The 5th level party I gm is about to set off for Korvosa from Sandpoint, but decided to hire a ship to take them there by sea, rather than go by land, where I had four sessions worth prepared. I am not complaining, I'm just struggling against a time constraint to get some things planned.
The party will be sailing on a merchant vessel, and I have determined they will take 1d4+6 days to get there so... 10 days.
Things I have considered:
Pirates attacking
Stopping for fresh water on an island that is owned by an orc witch with a shocker lizard familiar (plus a family of shocker lizards)
Some form of gladiator contest (no clue how to make this work)
A mutiny (this would let me utilize Korvosa's water defenses and would set off the party's appearance in Korvosa with a bang).
Any thoughts or advice on how to make any of these work would be appreciated, as would any encounter ideas of your own!
Thanks!
If anyone in the party has create water, they'll just fill the tanks that wait. (Create water really should not be a cantrip). Stop for provisions maybe, or stop for repairs, might work better.
Storm damage (though unless the PCs can contribute it's just "Fortitude save vs. seasickness").
One of the sailors challenges the PCs to some form of rope-climbing contest, or gambling game, or party dance (look up "hornpipe"). Or a wrestling contest (break out the grappling rules and just do non-lethal damage); if PCs win or are sportsmanlike, the sailors can give them some helpful rumors for when they reach Korvosa.
Illusions created by an aboleth (kind of a tough encounter for 5th level PCs, though).
Captain mentions that there's a wreck along the coast, and if any of the PCs can breathe water, rumor has it the ship was carrying a military paychest for some Korvosan marines. Of course, he doesn't know about the sharks/octopi/other sea monster inhabiting the boat.
A covey of hags sends a storm to drive the ship ashore on an isolated coast, then moves in for the kill. Might be too tough -- perhaps one hag pretends to be a shipwrecked maiden to get on board the board, then starts doing nasty things at night.
Zombie pirates climb up the sides of the ship at night.
Some kind of aerial predator attacks the ship (dire bats at night, griffon or chimera during the day).
A crazy whale starts headbutting the ship. Bonus points if it's an old white sperm whale with harpoon scars.
The ghost of a mad whaling captain possesses one of the sailors (or even the captain) and sends them off course looking for the white whale (or even a regular whale.)
PCs see a pirate attacking another ship -- what do they do? If they join in the plunder, they get some $; if they help the victim, someone aboard is a Korvosan who can give them a nice bonus once they get there.
An unnatural calm followed by an undead attack.
The player who has create water actually was the one who wondered aloud if stopping for water should be a thing...
I like storm damage, it could work in conjunction with some combat threat for an added challenge.
Thanks for the non-combat stuff! It could draw the players into the mutinous conflict. Which side they take will directly affect what happens in Korvosa. The other ship being attacked by pirates could affect what happens with the mutiny.
I love the aboleth idea... >evil laugh<
I'm gonna definitely use the shipwreck idea!
Aerial predators sound fun and I just got Mythical Monsters Revisited, so I can read up obn chimeras.
I don't like the idea of using monsters whose sole shtick is that they're scary ugly women, so no hags.
These ideas are great!
- A chance, mid-sea encounter with another vessel has to be celebrated with a formal friendly challenge to a game of some sort.
- The wind drops completely, leaving the boat motionless. Then a Gillman Druid appears, demanding tribute.
Oh Saranrae. That gillman idea is brilliant.