This raised deck stands some 10 feet above the main deck, immediately behind the bowsprit, which is shaped like a rearing dragon. The foremast rises 30 feet above this deck.
Poop Deck:
This raised deck stands 15 feet above the main deck. The mizzenmast rises 30 fee above this deck. The ship’s bridge protrudes forward of the mizzenmast, and holds the ship’s wheel. The wheel is 3 feet across and has 10 spokes decorated with silver inlays, its bolts carved to resemble kraken heads. An iron cage hangs from the side of the mizzenmast, containing a body. An ugly parrot perches atop the cage.
Captain Harrigan and Mr. Plugg spend most of their time on this deck. When the captain is on deck, the poop deck is off-limits to everyone but officers.
Main Deck:
The ship’s main deck runs between the foredeck and poop deck. The mainmast rises from the center of the deck, extending 60 feet into the air and topped by a crow’s nest. Rigging connects the mainmast to the ship’s other masts and can be crossed with DC 10 Acrobatics or Climb checks. Several strands of thick rope are secured
to the foot of the mainmast for use as a whipping post.
The ship’s clock, a macabre brass-and-copper object depicting worms writhing through whale corpses, hangs from the mast above the whipping post. Not only does the clock keep time, but its bell strikes at dawn and dusk to signal the beginning and the end of the workday. Two 10-foot-square hatches sit in the deck fore and aft of the mainmast. These hatches are thick wooden grilles and open onto the middle hold 15 feet below. At the fore of the ship, two doors lead into the officers’ quarters while two doors aft lead to the captain’s quarters.
A large wooden box bound in iron sits just beneath the bridge. This sweatbox, used to torment sailors, has just enough room to hold one Medium creature
Middle Hold:
This is the ship’s main cargo hold. The hold is mostly empty at the start of the adventure, save for 14 pigs; normally kept caged, they periodically escape and run loose within the hold. In the forward section, a flight of wooden stairs climbs up to the officers’ quarters, while a second set of stairs descends into the lower hold.
Owlbear Hartshorn, a large dark skinned man, is invariably chained to the foremast here to keep him from causing trouble and to keep people out of the officers’ cabin. (Most of the time it is easy to squeeze past him as needed unless his chain is let out.) Another flight of stairs in the aft section next to the galley leads up to the captain’s quarters.
Stored near the mainmast are two light ballistas, a disassembled light catapult, and 12 barrels containing 20 gallons of oil each.
Quartermaster and Cook’s Cabin:
This tiny cabin contains two beds and two footlockers. The Wormwood’s quartermaster, Cut-Throat Grok, and ship’s cook, Ambrose “Fishguts” Kroop, share this cabin with several of Kroop’s chickens. Grok sleeps here at night, as does Kroop, who is found here during the day as well if he is insensibly drunk.
Galley:
The galley is the domain of Ambrose “Fishguts” Kroop, the drunken ship’s cook. The cramped and chaotic kitchen holds two wooden worktables, several wooden cupboards, and two small stoves against the port wall, as well as virtually every cooking utensil imaginable and a frightening array of meat cleavers. A score of
chickens and three goats wander freely throughout the chamber; the goats are meant to be caged, but have a distressing tendency to escape their bonds. The kitchen is a madness of dirt, food, and knives, and finding anything in here requires a Perception check. The stoves are perpetually lit, and large cauldrons bubble away atop them all times.
A huge array of spices mingle with barrels of rainwater, two tuns of rum, cupboards full of ship’s biscuit and salted beef, barrels of sauerkraut, and a small supply of fresh vegetables picked up in Port Peril.
Despite the chaos, the entire galley functions as a set of masterwork tools for Profession (cook) checks. Several items of value are lost among the ruin and squalor in the galley awaiting an eager (and unnoticed) soul to find the hidden treasure spread amongst the trash.
In addition, a trio of harpoons, a spear, and Kroop’s grapple hang on the walls.
Stores:
The ship’s quartermaster, Cut-Throat Grok, can usually
be found in this cramped, crowded storeroom containing numerous barrels, boxes, and chests. The door is locked and features a 3-foot-square serving hatch
The quartermaster’s store acts as a kind of unofficial shop aboard the Wormwood. While any plunder stored there technically belongs to the captain, this is a pirate ship after all, and everything has its price.
Any equipment stored within is for sale at the normal price listed in the Core Rulebook.
Items found on the ship (or won from other pirates) can also be traded at the store for other merchandise. Bartered objects are generally worth 50% of their normal value when traded for goods.
While the store is, in theory, open at all hours, it’s usually only open from dawn to about 3 p.m., when Grok starts drinking. She only opens the door outside these hours to friends. Grok has a tendency to get drunk in the afternoons and closes the store before heading to
the deck for the evening meal.
Lower Hold and Crew Berths:
Sixteen pillars support the deck above this spacious hold. At night, the Wormwood’s common pirates tie their hammocks between the walls and pillars and sleep until dawn. Two
of Mr. Plugg’s toadies, Kipper and Patch Patchsalt, have claimed the far forward section of the hold as their own, and their hammocks are strung between the foremast and the stairs leading up to the middle hold.
A trap door just behind the mainmast opens onto the bilges below, and requires a DC 10 Strength check to lift.
The hold is currently empty of cargo, but several footlockers line the walls. Each member of the crew has a locker, equivalent to a small chest. A large quantity of unused lockers (presumably for more crew) are stacked along the walls.
Daytime Ship Actions:
These are your common options but feel free to ask if you have another task in mind.
Work Diligently: Gain a +4 bonus on any one check for a job’s daily task
Influence: Make normal checks for a job’s daily task and attempt to influence a single NPC
Sneak: Make normal checks for a job’s daily task and briefly explore one area of the ship (the PC can make a single Perception check or other skill check with no chance of detection)
Shop: Take a –2 penalty on all checks for a job’s daily task and visit the quartermaster’s store (area A9)
Shirk: Take a –2 penalty on all checks for a job’s daily task
and take time exploring one area of the ship. The PC can take 10 on a single Perception check or other skill check, but must make a check to avoid being discovered.
Nighttime Ship Actions:
Sleep: Go to bed early and sleep through the night (automatically recover from fatigue)
Gamble: Play or gamble on a game of chance or pirate
entertainment.
Entertain: Make one Perform check to entertain the crew
Influence*: Attempt to influence a single NPC
Sneak*: Take time exploring one area of the ship. The PC can take 20 on a single Perception check or other skill check, but must make a check to avoid being discovered.
Steal*: Attempt to open a locked door or locker. The PC
must make a check to avoid being discovered (see below).
* These actions may be taken in dead of night but risk fatigue as you are not sleeping.
Rum Ration:
RUM RATION
Aboard many ships, half a pint of rum is distributed to each crew member at dusk. The rum is staggeringly strong, and is often watered down to make grog. Characters drinking the ration are affected as though they had taken an addictive drug. See HERE
The rum ration is doled out more to keep the crew sated and docile than for recreation. The penalty for selling or spilling the ration is six lashes, or six lashes from a cat-o’-nine-tails for a second offense.
Deliberately tipping away rum on board a crowded ship without being seen requires a DC 10 Stealth check.
While on merchant or navy vessels rum rations are strictly limited, on pirate ships, crew members can often request more rum if they please.
Shackles Rum Ration
Type ingested; Addiction minor, Fortitude DC 5
Price 2 sp
Effect variable; +1d4 alchemical bonus to Charisma and
fatigued for 1d8 hours
Damage 1d3 Con
