BroCoyote

It looks like you have a good start. I did a little research and found this http://www.blackpearltales.net/erins_site/Ships.html#top Pirates of the Caribbean - Ship Types Perhaps you can use this to come up with some more classifications of ships of the era. Also http://ezinearticles.com/?Sailing-Ships-in-the-1800s&id=1581523 Excerpt: ___________________________________ Marine History is dubbed with various tags that characterized the use of the ships and/or the style. The mid-1800s to early the 1900s was dubbed with some affection as the golden age of sailing or the golden age of sailing ships. The sailing ships in the 1800s plowed all seven seas in the world to transport cargo. Also the rigs of the 1800 ships are divided into two categories. The two categories are: The fore-and-aft-rig The square rig For each of these categories there were certain styles of sailing ships in the 1800s. The styles of ship referred to as the "fore-and-aft-rig" are: The Sloop Grand Bank Fishing Schooner Two Masted Fishing Schooner Square Topsail Schooner Coastal Schooner Ketch Four Masted Schooner Tern Schooner The second style of ship is the "square rig" these are the styles: Brigantine Brig Barquentine Barque or Bark Full Rigged Ship The fore-and-aft-rig style ships are generally of a schooners style. Schooners have been know to out-number square riggers in America, generally. The schooners can sail closer to the wind and they could also be sailed with a smaller crew, thus the reason for their popularity. Schooners are versatile because they can carry every conceivable type of cargo. The schooners are also used for coastal work, ocean voyages on inland waterways and in the open seas. In the late 1800's, there could be up to 2000 schooners on the Great Lakes for the purpose of hauling a great variety of cargo and actually for pleasure as well or for the purpose of fishing. ________________________________________________ So starting from your definition of the Sloop and the Frigate (I am guessing that is a slang for "Full Rigged Ship") and doing some comparisons you may be able to come up with some “standards” I would look at what defines these and then look at how those compare to your already defined ships. One thing to note that each ship is its own work like a castle, or home. So within each classification, there should be room for customization.

Verderer I don't envy you the task of building a historically accurate campaign world, in fact I would normally advise against it. However, it is fascinating and frankly the times that I have attempted to work on such a project have lead me down into a mental bog obsessing over details. You may want to set a “Point of Divergence” historically far enough back that you can say; “From this point on all bets are off!” and allow artistic license to allow the flexibility to deal with the inevitable situations where someone will say “It did not happen that way!”, “That's not historically accurate.” or worse yet “God, does not work that way!” Like the mechanics of the game, allow history to be a guide, and pardon the reference, not be “cannon”. If you want your players to enjoy the game, otherwise you might as well be teaching a class on medieval history, concentrating the theology of the crusades. “Yes there will be a test, with extra credit if you come in period costume.” Make sure your players are aware of what you are trying to do for their entertainment, not argument. I think history and religion are fraught full of dangers, heck we are still fighting REAL wars over this stuff. I don't know your group of players but in general I think those who would really be interested in such a game will be intelligent and well educated in medieval history. I mean role play gaming did not earn a reputation as a “nerd” culture for nothing. They, the players, may end up being a big source of frustration, or they can play the most interesting characters. No matter how bad or good you think some movies are there may be some to consider. As mentioned before “The Name of the Rose”, “El Cid”, “Kingdom of Heaven”, “The Messenger”, “Ladyhawk”, and the latest “King Aurthur” even “Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves” likely all have elements you may want to include, or perhaps have your players watch for inspiration. Also I think the BBC “Cadfael” series if you can get a hold of it may hold your interest.

First off I would like to say this is a very interesting discussion. I don't want to interject any kind of stumbling block in your conversation but I would like to join in a bit. I may perhaps not be educated well enough to join in. Tell me to shut up if I am going to ruin the buzz. I had to go pull out the old boxed RQ3 edition, (yeah I have had it a couple of days) OK so I am the "newbie" (first post) here but my experience was with RQ3 with its baseline "Alternate Earth" setting and I have only looked at a little of the BRC rules, o I am going with what I know, magic be it Spirit Magic, Divine Magic or Sorcery(Alchemy) more or less based on the different baseline cultures that could be chosen, though the focus was some what more (in my mind) towards the first ten centuries and before. But in basics could be applied to the 13th century just as well. I agree with Verderer to go with an understated magic system, but at least in RQ3 it was possible for everyone to have some sort of “magic”. But is that what you want in your game? Is “magic” to be kept to only a certain few (i.e. players and major NPC's) or is there the everyday “hedge magic”? Hedge magic, such as honing a blade while reciting a particular prayer, with your grandfathers sharping stone, using a rare oil, or humming a tune that encourages a proper method of producing a superior edge (though temporary) effectively it to the “bladesharp spell”? You know those every day miracles that happen to everyone? Yes, you can have your historical and theological debate between the Gnostic's and the Lutherans and the various sections of Muslim. But if your players are not interested in those bits and would rather be hacking up one side or the other in a quest for gold or relics as was so often the case in the crusades (least for individuals) the point become a bit moot to me. Of course I am making assumptions that your players are on crusade some how. Is that your setting or is it something else such as court in France? Or a plague ridden armpit of the world? Oh and I have not even touched on, dare I say it... Monsters? I guess I should find out more about Stupor Mundi.