To help round out your characters with better attributes or extra skills I will offer Bonus X points for various world building tasks as a way to help you all connect better with the world you are inhabiting.

The basic unit size for a game like this is a gun crew or 'division', or for marines I will just call it a squad or detachment.  This means we will need a few NPC's to fill out the gun crews or stand in a volley line.  Plus a few extra mundane skills will make life more comfortable with a well balanced unit.

To this end I am offering 1 bonus X Point for every 4 NPC's you generate (max 2 x points).  You can find blank templates in the Game Wiki under Press Gangs (two divisions), Marines (one division) and Volunteers (half a division).

Higher ranking NPC's will be offered later that will be worth more points.  Any questions, please post here.
This message was last edited by the GM at 06:51, Sat 28 Oct 2023.

In reply to CaptainHellrazor (msg # 1):

Should we roll stats?

How many in a division 4 or 8? There are 8 templates in BOTH Press Gangs and Marines. Are the divisions the same size for gun crews and marines?

Yes you roll stats for NPC's.  Do them in groups of 4 at a time so you get 1 X point for each group.  I am doing a Volunteer right now, a cook.

In reply to CaptainHellrazor (msg # 3):

I'm on Press gangs

With your NPC's don't worry about re-rolling until you you get 2 minimum scores, that is just for players to give you an edge over NPC's.  They get stuck with their first rolls regardless.

I've created 4 so far and uploaded them to the bottom of the Press Gang Wiki. I assume you won't need the templates once they're done, but I've left them there for now.

Nice work.  You can remove the "NPC Press Gang template" from them when you are done.  I also added the raw attributes at the bottom of the table (prior to age mods, +5 and any shifting.  My NPC's are key positions so they have extra levels to basic recruits.  But you can see with a few vocation and hobby skills you can quickly build a picture for each NPC.

OK folks just reminder there are bonus X Points on offer for generating some NPC's for your divisions.  You can't fire a canon on your own, you need a gun crew or 'division'.  Marines will have detachments or squads and even Adrian will have a few sailors that can handle some basics in combat.  We can go into more detail in your solo threads.

Over the next few days I hope to add more info to the Game Wiki describing various parts of the HMS Boudica.  During your training everyone would be quite familiar with the ship so if anyone wants to help out writing descriptions of specific locations on board then there are going to be more Bonus Xpoints on offer.

I've had a look at this (and copied/edited some stuff from the internet).  One of the issues is the HMS Boudica is a "fantasy" design and most descriptions online refer to real ships from the era ... but I don't think this is too far off.

HMS BOUDICA

POOP DECK
The highest deck on the ship, the unarmed poop deck was used mainly by officers. From here, the signal lieutenant hauled up flags to signal to nearby vessels.

QUARTERDECK
The elevated rear portion is the Quarterdeck. The Captain would be based here during a battle. The quarter deck was also normally reserved for the officers. The Captain slept in a cabin at the stern of ths deck so he could be on hand quickly in an emergency. The quarter deck was armed with 12 cannons. They were called 12 pounders because they each fired an orange sized cannonball weighing approximately 12 pounds (5.5 kg).

FORECASTLE DECK (optional)
This raised deck covered the main deck at the bows. Gangways linked it to the quarter deck. Many of the ship's sails were controlled from here, and there were four guns as well. Two were cannonades, or "smashers", a type of short gun firing a   heavy shot. They were most effective at short range. A man-of-war might carry two huge 68-pounder (31 kg) carronades.

> I don't think the Bodica has a Fo'c'sle deck; we could move the cannonades to the main deck.

MAIN DECK or UPPER GUN DECK
Above the gun deck is the Main Deck which would serve or depending on the exact layout or preferred terminology also be the Spar Deck or weather deck, as it will be the top most continuous and exposed to the elements. It can also and usually would carry guns, but typically of a lighter build, smaller size, or different design like a Carronade. Unlike the lower and middle decks, this deck was open to the weather. Three of the man-of-war's small boats sat on cradles attached to the beams which crossed over the open space. It was armed with the 24-pounder guns - nine along each side!

GUN DECK or MIDDLE GUN DECK
The lighter 24-pounder guns on the middle deck fired smallish 11 kg balls, the size of a grapefruit. There were twelve guns on each side, and many of the crew slept and ate here. The galley, the ship's kitchen, was located here, too. At the stern the officers had their cabins and wardroom (dining/living room).

CREW DECK or LOWER GUN DECK
So the lowest level with guns from bow to stern would be the Lower Gun Deck. Down each side there were twelve 32-pounder cannons, which fired 14 kg balls the size of a coconut. When the ship was not fighting in a battle, many of the seamen hung their hammocks between the beams of this deck.

ORLOP DECK
The orlop deck got its name from a Dutch word meaning "overlap", because this deck overlapped the hold. This deck was primarily used for storage, and for the offices of some of the ship's crew who needed access to the hold, such as the purser and carpenter.

HOLD
Located at the very bottom of the ship, the hold was like a giant warehouse. Here the crew stored provisions for the voyage, such as all the food and drink they would require, iron cannonballs, spare ropes and sails, and materials for repairing any damages experienced while at sea.
This message was last edited by the player at 14:56, Tue 14 Nov 2023.

This message was deleted by the player at 14:20, Wed 15 Nov 2023.

I have a problem with players using AI in my games.  I have zero interest in playing any kind of RPG with AI.  Thanks for letting me know you have used Chat GPT but please don't.  Personally I think it is lazy role playing and is a slap in the face to real players who write real posts.

I suspected, I will delete the post.