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View Full Version : Need to see a lizardman about a boat



Bosaxon
2007-08-02, 03:42 PM
Players of an upcoming game in Morgantown with Bo Saxon as your future DM keep out. Thanks guys.








Anyway, I'm planning on running a seafaring/island-hopping game and want to give the players their own ship. However, I'm not sure how good my idea for them earning the ship really is. Basically, they hear about the semi-discarded ship(they hear about it from the former captain's wench lover) in a bog that meets with the ocean when it storms. However, a tribe of lizard folk has taken up residence in the thing. So, my idea would be for them to make their way to the bog, locate the ship, and attack those within. However, once they lay claim to the ship, they realize that it's pretty much unsailable at that point, so they'll have to stay the night and return with supplies. Sometime during the night, a somewhat large raiding party of lizardfolk return to reclaim their home. Now, we're looking at a 6 member lvl 3 or 4 party vs. 10 to 20 lizardfolk. Access to the ship could be limited if the players play smart, and the mounted weapons (I'm thinking ballista and a great bombard) are still in working order...

Or, would a better idea be the ship being sailable for a short term (such as going back to the city for repairs) but secured to it's current location and unsecuring and defending it while the bog meets the ocean and fills for their getaway.

The_Werebear
2007-08-02, 04:12 PM
I would go for the option of limited functionality, but they have to wait for the tide to come in before the water is deep enough to escape. That could even be the reason the boat wrecked in the first place, captain came in during low tide and got stuck.

Bosaxon
2007-08-02, 04:13 PM
Actually, the captain was a kobold pirate....

very long backstory.

Zaeron
2007-08-02, 06:25 PM
I DM'd a seafaring game once, for about a year.

IMO, the most important thing about games like that is to keep the action focused on the ship. Of your two options, I would pick the second. It adds a great deal of tension. "The water's rising! Someone get to the wheel! Hurry!"

You want to mix in 'ship-y stuff' with the combat too if you can. The fighter fending off Lizardfolk as the rogue does whatever it is you do with sails, etc. It's not important that you know a lot about ships, just be vague. There's always a player who knows more than you do and will turn the session into a lecture about medieval sailing vessels if given half a chance

Koji
2007-08-02, 07:00 PM
Give them a full-blown ship with full capability and no weapons. If they say, "We're selling it," simply decide that that ends the adventure as they are out of luck without it.

Arms and Equipment guide has some rules for addons, and Stormwrack does too. Once you get some weapons on the thing, it plays a little bit like Skies of Arcadia, which is very fun. Skill checks to use weapons and pilot the ship make things seem a lot more character-focused. Don't forget crazy sea monsters! I had my group fight a half white dragon dire shark, and it would hit them from below, or occasionally fly up out of the water in order to use its breath attack (which was the best time to hit it with the ballistae).

Bosaxon
2007-08-02, 07:02 PM
Thanks for the advice. Anyone else? Feel free to pipe in.

Bosaxon
2007-08-02, 07:06 PM
Give them a full-blown ship with full capability and no weapons. If they say, "We're selling it," simply decide that that ends the adventure as they are out of luck without it.


A third of the group would have nothing to do if they sold it. One's building toward Legendary Captain, the second is wanting to play a siege engineer gnome. Hope the second guy knows about the -6 for small size.

bugsysservant
2007-08-02, 07:15 PM
Conceptually I like the idea, but I don't really understand why lizardmen would sleep in a ship. Since swamps are their native habitat, it seems logical that they would prefer them to the cramped quarters of a ship. Rather I would have the lizardmen steal the ship from someone they kill, and use it to smuggle. This way, the PCs can kill lizardmen without moral issues, since they are smugglers and thieves. I would also throw in some extenuating factors that prevent them from sailing, like a scroll of control weather cast by the lizardmen's leader to create a storm. That way the PCs have to sneak aboard, but then have to hold the ship till the storm lets in the morning. Plus, a storm is a great way to set the scene for other nautical occurences.

Mike_Lemmer
2007-08-02, 07:23 PM
A beached ship would be easier to defend in hostile territory.

What if the players try to convince the lizardman tribe to be their crew?

Bosaxon
2007-08-02, 07:33 PM
Conceptually I like the idea, but I don't really understand why lizardmen would sleep in a ship. Since swamps are their native habitat, it seems logical that they would prefer them to the cramped quarters of a ship.

good point. I just used them for low level humanoids which the party might not want to parley with.