Describing the Hellfish

[Delfedd]

My players have taken a liking to the ship and have decided to keep it as their own. However, the adventure didn't provide a very good description. I, while improving, came up with a sort of amalagrim of styles, trying to convey that it wasn't a very good ship. But, after I thought about it, I realized that the Hellfish was more appropriate for the second act. And in any case, the players spent far too long on the Sea Wyvern, so I'd like to reward them.

[Turin the Mad]

Delfedd wrote:

My players have taken a liking to the ship and have decided to keep it as their own. However, the adventure didn't provide a very good description. I, while improving, came up with a sort of amalagrim of styles, trying to convey that it wasn't a very good ship. But, after I thought about it, I realized that the Hellfish was more appropriate for the second act. And in any case, the players spent far too long on the Sea Wyvern, so I'd like to reward them.

Perhaps a dromond - or at least a caravel truly their own - would be the mundane result of salvaging the vessel. The 'mundane travelling' aspects of a game are rife with potential, so it should be rewarding (as well as a decent gp sink) to the players to repair and refit the ship for their use.

Agreed, the Hellfish is a pretty kewl name!

[Matthew Vincent]

Delfedd wrote:

I, while improving, came up with a sort of amalagrim of styles, trying to convey that it wasn't a very good ship.

Yup... a barely seaworthy amalgam of bits from other wrecks and repairs made from driftwood... but it has 'character' (you could still use whatever deckplan or model you have available though).

Make the figurehead something notable, especially since
<spoiler>
Charon will be putting coins on the figurehead's eyes in a later chapter.

Maybe the 'hellfish' figurehead is a dessicated husk of something the pirates found washed ashore, like a: direshark, mantaray, aboleth corpse, giant crab (sHellfish... get it :), etc.

My own group took over the Stygian shark (after losing their own ship in the naval battle with the crimson fleet)... which will be a perfect name when they start sailing the Styx.

[vikingson]

I described it as a dhow, much like the arabian trading vessels, which were incredibly nimble sailers. Check the sindbad movies or google o for an image on the net
All latin sails, sleek low lines, little draft and painted in red and ochre, Red sails, lot of brasswork .... oriental and exotic - strong contrast to the sturdy medieval-european caravel/carrack. excellent pirating vessel in ages were boarding was still the normal scnearion versus "guns and broadsides" age-of-sail" piracy.

The players weren't interested though...