Otherwhen

Junior Officer Lesson 1: Officer Basics

First ye read this entire post. Second ye read Master and Commander (aka Officer 101). Third ye read Geography of Midnight Ocean

Practice each item that be marked . When ye have practiced everything enough to be comfortable doing it, ask a training officer to schedule yer first lesson. If ye just skim this lesson, or skip practicing, then the lesson will take a lot longer, and ye will be more likely to be demoted fer breaking a rule - so read carefully.

SLOOPS
A sloop be the smallest boat. It holds up to 7 pirates, and needs at least 4 to sail. Those four can be just one officer and 3 bots though. Fer the first several parts of the lesson, ye can go to any Otherwhen boat at all to practice (when it be in port).

HOW TO FIND OUR SHIPS
From any island, click the map and then Docks. Ye will then see any of our Otherwhen ships that be docked at that port. There be a button at the bottom of the screen "Where are my vessels?" If ye click this it will list all Otherwhen ships, and where they be in port or were last in port if they be at sea. Pick a port with an Otherwhen ship (any of them). Use the ferry or the Navy or a whisk potion if ye have to, and go to that port. Go to the Docks and stand on whatever Otherwhen ship be in port there.

OFFICER BULLETIN BOARD
When ye first get on a ship that ye want to command, always go to the Officer Bulletin Board (sometimes called the officer's notes). Ye find it on the helm (steering wheel); it be the last icon when ye clicks the helm. The notes should tell ye who owns the boat, what the restock levels be, and whether the owner gives ye permission to borrow the boat. Sometimes it will say things like "Please dock at Turtle when ye be finished." This is so the owner can easily find his boat again. If ye have a message fer the owner of the boat, just edit the notes, putting yer message at the end of them.

CHECKING THE HOLD
The second thing ye do is check the hold. Be there enough rum and shot (small cannonballs) fer yer voyage? Fer a sloop on a short run, 15 fine rum and 15 shot be enough most of the time. 20 and 20 be better. Fer a long voyage, where ye be porting at islands that don't sell rum or shot, get a lot more. Fer serious pillaging ye will likely want 100 or more shot, but ye won't be doing that fer a while. To check the hold, click it and then Inspect the Hold.

If ye see a lot of expensive cargo aboard, then do not borrow the boat even if the officer's notes gives ye permission. Ye can still use it fer this part of the lesson though, because ye will not be moving the ship.

If the hold be badly understocked, then report it to both the owner and to Lord Kalvan or one of the SOs. Ye can tell who used the boat last and didn't stock it by checking the hold's Log (View Vessel Records) . The person responsible fer the last divvy is also responsible fer restocking. A midshipman who repeatedly fails to restock a ship will be demoted fer at least a week.

RESTOCKING
Even if the hold be well stocked, ye need to know how to stock. Put some of yer PoE in the hold. This is most easily done from Inspect the Hold and the Deposit on the right. Remember how much ye put in, and 60 PoE is plenty fer this lesson.

Now ye need to practice buying something. Click the hold, and then Trading. Next click Sell Prices. Next click one of the lines that sells either Fine Rum or Small cannonballs. Then in the Units box at the bottom type a 1. Click the Buy button. The amount of PoE in the coffers should change (less) and the number of either rum or shot will increase by 1. Mentally subtract the amount it cost from the amount ye deposited, and withdraw yer change. When ye do a real restock, ye will need a lot more PoE and buy a lot more rum and shot. Most of the time there will be money in the coffers from the divvy; just use that money fer restocking. If ye have a turrible trip where ye lose most of the fights, then ye might not have enough to restock. Then ye be responsible fer restocking out of yer own pocket.

If there be leftover PoE after restocking, and the price of fine rum be 58 or less, buy extra rum. If the price of small cannonballs (shot) be 22 or less, buy extra shot. Otherwise, leave the PoE in the coffers fer use in restocking at the next port. Owners: if the amount of PoE in the coffers is high, then ye can take it off the boat. Ye be allowed to keep it, but encouraged to donate it to the Crew Fund (put it in the coffers of the Greedy Piranha, in dock on Beta, or give it to Lord Kalvan).

CHOOSING A COURSE
Afore ye can chart a course, ye have to decide where to go. Fer beginners, we recommend Alpha - Turtle - Cnossos, and if ye don't have a lot of time, just go out one or two leagues, then rechart at a league point and return to the port ye started from. After ye get bored with these routes, try yer hand at Cnossos - Alpha - Oyster - Winter Solstice - Cnossos or Beta - Verdant Atoll.

Ye will have to judge yer own abilities. If ye choose a hard route, make sure ye be going to a port that does sell rum and shot so ye can restock.

CHARTING A COURSE
Next ye chart yer course. Click the helm, and then Chart. To go from where ye are to another port ye have to have a map between the two either on the chart table of the boat or in yer pocket (or have the route memmed). If there be a shipbuilding shop or stall on the port, it will usually have fer sale maps from that port to the ports nearby. Ye can also get maps in pillage, and owners of Otherwhen ships be encouraged to share duplicate maps with other Otherwhen officers who lack them (but give em yer older maps because they do wear out and disintegrate eventually). Ye be welcome to take maps from our crew map library, the Greedy Piranha in port at Beta.

To chart, just click the island ye want to go to. Ye will see a line of blue dots. Next click Chart Course. After a few seconds the line will turn white. This course can be changed at any league point, if ye decide ye want to turn around. Click Clear to clear the course, then chart a new one.

GETTING A CREW OF BOTS
Bots be robot pirates. Later ye will be allowed to hire jobbers, but fer beginners, using bots is better, because ye don't have to try to answer greenie questions while ye be trying to learn to nav and battle nav.

Click the Hiring Jobbers box on the right, in the Vessel tab. Then unclick it so Jobbers don't apply fer the job. Ye will get 3 bots if ye be alone on a sloop or cutter, and 4 bots if ye be alone on a brig. Most of the time ye will want one bot on carp, one on bilge, and one on sails. To order a bot to do a duty, ye can click its name on the right in the vessel tab, and then click the icon fer that duty. Ye can also click the head of the bot, if the bot be close to ye. Practice ordering the bots around.

After ye get comfortable enough running a boat, ye will get up to speed faster if ye first put all 3 bots on sails, then later have 2 bots on sails, and ye juggle the 3rd bot between carp and bilge as long as ye can keep the damage down (switch at each league point). If ye be good at nav, then ye will get up to speed faster too. Good navigating not only accelerates the speed caused by sails, but it also makes yer carper and bilger more effective.

It be a very good idea to pretend that the bots be humans, so that ye don't ferget to be polite when ye have jobbers later.

PILLAGE OBSERVATION
If ye have read this entire lesson, and done the practice to this point, then ask a training officer to schedule yer first lesson. Ye will be in charge of the boat except fer battles, with the training officer aboard. Ye will sail at least long enough to have two battles. The training officer will give advice and if ye forget how to do something, just ask him/her - it be not a test but a lesson.

During the first battle, ye will be on guns, and observe the battle from there, where ye can see the tokens that the training officer uses. During another battle, ye will observe the battle from the crow's nest. Ye and the training officer will decide after that whether ye should observe more battles, or try to take one yerself (but if ye lose ye may have to help pay fer restocking).

TEAMING WITH BOTS
When ye get in the melee with bots on yer side, the bots do not team except by coincidence. If two of them be on the same brigand, then ye go on that same brigand too to make a team of 3. This will likely mean ignoring a skull dagger, but ye won't be able to take out a skull dagger by yerself so ye would waste yer time if ye tried. The bots will hop from one opponent to another too, so ye will have to check yer teaming frequently.

It be a good idea to pretend that the bots be humans, so ye get practice in saying things like "Teams of 3, skulls first, foils last" and "Well done mates!".

DIVVY THE BOOTY
When ye reach port, the booty needs to be divvied first thing. Find the booty chest, and click on it. Ye can inspect the chest if ye be not sure that there be any booty in it. If there be booty, then ye click the last icon on the booty chest. Normally ye just click the default divvy (Submit to Vote). Bots get no share of the booty. The crew share goes into the ship's coffers and should be spent restocking.

RESTOCKING
Next ye restock the hold. Do this at every port, or at least check to see if it needs restocking. Ye need to make it a habit so ye don't ferget. Leaving a ship unstocked be extremely annoying to the next officer to use the ship, particularly if he fergets to check the hold before sailing. Repeatedly leaving a ship unstocked will result in temporary demotion as well as ye having to pay the owner to restock. Owners are allowed to leave their own ships unstocked.

COFFERS
The money in the coffers is there fer restocking the ship. Don't take it out fer yerself, unless ye be the owner of the boat. If there be poe left over after restocking, and either rum or shot be cheap at the port where ye be docked, then buy some extra. Otherwise just leave it in the boat.

PERMISSIONS
Ye still do not have permission to sail a ship without another officer aboard unless yer training officer tells ye tis ok, but ye be getting closer. Observe battle against brigands as much as ye can, and read the next lesson. If ye see Brigand Hunting missions, then take advantage of them. If ye own yer own sloop, then yer training officer is likely to say tis ok fer ye to sail it with just bots, but don't attack anybody.

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