The Wildsea Ship Creation

This is the fourth in a series of character creation posts I’m using to figure out which game I want to schedule for our next campaign. You can find the Triangle Agency one here. And you can find the Slugblaster one here. You can find the Blades in the Dark one here.

Shipbuilding

I recently reposted a piece I wrote last year about the Wildsea and how it exemplifies the tradition of giving your PCs something to care about and then fucking with it. Please check it out for the basics of the game, the setting, and the ruleset. In that post, I pointed out that, creator of the Wildsea, Felix Isaacs, has suggested that you start by creating your ship and only then move on to the creation of the characters who will crew it. And who am I to argue with Mr Isaacs?

Stakes

How much do you have to spend on your new ship? Well, the buying process is abstracted out to a number of stakes. You don’t need to worry about defining the exact amount of currency required to outfit a new boat, you just split it up like a pie. Each crew starts with 6 stakes to spend on ship creation, with an additional 3 per PC who will be crewing it. Most options will cost a single stake but some more powerful ones will cost two or three. Since I don’t have a real party, I’m going to pretend I have a full compliment of three, leaving me with a total of 15 stakes.

You can’t get any more Stakes to improve your ship during play, but it is possible to trade cargo for the same upgrades later.

Next, in the Ships & Shipbuilding chapter, it has a short section on “Personal Touches.” I think these are important to making a ship feel like your own, but I think I’ll keep them to the end of the process.

Creating Your Ship

The next page tells us about the steps to make your ship. There are three overall stages:

• Design – you have to choose an option for each of the following:
  • Size
  • Frame
  • Hull
  • Bite
  • Engine
• Fittings – these are all optional but they come in the following categories:
  • Motifs
  • Additions
  • Rooms
  • Armaments
  • Outriders
• Undercrew – optional choices that come in the following types:
  • Officers
  • Gangs
  • Packs

On the same page, there is a helpful example ship statted out for us. It is essentially just a list of chosen options beneath each of the three stages. Beside each option is the cost in Stakes and the benefit it provides for the ship if appropriate.

It also lists the Ratings for the ship.

Ratings

These are tracks (tracks are like clocks in Blades in the Dark, in some instances and like health bars in others) that are used to record the current status of various aspects of the ship. Every ship will have all six of these:

• Armour – speaks for itself
• Seals – How well your ship keeps out the nastiness from the Wildsea
• Speed – ‘nuff said
• Saws – most ships use giant chainsaws or something similar to power their way through the waves of leaves and branches.
• Stealth – how well can your ship pass undetected?
• Tilt – this is your ship’s manoeuvrability

Each one of these Ratings starts as a 1-track but we’ll be adding to that as we progress.
Keep these Ratings in mind as we go through the process!

Step One – Design

Normally, this would be done by committee. Every player should be involved in the decisions on which the foundations of the ship are built. But, obviously, in my case, that’s not possible. Anyway, here we go!

Size

There are four sizes available and they each cost 1 Stake:

• Nano – big enough for one person and maybe a passenger. +1 Stealth
• Small – can easily accommodate between two and four sailors. A good starter ship. +1 Speed
• Standard – perfect for five to ten people. +1 Armour
• Large – ideal for ten to twenty people. +1 Armour and -1 Stealth

I have a limited number of Stakes so I feel like a Small ship is the way to go. Also, it’s for a crew of up to four, so it’s just right.

Frame

The Frame, the book tells us, betrays a certain attitude that you want your ship to give off to other wild sailors. Your choice will also give Rating modifiers like Size does. Here are the six available Frames:

• Sturdy – meant to weather storms and bombardments both. +1 Armour
• Moulded – somehow constructed from a single piece of some material. +1 Seals
• Light – lightweight and dainty. +1 Speed
• Scything – all about cutting through the treetops as well as they can. +1 Saws
• Sleek – Keeps you “low to the waves,” and as quiet as possible. +1 Stealth
• Flexible – bend before breaking. +1 Tilt

I personally think that one of the coolest aspects of these wildsea vessels is the fact that they use enormous chainsaws to cut through the canopy. So, I’m going to lean into that and choose the Scything Frame, giving +1 Saws and costing 1 Stake.

Hull

Interestingly, you can have more than one of these, if you like, but you must have at least one, for obvious reasons. There are twelve Common Hulls and three more Unique ones listed here. The cost ranges from free to 3 Stakes. Here are the Common ones:

• Reef-Iron – 1 Stake, +1 Armour
• Leviathan Bone – 1 Stake, +1 Seals
• Broadwood – 1 Stake, +1 Tilt
• Rough Bark – 1 Stake, +1 Stealth
• Chitinous – 1 Stake, +1 Speed
• Razorscale – 1 Stake, +1 Saws
• Beastback – 2 Stakes, +1 Seals, +1 Tilt, “A half-living hull of flesh and bone, flexible and unsettlingly warm.”
• Ceramic – 2 Stakes, +1 Armour, +1 Seals
• Chrysalid – 2 Stakes, +1 Seals, +1 Stealth, “A hull adapted from the cast-off chrysalis of a massive insect, excellent protection against the sea’s incursion.”
• Ghost-Oak – 2 Stakes, +1 Armour, +1 Stealth
• Arachnesque – 2 Stakes, +1 Tilt, +1 Stealth, “Less of a hull and more of a giant insect grown to fit the specifications of your frame, usually something spider-like.
• Exile’s Copper – 2 Stakes, +1 Armour, +1 Speed

Here are the three Unique Hulls:

• Junk-Strung – Free, +1 Armour, -1 Seals, can salvage parts from it
• Floraflage – 2 Stakes, +2 Stealth, -1 Armour, undetectable while stopped
• Monument – 3 Stakes, +2 Armour, +2 Seals, made from mountain stone so can’t “Forge-ahead during a journey”

I like the idea of adding a little Armour Rating at this stage but also building on the Speed I improved before so I am going to go with Exile’s Copper for the Hull giving me a +1 Armour and +1 Speed. It will cost 2 Stakes but I think its worth it.

Bite

This determines the way your ship is propelled. It will also have an effect on your ramming damage and the ease by which others might track you. There are twelve Common Bites listed, as well as several different types of sails and a trio of Unique Bites as well. Here are the Common ones:

• Sawprow – 1 Stake, +1 Saws, big chainsaws! Close Quarters (CQ) Serrated damage
• Impellers – 1 Stake, +1 Speed, outboard engines. CQ Blast damage
• Crawler – 1 Stake, +1 Tilt, kinda like crab legs? CQ Blunt damage
• Underscales – 1 Stake, +1 Stealth, snakey. CQ Keen damage
• Jag-Tracks – 1 Stake, +1 Armour, “Motorised grapple tracks.” CQ Hewing damage
• Sluicejets – 1 Stake, +1 Seals, chemicals that push you along. CQ Acid damage
• Longjaw – 2 Stakes, +1 Saws, +1 Speed, “An underslung chainsaw arrangement.” CQ Serrated damage
• Propeller-Cage – 2 Stakes, +1 Speed, +1 Armour. CQ Blunt damage
• Navapede Limbs – 2 Stakes, +1 Tilt, +1 Stealth. Like a centipede. CQ Spike damage
• Voltaic Runners – 2 Stakes, +2 Seals, like the electric ships in the Matrix, I imagine? CQ Volt damage
• Mulcher – 2 Stakes, +2 Saws, +1 Armour, -1 Stealth, “grinding teeth in a lamprey-style mouth.” CQ Serrated damage
• Tentaculari – 2 Stakes, +2 Tilt, it’s tentacles. CQ Salt(!) damage

I am not going to go into all the Sail and Unique options here because there are too many already, to be honest, and I know I don’t want any of them. I need to stick to my guns, or my chainsaws in this instance. As I am worried about the number of Stakes I have left to spend, I won’t go for the Longjaw. Instead I’ll go for option number one, Sawprow, for 1 Stake, giving me +1 Saws.

Engine

This is the last bit in the Design stage. A few things to note about the ship’s Engine:

• It can be used for more than just propulsion
• It will require a specific type of fuel
• In most instances, don’t worry about tracking the fuel

There are eleven Common Engines and four more Unique ones. Here are the Common ones:

• Chemical Compressor – 1 Stake, +1 Speed. Fuel – crushed fruit and insect husks
• Springwork – 1 Stake, +1 Saws. Fuel – manual labour
• Parasite Pitcher (Plant) – 1 Stake, +1 Stealth. Fuel – living matter
• Steam Piping – 1 Stake, +1 Seals. Fuel – water
• Ratwheel Exchange – 1 Stake, +1 Tilt. Fuel – feed the rats
• Pulsing Cocoon – 1 Stake, +1 Armour. Fuel – dreams
• Jawbox – 1 Stake, +1 Saws, +1 Speed, -1 Stealth. Fuel – wood
• Solar Compressor – 2 Stakes, +1 Speed, +1 Stealth. Fuel – sunlight
• Magnetic Coils – 2 Stakes, +1 Tilt, +1 Stealth. Fuel – magnetic scrap
• Ceramic Batteries – 2 Stakes, +1 Saws, +1 Seals. Fuel – lightning strikes
• Acid Maw – 2 Stakes, +2 Saws. Fuel – salvage and scrap

The Unique Engines are fun too. One of them is this:

• Tamed Hive – 2 Stakes, +1 Speed, +1 Seals. It’s a massive hive and can produce honey. Fuel – flowers and pollen

I love the whimsy of the Tamed Hive so much that I must have it! That’s 2 Stakes but it adds +1 Speed and +1 Seals

There won’t be any more changes to the Ratings from the remaining steps so our final Ratings are:

• Armour – 2
• Seals – 2
• Speed – 4
• Saws – 3
• Stealth – 1
• Tilt – 1

Step Two – Fittings

Pretty much every part of this is optional, which is just as well because I only have eight Stakes left…

Motif

So this is the general theme and purpose of the ship. Choosing one can help the whole crew get a clear vision of the vessel and will also influence how others see you and it. They provide specific things like emergency medicine, gaudy appearance or a reinforced engine room. They do not provide mechanical effects but they may play a part narratively.

Here are the available Motifs. They each cost two Stakes:

• Transport
• Hauling
• Hunting
• Salvaging
• Pathfinding
• Raiding
• Rescue
• Research
• Entertainment

You don’t have to choose a Motif for your ship but I am enamoured by the idea of a Research vessel out there on the wild waves. Perhaps the unconventional engine was something we discovered during a past expedition and we figured out how to make our ship go with it through the power of research!

A Research vessel:

• has better tech on show than most ships
• contains a research library
• houses a snapograph arrangement. Its a sort of big camera

Additions

There are so many of these, most of them costing a single Stake. We’ve got Firefly Lanterns, a Cargo Crane, a Steam Whistle and lots more. But, as I am getting worried about how much I’ve spent already, I am only going to pick up:

• Anchor System – Its Free!
• Tethered Kitesail – 1 Stake – its a glider that is hooked to the deck. Lets us go up and get a bird’s eye view when the wind’s up

Rooms

On a Small Size vessel it’s not a great idea to split your already limited space up any further. You already have the following rooms on your ship:

• A Pilot’s Cabin
• A Main Deck
• Crew Quarters
• An Engine Room
• A Cargo Bay

You can add a lot of different types of rooms like a Galley, a Navigational Suite, a Tap-Room or a Brig and they are all optional.

But this is a Research vessel now and I feel like we need a good way to observe stuff. We have the glider to allow us to watch from above. I would like to add a Cupola to the hull, near the rear of the ship, giving a great view of the Underthrash. That costs one Stake. I am down to just four Stakes left.

Armaments

Weapons are next on the Fittings list. These, too, are optional. In this case, they are either placed on deck or fixed to the Hull. I’m not crazy about the idea of armaments for a Research vessel, however, since our Stealth sucks, I think it’s prudent.

We have a lot of choices, from Trebuchet to Storm-Rail to Broadside Cannons and a Bladed Prow. But I’m going to pick up something suitably sciencey:

• Viper’s Tooth – 2 Stakes, sprays an acid of some sort dealing Long Range Acid Damage.

Outriders

This is another option for defence. Honestly, with a Small ship, I don’t have the space for this and I also don’t have the Stakes to spend on it. You have to build an Outrider much like a ship, although it only has two components. You will also then need to add a way to store and deploy it from your actual ship. It seems like a fun extra but I can’t afford it.

Step Three – Undercrew

These come in three varieties: Officers, Gangs and Packs. I’m not going to go into detail on each variety as this post is already way too long. Suffice it to say, the officers are Skilled, Experienced or Well-Travelled, the Gangs are not necessarily what you might think of when you think of Gangs (some of them are Tinkers, some are Spear-Fishers, but some are actual Marauders) and the Packs are animals…

You can have Spring-Foxes which leap along beside your ship to warn of danger, Rig-Ferrets who can do knots, Squirrel Flingers who will fight to defend your vessel. But what I want is one of the Insect Packs:

• Glowbug Parade – 2 Stakes, they follow the crew members around and illuminate their surroundings for them!

Personal Touches

And so, with all Stakes spent, we come back to the start and our little idiosyncrasies. The book suggests describing the following, so I will:

• Colour and Style – I think it was once a scientific grey and white, all straight lines but now it is a dark shade of honey as the insects crawled all over it. It’s all smeared and waxy. The crew have left it that way as they think it protects from parasites
• Shape and Construction – I think this ship is quite blocky, almost as though it was constructed from prefab elements. But, once again, the engine bees have shored up all the joints and seams with wax and honey, making it look far more organic
• Quarters Decoration – I don’t have my character created yet so I am going to revisit this when I have made them. I expect that all the crew sleep in a single chamber, though. They might each have a personalised corner
• Quirk – Sometimes the bees go to sleep at night and we can’t get the engine to start
• History – This has always been our ship. It has been on a mission of discovery and research for several years now. We were originally led by an old eccentric who built it and funded it. Now she’s gone, we carry on in her place

The final step? A name of course!

I name this good ship, The Beacon…

And here is a list of the options I have taken:

The Beacon

Design

Small Size (1 Stake, +1 Speed)
Scything Frame (1 Stake, +1 Saws)
Exile’s Copper Hull (2 Stakes, +1 Armour, +1 Speed)
Sawprow Bite (1 Stake, +1 Saws, Massive CQ Serrated Damage)
Tamed Hive Engine (2 Stakes, +1 Speed, +1 Seals, honey)

Fittings

Research Motif (2 Stakes)
Anchor System Addition (Free)
Tethered Kitesail Addition (1 Stake)
Cupola Room (1 Stake)
Viper’s Tooth Armament (2 Stakes, Massive LR Acid Damage)
No Outriders

Undercrew

No Officers
No Gangs
Glowing Parade Insect Pack (2 Stakes)

Conclusion

I’ll keep this short as that was very long. You should set aside a session just for this process, dear reader. There are a lot of choices and I can only imagine how much longer it would take with four or five people trying to come to agreement on it! However, it has given me a very clear idea of the Ship I just created and a few ideas for the type of character who might crew it.

On to character creation!