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[5e] Spell & Crossbones
- Thread starter Quickleaf
- Start date
Fenris
Adventurer
Jelly broom? Jeez, that is a mop if I have ever seen one.
tuxgeo
Adventurer
Re: Pinning some things down: As late as it is tonight, I want to sleep on that before pinning. There's a lot of clearly-expressed material there.
Yes, I was throwing out too many divergent possibilities; albeit with the hope that one or another might spark inspiration for a workable character. I'm glad one or another of them might serve as a basis for one.
While mulling the issues in the back of my mind, I'm going to try to avoid some of my prior (and ongoing?) mistakes, such as working from class features rather than from a story; and such as trying to achieve a build that justifies a supposed back-story instead of the in-progress and impending further story of the adventure; and such as not knowing what kind of development arc I want the guy to face; and such as not having a clear time-line of the history about how long ago La Gloriosa went missing (or down), and how long The Coral Curse has been beached. I think the age of my guy should make sense in terms of such things. . . .
Yes, I was throwing out too many divergent possibilities; albeit with the hope that one or another might spark inspiration for a workable character. I'm glad one or another of them might serve as a basis for one.
While mulling the issues in the back of my mind, I'm going to try to avoid some of my prior (and ongoing?) mistakes, such as working from class features rather than from a story; and such as trying to achieve a build that justifies a supposed back-story instead of the in-progress and impending further story of the adventure; and such as not knowing what kind of development arc I want the guy to face; and such as not having a clear time-line of the history about how long ago La Gloriosa went missing (or down), and how long The Coral Curse has been beached. I think the age of my guy should make sense in terms of such things. . . .
tuxgeo
Adventurer
A post about the timeline --
From the Introduction:
For "#1" (i.e. having been directly involved with La Gloriosa): Did La Gloriosa escape pursuers long enough to reach sight of land, so survivors could row ashore, or did she sink far offshore? (I don't think we know that yet.) Was she scuttled, in order to keep important secrets (and gold) out of the hands of the pursuing French? If she was scuttled, that might have been delayed by hours until many or most people aboard her had a chance to escape to land (and to later give such conflicting interview answers about where the ship went down that the wreckage of La Gloriosa still hasn't been found). Or maybe she was scuttled because she was no longer sufficiently seaworthy (after the cannon-play and the fires) to be of further service to Spain, in the sense of braving the swells of the deep Atlantic.
And furthermore -- "What the H-E-double-toothpicks, De Pointis?" Weren't France and Spain allied during Queen Anne's War? Then why was a Frenchman raiding Spanish Cartagena? Some dire villainy may have been at work.
Oops! Fifteen years before 1712 would be a raid on Cartagena in 1697, so that's before Queen Anne's War, and before Charles II favored the Bourbon dynasty to rule Spain. In 1697, Spain and France could have been at war, so the villainy might have been more political than diabolical. (But one can never tell without more facts.)
Further timeline: the Coral Curse has now been beached for years. I'm going to reread to be sure, but it sounds as though this 'Beck' was some kind of senior member of the crew aboard the Curse. If he was 30-35 then, he could be 35-45 (or more) now, depending on how long ago the Coral Curse was beached.
Oops! again: Must add the number of months (or years?) the Curse was sitting offshore in quarantine while the various people aboard her either died of the yellow fever or recovered. . . .
From the Introduction:
Okay, that's the piece of the timeline I was forgetting. La Gloriosa definitely sank after fleeing the raid on Cartagena 15 years ago; and given that any crew member (other than cabin boy?) would have had to be at least 18 years old (?) to serve aboard her, it seems to follow that any sailor who had been aboard would now have to be at least 33 years old, and likely quite a few years more. That fits for the timeline; but forcing there to have been any survivors of the sinking raises other issues.
For "#1" (i.e. having been directly involved with La Gloriosa): Did La Gloriosa escape pursuers long enough to reach sight of land, so survivors could row ashore, or did she sink far offshore? (I don't think we know that yet.) Was she scuttled, in order to keep important secrets (and gold) out of the hands of the pursuing French? If she was scuttled, that might have been delayed by hours until many or most people aboard her had a chance to escape to land (and to later give such conflicting interview answers about where the ship went down that the wreckage of La Gloriosa still hasn't been found). Or maybe she was scuttled because she was no longer sufficiently seaworthy (after the cannon-play and the fires) to be of further service to Spain, in the sense of braving the swells of the deep Atlantic.
And furthermore -- "What the H-E-double-toothpicks, De Pointis?" Weren't France and Spain allied during Queen Anne's War? Then why was a Frenchman raiding Spanish Cartagena? Some dire villainy may have been at work.
Oops! Fifteen years before 1712 would be a raid on Cartagena in 1697, so that's before Queen Anne's War, and before Charles II favored the Bourbon dynasty to rule Spain. In 1697, Spain and France could have been at war, so the villainy might have been more political than diabolical. (But one can never tell without more facts.)
Further timeline: the Coral Curse has now been beached for years. I'm going to reread to be sure, but it sounds as though this 'Beck' was some kind of senior member of the crew aboard the Curse. If he was 30-35 then, he could be 35-45 (or more) now, depending on how long ago the Coral Curse was beached.
Oops! again: Must add the number of months (or years?) the Curse was sitting offshore in quarantine while the various people aboard her either died of the yellow fever or recovered. . . .
tuxgeo
Adventurer
Pinning down this middle-aged sailor's Bond to the adventure: #2 sounds more like what I was going for: A former crew member aboard the Coral Curse who somehow survived the disease (reasons for survival to develop during story?), and who had previously been involved in a disastrously failed attempt to find and salvage the wreckage of La Gloriosa, thus having a very personal motive to repair his reputation by making another attempt.
Sometimes my mind tosses out silly ideas when I'm fading in and out of sleep.
Remember the business card of Paladin on "Have Gun Will Travel?"
HAVE GUN WILL TRAVEL
Wire Paladin, San Francisco
In that vein, if this 'Beck' character knew the "Dead Reckoning" Seafarer's Trick, his business card (calling card?) might have said:
Ship Mage For Hire
YOU BECKON, I RECKON
Contact Beck, Nassau
Further silliness: A Ship Mage who knows the "Shape Water" cantrip from the Elemental Evil Player's Companion can form up to an area of water that fits within a 5-foot cube into simple shapes which can be animated (i.e. move about). The range is 30 feet from the caster to the water. That's a volume of water equal to 125 cubic feet. A cylinder is a simple shape, and a cylinder that is 1 foot in diameter has a radius of 1/2 foot, giving it a volume of 0.785 cubic feet per foot of length; so 125 cubic feet of water could be formed into a foot-wide cylinder 159 feet long. That would look like a fire hose to onlookers: a 5-foot cube of seawater forms into a leaning cylinder of water 159 feet long, rising from sea level and leaning over the ship. Then the Ship Mage dismisses the spell as an action, and the water falls back down -- straight down, onto the ship that it is leaning over. This might put out fires aboard ship? (Or it might help remove bilge water if it is cast downward through an open hatch?)
If Flynn O'Rourke was known as "The Firebrand," a Ship Mage with that cantrip might be known as "The Firehose." (I said it was silly.)
And, perhaps, any stray Ontarian nearby might denounce him as, "You Hoser!"
Not nearly so silly: Potential Character Arcs --
(1) Discovering that all that wealth won't buy you health: Watching as Capt. Van Djik and Blackbeard grow older and feebler, and as the character starts to feel the same effects himself.
(2) The Sea Is Big and You Are Small: your vaunted "simple tricks and nonsense" are no match for the power of The Force (of nature). The beginnings of wisdom lie in realizing the extent of your own limitations.
Sometimes my mind tosses out silly ideas when I'm fading in and out of sleep.
Remember the business card of Paladin on "Have Gun Will Travel?"
HAVE GUN WILL TRAVEL
Wire Paladin, San Francisco
In that vein, if this 'Beck' character knew the "Dead Reckoning" Seafarer's Trick, his business card (calling card?) might have said:
Ship Mage For Hire
YOU BECKON, I RECKON
Contact Beck, Nassau
Further silliness: A Ship Mage who knows the "Shape Water" cantrip from the Elemental Evil Player's Companion can form up to an area of water that fits within a 5-foot cube into simple shapes which can be animated (i.e. move about). The range is 30 feet from the caster to the water. That's a volume of water equal to 125 cubic feet. A cylinder is a simple shape, and a cylinder that is 1 foot in diameter has a radius of 1/2 foot, giving it a volume of 0.785 cubic feet per foot of length; so 125 cubic feet of water could be formed into a foot-wide cylinder 159 feet long. That would look like a fire hose to onlookers: a 5-foot cube of seawater forms into a leaning cylinder of water 159 feet long, rising from sea level and leaning over the ship. Then the Ship Mage dismisses the spell as an action, and the water falls back down -- straight down, onto the ship that it is leaning over. This might put out fires aboard ship? (Or it might help remove bilge water if it is cast downward through an open hatch?)
If Flynn O'Rourke was known as "The Firebrand," a Ship Mage with that cantrip might be known as "The Firehose." (I said it was silly.)
And, perhaps, any stray Ontarian nearby might denounce him as, "You Hoser!"
Not nearly so silly: Potential Character Arcs --
(1) Discovering that all that wealth won't buy you health: Watching as Capt. Van Djik and Blackbeard grow older and feebler, and as the character starts to feel the same effects himself.
(2) The Sea Is Big and You Are Small: your vaunted "simple tricks and nonsense" are no match for the power of The Force (of nature). The beginnings of wisdom lie in realizing the extent of your own limitations.
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tuxgeo
Adventurer
Yes. The Druid class is the only one that has access to all eight of the Elemental Evil cantrips. The Wizard class gets seven of them, missing out on Magic Stone.
Edit to add: I have done some rereading of Captain Van Djik's story, and learned more about this 2nd Mate Beck: he drove the slaves whom they had rescued from the Spanish slaver ship down to the galley at gunpoint; and Van Djik clapped then in chains himself.
Er: Sorcerers and Warlocks don't automatically have proficiency with pistols or hand crossbows, though they get proficiency with light crossbows. Would a Ship Mage be proficient with pistols? An officer on a naval vessel would have to obey the Captain about all matters; but on a privateer or a pirate ship, I thought the Captain ruled only in matters of combat. (Or was that during combat, which the encounter with the Acheron was?)
In whichever case, my first inclination would be not to be Beck. Others of the crew of the Curse besides Beck and Van Djik survived the disease; and that gives a prospective character a few years to start advancing in ability and rank by developing a latent talent for magical practice. (He needn't have been 4th level while aboard her.)
The Druid class is the only one that has access to all eight of the Elemental Evil cantrips. The Wizard class gets seven of them, missing out on Magic Stone.Edit to add: I have done some rereading of Captain Van Djik's story, and learned more about this 2nd Mate Beck: he drove the slaves whom they had rescued from the Spanish slaver ship down to the galley at gunpoint; and Van Djik clapped then in chains himself.
Er: Sorcerers and Warlocks don't automatically have proficiency with pistols or hand crossbows, though they get proficiency with light crossbows. Would a Ship Mage be proficient with pistols? An officer on a naval vessel would have to obey the Captain about all matters; but on a privateer or a pirate ship, I thought the Captain ruled only in matters of combat. (Or was that during combat, which the encounter with the Acheron was?)
In whichever case, my first inclination would be not to be Beck. Others of the crew of the Curse besides Beck and Van Djik survived the disease; and that gives a prospective character a few years to start advancing in ability and rank by developing a latent talent for magical practice. (He needn't have been 4th level while aboard her.)
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