I've read through the rules (our group will probably play after our RtL campaign is done) and was wondering what happens if two ships collide side-by-side and a figure is swimming there? I know if a ship hits a figure it's pushed out of the way, but what if there's no where to go? Does the figure get pushed to the closest front/back side? does the figure just die?

-shnar

Hmmm. Sounds like a variation of a Crushing Wall. I'd say if there is nowhere for the figure to go, tough luck. It's squished. Read the FAQ entries on Crushing Wall.

It says they're pushed ahead of the ship that rammed them, so it sounds like they get to board the other ship for free. Expect a big FAQ section on sailing.

I was just thinking this might happen if someone crossing boats fell into the water and then another figure moved the boats, closing the gap. My guess is it should drown the fig...

-shnar

Forgive me for saying, as I do not own SoB yet, but wouldn't the figure just be placed into the nearest empty adjacent water space? I would agree that this souds much like the ruling on crushing wall, though, so I can see it going either way. From my standing however, I would rule that the figure being 'squished' between two boats would be placed into an empty adjacent water space of the moving ship players' choice.

The only problem with that is the size of the boats. If both are brigintines then that could be 8 or so spaces the creature is "ejected" to. I can understand the logic behind the boat "pushing" a figure if it bumps it, but what if there's no where to go? Even if the front of the boat pushes the figure, what if it's ramming another boat and the space where the tip is there's a figure? Is the figure pushed to the left/right? Or is it killed, squished into the boat?

For reference, here's the text for a figure (page 28):

" Colliding with Figures
Figures that a ship collides with are simply pushed ahead of the
ship (even if soaring, since otherwise situations could be
created where multiple figures are in the same space). No
damage occurs to either the figure or the ship. If a figure is
pushed off the edge of the map, that figure is considered to
have fled the encounter."

There's no talk though about what happens if there is no space to be pushed ahead to...

-shnar

Except that there is a space to be pushed ahead to, at least in the case on ship-on-ship ramming. The ship being rammed has space available. That doesn't help explain what would happen if the figure were pushed into a space that blocks movement, but there's no need for house rules in this case, as the base rules work (mechanically at least, it takes a bit of imagination to make them work from a flavor standpoint).

So they would move up into the boat? I guess that works, as it only takes 1 MP to move into the boat from water (for some reason I was thinking climbing into a boat from water would be more difficult than that ).

-shnar