Hodgepodge

Today's post combines a number of elements. For one, here are links to sheets that can be used to track stats for a ship's crew. I'm including two because one is for seafaring vessels and the other is for spacefaring ships.

Sailing Ship Crew Sheet

Aethership Crew Sheet


There's also a bit about naming vessels.

What's in a Name? After a party acquires a vessel, one of the first tasks is to give it a good name. To that end, there are plenty of options. Some ship owners like to name a vessel after an existing person, such as the Moon Maiden or the Lady Katherine. Others prefer to invoke a place name, for example the Mercurial Messenger, the Virtue of Venus or the Martian Marauder. Another option is to use an abstract principle, such as the Liberty or the Vengeance. Animals can make good namesakes, with examples such as the Skylark or the Dolphin.

Last is a short article about carrying animals aboard ships.

Animals Aboard Aetherships

An interesting element of travel aboard aetherships is carrying animals aboard them. Presented below are a few of the possibilities for these situations.

The Ship's Pet

Having one or more pets aboard an aethership can be good for the morale of the crew. What is more, ship's cats, along with certain types of dogs, can be useful for eliminating rats and other vermin that tend to gather aboard ships.

Service Creatures

Sometimes certain crews—especially the elves—carry wondrous creatures that perform various duties aboard the ship. Elves like to keep a few griffons aboard, especially for rescuing crew members who fall overboard, and some goblins are known to keep worgs for making hit-and-run attacks.

Living Cargo

Another common reason for animals to be aboard aetherships is if they're being transported as cargo. This can be preferable to hauling prepared meat—smoked or pickled, for example—because living animals don't spoil, and because they can be used to establish a population on colony worlds. It provides a challenge, however, because they take up more room, they can be messy and, in times of trouble, they can become downright dangerous. After all, should a ship be caught in battle, the animals could become panicked and thus stampede. Refer to the rules for the Handle Animal skill, along with the Bestiary entry for herd animals, to adjudicate such a situation.

“I tell ya, that wolf never had it better. She'd make the rounds of the ship, payin' a visit to all of the crew, and every one of 'em had a scrap of biscuit or a bit of meat for her. She got downright fat, she did.” -Annelise, human ranger