Europe's Navigable Waterways

So I came across this resource that I think is helpful for using rivers as a central element in RPGs - it's the UNECE interactive map of Europe's Navigable Waterways (click here for the PDF download but note it's at least a 2MB file when compressed to JPEG).

It's very, very detailed, and although the legend/key (in English, French, and Russian) doesn't appear in the above image, it's readily accessible in the bottom right of the PDF version.

Looked at from an overall perspective, the map shows the waterways by several characteristics:

• Type (free-flowing river, canalised river, canal)
• Class (regional vs international significance)

In addition, major local features are detailed such as:

• Locks & Weirs (common)
• Ship lifts (rare)
• Dams (those without locks)
• Bridge maximum heights and minimum draught
• Local restrictions (shallows)

Taken together with the basic geographical elevations outlining the relevant uplands and mountain ranges, this map suggests some interesting potential play options for a campaign (whether set in Europe in the "modern" period eg T2k v2.2 or in a "European" style fantasy world with steam level technology eg WFRP, or perhaps even the default 16th century time period suggested for LotFP).

Riverine play, whether adventures or in fact as a central element of a campaign, isn't featured as a major option in most campaigns - WFRP 1e Death on the Reik being perhaps the notable exception that proves the rule, and to a lesser extent the difficult to source GURPS Riverworld.

This map, although in many ways just a technical representation, to me opens up the possibilities of transcontinental riverborne and canal centred campaigns.

Notes on the Vistula System (T2k)

Further Vistula & Oder Adventures?

To illustrate the usefulness of the map, refer to the insert map on the right here detailing central Poland, specifically the watershed of the Vistula (Polish: Wisla).

The stretch covered by the T2k v1.0 module Pirates of Vistula is outlined in green, representing the stretch from the dock at Nowy Huta to the southern outskirts of Warsaw.

The single blue line indicates the waterway is a native river and is considered "Class I" (East of the Elbe), know as "Gross Finow" and with relevant characteristics for a vessel:

• L   Max length 41m
• B   Max beam 4.7m
• D   Max draught 1.4m
• T   Tonnage 180 tonnes
• H   Min height 3m (under bridges)

Note: the map actually suggests that the minimum draught (depth of the vessel below water) drops off significantly to less than 1m, although for a campaign this could be modified or hand-waved for the purposes of playability. 

The Lower Vistula

This section, extending further west from Warsaw on the way to the sea via Gdansk, is more complex and navigable with "canalised" sections of river in purple and much wider sections upstream and downstream of the old canal at Bydgoszcz indicated by the double green lines.

One of the T2k play reports I found details a short journey downriver to Torun, at which point the party moves inland to Konin to begin the events of the 4th and final Poland module, Going Home. This stretch, equivalent to a section from the original module, isn't detailed but in passing and somewhat skipped over in the wake of the in character narrative of the defeat of Baron Czarny's forces, but is an obvious choice for a "linking element" or mini-adventure to tie the otherwise tightly connected first three modules (Krakow-Vistula-Warsaw) into the final element.

Just past Torun however is the interesting town of Bydgoszcz (aka Bromberg). This town sits astride both the Vistula and the Brda rivers, linking to the Oder via the Notec-Warta river system through it's 18th century canal with it's lock system:

A more scenic version of the plan gives an idea of the local geography:

The whole complex of a half dozen locks, by connecting the Vistula ultimately to the Oder, allows riverborne characters to travel westwards through Poland and East Germany to Berlin or to the mouth of the Oder, potentially making an interesting alternative route to the default initial rail journey suggested in Going Home.

River Lock and House (WFRP 1e excerpt)

Clearing and repairing the locks may well be an adventure in itself and allows interaction with the northern section of the initial Escape from Kalisz adventure normally inaccessible to the players initially due to the heavy presence of the Soviet 4th Tank Army.

The Silesian Waterways  

Picture excerpt from T2k v1.0 Going Home 

The third section of the map, marked in red details the western Silesian sections of the Vistula, linking Krakow to Oswiecim (Auschwitz) via a canal and canalised river section with only 3 locks and could be expanded for adventures in the hinterland of Krakow. Clearing and repairing the locks may be an issue but made easier by using a smaller rivercraft than the Krolowa Wisla, perhaps by taking berth in Krakow on a trading vessel of the newly formed Liga Handowly (Polish: Mercantile League) or a coal barge heading back to the Margravate of Silesia with import goods.

Silasian River Systems for use in the Black Madonna

Although the Gliwice Canal does not connect directly with this part of the Vistula upstream of Krakow, a short trip westwards overland in an amphibious vehicle (such as one of the standard wheeled Soviet or Polish APCs) through Silesia is an alternate way of accessing The Black Madonna Tk2 v1.0 adventure, and potentially travel down the Oder again on to Berlin and beyond.

Links & Additional Resources

• UNECE Navigable Waterways
• High Res Map of European Waterways (4MB)
• Detail of Wisla River Beyond Warsaw (interactive)

• Europe's Navigable Waterways database (Vistula section)