Raiders of the Fever Sea (GM Reference)


Skull & Shackles

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ferrinwulf wrote:

So, getting myself ready for the possible battle with Inkskin at Tidewater. Reading the entry I came across this:

If the Thresher was not previously spotted, guards can again make opposed Perception checks against the sailing checks of the buccaneers in the longboats to see the boats as they approach shore. The longboats get a +4 bonus on their opposed checks because of an obscuring mist spell cast by Isabella Locke.

Now according to the players guide:
Blade Barrier, Cloudkill, Fog Cloud, Mind Fog, Obscuring Mist, Pyrotechnics, Stinking Cloud, Storm of Vengeance: The effects created by these spells do not move with a ship.

So by that rationale Inkskin Either casts the spell as the longboats reach the Keep or as logic would dictate she casts the spell as she leaves the Thresher.

Either way It's completley pointless as a) if it was cast when they get to the keep then the guards propbaly know they are already there or b) she casts it before she gets to the keep and the mist stays in place as they row towards it and they get spotted.

Anybody else notice this?

This comes up in the encounter with the Man's Promise as well, and is (I assume) why Peppery Longfarthing is said to be casting a series of Fog Clouds - she's renewing the coverage as the two grappled ships slowly move out of the area of effect of the previous spells.

It could be the same with Inkskin at Tidewater Rock - since obscuring mist centers on the caster and should be wide enough radius to cover the longboats, she just recasts as the boats move ahead to ensure they remain concealed. To an observer it would just look like a small fog bank rolling in from the sea.
Fog Cloud works a little better as you can cast it ahead of yourself, but I don't have my AP handy right now so I don't know if Inkskin has access to that spell or not. You could always say she does, and just go with it.


Ran with it last night and instead of Obsuring Mist I had it be a moonless cloudy night and they were all dressed in black. I felt there was no way I could justify using it as my players have been using the mist under the ruling of it not moving, I'm not going to double standard my players lol.

That being said it didn't make any differnce in the end as all the action happened inside the keep without them knowing the attack was underway (in my game Inkskin attacked whilst they were having dinner with Smythee, Inkskin killed Smythee, Royster died defending her, the players managed to convinse Inkskin to join them and they now have Tidewater. I hated the fact that such a wonderful character as Inkskin was reduced to such a small role in which she wont back down and kills herself if caught.). No railroading by me and the whole thing played out exatley how I planned it, cound'nt have been happier.


Im having inkskin getting recruited by the chelliax navy by Capt Faison,The new bad guy i created for the game (think Don Carnage from Tailspin). Hopefully Ill get to introduce her back to the group somtime near the end of book 3.


I have a question.

Soon our group will start with part 2 of the adventure path. Somewhere around the time this AP came out I heard about an adventure of a dungeon that fills itself with water while the PCs try to free some townspeople that were kidnapped by (Monk)Zombies.

That sounded really interesting and I wanted to add it after the wasp attack, but I can't find it any more.
(Actually there was also some event why the missed that the entrance to the dungeon opened.)

Can anybody give me a link / hint in the right direction?


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I was able to find it:

Dark Waters Rising

I will add it after the wasp encounter but before the landing. I think it will make a great addition to Rickety's Squibs! *evil grin*

Liberty's Edge

Anyone have any ideas on fleshing out the drought at rickety's squibs?
My players have decided thy want to travel up river and sort out the nagas whilst investigating if there is something causing the drought. Intent on the idea of maybe helping the nagas out rather than just killing them in order to stop the attacks down river.


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Only that i added more to the wasp attack. I had a fiendish queen wasp move in to the watchtower. The wasps were bringing the villagers there and cocooning them on the back wall like a scene from aliens. Made the search for the lookout a bit more interesting. Sorting the nagas problem is a good idea too


Ravingdork wrote:

doesn't make much sense. It it larger than the sailing ship presented in the Player's Guide, and MUCH larger than the sailing ship presented in Ultimate Combat. Would that not mean it is worth more and have more hit points/cargo space/etc.?

I noticed this as well, and I just decided that the Promise had the extended keel modification since it pretty much exactly fits the dimensions given.


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In case anyone else needs a map of Windward Isle, feel free to make use of the one I came up with.

Windward Isle: Gridded | Non-Gridded

Note: Be sure to click on the map until only the map is displayed in your browser, otherwise you'll just be downloading a low-res copy. Full size is 3,840 × 2,160 (i.e. HDTV×2).

Liberty's Edge

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Laithoron wrote:

In case anyone else needs a map of Windward Isle, feel free to make use of the one I came up with.

Windward Isle: Gridded | Non-Gridded

Note: Be sure to click on the map until only the map is displayed in your browser, otherwise you'll just be downloading a low-res copy. Full size is 3,840 × 2,160 (i.e. HDTV×2).

Awesome work...Thankyou very much.


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Snow Crash wrote:
Laithoron wrote:

In case anyone else needs a map of Windward Isle, feel free to make use of the one I came up with.

Windward Isle: Gridded | Non-Gridded

Note: Be sure to click on the map until only the map is displayed in your browser, otherwise you'll just be downloading a low-res copy. Full size is 3,840 × 2,160 (i.e. HDTV×2).

Awesome work...Thankyou very much.

What SC said! Beautiful map, and very useful. Thanks for sharing.


Having completed the Wormwood, my group is preparing to start Raiders of the Fever Sea next week. Although I am not sure how many players I am going to have as most of them are going on to the Razor Coast game.


I'm beginning "Raiders of the Fever Sea" and we're now at Rickety Squibs. When I rolled to see how long it would take to complete the ship upgrades, I got 7 days. Realisitically, the AP has probably about 2 days worth of stuff for the PCs to do while there. Did anyone add anything during this time that worked particularly well? I'd prefer not to have to montage the days after Pegsworthy arrives just to get through it. Thanks!


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I actually had the PCs go up-river to return Selissa to the water naga and see if there was some way they could be of some help. Ended up writing-in an extra scene where there was a witch poisoning the land which in turned washed into the already depleted water supply and was corrupting it. Once they'd dealt with her, they gained some new water naga allies and the villagers at Rickety's Squibs were grateful too. That merry jaunt ended up taking 2 days.

Another option for you would be to avail yourself of the downtime rules in Ultimate Campaign.


Yep It's a montage I'm afraid, Event 1 after 1-2 days, Event 3-5 all in 1 day (you may want to space this out over 2 days maybe have them go after the queen in the nest, will need some work but I had the queen held up in the lookout post), the last day will be the re-launch. Other than that its whatever you want to do. For me it was a tad boring. There's not much there to do, personaly if its just a random roll for the number of days just say its 5 days instead. this will just give you 1 day to fill up if you use the above.


All the sudden I need rules for downtime? The party rolled for 8 days for the squibbing and elected to pay an additional 1000 GP for repairs. I think that after a month on a ship after being shanghaied they would appreciate a few days r&r with only a couple of encounters.


If you're playing with FaSB-rules, crew becomes an important ressource. Days in Ricketys can be spent recruiting.
If that's not important, they can be spent bragging, and thus gaining some infamy/disrepute. It would be nice for them to max out on the infamy as early as possible, and Ricketys in a nice spot to roll those perform checks.

Spent the time playing the NPC's. Both the ones from Wormwood, to establish them as characters in their own right, and the ones at Ricketys. It'll be fun later, when you have someone the PC care about being killed off by annoying enemies. It's a good way to have them hate the sahaugins!


We are playing tomorrow night and I figure they can do a little of both. They also have to decide on the name of the ship for the rechristening. Yes we are using FASB and have already started the sheet and the captain is filling in her crew. She has made Ambrose a second mate as they have become friends on the kitchen and intends on keeping him sober! Lots of Prestidigitation spells on him to clean him up!


Three players tonight. Decided on a new ship name. They decided they would go on a board hunt and captured dinner. Spent the rest of the day and night cooking it, good eats for tomorrow. Lance Cleric of Besmera was able to recruit 6 new crew members. On day three they accepted the invite to play 9 ball with Ambrose joining in. Tusk, the 1/2 orc BBN jumped in after the crewman while Andromeda went after the Naga. Once the crewman was out of the water Ambrose jumped in and they had him on 4 sides with the octopus that the cleric summoned. Down to 17 hp the young Naga turned invisible and jetted away. Most of the next say was spend in healing the Con damage to Andromeda and Ambrose.


Rob/other GM's,
I am having a bit of an issue assigning/understanding XP's as a GM when an enemy ship escapes.

1) Do you assign XP when an enemy ship escapes? I mean, XP for the ship, XP for the captain, and XP for the marines? Are all these defeated foes?

Also, my group "defeated" Whalebone Pilk but did not put him to rest. So, I will assign XP for Whalebone and XP for the brine zombies they killed.

2) Do I have to assign XP also for the actual ship (Deathknell) even though it (and they) will come back to hunt them????.

Lastly, if you have a recurring foe, lets say that my group encounters Capt. Barnabas in 3 different occasions, do they get XP 3 times as if defeating him 3 times even though he is a recurring NPC???

Also, any idea where in RAW I can find this?

Thanks.


FIRE!!!!

Last night the ship's main deck caught fire (only 5 squares). The S&SPG (page 16)states that:

" Once a ship has caught fire, it automatically takes 2d6 points of fire damage per round (ignoring hardness) as the fire spreads. The ship’s crew can attempt to extinguish the flames as a full-round action for the entire crew, allowing the ship to make a Reflex save (DC 15 + the number of rounds the ship has been on fire)."

1) Does this makes sense? The entire crew!?!?! We had this scenario last night in which their ship caught fire (5 adjacent squares). I ruled for that particular fire that it was ok not to use the whole crew (since half of it boarded another ship). Any RAW on this?

2) The automatic damage is for each square? I rolled 2d6 for the 5 squares.

3) How many squares per round does the fire spreads??


I find a few things relevant here:

1) "A ship must take the “uncontrolled” action each round
that its crew attempts to put out a fire, as they are not
sailing the ship at this time." Thusly, it would be all of the crew available. In FASB, the Fire Master has a crew of 20 and in S&S you have a lot less crew to start with.

2) The damage is to the ship, not each square.

3) Generally fire spreads 5' in every direction per round.


As I read it, crew attempting to put out fire means that some of them (handwave it, unless you're tracking crew numbers) spend their time firefighting, and thus not sailing. It doesn't mean the ship gets a save pr. crewmember, but that the combined efforts of crewmembers allows a save.

I don't give XP for escaping ships. After all, the players didnøt achieve their goal (to capture the ship), but the enemy captain did achieve his goal (get away!). Players failed, enemies won, even though the result was the enemy fleeing.

I'd give XP for Whalebone and his zombies. After all, they survivved the encounter and defeated Whalebone. Yes, he'll return, but they won this round.

In these situations, I'd see what the players goals were, and if they achieved them. Versus Whalebone/Harrigan, theit goal was 'to survive', so even if the main enemy escapes, driving him away would be a succes -> xp!
Versus enemy ships, as stated above, the goal is capture, so driving them away is failure -> no xp!

Mind that this could be reversed if the players faced a pirate hunter. In this case, escape could be a sort of victory, giving xp.

Lastly, I don't give XP for ships. Deathknell is nothing in itself. Whalebone is the danger, and they allready got XP for defating him. Do you also give double xp for merchants ships? One set for the captain, another for the ship? I don't think that was ever the intention.


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brvheart
thanks. So the key is the crew available. If the whole crew is available then is the whole crew?

Scenario:

The Ravenous has a crew of 40 without the officers. The main deck is struck by a flaming arrow (not the spell). Next round the 5 foot square catches fire (failed safe). The whole crew (40 sailors) rush over to extinguish the flames as the ship gains the Uncontrolled action.

Does this makes sense?

Bzali's approach seems more "reasonable".

I am still a bit confused. I think is the wording used in the PG.

PS:
I found the "Catastrophe!” article in Pathfinder Adventure Path #30: The Twice-Damned Prince. It has the rules on fire spread (more than 1 square/round) and the means on how to extinguish it (buckets, waterskins, bag of holding, etc.). I can share it.


This is where you as a DM have to judge the situation. A single fire arrow should not require the entire crew to extinguish, yet a fireball may require a minimum amount. Do what you feel is right at the time and not feel handcuffed by the ruleset. I would have the captain designate a fire crew to handle fires.
Yes, they do mention that ruleset in the players guide. If that works for you great. I do not have that AP and I do not believe it is open source material.


brvheart
Thanks!!!!


I might also consider handwaiving the whole thing as to how many crew can actually reach the fire and taking some toughts on what materials burn well (and which don't)....

There will likely also be a pump on deck (even if it only pumps up the waters from the bilge, but many ships from the renaissance forward had pumps on or around the forecastle to draw seawater for cleaning etc.... Both for washing, sloshing etc the decks and to quickly provide waters for such emergencies. A wet deck, or even one under normal spray-soaked conditions, might even need repeat fire to ignite... try setting afire a wet log. Then again, this is the tropics, and if the PCs forget about readying their ship for combat. Right !

And in general, I would only look for the whole/sizeable part of crew to be to be firefighting if extremely relevant systems are touched by fire (steering, masts, sails (!), powderstores (!) or internal fires). Because in many cases, there really would no be ebough space for a hundred strong crew to stop a small local fire.


I would agree about relevant fires and some hand waving, but if you have a hundred strong crew, 20 should be adequate for handling most fires.


vikingson/brvheart

The PC's crew is currently 39 NPC's. The owe a medium sized Carrack.

I think the way I did it is ok. Have some NPC's (depending on how many the Cpt wants) to deal with the fire(s).

THX


Sounds like you have it worked out, especially with 39 crew.


brvheart wrote:
Sounds like you have it worked out, especially with 39 crew.

Yep...thanks for your help.


So how many is too many crew in the first place? After selling their first ship and recruiting from its crew, recruiting at Rickety's and at Blood Cove they are now up to a crew of 60. The captain is like, we need to capture more ships just be able to afford to feed all of them!


triple hammocks and half-share'S of the twice-baked I say.

Actually we found out that more than 40 pirates on deck simply proved "too much" on most ship's decks, presenting an unhealthy swarm when it came to boarding. Especially if you had warmachines about, and obstacles like the capstan or your own dinghies. Plus,add some more for the masttops. nevermind the crew of the opposition. The 5' /square scale simply reaches its limits there.

Nevermind that keeping track of the crew, especially with names and some distinguishing features just becomes bothersome around the 50 souls/ship mark.


I guess they could always keep the other 20 below decks as fire crew, firing light crossbows from port holes, etc. They will at least now have enough crew to man another ship. There biggest issue when they took the first ship was having enough crew to man both of them. They had to wait at anchor for 2 days until they convinced enough of them to join them. I had not done the sahuagin encounter previously so I did it then.


DM's...I have some more questions.

So, far Plugg, Scourge, and Barnabas have escaped the clutches of my players. I am planning on having Plugg and Scourge return (I know Barnabas is part of the AP on book 57 I think and 60) with their own ships. Scourge/Plugg will resurface when the PC's have gained two levels so I have to bump the NPC's and give them a ship.

1) My question is: can you add Monster templates (that make sense) to NPC's (for examples the Accelerated template)?

A PC is planning on quitting the group. So, we talked and we will have her mutiny (already has influenced 3 crew members and in the near future she will gain like maybe 1/2 the crew; the current Cpt. did an unfathomable action on the ship in which the crew will learn soon enough and the PC will take advantage of that). The Mutiny in AP #55 was a bit strange but it was the PC's vs Scourge and Plugg. I know once the Cpt is defeated the morale drops and basically the ship is lost. I am planning on having this PC go rogue as another recurrent NPC with his own ship (we already came up with a name) assuming he survives.

2) My second question: when it comes to mutiny, does the foe issues a challenge against the captain?

3) My third question is: any suggestions/ideas on having the PC do a mutiny? or how to orchestrate one? I welcome suggestions :)

THX


Salty DM wrote:


2) My second question: when it comes to mutiny, does the foe issues a challenge against the captain?

3) My third question is: any suggestions/ideas on having the PC do a mutiny? or how to orchestrate one? I welcome suggestions :)

Historically, "mutinies" aboard pirate ships generally resulted in one leader (mutineer or captain) winding up dead or marooned. This is probably something you'll want to avoid in your game, unless you assume the now-NPC mutineers lose to the existing captain, are put ashore somewhere on a desert island to die, but escape to return later in their own ship to plague your PCs later on. ("Sea turtles, Mate." ;D )

If your current players have more than one ship, the mutineers might simply slip away with one of them some dark night to make their own way in the world. (This also happened historically, and even figures into the AP later on concerning a former shipmate of Harrigan's.) If your PCs only have one ship now, consider having them quickly capture another and then let the mutineers make off with the prize.

Just some thoughts....


Fitz,
Hi. They have 1 ship but the suggestions of getting another one and loosing it sounds good.

The idea is to have the mutineers not keep the PC's ship...is more of a flavour aspect to have the PC leave the group rather than: once you got to port, John Doe resigned and left the crew.

THX for the suggestion!!!!!!!!!


Cojonuda wrote:

Fitz,

Hi. They have 1 ship but the suggestions of getting another one and loosing it sounds good.

The idea is to have the mutineers not keep the PC's ship...is more of a flavour aspect to have the PC leave the group rather than: once you got to port, John Doe resigned and left the crew.

THX for the suggestion!!!!!!!!!

No problem.

There are a number of historical instances of this happening. A given pirate crew would often have a "fleet" of several captured ships operating together for a time, all under the leadership of the captain of the original crew. (Jack Sparrow suggests this to Barbarossa in The Curse of the Black Pearl.) Rather than staying together, sometimes the crews would vote to part ways on the different ships and seek their fortunes independently, sometimes the "fleet" would split up to attack shipping in different areas and then rendezvous at a given location later on, and occasionally one of the crews would be dissatisfied enough with the Captain's leadership that they would slip away with a ship (or deliberately not make the planned rendezvous) and go off on their own.

There are lots of potential ways to handle this, and to generate your own resulting campaign complications later on in the game. Good luck!


Fitzwalrus wrote:
Cojonuda wrote:

Fitz,

Hi. They have 1 ship but the suggestions of getting another one and loosing it sounds good.

The idea is to have the mutineers not keep the PC's ship...is more of a flavour aspect to have the PC leave the group rather than: once you got to port, John Doe resigned and left the crew.

THX for the suggestion!!!!!!!!!

No problem.

There are a number of historical instances of this happening. A given pirate crew would often have a "fleet" of several captured ships operating together for a time, all under the leadership of the captain of the original crew. (Jack Sparrow suggests this to Barbarossa in The Curse of the Black Pearl.) Sometimes, rather than staying together, the crews would vote to part ways on the different ships and seek their fortunes independently, or the "fleet" might split up to attack shipping in different areas and then rendezvous at a given location later on, or one of the crews might be dissatisfied enough with the Captain's leadership that they would slip away with a ship (or deliberately not make the planned rendezvous) and go off on their own.

There are lots of potential ways to handle this, and to generate your own resulting campaign complications later on in the game. Good luck!


Fitzwalrus wrote:
Fitzwalrus wrote:
Cojonuda wrote:

Fitz,

Hi. They have 1 ship but the suggestions of getting another one and loosing it sounds good.

The idea is to have the mutineers not keep the PC's ship...is more of a flavour aspect to have the PC leave the group rather than: once you got to port, John Doe resigned and left the crew.

THX for the suggestion!!!!!!!!!

No problem.

There are a number of historical instances of this happening. A given pirate crew would often have a "fleet" of several captured ships operating together for a time, all under the leadership of the captain of the original crew. (Jack Sparrow suggests this to Barbarossa in The Curse of the Black Pearl.) Sometimes, rather than staying together, the crews would vote to part ways on the different ships and seek their fortunes independently, or the "fleet" might split up to attack shipping in different areas and then rendezvous at a given location later on, or one of the crews might be dissatisfied enough with the Captain's leadership that they would slip away with a ship (or deliberately not make the planned rendezvous) and go off on their own.

Spoiler:
(This last is what Plugg and Scourge intended to do with the Man's Promise, and is what happened when Scrags Rotham took the Devilish Duchess as related in The Price of Infamy.)

There are lots of potential ways to handle this, and to generate your own resulting campaign complications later on in the game. Good luck!


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Have any of you read Pirates Honor (PF Tale):

1)what level would Torius Vin and Celeste (Moon Naga) be?
2)what is Torius class? Pirate or Swasbuckler prestige (he never "sneak attack") or just a plain old fighter?
3) could not find any stat on a Moon Naga in the PFSRD site. Any ide/suggestion?

I am planning on incorporating them to this AP.

Senior Editor/Fiction Editor

Cojonuda wrote:

Have any of you read Pirates Honor (PF Tale):

1)what level would Torius Vin and Celeste (Moon Naga) be?
2)what is Torius class? Pirate or Swasbuckler prestige (he never "sneak attack") or just a plain old fighter?
3) could not find any stat on a Moon Naga in the PFSRD site. Any ide/suggestion?

I am planning on incorporating them to this AP.

I don't really like revealing character classes, as while I think it's important that the authors and I both know classes and levels, I don't think it really helps the story to publicly say "Oh, this guy's a fighter 3/rogue 2," especially since such canon could end up disappointing folks or tying an author's hands later when it's no longer current. So please stat up Torius however *you* think he should be. :)

I can answer #3, though! The lunar naga is on page 197 of Bestiary 3, and should be under Bestiary 3 in the SRD as well.

Glad you liked the book!


Hi James,
I really liked the Tale :)

I understand you position.

THX!!!!!

Mike


Salty DM wrote:


3) My third question is: any suggestions/ideas on having the PC do a mutiny? or how to orchestrate one? I welcome suggestions :)
THX

ways of successfully effecting the mutiny I have directly/indirectly (trusted second-hand accounts) heard off :

Pre-island
A quick assault during the storm - rain blocking sight, breakers washing over deck, the ship keeling over and the possible separation of the key opponents will help in this. Usually one or more NPCs get toppled overboard by bullrush charging them over the railing into the ocean (barrels and chests on deck can help with that). Should be easier on the wet deck. Or Net someone and anchor him to a barrel/bucket dropped overboard, pulling them outside.

Overnight attack (the deck is not really much illuminated ) and most NPCs have no nightsight capability. Take out the helmsman (silent), eliminate extra guards, than assault Mr. Pluggs cabin - in our case, swinging in through the the stern-windows on ropes mounted at the rear railing. This worked for my group and felt nicely pirate-ish !

Cause an on-board desaster like dropping a yardarm from the mainmast or mizzen, and strike quickly in the ensuing chaos. Having Plugg/Scourge covered by sailcloth (net) and slaying them might prove nice.

Poison Plugg and Scourge : some capability of getting poison will be needed, plus, their Fort saves are pretty solid. No Caulky around, to serve as a foodtaster.

Smoke out the cabin - oilcloths etc through the skylight, striking down the coughing officers leaving it. Double doses of Colour Spray proved murder in this story. this could also be done by rigging the pantry's oven to the trapdoor into the captain's cabin.

One group mounted one of the ballista from the hold and shot Scourge on the after deck. Yeah, "sneak attack with a ballista"...Much hilarity followed this.

post-island :
Only one group I know succeeded in assaulting the ship, on time and winning with a character climbing up the anchor's mooring cable. This tactic only seems feasible if the group has a strong suit of ranged at-will powers, since missile fire from the Man's Promise (possibly with a ballista )could very much prove deadly.

Sabedroiaclarke's group - IIRC - followed the ship in the lifeboat and assaulted at Rickety's. Or at least he planned for that.


I picked up 3 more books for the AP that arrived today, Ultimate Campaign, Pathfinder: Campaign Setting, The Inner Sea World Guide and Pathfinder Chronicles: Heart of the Jungle. Haven't had time to read through them prior to tonight's game. The party added some new players and set out to fill their coffers. They declined doing Low Hanging Fruit with the captain being CG, but ran into events 10 and 11. The Sahaugin were not a challenge but it was a bit of a fight rescuing the crew of the Vorsfang. Needless to say they were not happy with the Chellis captain leaving the other crew to burn to death. He is put in irons until he can be ransomed. No Honor Among Thieves and The Frying Pan are on the agenda for next game.


Hi fellow DM's.

I need some help here. The PC's they have their own ship with a crew of 39. I modified (house ruled) the boarding party attacks. While the PC's are fighting the enemy marines/captain/monster (if any), both the crew sailors (from PC and NPC ships) will be fighting in the background and at random round rounds I roll to see how many die on each side.

This has not happened yet. The PC's have boarded some ships (Event 11 and Event 14) with their crew and have engaged the enemy. For these two events the enemy ships do not have crew sailors to fight the PC's crew (they are Level 2 fighters) in the background. Needless to say their APL go down, the encounter's difficulty increases (by 1 step), and they should receive less XP. I have been giving full XP and just using the APL of the PC's only b/c since Wormwood Mutiny I house ruled that their crew will not gain XP points.

So I hope you realize that it takes a bit of the fun away from a DM point of view in terms of having more men fighting (instead of being 5 PC's vs 1 monster it becomes 5PCs+5NPC's vs 1). Only 1 crew sailor has died.

Most importantly, I do not want to take the fun away form the PC's in using their crew. I like that they put in harms way their crew fighting a CR 6 creature.

How can I mitigate this w/o hindering the flow of the encounter and the fun? I want the CR to stay the same when the PC board with crew sailors and the enemy ship has no crew!!!

The only thing I can come up with is to add ad-hoc sailors (to make an Average encounter) to fight JUST the PC crew. This will not influence the CR of the encounter. My only concern is if the PC's decide to help the NPC's.

Any suggestions?
the crew so they are busy in the background.


Thanks Vikingson!!!!!


Cojonuda wrote:

Hi fellow DM's.

I need some help here. The PC's they have their own ship with a crew of 39. I modified (house ruled) the boarding party attacks. While the PC's are fighting the enemy marines/captain/monster (if any), both the crew sailors (from PC and NPC ships) will be fighting in the background and at random round rounds I roll to see how many die on each side.

This has not happened yet. The PC's have boarded some ships (Event 11 and Event 14) with their crew and have engaged the enemy. For these two events the enemy ships do not have crew sailors to fight the PC's crew (they are Level 2 fighters) in the background. Needless to say their APL go down, the encounter's difficulty increases (by 1 step), and they should receive less XP. I have been giving full XP and just using the APL of the PC's only b/c since Wormwood Mutiny I house ruled that their crew will not gain XP points.

So I hope you realize that it takes a bit of the fun away from a DM point of view in terms of having more men fighting (instead of being 5 PC's vs 1 monster it becomes 5PCs+5NPC's vs 1). Only 1 crew sailor has died.

Most importantly, I do not want to take the fun away form the PC's in using their crew. I like that they put in harms way their crew fighting a CR 6 creature.

How can I mitigate this w/o hindering the flow of the encounter and the fun? I want the CR to stay the same when the PC board with crew sailors and the enemy ship has no crew!!!

The only thing I can come up with is to add ad-hoc sailors (to make an Average encounter) to fight JUST the PC crew. This will not influence the CR of the encounter. My only concern is if the PC's decide to help the NPC's.

Any suggestions?
the crew so they are busy in the background.

Not too sure what you mean here but the AP suggests that the crew fight in the background and are not influenced in the ship combats. This would suggest to me that the CR has no bearing on any crews and that it's based on the officers, captains and the players more. But I could be wrong.

Maybe Vikingson or Brvheart can clarify more?

This is why I think most people including myself have houseruled the crew combat. The best I have seen is from Naval combat for the whole party thread in this forum page, you want to look at the boarding action rules. The work brillantly and the crew on both sides will fluctuate up and down forcing the players to hire more crew (and at the same time get more infamy chances), actaully the whole of that post and Fire as she bears add much better rules than those in the players guide.


Hi ferri,
I agree the PC's fight the Cpt and other Major NPC's

However, when the PC's and 7 crew members boarded Whalebone's ship, there was no enemy crew to fight in the background. The monsters the PC's had to face "alone" where Whalebone and the zombies.

In this case how can this be avoided. I do not want to tell them: "you can't do it" because is their crew.


Actually the first time my players fought another ship I missed the part about the crew fighting in the background and had the crews in on the fight. It got rather unruly. Only the PCs went across and they let the crew fire crossbows for cover, but with 40+ of the opposition I had to bring them on in groups. Still it is rather silly at times with some ships with only the captain to fight vs the PCs. And yes, with Whalebone's ship it is the PC's against the zombies and Whalebone. They haven't got there yet but I am taunting my wife a bit with a ship's bell occasionally!

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