Maiden Voyage

There's a tale you might hear in a tavern by the docks... if you catch an old sea dog on a dark night laden with rum. He'll tell you of an all but forgotten sea god with a hatred for the living and their ships that so brazenly cross his waters without offering the blood sacrifice he demanded in the days of yore. The god's powers have been waning, as brave sailors of all the races bravely cast off in search of far horizons and treasures to fill their holds, but on the darkest of days his might returns. The grizzled sailor may have known someone who set sail on the Sea Maiden, just before such a day three decades ago, and never returned. Others may tell you that the crew of the Sea Maiden was restless, and mutiny was in the air; the crew no doubt ended up hanged as pirates in a distant port. But your storyteller assures you he knows better: the dark god of the sea had his vengeance -- and he will have it again one day soon.

Maiden Voyage
Written by Chad Brouillard
Published by Atlas Games
32 pages
$9.95

Maiden Voyage is an adventure that heavily involves role-playing and isolates the characters for society by placing them aboard a boat. Here the characters will face an ancient curse and deal with the madness that only the sea can bring.

The adventure starts off, as the party is moving through town. The GM is encouraged to have the party seek a reason to move out of their current location by ship. Easy enough to do if you use Freeport as the party could be going to the mainland or back to sea for standard adventure. As they move through the town, they witness a few events that help not only to herald the terrors to come through the self-maiming of a mad priest, but also the fall of a villain who winds up on their ship.

With a little luck and negotiation, the party is hired by Captain Fenn to guard his ship, Albers. Once they board the good ship Albers, the module is broken up into a day by day fashion and provides the GM events to get the party closer to the crew. They can play cards, work aboard deck, engage in a scuffle with the strongman, and even speak with the prisoner, Vincenz, who is more than what he seems.

By breaking the module up into different days, the module allows the GM to control the pacing. Nothing is forced on the GM who can run the NPCs as often as he likes. This does mean thought that less experienced GMs may miss out on some of the undertones that lurk through the module, especially after Captain Fenn dies mysteriously and events point to murder. Still, the climax of the event comes when the party gets to battle the Sea Maiden, a ship lost at sea over thirty years ago. What’s worse than fighting a ship full of undead though, is that the party will have to protect the sailors as well or wind up lost at sea.

In addition to the adventure itself, the module provides d20 rules for a new card game, skulls, and a new monster template, the sea scourge. The NPCs are collected at the back of the book, two to a page, with information broken up into important chunks with a quote to capture each main character’s feel. Another GM Aid, the Combat Table, helps keep track of large numbers of combatants. Those looking to add an ancient deity to their campaign can throw Krakas, Lord of the Maelstrom into the mix with a full block of information including domains, typical worshipers, and background.

The interior covers are not used here. The last page is an ad for Rune and Campaign Magazine. One page is taken up by the OGL. Text to white space ratio is fairly good throughout the book. The main issue with the layout of the book is the use of the 2nd color, a blue, that is used to designate open game content in the form of boxed text that appears in front of waves. The colors are too dark and make reading the text difficult. Otherwise, the 2nd color works wonders on the illustrations and brings a high level of graphic presentation to the module. All of the illustrations are of a high quality and capture the sea faring sailors life, especially when the undead attack with lampreys and other parasites hanging off their dead flesh.

Those who don’t enjoy role playing aren’t going to get much value out of the module as there are only a few encounters where blades can be put to use, but for those who thrill at the prospect of revealing hidden dangers, the module shines almost as much as In the Belly of the Beast.