Kinda what the title says, I'm going to be running an adventure for my group where they'll come across a stricken passenger ship (Technicaly its what was called a 'packet ship' so two masts etc) and need to rescue the passengers and crew before it sinks, mainly as a chance for them to be heroic.
Anyone run a scenario like this before? any tips or tricks? I'm thinking about useing d10 for each turn to see how far the ship sinks further, 0 is stricken and 50 is sunk so as they work on the problem the ship is always slipping a bit deeper.
I can dig the d10 additive mechanic, that would about 8-10 rounds by average rolls on d10, would you open roll that or keep the bookeeping secret so they wouldn't know exactly how much 'time' they have left before it sunk?
I like the scenario encounter set-up, there could be lots stuff to do for every character. Some will want to coordinate unruly/histerrical passengers, others would actually want to try to fix the ship so it won't sink, put out sudden fires, etc. I wouldn't underestimate the broad set of actions characters may attempt. So, my advice is to "just go with it" as much as is possible. And this seems like a kind of encounter that if I had wanted to run would be packed with quite a few notable NPC's for interaction (captain, bosun, mates, women/children) for dynamic scenes. I also wouldn't pre-determine whether the ship actually sinks or not. Or, if all passengers survive or not. Also, I would probably make a short d10 random table for "complications" to go along with the other d10 roll for ship sinking. Stuff like "a fire starts in the galley", "a crewman falls overboard", "a heavy wind or strong gale causes the ship to tilt severely (Dex chk)", "formats suddenly cracks and falls to crush the forecastle", stuff like that where there's a possibility to ratchet up the tension in a random manner (but the "nothing happens" option on the d10 should take up the d10 8-10 rolls or something so it doesn't feel like overkill)
You're right, I do need a complications table as well (Its what I was sort of drawing from with the d10 sinking bit, but I didn't get that far). I think I'll keep the rolls to myself but for each one I'll describe what happens, so if I roll a 10 the ship suddenly lurches further under. I'd like the ship to sink but I also expect they might be able to repair it (but I will make them tow it to port) Might also have a complication that if I roll say 3 20s the ship breaks in half :D Definatly need a detailed crew and passenger list too :( more work for the weary DM)
I'm just going to throw this out. This is from an adventure I'm running while not 100% for what you are looking for it might give you some ideas for running and complications.
Encounter: Scuttling the Ship The scarred and weathered hull of the Phantom’s Ire has AC 15 and 50 hit points and is vulnerable to fire damage. When the hull reaches 0 hit points, the ship begins to sink. Any characters on board the Phantom’s Ire when it begins sinking must scramble to escape the ship before it drags them into the briny depths.
For this encounter, the party can remain in the same initiative order from the combat with Ledros, or everyone can roll for initiative again. On their turn, a character can attempt to leap from the sinking ship by making a DC 14 Strength (Athletics) or Dexterity (Acrobatics) check, landing safely on the remains of the dock on a success. On a failure, the character falls deeper into the sinking shipwreck, taking 2 (1d4) bludgeoning damage.
Every turn, on initiative count 20 (losing initiative ties), a complication arises from the sinking ship. Roll on the Shipwreck Complications table to determine what misfortune befalls the group.
The Phantom’s Ire is fully submerged after 5 rounds. At this time, any characters still on board the ship are submerged and begin to drown (see “Suffocating” in chapter 8 of the D&D Basic Rules). Sinking Ship Complications
d8 Complication 1 Ghostly blue hands rise from the deep. Each character on the shipwreck must make a DC 10 Strength saving throw. On a failure, a character must subtract 1d4 from the next Strength or Dexterity check they make, as these ghostly hands grasp and cling to their form. 2 A barrel bursts, flooding the shipwreck with dark energy. Everyone on the sinking ship must make a successful DC 12 Constitution saving throw or take 3 (1d6) necrotic damage. 3 A massive wave sweeps over the wreck. Everyone on board must make a successful DC 10 Strength saving throw or be pushed 10 feet underwater. 4 A chunk of the mast topples into the water. Everyone on the shipwreck must make a successful DC 14 Dexterity saving throw or take 5 (2d4) bludgeoning damage from the falling debris. 5–8 No complication occurs.
A packet ship might have 50 or more people aboard. Think about how an evacuation could happen in 8 rounds. I think this sounds like a cool problem to solve: but if the overarching story depends on some result, I wouldn’t leave so much of it up to chance.
Let me suggest using 2d4 instead of 1d10. That’ll give you an actual average of 5 and lessen the chance of the whole thing becoming impossible and frustrating just by bad dice.
Just had a quick thought, re:spellcasters. Double check their spell's casting time. Spells that may take 1 minute or more to cast are probably going to be too little too late given the overall amount of rounds it would likely take for the ship to fully sink. Kinda puts a crunch on spellcasters to ensure quick, meaningful, actionable spells. Casting anything as Ritual is definitely out. Even the Mending has a casting time of 1 minute, and Fabricate is 10 minutes, both of which could have otherwise been useful in attempting repairs.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Boldly go
To post a comment, please login or register a new account.
Kinda what the title says, I'm going to be running an adventure for my group where they'll come across a stricken passenger ship (Technicaly its what was called a 'packet ship' so two masts etc) and need to rescue the passengers and crew before it sinks, mainly as a chance for them to be heroic.
Anyone run a scenario like this before? any tips or tricks? I'm thinking about useing d10 for each turn to see how far the ship sinks further, 0 is stricken and 50 is sunk so as they work on the problem the ship is always slipping a bit deeper.
I can dig the d10 additive mechanic, that would about 8-10 rounds by average rolls on d10, would you open roll that or keep the bookeeping secret so they wouldn't know exactly how much 'time' they have left before it sunk?
I like the scenario encounter set-up, there could be lots stuff to do for every character. Some will want to coordinate unruly/histerrical passengers, others would actually want to try to fix the ship so it won't sink, put out sudden fires, etc. I wouldn't underestimate the broad set of actions characters may attempt. So, my advice is to "just go with it" as much as is possible. And this seems like a kind of encounter that if I had wanted to run would be packed with quite a few notable NPC's for interaction (captain, bosun, mates, women/children) for dynamic scenes. I also wouldn't pre-determine whether the ship actually sinks or not. Or, if all passengers survive or not. Also, I would probably make a short d10 random table for "complications" to go along with the other d10 roll for ship sinking. Stuff like "a fire starts in the galley", "a crewman falls overboard", "a heavy wind or strong gale causes the ship to tilt severely (Dex chk)", "formats suddenly cracks and falls to crush the forecastle", stuff like that where there's a possibility to ratchet up the tension in a random manner (but the "nothing happens" option on the d10 should take up the d10 8-10 rolls or something so it doesn't feel like overkill)
Boldly go
You're right, I do need a complications table as well (Its what I was sort of drawing from with the d10 sinking bit, but I didn't get that far). I think I'll keep the rolls to myself but for each one I'll describe what happens, so if I roll a 10 the ship suddenly lurches further under. I'd like the ship to sink but I also expect they might be able to repair it (but I will make them tow it to port) Might also have a complication that if I roll say 3 20s the ship breaks in half :D Definatly need a detailed crew and passenger list too :( more work for the weary DM)
If it works I'll put it in the homebrew :D
I'm just going to throw this out. This is from an adventure I'm running while not 100% for what you are looking for it might give you some ideas for running and complications.
There was a UA put out many moon s ago that dealt with some ship related things, link here: https://media.wizards.com/2018/dnd/downloads/UA_ShipsSea.pdf.
Although not completely what you're after it does go into some stats for ships and a few other bits and bobs.
A packet ship might have 50 or more people aboard. Think about how an evacuation could happen in 8 rounds. I think this sounds like a cool problem to solve: but if the overarching story depends on some result, I wouldn’t leave so much of it up to chance.
Let me suggest using 2d4 instead of 1d10. That’ll give you an actual average of 5 and lessen the chance of the whole thing becoming impossible and frustrating just by bad dice.
Yeah, this was added and updated in Ghost Of Saltmarsh.
Just had a quick thought, re:spellcasters. Double check their spell's casting time. Spells that may take 1 minute or more to cast are probably going to be too little too late given the overall amount of rounds it would likely take for the ship to fully sink. Kinda puts a crunch on spellcasters to ensure quick, meaningful, actionable spells. Casting anything as Ritual is definitely out. Even the Mending has a casting time of 1 minute, and Fabricate is 10 minutes, both of which could have otherwise been useful in attempting repairs.
Boldly go