Onelung
Villager
Fast Times at High Tide
A Nautical Race Mini-Game for Fantasy TTRPGs
Ingredients: Fast Times, Scary Stickers, Rose-Colored Glasses, Monstrous Carapace, Yuan-Ti Oil, Ante Up
Overview:
The Fast Times race is back!
The buzz this year is unprecedented. Not only are The Iron Masters back after their third consecutive win, but The Warriorz have come out of retirement to reclaim their title!
Per tradition, the third crew are first-timers: The PCs. What is their crew’s name?
A Leg Up:
A fan of the party comes bearing gifts: snacks, cheers, and a unique item: Rose-Colored Glasses. These make the wearer automatically succeed on Morale tests, but they come at a cost: the wearer is unable to detect lies and ill intentions.
Rules:
There are few restrictions for the Fast Times at High Tide race.
Three crews compete for the fastest time. This year, they’ll race down the rapids of the Great Divide, brave jagged boulders at the river’s mouth, and finally sprint to the finish line in the Shallow Sea.
Crews are limited to one ship and three participants.
Magic and underhanded tactics are encouraged!
Ante Up!
Crews bring their own ship to the event. These are the stars of the show and the bounty; by participating, crews agree to Ante Up their ship. Winners take all.
For the sake of simplicity, ships are boiled down to three Stats and their corresponding Parts: Durability (Hull), Navigability (Helm), and Speed (Sails).
Ships need a name, a Strong Stat, a Basic Stat, and a Weak Stat. Strengths and Weaknesses are rolled with (dis)advantage.
Ships will suffer damage; Strong Parts become Basic, Basic become Weak, and Weak become Useless. Tests relying on a Useless Part fail automatically.
The Iron Masters’ “Iron Wind”: Strong Speed, Weak Durability. Secret: their ship has been coated in Yuan-Ti Oil, granting it fire immunity.
The Warriorz’ “M.O.P.”: Strong Navigability, Weak Speed. Secret: their ship is decked out with Scary Stickers (skulls, bones, and deadlines); when a ship tries to overtake The M.O.P., the opposing Pilot must succeed on a Morale Test or freeze.
Race Mechanics:
The race plays out as a mix between a Skill Challenge and a series of contested rolls.
Each Pilot rolls d20s for their Ship (with (dis)advantage when necessary), contested by the other crews’ Pilots. Other members of the crew can do whatever they’d like.
Over the years, a common tactic has emerged: the Pilot has an Assistant (granting advantage / negating disadvantage), and a Saboteur tries to disable the opponents’ crew and/or ship.
Tracking Ship Tokens:
Prepare tokens for each ship. Distances are abstracted as ‘boxes,’ to be tracked on grid paper or similar. Rather than moving tokens forward towards the finish line, Ships fall behind.
Place the tokens at the starting position. After each Section of the race… :
Course Sections:
There are 3 Sections to every Fast Times race. Each Section tests a different Stat.
Merely surviving a Fast Times race is worth celebration, but the winning Crew also gets to leave the race with this year's title and a new ship or two to boot!
A Nautical Race Mini-Game for Fantasy TTRPGs
Ingredients: Fast Times, Scary Stickers, Rose-Colored Glasses, Monstrous Carapace, Yuan-Ti Oil, Ante Up
Overview:
The Fast Times race is back!
The buzz this year is unprecedented. Not only are The Iron Masters back after their third consecutive win, but The Warriorz have come out of retirement to reclaim their title!
Per tradition, the third crew are first-timers: The PCs. What is their crew’s name?
A Leg Up:
A fan of the party comes bearing gifts: snacks, cheers, and a unique item: Rose-Colored Glasses. These make the wearer automatically succeed on Morale tests, but they come at a cost: the wearer is unable to detect lies and ill intentions.
Rules:
There are few restrictions for the Fast Times at High Tide race.
Three crews compete for the fastest time. This year, they’ll race down the rapids of the Great Divide, brave jagged boulders at the river’s mouth, and finally sprint to the finish line in the Shallow Sea.
Crews are limited to one ship and three participants.
Magic and underhanded tactics are encouraged!
Ante Up!
Crews bring their own ship to the event. These are the stars of the show and the bounty; by participating, crews agree to Ante Up their ship. Winners take all.
For the sake of simplicity, ships are boiled down to three Stats and their corresponding Parts: Durability (Hull), Navigability (Helm), and Speed (Sails).
Ships need a name, a Strong Stat, a Basic Stat, and a Weak Stat. Strengths and Weaknesses are rolled with (dis)advantage.
Ships will suffer damage; Strong Parts become Basic, Basic become Weak, and Weak become Useless. Tests relying on a Useless Part fail automatically.
The Iron Masters’ “Iron Wind”: Strong Speed, Weak Durability. Secret: their ship has been coated in Yuan-Ti Oil, granting it fire immunity.
The Warriorz’ “M.O.P.”: Strong Navigability, Weak Speed. Secret: their ship is decked out with Scary Stickers (skulls, bones, and deadlines); when a ship tries to overtake The M.O.P., the opposing Pilot must succeed on a Morale Test or freeze.
Race Mechanics:
The race plays out as a mix between a Skill Challenge and a series of contested rolls.
Each Pilot rolls d20s for their Ship (with (dis)advantage when necessary), contested by the other crews’ Pilots. Other members of the crew can do whatever they’d like.
Over the years, a common tactic has emerged: the Pilot has an Assistant (granting advantage / negating disadvantage), and a Saboteur tries to disable the opponents’ crew and/or ship.
Tracking Ship Tokens:
Prepare tokens for each ship. Distances are abstracted as ‘boxes,’ to be tracked on grid paper or similar. Rather than moving tokens forward towards the finish line, Ships fall behind.
Place the tokens at the starting position. After each Section of the race… :
- The winning Ship stays where it is.
- The middle Ship falls behind one box.
- The losing Ship falls behind one box and suffers an additional consequence, as detailed in each Section.
Course Sections:
There are 3 Sections to every Fast Times race. Each Section tests a different Stat.
- The Sprint (Navigability). The first few seconds of the race are key. This year’s race opens on a series of rapids leading to the mouth of the Great Divide.
- Riding the rapids is no easy feat, testing crew and ship alike; this section tests Navigability.
- The worst-scoring Ship suffers damage to their Helm.
- Crew members might even fall overboard.
- The Mouth of the Shallow Sea (Durability). Famously, the mouth of the Great Divide is riddled with jagged boulders and seastacks. Myths claim that these are the spine of a great behemoth’s Monstrous Carapace. This year’s race will prove that this is no myth... As the ships arrive in this section, the titanic armored crustacean that calls the mouth home rises and attacks.
- Dodging the creature is impossible; this Section tests Durability.
- The losing Ship suffers damage to their Hull.
- Crews might have to fight the carapaced behemoth.
- The Whirlpool (Speed). The finish line is in sight! But the events’ organizers have whipped up a little surprise… As the contestants approach the final sprint, a massive whirlpool opens up, revealing an abyss in the seafloor.
- Going around is out of the question; this Section tests Speed.
- The losing Ship suffers damage to their Sails.
- If the losing Ship is already in last place, they are swallowed into the abyss beneath the Shallow Sea.
Merely surviving a Fast Times race is worth celebration, but the winning Crew also gets to leave the race with this year's title and a new ship or two to boot!
