DMJ's Skull & Shackles

Game Master Jonasty1031

We should still temper our desires for upgrades at the start, though. And we should definitely hit the docks and the taverns... There's probably something lucrative lurking in the area!

Well, the smuggler's hole at least seemed practical and worth it (Still want the figurehead and sails eventually) so squeezing that out might be worth while if we ever have to hit a 'civilized' port.

Xanxan has the right idea about names, too. The other possibility would be for everyone to post a suggestion, then all rank the suggestions, taking the one with the highest cumulative rank. That takes some of the element of chance out of it, probably prevents it from being someone's least favorite choice, etc. It would likely be everyone's 2nd-3rd favorite (their own being their 1st!).

That's probably a better more democratic system.

So, the final tally:

For a grand total of 14,236 gp, 7 sp, 5 cp.

Divided into shares: 2,372 gp, 7 sp, 9 cp each.

My precioussssss

So as far as the gameplay thread, I'm just waiting to get an answer from you guys on what is to be done with the ship. Once I have that, I'll update from there.

Also, with Sandy causing as many problems as it did I'm fully aware that some of you may be impacted by this. Good luck if you are dealing with that and obviously we'll all be understanding in your having to deal with it and delays and such. So those of you that can post, feel free but it might be a slow week over all.

Are we using the "Plunder System" mentioned in the player's guide?

If so, then we should probably add at least 4-6 smuggler's holes, since it says you need 2 for 1 point of plunder.

Also, will we be able to return to Rickety's or some place similar in the future to further upgrade the ship?

If so, then my vote is for 4 smuggler's compartments (2000 gp) + a broad rudder (500 gp) + squib (2000 gp) = 4500/6

= 750 gp each.

Sorry, DMJ. Agreement might take a bit. I do hope everyone in the endangered areas is ok.

Tully, first thanks for the work you're doing. I think I'd prefer either silk sails (Red perhaps?) or a figurehead and two smuggler's compartments to four of them. Just as you like drama, I'm a big believer in style.

IF we go for a figurehead, Xanxan recommends a woman (Probably a human woman as that is the majority) bearing a cutlass or rapier and broken slave chains in the other.

And his new nomination for the ship's name is The Black Queen's Mercy

Nightmare would probably be his number two.

I'm just trying to wrap my head around the various possible modifications to the ship as well as how "driving" a ship works (e.g. what can be done and what the DCs are).

We will indeed be using the Plunder and Infamy systems introduced for this game. One thing to clarify with Plunder. It doesn't necessarily mean stolen, it's just a term used to describe generic items that in bulk are worth stuff, i.e. casks of wine, bails of cotton, etc. Yes, there certainly is the chance that most of the Plunder you gain will be stolen and those looking on your ship will probably assume it's stolen simply cause you're pirates regardless. But it isn't a hard rule that Plunder=stolen, it's more a descriptive term.

Example: You raid a monster's lair and search for loot afterwards. I say you found a magic sword, an amulet of armor, and "3 points of Plunder". Doesn't mean you stole it or anything, just denotes you found 3 points of goods that individually aren't worth much but in bulk will fetch a good price.

I clarify all that to let you know that you don't have to have hidden compartments in order to safely store Plunder. LOL, probably safe to assume that everyone is going to think anything on your ship is stolen, given that you're pirates.

Ah, ok. I assumed whatever plunder was, it had to be stored away. That was just based on the off-hand mention of it in the player's guide.

I would still like the broad rudder. By my reading it is by far the cheapest improvement that enhances the sailing quality of the ship.

I definitely don't mind cosmetic improvements. But, I don't think they should be our top priority. Silk sails is a good idea. I'm just not sure it should be the first improvement we make. They are kind of expensive, and may be easily damaged/destroyed in ship-ship battle.

My submission for the name: The Mercy Kill

I'm good with the Broad Rudder. No complaints. The figurehead would also be cheap possibly. It isn't entirely just for vanity either, it truly helps make the ship look different and yet distinctive ... both further squibbing/disguising the ship, and yet striking a bit more awe/fear in the hearts of those we bear down on.

Just making a list of selected options for reference.

Modifications that affect sailing checks:
Broad Rudder 500 gp +1 on all sailing checks
Extended Keel 1,000 gp +1 on all sailing checks Must be installed at time of ship's construction :(
Narrow Hull 1,500 gp +1 on all sailing checks Must be installed at time of ship's construction :(
Rapid-Deploy Sails 1,000 gp +1 on all sailing checks
Silk Sails 1,500 gp +1 on opposed sailing checks to gain the upper hand, +10% non-combat speed

Modifications that affect "style":
Figurehead 100-1,000 gp Note: Craft (carpentry or sculpture) DC 10, so maybe something we can add ourselves down the road.
Silk Sails see above

Combat-related modifications:
Armor Plating 3,000 gp +243 HP, +4 hardness, -22.5 tons cargo, -20% non-combat speed
Ram 1,000 gp Craft (ships) DC 10, so maybe something to be added with the figurehead?
Sturdy Hull 1,000 gp +2 hardness, -15 tons cargo
Wooden Plating 1,000 gp +81 HP, +2 hardness, -15 tons cargo, -10% non-combat speed

Other modifications:
Additional Crew Quarters 2,000 gp +12 passengers, -15 tons cargo
Increased Cargo Capacity 1,000 gp +15 tons cargo
Movable Deck 4,000 gp Basically a squibbing on demand.
Smuggling Compartments 500 gp each 2 compartments required to hide 1 plunder

----

Sailing checks are base DC 5 out of combat or DC 20 in combat. There's a -10 if we have less than 20 crew but at least 10. One person can Aid Another for a +2. Callum currently has a +13 on his checks.

----

So we could spend up to 2k to get sailing bonuses with a bit of style (Broad Rudder, Rapid-Deploy Silk Sails) to give an extra 10% waterborne movement and a +2 (+3 for upper hand) on sailing checks, meaning a +17 (+18 upper hand) sailing check with someone there to Aid. A few more levels and we can "Take 1" and still make the DC 20. Ahh, if only we could get the other two mods. Cut through the water like a hot knife through butter.

I don't like anything that will slow us down (e.g. plating), and if a spellcaster takes Craft Wondrous Items along with the appropriate skills, and we can have Magically Treated (double HP and hardness) stuff up the wahzoo.

Smuggling Compartments are a good idea, particularly if we go the smuggling route, although a DC 20 perception isn't that hard for the authorities to find. And there are other options that would be helpful for smugglers or other folks trying to go incognito (like the Movable Deck thing, that's awesomesauce).

As mentioned in some of the italics, it's super easy to make a figurehead along with a ram on our own (maybe during the downtime while we wait for the ship to be squibbed).

We should go through Tully's list again to reclaim what we were hoping for, in order to figure out how much scratch we would actually have available for the squibbing.

I'm starting to think Callum'll keep the Tidewater Cutlass as that seems to be the only magic weapon we have, which may come in handy in certain rare circumstances. Not a fan of the Hydraulic Push thing, but we takes what we can gets.

I vote for Tylos's Terrifying Typhoon! lol

I am fine with either of those modifications.

As for the name here are mine in no particular order:

The Defiance
or
The Nemesis

Also as I have craft ships and craft carpentry I can probably add those modifications myself.

Callum, Jirobo, and Ko'Ulu, got your official favorite ship name to submit for the vote? I figured Callum might still want Nightmare, but I didn't want to presume.

Ship Name: Freedom's Fury

Don't have particulars about what to get for extras.

I think rapid deploy silk sails would be 2500 (1000 for rd + 1500 for silk), not 1500. As far as Xan's desire for the iconic look, maybe we could just fluff the description by dying the sails red, to be replaced with silk after we make our bones with our first capture. (I actually like the idea of red sails, maybe with a black pirate emblem on the mainsail!)

Yeah, it was 3k in my head, but my fingers typed 2k.

Oh, back to the Plunder and Infamy system. Just a reminder that Callum's trait gives us a +1 trait bonus on our Disrepute and Infamy scores (whatever that is).

I'm not beholden to the Nightmare name. I like it and it's easy to put a horse as the figurehead and part of the flag, but it's not the be all and end all. I'm liking some of the suggestions too. Or a combination.

Nightmare's Mercy
Nightmare's Fury

We can also pick something that goes with the red sails...
Bloodwind
The Bloody Typhoon
The Blood Queen can also add 's Mercy or 's Fury to the end.
The Blood Pearl, slight thiefing of PotC.

Lets push the utility items for the ship. If we can outsail them, we can board, or evade at will.

We are going to need money to hire crew as well, I can't imagine that we won't have to spend some cash to get people interested.

I like Black Queen's Mercy its kinda a double meaning.

Yeah, Black Queen's Mercy has a nice ring. My 2nd vote goes to it.

So that's 2 primary votes and 1 secondary vote for Black Queen's Mercy. Seems the prevailing winds are pointing in that direction. Sounds good to me.

Do we want to go with black sails instead of red (or maybe black with red highlights)?

Then we can design a figurehead, as Xanxan mentioned, of a woman with a blade and chains. Maybe get Sandara to model ;)

So that's 2 primary votes and 1 secondary vote for Black Queen's Mercy. Seems the prevailing winds are pointing in that direction. Sounds good to me.

Yeah. I think that we've found the winner here.

Do we want to go with black sails instead of red (or maybe black with red highlights)?

I'm good with either. Red sounded striking, but black certainly fits the name.

Then we can design a figurehead, as Xanxan mentioned, of a woman with a blade and chains. Maybe get Sandara to model ;)

I like the way you think. :)

Hey now... don't you go taking advantage of Ms. Sandara.

Alright, well it sounds like you guys have the money and will pay for the squibbing which is the big thing, so I'll update the post from there. If you decide you want one or more of the modifications, we'll simply handle it in retconn and we'll just say you agreed upon it now. Not too big a deal given the circumstances. I'll move things along shortly.

Maybe red sails, but instead of skull and crossbones, a black crown over crossed swords, or a black crown dripping blood, stylized on the mainsail. It would certainly make us recognizable at sea!

One option

another option

We should go through Tully's list again to reclaim what we were hoping for, in order to figure out how much scratch we would actually have available for the squibbing.

I'm starting to think Callum'll keep the Tidewater Cutlass as that seems to be the only magic weapon we have, which may come in handy in certain rare circumstances. Not a fan of the Hydraulic Push thing, but we takes what we can gets.

It shouldn't be too hard to do. Anything you want for loot can be purchased from the pot at sale price. (So, the cutlass for 1697.5, leaving you with 675.29 gp.) It shouldn't be too difficult, if necessary, to float one or two PC's the funds required for the squibbing, etc., if they wish to purchase multiple items or expensive items from the pot (if someone wanted the bracers of archery, for instance).

I'm definitely hanging on to mwk handaxe and the ring of swimming. I may get some more after the total price of the upgrade is determined.

Right now, it looks like:

Squib - 2000
+Broad Rudder - 500
+Rapid-Deploy Sails - 1000
+Silk Sails - 1500
= 5000/6
= 833.34 gp apiece...

If we drop the Silk Sails:

= 3500/6
= 583.34 gp apiece <----- This seems like the right value for the gain to me.

Bear in mind, we may have opportunity(ies) to capture other ships or construct our own (perhaps with a narrow hull and extended keel!).

Alright everyone, sorry for the delay but updating the Campaign Tab took longer than I expected.

Campaign Tab has been fully updated. You'll note that the attitudes of people aren't listed any longer nor are their crew positions. That particular level of detail is no longer required, they simply are your crew. Granted some might have specific issues (i.e. Tate) but for the most part they are your crew now.

I've updated the NPC's you've met section appropriately. Going forward, I will be adding the most recently met notable NPC's to the top of the list to make it easier to find them, as I've done with Rickety.

I've put in the full rules for the Plunder and Infamy systems from the S&S AP. Please read these over carefully and let me know if you have any questions. Just to be clear, you gained the 2 points of Infamy/Disrepute for mutinying and seizing the Man's Promise, if you were curious.

For the PC's current status section, I need to update that with your new numbers from the level up. Rather than combing through your sheets, could everyone just post their new HP/AC values in the OOC thread for me?

Other than that, please make sure you're caught up on the Campaign Tab changes and I'll have the game update posted soon.

HP: 27
AC: 15, Touch: 13, Flat-footed: 12

HP : 32
AC: 17, Touch 15, Flat Footed: 13

HP: 37
AC 17 (16 when two-wpn fighting due to the loss of buckler functionality), Touch: 12, Flat Footed: 14

HP 28
AC 18, T 14, FF 14

Probably been a bit so the update is being wonky but I updated the game play thread today.

hp 31
AC:17
Tch: 12
FF:15

So what is the end result for how much gold we have for shopping?

I want to get a trident +1 if I have the cash for it.

DM Jonasty,
I know it's been awhile, but the six new sailors , Xanxan used diplomacy to try to sway things for them earlier. Did it look like he won any of them over and made them feel more of the crew?

Xanxan, tried to touch on this in my update above about the campaign tab but at this point you don't need to worry about winning them over. So long as you aren't actively mistreating them to want them to mutiny, aka Harrigan/Plugg with you guys, then they're on your side and "your crew". 99% of pirates are basically of the mind, can't get any worse than what I have so unless you prove them wrong by making it miserable, I'm not too concerned about the Influence rolls anymore.

Obivously there is still room for individual exceptions, like with Tate, but for the most part you don't need to worry about it and if you do I'll let you know to make the appropriate rolls.

I appreciate it. I was more worried about losing them. Nothing to keep any of the six from just walking away and signing up on another ship while here :)

You pretty much don't need to worry about that unless the crew doesn't get paid. And so far with the newness of the ship and crew, you don't really need to worry about that right now. In the future, I'll make sure you know what's up on that.

OK. I coulda sworn we were dumping Tate or "selling his contract" so to speak.

I wasn't too clear on it myself so that's probably my bad for losing it. Could someone just tell me what the plan was or what happened with him?

Someone will have to remind me, how much gold did we each have left over after chipping into upgrades for the ship? I'm looking at getting that wand of cure light wounds to help heal us, and maybe that +1 leather armor (as I'm sure a few of us are).

Just a confirmation that I will be trusting to Tully's rather detailed math on the loot from before. So whatever he confirms is what you guys got.

So what do you think?

10 light crossbows (350)
20 short spears (20)
20 short sword (200)
10 leather armor (100) for the boarding parties

670gp.

So what do you think?

10 light crossbows (350)
20 short spears (20)
20 short sword (200)
10 leather armor (100) for the boarding parties

670gp.

Mechanically, there is no benefit to equipping someone with a shortspear and a shortsword. They have the same reach, same damage-type, and same damage. A longspear would be useful, because of the reach. But, I think the better weapon of choice would be the boarding pike. It has brace, reach, better damage, and better crit. It's a great weapon for boarding, or if we're getting boarded. Plus, it's just thematic...!

Secondly, I don't mind the shortsword, but we could just as easily use the cutlass. Basically, the question is: Is it worth 5 gp per weapon to extend the crit range by 1? In the long run, I would say yes. But, in the long run, we'll probably be replacing all of these with masterwork, or maybe even magical weapons. The boarding axe is another option for the same base damage, extra crit damage, and the bonus to climb. On the other hand, a dagger is a cheap, simple weapon that does average 1 less damage than a cutlass/shortsword/boarding axe.

Light crossbows are good. But, bear in mind, we have 2 Ballista that will have to be manned (we need to make some decisions in that regard, soon).

DMJ pretty clearly stated we'd probably have to force our crew to wear armor... and they wouldn't be too happy with us for it...

Also, we should give everyone saps. At some point I'm sure we'll need to do some "aggressive recruiting". It's much easier than trying to stabilize a dying crew...

So, what about this:

20 Boarding Pikes = 160
18 Daggers = 36 (There are 2 in the loot items for 1 gp each)
9 Light Crossbows = 315 (There is one in the loot for 17.5 gp)
20 Saps = 20

Total Cost = 550.5 (91.75 gp each)

Just a confirmation that I will be trusting to Tully's rather detailed math on the loot from before. So whatever he confirms is what you guys got.

<------------Ship's Accountant???

The total for all the loot is 14,236.75 gp

That is the raw total without regard to the cost for squibbing/upgrading the ship, or the value of items we keep as party loot (such as weapons for the armory). For ease, I'll repost the loot list and associated item prices.

Are there any of the weapons or armor, potions or poisons that anyone feels strongly should be removed from the list and kept as "party loot"?

The general consensus on the ship upgrades, so far, is adding the broad rudder and the rapid-deploy sails. Do we want to add smuggler's compartments, or the silk sails? The expense starts to add up pretty quickly.

Once we have a consensus on party loot and ship upgrades, I'll post a final "value", and everyone can decide what specifically they are keeping.

Regarding crew weapons:

- DM Jonasty mentioned that each member of the crew already have a cutlass and dagger, so no need to purchase other ones, unless I misunderstood something and new crew have no weapons.

- The spears/shortspears/boarding pikes could be useful for those folks without much in the way of weapon skills since they are all simple weapons. Same goes for daggers and the like. As Tully mentioned, we have 6 spears and 2 daggers as part of the spoils. Boarding pikes are things that are kept by the mast so it's easy to grab and use to repel boarders. Not sure we need 20. Maybe 4 per mast.

- Leather armor doesn't have an ACP so won't affect swimming, etc, even for those not proficient (since double 0 is 0). I can't speak to the heat. As mentioned, we have two leather armor (+2 AC) from loot and wooden armor (+3 AC, -1 ACP except for swimming where it's 0) from Callum, so we might not need to pull off as many. There's typically time before a battle so there will be time for those assigned to board to suit up.

- Didn't realize we had ballistae, good catch.

- I like the thought of a boarding party of at least 10 (plus the PCs) and to equip accordingly.

Related: Crew assignments related to ship combat could be something like: 12 crew with boarding pikes to repel boarders, 1 crew at the helm, 4 by the helm as guards, 4 crossbowmen each on the fore and sterncastle (higher perch), 2 crew manning the ballistae, perhaps 1-2 with crossbows in the crows nest, 10+ boarding party. Anything else I'm missing?

So with that, my suggestions would be:
12 boarding pikes (with brackets in each of the three masts to hold 4) [96 gp].
9 light crossbows (since we have one in the loot) [315 gp]
200 crossbow bolts (since we don't seem to have any apart from the signal ones) [20 gp]
8 leather armor (since we have two in the loot - for the boarding party) [80 gp]

= 511 gp (91.83~ each)

Lootwise, Callum will Keep the Tidewater Cutlass (1697.5 gp) since it's the only magic weapon we have.

Can people lay claim to the items they want on the list? Presumably someone wants the NA Amulet (1000), Armor bracers (500), and perhaps Mirror Image Wand (1035), and maybe those MW weapons (454.5). Party should keep the cure potions (250) for sure and consider water breathing and perhaps the blur potions (900) too. We'll need to figure this out before the shopping. Depending on the armory suggestions, that could be 1 lt crossbw and a couple of leather armors off the list too.

If I remember correctly, a Light Ballista requires a minimum crew of 4, plus a "crew captain" who is proficient with siege weapons. So, a couple of us will need EWP Siege Weapons Feat.

The other thing to keep in mind is that we'll need a "prizemaster" of sorts to take command of the ships we capture. Just like with the Wormwood/Man's Promise, we can supplement the "prize crew" and our crew with captured sailors.

I checked on d20pfsrd and Light Ballistae have a crew of 1, aim of 0, load of 2 (so one crew, no time to aim and fire, two rounds to load). If the crew doesn't have Knowledge (engineering) then they get a -2 to hit which can be mitigated if a second crew is involved.

Might be easier to just sink the other ship. But then again, capturing it and selling it is probably worth a lot of coin. Who is the next person amongst us with the highest Prof (sailor)?

A Large siege engine requires 1 hour and four workers to assemble. A Huge siege engine requires 2 hours and six workers to assemble. Each assembly worker must make a DC 10 Craft (siege engine) check; if untrained, the worker may not take 10.

I think this is where I misread that.

Best option for "Prizemaster" is probably Xanxan (Prof. Sailor 7/Diplomacy 9+Charmer) or Ko'ulu (Prof. Sailor 9/Intimidate 8). Tully could do it as well (Prof. Sailor 6/Diplomacy 12). It'll largely depend on how much "influence" the "new crew" will need to perform their duties...

Most sailing ships are 10,000 gp. Plus, we don't have to empty it of all its cargo/plunder. Just sail the whole thing to a friendly port and rake in the cash/infamy!