Batten down the hatches! Or: How do you prepare for a sea voyage?

[Catharsis]

So our party of landlubbers is about to embark on a long sea voyage. I've never played a nautical adventure, and am therefore rather clueless about the kind of equipment and spells that would come in useful at sea. Does anyone have a few good tips?

I'm playing a Dex-based Sacred Fist, so I'm good at Acrobatics and Perception (I guess I'll spend a lot of time in the crow's nest) and decent at Climb, Swim, and Profession: Sailor (of which I just got myself a rank). I won't sink like a stone in the water, but we'll still keep a few bottles of Touch of the Sea around in case of rough conditions and emergencies. I figure Water Breathing will also come in handy, but I'll have to wait until CL 7th before I get access to it myself. I got myself the Snake Style feat so I can attack under water without penalties. In terms of equipment, I'm mostly thinking of rum and limes. ?-D

Am I forgetting something obvious?

In terms of resources, we're 5th level. You can probably guess which AP we're playing, so please refrain from anything spoilery or campaign-specific.

Yarrr! :)

[Inlaa]

You're clearly playing We Be Goblins.

Ignoring my sudden urge to be sarcastic and moving on...

I haven't played the AP, but I assume you're going to be fighting another ship at some point. Do you have Feather Fall as a Ki ability already with your setup? If not, I feel as if a monk hiding in the Crow's Nest that chugs a potion of Feather Fall and floats on down onto the enemy ship would be a perfectly viable tactic.

[Bob Bob Bob]

So first, make sure your GM is cool with you drinking potions underwater. If not, get yourself some of these for those vital "please don't drown" potions.

Second... I don't think I have a second. Oh, right, remember this:

Aquatic Terrain wrote:

Attacks from Land: Characters swimming, floating, or treading water on the surface, or wading in water at least chest deep, have improved cover (+8 bonus to AC, +4 bonus on Reflex saves) from opponents on land. Land-bound opponents who have freedom of movement effects ignore this cover when making melee attacks against targets in the water. A completely submerged creature has total cover against opponents on land unless those opponents have freedom of movement effects. Magical effects are unaffected except for those that require attack rolls (which are treated like any other effects) and fire effects.

If at all possible you're better off fighting things in the water in the water and not from the surface. Better would be summoning something in the water to attack for you. Not sure how feasible that is.

It would help to know what else is in your party. With just one character I can only speculate wildly what all you have access to. Sentry Skull is on theme, at least. Track Ship does exactly what you think it would do. Skeleton Crew is both a horrible pun and an apt description. As a Sacred Fist presumably you're fistinating people, you didn't mention a ranged attack. You want at least one (even if it's just a catapult to launch you at the enemy).

I don't know how familiar you are with how naval combat works either, a prime component (at least, if you want plunder) is boarding, you want grappling hooks and boarding gaffs for that (and boarding pikes to repel anyone trying to plunder your booty).

[Just a Mort]

Air crystals. Please make sure the party wizard puts his spellbook in a waterproof bag, or better, a handy haversack. Potion sponge and you can use pots underwater. Fan feather token(several) when you want your ship to go faster.

[Catharsis]

Thanks for the feedback all around!

Inlaa wrote:

Do you have Feather Fall as a Ki ability already with your setup? If not, I feel as if a monk hiding in the Crow's Nest that chugs a potion of Feather Fall and floats on down onto the enemy ship would be a perfectly viable tactic.

No, I don't get access to Feather Fall. However, our group's Hunter has Glide, which is even better for this purpose, as it allows for a lot of rapid horizontal movement.

@ Bob: Thanks for pointing out the sponges. I think my DM is OK with using potions underwater (squeezable vials? or maybe syringes?).

Wow, this Attacks from Land rule is pretty damn harsh. I would have expected that playing whack-a-mole with a swimmer should be fairly disadvantageous for the swimmer, but OK... Good thing I have the Liberation blessing at hand as a swift action. :)

Yes, I'm a melee character, but Dex-based, so I suppose I could fire a crossbow reasonably well. I probably should buy one...

Our party consists of a Hunter with a dinosaur companion, a Sorceress, and me. Given the dino's awesome melee power, we don't really suffer from being a three-person party. ;o)

No, I'm not familiar with how naval combat works. Boarding equipment sounds good. I also like the idea of boarding the enemy ship (via Glide) before they get to board us.

@ Just a Mort: Air crystals sound great! We have no spellbook-users. Fan feather token is a great idea, especially since our Sorceress just took Craft Wondrous Item. :)