[5e] Spell & Crossbones

[MENTION=4936]Shayuri[/MENTION] Sure! DMs love when players offer to do stuff like that :) I also like bribes in the form of dark chocolate with hazelnuts...

Here's what Nia knows: A schooner called The Coral Curse lies beached in Nassau, in need of repair but salvageable. It belongs to Blackbeard who hasn't done anything with it for several months. The ship was turned into a hospital ship when the crew were stricken with yellow fever, then it was attacked by a French navy captain named Jacques Cassard, and so most in Nassau consider it cursed. Nia suspects a djab (dark spirit) embodying pestilence lurks within the ship, simply awaiting the proper voodoo ritual to be exorcised or otherwise dealt with.
 

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[MENTION=6781406]Unsung[/MENTION] Here are the two items I came up with for Gunner Teague...was going to make his chart book magic but then I remembered Teague can't read! LOL But if the bullets are not of interest to you, I will come up with something to swap them out for.

[h3]Son of a Gun Tattoo[/h3]
The "son of a gun" is a one-of-a-kind tattoo depicting a culverin with a wild baby boy riding atop, symbolizing all boys of uncertain parentage born on the gunner's deck to a life at sea. Gunner Teague has worn the "son of the gun" on his skin as long as he can remember, back to his boyhood. When in command of a powder crew (or all powder crews on one side of a ship), you decrease their cannon reload time by a number of rounds equal to your Wisdom modifier. In addition, when you observe a person functioning on a powder crew you immediately recognize their station of birth (social class), their experience as a gunner, and one of their flaws.

[h3]Unchained Bullets of Bon-Ebon[/h3]
Bon-Ebon, the French island-fortress, is notorious for its "shot tower" from which molten lead is poured, forming into lead bullets as it cools on its way to the ground...possibly the origin of the term "sweating bullets." When Teague broke free from his manacles and throttled a guard, the warden had his manacles melted down and cast from the "shot tower" at Bon-Ebon. From the remnant the warden collected 12 bullets which were loaded into a blunderbuss and fired at Teague's back, nearly killing him. Once the prison doctor extracted the bullets, he gave them to Teague as a souvenir when Teague was at last released. These bullets are magical weapons, and when used to free prisoners or slaves (e.g. shooting their bonds or their captives) they grant advantage on your attack roll and deal double damage
 

[MENTION=51930]fireinthedust[/MENTION] [MENTION=6777934]Maldavos[/MENTION] [MENTION=2820]Fenris[/MENTION] where are you guys? I waaannnnnaaaaaaa play!! :D
 

@Quickleaf- Supergreat. Ladies and gentlemen, the hard-workingest DM I know. And the Son-of-a-Gun Tattoo is pretty thoroughly powerful for a ship's gunner, which is the kind of DM generosity that usually foreshadows a boss fight.

Seriously, though: thanks very much.

Shot in the back 12 times-- all at once-- and lived? That's...quite the escape. Surely he must have pitched into the ocean from high atop the fortress ramparts, after the fact. For only through the Sea's intervention could he have survived being dashed upon the jagged rocks. In fact, waking up from that is probably the exact moment when he became a true believer.

If I can make one minor request for an adjustment: he's had the Son-of-a-Gun Tattoo since his early twenties, or maybe late teens. He isn't sure when he got it or who gave it to him, but the timing of it lines up with the last time he saw his young family.
 


@Quickleaf- Supergreat. Ladies and gentlemen, the hard-workingest DM I know. And the Son-of-a-Gun Tattoo is pretty thoroughly powerful for a ship's gunner, which is the kind of DM generosity that usually foreshadows a boss fight.
Uh....ok you caught me ;) My tendency is to throw very difficult encounters at the groups I run for and let the dice fall where they fall. I'm definitely not a "killer DM", but I certainly don't pussyfoot around with combat challenges. And I figure since Lives are in this game, and you're all experienced gamers starting at 4th level that you can handle it!

Shot in the back 12 times-- all at once-- and lived? That's...quite the escape. Surely he must have pitched into the ocean from high atop the fortress ramparts, after the fact. For only through the Sea's intervention could he have survived being dashed upon the jagged rocks. In fact, waking up from that is probably the exact moment when he became a true believer.
Ah, I was thinking that all 12 bullets were loaded into a blunderbuss and fired at the same time something like a shotgun's spray. Heh, I was thinking it explained where his Tough feat came from, but I like your spin on the moment of faith better.

If I can make one minor request for an adjustment: he's had the Son-of-a-Gun Tattoo since his early twenties, or maybe late teens. He isn't sure when he got it or who gave it to him, but the timing of it lines up with the last time he saw his young family.
Sounds good!
[MENTION=8058]Queenie[/MENTION] I want to play too!! Well, using play in the sense of "throw unspeakable horrors of the Abyss at your party" ;)
 

Honestly being hit with a blunderbuss at close enough range for 12 bullets to lodge in his back seems if anything seems all the more impressive. And it's just one of the things that makes Gunner Teague Tough. Just imagine: he used to be tougher.
 

Honestly being hit with a blunderbuss at close enough range for 12 bullets to lodge in his back seems if anything seems all the more impressive. And it's just one of the things that makes Gunner Teague Tough. Just imagine: he used to be tougher.
He's not just Tough, he's Gunner Teague Tough :D
 

[MENTION=8058]Queenie[/MENTION] I want to play too!! Well, using play in the sense of "throw unspeakable horrors of the Abyss at your party" ;)
Eerrr..... :whistles and wanders away...:

Honestly being hit with a blunderbuss at close enough range for 12 bullets to lodge in his back seems if anything seems all the more impressive. And it's just one of the things that makes Gunner Teague Tough. Just imagine: he used to be tougher.
That is badass.

He's not just Tough, he's Gunner Teague Tough :D
rofl!
 

And sometimes late at night,
When I'm bathed in the firelight,
The moon comes callin' a ghostly white,
And I recall,
I recall....


Like a rock. Standin' arrow straight. And Built Ford Tough.

See, that was almost like a pirate shanty for a minute there. :p
 

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