Gahrul, upon seeing that no one was heading his words...set off to go grab his boomstick while the undead whale's rider tumbled onto the deck and the group began conversing.
He soon re-appeared with boomstick in hand. Looked around at the others like they were insane for not attempting to deal with an enemy that might actually destroy their boat...and began storming off to the side of the boat the beast was on, fully intent on showing everyone why it's not a good idea to piss off a sailor with a boomstick.
kind of surprised that none have stepped forward as Captain, the the lizardman's description as to why seemed mostly reasonable.
I do not speak draconic. she says but any further conversation is interrupted as a strange "blue" man with some sort of weapon is interested in protecting the ship from the whale.
looks like that one has the right of it. ya'll git an undead whale lurkin about. time to take some action here.
Reggie moves to the side of the ship next to the one with the "boomstick"
you catch any sight of the whale? she asks.
Erimis pipes up. "We have no captain and no one in charge at all. We are a ship of wanderers and survivors like yourself. Did you see that no one was particularly surprised by your bizarre entrance? We have all been through enough recently that such a thing is now a common occurrence."
Turning to the one that asked her, Name? I'm Reggie. as far as how I survived? Well apparently the whale spent a larger amount of time near the surface. and in all actuality, I was not on that thing very long.
I'm from a merchant vessel, The Orca. The whale took the ship out rather quickly, I managed to survive and made it to a longboat. the Whale soon went after the longboat and that's when I managed to grab hold of the thing and ride it till here. I did manage to damage it some while we traveled.
At least I think I did.
Grauk sighs although it comes out disturbingly almost like a hiss. Without much further ceremony he casts shield of faith on himself and moves close to the edge of the boat staying five foot back, all the while mumbling to himself "Village, boat is all the same to you yes? Now Grauk kill you or you kill Grauk..."
Looking over his shoulder "Grauk not think it is clever and has already attacked other boat so now Grauk think he maybe must fight. At least this water not melt... poor troll."
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GM:
The whale does not seem to be bothering the ship, at least not at the moment.
However, You all feel the presence of it's passing as the ship slowly spins in circles.
The magic towel from the recruitment thread allows you to breath air when worn or held to your mouth. It's a rather curious little thing, with a dubious past...probably used for torture at some point, as it has an uneasy feeling when used. But, it somehow kept you breathing while underwater. It's frayed now, but still seems to work.
You can use that knowledge if you choose to share it. otherwise that's for Reggie only. :)
Yorick gives a cursory nod to Reggie and introduces himself quickly.
"I am Yorick of the Swamp, and that is my brother, Gahrul. If you mean us no violence, you won't find any meant towards you, Reggie Whale-Rider, at least from most of us. Krendec has water-making magics but we don't have much in the way of supplies to share. -Gahrul, it may be best not to anger the whale-beast, for if it means to sunder this ship I'm not sure your bullets will feel like anything more than a mosquito bite...that is if it can feel anything at all. -Grauk....Grauk if you truly believe this woman is a threat then I will not interfere, but to me it sounded like she simply did whatever it took to escape with her life, something we're all trying to do now."
Grauk points at the undead whale [b]"Grauk more worried about that, not human woman, whole world fall apart. Would prefer not to be only Lizardfolk on ship but she can help us keep the boat floating longer."
Gahrul having lashed himself with one of the lines, scours the waters for the beast.
After a quick scan of the water, Reggie turns to greet each that introduced themselves.
We need to make sure this vessel will sail, and do what we can to get underway.
looking to all present, is this ship equipped with sweeps? or maybe longboats?
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After a quick scan of the water, Reggie turns to greet each that introduced themselves.
We need to make sure this vessel will sail, and do what we can to get underway.
looking to all present, is this ship equipped with sweeps? or maybe longboats?
GM: "Ship Inventory"
There's roughly (as I don't want to keep a complete inventory of the ship) a 50/50 shot of having those available, given the state of what remains on this ship.
Here is your shot: 0-49 GOOD, 51-00 BAD
Results:
Eeek. Well it doesn't have those. Though sweeps may be jury rigged from available materials, if you wish to elect someone that's crafty to handle that.
Gahrul turns a bit and looks at Reggie "Mate, I don't mean to be rude. But yah jumped on the wrong ship if you're looking for something with means to escape anytime soon. This be a dwarven ship judging by the old crew who just lost their leader within the last day. We're lucky it's not made of granite, let along hobbled together enough to survive a stone." he said simply.
Yorick tries to whisper to Gahrul, but in his crocodilic form his voice is deep enough that it's not very hard to hear-
"Pssst, Gahrul? What's a 'sweep'? Is it one of those cleaning things?"
He then tries to subtly make a sweeping motion like he was holding an invisible broom.
"We've got a hull. For now. That's about it."
Gahrul shakes his head "Type of evacuation craft. Smaller than a longboat."
Reggie soon realizes that her terminology may mean different things to these people.
actually, where I am from, Sweeps is a term used to idendify very large oars that are stored below decks to help propel a ship when there is no wind to fill the sails. many ships do not have them, but they are a common thing on warships, and sometimes pirate vessels.
looking at the fact that the whale is now leaving them alone, Ok, I think we are relatively safe for the moment, I think we will need to figure out how to get supplies. lets see what can be done to get this ship moving again.
Reggie heads to what remains of the hold to see what can be salvaged to make some sort of sail, or even make some oars.
of course while there, she looks over the general condition of the ship. not that she can do any better than what was already done, but maybe some fresh eyes may pick up something missed earlier.
calling up to the dwarves, [b]hey, you guys, dwarves, this was your vessel. what were you hauling before all of this mess. you got any secret compartments or anything like that?
Gahrul thought for a moment and nodded at the female "Aye, that too." he said before staking up a bit of stride behind Reggie watching and seeing if she fairs any better.
He at least had to say that she was a few stones better than the dwarves at this work. Still, he watched as she found some of the issues he found earlier.
He stood back though when she tried to play nice and mostly just scowled at the dwarves.
Reggie tries to help with making the sweeps. she isn't much of a woodworker, but she does help those that are are better at such things.
assuming what Kendec said is true, we best do what we can to get moving.
Reggie tries to encourage as many as she can to work on improving the ship's seaworthiness.
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GM Note: Adding sweeps gives you the ability to get the ship moving. You could also try to make sails if you choose, same craft DC, add bonuses for "aid" if you wish, plus an additional bonus for having 'magical aid' available in the form of magic users with mending spells etc. Which drops that craft DC to only '11.'
Sweeps, while effective, may/will tire those using them. But Pe'Oter, surprisingly offers to get rowing. It is the first time he offers help, and he recommends two people row opposite of him to keep up his pace.
"Hand me a sweep, get two people on the other side, it is time we got this floating coffin moving away from that storm."
Grauk will assist rowing the boat, as a Lizardfolk he's never had a reason to learn about making and maintaining boats but wants to avoid the stormy weather.
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Grauk will assist rowing the boat, as a Lizardfolk he's never had a reason to learn about making and maintaining boats but wants to avoid the stormy weather.
[//dice="Strength"]1d20+3
GM: Ha! a critical success opposite the strong man...he is not pleased by
this competition! He tries to best your attempt to out muscle him (of course)(plus hidden modifies) "8" I don't think that's going to cut it.
Pe'oter still is VERY effective, but you clearly have no effort to keeping up with him, and he notices this. The boat is actually moving, it may not outpace the storm...but it is making progress where nothing was done before.
The storm still rages over heard but you all think you can manage to put plan "Impale the Whale" to better use now that you have mobility.
Reggie, seeing the sweeps are working well, Reggie moves on to assist with making sails.
If enough sails are made, turning to all that are able or at least look like experienced sea hands.
you lot, with me, up the mast to start running the rigging for this sail.
She tries to teach those that do not seem experienced in such things.
she keeps a weather eye on the growing storm. we may not have much time. we need to take advantage of the wind from the storm.
Spying that Reggie seems to coming into her element now with the ship, Gahrul proceeds to help.
He starts yelling at the dwarves in turn. "Get the rigging set, turn the sails and we might actually come out of this with all our hides!"
Erimis watches all the action in wonder. "I clearly have much to learn about operating one of these." He tries to pitch in with simpler tasks but his webbed fingers keep getting in the way.
Gahrul after a few well placed insults and barking of oroders, switches gears. His eyes flash and his muscles bulge a bit before he's soon climbing up the mast to get the best vantage point he can.
Reggie tries to recall all of her experience regarding storms at sea, looking to position the ship to best handle the weather.
I've no idea on the storm but lets put our seamanship skills to the test.
Once we are clear of the storm, I suggest we head east. Follow the rising sun. there has got to be land somewhere.
Looking to the others, anyone got a clue on the storm?
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[dice=profession sailor]1d20+5
Reggie tries to recall all of her experience regarding storms at sea, looking to position the ship to best handle the weather.
I've no idea on the storm but lets put our seamanship skills to the test.
Once we are clear of the storm, I suggest we head east. Follow the rising sun. there has got to be land somewhere.
Looking to the others, anyone got a clue on the storm?
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Here is my basic proposal for "roles" they you can fill for the upcoming Man Vrs. nature battle.
I have no problem if you recruit "NPC crew" to fill any slots, just assume the NPC crew listens to orders at this point, they don't want to die after all so they are very agreeable.
You may decide who stays on deck, or below deck as you see fit.
Potential Ship/Crew Positions:
Job Details: Steering & Directing the ship. May require Str, and Dex based checks.
Job Role: Perception based role. Aid’s Captain and crew roles. Can help decide best paths and spot dangers.
Job Details: Strength based checks to move ship forward or back, to increase or decrease ship speed. May help avoid obstacles or dangers.
Note: Pe’Oter is occupying one of these slots.
Job Details: Physical based, repairing the ship, tweaking broken or malfunctional ship components. May enhance ship components for additional effects or bonuses.
Job Role: Provide magical aid to crew. Examples include healing roles, navigational aid, useful cantrips such as Light, Mending, mage hand, Guidance, Know Direction, etc. many creative uses for spells can probably be done here and provide extra bonuses on certain roles.
Note: The Dark Elf can/will fill one of these slots, unless others wish too. She's already casting light/dancing lights as needed.
Job: You create a job for yourself, and describe how it functions, or would aid.
Once you choose a role, or create a role for yourself, I will create a few sea based encounters and challenges to overcome.
Good luck mates!
Erimis looks at his scrawny, fishy arms. "I am afraid I will not be much help in rowing. But I can assist with a fair few tasks that others are attempting."
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Sorry for the delay. I have completed a script to generate some random events. Some are good, some are bad, some are potentially campaign ending, or at least life threatening to the point people will die. But those type of events are very rare.
Here is the first event:
[Fiendish Seaweed]
It is a man versus nature event. The challenge you face is the ship comes to a sudden halt, seaweed seems to have entangled the ship. It lurches to a halt unable to move. It looks extensively tangled, as if it has a mind of it's own.
The sweeps, or oars, are affected by this, as well as the rudders and other exposed sections of ship touching water. Minute by minute the stubborn weeds seem to be encroaching upon the vessel, and it might be wise to find a way to get dislodged quickly.
What do you all do?
It's probably not a good idea to eat it Grauk thinks, but food is getting scarce.
Grauk prepares to slash at any of the tendrils that come within reach however his arms aren't that long. He'll cast guidance on anyone with a clever plan that doesn't involve him getting entangled by it and getting drowned.