I have a question...
how long does it take to sail from...let's say distance equal to the United States to Europe? How would you figure it out?
Thanks!
I have a question...
how long does it take to sail from...let's say distance equal to the United States to Europe? How would you figure it out?
Thanks!
The easiest way to get a ballpark is by looking at some famous historical voyages. The Mayflower, for example, took a little over 2 months from England to New England, and a little over a month on the way back. Europeans did so much crisscrossing in sailing ships between the 16th and 19th centuries that the records are abundant.
Depends a HUGE amount on the tech level of the campaign. Clipper ships are balls fast. Viking longboats, not so much.
I have a (real life) 32 foot sailboat in Panama City Florida. Max speed, and this really hauling ass, is 7.2 knots. If I'm passage making somewhere in the Gulf I'll plan on 3.5 knots average. The other thing is .. is the wind pointing where you need to go? Until the Europeans started including lateen rigs on their mizzen masts they were pretty boned when the wind was pointed the wrong way.
DND 3.5 Stormwrack did a pretty good treatment of boats and sailing, honestly. There was some stuff in there I didn't like, but it's overall a pretty solid game reference, and can fit almost seamlessly into a Pathfinder campaign They listed ship speeds between 1 and 3 knots for light wind, and then had speed multipliers (up to x4) for varying wind speeds, then had weather tables you could roll on.