Category:Brig

This section contains Homebrew non-canon info, created by fans

The brig is a clever two-masted vessel of relatively recent Mordentish design that has spread far and wide, becoming the backbone itself of piracy and of many of the navies sworn to its eradication.

To the eye the brig is a robust vessel, sitting low to the water, with lines not quite so straight as those of a balenar. A brig has not, however, the strong hull, the seaworthiness, the carrying capacity, or the endurance of a balenar. But no vessel, save for a schooner, is quicker or more manoeuvrable under sail than a brig. A helmsman and 6 sailor, with one doubling as the forward lookout and another doubling as the high look out, can keep her a sail for half a day without difficulty. Typical dimensions are 70’ in length excluding the bowsprit, a 17’ beam, a 6’ draught and 4’ of freeboard. Flown on the yardarms of her foremast are three square sails hung perpendicular to the keel. Flown on the yardarms high on her mainmast are two square sails hung perpendicular to the keel and flown on a boom attached low to her mainmast is a quadrangular sail hung parallel to the keel. Each mast has a fighting top 25’ above the waterline and the mainmast has a crow’s nest 45’ above the waterline. From stem to stern she has a hold, a lower deck and a main deck. At the bow there is a forecastle. It encloses the width of the main deck and between 15’ and 20’ of the main deck’s length. It is crowned with a forecastle deck that is 5’ above the main deck and 9’ above the waterline and that tapers to meet the bow. At the stern there is a aftcastle. It encloses the width of the main deck and 20’ feet of the main deck’s length. It is crowned with a poop deck that is 5’ above the main deck and 9’ above the waterline. Access from the main deck onto the forecastle deck and to the poop deck is by retractable rope ladder. There is access into each castle through a strong wooden door and from the lower decks within the ship. There is access to the lower decks from the main deck only through a strong wooden hatch.

The crow’s nest and the fighting tops can each accommodate one bowman. A heavy catapult may be mounted either on the forecastle or the aftcastle but not both. When used offensively, by a navy or pirates, it goes on the bow and when used defensively, by the merchant marine, it goes on the stern. As many as three light artillery pieces, typically ballistae, are mounted at the opposite end.

In chasing down a brig, pirates could be faced with the stones of 1 heavy catapult or the bolts of 3 ballistae. If a brig can subsequently catch the pirates with a broadside, they could be faced with the well protected attacks from within the castles of 8 bowmen and the reasonably protected attacks from the crow’s nest, the fighting tops, the forecastle deck, the main deck, and the poop deck of 15 bowmen and 2 ballistae. And if boarded, anyone or anything on the main deck would be exposed to the well protected fire from the castles of 6 bowmen, the reasonably protected fire from the crow’s nest and the fighting tops of 3 bowmen, and unprotected fire from the forecastle deck, the main deck and the poop deck of 11 bowmen and 1 ballista.

The defences of the brig were never intended to present a formidable obstacle to boarders. Instead she was intended to escape enemies, with her speed, manoeuvrability, and shallow draft, or run down those that she would be used to board. She is not a vessel for men preferring to fire missiles from safety and ill-prepared to fight for their lives in hand to hand combat. This is to say that she is well adapted to the military and to piracy. Her limited cargo capacity also counts against her so far as the merchant marine is concerned and she is put to use by it principally to quickly haul low volume, high value goods that can bear the cost of a large crew that is competent in a hand to hand fight. A brig is not a vessel for long voyages on the open sea, for want of seaworthiness and endurance, although in the less treacherous seasons and with small and highly competent crews such voyages may be dared.

Smaller and larger brigs, from a minimum of 60’ to a maximum of 90’ in length, are not uncommon, with the smallest apt to extremely shallow waters and the largest capable of supporting the weight of rotating platforms for all the artillery pieces, thereby doubling their field of fire.

Brig (medium): Colossal vehicle; Seaworthiness +3 (passable); Shiphandling +3 (very good); Speed wind × 35 ft. (excellent); Overall AC –3; Hull sections 12 (sink: 3 sections); Section 70 hp (hardness 5); Section AC 3; Rigging Sections 2; Rigging hp 80 (hardness 0), AC 1; Ram 3d6; Offensive capacity: arrow slits (one every 5’) inside the forecastle and aftcastle; typically 1 heavy & 2 light artillery pieces; Defensive capacity: improved cover (+8 bonus to AC and +4 bonus on Reflex saves excluding spreads) in the forecastle and aftcastle; cover (+4 bonus to AC and +2 bonus on Reflex saves excluding spreads) in the crow’s nest, on the fighting tops from below and on the forecastle deck, the main deck, and the poop deck; Length 70 ft. x beam 17 ft.; Freeboard 4 ft. and draft 6 ft.; Crew (one shift) 7; Typical Crew 26; Maximum accommodation (on a voyage of more than a day) 50 persons; Cargo 50 tons (Speed wind × 17.5 ft. if 25 tons or more); Cost 10,000 gp.