D&D 5E [Let's Read] Seas of Vodari

[Libertad]

This setting shouldn't fall in the oblivion. The books should be bought at least to speculate for collectors. If Entertainment-One paid the rights for a cartoon adaptation in streaming media, it would be a hit. If you liked Red Steel/Savage Coast then you will be happy with this.

Seas of Vodari is currently a Best Electrum Seller on Drive-Thru RPG, which while not among the top-selling products is quite significant for a 3rd-party setting. Its future supplement, Under the Seas of Vodari, raised 85k Canadian dollars (about 70k USD) on KickStarter, so it definitely has an appreciable fanbase.

You do bring up a good point regarding the obscure nature of 3rd party settings. I've been doing my part to shed light on some of the lesser-known ones out there via my High 5e review series. After this one I plan on touching other books that haven't got as much attention and/or discussion. I'm currently working on the Koryo Hall of Adventures, and may do Brancalonia and Grim Hollow sometime in the future. I'm aware that Grim Hollow got a massively successful monster manual KickStarter, but the franchise itself doesn't even have a DTRPG page and doesn't spawn much discussion on most TTRPG spaces I've seen.

 

[Libertad]

Chapter V: Equipment​

This brief chapter covers gear old, new, and reimagined for Seas of Vodari. For armor we have 3 new options: Heavy Leather Coats have the same bonus as Studded Leather but cost a tad more and weigh less, same case in regards to the new Uniform armor juxtaposed against regular Leather. Bucklers are shields that give +1 AC but can be dropped rather than taking an action to remove.

For weapons, we have a bunch of new ones. The boarding axe is a simple light melee weapon that grants advantage on Athletics checks to scale penetrable surfaces, hooks are akin to daggers but deal slashing damage and can be attached as a prosthetic, and bayonets can be attached to a musket to allow for making non-improvised melee attacks dealing 1d6 damage with said weapon in hand.

But that’s not what you’re most likely interested in; let’s talk guns and explosives! Firearms in Vodari are at the flintlock stage of innovation, plus or minus some magical innovations. Firearms fall into simple and martial categories, but classes are differently-proficient. All the classes that are proficient in all martial weapons are proficient in simple and martial firearms, but Druids are not proficient in any firearms. The sole simple firearm is a light pistol that deals 1d8 damage and has a 50/200 range increment. There are four martial firearms: the blunderbuss which deals 1d10 damage and has the same range as a light pistol but can also be filled with shot to do a 1d6 15-foot cone AoE; the 2d6 musket that has the best range at 100/400; dragon pistols which are 1d6 and with a shorter 30/120 range but can use shot like a musket that deals 1d4 damage; and finally the heavy pistol which deals 1d10 damage at a 60/240 range. Interestingly none of the two-handed firearms have the heavy property, meaning that Small races can make use of them. And as for handheld explosives, we have grenados and stinkpots that deal 2d4 fire damage/impose the poisoned condition for 1 round in 5 foot radii respectively. Both are very affordable, with 2 gp per grenado and 1 gp per stinkpot.

Four optional house rules are provided for firearms: ammunition cannot be retrieved intact post-battle, firearms can be audibly heard and thus impose disadvantage on Stealth for 1 round after using, natural 1s foul up the weapon and take an action to clean, and firearms soaked by a significant amount of water jam the weapon in a similar manner that also takes an action to dry out. Those with gunslinger class levels are never subject to the natural 1 misfire rule if in place.

These rules more or less make sense save for the natural 1 misfire. Critical fumbles rarely add anything to the game besides disproportionately harming players, and make such items less appealing to take. In comparison to traditional ranged weapons firearms have some trade-offs: bows and crossbows overall have a superior range and can be more easily used when sneaking and in wet environs. But heavy crossbows and longbows cannot be wielded by Small races, and while of shorter range muskets deal more damage. Furthermore, the pistols can be used in two-weapon fighting and deal a lot more damage than a hand crossbow and have a greater range. When it comes to price only the firearms that have fancy shots (Blunderbuss and dragon pistols) are more expensive than their non-firearm ranged weapons at 100 and 150 gp each, while light pistols are 40 and muskets and heavy pistols at 50. This puts the latter two in line with heavy crossbows and longbows, and hand crossbows are a pricy 75 gp.

In short, Seas of Vodari makes firearms more appealing for player use than some other D&D settings and system clones do, making them more a reasonable default choice than something best used for specialized builds.

We also get a broad list of various kinds of adventuring gear, ranging from aesthetic stuff like bandanas and tri-cone hats as well as more affordable versions of spy glasses (100 instead of 1,000 gp) given the higher technology level and some new tools such as a compass (advantage on checks in determining location/direction) and swimming goggles (double distance you can see in non-dark, non-murky water). We also have prices for firearm ammunition and gunpowder in general: a 10 pound keg costs 20 gp, while a full powderhorn costs 2gp and holds 2 pounds of gunpowder, and specialized canisters for culverins cost 5 to 10 gp. There’s also new musical instruments and gaming sets such as fiddles, guitars, hornpipes, hurdy-gurdy, and cheating devices such as loaded dice and marked playing cards! Finally our chapter rounds out with a list of common trade goods commonly found on merchant vessels: rum, sugar, tobacco, fruit, tea, and even aged whisky and fine wine are presented for that Age of Sail feel! We get a d100 Trinkets table for PCs to roll on to begin play with some interesting knick-knacks that may or may not have a backstory hook.

Chapter VI: Ships & Cannons​

What is a pirate or explorer without a ship and loyal crew? Stranded, that’s what! This chapter provides templates for ships and sample crews, along with cannons and other Age of Sail siege weapons. There’s also Ship Upgrades with sample prices to give some expensive things for PCs to spend their gold on, and finally four sample Ships & Crews to be used for on-the-fly inspiration. There’s no in-depth rules for naval combat, but relevant stats are provided for pertinent aspects, such as how many miles per hour/feet per round a ship can move and the AC, HP, and Damage Threshold of ship hulls, helms, and sails. The hull is more or less the main ‘health measure’ that prevents a ship from sinking, but damage to the helm and sails impairs a ship’s mobility the more damage is taken. Ships in general are statted out like creatures, but they have 0 in all mental ability scores, are immune to poison and psychic damage, and are immune to just about every condition. Some larger ships such as brigantines and galleons can take 3 actions per round a la Legendary Actions provided that they have the requisite crew, most often to move or fire cannons.

We have prices, stats, and sample maps for 9 ships, ranging from more conventional types (brigantine, canoe, galleon, etc) and more exotic options such as an Elven Warship outfitted with magical upgrades, Xolenian submersibles, and Waveskippers which are basically surfboards with sails. While I won’t go over the nitty-gritty, from a casual reader’s view it looks like ship combat can suffer the rocket-launcher tag problem. While the larger vessels have a ton of Hit Points, it’s not uncommon for larger vessels to have sets of cannons. While they do have some downsides, a barrage of a half-dozen to dozen cannonballs can inflict a ton of damage even if half of them miss. In the later monster chapter the book acknowledges the possibility that a PC with such a ship can gain a big advantage when fighting otherwise typical encounters (a giant sea monster is but one creature), and the advice more or less amounts to scaling up strength and numbers than any in-depth improvements.

Speaking of which, cannons range from medium-size swivel guns (2d6) to 8 to 3-pounders which designate the weight of the cannonball. Even the humble swivel gun costs 25 gold, while the cannons proper range from 750 to 3,000 gold and the 32-pounder is too big to support on ships and thus tends to be in coastal fortresses. 8 pounders deal 4d10 and the 12 and 16 pounders +1d10 for each grade up. At 24 pounds the cannonballs deal 8d10 damage, and 32 pounders a mighty 10d10. Ammunition gets expensive, as cannonballs can cost anywhere from 5 silver (1 pound swivel guns) to 8 gold (32 pound), and that’s not counting the gunpowder which can range from 2-6 pounds per shot for the non-swivel guns. Cannons also require one action to reload, one to aim, and one to fire, meaning that a crew of at least 3 per cannon is required to fire them once per round. There’s also special types of ammunition such as a chain and bar shot which is used to destroy sails, grapeshot that acts as AoE shrapnel, and explosive cannonballs that deal AoE fire damage.

In comparison to spells, cannons are expensive and slow, but unlike spells they aren’t limited by Vancian per-day use and can effectively be fired as long as the ammo is there. And given that sailors are far more plentiful than actual spellcasters in the setting, they’re easier to procure and operate.

Ship Upgrades are magical and mastercrafted items that require a set amount of gold (usually a four or five figure sum) and one to four weeks (2d4 for the most involved) to be installed on a ship. Upgrades are divided into categories depending on their function and what part of the ship they occupy. For example, we have hull upgrades that include a shapeshifting hull allowing the vessel to sail upon virtually any surface of water, one that can summon up mists to impose disadvantage on attacks against the vessel, and one that can shift the ship and its crew to the Ethereal Plane. Movement upgrades include mithril sails that grant better AC and less movement losses for damage taken to said sails, while weapon upgrades include arcane cannons that deal magical force damage and thunderstone mangonels* that deal thunder damage instead of the base bludgeoning. Miscellaneous upgrades include a little bit of everything, such as a living mast that grows vines upon its rigging that self-heal the entire ship and lets the ship’s cook cast the Goodberry spell once per day. Another interesting choice is a Ghost-Lantern Bowspirit that has an antique lantern whose light can reveal the forms of undead creatures at night. It can also grant the ship resistance to nonmagical bludgeoning/piercing/slashing damage as a reaction once per day.

*mangonels are catapults detailed in the DMG.

Random Ships & Crews give us a sample d12 table of personalized ship names (the Sparrow Hawk, Luna’s Blessing, etc) accompanied by the ship template type and the NPC type (bandit captain, gladiator, werewolf, etc) of its captain. We have four more involved entries: the Ship of the Damned is a Brigantine ghost ship inhabited by undead and best used as a creepy random encounter. The Arrogant Sage is a Sloop home to wizards and intellectuals turned into Cursed Souls by the Preserver gods for delving into dark knowledge. The Vile Servant is a Sloop full of mercenaries made up of outcasts and criminals on the run, lead by a former Arushi musketeer and an assortment of other crewmates with varying backstories such as a priest who got ousted after finding corruption in the church of Taevara and a chef whose life was ruined by a criminal syndicate in Port Zavros.* Finally there’s the Crimson Hand, a Galleon whose crew miraculously found a safe port in the storm that was a temple of Fortana. They thus dedicated their lives to battling tyranny, spreading freedom and wealth, and honoring the goddess.

*This is a bit of an editing error: the country is called Zavros, but its capital city is Port Zavo.

Thoughts So Far: Overall I find the new gear additions satisfactory. The firearm rules pleasantly surprised me in actually being functional weapons not saddled with downsides, and I really enjoyed the addition of Ship Upgrades. The addition of sample ships and crews along with maps for sample common ship types will be of great use in seafaring campaigns in general. My only real concern is that we don’t really have an in-depth system for ship-to-ship (or ship-to-sea-monster) combat, and it doesn’t solve the common problem of PCs who aren’t pilots or artillerists having nothing substantial to do beyond boarding actions.

Join us next time as we learn eldritch secrets in Chapter VII: Magic Items & Spells!

 

[Libertad]

Chapter VII: Magic Items & Spells​

The bulk of magical understanding and development was lost during the Godwar, so legendary items from that era are highly prized and the contents of more than a few sunken treasure hoards.

We have 27 new ‘standard’ magic items and 8 Relics of the Ancients, legendary items and artifacts made by said civilization and only ever found in lost treasuries or in the possession of Vodari’s power players. I won’t list them all for the sake of brevity, but some of the more interesting ones include: Aurirn Armor and Weapons which are made by said dwarven clan and can function normally underwater regardless of type; a Bag of the Four Winds whose various winds each have their own special abilities that trigger when they move 3 creatures of the user’s choice and have specific names tied in to the setting: Rage wind blows anywhere from Vesi’s Rage and causes confusion, White wind blows from the north and deals cold damage, etc; Cloak of the Cichild grants the ability to breath underwater and a swim speed as well as the ability to fool targets into making the user appear weak, forcing disadvantage on their attacks; Goggles of Daywalking cancel out Sunlight Sensitivity; Necklace of the Shimmering Sea blinds attackers who deal radiant damage to the wearer, making it very situational; Ring of Water Breathing casts the spell on the wearer at will; Sash of Graceful Steps grants +2 to Dexterity saves, Acrobatics, and allows any solid object the wearer can stand on to bear their weight; Second-light Lantern emits a light viewable only in darkvision but can allow the viewing of a full spectrum of colors; Ship in a Bottle is exactly what it sounds like, but when uncorked can summon a full-sized ship of the model’s likeness nearby; Smiling Goddess Coins depict the goddess of luck smiling on one side, scowling on another. The item expends a charge when flipped, adding or subtracting 1d4 to the next attack, save, or ability check depending on whether it lands on the smiling or scowling side. A drop of blood on the scowling side causes that side to smile as well and casts the Bless spell on 2 creatures the next time combat is entered, but the coin’s owner ends up mysteriously losing the item afterwards; the Staff of Tides grants a swim speed and breathing underwater, and can transform into an oar, paddle, or rudder and can expend charges to cast various water-related spells; and the Underwater Firearm, which deals force damage instead of piercing, doesn’t require ammunition or reloading, and can work underwater.

The Trinkets of Dohaki are placed under Relics of the Ancients, but as they’re merely “very rare” and connected to the goddess proper I feel they’re misplaced so I’m including them as their own entry. Basically they are small handheld pieces of iron shaped into the form of a tentacle or tentacled sea-creature. A random 1d10 table has a list of beneficial effects granted to the wielder, invariably related to darkness and deep sea creatures (pseudopod attack, bonus poison damage, see in all forms of darkness, etc). But every time they’re used, the user’s soul is at risk of ending up indebted to Dokahi. This is represented as an increasing score: at the lower levels the influence is subtle, preventing benefits of a long rest when not within 60 feet of the ocean, and at worst the goddess can target the user with a Geas or Dominate Monster at any time they’re anywhere on the Material Plane or Elemental Plane of Water.

For Relics of the Ancients, all but one of them are magical orbs. The Crown of Mental Might grants a massive Intelligence boost (becomes 18 INT or 22 if 18 or higher), along with various ‘know things’ boons: proficiency in all Intelligence skills, can speak/read all languages, cast various psychic-style spells 1/day each. The other Relics are orbs that either can hold up to 7 charges which can be used to cast themed spells (Orb of the Scorching Flame for fire, Orb of the Storm’s Eye for Lightning, etc), or grant the wielder limited control over a particular element for an hour which they can telekinetically move and manipulate (Orb of the Howling Wind for air, Orb of the Swirling Current for Water, etc)

For spells proper we have 20 new ones, including the Spirit Slash cantrip which was detailed proper in the Character Options chapter. We also get a table of spells by class and level, too. The primary caster classes get a relatively even number of 7-8 or so, with the Druid a mere 5 and the Wizard gaining access to 12. Rangers get access to 3, and the poor Paladin can’t learn any of these new spells. 3 are cantrips, and 10 of the non-cantrip ones have increased effects when cast with higher-level slots.

Bone Lock can damage and paralyze targets that have bones; Cat o’ Nine Tails creates an AoE cone of lashing red strands dealing force damage with a concentration duration; Conch Call can awaken targets from slumber and end various mental maladies (Charm, Frightened, Confusion, etc); Coral Grasp summons grasping poisonous coral that can restrain a target and deal poison damage; Crushing Waves summon ice-cold waves that can make targets vulnerable to damage from the spell and deal subsequent bludgeoning damage on further rounds; Ghost Cloak binds the soul of a recently-dead corpse to protect a creature of the caster’s choosing; Grave Pistol conjures a smoky pistol that has infinite ammo and deals necrotic damage bullets or poisonous miasma clouds when fired; Heart’s Desire reveals one of a target’s deeply held desires; Major Mending grants an object or construct touched the lesser of 20 hit points or half of its total hit points (more healed with higher-level slots); Misty Warding imposes disadvantage on the first weapon attack made against a creature benefitting from this spell, and said creature can teleport and melee attack as a reaction; Morto’s Vengeful Eye conjures a movable crystalline eye that deals cold damage on creatures it touches and can alternatively shoot out a blast of necrotic energy; Protection from Water prevents a solid object up to 3 cubic feet from being damaged/extinguished/etc from water for 1 day (becomes permanent if cast every day on the same object for 1 month); Siren’s Lament is a damaging cantrip that deals 1d4-5d4 (level-based) damage in a 15 foot cone on a failed Constitution save and imposes disadvantage on the next INT/WIS saving throw for said creatures; Song of Battle is a cantrip that deals 1d6-4d6 psychic damage and simultaneously grants +1d6 radiant damage on the next attack made by another creature; Soul Shackle binds the caster’s soul to a target, transferring damage and other negative effects to said target for a duration based on the expended spell slot level; Spirit Wind summons a deadly spirit that will attack one creature type, dealing 8d10 force damage and granting one out of a list of boons to the caster or an ally for every creature that dies from such damage; Tero’s Lighthouse causes the caster to emit an aura of bright light that grants allied creatures temporary hit points and imposes disadvantage on foe’s attacks; Tides of Doom allows the caster to emit 60 foot cones that deals 8d6 acid damage every round for up to a minute, with each subsequent cone dealing +1d6 bonus damage for each time it’s used; and True North, a cantrip that when cast on a metal knife or dagger points it in the direction of magnetic north and grants advantage on the next Survival check made for navigation purposes.

Thoughts So Far: The new magical items are neat, and a lot of them have rather broad uses for common character types as opposed to being highly situational. The Relics of the Ancients have an implied psychic elementalist flavor, which give hints as to what kind of power said civilization possessed. The Trinkets of Dokahi are more likely to be treated as cursed items but provide for good adventure hooks for those cursed with power at the expense of self-autonomy under a cruel goddess. The new spells have a mixture of offense and utility, with some of the more utility ones having a more clear use in punishing hostile creatures in some manner. I’m quite fond of Ghost Cloak and Spirit Wind, being pseudo-summoning spells but with a more unique flavor.

Join us next time as we get a bunch of new optional rules and inspirational material in Chapter VIII: Gamemaster Tools!

 

[Libertad]

Chapter VIII: Gamemaster Tools​

This chapter has a little bit of everything on the GM’s side that doesn’t fit anywhere else.

Duels is a new set of rules and advice for those fancy one on one swashbuckling fights you see in things like Pirates of the Caribbean and the Three Musketeers. Dueling is legal in many places in Vodari and can be done for all manner of reasons. A Code Duello that is popular in Arushi sets precedent for the tradition in many other places (in public during daylight hours, use of witnesses to ensure obeying of rules, fighting with the same or similar styles of weapons, etc). While duels can be run as “reduce the enemy to 0 HP,” the book realizes this can drag on so alternatives are provided: Three Touches is for the first person who can successfully connect against the target 3 times,* while To the Blood is where the loser is the first person reduced to half their max HP.

*the book notes that at higher levels with Extra Attack, this can be unsatisfactory.

Furthermore, Duel Points are provided as an optional addition, where they can be spent to impose advantage/disadvantage on attacks and action and can be added pre-battle via an intimidating performance and are lost when hit. Participants don’t start to lose HP until they’re at 0 Duel Points.

These are by no means detailed rules and aren’t really meant to be used for proper combat or in an otherwise traditionally hostile scenario. Duel Points seem more like padding to me in that they can’t be gained during mid-combat and the most they’re spent on is altering die rolls rather than doing new actions and maneuvers which I feel would be best for simulating duels. The outlines on proper dueling etiquette are useful as it helps set the tone for what is considered proper and reasonable in the setting.

New Actions for Combat cover additional things characters can do while fighting. Some of them are attacks, and can replace a single attack in the case of Extra Attacks. Bind Weapon is an Attack, resolved as an attack roll vs a target’s Acrobatics or Athletics, binding an opponent and preventing them from attacking with said weapon or moving unless they drop it or succeed on the opposed roll again. Give Ground is a reaction where you move 5 feet onto non-difficult terrain when struck in melee, reducing the damage by 1d6 albeit the attacker can move into the space you left for free. Tackle is an Athletics or Acrobatics Attack opposed by one of those two rolls by the target. On a success the target is knocked prone (failure knocks the tackler prone) and deals 1 + STR/DEX modifier in bludgeoning damage. Tag is a fancy yet harmless display that demonstrates one’s martial acumen via an Attack with a finesse or ranged weapon. It is resolved as either a Dexterity (Performance) or attack roll contested by Athletics or Acrobatics, imposing disadvantage on saving throws vs the frightened condition if the target fails. Finally, Toss Debris is an improvised ranged weapon attack (can’t be used to replace an Extra Attack) that imposes disadvantage on a struck target’s next attack roll and can blind them on a failed CON save. Tag only affects a target once every 24 hours, while Toss Debris can only be used once per rest.

Overall I like these new actions, although I feel that Tag is a bit weak in that it doesn’t impose damage or a condition so much as makes a target weak towards a specific future condition.

Gambling provides rules for 4 new games of chance and skill. Fortana’s Wheel is a casino game similar to roulette where people place wagers on where a ship’s wheel will land based on 20 colored spokes. Sea Horse Racing is exactly what it sounds like save for the fact that it involves literal aquatic horses swimming around a massive pool. The odds of a certain sea horse winning apply relevant bonuses on a d8 roll that is rolled four times over the course of the race for each participating sea horse. Skulls is played with dice made of bones where the 1 value represents a skull, and players place a wager and win back their amount based on how many ‘skulls’ are rolled in a 3d6. Pirate’s Dice is pretty much Liar’s Dice. The gambling games make use of chance-based rules rather than the use of ability checks, so barring GM fiat or some other kind of manipulation there’s no clear advantage for what happens for a participating PC who is proficient with an appropriate gaming set.

Code of the Sea is an informal set of rules abided by privateers and pirates of all stripes to ensure harmony among crews out at sea. There are some variations and the Code is malleable based on particular circumstances, but people are expected to adhere to the spirit of it nonetheless. There are 12 rules and they include culture-specific variations of Wil Wheaton’s Law (don’t cheat at gambling, don’t break a promise or agreement, don’t fight with crewmates, don’t drink or sleep on the job, etc), but also includes things such as not engaging in 1 on 1 combat with an unarmed foe,* not interfering in duels between honorable people, honor an honorable enemy’s surrender or offer for parley, and so on. Violations of the Code vary depending on circumstance, although keelhauling, marooning, and executions are common forms of punishment

*I kind of wonder how this works in a setting with monks and fantasy races with natural weapons, but I take it that every pirate makes a judgment to their own advantage in such cases.

Visiting Ports is a series of random tables for inns, shops, harbormaster’s offices, adventure hook notices on the harbormaster’s board, sights and sounds on the docks, and other nautical locations to make various port towns feel more alive. I can’t really surmise them without reading out every entry, but there’s a lot of good stuff here. Every inn/shp comes with a name (The Pit, Melindi’s Tearoom, etc) along with the proprietor’s name and race. Every entry that involves a person or people also has a bolded NPC stat block title found in the Monster Manual or this very book if stats are needed.

Seafaring Adventures contains brief rules for weather, random encounters at sea, loot and monsters to be found in the hold of a ship or Captain’s Quarters, and Sea Chases. For the more rulesy entries Weather can alter the speed of a ship as well as visibility, and there are sidebars for various skill and water vehicle tool checks for common actions taken on a ship along with relevant ability scores. For example, sudden evasive maneuvers are water vehicles + Dexterity, while recognizing sea life and natural features is Arcana or Nature + Intelligence. Water Vehicles proficiency is very all-encompassing, and can apply to things beyond just piloting, but it can also add the pilot’s proficiency bonus to the ship’s AC and saving throws. This makes said vehicle tool nigh-essential in naval combat. This isn’t a bad thing mind you; said vehicle proficiency is very common among the new player options in Seas of Vodari, and an entire party lacking such a proficiency is at a clear disadvantage.

Sea Chases are simple: the GM determines how many rounds it takes the pursuer to catch up with the pursued, utilizing the Chase rules found in the DMG. A 1d20 Complication table is provided to add random hazards during the chase, such as hard currents that can slow a ship’s speed, coral reefs which deal a lot of slashing damage if the pilot cannot find an alternate route, a gust of wind that can blow a ship off course, and so on.

Sailing Encounters is a d100 table of 50 encounters, drawn exclusively from the Monster Manual and existing ships in this sourcebook. The scale of said encounters varies wildly. Some are low-level such as a swarm of seagulls with glowing red eyes that use a Swarm of Raven stats or an animated skeleton on a deserted island, while some of the most dangerous encounters can involve a mighty kraken or a mummy lord!

Thoughts So Far: I like the new combat actions and tables for common sights at port. Dueling is a bit simplistic and could use a bit more pizzazz, and the lack of PC skill integration in gambling games is a bit of a letdown. The sample actions for water vehicles and appropriate ability scores is an appreciated addition, and adding one’s proficiency bonus to AC and saving throws helps give a sense of progression on top of Ship Upgrades which I also like.

Join us next time as we check out a rogues’ gallery and bestiary in Chapter IX: Allies & Adversaries!

 

[Libertad]

Chapter IX: Allies & Adversaries​

This chapter is the bestiary of Seas of Vodari, containing 16 new monster entries and 17 new NPC types. Every monster has its own artwork, albeit only 7 NPCs have illustrations. Still, it’s quite a bit of content.

Monsters​

Carnivorous Plant (CR 2) is a species of camouflaged flora that uses tendrils to pull prey into its thorn-filled maw and eventually its acid-filled stomach. For a CR 2 Beast it’s pretty tough, with 82 Hit Points and Multiattack with 3 natural weapons, and can grapple and swallow whole creatures. Its major weakness is its slow speed of 10 feet.

Coral Golem (CR 8) is a construct made from the living foundations of coral reefs. They have a swimming speed and have typical golem traits (berserk, immutable form, etc). For its more offensive traits it can generate acid sprays and an underwater-only cloud that obscures sight and deals poison damage.

Deep Terror Shark (CR 10) is the largest species of shark that dwells in the deepest depths, created as guardians by the Ancients. They are more or less built for melee, having Multiattack and Swallow as well as treating its bite attack as magical, and deals double damage to objects and structures.

Eels (CR 1 to 4) have some more notable species in Vodari. The Rainbow Eel is a magical animal that can shoot a pair of prismatic rays akin to a lower-powered Prismatic Spray spell, while Vampire Eels have toxic sucker-maws it can use to attach to a target, dealing automatic damage as well as giving the target the poisoned condition if detached against its will. A swarm of vampire eel hatchlings are in fact more dangerous statwise than an individual adult, acting as a swarm but lacking the adult’s toxic attack.

The Glass Menagerie (CR ½ & 6) are the creations of the mysterious Glass Knight. The Knight and its transparent entourage wage a war against the Mistwalkers of the Pernicious Citadel for unknown reasons. Glass Bears are strong bruisers, being much like a mundane bear save that it can emit a roar of razor-sharp blinding glass, can heal if exposed to cold attacks, and deals more damage as its hp decreases due to its form fracturing. Glass Foxes are more fragile hunters, capable of teleporting between mirrors it can summon.

Kallidus (CR 0 to 7) are a variety of intelligent psychic fish with enlarged craniums. Although nearly defenseless physically, they can issue psychic commands to non-intelligent sea life and perform minor telekinesis, which they use to scavenge and build technologically advanced devices. Kallidu Walkers are Large-sized bipedal constructs equipped with a hook and morningstar it can Multiattack with, while Kallidu Crawlers look like mechanical crabs that can shoot a variety of beams: eldritch beams deal force damage, fear beams cause the Frightened condition, and paralyzing beams paralyze.

Mist Otters (CR 2 & 6) are fey enhanced by the ambient energies of the nearby Pernicious Citadel, originally serving the original master but now pledged in service to the tower’s new archmage. Misty River Otters can summon shrouds which force disadvantage on attacks against them as well as attack with a poisonous mist tendril in addition to its natural bite attack. Misty Sea Otters are far larger, possessed of an insatiable hunger where they deal maximum results on their damage dice if they haven’t consumed ¼th their body weight in food within 24 hours. In addition to a Fey Pelt that grants them advantage on saves vs magic, they are otherwise bigger and badder versions of River Otters.

Sea Dragons (CR 2 to 21) originally hail from the Elemental Plane of Water, being territorial and greedy creatures fond of attacking merchant vessels. They are true dragons who have stat blocks for the four major age groups. In addition to typical dragon capabilities and attacks they have a swim speed and their breath weapon can either be a cone of scalding steam or blinding brine that can push targets away.

The names of Sea Monsters (CR 1 & 5) is actually a term for a specific Loch Ness-style creature rather than a broad variety of species. They are solitary good-natured, good-aligned creatures who won’t attack unless provoked. Due to their low numbers they are overprotective of their children, sometimes even kidnapping children of the humanoid races if unable to find a mate. Both the Baby and adult versions are primarily sea-based (slow land speed, good swim speed) and possess a bite attack and limited telepathy that can transmit simple messages and images. Adults can Multiattack with their bite to attack twice, a third time if a creature harms or comes within 60 feet of its children.

Skeletons (CR ¼ to 3) cover the types of undead found among a ghost ship’s crew, often cursed by some aquatic civilization or treasure not meant to be unearthed. Pirate Captain Skeletons have typical skeleton traits but more Hit Die, wear actual armor, can Multiattack and Parry as well as launch a necrotic death bolt as a ranged attack. Pirate Skeletons attack with cutlasses and light pistols, while Two-Headed Pirate Skeletons can Multiattack twice with cutlasses and once with a heavy pistol. All 3 skeleton types have Undead Fortitude where they can avoid dropping to 0 HP by succeeding at a Constitution save vs a non-critical, non-radiant attack.

Wereorca (CR 8) or Orcana as they call themselves mostly live on the imaginatively-named island of Orca. They are split into three major tribes, and are unique among lycanthropes in that they retain their free will and alignment. One becomes a wereorca either by having two wereorca parents or completing a series of sacred trials. They are very tough creatures, being outright immune to non-magical, non-silvered physical attacks and can shapechange into a large killer whale form in addition to a hybrid one. They can Multiattack in said forms and gain Pack Tactics like a wolf (advantage on attacks when in 5 feet of an ally).

Weresharks (CR 7) are more typical Chaotic Evil cursed lycanthropes who are solitary predators. Sharkfin Island is their only known permanent colony, and they favor ambush and guerilla attacks. They can shapechange into a Large shark or hybrid form, and have advantage on melee attacks vs creatures with less than maximum HP like a real shark. They also deal 4d6 damage when they surprise a creature when combat begins, and can Multiattack with a bite and spear; or scimitar, the text makes reference to the latter but there’s only stats for the former in the stat block.

Both lycanthrope types have rules for PCs who become wereorcas/sharks. Both raise their STR to 18 unless it’s higher and gain +1 AC when in animal or hybrid forms. Wereorcas can hold their breath for far longer than usual (as can the monster type), while weresharks are amphibious.

White Whale (CR 16) is a 300 foot long albino whale that can swallow whole ships which quickly digest in its acidic gullet, and the legend of the creature inspires many foolish people to try and hunt it. It is pretty much a gigantic melee-based creature which can swallow enemies whole, but also has Legendary actions to make additional attack and swallow attempts or generate a damaging AoE Tsunami by slapping its tail against the surface of water.

There’s a sidebar for “Battling Gargantuan Aquatic Monsters,” discussing how to handle ship-to-monster combat. Well, guidelines more like. First is that given many larger ships have a lot of cannons, the GM should throw monsters of higher CR than they otherwise would. Second, decide during combat whether it will attack the creatures on deck or the ship itself, adjusting its CR for when it ‘wastes’ turns not attacking the PCs. Finally, monsters should dive at the end of their turns to avoid above-water attacks. More guidelines and suggestions than a holistic rebalancing of things.

Beasts (CR 0 to 1) covers a trio of mundane animals. Huge Crabs are the only real threatening entry, hard-shelled creatures with a pair of claws that can grapple a target. Monkeys and Parrots are CR 0 creatures which are common pets among pirates and sailors.

Non-Player Characters​

The majority of these stat blocks are NPC’d versions of the new subclasses in Chapter IV. NPCs are uniformly low-CR, ranging from fractional values up to 6, with 11 out of 17 being CR ⅛th to 3, and most have Multiattack even when their inspired class do not. There’s a stat block for every new subclass barring the Sniper Gunslinger, Nature Bard, Spirit Domain Cleric, Deep Druid, Way of the Wild Monk, and Oath of Discovery Paladin. They’ve been shorn of much of their class features, often given a few simplified traits of most immediate use in combat and encounters with the PCs. I do have to call out one particular stat block, and that is the Warlock of the Council (CR 5).

They are 9th-level warlocks who also have Innate Spellcasting, giving them a wide variety of utility magic while relying upon their Eldritch Blast as their major damaging attack. They also have a limited version of the subclass’ protective Ward granting them resistance and +1d4 bonus damage of that type...although as their only real damaging attack is an Eldritch Blast is kind of useless given they cannot resist force damage. They can attack three times in melee with a Multiattack cutlass for some reason, too, despite being an inferior option. Not exactly the best-designed NPC, this one.

Interestingly we do have some entirely new entries. Elemental Masters (CR 6) are monks in tune with the four elements. They are nimble fighters who Multiattack with unarmed strikes and darts, and once per turn can do an Elemental Strike that deals bonus damage of a specific type and a potential secondary effect: earth grants the master resistance to nonmagical physical attacks, wind pushes struck targets away, fire deals a bunch of bonus fire damage, and water can knock a target prone. Pirates (CR ½) are the expendable “bandit hordes” of Seas of Vodari; they don’t have much in the way of special abilities besides Sea Legs that grant them advantage on checks and saves to avoid being knocked prone. Sailors (CR ⅛) are like Pirates but weaker in every way. Sea Captains (CR 3) represent all manner of officers and leaders aboard a ship. They can Multiattack with a combination of melee and ranged weapons, have Sea Legs like Pirates and Sailors, and once per day can bark out Captain’s Orders to allow an ally to make an attack as a reaction.

Thoughts So Far: There’s a good list of monsters and NPCs that can be helpful in giving some local flavor to the setting. Most options trend heavily to the lower-level, with precious few options for Tier 3 (11+ level) campaigns. Then again, the vast majority of campaigns are low-level so this isn’t as big of a downside. I’m quite fond of the Kallidus, as they can be alternatively silly or scary depending on whether the GM is more inspired by Junji Ito’s Gyo or Bob the Killer Goldfish from Earthworm Jim.

Join us next time as we wrap up this review with a Starter Adventure in Chapter X!

 

[Libertad]

Chapter X: Starter Adventure: The Island with No Name​

This adventure is meant to introduce players to the Seas of Vodari, suitable for 4 1st level PCs. A classic treasure hunt with a dangerous island temple, the backstory is that fifty years ago a pirate captain known as Blackheart decided to hide his ill-gotten wealth on a deserted island. As said land was home to a set of ancient ruins in the middle of a jungle, it was deemed a suitable spot. Unfortunately the ruins were once a temple dedicated to Morto, god of necromancy and secrets. The deity’s dread influence wormed its way into Captain Blackheart’s mind which caused the crew to fall to betrayal and infighting. Voyce Fayette, the sole survivor, sailed away on a longboat, his former companions now animated skeletons forced to guard the island for eternity.

Voyce Fayette comes into contact with the PCs via some other appropriate adventure hook (he’s part of the PC’s crew, the PCs find him in a tavern looking to put together a group, etc) and learn about the island’s location and its treasure via his map and journal. The only captain of note willing to sail to such a location is Magnolia “Mags” Montrésor, who accepts the job for either 500 GP* or a share of recovered treasure. She has a crew of nine who all have referenced stat blocks (Scout, Sailor, Pirate, etc), including an Awakened parrot by the name of Polly, and the captain herself is a CR 1 character with low-level Rogue abilities (Sneak Attack, Uncanny Dodge, Cunning Action). Unfortunately there are others who caught on to Fayette’s knowledge, a disreputable pirate-turned-local-gangster known as Theoban Taggart who sends a group of five thugs to ambush the PCs at the docks. Regardless of how the party handles the encounter (and may even learn about Taggart’s plans as a result) the wily scoundrel will show up later in the adventure.

*It’s unlikely 1st level PCs have this kind of money.

Once it comes time to leave port (and said port has a small selection of sample shops and NPCs with brief lines of personality for pre-adventure shopping), the party’s next major encounter is a violent storm at sea. It is resolved as a communal skill challenge where for two rounds every PC has to perform a DC 13 task, with the skill/tool/spell attack roll based on what they can justify in keeping the crew and ship safe. Failures cause 4d10 damage to the ship on average rather than the PCs and crew proper, and getting more failures than successes imposes a further 8d10 damage. As Mags’ ship (the Albatross) is a Sloop whose Hull has 250 hit points, it’s unlikely to be completely demolished, but even if it is, the PCs will arrive shipwrecked on the Island with No Name but in need of finding another way off once the adventure’s done.

Mags’ crew will set up a camp on the beach while the PCs scout out the jungle, but not before a giant crab attacks; said monster will be trivial to handle, as while the PCs are fragile 1st levelers they have the action economy of allies on their side. The jungle itself has an automatic quicksand hazard and the possibility of a random encounter if the party is unable to make a DC 10 Survival check to avoid getting lost. Said encounters mostly consist of fractional CR animals, although a Carnivorous Plant is a potential option (12 on a d12) and is certainly going to kill at least one PC unless the party runs away.

The adventure at this point offers the opportunity for rest at a stream and that the PCs should have enough XP for 2nd level, or level them up automatically if using the milestone rules. The next bit of the adventure is a proper dungeon crawl in the Temple of Morto! After dealing with a patrol of pirate skeletons outside, the Temple proper is a 5-6 room dungeon. The entrance is trapped with poisoned spike darts and more pirate skeletons, while the doors further past the entrance are Arcane Locked. A key that can disable said locks is found in a room with a magical fountain that can compel the party to drink from it on a failed Wisdom saving throw. The water bestows a variety of conditions ranging from the positive (heal HP, gain advantage on the next attack/ability/save roll, etc) to the negative (take damage, have a swarm of insects fly out of your mouth, etc). The key to this room is found after at least half the party has drunk from the fountain and five minutes have passed; the first person to take a drink vomits up the key.

This is bad design. There’s no other indication of obtaining the key, and a party may very well have made their saves or restrained their fellows to not drink the water. And given that 2nd-level PCs don’t really have adequate ways of getting past an Arcane Locked door made of stone, this can very well cause a softlock without GM Fiat.

One other room in the dungeon contains an animated bearskin rug with the stats of a Brown Bear, and the final room contains the skeleton of Captain Blackheart (Pirate Captain Skeleton stats) who fights the PCs after briefly telling them about the curse and treasure. The fight’s difficulty alternates based on how well the party is doing: Persuasion checks can be made to confuse Blackheart and force him to take the Dodge action instead of more offensive options for 1 round. If a party manages to deal 32 or more damage in a single round to him (half his HP) then 2 Pirate Skeletons join the battle.

The treasure hoard consists of ~1,400 GP worth of coins and fancy objects: a pouch full of small gems indicates that they’re worth 50 GP each, but the exact number is not given. There’s also a spyglass and compass, 2 Potions of Healing, and a Ship in a Bottle. I like the magical item placement; they’re clearly meant to help a party who suffered a bad run earlier on. Not only can they heal themselves up, they also get either a new ship to escape or a cool magical back-up one to use in emergencies.

Unfortunately Captain Blackheart’s a load-bearing boss: Morto’s displeased at the loss of his guardians and begins to collapse the temple, forcing a Dexterity save each minute as rocks fall from tremors. Beyond that, the adventure suggests the possibility of more pirate skeletons and/or Taggart’s crew waylaying the party as they get back to the beach depending on their overall strength and resources.

The adventure ends with a set of open-ended suggestions: the PCs take to the seas to wherever the winds of Aerako blow them, mounting a rescue attempt of Mags’ crew taken hostage by Taggart, or even Mags betraying the party and teaming up with Taggart to take the treasure for themselves!

Our book ends with two Appendices, the first organizing the new monsters and NPCs by type, challenge rating, and location, while the second is a list of common nautical terms.

Thoughts So Far: The adventure hits many thematic notes for Seas of Vodari by mixing them up with typical D&D tropes. The pre-jungle parts of the adventure are ‘low-lethality’ while still having some stakes: Taggart’s thugs on the docks won’t kill the PCs but squeeze information out of them on a loss, while the storm at sea robs the PCs of a ship rather than a TPK if there are too many bad die rolls. Things don’t get real dangerous until the jungle trek and temple, which is good for first-time players getting a feel for the system.

Concluding Thoughts: I feel conflicted-to-positive on Seas of Vodari, and it is a stellar book for a company’s first big project. A lot of the material can be adapted towards other campaigns of a nautical nature, and much of its mechanical options do a great job in supporting character concepts and adventures centering around a traveling ship’s crew. The art style is an acquired taste but it makes the book stand out more, the sample setting has plenty of adventure opportunities, and I’m pleasantly surprised at seeing Renaissance firearm rules that I’d actually want to use in D&D.

That being said, there are many smaller concerns I have with the book. While individually none of them are enough to make the product a nonsell, they add up to the point that gaming groups would need to change and/or add things to make certain aspects workable. Most notably the lack of a dedicated naval combat system and the varying degree of quality in the new PC options, as well as some half-measures which make things feel incomplete. The threadbare rules on dueling and handling ship combat vs sea monsters as particular standouts. At 270 pages I by no means feel cheated, as the book has a little bit of everything, but I still would have liked more in certain areas.

As usual I thank everyone who read this far. I am currently debating whether to review Sprawlrunners, a Shadowrun with the serial numbers filed off for Savage Worlds, or Koryo Hall of Adventures, a 5e/PF/OSR setting based on Korean fantasy and history.

 

[CleverNickName]

Here's a vote for Koryo, if you're taking suggestions.

 

[Davies]

Make that two votes for Koryo. I picked it up when it came out but haven't had time to read it yet.