Has anyone started the AP on the ship?
Have the players and NPCs meet as the come on board at different ports, interact with each other (or not) and the crew?
If so, how did it go?
Creative Director
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The original outline for "Souls for Smuggler's Shiv" actually had the first 3rd of the adventure take place on the ship, with lots of on-board antics, an encounter on a recently risen-to-the-surface islet, a big storm, and some mahyem with stowaways.
I ended up cutting all of that content partially for space reasons, but mostly because I realized that it was too much of a bait and switch to start the campaign out feeling like a nautical campaign and then not have boats for the rest of the entire thing. We had a similar problem with the start of Curse of the Crimson Throne, where we vastly overplayed the suspected importance of an early bad guy.
But also... forcing the PCs to shipwreck on an island is a tricky thing. It's in the same category as forcing them to get captured and thrown into a prison. An adventure that's about the PCs surviving a shipwreck on a hostile island, or one about PCs in a prison trying to escape, works best if the shipwreck or the imprisonment happens BEFORE the game starts. That makes it feel like background filler and not something that the GM is inflicting on the PCs railroad style.
That said, playing through the ship voyage part at the start is a GREAT way to introduce the PCs to each other AND to the NPCs on the voyage, so if you think you can pull it off without annoying your PCs that they're automatically getting wrecked... go for it!
I basically plan on using the time on the ship to allow the players to chat up the NPC's. As far as they know they are going to a colony to help take care of a situation(which I have not decided yet), but they will end up crashing somewhere else. The colony is in a jungle, and they will crash in a jungle so not much will change except that they won't know where they are on the island(Xendrik if I use Eberron). I am also thinking of them just being bodyguards for an important diplomat who is trying to bring peace between the colony and a tribe of Drow. The diplomat dies when the ship crashes, and now the party has to fend for themselves. If they want to play selfish characters who don't plan to stay around long enough to uncover the danger to the rest of the world I will probably have one of them infected with a type of poison disease that will force them deeper into the jungle.
I started the campaign with a posting in absolom (my campaign guide so to speak).
Friends of Kline where putting together a expedition to search for the missing pathfinder.
The PC's had to go through a casting to secure their place in the expedition.
There was a older pathfidner to lead the exp. and teach them some geography while on the ship.
They met the NPC's on the journey and had some minor encounters.
I used the journey to teach them about Golarion, Mwangi, Red Mantis, Aspis, mentioned the Gorilla King a bit.
Then the final meal, Fort Saves and you know what happens next...
The Mentor of course will have the same fate as the first mate
My group works best if they have a common goal and background, that was my reason to do it that way
I started my party on the ship. One of the PCs was a crew member. All PCs had a background that affiliated them with one of the major factions to help drive roleplay with the NPCs who boarded at the various ports. Putting everyone on the ship for a short time enabled the PCs to get a feel that something might not be quite kosher with Ieanna and the captain prior to the final meal. Additionally, I seeded the ship with copies of an old newspaper, the Eleder Examiner, in order to foreshadow trouble with the Freeman's Brotherhood, a memorial to crew of the Brine Demon, and other pieces of information useful to my storyline. In all, only a short amount of play time, but a great payoff in storyline development.
The original outline for "Souls for Smuggler's Shiv" actually had the first 3rd of the adventure take place on the ship, with lots of on-board antics, an encounter on a recently risen-to-the-surface islet, a big storm, and some mahyem with stowaways.
Ehm... there's no chance to have this material posted as a "bonus" somewhere, right? I'd really love to read it.
I'm just starting Shiv with a new group and I plan to make a lot of small encounters along the way (I happen to own cities of Golarion + map folio... time to put Corentyn and Ilizmagorti to good use!).
This will allow me to consolidate the playing group and give them plenty of opportunity to interact with the NPCs. Too bad you didn't expand on the ship journey, although I understand you motivations...
ciao
S
PS: Shiv is one of the best adventures I've ever read. And I started playing (against Bargle, of course) in 1984...
I am running this campaign with two different groups and both groups took advantage of the time on ship to really role play. They really seemed to enjoy it, however, I did have a few challenges as a GM.
1. The PC's started to get suspicious of the captain and Ieana's relationship and tried to use detect magic to see if anything fishy was going on. The other group, if I didn't move up the timeline of the shipwreck, would have begun a mutiny (two of them took the Jenivere crew campaign trait).
2. The other challenge was the NPC's starting attitude to the PC's. I found it hard to justify to the groups that the NPC's that they had interacted with for several days on the ship are now somehow unfriendly or indifferent to them. I had to pretty much start off all the other NPC's as friendly, with the exception of Gelik whose constant quips and put downs rubbed both group's PC's the wrong way! ;)
I did start my campaign on the ship, from Magnimar, where one of the PCs boarded ship, and saw a crowd of unhappy folks waving fists at the ship just after they cast off, after a certain gnome boarded ship in a hurry.
There were interactions with all of the NPCs, but not a lot, due to a variety of factors, nor did the PCs interact a lot with each other, staying in character.
Ieana became insulted by a comment from the Variasian who boarded in Magnimar with her, and avoided him, frequently hanging around the Captain to deter an apology or a new insult. From there, I had her spend more and more time with the Captain, then spending the night in his cabin.... None of the players had any doubts over what was going on between the Captain and his lady.
Gelik, showed not only his entertaining talent, but his razor sharp tongue. None of the PCs really wanted to be subject to his tongue, but enjoyed watching him do the same to others.
No real interaction with Jask, who spent his time in the brig.
The PCs avoided Aerys, after she flattened a crew member and started drinking a lot in her cabin. The Varisian was especially careful around her, as he still doesn't know how he insulted Ieana.
They were all afraid of Sasha, as they recognized her tattoo and decided not to antagonize the assassin.
Ishiro, an inscrutable Tien, with a sour demeanor and really nifty exotic sword, tended to discourage interaction with him.
All of the PCs liked Alton, were a little put off by Captain Kovack's somber and strict personality.
I played up the fact that the cook was able to pull of minor miracles with the food, with not even Gelik using Presdigitation a lot to flavor his food. So the feast on the last night was well attended, and no one rolled well on their fortitude save.
On the beach, the PC's were lined up in a neat row, with the NPCs on one side, the pile of personal gear on the other, with sea scorpions going after all of them. The NPCs were not being awoken by the claw attacks and bites, which prompted the PCs to take a lot more chances, simply to save the NPCs.
All in all, a good start.
I too started on a ship, and started the Serpent Skull with a pirate attack - "everything is better with pirates."
The way I planned it was simple; if the PCs helped repell the pirate attack, the would be invited for dinner as the AP outlines and the adventure continues normally.
Second, if the PCs were captured by the pirates, the pirate ship would be wrecked on the Shiv and while the PCs explored the island they would find the Jenivere and the AP would continue as published, with a few modifications to turn add the "Mystery of the Wreck of the Jenivere" idea added in.
As it turned out, the PCs helped repel the pirates and the pirate captain made such an impression on them, I plan on having him lead one of the factions in subsequent SK-AP books .... snicker.....
My players loved the priate attack; swinging down from the sails, firing the ballistas, hurling burning oil on the deck of the other ship, and dualing the scallywags ... all they could talk about afterward was how fun fighting off the pirates was. They even contemplated taking over the Jenivere and marauding the coast of Sargava... lol.
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The original outline for "Souls for Smuggler's Shiv" actually had the first 3rd of the adventure take place on the ship, with lots of on-board antics, an encounter on a recently risen-to-the-surface islet, a big storm, and some mahyem with stowaways.
I ended up cutting all of that content partially for space reasons, but mostly because I realized that it was too much of a bait and switch to start the campaign out feeling like a nautical campaign and then not have boats for the rest of the entire thing. We had a similar problem with the start of Curse of the Crimson Throne, where we vastly overplayed the suspected importance of an early bad guy.
But also... forcing the PCs to shipwreck on an island is a tricky thing. It's in the same category as forcing them to get captured and thrown into a prison. An adventure that's about the PCs surviving a shipwreck on a hostile island, or one about PCs in a prison trying to escape, works best if the shipwreck or the imprisonment happens BEFORE the game starts. That makes it feel like background filler and not something that the GM is inflicting on the PCs railroad style.
That said, playing through the ship voyage part at the start is a GREAT way to introduce the PCs to each other AND to the NPCs on the voyage, so if you think you can pull it off without annoying your PCs that they're automatically getting wrecked... go for it!
I'd like to second seeing this bonus material for the read and the future plotting.....