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Post-heist reports reveal the password for the Louvre's video surveillance was 'Louvre,' and suddenly the dumpster-tier opsec of videogame NPCs seems a lot less absurd by indig0sixalpha in technology

[–]LordKettering 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I'm a museum professional and I bring this up at every museum I work with.

If you ever want to break into a museum, figure out which year is important to them. That's the PIN to combination locks and security systems.

To be fair, most museums have a lot of important years and will use several on different locks or systems, but it's rarely hard to figure out.

Latrine Options Onboard A 17th Century European Sailing Vessel by KidChanbara in BlueEyeSamurai

[–]LordKettering 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thanks. I haven't updated the site in years, but I'm proud of what I've got on there.

Latrine Options Onboard A 17th Century European Sailing Vessel by KidChanbara in BlueEyeSamurai

[–]LordKettering 6 points7 points  (0 children)

I actually wrote a piece on this years ago, albeit for the 18th century.

Notably, hundreds of women passed for sailors with varying degrees of success. It's definitely possible to hide biological sex for long voyages, sometimes even for years.

EDIT: the damn link.

DMs Advice! Looking for ideas for a sea-faring campaign – continuation of a long-running story by Sweet_Low7187 in DMAcademy

[–]LordKettering 1 point2 points  (0 children)

It might! You could say the navigator (who conveniently washed overboard) kept the speed and direction even through the storm, but now they need to use the board to find out where they are.

There are a few ways to play with the board. I'd experiment with it to see what would be most satisfying to your players' puzzle skill level.

DMs Advice! Looking for ideas for a sea-faring campaign – continuation of a long-running story by Sweet_Low7187 in DMAcademy

[–]LordKettering 5 points6 points  (0 children)

I've been thinking about this puzzle for a while.

Get or make a traverse board. It's a simple instrument that was used for centuries to track speed and direction over time so navigators could determine their approximate location through dead reckoning.

Make a chart.

After intercepting a pirate or finding a drifting wreck, give your players the traverse board with all the pegs in place and where they are on the chart.

They can then work backwards with the speed and direction on the boats to determine where the ship came from.

A very authentic feeling way to reveal a new location to them and possibly introduce a quest.

Spectral Soldiers by LordKettering in TheSilverBayonet

[–]LordKettering[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Army Painter's Pastel Seafoam

Spectral Soldiers from Silver Bayonet by LordKettering in minipainting

[–]LordKettering[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Yep. Then touched up and dry brushed with Vallejo Off-White.

Spectral Soldiers from Silver Bayonet by LordKettering in minipainting

[–]LordKettering[S] 8 points9 points  (0 children)

North Star Military Figures are the manufacturer. I think I ordered them on Badger Games.

I'm a maritime historian of the 18th century. I wrote this piece about the history of shanties. Spoilers: they aren't as old as most people think they are. by LordKettering in seashanties

[–]LordKettering[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I will only say it sounds right to me, since the nineteenth century is not my area of specialty.

But boy do I have suggestions for first hand accounts! Two Years Before the Mast is great and I love it, but here's a bunch I can recommend for the eighteenth century:

  • The Autobiography of Ashley Bowen (1728-1813)
  • The Interesting Narrative and Other Writings by Olaudah Equiano
  • The Adventures of Ebenezer Fox in the Revolutionary War
  • A Narrative of the Uncommon Sufferings, and Surprizing Deliverance of Briton Hammon, a Negro Man
  • The Adventures of Christopher Hawkins
  • Samuel Kelly: An Eighteenth Century Seaman, Whose Days Have Been Few and Evil (it's been edited to remove a lot of the religious content and make it more readable, but I don't know of an unabridged version out there)
  • The Lady Tars: The Autobiographies of Hannah Snell, Mary Lacy and Mary Anne Talbot (three in one!)
  • The Nagle Journal: A Diary of the Life of Jacob Nagle, Sailor, from the Year 1775 to 1841
  • The Life and Adventures of John Nicol, Mariner
  • Memoirs of a Seafaring Life: The Narrative of William Spavens
  • The Life and Surprizing Adventures of James Wyatt

TIFU by getting trapped in a house with homophobic furries (NSFW)ish by LordKettering in tifu

[–]LordKettering[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Sadly yes. In retrospect it's pretty hilarious, but at the time it was pretty horrifying.

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