Sea voyage, keeping interest [Archive] - Wizards Community

Sea voyage, keeping interest [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
paradoxmage
08-02-04, 04:55 PM Well a sea voyage can be exciting. There are a number of things that can happen while on a ship. What are some of these things that can keep players interested and not falling asleep. I know there are books that cover battles and creatures of the sea, but haveing these things happen every 5 seconds seems overplayed. So what are some other things that you can make your PC's do inbetween catastrophic events.

Some ideas:
skill based events, disease or sickness, Fire starts inside ship etc...
Tarus
08-02-04, 05:04 PM Play a game of checkers?

The first mate's monkey goes rapid and get's loose?

PC's have to scour the ship to find the nauseating that is emanating from somewhere on the boat. PC's must make CON checks of increasing difficulty as they near?

Or my personal favorite, "The day(s) wears on without incident..."
Mr. Domino
08-02-04, 09:44 PM Sahugin and or Merrow attacks work well for random encounters.

Sea elf attacks can create intrigue. Why are they attacking? They're accusing some of the crew/passengers of what? A traitor is on board. Duhn Duhn Duhn.

You could always use the tried and true let's hop on the mysterious and abandoned ghost ship only to have our not haunted ship sink so we are forced to evplore down below plot line.
Auburn
08-03-04, 12:03 AM Blown off course.

Run aground on a previously unknown reef, island, mysterious thing, or whatever.

Come across a ship named after a barbarian tribe that is captained by a mad man who is hunting the demonic white whale that ate his leg, and the captain is looking for a few extra crew members for the climactic battle with the demon whale.

The captain of the ship the party is on asks if the party would have any objections to a little piracy.

Ship puts into port only to get drafted into the city/nation's navy.
Backfish
08-03-04, 08:45 AM A Storm may be sufficient, depending on it's desription and the size of the boat (If you ever went sailing during a storm in a small boat you know what I mean...)

No wind at all, the ship can't get foward anymore.

Some on-board intrigue, someone steals something from the captain, the PCs are suspected to be the thieves.

Friendly encounter with some unusal ship, perhaps a flying ship from Lantan, an elven warship or some kind of gnomish submarine. (Arms and Equipment guide).
Lashan
08-04-04, 11:19 AM While there are always combat encounters to do, I would recommend some role playing type events.

NPC interaction is always good. It doesn't even have to be some sort of intrigue. There could be other passengers from other areas of Faerun or even members of the crew from other areas. It all depends on how much your pcs know of the game world. You could have people talk about what is going on in their corner of the world. Do the players know about the Old Empires? They can ask questions about the forms of govt. or even ask the latest news. Perhaps a sembian wine merchant wants to talk about the wine business. This could lead into players learning about the different wine types from Aurora's Catalog or it could discuss some sort of trouble with the wine industry. It might lead to an adventure lead, give insight to a larger campaign event (like a war or economic hardship), or nothing at all. It is also a good way to have someone tell a legend or story about some treasure, dungeon, or other historical bit that you want to intrigue the players with. Perhaps the child that is travelling with her mother knows of the legend of Mount Grimmerfang in the Vast and how there must still be piles of treasure left over from the old orc king.

Besides passengers, you can always have there be other ships to bump into. From reviewing how most ships hug the coast and travel around, there will be other traffic. Perhaps the ships will hail each other and give news. One way to build up the drama about a planned sea encounter is to have another ship see the wreckage of whatever you want to attack. If evil sea humanoids are going to attack your ship, perhaps that merchant cog you hail met a ghost ship. It was a ship adrift with no one on it. The food was still on the table, but no one was around. This way, you can set the drama without giving away what type of creature will attack.

Lastly, there are a few 3rd party gaming products out there that detail games of chance for the D20 system. Perhaps you just want your players to play games with the sailors on the ship. I've seen a couple of gaming sessions turn into one character trying to win coin back from that wiley sailor in a game of chance.

So, I think there are things you can do that don't require combat, but they might take some planning. I hope it helps a bit.
Faraer
08-04-04, 11:39 AM See how Ed Greenwood tackles this in FA1 Halls of the High King (http://www.rpgnow.com/product_info.php?products_id=848&).
Sylvos
08-04-04, 02:01 PM We had a 3 month sea voyage/adventure session about 2 years ago. We did your standard sahuagin attacks, shark swarms, elemental storms caused by angry water elementals. The things you can do as a side "trek" is to have the ship wreck on a coral reef. Let the pc's have to safeguard/secure the area then at night that reef could attract tons of Lacedon's and undead skeletons/pirates (ala Pirates of the Carribbean). Once they escape the wreck via sea elf intervention, they can discover a portal to the plane of water and visit the City of Glass. This could provide them with several adventures in the elemental plane of water, allow them to get an even better seaworthy craft, and explore the deep blue sea underwater and as a result open a whole new type of world to the PC's. Then they can find the portal back, resume their voyage and be better equiped/off as far as knowledge/xp than they were when they set off.
FriendOfReligion
08-05-04, 03:47 PM On many ships there is a tradition of cross-dressing and crowning anyone on board who "crosses the line" (the Equator) for the first time. The PCs could note certain sailors sneaking around, eyeing them curiously and turning away when they have been spotted, a sudden shipboard shortage of some certain supply (wine or honey, for instance), and so on. If the PCs don't know anyone else on board, that might get them spurred to interact with the NPCs, and if they do know any of the NPCs, getiing evasive or riddling answers (or cryptic smiles or laughter or whatever) should really start stirring up PC paranoia.

To make it even more creepy for them, I would have the ship's parrot say something like, "You're crossing the line! Braaaawk! You're crossing the line!" if the PCs voice some suspicion in front of it. Watching and listening to players trying to interrogate a bird which probably has a vocabulary of less than a hundred words (all of which can be misleading) should provide the clever DM with hours of entertainment.

How they respond to all of this is a good test of their character. How they stand up to a hazing party in their honor would be another.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
paradoxmage 08-02-04, 04:55 PM	Well a sea voyage can be exciting. There are a number of things that can happen while on a ship. What are some of these things that can keep players interested and not falling asleep. I know there are books that cover battles and creatures of the sea, but haveing these things happen every 5 seconds seems overplayed. So what are some other things that you can make your PC's do inbetween catastrophic events. Some ideas: skill based events, disease or sickness, Fire starts inside ship etc...
Tarus 08-02-04, 05:04 PM	Play a game of checkers? The first mate's monkey goes rapid and get's loose? PC's have to scour the ship to find the nauseating that is emanating from somewhere on the boat. PC's must make CON checks of increasing difficulty as they near? Or my personal favorite, "The day(s) wears on without incident..."
Mr. Domino 08-02-04, 09:44 PM	Sahugin and or Merrow attacks work well for random encounters. Sea elf attacks can create intrigue. Why are they attacking? They're accusing some of the crew/passengers of what? A traitor is on board. Duhn Duhn Duhn. You could always use the tried and true let's hop on the mysterious and abandoned ghost ship only to have our not haunted ship sink so we are forced to evplore down below plot line.
Auburn 08-03-04, 12:03 AM	Blown off course. Run aground on a previously unknown reef, island, mysterious thing, or whatever. Come across a ship named after a barbarian tribe that is captained by a mad man who is hunting the demonic white whale that ate his leg, and the captain is looking for a few extra crew members for the climactic battle with the demon whale. The captain of the ship the party is on asks if the party would have any objections to a little piracy. Ship puts into port only to get drafted into the city/nation's navy.
Backfish 08-03-04, 08:45 AM	A Storm may be sufficient, depending on it's desription and the size of the boat (If you ever went sailing during a storm in a small boat you know what I mean...) No wind at all, the ship can't get foward anymore. Some on-board intrigue, someone steals something from the captain, the PCs are suspected to be the thieves. Friendly encounter with some unusal ship, perhaps a flying ship from Lantan, an elven warship or some kind of gnomish submarine. (Arms and Equipment guide).
Lashan 08-04-04, 11:19 AM	While there are always combat encounters to do, I would recommend some role playing type events. NPC interaction is always good. It doesn't even have to be some sort of intrigue. There could be other passengers from other areas of Faerun or even members of the crew from other areas. It all depends on how much your pcs know of the game world. You could have people talk about what is going on in their corner of the world. Do the players know about the Old Empires? They can ask questions about the forms of govt. or even ask the latest news. Perhaps a sembian wine merchant wants to talk about the wine business. This could lead into players learning about the different wine types from Aurora's Catalog or it could discuss some sort of trouble with the wine industry. It might lead to an adventure lead, give insight to a larger campaign event (like a war or economic hardship), or nothing at all. It is also a good way to have someone tell a legend or story about some treasure, dungeon, or other historical bit that you want to intrigue the players with. Perhaps the child that is travelling with her mother knows of the legend of Mount Grimmerfang in the Vast and how there must still be piles of treasure left over from the old orc king. Besides passengers, you can always have there be other ships to bump into. From reviewing how most ships hug the coast and travel around, there will be other traffic. Perhaps the ships will hail each other and give news. One way to build up the drama about a planned sea encounter is to have another ship see the wreckage of whatever you want to attack. If evil sea humanoids are going to attack your ship, perhaps that merchant cog you hail met a ghost ship. It was a ship adrift with no one on it. The food was still on the table, but no one was around. This way, you can set the drama without giving away what type of creature will attack. Lastly, there are a few 3rd party gaming products out there that detail games of chance for the D20 system. Perhaps you just want your players to play games with the sailors on the ship. I've seen a couple of gaming sessions turn into one character trying to win coin back from that wiley sailor in a game of chance. So, I think there are things you can do that don't require combat, but they might take some planning. I hope it helps a bit.
Faraer 08-04-04, 11:39 AM	See how Ed Greenwood tackles this in FA1 Halls of the High King (http://www.rpgnow.com/product_info.php?products_id=848&).
Sylvos 08-04-04, 02:01 PM	We had a 3 month sea voyage/adventure session about 2 years ago. We did your standard sahuagin attacks, shark swarms, elemental storms caused by angry water elementals. The things you can do as a side "trek" is to have the ship wreck on a coral reef. Let the pc's have to safeguard/secure the area then at night that reef could attract tons of Lacedon's and undead skeletons/pirates (ala Pirates of the Carribbean). Once they escape the wreck via sea elf intervention, they can discover a portal to the plane of water and visit the City of Glass. This could provide them with several adventures in the elemental plane of water, allow them to get an even better seaworthy craft, and explore the deep blue sea underwater and as a result open a whole new type of world to the PC's. Then they can find the portal back, resume their voyage and be better equiped/off as far as knowledge/xp than they were when they set off.
FriendOfReligion 08-05-04, 03:47 PM	On many ships there is a tradition of cross-dressing and crowning anyone on board who "crosses the line" (the Equator) for the first time. The PCs could note certain sailors sneaking around, eyeing them curiously and turning away when they have been spotted, a sudden shipboard shortage of some certain supply (wine or honey, for instance), and so on. If the PCs don't know anyone else on board, that might get them spurred to interact with the NPCs, and if they do know any of the NPCs, getiing evasive or riddling answers (or cryptic smiles or laughter or whatever) should really start stirring up PC paranoia. To make it even more creepy for them, I would have the ship's parrot say something like, "You're crossing the line! Braaaawk! You're crossing the line!" if the PCs voice some suspicion in front of it. Watching and listening to players trying to interrogate a bird which probably has a vocabulary of less than a hundred words (all of which can be misleading) should provide the clever DM with hours of entertainment. How they respond to all of this is a good test of their character. How they stand up to a hazing party in their honor would be another.