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Rocket your D&D 5E and Level Up: Advanced 5E games into space! Alpha Star Magazine Is Launching... Right Now!

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Message: <blockquote data-quote="(un)reason" data-source="post: 8893947" data-attributes="member: 27780">Polyhedron Issue 130: June 1998part 3/5Magic For Mariners: There's plenty of real world superstitions about the figureheads of ships. Enchanting one seems another good way to give yourself an edge on the dangerous seas, that could theoretically be transferred from one ship to another if you're the type that loots everything. Just don't try to install more than one at once as I'm sure that violates some rule on item slots. Figureheads of Speed give you a substantial boost in movement rate & manoeuvrability for up to 8 hours a day. Do you use it first thing every day or save it for any dangerous chase scenes that might crop up where it'd really make a difference? Figureheads of Ramming, on the other hand, are definitely going to be saved for a fight, so your only worry is if you have a second one in the same day before you've recharged. Better hope you're not in a place where the rolls for random encounters come too thick & fast. Figureheads of Guidance give you an impression of what lurks beneath the waves. It won't reveal fine detail, but it's more than good enough to easily navigate around rocks, reefs, sandbars and other things that could be a serious nuisance to a careless party. Figureheads of Ferocity buff the combat abilities and morale of the crew rather than affecting the ship itself. Since they can be activated three times a day and last for half an hour each time, it'd take a very busy day indeed to wear out their powers. 6-8 encounters per long rest doesn't really make sense in this edition. Figureheads of the Serpent animate to help you out in a pinch. If you're in a ship with oars they'll turn some of them into smaller snakes as well. Definitely a nasty surprise for any pirates who board you thinking you'll be easy prey. These all seem quite practically useful if your campaign involves lots of sea travel.Strange Bedfellows: Our adventure this month is another one for a specific setting that feels more like an outline than a complete module, at only 4 pages with unusually large borders. We're off to Hogunmark in Birthright to defend the borders against the White Witch and the Blood Skull Barony. In practice, that means an escort quest taking a wizard out into the wilderness and defending him from a couple of wolf attacks while he's in a trance attuning himself to the leylines. That's all that happens. So while there's some interesting backstory stuff here, there's less actual meat to the adventure in 4 pages than most Dungeon Side Treks manage in 2. It badly needs some expansion if it's going to last even a single session. It feels less like something to actually play, and more promotion to remind people that the setting exists and does actually have quite a distinct flavour, since so few of them bought it. This is the writing equivalent of eating candyfloss, all space and no filling. Bestiary: Crustaids are gigantic coral-like creatures with tentacles long and sharp enough to be a threat on a ship combat scale. There are a lot of them around Evermeet and they'll obey the elf queen's commands, which means the safe route for ships to get in and out can be changed easily. Still not an insoluble problem for invaders, particularly if you have a figurehead of guidance from a a few pages back, but a good example of the tricks you can have up your sleeves when you have a country full of near immortal wizards tinkering with biology. This time the decathlon submissions have come up with something both inventive and very specific, which I approve of.</blockquote>

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