GM WhtKnt's Open Water - A Skull & Shackles Adventure Path

Game Master WhtKnt

The shipping lanes of Golarion’s seas and oceans are filled with fat merchant vessels laden with trade goods both mundane and exotic, as well as the pirates and freebooters who prey on them. Under the banner of their Hurricane King, these buccaneers sally forth from that archipelago of lawless pirate ports and anchorages known as the Shackles, plundering the shipping of countless countries and trade consortiums, then vanishing back into the maze of islands and reefs they call home. The nations of the Inner Sea would like nothing more than to end the pirate menace once and for all, but the eternal hurricane known as the Eye of Abendego has thus far shielded the Free Captains of the Shackles from the threat of retaliation.

In the Skull & Shackles Adventure Path, the PCs take on the role of pirates, but they must make a name for themselves in piracy, plunder, and disrepute to truly become infamous Free Captains of the Shackles.

Auto Rollers:

[dice=Chumtooth Initiative]1d20+3[/dice]
[dice=Dantes Initiative]1d20+5[/dice]
[dice=Faengrim Initiative]1d20+2[/dice] (+4 in water)
[dice=Riori Initiative]1d20+3[/dice]
[dice=Rogar Initiative]1d20+3[/dice]
[dice=Prasi Initiative]1d20+4[/dice]

[dice=Chumtooth Perception]1d20+13[/dice] (+12 in bright sunlight) (low-light vision)
[dice=Dantes Perception]1d20+0[/dice] (+2 w/familiar) (darkvision)
[dice=Faengrim Perception]1d20+14[/dice] (+2 in urban terrain; +2 vs. aquatic humanoids; +4 in water terrain; +4 vs humans) (low-light vision)
[dice=Riori Perception]1d20+10[/dice] (low-light vision)
[dice=Rogar Perception]1d20+15[/dice] (darkvision)
[dice=Prasi Perception]1d20+14[/dice] (low-light vision)

[dice=Chumtooth Swim]1d20+14[/dice]
[dice=Dantes Swim]1d20+0[/dice]
[die=Faengrim Swim]1d20+12[/dice]
[dice=Riori Swim]1d20+0[/dice]
[dice=Rogar Swim]1d20-2[/dice]
[dice=Prasi Swim]1d20+9[/dice]

Ship Statistics
Colossal ship
Squares: 3 (30 ft. by 90 ft.) Cost 10,000 gp
DEFENSE
AC 2; Hardness 5
hp 1,620 (sails 360)
Base Save +6
OFFENSE
Maximum Speed 90 ft. (wind); Acceleration 30 ft.
CMB +8; CMD 18
Ramming Damage 8d8
STATISTICS
Propulsion wind or current
Sailing Check Profession (Sailor)
Control Device steering wheel
Means of Propulsion 90 squares of sails (three masts)
Crew 20
Decks 3
Cargo/Passengers 150 tons/120 passengers

For more information on ship statistics and how they affect the vessel, see pp. 8-22 in the Skull & Shackles Player's Guide (specifically pp. 21-22).

Recruiting
Recruiting crew can occur in any port (including Rickety's) or upon capturing an enemy ship. It requires a DC 20 Bluff check (to trick sailors on board), a DC 20 Diplomacy check (to convince people to join the crew), or a DC 20 Intimidate check (to press-gang new crew). Each check takes one full day, and a successful check results in 1d4+2 new crew members.

It is further assumed that each time you sell plunder, you spend 1 point to pay your crew. If this is not the case, please let me know, as the crew will become unruly and mutinous.