Welcome Aboard the Moaning Molly! (Last Call for Crew! IC Starting Next Week!)

[Chreestafer]

Not sure if it's come up, but in D and D specific's the airships harnessed and encased elementals to fly. Either air or fire elementals were contained in crystals or tubes along the ship and controlled by a thought crystal instead of a wheel.  Not sure if it's been brought up or discussed yet.

And I'll pm you soon. 

[CarnivalOfTheGoat]

Howdy all, I'm back. Kidney surgery isn't fun, but kidney stones that get stuck and start putting down roots are even LESS fun, and I have a pain threshold of 'Are you serious?!' (Back before I decided I liked the other end of the leash better, I was an infamous iron-butt sub in local Scene circles.)

I have a bunch of things to catch up on, but just to fill in some things that might help folks:

Hell yes, ships had cooks. Long John Silver, of Treasure Island fame, was the ship's cook. The cooking fire was usually built carefully in a pot of sand which rested on bricks and had bricks above it on the ceiling as well. They didn't eat canned goods on those 2-3 month voyages between continents, back in the day!

A list of positions that every ship had:

The Captain or Master,
A series of Mates, with varying responsibility (more on larger ships to divide the larger quantity of crew responsibilities),
A Boatswain or Bosun, sometimes called "Boats," responsible for stores and maintenance and supplies (including the small boats which most vessels had for shore parties or towing), as well as all deck activities (lowering and weighing anchor, trimming sails, etc.). While Boats was responsible for all of this being done properly, much of it was usually delegated to the Mates, who were frequently understudies to other officers. On an Admiralty ship, this role might be called "Purser," and have more to do with accounting than procurement,
The Ship's Carpenter, "Nails," who was responsible for mending items of wood and maintaining the ships hull. Aboard a sufficiently large vessel there might be a specialist assistant known as the Cooper who primarily mended barrels, casks, etc. The carpenter also did surgical duty and amputations in the age before more scientific approaches to medicine,
The Quarter-Master, usually chief of any marines/boarding parties, because these generally assaulted a ship alongside from the quarter-deck.
The Sailing-Master, Sea-Artist, or "Sails," responsible for navigation of the vessel under the Captain's orders,
Pilot or Steersman, responsible for actually working the rudder, particularly in dangerous waters, and turning Sails' designs into actual motion and direction, in some later eras these two positions were merged,
The Ship's Chirurgeon (Surgeon) or Physicker, who performed amputations and dispensed medicaments in the age after more scientific approaches to medicine resulted in the awareness that you needed someone with skills beyond being able to saw,
The Ship's Cook, who was responsible for the feeding of the crew and maintenance of the cooking fire,
The Ship's Chaplain, who was responsible for the souls while the cook and physicker maintained the bodies (probably not on the Molly, but there's bound to be at least one nun costume somewhere...Or maybe a vicar's robes, for that matter),
Riggers, responsible for the operation and upkeep of topsails and rigging, an extremely dangerous job that involved a lot of climbing and doing difficult things up in the rigging (no safety net)
Able-Bodied Seamen (or women) - Everybody else!

A naval vessel or a privateer that mounted weapons had these additional roles:
Master Gunner, "Guns," responsible for the maintenance and laying of all of the ship's cannon,
Captain of Marines, if there were marines...replaces the Quarter-Master for boarding and away-party purposes,
Marines, where applicable (Marines are always applicable, sometimes you just need more glue than others)

A really large Admiralty vessel might have these roles as well:
Steward, either the head cook OR something of a butler to the officers...On the Molly, might be responsible for seeing to the comfort of passengers/Johns/Janes,
Caulker, responsible for the seaworthiness of the hull,
Armourer, responsible for the maintenance of all small arms aboard ship,
Ropemaker, the only person on board who ever uses the word "rope," to everyone else, that's NOT a rope, it's a LINE,
Sailmaker, in charge of mending damaged sails and fabricating replacements from available canvas,
Master-at-Arms, instead of Captain of Marines, particularly on vessels where your boarding party weren't actual Marines, or during eras when the term "Captain" referred to only ONE person aboard, and no confusion was tolerated,

I am totally not a historian with a love for the Golden Age of Sail. Honest.

[Capone]

Not sure if it's come up, but in D and D specific's the airships harnessed and encased elementals to fly. Either air or fire elementals were contained in crystals or tubes along the ship and controlled by a thought crystal instead of a wheel.  Not sure if it's been brought up or discussed yet.

And I'll pm you soon.

I wouldn't use D&D as a template for how this universe works. Check the new setting material in the first post for a general lowdown of how things operate.

Howdy all, I'm back. Kidney surgery isn't fun, but kidney stones that get stuck and start putting down roots are even LESS fun, and I have a pain threshold of 'Are you serious?!' (Back before I decided I liked the other end of the leash better, I was an infamous iron-butt sub in local Scene circles.)

OOF! Man, I'm really glad that my gallbladder infection was nothing more than just that: an infection. Hoping for a speedy recovery!

As for all the other excellent information, that will hopefully give folks some ideas!

[Alias]

Howdy all, I'm back. Kidney surgery isn't fun, but kidney stones that get stuck and start putting down roots are even LESS fun, and I have a pain threshold of 'Are you serious?!' (Back before I decided I liked the other end of the leash better, I was an infamous iron-butt sub in local Scene circles.)

I have a bunch of things to catch up on, but just to fill in some things that might help folks:

Hell yes, ships had cooks. Long John Silver, of Treasure Island fame, was the ship's cook. The cooking fire was usually built carefully in a pot of sand which rested on bricks and had bricks above it on the ceiling as well. They didn't eat canned goods on those 2-3 month voyages between continents, back in the day!

A list of positions that every ship had:

The Captain or Master,
A series of Mates, with varying responsibility (more on larger ships to divide the larger quantity of crew responsibilities),
A Boatswain or Bosun, sometimes called "Boats," responsible for stores and maintenance and supplies (including the small boats which most vessels had for shore parties or towing), as well as all deck activities (lowering and weighing anchor, trimming sails, etc.). While Boats was responsible for all of this being done properly, much of it was usually delegated to the Mates, who were frequently understudies to other officers. On an Admiralty ship, this role might be called "Purser," and have more to do with accounting than procurement,
The Ship's Carpenter, "Nails," who was responsible for mending items of wood and maintaining the ships hull. Aboard a sufficiently large vessel there might be a specialist assistant known as the Cooper who primarily mended barrels, casks, etc. The carpenter also did surgical duty and amputations in the age before more scientific approaches to medicine,
The Quarter-Master, usually chief of any marines/boarding parties, because these generally assaulted a ship alongside from the quarter-deck.
The Sailing-Master, Sea-Artist, or "Sails," responsible for navigation of the vessel under the Captain's orders,
Pilot or Steersman, responsible for actually working the rudder, particularly in dangerous waters, and turning Sails' designs into actual motion and direction, in some later eras these two positions were merged,
The Ship's Chirurgeon (Surgeon) or Physicker, who performed amputations and dispensed medicaments in the age after more scientific approaches to medicine resulted in the awareness that you needed someone with skills beyond being able to saw,
The Ship's Cook, who was responsible for the feeding of the crew and maintenance of the cooking fire,
The Ship's Chaplain, who was responsible for the souls while the cook and physicker maintained the bodies (probably not on the Molly, but there's bound to be at least one nun costume somewhere...Or maybe a vicar's robes, for that matter),
Riggers, responsible for the operation and upkeep of topsails and rigging, an extremely dangerous job that involved a lot of climbing and doing difficult things up in the rigging (no safety net)
Able-Bodied Seamen (or women) - Everybody else!

A naval vessel or a privateer that mounted weapons had these additional roles:
Master Gunner, "Guns," responsible for the maintenance and laying of all of the ship's cannon,
Captain of Marines, if there were marines...replaces the Quarter-Master for boarding and away-party purposes,
Marines, where applicable (Marines are always applicable, sometimes you just need more glue than others)

A really large Admiralty vessel might have these roles as well:
Steward, either the head cook OR something of a butler to the officers...On the Molly, might be responsible for seeing to the comfort of passengers/Johns/Janes,
Caulker, responsible for the seaworthiness of the hull,
Armourer, responsible for the maintenance of all small arms aboard ship,
Ropemaker, the only person on board who ever uses the word "rope," to everyone else, that's NOT a rope, it's a LINE,
Sailmaker, in charge of mending damaged sails and fabricating replacements from available canvas,
Master-at-Arms, instead of Captain of Marines, particularly on vessels where your boarding party weren't actual Marines, or during eras when the term "Captain" referred to only ONE person aboard, and no confusion was tolerated,

I am totally not a historian with a love for the Golden Age of Sail. Honest.

oh my...
thank you.

[kckolbe]

Sorry if this has been asked, but would a male engineer be needed/desired?

[Capone]

Multiple folks have brought it up but none have submitted a character sheet.

[kckolbe]

Yeah, I noticed it wasn't listed in the "recap" if what was claimed on page 5.  In that case, I'll start working a human male from the Flying Isles.

[TheScarletBlade]

I just need the finish the sample post and submit my character sheet for my dwarf.

[kckolbe]

Scarlet, was thinking of having my char focus on the crystals that transfer the energy throughout the ship.  Maybe your char focuses more on the structural aspects?

[TheScarletBlade]

My character is sort of a mad dwarven engineer and blacksmith, pays his way on the crew by maintaining weapons and armor. Also invents things and sometimes catches himself on fire playing with gunpowder. You know, normal dwarven stuff. If your character is focused on like engineering for the ship, thats totally not my realm and perfect for you to pursue. My character is more like the gadget guy if you think of shows like firefly or stuff like that.

[kckolbe]

I think that works well, though I'll defer on engineering regarding the ship to your char.  I'll stick to crystals and diodes (not sure how well-known diodes would be).

[kckolbe]

Actually, just noticed the post expectations, and I don't feel I could consistently meet that.  Best of luck.

[Capone]

Actually, just noticed the post expectations, and I don't feel I could consistently meet that.  Best of luck.

Sorry to hear that. Thanks for your interest!

My character is sort of a mad dwarven engineer and blacksmith, pays his way on the crew by maintaining weapons and armor. Also invents things and sometimes catches himself on fire playing with gunpowder. You know, normal dwarven stuff. If your character is focused on like engineering for the ship, thats totally not my realm and perfect for you to pursue. My character is more like the gadget guy if you think of shows like firefly or stuff like that.

I know Alias was looking into something similar, though Carnival's post had her considering other things as well. Perhaps the two of you could hash something out.

Seriously, someone needs to be an engineer (though I did actually start to think along the same lines as kckolbe before I even saw his response, where one engineer focuses more on conduits, copper wiring, crystals and diodes, while the other focuses on gears and cogs).

---

The setting thread has been started. Only some minor additions from what is already in the first post for now, will be adding more detail as time progresses.

[Alias]

I'm going to go with a rigger, and sailmaster character. It fits better with my original plan. She'll be the girl swinging around in the top-sails, and climbing around all over Molly's rigging. In a pinch, she'll be able to help the navigator and steersman with emergency repairs, and emergency maneuvers.

changing jobs so so often is tough for the development, but i think this is a winning decision. With this rigging job, she doesn't HAVE to be a deep thinker. She's more of an athlete and a risk-taker than an intellectual. So, I can get what I want out of the character much better.... translation: I won't feel like I'm mary-suing if she knows how to fight a little bit, it would only come naturally to some one that daring and athletic. Right!?

yay.

[CarnivalOfTheGoat]

I know Alias was looking into something similar, though Carnival's post had her considering other things as well. Perhaps the two of you could hash something out.

I think there's some confusion...I was pretty well set on the ship's chirurgeon? Wasn't considering anything engineer-ish.

And actually I just scrolled back through the first few pages, did a search for 'day' and 'week'...I don't see where this post requirement is that folks are talking about? I usually post a couple-three times a week...If that's not enough, let me know?

[kckolbe]

I was referring to the 3-5 paragraphs per post.  My posts are getting longer, but I don't consistently hit 3 paragraphs, much less more.

[Capone]

I think there's some confusion...I was pretty well set on the ship's chirurgeon? Wasn't considering anything engineer-ish.

And actually I just scrolled back through the first few pages, did a search for 'day' and 'week'...I don't see where this post requirement is that folks are talking about? I usually post a couple-three times a week...If that's not enough, let me know?

Ah, the confusion is in my poor use of pronouns. I didn't mean you were considering anything new at all, but Alias was after reading your post.

Sorry about that!

[Alias]

First draft of character sheet is in for the rigging prostitute, Providence!

[CarnivalOfTheGoat]

I should have more cycles for activity available on Thursday, currently working my way through a large pile of longer-than-expected and more problematic-than-expected essays.

[Capone]

Good luck! Be careful to grade before you've had anything to drink.

-

I'm looking to try and put the IC together next week some time, so folks on the fence and working on character sheets should try and get them in before the weekend (I'm going to have limited E access Friday night through Sunday night, if any at all).

[Capone]

Alright folks! So I'll be scarce this weekend, but I'll try and respond to any character sheet PMs either early in the mornings or late in the evenings, while seeing what I can manage with remaining setting material.

I'm aiming for roughly Wednesday, September 23rd for the IC to start, probably in the evening US East Coast time.

In regards to characters and crew, here's the status:

Approved Characters:
Roderick - Captain - Played by Capone (that's me!)
Molly - Sentient Airship, Madam - Played by mia h
Lina - Passenger, Thief - Played by Eudoxia
Beth - Navigator - Played by Etherealgirl
Huroz Tunk - Cook - Played by eightxinfinity
Providence - Rigger, Brothel-Girl - Played by Alias
Kal - Passenger, Warrior - Played by MiscMrE

Character Sheets Submitted:
Rel Mayer - Half-Elf Brothel Girl, Linguistics Scholar, Enchanter in Training
cuchulainn - In Progress, Silver-Tongued-Devil?
Darwishi - Right-Hand (Wo)man, Muscle
CarnivalOfTheGoat - Harpy, Chirurgeon (Doctor)

Submitted Concepts:
Lustful Bride - Halfling Alchemist
Chulanowa - Scholar/Chronicler
A Painter - Sylph, Deckhand

-

If everyone above submits a character sheet and gets approved, then we'll have more players than I was honestly expecting. Technically there is a lack of balance (we could still use an engineer, more brothel workers), but we can always add characters later and just say they were below deck or whatever, or add them between adventures. Either way, we're looking at a total of 14, which is a healthy sized group.

[Capone]

Right. So Wednesday start time is not gonna happen. Due to a busy looking week, I'm thinking Sunday will be when I start the game. That should allot me bonus setting building time, give stragglers a bit of extra space to get characters in, and a start on a much less busy week.

[Rish]

Any chance that I could build a character to join this Capone?

[Capone]

Is it an engineer? We really need an engineer.

[Rish]

Is it an engineer? We really need an engineer.

I was going to go with Carpenter, but an Engineer would work just as well! Made if I make him a Qunari from Dragon age?