Notes for a New Campaign City, Parsantium

RichGreen · Feb 17, 2008

Flotsam factions

The Water Boys are a group of around 20 orphaned human children of mixed (but mostly Sahasran) origin, aged between seven and fourteen that live on a large ex-fishing boat in Flotsam. These kids get by begging, running errands and messages, pulling stuff out of the water to sell, and by the odd bit of pickpocketing and petty theft. Their informal leader is Girish, the oldest at 16 at the most responsible; he makes sure that everyone gets something to eat and that any disputes among his charges are resolved either peacefully or at least after a brief bout of fisticuffs.
- Ashna, a nine-year old girl in the Water Boys, goes missing and then turns up dead in the water shortly afterwards; her throat has been cut. The Watch won’t be interested so Girish asks the PCs to find out what happened to her. Normally a happy go lucky kid, Girish said Ashna had been very quiet and subdued in the days leading up to her death.
- Ashna witnessed something she shouldn’t: a murder or a particular shipment (slaves? drugs?) arriving on the docks. The PCs need to track down her killer and uncover the criminal plot she stumbled into.
- Possible that a pirate ship arrived in the dead of night to sell captives to Orloch Scragmane’s gnolls or to human go-betweens from the Golden Scimitars. This connects to the disappearing dockworkers adventure hook.

The Golden Scimitars are a Hidden Quarter guild of criminals specializing in smuggling, fencing, gambling and prostitution. They own or control many of the inns, taverns, brothels and gambling houses in the Old Quarter’s Dock Ward and Poor Ward.
- Their leader is a rakshasa crime baron based beneath the city; his master is a rakshasa lord imprisoned in the ice at the top of the Pillars of Heaven mountains.
- Zeno Meverel (The Winking Vixen) is associated with this guild.

Any suggestions? This could be the adventure that kicks off the campaign.

Richard

RichGreen · Feb 17, 2008

It just occurred to me after making that last post that (a) the PCs should witness Ashna's death and (b) the killer should be a strangle-sash wielding thuggee hired by the Golden Scimitars (or whoever).

Richard

RichGreen · Mar 8, 2008

Back to Flotsam

Hi,

I've been busy with current campaigns and real-life stuff so haven't posted for a while but I'm keen to get going again, particularly in developing Flotsam and the Dock Ward into a starting location for the campaign.

So far, we have:
- The Fat Grouper (tavern)
- Temple to the Sapta Sindhu (Seven River Gods)
- Shrine to Anwyn (goddess of the hearth & small folk)
- Bait & tackle shop
- Basketweavers
- Netmakers
- Carpenters & boat-makers including Jarwyn (actually Naelere, a disguised bronze dragon)
- The Water Boys (gang of orphans living together on a house-boat)
- Homes of fishermen, longshoremen & dock workers
- Smugglers

This could also be the home of the Sahasran witch-woman and fortune-teller, Jagadamba, mentioned in Tonguez' post. It would be quite interesting to have disguised nobles (including the basileus' mother-in-law!) visiting one of the scuzziest parts of town. I like the idea of Naelere keeping an eye on who comes to see Jagadamba since the witch is a member of the Cult of the Black Mother.

If Flotsam is to be the start point for the campaign, I think a few basic shops catering to down at heel adventurers and wannabe gangland enforcers might be a good idea but perhaps these are located on a Docks Ward street on dry land. There would need to be a weapons and armour shop and somewhere for general gear. Also, there needs to be somewhere to fence stolen loot.

What else do we need here?

Can anyone think of any examples of boat-town communities in D&D/RPG products that would provide me with some inspiration?

Cheers

Richard

RichGreen · Mar 9, 2008

Flotsam Map

I had a few goes at this but ended up colouring nearly all of it by hand using my trusty Caran D'Ache pencils.

Here's the key:

1. The Fat Grouper, tavern
2. Temple to the Sapta Sindhu
3. Shrine to Anwyn
4. Fishermen's market
5. Bait & tackle shop
6. Netmaker's shop
7. Baskerweaver's shop
8. Mendel Stormrite, halfling carpenter & shipwright
9. Ropemaker's shop
10. Jarwyn, old dwarf carpenter & shipwright
11. The Water Boys, orphan gang
12. Jagadamba, Sahsaran wise woman and fortune teller
13. Home of Mangesh, dockworker
14. The Black Dolphin's Wake, tavern
15. Bilal's Blades, arms & armour shop
16. Harold's Hole, adventuring equipment & other gear

Sigurd · Mar 9, 2008

I like your map but current and wind would tear apart flotsam in a week.

I think

1 you have to start with the dominant current and build a pattern that will resist it
2 you need regular reinforcements in the pattern to separate the boats and stop them from crushing each other
3 you really should plan this for a shallows or a silted up region where the boats aren't going anywhere anyway. Silting and shallowing are the bane of ports. Grounding old ships to take advantage of this would be the last resort of people who could afford no less. In the end they are very bad for the port as they increase silting and stop dredging.

sigurd

RichGreen · Mar 9, 2008

Sigurd said:
1 you have to start with the dominant current and build a pattern that will resist it
2 you need regular reinforcements in the pattern to separate the boats and stop them from crushing each other
3 you really should plan this for a shallows or a silted up region where the boats aren't going anywhere anyway. Silting and shallowing are the bane of ports. Grounding old ships to take advantage of this would be the last resort of people who could afford no less. In the end they are very bad for the port as they increase silting and stop dredging.

Thanks for this - you make some very good points! I must admit I hadn't thought about current at all! Can you help me by answering a few questions?

Flotsam is located off the north bank of the Dolphin Strait (a bit like the Bosphorus) so the sea proper is to the south-west. At the north-east end of the strait is the Griffin Water (an inland sea) so I envisaged the water moving fairly slowly to the southwest. I'd imagine there would be a tide (like the Thames) too.

- If this is the case, what's the best pattern for the boats to resist it? All the boats facing into the direction of the current?
- Since the Old Docks don't see as much use, how about if Flotsam is built entirely between the piers shown on the map so it's more sheltered? These could be made longer if necessary.
- The Old Docks have been superseded by the Royal Docks on the northern (Imperial Quarter) side of the city as the Basileus wanted to divert the wealthy trade ships to that side of the river. Could the neglect of the southern docks lead to silting up? Maybe there are one or two abandoned caravels or similar in the configuration?

Thanks!

Richard

Sigurd · Mar 9, 2008

The currents will be what you envisage them to be.

That said, the most realistic thing would be to put flotsam around a natural island, too wet to be settled or put it in a natural bay that is silting up.

The island is the path of least conflict (unless your world has magic that can make it useful).
The natural bay might belong to a discredited or dead family. An old dock might be the core of the development. Maybe there is a messaging service run as a legitimate function for the central dock. Maybe a cheap food market?

Assuming human nature, the edges of flotsam will still be navigable by small boats but the core will have hulks that are no longer floating - they're rotting as they sink into the silt. Be careful with the land space this takes up - at some stage the city would probably burn them out or try to reclaim the harbor.

Only the fact that the flotsam 'harbor' might be 1-2' deep keeps the city from acting. The water in flotsam would be full of the sewage from the residents. With little or no current the dirt, bodies, rotted wood, wouldnt go anywhere and it would greatly increase the silting. The city doesn't have much to gain unless they can use the land for something else.

Periodic storms etc... and natural rot should occaisionally claim lives in Flotsam. There's little space to keep things dry on the deck of a ship whose hold is filled with sand.

I had great fun in one campaign with a Shoal Halfling who was part of a community like this.

If you have aquatic races in your world this is the region where they would have spies and seek informers. They can stay below water and approach places in Flotsam with little notice - though they will detest the dirt.

If you want to collaborate on campaigns, send me an email.

Sigurd

I like the project.

RichGreen · Mar 10, 2008

Sigurd said:
That said, the most realistic thing would be to put flotsam around a natural island, too wet to be settled or put it in a natural bay that is silting up.

The island is the path of least conflict (unless your world has magic that can make it useful).
The natural bay might belong to a discredited or dead family. An old dock might be the core of the development. Maybe there is a messaging service run as a legitimate function for the central dock. Maybe a cheap food market?

Assuming human nature, the edges of flotsam will still be navigable by small boats but the core will have hulks that are no longer floating - they're rotting as they sink into the silt. Be careful with the land space this takes up - at some stage the city would probably burn them out or try to reclaim the harbor.

Only the fact that the flotsam 'harbor' might be 1-2' deep keeps the city from acting. The water in flotsam would be full of the sewage from the residents. With little or no current the dirt, bodies, rotted wood, wouldnt go anywhere and it would greatly increase the silting. The city doesn't have much to gain unless they can use the land for something else.

Periodic storms etc... and natural rot should occaisionally claim lives in Flotsam. There's little space to keep things dry on the deck of a ship whose hold is filled with sand.

These are good suggestions. I could add a central island or spit of land to the map to provide shelter for the Old Docks and Flotsam, and will probably pack all the boats closer to each other and the piers.

I imagined the water around Flotsam being full of sewage anyway as the city's sewer system empties into the strait near here. I'm not sure I'm going to have the water this shallow though -- there might be some big ships that have sunk into the sand and silt, but I like the idea that Flotsam constantly rearranges itself as new boats turn up and others leave.

Storms would undoubtedly inflict terrible devastation on Flotsam -- fortunately, these will be relatively rare.

The main underwater race in the area are the kuo-toa who are making trips to the city to deal in slaves with Orloch Scragmane’s gnolls, although there are probably sahuagin or merfolk out in the Corsair's Sea. Adventure hooks based around the visit of someone from an undersea race are certainly possible.

Cheers

Richard

RichGreen · Mar 15, 2008

New map

I've redrawn the Flotsam map with a spit of land providing some shelter and hopefully stopping the whole place from getting washed away. The lines between the little piers are meant to represent rubbish and other debris; the water here would be much shallower.

What do you think?

Richard

RichGreen · Mar 16, 2008

Residents of Flotsam: Tew Pennyfeather

Pathfinder has some great art and I'm going to start nicking some of these pictures and using them for my new campaign.

Tew Pennyfeather, a halfling, is the semi-resident musician at The Fat Grouper in Flotsam. He plays the flute very well and is tolerated by the never-cheerful landlord of the Grouper, Glyn Merryfield, because Tew's tunes tend toward sadness and melancholy. To talk to, however, Tew is cheerful and a good source of gossip and information about what's going on in Flotsam and the Dock Ward.

Tew is a real night owl, sleeping all day, and often out and about in the early hours of the morning, sometimes sitting on one of the piers, playing softly as he works on a new tune. The bard's dream is to appear on stage in the Theatre of Aymara so he's currently thinking about how he might persuade the fashionable Iancu Petronas to give him his big break in one of his plays.

Secret: Tew killed his brother in a fight over a woman and fled to Parsantium to escape the consequences. His cheerful demeanour is a front; the real Tew is revealed in his music.

As a night owl, Tew is a potential witness and/or suspect in the murder of Ashna.