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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Manbearcat" data-source="post: 6484279" data-attributes="member: 6696971">When the PCs of my game are going to undertake a perilous journey of some kind (such as a seafaring expedition through the tropics to Island X), I would make sure to do the following:1)  Clarify the stakes of the greater conflict.2)  Make sure I understand the PCs goals.3)  Generate a small list of thematic conflicts that serve as the journey's antagonism.  Most of the time this is pretty spontaneous, but sometimes I'll have some advanced notice.In your case, for 3, I would consider the following potential conflicts in putting pressure on the PCs until the scene resolves itself:a)  Mutinyb)  Terror from the depths; sea monster of some ilk, Sahauginc)  Rogue waved)  Hurricanee)  Piratesf)  AdriftF wouldn't be a potential conflict except for as fallout that must be managed due to a negative result in conflicts B - E.  E might lead from A or A from E if the fiction warrants it.  B, C, D are entirely self-contained and can be grabbed as required to keep the pressure on the PCs.  Regardless, the snowballing of any one of A-F could lead to the loss condition being met, "a failed voyage and the likely loss of the ship (either to the bottom of the sea or wrested from the captain's grip)."In 4e, you can treat the voyage as its own discrete (likely complexity 5; 12 success, 4 secondary skills, 6 advantages, 8 moderate/4 hard DCs) Skill Challenge (this is what I'd do) or, if you are so inclined, you could grab 3 or so of the above conflicts and run them as their own discrete scenes.Regardless of how you handle it, I've always found that the best way to engage each player is to have a broad exposition of the scene, framing the whole in the conflict.  Then, isolate each PC and put specific trouble right in their face NOW that they have to deal with.For instance, Rogue Wave?  I'm probably going to have the ship yaw wildly suddenly and demand that they roll a Group Acrobatics Check.  Success?  Ok.  Jack the Fighter, a sickening crash draws your eyes to a few barrels that have come loose from their tie-downs and begin to roll.  If that weight makes it to the far side of the ship, capsizing is likely!  Dana the Druid, suddenly, the heavy lanterns hanging off the mast have come crashing down, catching fire to the linen mainsail!  Wally the Wizard, you see the ship's helmsman is in a panic, has abandoned his post and is heading for the life-rafts.  Without his expertise and leadership, the men handling the sails won't be able to recover the ship from its death-roll!  And obviously there is an opportunity to rescue men overboard or for the players themselves to recover from being cast overboard.  Players declare actions (which may involve secondary skills, advantages, primary skills, at-wills/encounters/dailes) and resolve them.  The fiction changes as a result of how each "panel" resolves itself.  Once the Rogue Wave conflict is resolved, there may be some fallout to deal with.  During that transition, the players may need to moralize the crew, assert their own leadership, make repairs to the ship (again declaring actions, deploying resources, resolving).  Another action scene ensues (perhaps a few days into the future) when the Mutiny erupts due to lack of strong command and control during the Rogue Wave sequence (or something else happens).  Finally the win or loss condition is met and the players goals are achieved or whatever was at stake is lost or compromised.That is pretty much how I handle such things.  I pretty much just handle it off the cuff with firm conflicts/antagonism in mind, clear stakes and goals, frame the scene, challenge players directly, initiate resolution procedures, rinse/repeat and find out what happens.</blockquote>

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