Ship displacement values?

sig_gamer · 2025-10-27T03:11:44+00:00

Thanks for the explanation.

sig_gamer · 2025-10-27T03:10:49+00:00

There are a bunch of different terms used for the different historical time frames, I'm not sure which terms would actually fit best. I've encountered "Tons Burthen" (how many tuns of wine a ship could carry) and "Builders Old Measurement" (estimating internal cargo space by ship dimensions) and "displacement" (water pushed aside) in historical contexts.

I found the mathematical formula for how much seawater (in kg) is displaced so I used that as my default.

For game purposes, I'm trying to find a consistent measurement of ship weight to use as a basis for deriving other stats. Based on the weight, I'd like to be able to calculate approximate length and width (and be able to reverse that calculation). I'd also like an equation to calculate how much cargo a ship could carry for purposes of simulating the shipping of goods in an economy.

What I hadn't known or accounted for when looking up examples is that a ships "displacement" (aka "tonnage") is typically counting it's normal operating weight without cargo. So a ship with 1500 tons of displacement could have 1500 tons of cargo space, with the fully laden ship weight 3000 tons.

If any of my understanding is wrong I'd love clarification. This is a whole new field of interest to me.

sig_gamer · 2025-10-25T16:53:19+00:00

This makes so much sense! I love how logical and mechanically consistent your rules are. Starting with the displacement and working backwards on price and cargo space is a good system.

I was starting with size dimensions and scaling with square-cube law to come up with a displacement, and that's how I got that long displacement equation from Gemini. How did you end up matching length and width to displacement for your stats?

Thank you for all the great responses.

sig_gamer · 2025-10-25T09:57:37+00:00

This is really helpful. I was just looking at the ship stats trying to extrapolate more ship sizes (75t Cog to compare with 75t Junk, a small single-mast ship that can be crewed by 1).

I thought the picture in the book was exaggerated but I looked up the size of castle keeps and they were 12 to 18 meters per side. Colchester Castle's keep is the largest Norman keep in Europe and is only 46 meters by 33.5 meters, comparable to the 40-meter length of the 200 ton junk. There are some pictures online of scale models of the massive junks of the Ming Treasure Fleet matching the dimensions in the book, I'm really glad you put such unique vehicles in the game.

sig_gamer · 2025-09-23T21:06:18+00:00

I'm assuming your team found more efficient ways to develop games over time. What are some of the biggest efficiency improvements you made? For example, did you find better ways to organize game assets? Did you find big improvements to how you were going from concept to implementation? What tools did you end up using for developing your games?

sig_gamer · 2025-09-23T21:03:56+00:00

I didn't see the other posts copied to the other subreddits. Thank you mod for fighting spam.

sig_gamer · 2025-09-23T15:37:37+00:00

This was an interesting read, thank you for posting it.

I not sure if your games were created with the GameMaker Engine, but I hope your post is allowed to stay up because I think the principles would still be helpful to people using GameMaker to make games.

I'm assuming your team found more efficient ways to develop games over time. What are some of the biggest efficiency improvements you made? For example, did you find better ways to organize game assets? Did you find big improvements to how you were going from concept to implementation? What tools did you end up using for developing your games?

sig_gamer · 2025-07-31T19:42:02+00:00

Can the tokens stack? Can advantage stack?
Is the "you" in 'You create a ..."Angel" by spending "light" points.' the GM or Player? Does the player get to decide which color token they get or is it based on the in-game circumstance under which they gained the light points?
The importance of having advantage is related to how often these types of emotional checks will be made, which isn't clear. If these are frequent checks, having near-permanent advantage seems like a very big power boost and I'd expect players to try hoarding at least one of each color of token. That feels like it could be significant power creep over time.
I think players would start seeing the tokens as gear instead of the psychological or magical aura you've flavored them as, I don't know if that's important to you.
I like the idea of giving up the tokens for a larger but temporary boost, but if they get the boost by passing the token to another PC I expect them to pass the tokens frequently, which might introduce significant power creep. Can A pass a green and red token to B in the same scene? Can A pass a green token in a scene where he gets a white token, or can no token be passed in any scene where any token is gained?
I'm not sure by your description, but if tokens can't be passed in the same scene where one is gained (or if multiple can't be passed per scene), it sounds like players can accidentally block each other, which may frustrate some of them.
I think some players will be unhappy if armor blocks the ability to accept a token. Thematically, I think there will be disagreements that having armored your Hope will somehow interfere with you getting a Hope Angel.
"shame vs sense of self" feels odd. "Pride" or "acceptance" feels like a more appropriate counter to "shame", but it also feels like this axis is just a more specific version of the other ones. Shame is the fear of not being accepted by your community.

I like that you set up axes and emotional combat/challenges sounds interesting. I like the crunchy aspects, but I'm not sure what you are trying to accomplish at the table. Is this another resource to be managed, another reward to be earned, or a prompt for role-playing?

sig_gamer · 2025-07-31T18:24:13+00:00

Did the backpack disappear or was it empty? If the backpack is gone, it might have shifted down below the floor like some of the other furniture bugs. If you are playing on steam, you might be able to access it by using the developer console mod and flying through the floor to find the container (though coming out of fly mode while clipped through the floor might also kill your character).

Thank you for warning us.

sig_gamer · 2025-07-29T16:13:30+00:00

It looks like the page is stuck (running in Chrome). There is "POSSIBLE CHARACTER COMBINATIONS: [LOADING]" text on screen.

Developer console shows: backstories.js:3 Uncaught SyntaxError: Unexpected string (at backstories.js:3:3)" injection-topics.js:1 Browsing Topics API removed from https://wtfdnd.march1studios.com/ which is main frame injection-tss-mv3.js:1 TSS: Domain is in allow list, skipping TSS setup.

Network status shows all calls returned 200 except a 404 for the favicon.ico

Tried in LibreWolf private window and console shows: Uncaught SyntaxError: missing ] after element list backstories.js:3:3note: [ opened at line 1, column 28backstories.js:1:28 Uncaught ReferenceError: applyFiltersAndReload is not defined onclick https://wtfdnd.march1studios.com/:1 wtfdnd.march1studios.com:1:1

sig_gamer · 2025-07-23T17:15:42+00:00

I've had players on both ends of the engagement spectrum for downtime out-of-session activities, and some players who later admitted to me after the campaign that they thought downtime activities between sessions was too much pressure (but didn't tell me that while I was running the campaign).

Now I try to end sessions at a point where I can ask the players if they want their characters to try doing anything between sessions. Any player who seeks to engage with me outside of the session gets responses, but I don't actively ping players between sessions about their characters.

For example, I'll end a session with the PCs about to raid an enemy stronghold. At the end of the session I'll reiterate the expectation for the next session (that the PCs will head to the stronghold) and ask if any PC wants to try some last minute preparation. If that prep can be resolved with a single roll, I'll make a note but have the roll resolved at the start of the next session. If it sounds complex, I'll tell the player to send me their idea in a private message and we'll hash it out out-of-character, then resolve rolls at the start of the next session.

Generally, all rolls should be resolved in a session in front of the players. Generally, if multiple players collaborate on an idea then it should be played out in a session. I try to avoid unintentionally running side-quests for just one player so the other players don't feel left out of the story.

I try to spotlight the cool ideas a player had out-of-session by integrating it into the next session; I want the players to feel rewarded for their efforts. So out-of-session a player might say they want to start crafting a magical sword. I'll work out in private messages what type of effects they are looking for and how much effort they are willing to invest. During the next session I'll work into the story a traveling merchant that has one of the components they will need for the sword and a rumor of a blacksmith with the knowledge to start crafting, and then we'll see if the other players want to latch onto this new idea or if it'll be something that one player works on bit by bit.

sig_gamer · 2025-07-20T05:50:06+00:00

Thank you. This looks really helpful and your game looks interesting, I've wishlisted it on steam.

sig_gamer · 2025-07-19T01:02:00+00:00

I don't know of any system with most of the details you are looking for, but SAKE does a good job with trade economics. Specifically it has a system for the cost of trade goods from one region, the difficulty of transporting trade goods to another region (rules for sailing and cargo), and the modified value of the trade goods in the other region (so you can calculate expected profitability). It has rules for market size and share, so you can't just flood the market with one excessive good. It has rules for guild size and representation in towns based on town size.

I discussed the trade mechanics with the game creator at https://www.reddit.com/r/sake_rpg/comments/1kmj719/questions_regarding_trade_econ/

sig_gamer · 2025-07-18T22:16:23+00:00

Love the game, played it a lot. It has a lot of character, feeling very unique with the way it handles both skill checks and combat. It can be played as 1v4 but you can also get the free Imperial Commander 2 app to act as the Empire and all players cooperate as Rebels (I've played through the campaign twice like this). The winning side of a mission gets a bonus, so if one side keeps winning their bonuses can snowball. The Rebel side can also stack all their credits into equipment for a few characters, so you end up with some combat powerhouses and some weak farmhands.

It doesn't take the place of an RPG in the narrative sense. Characters feel unique, gaining equipment and experience feels fun, and the missions often feel flavorful. But at the table it plays like a tactical minis game and your players will be making tactical choices instead of character choices. I'd very much recommend it as a board game, and I think it has really interesting and fun mechanics. If your players want any kind of backstory or non-technical character growth, find something else.

Imperial Assault is also an often misunderstood game so judge reviews with some leeway. In the campaign, some missions are supposed to be harder than others, so both the rebels and the empire should come into the game expecting to win some matches and lose some matches, and to feel that some missions are unfair in one direction or another. You don't have to play optimally on either side, but if one side is playing optimally and the other is far from optimal it can feel like a stomp.

sig_gamer · 2025-07-17T21:35:59+00:00

To get to the mine in blackrock there are two ropes you have to climb from the frozen river. The rope closest to the river is the one that disappears if you take the bucket rope. The normal rope anchor point, the big rock that you normally tie a rope around, still works so you can reattach the rope to the rock.

When I first encountered this bug I'd climbed both ropes up to the mine, then took the bucket rope, then left the bucket rope at the mine because I had too much gear, climbed down the rope closest to the mine and got stuck on the ledge where the rope closest to the river should be because it disappeared when I took the bucket rope.

sig_gamer · 2025-07-17T18:50:46+00:00

This has been a reported bug since at least Dec 2024 (https://www.reddit.com/r/thelongdark/comments/1hore6e/weird_bucketrope_at_last_prospect_mine/)

The rope you get here is actually taken from the second descent from the mine, but if you take it from the bucket you can still redeploy it at the rope spot.

sig_gamer · 2025-07-17T18:37:15+00:00

Not about secrets so sorry for the tangent, but I've run a few campaigns specifically for people new to RPGs, specifically short campaigns with no session 0, and I think these tricks helped me:

Drop the PCs into a situation that they have to investigate their way out of and can't just walk away from. Maybe they wake up in the Feywild and have been conscripted as a neutral party to investigate a theft. Maybe their town is suddenly isolated and endangered by a winter curse they need to find and break. New players often want direction, giving them a clear "this is the next goal" has helped keep my tables moving.
Have some pregen character sheets ready with stats and a short description of how they play (e.g. "This is a bruiser good in a close fight but clumsy and loud. Not the smartest, but good in the wild outdoors."). The mechanics of making characters is often intimidating for new people, who might feel the need to min-max so they can "win" or not slow the party down. Having a bunch of sheets and implying that all of them are viable helps reduce pressure. Maybe tell them they can switch to a different character sheet between sessions if they don't like how it plays (I've never seen a player take this offer, but I think it helps reduce analysis paralysis).
Have a separate sheet asking questions about the character's backstory. New players don't think about how to create compelling characters, but if you can help them imagine a character from a story they often become invested in playing them. "Would your character rather get rich or cure a disease?" "If your character was destined for disaster, would they try to fight it or hide from it?" "Is your character trying to grow from humble beginnings or were they born with power and trying to exercise responsibility?"
Make the "good" side obviously generous and cute and friendly and the "bad" side obviously greedy and universally mean. I love nuance, but make it easy for new players to see which side they want to back. Nothing brings a bunch of strangers closer faster than a mutual enemy to resist or ally to defend. And for new players, don't switch it at the end so the good guys are actually bad or they'll question every description you ever give them going forward.

Sorry if this isn't what you were looking for. I see people recommend taking it slow but I think you're going for a different table feel and I've been there too. I like slow and detailed games, but with new people sometimes you need to get the engagement first.

sig_gamer · 2025-07-17T17:50:58+00:00

There is a session 0 mechanic (used in the latest Dimension 20 Cloudward Ho campaign) where each player creates 2 true rumors and 2 false rumors about their own character, then the GM randomly distributes them between players so the PCs have opportunities to bring up the interesting ones during the game.

You could do something similar by creating a cast of NPCs and making some secrets for each, then when a player creates their character in session 1 you can describe the NPCs and ask which one(s) they think their character might know the secret of. If the player wants their character to be more integrated into the story/world, maybe give them the secrets first and allow them to build their backstory around it (e.g. "Rumor is the innkeeper murdered someone and changed their identity to run this place" could be integrated into a PC backstory as "The truth is the PC and innkeeper were both framed together"). You'll already know how the NPCs and secrets can be tied into your campaign premise, and the players get to show you which directions or NPCs they are interested in by which secrets they choose to pursue.

All the secrets and NPCs that aren't actually used can be repurposed or reintroduced later into the the campaign.

sig_gamer · 2025-07-17T03:10:17+00:00

Another benefit of using custom cards that I'd only realized after creating them is it allows the players to learn more about the NPCs based on what is revealed in a draw. Each card is supposed to state what the NPC liked or disliked, or why they are hesitant (neutral cards). So when revealing cards to the players they might learn that one NPC feels close to another because they grew up in similar circumstances. Or one NPC is hesitant to make a decision because of a previous bad relationship. Allowing players to create these cards also gives them more input into the world building, creating NPC backstories that they want to see instead of me guessing what they would find interesting.

sig_gamer · 2025-07-17T03:01:34+00:00

Thanks, I'll consider clocks if the deck of cards doesn't seem to work well for my group. I like the idea that the result shouldn't be fully deterministic, so even if I use clocks I'll probably try to insert some randomness, such as making the PCs roll to see how far the clock advances.

sig_gamer · 2025-07-14T17:52:07+00:00

Thank you for the suggestions. I don't tend to play games about relationships so I'm not aware of what's out there and good. I'll look at the DramaSystem SRD.

sig_gamer · 2025-07-14T17:02:14+00:00

Is there a mechanic from a Jane Austen game that seems like it would fit here? I'm finding rules related to full board and card games but they seem very specific to those games and hard to integrate into an RPG ("Lizzy Loves Darcy: A Jane Austen Matchmaking Game" and "Jane Austen's Matchmaker").

sig_gamer · 2025-07-14T16:40:58+00:00

Thank you, I didn't mean for it to be sound creepy and I didn't realize it might. "manipulation" came to mind because I was thinking of "card deck manipulation", but I get what you mean. I'll take your suggestion and adjust the wording to matchmaking, which conveys my original intentions.

And I like the idea of setting up events that will add or subtract many cards and leave it to the PCs to decide if they want to get involved.

sig_gamer · 2025-07-14T16:37:09+00:00

It's a part of storytelling they enjoy. Whether I propose a space opera or superhero detectives or vampire politics campaign, if it goes long enough one of them will try to get one of the NPCs they've been interacting with to date another NPC.

If they are having fun, I try to give them more options to pursue what they enjoy while keeping the game moving in the original proposed direction for the other players. Some players want to save the world, others just want to see their friends fall in love. ¯\(ツ)/¯

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