Shipwright is the building of ships and boats and much of what goes on them, sails included. Construction divides into two traditions, and they are not interchangeable:
Carvel planking is laid edge to edge, giving a smoother and stronger hull that can be built large, at the cost of weight and of a heavier internal frame.
Clinker planking overlaps, giving a lighter and far more flexible hull — fast, forgiving in a seaway, and limited in the size it can reach before the method defeats itself.
Which tradition a shipwright learned depends entirely on where they were raised, and their Mastery Level is keyed to that home region. Building in the foreign style reduces Mastery Level by 40. In the border regions where both are practised, a shipwright must still commit to one, but the foreign penalty is only 20. A handful of great shipyards work both, and those are the places where new designs come from.
Construction is measured in worker-months of 24 days. A shipyard typically carries about five workers per point of the settlement’s Market Size, which is why serious hulls only come out of serious ports.
| Vessel | Length | W-m | Cost | Vessel | Length | W-m | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cog | 48′ | 110 | £68 | Coastal longboat | 36′ | 45 | £27 |
| Great galley | 60′ | 200 | £120 | Ship’s boat | 15′ | 5 | £3 |
| Longship | 54′ | 100 | £60 | Coaster | 48′ | 80 | £48 |
| Merchant galley | 60′ | 125 | £75 | Fishing smack | 24′ | 15 | £10 |
| Great merchantman | 90′ | 340 | £203 | Ocean knarr | 60′ | 150 | £90 |
Building a vessel is a Shipwright (Woodworking) Success Value test, using the master’s Shipwright Mastery Level and a Secondary Modifier from the averaged Woodworking of the yard. The result multiplies the base time and cost:
| SV | Time | Cost |
|---|---|---|
| ≤ 4 | ×1.3 | ×1.2 |
| 5 | ×1.2 | ×1.1 |
| 6 | ×1.1 | ×1.0 |
| 7 | ×1.0 | ×1.0 |
| 8 | ×0.9 | ×1.0 |
| 9+ | ×0.8 | ×0.9 |