The Ship of the damned

[BananaNomNom]

How would go about getting a undead crew to pilot a ship? any core books are fine but need to not be overtly cheesy.

edit: This is 3.5 and I'm looking for a Entirely undead crew from captain to Deck Hands

[AnimeTheCat]

Is the ship entirely manned, from the captain to the lowest of the scum, by undead? Or is the captain alive while the crew is all undead?

[legomaster00156]

Also, is this 3.5 or PF?

[InvisibleBison]

Assuming 3.5:

You could simply recruit low-level non-mindless undead - necropolitans, ghouls, maybe wights. Either just hire them, or use rebuking or command undead to enslave them.

Kill a bunch of sailors + Animate Dead + Awaken Undead would also work, though it would require burning a bunch of XP.

[Fouredged Sword]

Haunt shift works. Takes a ghost and merges them with the ship.

[Malimar]

Skeleton crew (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/magic/all-spells/s/skeleton-crew/) + permanency?

Oh, you said Core. Skeleton crew isn't Core at all. Never mind.

[Elkad]

If you make it a galley, you only need 1 or 2 intelligent undead to guide the ship.

The rest can just be skeletons manning the oars. (And skeleton archers/melee up top).
You can pack them in like mad with no need to carry supplies.

A Trireme with oarsmen that never gets tired is pretty fast. 11mph is sustainable for a few minutes for humans, and ramming sprints to 15mph or more are possible. Skeletons might manage that nonstop.

[Thurbane]

Bone Creature (BoVD p.184) Human Expert 1. Just like a Skeleton, but without being mindless, so it can have feats and skill ranks.

[ksbsnowowl]

Haunt shift works. Takes a ghost and merges them with the ship.

Oh my God, this is an awesome idea. My PC's will need to travel a ocean soon, and this idea is great.

[BlackOnyx]

Haunt shift works. Takes a ghost and merges them with the ship.


Oh my God, this is an awesome idea. My PC's will need to travel a ocean soon, and this idea is great.


One (potential?) caveat is that haunted objects typically have to be between "Tiny" and "Huge" size. Granted, this could easily be hand-waved by the DM per "rule of cool," but RAW it might not be possible to animate any vessels longer than 20'. CR restrictions (depending on how they're interpreted by your DM) might be an issue, too.


That said, multiple undead shifted into different parts of the ship (i.e. rudder, mast, lower deck--I totally know my boats) would be one way to get around that issue. It could be especially fun if each component took on a different personality and argued with one another.


On another note, depending on how you interpret the "impossible to affect or even directly sense" clause listed under the Haunting Presence description in the Libris Mortis (p. 6), it might be difficult to maintain control of a haunt shifted undead.


Turning/rebuking effects are explicitly listed as ineffective and it seems like command/control undead spells probably couldn't be recast after they initially wore off. You'd probably have to make sure that any undead you shift are bound to you by loyalty (a la Leadership) or innately bound to your commands as with animate dead.


***


Libris Mortis. Renton, WA, Wizards of the Coast, Inc., 2004. pp.6

[ksbsnowowl]

That said, multiple undead shifted into different parts of the ship (i.e. rudder, mast, lower deck--I totally know my boats) would be one way to get around that issue.

That was my intent.

At least for my purposes, I wasn't planning to have some living "captain" use the haunts to pilot the ship, like a House Lyrandar Skycaptain piloting an Airship with an elemental. I was just planning to have a ship populated by haunting presences, and they still enjoy sailing the high seas. Not all undead are evil, after all.

Maybe they still desire wealth, so still run their shipping runs, taking on passengers for extra coin, or as guardians for situations that the undead have found they can't deal with easily. I'll figure the specifics out later (how did a whole crew become haunting undead, seemingly at once?), but the possibilities are vast.

Edit: Actually, a big motivating factor for them would be wealth... to keep their haunted ship in good working order. If you were stuck in your house for all eternity, you'd want to make sure you had some cash on hand to repair it when it needed maintenance.

[BlackOnyx]

That was my intent.

At least for my purposes, I wasn't planning to have some living "captain" use the haunts to pilot the ship, like a House Lyrandar Skycaptain piloting an Airship with an elemental. I was just planning to have a ship populated by haunting presences, and they still enjoy sailing the high seas. Not all undead are evil, after all.

Maybe they still desire wealth, so still run their shipping runs, taking on passengers for extra coin, or as guardians for situations that the undead have found they can't deal with easily.


Ooh, I really like that. It'd make for a great encounter if the PCs ended up paying for their services. I can hear the captain now:


"Don't you tell me how to steer my ship, lad. I've been sailing these waters since before your great-grandfather could walk!"


And if he and/or his crewmates had more than 5HD apiece when they died, they'd be able to take their skeletal/undead forms HD times a week for HD minutes at a time! For ceremonies and the like.


(As a sidenote, it goes without saying that the captain haunts the ship's wheel.)



I'll figure the specifics out later (how did a whole crew become haunting undead, seemingly at once?), but the possibilities are vast.


Negative energy supercell--a legendary storm borne from a fracture in the material plane that happens only once every hundred years.

The men at the docks looked on with somber eyes as the word finally reached them.


"Dark skies on the horizon," the reports had said. "Take shelter at once."


Their worst fears had come true. The storm of legends--only a story until now--would soon be upon them.


They were silent. What would they do? The relief shipment sitting in their holds would never make it in time. Their wives. Their children. Everything they'd done until now was for naught.


The sound of a man clearing his throat broke the silence, rousing them from their stupor. They all turned, their eyes settling on the figure standing at the end of the dock.


His one good eye twinkling, the man grinned back at them, flecks of gray lighting his otherwise jet black beard. His presence seemed to fill the docks, leaving all that looked upon him entranced. A small crew of men stood behind him, each of their auras almost as hypnotic as his.


The bearded man's voice boomed as he finally spoke, his words brimming with the youthful vigor of man ten years younger.


"If you have the coin," he said "I think we can come to an arrangement."


They told him it wasn't possible.


He and his crew simply laughed.


***


It took all their skill to brave the storm.


Gale force winds. Crackling bolts of black lightning. Waves as high as a mountainside. It was as if nature itself had pitted itself against them, lashing out in fury with everything it had. The sea boiled and frothed beneath them, the black waters threatening to capsize the ship with every rolling swell. The dread in the air was palpable, tendrils of unnatural darkness permeating every cranny of the ship.


In the midst of it all, however, the captain never stopped laughing.


***


Three days later, word reached the docks that the shipment had reached the village. No one had seen it arrive. When morning had come, it was simply there, a pile of crates and barrels neatly stacked at the edge of the pier.


The old man and his crew were never seen again. There are rumors, however. Sightings of a ship with no crew, off in the distance, sailing just beyond the horizon.


Most of the accounts are contradictory. Some will speak of a ghostly fog hanging about its decks, obscuring it from sight. Others will swear they saw it manned by skeletons, their sunbleached bones still tugging tirelessly at the rigging. Among all who claim to have seen it, however, one part of their story always remains the same.


No matter how far off they are, they can still hear the booming voice of the ship's captain, laughing as he sails the sea.

[AnimeTheCat]

(As a sidenote, it goes without saying that the captain haunts the ship's wheel.)

This may not be the best place for the captain, and commonly ships aren't steered by the captain, they're steered by the helmsman. All steering a ship requires is a Profession(Sailor) check. The captain, mechanically, is more or less a buffing, directing, inspiring leader and less a helmsman.

This is not to say that the captain can't also be the helmsman, but captains usually want to walk around and a) make their presence known, b) ensure their crew is working optimally, c) give direction better.

[Fouredged Sword]

This may not be the best place for the captain, and commonly ships aren't steered by the captain, they're steered by the helmsman. All steering a ship requires is a Profession(Sailor) check. The captain, mechanically, is more or less a buffing, directing, inspiring leader and less a helmsman.

This is not to say that the captain can't also be the helmsman, but captains usually want to walk around and a) make their presence known, b) ensure their crew is working optimally, c) give direction better.

The captain also spends a good amount of time navigating. The maps are generally stored safely inside so they dont get damaged. The helmsman must be at the wheel. That means a skilled sailor does the job and coordinates the crew while taking direction from the captain who actually knows where they are and where they are going.

[BlackOnyx]

This may not be the best place for the captain, and commonly ships aren't steered by the captain, they're steered by the helmsman. All steering a ship requires is a Profession(Sailor) check. The captain, mechanically, is more or less a buffing, directing, inspiring leader and less a helmsman.

This is not to say that the captain can't also be the helmsman, but captains usually want to walk around and a) make their presence known, b) ensure their crew is working optimally, c) give direction better.


I guess I'd intended it as more of a symbolic haunting than a practical one, but this is a fair point. And what would be left for the actual helmsman to haunt?



The captain also spends a good amount of time navigating. The maps are generally stored safely inside so they dont get damaged. The helmsman must be at the wheel. That means a skilled sailor does the job and coordinates the crew while taking direction from the captain who actually knows where they are and where they are going.


Good point. Haunting the captain's cabin could be a good alternative (thematically and practically speaking). If he haunted the room rather than a specific object in it, he could animate/move any number of objects inside (up to his # of HD) at a time. Maps, charts, globes, swivel chairs. It would make for an appropriate setting to meet & speak with potential clients inside.


As for communicating with his crew, he could either just animate the doors to the deck open and shout, or talk through a series of speaking tubes located in the cabin itself.

[ksbsnowowl]

Good point. Haunting the captain's cabin could be a good alternative (thematically and practically speaking). If he haunted the room rather than a specific object in it, he could animate/move any number of objects inside (up to his # of HD) at a time. Maps, charts, globes, swivel chairs. It would make for an appropriate setting to meet & speak with potential clients inside.


As for communicating with his crew, he could either just animate the doors to the deck open and shout, or talk through a series of speaking tubes located in the cabin itself.

Nice. I love this.


Edit: I may have thought up a way to actually get a necromancer character to command a Haunting Presence-controlled ship, much like a Dragonmarked character could an Airship in Eberron...

Even though a haunting presence can't be turned, rebuked, or destroyed in its haunting form, nothing in the description of Haunting Presences overrides this clause from Animate Dead:

This spell turns the bones or bodies of dead creatures into undead skeletons or zombies that follow your spoken commands.

...

The undead you create remain under your control indefinitely.

Presumably, if a Necromancer made a crew of a ship into skeletons or zombies, had them take their normal positions to control the ship, then haunt shifted all of them, they would still be under his control, and respond to his spoken commands. But, this would only work for the caster that animated the undead; control couldn't be passed off to someone else later.

[BlackOnyx]

Presumably, if a Necromancer made a crew of a ship into skeletons or zombies, had them take their normal positions to control the ship, then haunt shifted all of them, they would still be under his control, and respond to his spoken commands. But, this would only work for the caster that animated the undead; control couldn't be passed off to someone else later.


Great point. With you fully on this one. (I'm actually playing a LE cleric necromancer in my current campaign with the hopes to use this setup once he hits level 9.)


Plate armor, ropes, manacles, carriages, siege towers...there's a lot of objects that could benefit from being haunted by mindlessly obedient undead. Aside from the fact they gain hardness & extra energy resistances, their inability to be possessed/turned by other casters is a huge benefit.


Common folk are probably a lot more likely to be comfortable around a walking suit of armor than than an animated corpse as well. If anyone asks, you can play it off as a construct or permanent animated object. Since "detect" spells won't work on the presence itself, there's very few NPCs who would be able to tell the difference.