoes in the middle of the battle. A PC that becomes a 
temporary "powder monkey" and brings smoke powder up to the ships bombard, 
could turn the battle in their ships favor.

* = Read - give the players extra clues when they missed one of your plot 
hooks.
* = Read - get the players to think things over if the game is stalling.

David Shepheard
easyEverything internet cafe
London UK