Solo Campaign Development Discussions - July to Sept. 2014

[fredmiracle]

Regarding the discussions on ranks and crews...

- I do agree that these campaigns won't offer too many opportunities for lieutenants to exercise independent command (although eventually they could command Wave 2 sloops). But a frigate or larger ship could have a captain and a lieutenant at the same time. Would that make things more fun? Would they have to split experience, or both gain from success (certainly a captain could make sure that a success reflected favorably on a subordinate's reputation and prospects)? During battle would all their skills be added together? Would the skills for a lieutenant be different (a subset?) from those of a captain?

- Certainly captains could switch ships, but there were also cases of captains serving a long time on a single ship and becoming closely connected. Ideally the campaign can handle both dynamics. Possibly there could even be some advantage granted for maintaining continuity(?). Some open questions include the extent to which the scenarios will support using the same ship repeatedly, and the time periods assumed to elapse between scenarios and the possibility for a ship can be repaired and reused, etc. These issues might be a bit more predictable in future iterations where we may have a more cohesive overarching campaign narrative.

[CSherrange]

Potential crew abilities-
The ones from the Ares website work really well I believe, they are-
Good Aim-When firing a broadside, and opponet draws one or more "0s", you may use this ability to make them draw an additional counter (may be used twice)
Well-trained gunners- Single broadside may be reloaded after it has fired (may be used once)
Elite Marines- When shooting muskets, if a "0" damage counter is drawn, you may force the opponent to draw an additional counter (may be used once)
Hold Fast- Ship has one free crew damage box left to take a crew hit in, the ship may take an additional three crew hits before surrendering
Skilled Quartermaster- May increase Veer by 1 for duration o the turn (may be used twice)

In addition other crew abilities could be Fast repair, Fast fire fighting, skilled pumping, Rifle-equipped marines, and Skilled boarders