Tonguez
A suffusion of yellow
The Island of Truth in Desire
Travelling through the Astral Sea is a brothel known as The Truth in Desire. Operated by a free-willed succubus named Dranika, the brothel is a converted pleasure cruiser originally taken by pirates and sold to Dranika. Dranika employs a harem of psychic dopplegangers, who are renowned for their ability to see into the hearts desires and psychological needs of their clients, and then become those needs. Dranika’s ship is renowned by all factions in the Sea based on the skill and care of her employees and is considered neutral ground. In those rare instances when pirates or ideologists attack The Truth In Desire, any other ship within communication distance will rush to her aid. Just in case, Dranika has contracted with a fomorian mercenary company, who act as guards and troops on the vessel. Dranika is pursued by a demi-god of lust known as Himeron who would enslave her pleasures to his will.
my three questions upon reading this - what does the Truth in Desire look like?, what sort of Jammer is it? and how does another ship dock with it?
How do ‘Jammers Work?
Many different factions sail the Astral Sea, and they use different ‘jammers to do so. All ‘jammers are similar in that each one includes a ship that has been built to accept “commands” from a Helm, and the Helm has been built to accept commands from a Helmsman (aka pilot). That is where the similarities end. Each different faction -- infernal creatures, celestials, abominations, fey, and so on -- has a developed ‘jammer “technology” to best utilize their natural talents and inherent abilities. The Helm is infused with magical energy of a sort easily manipulated by the members of the faction -- tortured souls for infernals, faith for celestials, madness for abominations, and so on -- and the Helmsman uses their skill with that energy to guide the ship throw the Astral Sea. Technically there is no “top speed” in the Astral Sea, but any ship’s maximum speed is dependent upon the power and skill of the Helmsman. BUT, speed isn’t everything. In addition to a Helmsman, every ship needs a Navigator that is knowledgeable about the Astral Sea and its dangers, currents and trade routes. Navigators are not faction specific, because their area of expertise is on the constantly shifting, infinitely expansive geography of the Astral Sea. The Navigator plots the course and tries to avoid everything from planar anomalies to pirates which determines the actual distance, while the Helmsman sets the speed. Together they determine the most important thing: how long travel actually takes.
are Helm and Navigator intended to be fixed roles? what do the other PCs do? can any PCs pick up a Helm and interact with a Jammer?
In the Maritime Rules I use a Ship has 4 sections - Propulsion (Sails/Engines), Steering (Rudder), Hull (Shield/Repairs) and Deck (Crew) each are assigned AC and HP and various actions. The PCs each assign themselves to one of the sections and issues orders accordingly. The Captain is assumed to control the Deck Crew and can send crew to aid different tasks