Hello. I ran a campaign a while back called "The Green Isles." It was an island campaign that drew on a variety of sources for its inspiration. I used a bit of anthropology to provide me with the natives (copious drawings of kinship charts to be sternly explained to my one "Ulo-Kawai" player, detailed explanations of matrilocal patrilineal moities); also from anthropology courses, I tried to create an early colonial society of elves and suchlike on the model of the Spanish conquest of the carribean, complete with slave-worked plantations; I had also read a bit about pirates, and tried to create the setting to best foster that sort of thing that I could. The storyline was actually a high political drama, partly because one of my players (who had never played before) made the bold decision of playing a runaway noble bride... which had immediate consequences on the story of the campaign. And I stubbornly kept trying to start a war, to add to the drama...
Looking back, I was always most disappointed about the sea battles. They didn't seem as exciting as they ought to. Most battles followed this format:
1. Pirates sighted at distance x zillion on a clear day.
2. Pirates begin pursuit, players begin flight.
3. A faster pirate vessel begins to overtake the pc vessel.
4. Shooting ensues. (ships move 10 feet closer together)
5. Repeat step 4 ad infinitum.
6. Melee rarely occurred.
Mostly this was due to an unimaginative, rather military-tactical idea of actual high seas combat on my part. I read this thread and it caused me to re-imagine the possibilities for sea battles, particularly the third post by Celebrim.
http://www.enworld.org/forum/genera...ing-outdoors-encounters-more-interesting.html
So my battles were mostly step 4.
Here's six ways I would try running an encounter this time:
1. SMALL, LOCAL VESSELS
Within 15 miles of port or so, the traffic would pick up considerably as compared to out at sea. This is partly scenery, partly useful information for the party (that's a fishing boat, but there's no village marked on our map), and perhaps an opportunity for any sort of interactions.
2. NON-PIRATICAL, OCEAN-GOING VESSELS
Who were the pirates supposed to be hunting? Of course (and this holds true for all of the encounters that follow) they would not be immediately identified as such. They would be "a vessel". At around 600 feet you might be able to identify the type of vessel. At perhaps 400 feet you would see the sails, at 200 the flag, and at 100 could make firm identifications of the crew. So if a vessel drifting around, or travelling a high-seas course, and it gets spotted on the horizons, the party must first ask what it is and what it's doing there. If the vessel does not approach the party's ship, do the party attempt to intercept, for noble or malign designs?
2. ACTUAL PIRATES
Most sea encounters were this, as they tended to feature highly on my "adventure objectives" lists that formed part of the creative process. Remember that piracy is a business. Minimise losses, maximise profits. So the pirates would not even WANT a battle if they could secure surrender. They might approach under a false, perhaps friendly, flag, offer to parley, and as soon as the happy PCs pulled up alongside, twenty orcs spring out of hiding and board them. Most parties will surrender (which would be a funny experience to put them through). Of course, the players would be aware of this risk and would be making all kinds of spot and search checks to see if anything was "strange" about this ally. If they resorted to the "fire and flee" response illustrated above, the pirates would return fire and overtake from a much shorter, and more manageable, distance than at maximum sight range.
The pirates might also stalk the players for days, wait for them to anchor by shore for water and other supplies, and ambush them on shore. They might pretend to be a vessel in distress, and lure the party to them. Or they might be returning from a previous voyage. They would ignore the party (can't carry any more booty, doesn't look worth it anyway!) but the party might decide to do a good deed by the Prince of the Isles and hunt them down (and "liberate" the treasure).
4. MORE SEA-MONSTERS
I had some aquatic ghouls attack the ship while most of the party was several miles ashore. It was fun, mostly because it caught them at a really vulnerable moment and made them teriffied of too-peaceful looking natural harbours. I had more plans for this, by requiring the party to make a diving expedition, but I never got to pull it off.
I would have liked for them to have to go through the lairs of coastal monsters, through the waters frequented by flying or swimming creatures, and get attacked by all of them. Perhaps even a decent-sized shark would have been good. Remember Jaws? While a high-CR sea-monster would simply gobble the party, a large shark would first have to batter the ship appart with repeated ramming attacks. The party would have to meet up on the deck and face the unfortunate conclusion. They were safe on the boat, but once they hit the water it would win. If it were a big enough beast, convincing it to stop might be a problem that would require creative, not necessarilly brute force, solutions. (DUMP THE MEAT RATIONS!)
Looking back, I was always most disappointed about the sea battles. They didn't seem as exciting as they ought to. Most battles followed this format:
1. Pirates sighted at distance x zillion on a clear day.
2. Pirates begin pursuit, players begin flight.
3. A faster pirate vessel begins to overtake the pc vessel.
4. Shooting ensues. (ships move 10 feet closer together)
5. Repeat step 4 ad infinitum.
6. Melee rarely occurred.
Mostly this was due to an unimaginative, rather military-tactical idea of actual high seas combat on my part. I read this thread and it caused me to re-imagine the possibilities for sea battles, particularly the third post by Celebrim.
http://www.enworld.org/forum/genera...ing-outdoors-encounters-more-interesting.html
So my battles were mostly step 4.
Here's six ways I would try running an encounter this time:
1. SMALL, LOCAL VESSELS
Within 15 miles of port or so, the traffic would pick up considerably as compared to out at sea. This is partly scenery, partly useful information for the party (that's a fishing boat, but there's no village marked on our map), and perhaps an opportunity for any sort of interactions.
2. NON-PIRATICAL, OCEAN-GOING VESSELS
Who were the pirates supposed to be hunting? Of course (and this holds true for all of the encounters that follow) they would not be immediately identified as such. They would be "a vessel". At around 600 feet you might be able to identify the type of vessel. At perhaps 400 feet you would see the sails, at 200 the flag, and at 100 could make firm identifications of the crew. So if a vessel drifting around, or travelling a high-seas course, and it gets spotted on the horizons, the party must first ask what it is and what it's doing there. If the vessel does not approach the party's ship, do the party attempt to intercept, for noble or malign designs?
2. ACTUAL PIRATES
Most sea encounters were this, as they tended to feature highly on my "adventure objectives" lists that formed part of the creative process. Remember that piracy is a business. Minimise losses, maximise profits. So the pirates would not even WANT a battle if they could secure surrender. They might approach under a false, perhaps friendly, flag, offer to parley, and as soon as the happy PCs pulled up alongside, twenty orcs spring out of hiding and board them. Most parties will surrender (which would be a funny experience to put them through). Of course, the players would be aware of this risk and would be making all kinds of spot and search checks to see if anything was "strange" about this ally. If they resorted to the "fire and flee" response illustrated above, the pirates would return fire and overtake from a much shorter, and more manageable, distance than at maximum sight range.
The pirates might also stalk the players for days, wait for them to anchor by shore for water and other supplies, and ambush them on shore. They might pretend to be a vessel in distress, and lure the party to them. Or they might be returning from a previous voyage. They would ignore the party (can't carry any more booty, doesn't look worth it anyway!) but the party might decide to do a good deed by the Prince of the Isles and hunt them down (and "liberate" the treasure).
4. MORE SEA-MONSTERS
I had some aquatic ghouls attack the ship while most of the party was several miles ashore. It was fun, mostly because it caught them at a really vulnerable moment and made them teriffied of too-peaceful looking natural harbours. I had more plans for this, by requiring the party to make a diving expedition, but I never got to pull it off.
I would have liked for them to have to go through the lairs of coastal monsters, through the waters frequented by flying or swimming creatures, and get attacked by all of them. Perhaps even a decent-sized shark would have been good. Remember Jaws? While a high-CR sea-monster would simply gobble the party, a large shark would first have to batter the ship appart with repeated ramming attacks. The party would have to meet up on the deck and face the unfortunate conclusion. They were safe on the boat, but once they hit the water it would win. If it were a big enough beast, convincing it to stop might be a problem that would require creative, not necessarilly brute force, solutions. (DUMP THE MEAT RATIONS!)
Last edited:
