Have you considered?
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Probably a bad idea. If I was leading a boarding party, and all the defender’s retreated below decks, I’d consider it a victory. Take down the sails, pin the rudder, then park my ship outside of their cannons’ firing arc. Then just wait. Maybe have my crew bring over buckets of shit, vomit, or whatever other vile substances we could find, and dump them down the grates. If I got real desperate, I could just board up the doors and set the ship on fire. Sure, I’ll miss out on most of the treasure, but those dwarves will probably burn to death before the boat totally sinks.
Depends on your goal. If you just want to sink the ship, boarding is unnecessary. If you want to loot it, you have to go below at some point.
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No time to mine, we’re sailing the brine
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Marcus Miles has entered the chat.
That dude’s a beast.
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“How will the dwarves feel about eating spoiled food and being separated from everything their culture cherishes?”
Same way human sailors do, probably. Humans didn’t exactly evolve for being stuck on a small wooden thing for months on end, living off of hard tack.
I think sailing has been pretty staple culture for humans for at least 3000 years if not more.
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I think sailing has been pretty staple culture for humans for at least 3000 years if not more.
Yes, but before maybe the 15th century they didn’t really go on the really long voyages without frequent stops for resupply that lead to severe nutritional deficits. Maybe on accident or in unusual circumstances, but not as a standard modus operandi. Most of the time, people just sailed within sight of the coast.
And while 3000 years is definitely long enough to develop a sailing culture, it’s not long enough to change the physiological makeup. Though I guess the same could be said about dwarven miners, if we assume that they developed from a common ancestor with humans and weren’t just purpose-made as miners or general underground dwellers by the gods, which is often the lore about them.
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Darkvision limited to 60ft. Nighttime navigation was based on stars.
You don’t need darkvision to see stars and that would be dim light, so darkvision is a boon
Then it doesn’t help navigation
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Saily saily ship
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Then it doesn’t help navigation
It still means they can see the area within 60’ of the boat as bright light
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How does that help with navigation?
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How does that help with navigation?
It helps them navigate around the ship. But seriously, it could be used as a strategy to navigate with lights off and not be seen by other ships.
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Yes, but before maybe the 15th century they didn’t really go on the really long voyages without frequent stops for resupply that lead to severe nutritional deficits. Maybe on accident or in unusual circumstances, but not as a standard modus operandi. Most of the time, people just sailed within sight of the coast.
And while 3000 years is definitely long enough to develop a sailing culture, it’s not long enough to change the physiological makeup. Though I guess the same could be said about dwarven miners, if we assume that they developed from a common ancestor with humans and weren’t just purpose-made as miners or general underground dwellers by the gods, which is often the lore about them.
Archaelogical digs in Oceania have uncovered evidence of deep sea fishing (tuna bone carved fishhooks) from 40,000 years ago. We have been at sea a long time.
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Darkvision limited to 60ft. Nighttime navigation was based on stars.
A ship can barely contain enough ale to last a dwarf a month, let alone an entire crew…
Edit: deleted because I replied to the wrong person
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below decks in ships were notoriously dark
Gay darkroom vibes
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Off the turf, in the surf!
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“The Boat Ramp of Durin, Lord of Mooria. Speak, matey, and enter. I, Narvi, made it.”
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Darkvision limited to 60ft. Nighttime navigation was based on stars.
A ship can barely contain enough ale to last a dwarf a month, let alone an entire crew…
Tbh, that’s a rule that makes sense in context and something where I as a GM would make a house rule.
Even the darkest night at sea is not nearly as dark as the mines, so I’d totally allow for darkvision to be range-less (or long-range) on the sea.
