Keg Boosts

Chaser shoots the keg in your hands as you attach it...😵

Sounds fun. We've kicked around a similar idea before lol. Usually along the lines of time it just right and drop it off the back.

Personally I'm a big believer in the game's "tools not rules" mantra. Some crews will spawn in, see a Reaper 5, immediately buy a cannonball crate and supplies from the shipwright and go for broke. Others will say, "naw heck that" and stay as far away from them as possible. It all depends on the crew and their confidence.

As things stand, especially for Captained ships, it's very easy to load up on supplies for cheapish. I do agree that a system that actually gives advantages to players who've been on the server for a while, like what I've proposed, will help balance things out. As there are no kegs at outposts, and bringing them on board ships currently serves no purpose other than potentially hitting opponents or selling for a low amount, these items then become an interesting goal for players who've invested time into the server. Yes, for some crews it will encourage running, but they will actually have an advantage in protecting their investment.

Running is not necessarily a bad strategy on its own. The "bad" part only comes from the stalemates that occur, especially if both ships are the same type and have equally decent sail management. This is why they run straight to the Red Sea, rather than an outpost, and this is not rewarding for either ship. A small advantage like a Keg Boost, I think, would help balance things out by unbalancing them. I don't necessarily want to discourage running, but I do want to discourage running that results in hours of effort wasted simply because a crew did not have the confidence to fight.

Applying some dual purpose design to kegs will in fact give an advantage to players who've been on the server for a while. Fresh spawned players will have to work harder to catch them, or stay out of their way. Of course kegs will still be as boomy as ever, so if you have the confidence to keep a bunch of Mega Kegs on board and think they won't blow up on you, well, good luck have fun.

@scheneighnay It might if said boost gets you into the fog or otherwise out of the other ship's render distance. As it stands there really isn't a good way to "lose" a ship chasing you unless they happen to get krakened or you get on board, drop their anchor, and miraculously keep their whole crew contained for several minutes.

I've done plenty of rowboat plays in my time, but honestly even being just a minute or two ahead of another ship is enough to get a good chunk of loot off the bow... then say, turn the ship, and keg boost again off to the next Outpost. 😅

@lantanadan Not sure if it's kegs (they are pretty easy to come by), but I like the idea of a magical item (of limited use) that could be used to temporarily boost ship speed.

It could be locked behind it's own quest thread (like Wraithballs were with Flameheart) to ensure that whoever gets them has invested some time into the server, to @wolfmanbush point.

@pithyrumble And thus the whole risk/reward beauty of it! Can you really keep enough kegs on your ship safely to boost your ship for a significant enough amount of time to protect your loot? Can you light them once they're attached and not have your pursuer blow them up? If they're shot while they're lit, maybe they don't blow up, but the one that was hit drops off your boat and the other sends you spinning out of control? Lots of possibilities!

@prescafatty Easyish to come by sure, but still pretty limited compared to other resources. You can stop at any fort and find one or two, but is that going to be enough to pursue a crew who's been on the server for an hour and stacked 20? Definitely not. Is that crew that stacked 20 also putting themselves in an incredibly jeopardizing position by having that many explosives on deck? You betcha.

@scheneighnay Well yeah, it has to be worth it, but also really tricky to pull off without damaging your ship.

Chases are tedious. There's little chance you can catch up to whoever is in front of you, and if you're running there's little chance you can dock and sell your treasure.

Then dont chase.
Always a chance to catch them.
You coud idk,...sail past outpost, jump off with most value item and sell it. Without docking.

As for the whole...Boost thing.
It makes very little sense in this type of Lore and myth.

@burnbacon said in Keg Boosts:

As for the whole...Boost thing.
It makes very little sense in this type of Lore and myth.

There's been giant heads in the sky that taunt you.
There's a ghostly fat dead man who manipulates you into doing his bidding.
The fate of the world was determined by causing explosions or handing in bananas and wood.
Touching too much gold will literally curse your flesh for eternity.
There's an achievement for killing an in-game monster that has about a 0.00000000000000000000001% chance to spawn.

But setting off kegs to make your boat go brrm? That's a step too far.

@lantanadan said in Keg Boosts:

You can stop at any fort and find one or two

I literally think I've never found less than 5 or 6 at any inactive fort.