Ships (OSS)

: This is the ship of pearl, which, poets feign,
: Sails the unshadowed main,
: The venturous bark that flings
: On the sweet summer wind its purpled wings
: In gulfs enchanted, where the Siren sings,
: And coral reefs lie bare,
: Where the cold sea-maids rise to sun their streaming hair.
: -Oliver Wendell Holmes, The Chambered Nautilus
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Before the development of steam engines, railroads, and electricity, seagoing vessels offered the most reliable means of transport. These ships carried trade between nations, facilitated communication and diplomacy, and opened up new areas of the world to exploration and conquest.
As the durability and seaworthiness of such craft increased, so did their importance to society. By the 17th century, a country's naval power dictated its position in the European geopolitical arena-thus the success of such nautical nations as Spain, Portugal, and England.
The struggle for naval supremacy makes an exciting backdrop for a fantasy campaign. As most fantasy worlds exhibit a technological level roughly equivalent to that of a medieval society, Dungeon Masters can easily design adventures where their players' characters act as agents of a powerful noble or king interested in building a naval fleet for exploration and conquest.
In addition, the inclusion of naval transport allows a Dungeon Master to expand the limits of his campaign world by designing new and unexplored regions. Rather than adventure in dungeons, player characters can travel to long-forgotten islands and mysterious continents.
An understanding of ships and sailing vessels is essential, however, for Dungeon Masters who wish to present convincing and engaging nautical campaigns or adventures. This chapter details the ships most commonly used in the AD&D game-including game statistics useful in combat-and provides a glossary of nautical terms. Dungeon Masters can use this glossary to add flavor to their seagoing adventures.
==Types of Ships==
Since the building of the earliest seagoing vessels, mankind has developed a wide variety of sailing ships. From simple canoes and rafts to the triple-masted splendor of the Mediterranean galleass and English galleon of the 16th century, the history of sailing has been one of ever increasing complexity.
As mentioned earlier, however, most fantasy settings possess medieval technology. Of Ships and the Sea reflects this by limiting its scope to those ships most commonly found from antiquity to the late medieval period.
The AD&D game divides ships into three types: inlanders, coasters, and seafarers. A variety of ships exists within these categories each with its own strengths and weaknesses. DMs can find details of each ship in the listings below. In addition, Table 1: Ships and Table 2: Ship Characteristics (both found at the end of this chapter) list game information for each vessel. Note that the individual ships described here actually represent general information that applies to many similar types of vessels. For example, the description for a skiff also covers rowboats, long boats, and dinghies.
* Coasters
** Canoe · Cargo Ship · Curragh · Dromond · Fishing Boat · Great Galley · Drakkar · Knarr · Pentekonter · Skiff · Trireme
* Seafarers
** Caravel · Cog · Longship · Outrigger · Sohar 
* Inlanders
** Barge · Keelboat · Raft
 Dungeon Mastery Tips: A Note On Ship Design
Despite a gradual improvement in shipbuilding techniques, shipwrights face a difficult choice: whether to build a ship for speed or for stability. Because a ship's beam, or maximum width (see glossary), affects its overall speed, vessels capable of fast movement must possess a thin, streamlined shape.
A trim ship does, in fact, move at greater speeds than its heavier and wider counterparts. But it is considerably more prone to capsizing, as larger beams promote greater overall stability. Dungeon Masters should keep this in mind when designing their own ships or converting historical ships for game use.
 Dungeon Mastery Tips: Multiple Uses For Ships
The placement of ships into generalized categories provides the Dungeon Master with information on the probable location of ship encounters (that is, the most likely place that characters will encounter a given ship). These categories are by no means absolutely rigid. As mentioned several times before, ships designed for coastal use can, in fact, travel out into the open sea. Likewise, coastal ships-such as the dromond can travel on riverways. The same holds true for seafaring ships.
Of course, a sailor has to account for the degree of danger inherent in using a ship in a different environment than that demanded by its original design. When determining whether or not a ship can survive in a different setting, the DM should consider three things: the ship's draft (the depth of water necessary to float the ship), its seaworthiness, and its capacity to support its crew with food and shelter. Dungeon Masters will find a more detailed discussion of these three factors in Chapter 2.
==Ship Diagrams==
File:Ship Diagram 1 - OSS.jpg|Longship, Knarr, Drakkar
File:Ship Diagram 2 - OSS.jpg|Trireme, Great Galley
File:Ship Diagram 3 - OSS.jpg|Cargo Ship, Dromond, Pentekonter
File:Ship Diagram 4 - OSS.jpg|Sohar, Cog, Caravel
File:Ship Record Sheet - OSS.png|Ship Record Sheet