With the advent of ships and transoceanic exploration, the skill of Seafaring was unveiled to give adventurers abilities with which to truly excel and prosper whilst navigating the extensive oceans and seas surrounding the continent of Sapience. It is unique among all skills through a number of respects, and many intrepid circumnavigators have joined the Sefyric Mariner's Guild, a high clan dedicated to exploring the furthest reaches of the sea.
There are three actions one must take to master the skill of Seafaring:
- Firstly, access to Seafaring is acquired only by obtaining a Fully Attested Marque of Unquestioned Seaworthiness.
- Secondly, general Seafaring abilities are attained as usual through lessons learned up to the transcendent level.
- Finally, training in Seafaring involves specialisation in various vocational paths - Deckhand, Weapons, Helm, Watch, and Command
The skill of Seafaring is a general skill and available to all classes.
General abilities in Seafaring
| Sealegs | Walk with confidence aboard a ship. | |
| Syntax: | Passive | |
| Details: | You have gained your sealegs and are less troubled by the heaving of the ocean while upon a ship. Your sealegs ability is improved with higher skillrank in Seafaring. This is a passive ability; you do not need to enable nor disable it. | |
| Hunger | Cast a spectral net around a seamonster. | |
| Syntax: | INVOKE HUNGER <seamonster> | |
| Required: | 300 power | |
| Details: | A seaspell that will cast a spectral net upon a target seamonster. If the seamonster dies before the net disappears, the casting figurehead will be replenished a significant amount of power. | |
| Shipaura | Cloak your ship in notic auras. | |
| Syntax: | AURA STATUS AURA ACTIVATE <aura> AURA DEACTIVATE <aura> AURA SWITCH <aura> | |
| Details: | Passive aura effects by specialisation: WATCH - Balance cost reduction on CLIMB MAST and SWING UP WEAPONS - An increased efficiency at aiming ship weaponry COMMAND - A cost reduction for seaspells HELM - Ship crew receives a bonus to experience and morale gain DECKHAND - Ship repair ticks have a chance at increased efficiency | |
| Shipmeld | Summon the ship's sea spirit and share in its powers. | |
| Syntax: | INVOKE SEA SPIRIT RELEASE SEA SPIRIT TOUCH FIGUREHEAD | |
| Details: | You have gained the power to meld your psyche with that of the ship itself via the ship's figurehead, invoking a sea spirit to summon seaspells for your ship. Touch the figurehead while shipmelded to find out how much power it currently stores, and what seaspells are currently active. RELEASE SEA SPIRIT will undo this melding. | |
| Dodging | Avoid anti-personnel ship ammo. | |
| Syntax: | Passive | |
| Details: | Your dexterity aboard a ship has increased to the point that you are sometimes able to dodge anti-personnel ammunition fired at your ship from other ships. Your likelihood to dodge increases as your skillrank in Seafaring grows. This is a passive ability; you do not need to enable nor disable it for it to work. | |
| Mast | Climb the ship's mast to the crow's nest. | |
| Syntax: | CLIMB MAST | |
| Details: | Scale the mainmast of your ship to the crow's nest for a better view. Same syntax to climb down the mast as well! | |
| Crossplank | Cross a plank extended over water to another ship. | |
| Syntax: | SHIP CROSS [GANG]PLANK | |
| Details: | Your balance is now steady enough to traverse a gangplank set over the water between your ship and another. This requires the ship the be adjacent to another ship, for both to be grappled, and for the Captain to SHIP EXTEND PLANK. SHIP WITHDRAW PLANK is the obvious counterpart to the Captain's command. | |
| Harbourinfo | Discern information about a harbour from aboard your ship. | |
| Syntax: | HARBOUR INFO [SEAMARK] | |
| Details: | Your seafaring skills have been honed to the point that you can discern information about a harbour from aboard your ship via use of a spyglass to analyse a seamark denoting a harbour. A harbour's seamark can be found using HARBOUR INFO in the harbour proper, or while docked in the harbour. Not all harbours may bear a specific seamark, however. | |
| Rigging | Climb up into the rigging above. | |
| Syntax: | CLIMB RIGGING CLIMB DOWN RIGGING CLEAR RIGGING | |
| Details: | Climb up the ropes to a place on the rigging above the deck, from any deck location. (You can use SWING UP and SWING DOWN as well.) In addition, you may use clear rigging to attempt to disentangle the rigging from unwanted obstructions. | |
| Sounding | Using the leadline to see if deep sea diving is feasible. | |
| Syntax: | SHIP TAKE SOUNDING | |
| Details: | With a leadline in hand, take a sounding to see if the surrounding waters are suitable for deep-sea diving. | |
| Fireweapon | Basic use of shipboard weapons. | |
| Syntax: | LOAD <weapon> WITH <ammo> UNLOAD <ammo> FROM <weapon> FIRE <weapon> (When ship's target is set) FIRE <weapon> AT <target ship> FIRE <weapon> AT SEAMONSTER (For attacking seamonsters) FIRE <weapon> UP (For firing flares) | |
| Works against: | Denizens | |
| Details: | You now know your way around the basic weapons and armaments of a ship. Different types of ship ammunition have different effects upon your foe. See Ship Weapons, for additional detail. | |
| Command | Basic command ability. Crew works better/faster! | |
| Syntax: | SHIP ASSUME COMMAND SHIP APPOINT <person> CAPTAIN | |
| Details: | Assume command of a ship which you are permitted to captain. Appoint another approved captain (or yourself) to the captain's position. | |
| Shipwho | Sense who is aboard the ship. | |
| Syntax: | SHIPWHO | |
| Details: | Sense who is aboard the same ship as you. | |
| Shipscan | View ships within range. | |
| Syntax: | SHIPSCAN BRIEF|NORMAL SHIPSCAN <ship> | |
| Details: | Gain information on ships in your nearby area. Note that the targeted version of shipscan requires watch rank 4 and also requires the ship be within standard shipscan range. | |
| Weaponaiming | Greater accuracy when firing. | |
| Syntax: | None | |
| Details: | Greater accuracy when firing a shipboard weapon. This passive ability decreases the amount of time it will take you to fire a ship weapon at another ship. The time reduction will be increased as your rank in the Weapons Specialisation in Seafaring increases. | |
| Deepseafishing | Fish for the biggest there be. | |
| Syntax: | CAST LINE [SHORT|MEDIUM|LONG] | |
| Details: | You are able to fish off your ship, using "huge" bait only. | |
| Deepseadiving | Dive deep for the sea's hidden treasures. | |
| Syntax: | SHIP ENTER BELL - Available to all with deepseadiving. SHIP LOWER BELL - The Captain can order the bell lowered into the ocean. SHIP RAISE BELL - The Captain can raise the bell back up to the deck. | |
| Details: | Using a diving bell, dive for treasure in the deep seas. Once the bell is lowered fully divers can go DOWN to access the ocean floor and UP from the arrival location to enter the bell once more. Be ware. There are many perils to be encountered at sea, ignorance high amongst them. Should a ship move, either by intention or currents, any divers on the ocean floor will perish. Should a careless Captain raise the diving bell while divers remain on the ocean floor, the unfortunate divers will perish. | |
| Seaspells | Invest a ship's consecrated figurehead with powerful Seaspells. | |
| Syntax: | SEASPELLS LIST SEASPELLS INVEST <spell> SEASPELLS UNINVEST <spell> SEASPELLS INVESTED INVOKE <spell> | |
| Details: | SEASPELLS LIST will allow you to peruse the Seaspells available while on a voyage. If you are the captain of a vessel with a consecrated figurehead mounted, while you are in port at a harbour you may SEASPELL INVEST up to four Seaspells for use in your travels. Note that only one of Shipcloak and Wavecall may be invested, and only one of Shield or Rainstorm may be invested. You may also use SEASPELLS UNINVEST to remove a Seaspells to make room for others. Once at sea you may INVOKE the invested Seaspells. Finally at any time you may show the SEASPELLS INVESTED to see which Seaspells are available in your figurehead. You may TOUCH FIGUREHEAD to identify any active Seaspells while at sea. See Seaspells, for additional information. | |
| Seaprayer | Return to your ship after death. | |
| Syntax: | PERFORM SEAPRAYER RITUAL PRAY TO SEA SPIRITS | |
| Details: | First, you must PERFORM SEAPRAYER RITUAL while upon a ship where you have at least boarding permissions and there is a consecrated figurehead mounted to the ship. Then, if you chance to die, you have the option to PRAY TO SEA SPIRITS to return to that ship after you walk the Halls of Death, rather than embracing death. You can only have one ship designated for return via seaprayer at a time. | |
| Bearings | Finding the right way to go. | |
| Syntax: | SHIP BEARINGS <seamark> | |
| Details: | Gauge the rough distance and direction from your ship to nearby seamarks to which you have a map. | |
| Shipwarning | Notice movement nearby, at cost. | |
| Syntax: | SHIPWARNING [ON|OFF] | |
| Details: | At a cost to both your endurance and willpower, you will be aware of the movement of any ships near your ship, including cloaked ships. | |
| Cooking | Improve crew morale and performance culinarily. | |
| Syntax: | COOK <fish> | |
| Details: | Prepare any caught or killed fish and store them in the ship's larder. Doing this will increase both your ship's food supply and the crew's morale. Note those with at least rank 3 in the deckhand specialisation shall cook good food instead of merely common. | |
| Sailmaintenance | Repair and maintain the ship's sails. | |
| Syntax: | MAINTAIN SAIL(S) MAINTAIN NONE | |
| Details: | Actively work to maintain the ship's sails, at a high ongoing endurance cost to you. You must be in the rigging or the crow's nest of a ship to maintain the sails. | |
| Hullmaintenance | Repair and maintain the ship's deck and hull. | |
| Syntax: | MAINTAIN HULL MAINTAIN NONE | |
| Details: | Actively work to maintain the ship's hull, at a high ongoing endurance cost to you. | |
| Mapscribe | Create a map to where you are. | |
| Syntax: | SCRIBE MAP | |
| Details: | While at a known seamark location (most harbours are seamarks!), with a blank nautical map in hand, you may inscribe maps to assist in your later return. | |
| Etch | Etch a Token of Charybdis for emergency mainland returns. | |
| Syntax: | ETCH TOKEN SHIP RESCUE ME | |
| Details: | By obtaining a Token of Charybdis and etching upon it, you can call upon the Spirit of Charybdis, the Whirlpool, to help your passage back to safe shore should you find yourself in dire straits. | |
| Shipreturn | Return to your ship from afar (captains/owners only). | |
| Syntax: | SHIPRETURN CLEAR - clears where you will shipreturn to. SHIPRETURN GO - shipreturn now, from same plane. SHIPRETURN HERE - designates where you will shipreturn to. SHIPRETURN WHERE - reminds you where you'll shipreturn to. | |
| Details: | Return to your ship from afar. (Captains and owners only.) | |
| Homeport | A seaspell to return you to safe harbour. | |
| Syntax: | INVOKE HOMEPORT | |
| Details: | This powerful seaspell will return your vessel to the harbour that it last departed. Once cast, provided you are not already docked at a harbour, the spell will summon a powerful storm to transport you great distances. Be warned, using the Homeport ability will come at a great cost, destroying your figurehead in the process (or draining and dismounting resetting ones). Your vessel must be in prime condition to withstand the rigours of this journey, and any damage to this ship while returning will cause the spell to fail. | |
Seafaring Specialisations
Progression in the skill of Seafaring also grants Seafaring Promotion Points (SPPs), which cap at 32 SPPs once transcendent Seafaring is achieved. These points can then be allocated among any of the Seafaring Specilisations listed below. For each specialisation there are five ranks (I, II, III, IV, and V). It is by reaching these ranks under the tutelage of the five Seafaring specialists that abilities within each specialisation are gained.
Each Specialisation has their own unique Aura that can be activated. Auras scale with the rank of the appropriate specialisation.
| Skill Rank | I | II | III | IV | V |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SSPs | 1 | 2 | 6 | 10 | 15 |
Command Specialisation
More effective operations, and several powerful seaspells
| Rank | Ability |
|---|---|
| I | Cost reduction for seaspells (Shipwide Aura) |
| II | Fleetsense |
| III | Keelhaul |
| IV | Commscreen |
| V | Aura max level + cast seaspells unmelded at 1.5x cost |
| Commandaura | Summon an aura of command. | |
| Syntax: | AURA ACTIVATE COMMAND | |
| Details: | This ability grants access to the command ship aura. | |
| Fleetsense | Details on ships of the same ownership or fleet. | |
| Syntax: | FLEETSENSE | |
| Details: | Get information on the ships upon which you may act as captain. | |
| Keelhaul | Special treatment for one special persona aboard. | |
| Syntax: | KEELHAUL <unlucky target> | |
| Works against: | Adventurers | |
| Details: | Send the unfortunate soul to a watery doom. (Your ship will need to be underweigh.) | |
| Commscreen | Screen communications from the mainland. | |
| Syntax: | SHIP COMMSCREEN CHECK SHIP COMMSCREEN RAISE SHIP COMMSCREEN LOWER | |
| Details: | Raise a communications screen between your ship and the mainland. | |
| Remote | Sometimes, the captain's needed on deck. | |
| Syntax: | None | |
| Details: | Your mastery of command is so great that you may now invoke seaspells when not melded with the figurehead. However, they shall cost half again as much power as normal. Note: wavecall is excluded from this ability. | |
Deckhand Specialisation
Stability, repairs, and boarding enemy ships
| Rank | Ability |
|---|---|
| I | Chance to increase repair amount during repairs (Shipwide Aura) |
| II | Salvageops |
| III | Cooking good stores |
| IV | Plundering |
| V | Aura max level + chance of a fire being put out by crew |
| Deckhandaura | Summon the aura of the deckhand. | |
| Syntax: | AURA ACTIVATE DECKHAND | |
| Details: | This ability grants access to the deckhand ship aura. | |
| Salvageops | Recover sunken ships. | |
| Syntax: | SHIP SALVAGE SCAN SHIP SALVAGE <ship id> SHIP SALVAGE STOP | |
| Details: | Recover a sunken vessel from the murky deeps. You will need to locate the vessel using the SCAN ability, and when you are directly above the wreck you can begin the salvage operation. This takes a considerably long time to do, and will keep your crew off-balance for the entire time. You can abort the operation and recover crew balance at any time. | |
| Plundering | Command your Swashbucklers to board a grappled ship to pilfer their goods. | |
| Syntax: | SHIP PLUNDER <full name/short name> SHIP PLUNDER | |
| Details: | This will send your crew of Swashbucklers to board an enemy ship provided both vessels are adjacent, and one ship is grappling the other. Be wary, as subsequent plunder attempts will put the defending Swashbucklers on high alert, resulting in lower success rates and increased danger to your invading crew. | |
| Bribe | Money makes the docks your oyster. | |
| Syntax: | BRIBE DOCKWORKERS <target> | |
| Works against: | Adventurers | |
| Cooldown: | 9.00 seconds of balance | |
| Details: | Getting someone off their ship can be a tough prospect indeed. Fortunately, where a frontal assault might fail there is always greed to fall back upon. While a ship is docked at harbour(*), you may bribe dockworkers to influence their friends among said ship's crew to throw your target overboard(**). If thrown overboard, your target will be stunned for a short time and be dropped off by your hired hands in a location close by to the harbour they were docked at. * Bribing dockworkers in a target's home harbour is significantly more expensive, particularly if said home has high morale. | |
Helm Specialisation
Ship handling, bearings, manoeuvres, and whirlpools
| Rank | Ability |
|---|---|
| I | Bonus morale and experience for crew (Shipwide Aura) |
| II | Shipstate |
| III | Smart Orders |
| IV | Avoidance maneuvers |
| V | Aura max level (balenceless) + faster rowing speed |
| Helmaura | Summon the aura of the helmsman. | |
| Syntax: | AURA ACTIVATE HELM | |
| Details: | This ability grants access to the helm ship aura. | |
| Steadygoing | Maximising steadiness while under weigh. | |
| Syntax: | SHIP MANOEUVRE STEADYGOING | |
| Details: | Begin manoeuvres that will provide a steadier base for your ship's weapons. | |
| Emergencies | Manoeuvres to get you out of the worst situations. | |
| Syntax: | SHIP MANOEUVRE EMERGENCIES | |
| Details: | Initiate emergency manoeuvres in difficult circumstances. | |
| Smartorders | Get the most out of your crew. | |
| Syntax: | SHIP SMARTORDERS | |
| Details: | By galvanising your crew, you can increase your ships rate of turning by up to 20%. However, they'll be unable to maintain such a pace for long, and this ability can only be performed every 10 minutes.(*) * Lasts 2 minutes. | |
| Evasives | Manoeuvres to avoid enemies and enemy weapons. | |
| Syntax: | SHIP MANOEUVRE EVASIVES | |
| Details: | Manoeuvre your ship in an erratic fashion. | |
| Jink | Slide around obstructing ships. | |
| Syntax: | JINK CLEAR|LARBOARD or LEFT|STARBOARD or RIGHT|SHOW | |
| Details: | Avoid collisions with other ships by setting the jink direction beforehand. | |
Watch Specialisation
Crow's nest, bearings, ship scanning, and ship combat powers
| Rank | Ability |
|---|---|
| I | Balance cost reduction on climbing mass/rigging (Shipwide Aura) |
| II | Spyglass |
| III | Anticipate |
| IV | Shipwho lists all visible people on nearby ships (Requires Spyglass) |
| V | Aura max level (balenceless) + reduced chop movement penalty |
| Watchaura | Summon an aura of omniscience. | |
| Syntax: | AURA ACTIVATE WATCH | |
| Details: | This ability grants access to the watch ship aura. | |
| Spyglass | Gain greater detail on your surroundings. | |
| Syntax: | SPYGLASS LOOK SPYGLASS INFO <seamonster> | |
| Required: | A spyglass in your inventory. | |
| Details: | Gain greater information about your surroundings with a spyglass! Look will display any seamonsters or ships in a small radius around your ship.Info <seamonster> will show you specific information about a nearby seamonster. | |
| Anticipate | Know when a ship changes course or manoeuvre. | |
| Syntax: | SHIP ANTICIPATE SHOW SHIP ANTICIPATE STOP SHIP ANTICIPATE START <full or short name of ship in range> | |
| Details: | Your naval experience has allowed your eyes to anticipate the movement of ships in range. | |
Weapons Specialisation
Aiming, firing, and fixing ship weapons
| Rank | Ability |
|---|---|
| I | Aiming increase (Shipwide Aura) |
| II | Ammo Enchancement |
| III | Weapon Maintenance |
| IV | Grappling |
| V | Aura max level + increased leaking on attacked ships |
| Status | An overview of all of the ship's weapons. | |
| Syntax: | SHIP WEAPON STATUS | |
| Details: | Gain an overview of all the ship's weapons, including the details of their ammunition, damage and months of usefulness remaining. | |
| Weaponsaura | Summon an aura of hostility. | |
| Syntax: | AURA ACTIVATE WEAPONS | |
| Details: | This ability grants access to the weapons ship aura. | |
| Loadweapon | Load ship weapons without using balance. | |
| Syntax: | Passive | |
| Details: | This ability allows you to load ammunition into ship weapons without incurring any balance loss. | |
| Ammoenhancement | Improvements to ship ammunition. | |
| Syntax: | LOAD <weapon> WITH <ammo> [DIPPED] | |
| Details: | Your mastery of ship munitions is such that you can now enhance certain types of ammunition. Star-shot, chain-shot, and shafts may be coated in a special liquid, causing them to set aflame either the adventurers aboard the target ship, the target ship's sails, or the target ship's deck, respectively. Vats containing this rare liquid, called "dragon's tears", may be obtained from an apothecary upon a certain isle. | |
| Weaponmaintenance | Ship's weapons repair and upkeep. | |
| Syntax: | SHIP WEAPON MAINTAIN <weapon> | |
| Required: | 1 wood, 1 iron, and 1 rope | |
| Details: | Actively work to maintain the ship's onboard weapons. You will need to have the required commodities in your inventory at the beginning of the session, and complete eight MAINTAIN or REPAIRs to either add one month to the life of the weapon or repair some of the damage the weapon has taken. This ability allows you to actively work to maintain the ship's onboard weapons. You will need to have the required commodities in your inventory at the beginning of the session, and complete eight sessions to add one month to the life of the weapon. | |