23.2 Getting Started - an Overview for New Owners/Captains/Ships!
So you've just taken possession of your new ship and you're not sure how to get
started. Let's have a look at a few things to deal with right away.
First
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BOARD your ship and then do SHIP. Lots of stuff you could do there. Try it out
soon! You should decide to read everything in HELP 23. You're already at HELP
23.2, so you're off to a good start. That's a lot of reading right away though,
so this is your overview.
Check out SHIP INFO, SHIP CREW, SHIP STORES CHECK, and SHIP STRONGBOX CHECK.
This gives you a pretty good look at how the ship is doing, and what's on it.
Second
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Get some crew. Barebones crew will be 1 for a Windcutter or 2 for a Seastrider.
Get a few extra. You never know when they might come in handy! Hire them at
your local harbour, by HARBOUR CREW FORHIRE and then HARBOUR CREW HIRE 2
CREWMATE FOR yourshipnumber.
While you're at it, you should probably just bite the ballista and hire some
shipmates. They do repairs without your having to pay the harbour to do it.
Ship hull and sails decay just by sailing around, or over time, so repair and
maintenance are a constant need. See HELP SHIP REPAIR for more on that if you
like. 3 would be enough for a 'Cutter, 8 for a 'Strider. Might be you could get
away with fewer!
Third
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Stock up on a few important things, like provisions, token stores, a Token of
Charybdis for yourself and possibly likely passengers, and some gold for
docking fees.
Provisions are at the local harbour (HARBOUR PROVISIONS; HARBOUR PURCHASE
[count] type PROVISIONS FOR ship (counts for food provisions, and token stores
as well) so you can feed your crew.
The crew is paid from your ship's strongbox, so be sure to set your crew's
wages as you wish, and put a bunch of gold in the strongbox so they'll get paid
and not get grumpy about missing payroll.
Fourth
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Set up your SHIPRETURN HERE, and PERFORM SEAPRAYER RITUAL to be able to get
back to your ship. See HELP SEAFARING for a bit of info on the one, or HELP
SHIP DEATH on the other.
Fifth
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Equipment: contact a shipfitter (see HELP SHIPFITTING) and get a ship's axe
for sure (useful in defending against grapples and tethers), and get a lead
line (for taking soundings to see the depths around you, especially for
telling whether fishing or diving will be fruitful.
Other equipment is listed in HELP SHIP EQ. The Beacon might be useful if you
think you might forget where you left your ship. A bait tank could be fun if
you're planning to fish much. A cartographer's desk is really useful and cheap.
If you get one, get some maps from others, or buy blanks and make your own (or
both)!
Sixth
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Remember that you do want to dock IN harbours when you sail around. It slows
decay immensely. You also can't be boarded, or attacked, in harbours.
Seventh
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Fishing on the deep sea requires a different pole. Buy before fishing!
Deepsea diving is dangerous, often lethal. Bring pear. While in the diving bell
going down, you'll hear a number of bells ringing which is an indication of the
relative risk and potential reward of the diving area you just entered. More
bells for more danger and more possible payout. Watch yourself! Some of the
tuna are particularly dangerous. And if you raise the bell without being in it,
that's the watery death for you.
There's a chance of getting a huge payout as well, maybe even several hundred
thousand gold, but it's quite the long shot. You could spend weeks or even
months getting nothing but 1 or 2 or 3 bell dives with only a few hundred gold.
The long term average payout is about 1000 gold per dive. Them's the breaks!
Eighth
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Other things you may find helpful betimes:
- CLIMB MAST (if you have Watch specialisation) to see farther.
- SHIPSCAN to look around you right now.
- SHIPWARNING to keep continuously alert for any movement nearby.
- JINK to prepare for quick moves (only lasts till you change course).
- SHIP ANTICIPATE to track one other ship minutely.
- SHIP DISEMBARK WITH HELP [direction] [SWIM] In case you find yourself marooned aboard!
