23.8 Ship Crew - Morale, Experience, Wages, and Provisions/Rations

Crews are hired without any experience at all, and with normal morale. This
will change over time.

Crew Types
----------
Shipmates     - Shipboard sail menders and hull repairers.

Crewmates     - Crew your vessel enabling you to sail the high seas!

Swashbucklers - Help to protect your cargo from plunder and can be sent aboard
                other ships to plunder their hold and stores!

Crew Experience
---------------
As your crew members continue working on your ship, and with each other, they
slowly gain experience and, with that experience, enhanced performance.

The progression of experience is:
   Lubber  -> Untried   -> Inexperienced  -> Apprentice  -> Ordinary  ->
   Able    -> Seasoned  -> Veteran        -> Expert      -> Elite


Each of these experience levels has twelve sublevels, I, II, ... XII.
When your crew first reaches a level, say, Untried, it will be at
Untried I, then as it gains experience, Untried II, Untried III, all
the way up to Untried XII before it then rises to Inexperienced I, and
so forth through all the crew experience levels to Elite XIII.


Crew Morale
-----------
Morale affects many things, mainly (but not only) related to crew performance.
Keep 'em happy with good wages and treatment, and they'll take good care of
you.

The scale of morale, from worst to best, is:

   mutinous     -> violent     -> angry     -> simmering  -> disgruntled  ->
   indifferent  -> normal      -> content   -> loyal      -> steadfast    ->
   devoted      -> unwavering  -> fanatical


Crew Wages
----------
Each crew type (crewmates, shipmates, etc) has its own wage which is expressed
in gold and bits per Achaean day. A bit is a tenth of an Achaean gold piece.

Wages are distributed from the strongbox every Achaean day.

To make sure that crew wages are paid, you must place sufficient gold in the
ship strongbox (see SHIP STRONGBOX for options. Must be in the Cabin to do
this) - and do so BEFORE the wages come due! It's probably a good idea to keep
plenty of extra gold in the strongbox in case you are unavoidably detained. The
crew does tend to get ugly without pay.


Setting Crew Wages
------------------
Use SHIP CREW WAGE to see what the current wages are. To set new wages, use

   SHIP CREW WAGE type wageingoldandbits

For example:

   SHIP CREW WAGE crewmate 12

Will set the wage for each crewmate to 1 gold and 2 bits per Achaean day. Or

   SHIP CREW WAGE shipmate 9 

Will set the wage for each shipmate to 9 bits per Achaean day.


What the Crew Think About Their Pay
-----------------------------------
SHIP CREW WAGES will tell you not only the current wages, as stated above, but
will also indicate how your crew feel about their wages, on a scale from
unhappiest to happiest:

   murderously low -> mutinously low -> abysmally low -> low            ->
   a bit low       -> adequate       -> fair          -> generous       ->
   very generous   -> handsome       -> rich          -> kingly indeed

They may also not be sure, in which case their feelings will be "a mystery!"


Crew Food/Rations/Provisions
----------------------------
Your crews need to eat. You need to feed them. To do so, gather various
supplies into the ship's larder, and make your decisions about what class
of food you'd like to feed them, and whether you're going to skimp or be
generous with portions.

* To see what's in the stores:

  SHIP STORES CHECK

This will tell you how much of each type of food you have, and a general
idea of how many days it will last the current crew.

* A very expensive way to fill the stores:

  SHIP STORES STORE howmany item

(For example: SHIP STORES STORE 3 mutton)

Go buy food anywhere you like and store it. This is very pricey!

* For the kind of food you want to feed your crew (assuming you have it):

  SHIP CREW PROVISIONS quality

(For example, SHIP CREW PROVISIONS GOOD (or FINE or COMMON))


*For the amount of food you'll feed your crew:
  SHIP CREW PROVISIONS HALF|NORMAL|DOUBLE|TRIPLE

Half rations won't make for happy crew, but it beats starving. Give 'em extra
to add that little touch of joy to their dull lives.

*A better way to fill your larder - from a Harbour:
  HARBOUR PROVISIONS - shows what's in stock, and at what price.
  HARBOUR PURCHASE [count] type PROVISIONS FOR ship

(for example, HARBOUR PURCHASE 3 FINE PROVISIONS FOR Maelstrom)

This would purchase three crates of provisions which will be taken immediately
to your ship, which of course is already docked right there at this harbour.
Three crates is a pretty substantial amount of food, by the way, and should
certainly keep your crew happy for multiple months. This is also a LOT cheaper
than putting in steaks or lollipops one at a time!