River Encounters

[Mauther]

Anybody have any pointers towards rules for river adventurers. I'm not looking for encounters, but rather some nice encounter rules. Rules for small boat (raft or canoe) combat, rapids, etc. I see plenty on open water, underwater and naval adventurers, but little about the smaller more pedestrian experience.

Most of the published adventurers I've seen are for galleys and larger, I'm looking for something along the lines of a skiff or large raft.

[Forged Fury]

Reward players for having ranks in Balance (i.e. lots of balance checks).

Possibly adapt the rule for attacking while levitating due to shaking of the craft from all the commotion?
A levitating creature that attacks with a melee or ranged weapon finds itself increasingly unstable; the first attack has a -1 penalty on attack rolls, the second -2, and so on, to a maximum penalty of -5. A full round spent stabilizing allows the creature to begin again at -1.

Not really sure what else, probably depends if the opponents are in the water or in other boats. Movement shouldn't be too much of an issue since the current should carry everyone at a reasonably similar speed.

[myancey]

I totally agree with the levitating house rule above.

That's the best combination I've found. And knowing your standard swimming rules would be good.

Maybe a house rule using balance checks while fighting on the boat. If the second or 3rd character attacks on the raft, everyone in the next round needs balance checks to stay on. If only one character attacks per boat, maybe not as big of a deal.

[Forged Fury]

Oh yeah, if the river is deep enough, make sure to emphasize (repeatedly) how dangerous it may be to wear heavy armor if one doesn't have several ranks in Swim or the ability to breathe water.