Waterborne Travel

Travel by water may be done in a variety of boats or ships; see Vehicles on page 13 for details. Travel distances are for a 12 hour day of travel, rather than the usual 8 hours per day. Sailing ships may travel 24 hours per day if a qualified navigator is aboard, and so may be able to cover twice the normal distance per day of travel. This is in addition to the multiplier given below. If the ship stops each night, as is done by some vessels traveling along a coastline as well as those having less than the minimum number of regular crew on board, the two-times multiplier does not apply. Movement of sailing ships is affected by the weather, as shown below. Sailing movement modifiers apply when sailing with the wind; sailing against the wind involves tacking (called "zigzagging" by landlubbers) which reduces movement rates as indicated. d12 Wind Direction 1 Northerly 2 Northeasterly 3 Easterly 4 Southeasterly 5 Southerly 6 Southwesterly 7 Westerly 8 Northwesterly 9-12 Prevailing wind direction for this locale d% Wind Conditions Sailing Tacking 01-05 Becalmed x0 x0 06-13 Very Light Breeze x1/3 x0 14-25 Light Breeze x1/2 x1/3 26-40 Moderate Breeze x2/3 x1/3 41-70 Average Winds x1 x1/2 71-85 Strong Winds x1 1/3 x2/3 86-96 Very Strong Winds x1 1/2 x0 97-00 Gale x2 x0 Becalmed: Sailing ships cannot move. Oared ships may move at the given rowing movement rate. Very Strong Winds: Sailing against the wind (tacking) is not possible. Gale: Sailing against the wind is not possible, and ships exposed to a gale may be damaged or sunk; apply 2d8 points of damage to any such ship, per hour sailed.