In the end of Bullywug's Gambit, its assumed the PCs and Lavina use the Sea Wyvern for the trip to the Isle of Dread. Does this assume that Lavina no longer owns the Blue Nixie, or is the Sea Wyvern needed in addition to the Nixie?
Additionally, it seems that navigating the Sea Wyvern out of Kraken's Cove is very difficult, if it's just the reverse of getting in (a lot of DC 30 sailor checks).
Effectively, what Im trying to ask is, will the 3rd Arc provide the information neccessary for retrieving the Sea Wyvern, and the particulars of the Blue Nixie's role in all of this? Of that information, what should I tell my players; they are terribly smart and will ask why the Nixie isn't enough on its own, if Lavina still has the nixie, and how to get the Sea Wyvern out of the cove.
Thanks in advance!
hmm sure you dont take separate ships, that was the impression i got from the overarch in #138.
But should you leave something behind for whatever reason, like a ship.. and nor to forget the vanderboren manor: Dont overlook the chance to first fill it with lethal self-renewing impossible to find traps :D
That should give you a few thousand XP every now and then, and make the thieves in the city more honest too :D
Interesting point, but I was specifically wondering whether or not both ships were needed for the trip to the Isle of Dread.
And regarding the Sea Wyvern, whether its retreival is part of Arc 3 in issue 141, or if its just assumed the PCs get it out in the end of Arc 2.
Creative Director
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One of the thigns the PCs recover from Kraken's Cove are sea charts, these charts include the tricks and routes needed to get into and out of the cove. In fact, copies of those charts are certainly on board the Sea Wyvern.
In any event, the third adventure in the campaign, "The Sea Wyvern's Wake," assumes that both the Blue Nixie (captained by Lavinia and the Jade Ravens) and the Sea Wyvern (captained by the PCs, or possibly an NPC ally) go on the expedition south to the Isle of Dread, because the amount of supplies and colonists that Lavinia needs to bring to the colony of Farshore on the Isle is more than just one ship can carry.
So, will retrieving the Sea Wyvern be covered at the beginning of the next adventure? It seems to me a bit simpler to arrange it so that the PCs capture the ship at the end of their raid on Smuggler's Cove and sail it back to Sasserine. If there aren't enough PCs to sail a caravel, perhaps a handful of pirates on the ship resisted the savage tide and can be forced to help the PCs sail the ship.
Also, how do Lavinia and the Jade Ravens "captain" the Nixie? None of their stat blocks in Bullywug Gambit indicate that any of them have the Profession (sailor) skill?
Hire them.. i bet these expert sailors almost grows on trees in a city like this. Shouldnt be any problem to get 50 level 1 experts, 30 level 2 and some 3 level 6 "officers".
Sure thats expensive, but i et there are vanderboren fiunds to cover that, if nothing else sell some furniture ;)
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Creative Director
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So, will retrieving the Sea Wyvern be covered at the beginning of the next adventure? It seems to me a bit simpler to arrange it so that the PCs capture the ship at the end of their raid on Smuggler's Cove and sail it back to Sasserine. If there aren't enough PCs to sail a caravel, perhaps a handful of pirates on the ship resisted the savage tide and can be forced to help the PCs sail the ship.
Also, how do Lavinia and the Jade Ravens "captain" the Nixie? None of their stat blocks in Bullywug Gambit indicate that any of them have the Profession (sailor) skill?
Retrieving the Sea Wyvern is handled by two or three sentances at the start of the adventure; it can be as complicated as you wish, but there wasn't any room to detail it in the adventure itself and complicating its retrieval doesn't really add much to the adventure. It's pretty simple to just say, "It takes you a few days, but now you have the Sea Wyvern in port."
Lavinia gains a level between Adventure 2 and 3, and takes ranks in Profession (sailor) at that point. There's plenty of other crew members on the Nixie that can help as well.
You getcher own ship. That's awesome.
And lose it soon after.. "at this adventure`s climax they run aground on the northeastern shore of the Isle of dread" Savage tide preview, Dungeon 138, >adventure 3 The seawyverns wake>
Hmmmm! Green ship captains who are still wet behind the ears! Well, I guess this will make shipwrecks and such more plausible. I think it's time for me to start genning up a couple of "experienced pilot" type NPCs for Lavinia and the PCs to hire--the latter call the shots, but the former can give advice that'll keep the ship off the rocks. It'll be like one of those Spanish expeditions with a kind of clueless nobleman in charge, but a crusty old sailor at hand to keep him out of trouble. A Hadozee "master of sail" might be entertaining.
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I like it. This old withered salt shows up like Quint in Jaws, rakes his fingernails across the blackboard, and starts squaring away all the lubbers.
Then he can get drunk one night and talk about a sea battle gone awry 35 years ago..."the ship sank. It took 7 hours to sink. There was 19 of us hanging on an empty barrel in the darkness. Then the sahuagins came..."
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Creative Director
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Hmmmm! Green ship captains who are still wet behind the ears! Well, I guess this will make shipwrecks and such more plausible. I think it's time for me to start genning up a couple of "experienced pilot" type NPCs for Lavinia and the PCs to hire--the latter call the shots, but the former can give advice that'll keep the ship off the rocks. It'll be like one of those Spanish expeditions with a kind of clueless nobleman in charge, but a crusty old sailor at hand to keep him out of trouble. A Hadozee "master of sail" might be entertaining.
I'd wait till you see "The Sea Wyvern's Wake" first... the adventure has a lot of NPCs already done up to fill these roles. It also focuses 99% on the Sea Wyvern and leaves what happens on the Blue Nixie in the background, so you don't really need to track who's on the other ship (a trick of necessity, since we didn't have room to fully detail both ships).
As for the adventure's title... having never heard of that other movie, I'd chalk it up to coincidence.
I'd rather not start a new thread, and this is in the spirit of my origional post, so hopefully, it'll take:
Will the Sea Wyvern last? IE Should I allow my players to invest a lot of time, energy, and emotion into the Sea Wyvern, knowing that it will be around for a while with them? By a while, I mean through the entire campaign, as opposed to just one arc.
The preview in issue 138 made it seem that the Sea Wyvern will be destroyed towards the end of arc 3 or begining of arc 4. Am I interpreting that wrong?
Basically, would I be setting my players up for a "rug-from-under-the-feet" by allowing them to invest in the boat itself? Enchantments, personalizations, and the like.
I'd rather not start a new thread, and this is in the spirit of my origional post, so hopefully, it'll take:
Will the Sea Wyvern last? IE Should I allow my players to invest a lot of time, energy, and emotion into the Sea Wyvern, knowing that it will be around for a while with them? By a while, I mean through the entire campaign, as opposed to just one arc.
The preview in issue 138 made it seem that the Sea Wyvern will be destroyed towards the end of arc 3 or begining of arc 4. Am I interpreting that wrong?
Basically, would I be setting my players up for a "rug-from-under-the-feet" by allowing them to invest in the boat itself? Enchantments, personalizations, and the like.
Well - JJ did say that the Sea Wyvern would be reclaimed soon after the climax of 'Sea Wyvern's Wake' earlier in this post, and that the ship would be as much of a recurring character as Lavinia will be. That seems to indicate this ship is intended to carry our heroes through most of the AP - maybe even into the Abyss itself in the end.
I do share your worries though, Black Bard. One of my party members is a sailor, and I know that guy wants his own ship. I'd hate to see a huge investment in it just go to waste, especially if my party really 'tricks' it out...
(Sigh) Now I REALLY want to see the map of the Sea Wyvern ;)
Your Friendly Neighborhood Dalesman
"Bringing Big D**n Justice to the Bad Guys Since 1369 DR"
then let me recommend forcewallplating the underside before heading into the abyss ... id hate being chewed into from below ;)
In addition to placing some kewl waterelemental summoning runes, as "traps" beneath that forcewall. Potentially maintaining dozens of waterelementals patrolling below the ship!
Awesome, just what I wanted to hear. Trial and tribulation is one thing, but a heartwrenching crack as the hull breaks in two and it slips under the waves is another.
Age of Worms left my party a little sour with the "permanency of location" aspect. The Mine Office and Diamond Lake in general they grew fond of, only never to really return after the 2nd arc. It kind of stuck in their craw, but if the boat can become "home on the road" then it should work just fine!
And then theres a colonial manor to consider aswell on the isle ;)