Captain talent

[phiwum]

Originally Posted by Steve Plambeck

I'd venture to say an experienced ship's captain or helmsman could (besides piloting a vessel and those related things) detect when land is near, and the correct direction to the nearest land when it’s over the horizon or otherwise out of sight, by the “feel” of the ship and the sea, on a roll of 4 vs IQ (one attempt per 12 hours). At sea or on the land they can always tell north from south, and the time of day or night by the positions of the stars, sun, and moon(s) on a roll of 3 vs IQ (one attempt allowed per hour). The latter might make one useful to have along on any outdoor trip or adventure.

I just read a book about the sinking of the Grosvenor. They were sailing from India to Great Britain, unaware that they had ended up far east of what they expected. Overnight, some crew saw lights from fires to the west, while the helmsman insisted that they were nowhere near land. By the time that the captain was involved, light had broken enough to recognize they were close to the African eastern shore. They attempted to tack, but were too late and hit a shoal.

Which, you know, fair enough. The helmsman failed his 4/IQ roll while another crew member made his. Sadly, that crew member lacked Charisma and could not convince the helmsman of the danger.

(While I recently read the book, my memory stinks, so I'm likely to have a few of the details wrong.)

To Henry: I doubt that a sea captain would be very good at determining location at sea, especially out of sight at land. Maybe he'd be better at keeping on course, but longitude was very difficult even in the 18th century and perhaps later. It was much easier to tell how far north or south one was than to tell how far east or west, at least until reliable chronometers were available.

Of course, Cidri is Cidri, so maybe clocks are commonplace in your world.