I will be refrenceing my “Crews”, and “Nonhuman Character Ideas” suggestions in this. Link at the end.
AO is in the 1850s right?
What if AO feels like the 1850s?
What I’m suggesting is that AO has slightly more technological advances like, more muskets, and possibly a few steam powered ships that you can get quite a bit farther in the game but the game shouldn’t feel entirely like the 1850s, because of a few catastrophes that would decrease our technological advances like the Golden Ages of Magic, the Theos and Durza Clash, and the Cursebeard wars.
Being the 1800s there might also be some very primitive versions of the Submarine, but these could be powered by water magic allowing the submarine to move freely. With Water Magic propelling the submarine it could be slightly larger then the Turtle Submersible and have a different orientation. (I’ll draw a “Blueprint” of what I’m thinking and upload it in the Examples section.)
With submarines you could explore the shallow seas and get fairly deep. If we go full Greek Mythos you would be able to see Merfolk Cities, and the occasional Merfolk Stronghold. You could see the Tentacles of Charybdis. If Submarines got good enough you could see the ruins of Poseidon’s Keep and the Dark, Chaos-Touched, Creatures inhabiting it.
With the Technological Advances of this age you could easily get the chance to see the Grand Kingdoms of the Harpies with the help of a Wind Magic user. You could fight Monstrosities of the Sky (if any). I would think that people would have messed with their magic by now, and possibly create things our world will never get to see by combining magic abilities (i.e. using Earth magic to create a boulder then launch it at extremely fast speeds underwater with the help of a Water mage, creating the a torpedo of sorts).
Other possible ship ideas + how to get them
Submarine
Get crazy with this, I’m only giving a possible idea (or multiple) on this.
Catamaran
A ship that is often a smaller size. This ship would use Archers and Fire Archers not cannons, it’s often short and thin, it’s basically two canoes that have been connected by a some mini bridges.
This vehicle would be found on originally Polynesian islands (Islands that were islands before the Theos + Durza Clash.
Trireme
The Trireme is a raiding ship, it holds a lot of men, and it has a Built-in Ram. It beautiful. The way you would upgrade the Trireme is by upgrading the Ram’s Materials and making it longer. This ship is long and wide (this is a raiding ship, it’s wide so it can hold a lot of boarders), the only crew jobs you need on this ship is boarders, rowers, and bards. The Trireme is built for speed, and is made to be hidden at night. This ship would require a good amount of exploration to get because you would only find it in Old (or New) Sea Viking locations.
Skeld
The Skeld is a Raiding ship, It’s main job would be for raiding island forts. It’s basically a landing version of the Trireme. This ship would require a good amount of exploration to get because you would only find it in Old (or New) Sea Viking locations.
Galley
Would be found in an Alalean culture island.
Kobaya
The Kobaya is a Japanese small Warship that 20 to 50 people could board, It was often used with archers and fire archers as their weapon. This ship would be found in the islands ruled by Keihatsu.
Xebec
Would be found in an Alalean culture island.
Atakebune
Also known as the būkan, were large warships in Japan. Japan undertook major naval building efforts in the mid to late 16th century, during the Sengoku period, when feudal rulers vying for supremacy built vast coastal navies of several hundreds of ships. The largest (and generally most dangerous) of these ships were called atakebune. This ship would be found in the islands ruled by Keihatsu.
Schooner
Schooner’s are Multi-Mast long fast ships, they are built for (with wind) speed, they often don’t hold much cargo. Small Schooners would hold about 8 cargo boxes (3x3ft). Triple-Masted Schooners would hold 2-4 more cargo boxes then a Small Schooner. This would be an easy to find Ship because it would be in most places.
Caravel
Would be found in a Castlian culture island.
Galleon
Would be found in a Castlian culture island.
Tekkōsen
The Japanese had made six iron-covered big atakebunes in 1578. These ships were called “Tekkōsen”, literally meaning “iron ships”, which is not to imply they were of iron, but that their superstructure may have been reinforced with iron plates against cannon and fire arrows. This ship would be found in the islands ruled by Keihatsu.
Frigate
Frigates are often confused with Galleons, Frigates are very large vessels, often used for passengers or cargo. They often have a full lower deck filled with cannons, occasionally two. Frigates usually have two 3 tier sails, and one 2 tier sail. The amount of cargo these ships can carry is exemplary often they can hold over 24 cargo boxes (3x3ft). This would be an easy to find Ship because it would be in most places.
Heavy Frigate
This is Old Ironsides, and it’s buddies. The Heavy Frigates were bred for war and are good in it. This ship would come in during the late game. A Savyrian Culture Ship.
Steam-Powered Ships
These ships are Steam-Powered Versions of the larger ships like the Schooner, Frigate, and Clipper Steam-Powered Ships are very rare and hard to find because they are a new creation, it would only be found in middle-late game locations.
Fluyt
Found in Alalean Culture Islands.
Carrack
Found in Castlian culture islands
Flying Vehicles?
Found in Skylian Islands.
Reason to add/change
Because Ships are fun and the more you have the more variety you will find on the ocean. It would allow players to customize their playstyle more because different boats are used differently. If someone is a raider they would probably choose a Trireme or Skeld. If someone is an explorer they would choose a fast ship to allow them to explore more easily. If someone is a trader they would use a ship like the frigate that allows for more cargo. If someone is militaristic they would choose a ship with a lot of cannons.
Examples
Sub Idea 2
Was having trouble getting my submarine to look the way I wanted it to so here is a very rough shape.
From Above v
The two rooms in the back are for a Water Mage and Earth Mage. The two ovals in the middle room are loading bays for the closest to cannons you can get.
Sub Idea by @Beluga_Whale
A Big Wooden Beluga Whale powered my Water Magic or an engine.
Catamaran
Smallest size v
Largest size ^
Galley
Kobaya
Caravel
Galleon
Frigate
Green=Decks
Blue=Above Water
Purple=Width (should be fairly wide this is what most people think a Galleon looks like.)
Red=Total Height
If you wanted more “Teirs” of this ship you would make it longer + wider with more masts.
Fluyt
Carrack
Links
Other Boat Ideas:
Nonhuman Character Ideas:
Crews:
Edits
Edit 1-5 Adding Ships, Fixing mistakes, Added Reason XD. Edit 6 Added Edits section. Edit 7 Removed the Clipper, added the Kobaya, Atakebune, Tekkōsen, Galley, Xebec, Caravel, Galleon, Fluyt, Carrack, and Flying Ships, Added the Credit section, Readded the Community Questions section.
Credit to Original Creators
Thank you to @InfernalElysium for his help with the Galley, Caravel, Xebec, and Galleon! And Thank you to @anon489391 for his Submarine Suggestion!
Thank you to @finnalca for the Catamaran and Trireme ideas!
Thank you to The Stormlight Archive (book series) for giving me the flying ship pictures.
Credit to Wikipedia for the information on the Kobaya, Atakebune, and Tekkōsen.
Community Questions
I’ll be answering your questions here!
