One of my PKs has been granted lands in Chichester on the south coast. He fancies building some boat or ship related manorial improvements.

Does anyone know of any Pendragon resources already in existence for this?

Chichester appears to have had some importance as a port for quite some time particularly with the wool trade so this seems plausible.

Some ideas:

- Wharf/Dock
- Shipyard
- Fishing Vessels
- Merchant Ships
- Warships
- Warehouses

Any thoughts?

Don't forget the support industries: a hawser, a sail maker, carpenters and caulkers, various service professionals (cough). Salting & curing facilities for food, and a distillery for alcohol...

There's plenty of construction work to keep your PC busy for a good long while.

Don't forget the support industries: a hawser, a sail maker, carpenters and caulkers, various service professionals (cough). Salting & curing facilities for food, and a distillery for alcohol...

There's plenty of construction work to keep your PC busy for a good long while.


I like it - having ropemakers, sailmaker and caulkers separate from the carpentry of buildng the ship gives a lot of scope for extra buildings and fits nicely with the rest of the BoM buildings.

And of course, all this building up means it becomes a bigger target for raids, so defenses need to be looked after as well.

Bob Schroeder

Ok how about something like this, different quality wharf/docks can support different amounts of shipping units. Wooden docks support 10 units of shipping, stone docks support up to 20 units of shipping. A fishing boat is one unit, a trade ship is 2 units and a military ship is 3 units of shipping. There are 4 buildings involved in the building and maintenance of ships (Shipyard, Caulker, ropemaker, sailmaker) , Fishing boats can always be made, Trade boats only if any two of the support buildings are built and military ships only if any three of the support buildings are built.

I think this might be a good way of modelling the port developing over time.

so provisionally stats:

Wooden wharf: Build cost £10, AM £2, AI £1d4-1 (supports 10 units of shipping)
Stone Wharf: Build cost £25, AM £5, AI £2d4-2 (supports 20 units of shipping)

Fishing boat: Build Cost £5, AM £1, AI £1d3 (1 SU (shipping unit))
Trade Ship: Build Cost £15, AM £2d4 (if double ones rolled ship is lost to storm or pirates), AI £3d6, 2SU

Military ship: BC £20, AM£10, AI 0, (grants re-roll to losses from piracy, reduces raiding roll county-wide by d2, Reduces Hate by 2 (peasants are safer))

Shipyard: BC £10, AM£1d2, AI £1d2, (reduces cost of building all ships by £3 per ship)
Caulker: BC£5, AM£1, AI 0, (reduces cost of maintaining all ships by £1d2-1)
Sailmaker: BC£5, AM£1, AI 0, (reduces cost of maintaining all ships by £1d2-1)
Ropemaker: BC£5, AM£1, AI 0, (reduces cost of maintaining all ships by £1d2-1)

Warehouses: BC£10, AM£2, AI £2d2 (needs some sort of storage mechanic year to year)

Bawdy House/ Tavern: BC£10, AM£2d6, AI £3d6 (Grants check to worldly, Lustful, Indulgent and Hospitality)

A couple of thoughts occurred to me.

Building these are just fine for the Anarchy Period.
However, the king jealously guards his privilege of controlling all trade that comes into the kingdom. He alone can grant permission for this, and he also assigns inspectors to oversee this and collect taxes for him. Building these without his warrant would cause him to suspect smuggling.

OTOH, since Chichester is an import city, it ought to already have these features.

A couple of thoughts occurred to me.

Building these are just fine for the Anarchy Period.
However, the king jealously guards his privilege of controlling all trade that comes into the kingdom. He alone can grant permission for this, and he also assigns inspectors to oversee this and collect taxes for him. Building these without his warrant would cause him to suspect smuggling.

OTOH, since Chichester is an import city, it ought to already have these features.


That's a fair point.

This is about 520 now and Chichester has just been reclaimed from the saxons after Badon. Most of the old improvements were either neglected by the saxons or destroyed in the punitive raiding after the great battle so the PKs will be basically putting Sussex back together.

Arthur will want his cut of the trade but as Sir Roderick is a Round Table knight and just recently helped Lady Nimue to save Arthur in the Morgan/Accolon incident, he is likely to approve any requests that still give him his royal due.

This could also put Roderick in conflict with Admiral Theodoric from Hantonne who may resent another lord moving in on his action. All good fodder for scenarios.

I'm thinking that trade is likely to grow fairly slowly but will snowball after the french and roman campaigns. These coupled with the influx of ganis folk will give Britain a taste for exotic goods.

Ok how about something like this, different quality wharf/docks can support different amounts of shipping units. Wooden docks support 10 units of shipping, stone docks support up to 20 units of shipping. A fishing boat is one unit, a trade ship is 2 units and a military ship is 3 units of shipping. There are 4 buildings involved in the building and maintenance of ships (Shipyard, Caulker, ropemaker, sailmaker) , Fishing boats can always be made, Trade boats only if any two of the support buildings are built and military ships only if any three of the support buildings are built.

I think this might be a good way of modelling the port developing over time.

so provisionally stats:

Wooden wharf: Build cost £10, AM £2, AI £1d4-1 (supports 10 units of shipping)
Stone Wharf: Build cost £25, AM £5, AI £2d4-2 (supports 20 units of shipping)

Fishing boat: Build Cost £5, AM £1, AI £1d3 (1 SU (shipping unit))
Trade Ship: Build Cost £15, AM £2d4 (if double ones rolled ship is lost to storm or pirates), AI £3d6, 2SU

Military ship: BC £20, AM£10, AI 0, (grants re-roll to losses from piracy, reduces raiding roll county-wide by d2, Reduces Hate by 2 (peasants are safer))

Shipyard: BC £10, AM£1d2, AI £1d2, (reduces cost of building all ships by £3 per ship)
Caulker: BC£5, AM£1, AI 0, (reduces cost of maintaining all ships by £1d2-1)
Sailmaker: BC£5, AM£1, AI 0, (reduces cost of maintaining all ships by £1d2-1)
Ropemaker: BC£5, AM£1, AI 0, (reduces cost of maintaining all ships by £1d2-1)

Warehouses: BC£10, AM£2, AI £2d2 (needs some sort of storage mechanic year to year)

Bawdy House/ Tavern: BC£10, AM£2d6, AI £3d6 (Grants check to worldly, Lustful, Indulgent and Hospitality)


These look pretty good. I might try to come up with ways to make the caulker/sailmaker and ropemaker a bit different.

I'm also thinking that the Weather Roll will have a profound effect on ships. If the 3d6 roll for weather is 16+ (about a 4.5% chance) you get a bad weather event. If it's a storm some ships may sink.

And of course, all this building up means it becomes a bigger target for raids, so defenses need to be looked after as well.

Bob Schroeder


A few danish raider berserker werewolves might spice things up in Sussex.

re: wind and weather
The difficulty of crossing the channel is hard for us to fathom
Sometimes ships had to wait for weeks
My general rule is 3d6 days are required--not to sail it, but get the right (and safe) wind and tides

re: wind and weather
The difficulty of crossing the channel is hard for us to fathom
Sometimes ships had to wait for weeks
My general rule is 3d6 days are required--not to sail it, but get the right (and safe) wind and tides


Just approaching the european campaign in the GPC now. Should be some interesting voyages.

Expanded on a couple of these.

Ropewalk

A ropewalk is a long straight narrow lane, or a covered pathway, where long strands of material are laid before being twisted into rope. Ropewalks are harsh sweatshops, and frequently catch on fire, as hemp dust forms an explosive mixture. If any investment in the settlement is destroyed due to a roll on the property destruction table the ropewalk is also destroyed. Rope is essential in sailing ships. Income from the ropewalk may be used instead of the variable maintenance cost for water craft at the ratio of £1 of rope for £2 of maintenance costs.

Cost: £6
Annual Income: £d4+1
Annual Maintenance: £2, including the Roper

Caulker

Caulking is the process of making joints and seals watertight. The name given to a person doing this is a caulker. Caulkers are an important trade and they are also relatively well-paid because they keep valuable ships afloat. Caulking a ship ensures that the joins between all the planks of wood inside and out are watertight. Caulkers use oakum to seal the joins between the planks. The material to make oakum comes from old hemp ropes which are picked apart by hand in a very labour intensive process. Caulkers force oakum between the planks using an iron and special caulking mallet. They then pour pitch along the seam to seal it using a pitch ladle. A Caulker contributes to the maintenance of vessels based in the settlement. The annual maintenance for each such vessel is reduced by half or by £2, whichever is lower.

Cost: £5
Annual Maintenance: £3, including the Caulker