Is the Folding Boat too small?

[Michael Haneline]

So, I was contemplating a pirate character concept where the pirate ship is a folding boat.

The folding boat says its "ship" form can comfortably accommodate FIFTEEEN people, but it is only 24 feet long and 8 feet wide???

Maybe someone more familiar with sailing can educate me, but I don't think a "ship" this size can accomodate 15 people plus supplies and cargo.

Am I missing something?

[Shadowdweller]

Depends whether you feel like rearranging them and packing them in boxes first (preferably blood proof). Of course, it's generally easier just to toss the bodies into the sea after you're done with 'em...but whatever floats your boat.

[Michael Haneline]

I'm thinking maybe they meant yards instead of feet, because this is a 24 YARD long boat, and it seems to match up more with how the item describes the "ship" form.

[Matt Thomason]

I don't think the folding boat is designed for long-term voyages, it doesn't mention having a cargo hold or room for supplies.

The description sounds like a large rowing boat plus a small cabin and a single square sail.

Something like HITRA (about 1/4 of the way down the page) on http://www.engvig.com/olaf/small-boats-detail.shtml but with a cabin - which could just be one end of the boat covered in. Seat the people in five rows of two for rowing, with maybe five more people inside the cabin - or leave out some people if you want room for supplies too. HITRA is 29 feet, so it's pretty close (it's also a bit narrower at only 6 feet to the 8 of the folding boat)

[Michael Haneline]

Matt Thomason wrote:

I don't think the folding boat is designed for long-term voyages, it doesn't mention having a cargo hold or room for supplies.

The description sounds like a large rowing boat plus a small cabin and a single square sail.

Something like HITRA (about 1/4 of the way down the page) on http://www.engvig.com/olaf/small-boats-detail.shtml but with a cabin - which could just be one end of the boat covered in. Seat the people in five rows of two for rowing, with maybe five more people inside the cabin - or leave out some people if you want room for supplies too. HITRA is 29 feet, so it's pretty close (it's also a bit narrower at only 6 feet to the 8 of the folding boat)

Are you talking about this one? Looking at the size of that one guy in comparison to the rest of the boat, I have a hard time imagining that it "carries 15 with ease."

[Snow_Tiger]

Ya it can hold 15 people without much storage capacity. Have you ever seen any white water rafters? They squeeze like 9 people in a boat that can't be more than two "squares".

Yes in combat people take up 5 ft squares, but that square accomadates for their movement, including their arms and legs in various positions.

On a little boat not designed for long voyages, it's gonna hold lots of people uncomfortably.

[Elbe-el]

In the 3.5 book "Stormwrack", the entry given for the "Pinnace" (yeah, go ahead and pronounce the word and insert your jokes) approximates the dimensions given for the Folding Boat closely enough that GM's who aren't anal-retentive jerkwads should have no problem accepting that they are basically (close enough for fun gaming purposes, anyway) the same.

Using that as a basis, then yes, the largest mode of a Folding Boat is a sea-worthy vessel that can carry 15 Medium-sized creatures and 30 tons of cargo.

Certainly not enough to recreate the Black Pearl, but more than sufficient to have some good ole' privateerin' fun...

[Matt Thomason]

Of course, you could always just invent a bigger folding boat :)

What about a "ship in a bottle" that you can place in water and it grows to full size? The empty bottle then appears on a shelf in the captain's cabin. If the bottle is removed from the ship, the ship fades away and reappears inside the bottle.

Any cargo aboard the ship when it fades will fade along with the ship, being miniaturized to fit inside the bottle with it, and will reappear aboard the full-sized ship when it is placed in the water. Any living beings are simply left to plunge into the water.

[Vod Canockers]

The Nina, of Columbus fame, was 50' by 16' (roughly) and had a crew of 24.