Too Long to Read, Design Preface Babble
The previous iteration and especially the recent update really demonstrated to me how enjoyable the sailing experience on Arelith could be with some additional work. The sailing skill implementation and how checks are made based on crew size are fantastic. Everything in the current iteration of sailing seems great, and there is nothing I would suggest removing. Even if sailing is not expanded, I am really fond of this change and thankful for all the hard work that went into it.
The previous and current iteration of the sailing system does however place most characters in the role of passengers. It is a very passive experience with limited interaction and agency. The player characters never truly interact with the ship as sailors.
Despite the great foundation and potential set with the sail skill and the smart way it is implemented through crew size, the impact of the sail skill is not truly felt. It also scales poorly as the DCs for evading encounters need to be balanced with the late game in mind, which make most of them near impossible for low to mid-level sailors. The main benefits are also just quality of life, mainly being able to skip combat encounters. The carrots and sticks of the system are not very impactful.
The consequence of these two things is that the motivation to travel with others remains on having the means to repel boarders and to have other players to roleplay with. It is only when it comes to naval PvP when the updated system has a considerable impact. I would argue that naval PvP making up so little of the sailing experience suggests it is not enough.
Too long to read; The rest of the very long post below covers suggestions for an expansion of tools (like the spyglass item), scaling difficulty checks for the sailing skill (to be more inclusive of mid-level sailors), a few sticks to wave at daring sailors (like a ship taking damage to its ability to sail quickly) and a few carrots to dangle (more opportunities to interact with the ship, options for daring journeys that get unlocked for more skilled crews), as well as providing the option to adjust the speed of a ship (lowered sails, half-mast, full sail) that provide advantages and disadvantages in naval combat and in naval encounters.
1. Sail Skill Mastery Rolls
All Sail Skill checks are transparent and will be displayed in the combat log showing your roll and the DC using the Ship Mechanics. Like regular skill checks, 1 is a critical failure and 20 critical success.
! If a crew makes a successful sail check and the crew skill equals or exceeds the DC, they immediately make Mastery Sail check versus the DC +20.
! A critical success on a regular sail check is considered as a successful Mastery Sail check, even if the crew skill does not equal or exceed the DC of the sail check that would allow them to make one.
! Currently effect descriptions of many DCs are not provided in the combat log. If you succeed at a "Sail Check - Gale with perilous weather" it should provide the info "You gain additional travel speed" in the next line of the combat log. This allows players to more quickly understand how the system works, as well as provide feedback on subtle effects hard to notice otherwise.
Design Babble Note
Inspired by Arelith's crafting system, Sail Mastery checks allow for three types of outcomes; failure, success, and mastery success. This has the immediate benefit of being able to better balance sea encounter DCs to be more inclusive of the mid-level characters. A DC of 42 of the current system can be changed to a DC of 22 (sail check) and DC of 42 (sail mastery check).
!!! 2. Sail State
This is perhaps the most important new addition. A ship would have either one to two rigging objects on board, depending on the size of the ship. Ships with a crew size of 2 have one rigging object, and ships with a crew size of 4 or more have two rigging objects.
These are invisible interactable placeables located on the starboard (right) and larboard (left, or port) side of the main deck.
When a character interacts with the rigging object, they can adjust the sails through a dialogue option. They can "lower sails", "half-mast" sails or set them to "full sail". If the ship has two riggings objects, one player character can begin to adjust the sail state, and another can interact with the second to aid.
It takes several turns to reduce full sail to half-mast, and several turns for half-mast to lowered sails, and vice versa. A failed sail check results in the default time, a successful sail check reduces it by a third, and a mastery sail check reduces the time by two-thirds.
If a ship has two sets of rigging, the sail skill of the two characters is added and then divided by 2. If only one of two riggings are used, then the sail skill is that of the character + 0 divided by 2.
- Lowered Sails
⦁ 5% Speed
⦁ +10 on artillery attacks
⦁ -10 to avoid grapple
⦁ -20 on artillery evasions
⦁ +10 hide
⦁ -10 in storm encounters
⦁ -10 in ice shoal encounters
- Full Sail
⦁ 100% Speed
⦁ -20 on artillery attacks
⦁ +10 to avoid grapple
⦁ +10 on artillery evasions
⦁ -10 hide
⦁ -10 in storm encounters
⦁ -10 in ice shoal encounters
The sails can also be adjusted by interacting with the navigator. This results in the default duration to adjust the sail state, with no opportunity to shorten the time required. This is a quality of life touch to retain the overall simplicity of the current system if it is just one person on board. The system is not intended to prevent sailing as is done currently, but to provide agency and advantages to those who really want to get into it.
Design Babble Note
This addition would make a massive difference by itself. Suddenly more characters on the crew would have ways to interact with the ship. It is no longer just passengers + whoever interacts with the navigator. Now you have the person interacting with the navigator, as well as one to two people on the crew who can aid by tending to the sails via the rigging objects.
Emotive descriptions and pop-up messages are of course important to keep everyone on the crew up to speed due to the lack of visual cues. A message popping up above the head of a character "The sails are fully unfurled." as well as one in the combat log is a must.
It also means that storm and ice shoal type events would need to be adjusted. A sail check to see the weather changing, giving the crew an opportunity to adjust the sails, and then being hit by three bad weather encounters during a short storm would be very beneficial to get the feel right. Perhaps a pop up message of a large wave building up and threatening to crash down before a check! But a failed check just affecting sailing speed would not be enough, hence the next section on Seaworthiness and Hull Condition.
For extra credit, I believe it would be a nice touch for the ship's wheel to also be interactable. Allowing it to be used to set a course like it is via the navigator. It may seem like a minor thing that is just extra scripting work, but it will feel differently if it looks like a character is controlling the ship and not a navigator. A PC can use the wheel and call out the new course, and the adjusted course is just navigated in combat log with "
The ship leans to starboard as the course is adjusted to south-west.". Navigator = kind of makes you feel like you are giving orders, not sailing yourself.
3. Seaworthiness & Hull Condition
A ship's health would now be measured through both 'Seaworthiness' and 'Hull Condition', instead of just 'health'. Hull condition would replace much of the 'health' original mechanics and function.
! In Detail: Sea Worthiness reflects its state of general repair and disrepair, such as the condition of the ship's masts, rigging, sails and rudder.
As Sea Worthiness decreases, so does a ship's speed, ability to hide and ability to evade attacks by other ships. A ship's Sea Worthiness can be damaged by both random events and during Naval PvP. Random Events such as Storms and Ice Shoals most commonly damage the Sea Worthiness of a ship.
(If someone has an idea for an event of how a dragon turtle could ram your ship and has to be scared away with shots fired would be really cool, but not really the point of this post.)
- Example Encounter: Ice Shoal
⦁ On a failed sailing check the ship takes significant damage to Sea Worthiness. The ship collides with an ice shoal. The NPC Navigator calls out "All hands, hold fast! Iceshoal dead ahead!". For a bit of visual flavour, one could add a check for characters to be knocked prone and take some damage from splinters and pieces of ice.
⦁ On a successful sailing check, the ship takes minor damage to Sea Worthiness. The ship has a glancing pass with an ice shoal. A critical success is assumed to be an automatic successful Sail Mastery check.
⦁ On a successful Sail Mastery check the ship takes no damage to Sea Worthiness. The ship avoids the ice shoal. (Huzzah, and a round of extra ration of rum for the crew.)
A character can slip into the role of the sail master. A character with 15 sail and 30 tailoring can repair a ships Sea Worthiness while it is anchored (stay in quadrant command). If the repairs are being undertaken while anchored at sea instead of a location, the DC is increased by 10. This is a crafting check done by interacting with a special crafting station below the ship's deck. These repairs require medium and large cloth.
A character can slip into the role of the ship's carpenter. A character with 15 sail and 30 carpentry can repair a ships Sea Worthiness while it is anchored (stay in quadrant command). If the repairs are being undertaken while anchored at sea instead of a location, the DC is increased by 10. This is a crafting check done by interacting with a special crafting station below the ship's deck. These repairs require soft- and hardwood.
Charter vessels have Seaworthiness and can also be repaired by carpenter and tailor characters with 15 sail. However, once they return to their homeport their seaworthiness is automatically restored. It is assumed that the ship's NPC owner sees to their repairs. This is important, as you do not want to have folks needing to repair ships that the previous crew ruined. It is bad enough they are often unavailable due to being left adrift.
Purchasable and settlement ships such as the Sea Leopard, Cordor's flagship and Dreadnaught are not automatically repaired when they return to their homeport. They need to be repaired by player characters.
In Detail: Hull Condition reflects the condition of a ships hull. This replaces a ship's health and generally functions as it has previously.
If a ship's hull condition falls below 0 it is destroyed and will sink. A Ship's Hull can be damaged through Naval PvP. Random Events at Sea rarely (if ever) cause damage to a Ship's Hull. When this happens all players on board the ship will fall into the sea much like the "Jump Overboard" feature. A destroyed ship is useless until the next server reset where it will be brought back again.
However, the penalty of losing a ship will also decrease all its Upgrades by 1 Tier and destroy any deployed weapons on deck. If it is a non-charter ship, it will also only be restored with half of its hull condition and seaworthiness restored. The rest of the repairs need to be done by a tailor or carpenter.
A character with 15 sail and 30 carpentry can repair a ship while it is anchored. If the repairs are being undertaken while anchored at sea instead of a location, the DC is increased by 5. This is a crafting check done by interacting with a special crafting station below the ship's deck. It requires soft- and hardwood.
Design Babble Note
The introduction of Sea Worthiness is useful for encounters. If travelling the sea has no consequences beyond the risk of losing a little speed, the system does not have much of a stick to encourage crews to form. Encounters can be very forgiving around the calmer waters too, but more challenging and impactful on seaworthiness when further out. But the stick is not enough, hence the carrot that is the next section.
Overall, it would not be an issue for repairs being done by a Shipwright in a settlement. It just felt like currently, it is a missed opportunity to tie it into the craft system, as that forces ship captains to be more inclusive of other characters. Also encourages captains to bring sailing capable tailors and carpenters on their voyages, which is neat.
4: Carrots! Lots and lots of carrots!
A high level sail rank provides quality of life currently but little in the way of meaningful choices. My suggestion is to add a few options for high Sail skill crews.
a. Skal Journey
In the colder months, the journey to Skal is not immediately closed off but grows more treacherous to navigate until the passage freezes over completely. If a course is charted to Skall during these months, the navigator will respond with "Are you certain we want to risk it? If we get caught between the ice we'll risk the ship."
⦁ If one on board of the crew has 5 hard skill of sail, the navigator provides the option to sail to Skal in months 8 and 4. The DC is 15 to navigate the growing ice shoals in the area. A failed check can damage the seaworthiness of the ship.
⦁ If one on board of the crew has 15 hard skill of sail, the navigator gains the options to sail to Skal in months 9 and 3. The DC is 30 to navigate the growing ice shoals in the area. A failed check can damage the seaworthiness of the ship.
⦁ If a member of the crew has a 30 hard skill of sail, the navigator provides the option to sail to Skal in months 10 and 2. The DC to navigate the growing ice shoals in the area is 45. A failed check can damage the seaworthiness -and- the hull condition of the ship.
⦁ If a member of the crew has a hard skill of sail of 40, the navigator provides the option to sail to Skal in months 11 and 1. The DC to navigate the growing ice shoals is 60. A failed check can damage the seaworthiness -and- the hull condition of the ship.
⦁ During month 12, Skal can not be sailed to. There is simply no passage for a ship to sail through, regardless of the skill of the crew.
b. Rayne's Landing
High sail skill characters can reach Rayne's Landing even if its lighthouse is not lit.
⦁ If a member of the crew has a 20 hard skill of sail, the navigator provides the option to search for the isle even if the lighthouse is not lit. The DC is 35 to navigate safely to its shore. A failed check can damage the seaworthiness of a ship through the reefs.
c. Sibayad
The journey to Sibayad becomes dangerous in month 3 and 5, and is very dangerous during month 4. During these months the sea passages to Sibayad are frequently plagued by powerful storms.
If a course is charted to Sibayad during these months, the navigator will respond with "Are you certain we want to risk it? If we get caught in one of those storms..." etc. Then add strong and very strong storms the ship could possibly run into if heading this way during this time.
d. Sunken City
I would suggest dungeons like the sunken city simply always need a mid-level crew to reach and a high-level crew to have a good chance at avoiding significant seaworthiness damage. One or two places sailing crews will be approached about in order to provide passage is really helpful in terms of a reward.
Design Babble Note
So at this point, we have provided more interaction options for characters to feel more like sailors and less like passengers. We have provided a method to introduce consequences through seaworthiness that allow a ship to be battered during a longer voyage, and the mastery skills and sail state allow characters to have a chance of dealing with them both at mid-level and high-level. Both passively and actively. We have also added some carrots that reward higher investment in the sailing skill.
This should be a great start in terms of encouraging players to form crews. It is more exciting to be part of a crew and spent time on deck, and for a captain there is far greater incentive to be inclusive with their use of their ship and try to put together a great crew. This will all be even more salient when we look at PvP, but before we do let's just look at a few adjustments to the spyglass item.
As a sidenote, balancing is very important. The cost for upgrades should be reduced due to the inclusion of seaworthiness, lest more settlements are encouraged to keep their ships in port.
5: I spy with my little eye!
The spyglass item
(not navigator option!) provides the option for the user to select a spotted vessel in the vicinity to assess. The user must make a Sail skill check to reveal further information about a vessel.
- Spyglass Option: Assess Vessel
o A failed skill check reveals only basic information. This includes the direction of the quadrant it is in and the weather conditions of the quadrant the examined ship is in.
o A successful skill check reveals a vessels speed (vs your own), it's heading, the sail state, hull condition, seaworthiness and if it is docked or not.
o A critical success on a skill check or a successful sail mastery skill check reveals if the sail state of the examined vessel is in the process of being changed, the number of players on deck, and which weapons are deployed on the vessel.
- ! Spyglass Option: Search for Landmark
o The Spyglass also allows the user to actively search for specific landmarks and encounters, as well as hidden ships. This provides a list of encounters common to the quadrant, such as sandbanks, naval forts, coves, trade vessels, etc. It does not include encounters such as storms, harpy or saughin attacks, etc.
o A sailing check is used to determine if the search was successful. If it is, the navigator will gain the navigator spyglass dialogue option to change the heading to anchor there.
o The Search for Landmark option has a cooldown of around twelve turns. Once the cooldown expires, a message notifies the player the cooldown has expired. The cooldown should be long enough for it not to feel disruptive by encouraging you to constantly spam it.
- ! Spyglass Option: Examine Course
The spyglass also allows the user to determine the current weather conditions of a bordering quadrant. The quadrant you examine is selected from a list of the 8 neighbouring quadrants. A "(heading)" tag indicates the neighbouring quadrant the ship is currently heading towards. If there are consequences via storms, players should not be completely helpless victims to them.
Design Babble Note
So in addition of rigging, navigator / ship's wheel, we now have made the spyglass useful. We have also provided an option to actively search for landmarks and trade vessels, again infusing a sense of player agency into the system instead of it all feeling like random happenstance that happens to the ship's crew.
Up until here a ship's crew has the option to be quite involved or to be off hands like is the default of the current system. Everything can be handled via the navigator and remains still pretty simple, but we added a lot of depth and opportunities for active participation. The best way to illustrate how different these small changes will feel
(small in term of design, not scripting work!) is when the stakes are high. So lets look at naval PvP.
6: Beat to quarters!
Naval PvP changes drastically and becomes a game of cat and mouse. The spyglass item use to assess another vessel to look at its sail state and if the sail state is being adjusted provides an opportunity to gain an advantage. The best time to fire or grapple another ship is when it is at lowered sail. A crew working hard to quickly adjust its sails to exploit windows of opportunity by having a better chance to hit or being better at evading will have an advantage.
So during naval combat, we have 1-2 people working the sails via rigging, 1 person adjusting the course, 1 person using the spyglass, and 1-3 people on the artillery pieces/grappler. Or a combination of these with a smaller crew. All are actively involved, and someone barking orders like a captain can keep them working together smoothly to be as effective as can be.
If we really want to add depth of options, a possibility to fire artillery normally or to focus fire on a ship's rigging and masts (to decrease its seaworthiness) at a penalty would add another element of strategy.
If one of the ships tries to run, the other ship must decide between following at full speed or decreasing speed in the hope its attacks will take care of it.
It may not be a very complex system but these few new options provide a feeling of choice of strategy. The most flavorful might be using the spyglass to detect fog in a nearby quadrant and sailing into it for cover, or to try to evade by sailing to Sibayad during a storm or risking the Skal passages in late months. Trying to shake off a pursuer by heading into more dangerous passages. For pirates, there is a whole other option. The passages near Skal or Sibayad during the more dangerous months will mean ships emerging from them are likely already a little battered in terms of seaworthiness.
Final Design Babble
Something akin to this system should be rather robust and be relatively easy to pick up. Telegraphing it via combat log and pop up messages is vital. Lots of little touches such as rolls of naval encounters (like ice shoals or light surf with perilous surf) having their effects spelled out in the combat log would help. As would a "-sail" console command that provides information on weather, course, sail-state, etc. to crew. Just ease of use quality in general.
The big benefit is that the current system basically does all the really heavy lifting in terms of design for something like this. As I mentioned at the start, the current system is great in a lot of ways. That it lends itself so well to expansion ideas like mine speaks highly of it.
If at a later time a few incentives for settlements doing tri-monthly cargo writs to Skal and Sibayad would be added, it could all be rounded off nicely. Aka, a couple of more interesting carrots. Perhaps visiting skal for cargo writs decreases the wood demand of a settlement by up to 10%, while visiting Sibayad decreases the stone demand by up to 10%. Suddenly you have one settlement ship doing a cargo writ at a speed decrease, that perhaps hires on others to escort it in case of Arr, piracy!
I just want to mention that I feel like Helitron is very much correct in his assessment that currently there are not too many players interested in sailing and that the upgrade costs have caused a loss aversion attitude towards naval PvP. My sense however is that the lack of fanfare for sailing is due to the "feeling like a passenger" problem more than the aversion loss through naval PvP. I noticed a lot of players avoid throwing in with established crews, as they feel like they just twiddle their thumbs while a single player interacts with the ship. Nor is there a big mechanical advantage or opportunity for a rewarding experience for doing so.
As an avid Underdark fan, I believe a system like this would also be fantastic to make the future Undrenzea content really engaging, as you could use it in really interesting and creative ways down there. Slowing down in certain locations to avoid stirring the attention of cloakers and aboleths, or needing to navigate a faezress storm would be awesome.