Ship

Ships passing through the Arch of Aroden.
See also: Images of ships.

Ships are an essential form of transport throughout Golarion, used for trade, war, and piracy. There are even gods that have shipping as part of their portfolio.

Classes

There are many types of ships that sail the oceans, seas, lakes, rivers, and skies of Golarion:

Classes of ships seen on Golarion

Class	Description	Length	Masts	Passengers
Aethership	Spaceship for traveling the solar system used by Vercites. c.f. Ether Ship, below
Airship	Flying ships pioneered in Alkenstar
Andoren skirmisher	An anti-slaver, river warship powered by sail and oars.	70 ft.	1	8 crew
Barge	A flat-bottomed freight boat made for river travel; can be towed by larger boats	80–150 ft.	n/a	50–150
Barkentine or barquentine	Sailing ship with three or more masts		3 or more
Barque	Large sailing ship		3 or more
Bireme	Ship with two tiers of oars		n/a
Brigantine (Brig)	Light, two-masted sailing ship with a square-rigged forward sail	30–50 ft.	2	20–140
Canoe	Paddle-propelled small, manoeuvrable boat		n/a
Caravel	Light and manoeuvrable, ocean-going, sailing ship with multiple decks	30–50 ft.	2–3	20–140
Carrack	Heavier, ocean-going, sailing ship with multiple decks	50–100 ft.	3–4	20–140
Catamaran	A catamaran is a watercraft with two parallel hulls of equal size. Urdefhans try to sail the Sightless Sea using light catamarans but have failed so far due to the fickle nature of the winds underground.
Clipper	Very fast sailing ship primarily used for trade		3 or more
Cog	Type of keelboat. Wooden ship used for ocean or river trade		1
Coracle	Very small boat fabricated from wickerwork		n/a	1
Corsair	Used as a generic term for a pirate ship, regardless of actual type	varies	varies	varies
Curragh or Currach	Larger coracle that is covered in hides		n/a
Cutter	A small, single-masted sailing boat, very light and fast	30–50 ft.	1	4–104
Demon ship	Expensive and rare ship powered by a bound demon, known to have been built in Nex		2
Dhow	Coastal sailing ship with lateen (or triangular) sails		1 or more
Dinghy	Small sailing vessel		1 or more	1–3
Dorey or dory	Small fishing boat with a flat bottom and high sides	16–23 ft.	n/a
Dragon boat	Long, narrow canoe		n/a
Drekar or drakkar	Largest longships: a warship
Dromon	Galley powered by rowing or sailing	100–150 ft.	2	200–400
Dugout	Primitive canoe fabricated from a hollowed out tree trunk		n/a
Ether Ship	Designed to travel the Ethereal Plane. c.f. Aethership, above	180 ft.	Ether vanes
Fireboat	A boat designed to fight fires but could be many types of boats	n/a	n/a	n/a
Flat-Bottomed Raider
Frigate	Heavy, fast and extremely manoeuvrable warship with a broad deck suitable for holding siege weapons	75–120 ft.	3	60–220
Galleass	Warship: very large galley
Galleon	Large warship with a distinctive square galley at the stern and multiple decks	75–120 ft.	3–4	60–220
Galley or Slave galley	Very large oar-powered ship capable of holding large cargoes	100–150 ft.	1–3	200–400
Galliot or Galiot
Gondola	Single-oar-powered, flat-bottomed boat (c.f. punt)		n/a
Hooker	Sea-going fishing boat	24–44 ft.	1
Houseboat	Floating house: a generic name	n/a	n/a	n/a
Jolly-boat	Larger clinker-built rowboat usually used for ship-to-ship transport	20 ft.	n/a	2–10
Junk	Flat-bottomed sea-going boat from Tian Xia	75 ft.	2–3	100
Kayak	Light, one-person or two-person canoe that lies low in the water. Favoured in the Lands of the Linnorm Kings, especially by the Varki people		n/a	0
Keelboat	Flat-bottomed river vessel, some having a cabin on-board; single mast & oars. Also hoy, hulk & karve.	50–80 ft.	1	4–104
Ketch	Two-masted sailing vessel		2
Knaar or Knarr	Type of keelboat. Sea-going or river-going merchant vessel similar in design to a longship powered by sail and oars	52 ft. / 54 ft.	1
Kobukson	(literally 'turtle ship')
Koch	Wooden ocean-going ship designed for polar sea travel; able to sail in ice	30–70 ft.	1 or 2
Kyonin barge	Elven, river patrol and cargo vessel powered by sail and armed with ballistae.	90 ft.	1
Lantern Galley	Warship: very large galley
Lifeboat	Generic term for any ship designed to aid other ships in distress	n/a	n/a	n/a
Longboat	Boat to transport crew and passengers from ship to shore; usually rowed		1
Longship or dragon ship	Generally warships; use both oars and a sail; their shallow draft makes them manoeuvrable along coastlines. Similar to karvi, snekkja, skei, balinger, and birlinn.	75–125 ft.	1	50–150
Lugger	Small ship with four sails		2 or more
Man-of-War, or Man O' War	One of the heaviest warships, propelled primarily by sails and used by established navies	90–130 ft.	3–4	60–220
Merchantman	A ship carrying merchandise; a general term for a trading vessel; see other entries for specific merchant ships		n/a
Narrow boat	Narrow-beamed canal boat		n/a
Pinnace	Small galleon-style ship		2 or 3
Pontoon	Flat-bottomed buoyant boat able to support large weights		n/a
Punt	Flat-bottomed river boat powered by a pole that pushes off the river bed	24 ft.	n/a	1–6
Raft	Flat platform made from logs tied together powered by oars	10 ft.	n/a	1–3
River knave	Masted and oared, fast river boat used by slavers and brigands.	90 ft.	1
Rowing boat or Rowboat	Lifeboat on larger ship or small river vessel powered by oars. Similar to dinghies, dories, skiffs and wherries. A collapsible rowboat can be broken down to be carried, or built up to be serviceable in about five minutes.	10 ft.	n/a	1–3
Sampan	Small, flat-bottomed river or coastal craft usually pole or oar propelled		maybe 1
Schooner	Small fore-and-aft rigged ship		2 or more
Scow	Large, flat-bottomed, square-ended boat		2
Ship's Boat	Small boat with oars carried by a larger ship for ferrying purposes. Similar to cutter, gig, jolly boat, launch, longboat, or pinnace.	16–24 ft.	1	12
Skiff	Small boat with oars		n/a
Sloop	Fore-and-aft rigged, small vessel, similar to a cutter, but with a more forward mast	30–50 ft.	1	4–104
Sloop-of-War			2–3
Tall ship	Generic term for any ship traditionally rigged	n/a	n/a	n/a
Trawler	Fishing boat capable of deploying a trawling net
Trireme	Warship with three tiers of oars to propel it; similar to galley	120 ft. or more	n/a
Warship	Generic term for any ship used in war: see other entries for specific warships	n/a	n/a	n/a
Whaleboat	Open boat used for whaling
Windjammer	Large ship with an iron hull		3–5
Wyvern	Large merchant ship common to the Inner Sea, used for trade, exploration, and war
Xebec	Warship with a distinctive overhanging bow	70–110 ft.	3	60–220
Yacht	Boat of many types used for recreation
Yawl	Sailing ship		1 or 2

Specific ships

Ulfen longship in trouble

Ulfen longships causing trouble

For a list of specific ships, see Category:Ships.

Shipping organizations

There are many and varied organizations for which shipping is a significant part of their work. Some of the more remarkable are below:

Merchants

• Brisdell Trading Company

This section is a stub. You can help us by expanding it.

Navies

• Andoren Navy and privateers
• Chelaxian Navy
• Magnimar Navy
• Rahadoumi Navy
• Taldan Imperial Navy

This section is a stub. You can help us by expanding it.

Pirates

The port of Khari with a Chelaxian tall ship in the foreground.

• Bloodcove
• House Surtova, which traces its roots to pirate-kings of Brevoy
• Raiders of the Ironbound Archipelago
• Independent pirate captains on Lake Encarthan
• Shackles Pirates
• Boggard, lizardfolk, and scavenger clans in the Sodden Lands

Slavers

The slave galley Burnt Saffron.

• Cheliax
• Nine Forts Collective
• Okeno Slavers
• Salt Cartel
• Shark-Tooth Scavengers

This section is a stub. You can help us by expanding it.

Shipbuilding

Various classes of ships sailing around Absalom's harbour.

See also: Category:Shipyards and Category:Shipbuilders

This section is a stub. You can help us by expanding it.

In religion

• Besmara, the Pirate Queen, is the goddess of pirates and piracy. She is at home on board her ship Seawraith.
• Ovonovo is a nascent demon lord whose portfolio includes shipwrecks and has a religious symbol portraying a huge shark swallowing a ship.

This section is a stub. You can help us by expanding it.

References

For additional as-yet unincorporated sources about this subject, see the Meta page.