Officers and Crew

[ZenBear]

My players have just acquired a sailing ship, as per the Ghosts of Saltmarsh appendices, and I need help making a few decisions. I just finished running them through The Secrets of Skyhorn Lighthouse (https://www.dmsguild.com/product/215629/The-Secrets-of-Skyhorn-Lighthouse) and they convinced Aryn Hest of the Jade Lion to abdicate leadership to them as they pursue their military-appointed mission.

Mainly, I need to figure out how to best fulfill the various roles on the ship with the party I have. The party consists of a Cha/Dex Paladin, Dex/Str Rogue, Cha/Dex Warlock, and Int/Dex Wizard. I can keep Aryn Hest aboard so I have at least one NPC with proficiency in water vehicles, which none of the party has. The Rogue has Expertise in Athletics, so he will fit in well enough as the Bosun as long as he finds someone to help him learn how to use carpenter's tools. The Paladin would normally be a natural fit for captain, but she has an 8 INT and WIS, so being the decision maker is a terrible idea. She's the party chef and healer, so that situates her to handle both the Cook and Surgeon roles on her own, though a single person covering two roles ought to have some repercussions. The Warlock is skilled at Deception and Intimidation but not Persuasion, and is functionally insane so really isn't well suited to Captain or First Mate. Also, as a Kenku Warlock of the Raven Queen he has demanded that the crows nest be turned into a literal birdhouse. No one in the party has high Wisdom or skill in Nature or navigator's tools, so I'll likely need an NPC for that role. The Wizard I think is likely to take the Captain role, since he's not bad at social skills and is the only borderline mature party member. On the other hand, my brother's character is a Fighter and has been the straight-man/leader of the group all along. Unfortunately he is leaving town in a month, so perhaps I can just turn him into an NPC and have him be the permanent Captain of the ship.

What other roles on the ship might these characters suit? What other NPCs do I need to create to fill the gaps?

[JackPhoenix]

Honestly, it sounds like the best thing the party could do with a ship would be to sell it. The PCs may be the ship's legal owners, but they are absolutely incompetent as a crew or even officers. They should get someone else to deal with all that stuff and only travel as passengers. That's not unusual, historically. Did you tell the players it would be naval campaign and they should create characters capable of running a ship?

Alternatively, get some NPCs to run things...filling all roles, if necessary... while they're learning: tool proficiency (which includes vehicles) can be learned easily enough, if you have the time.

[Vogie]

I'd second the request to make the ship run largely by NPC's.

In addition to smoothing over the various proficiency and stat issues, it also gives you the DM a "wandering encounter" generator that don't require them to be always beset by terrible weather, sea monsters, pirates and the occasional flying shark:

Social Encounters between the crew and the PCs
Obligatory encounter that originally feels like they're being attacked at night, but actually the Helmsman got really drunk and made a mess of things
Being able to add NPCs to the crew as quest/encounter rewards. A rescued wizard joins the crew, giving everyone proficiency with Arcana and readily available Identify while on the ship, as well as the occasional Fog Cloud. A shipwrecked cleric provides some healing, but also extends your range by purifying old rations and desalinating water.
Because you have a crew, they need to get paid somehow. If they don't get paid, they may mutiny or just wait for you all to leave to adventure on land and peace out when you're out of sight


One way to easily track that sort of thing is actually on the GoS Ship stats. Ships, being inanimate, only have Str/Dex/Con scores. However, you can keep track of the benefit of the crew by using modifiers for Int/Wis/Cha and keeping all the proficiencies in one place.

Wisdom & Intelligence not only could indicate the magical abilities of the crew (such as the wizard example above), but also how bright the crew are as a whole. High wisdom, low intelligence crew may be able to survive well, but get lost easily
Charisma of the crew would track morale and allow contested rolls to convince them to do things, or for them to convince the PCs on what to do in a situation.
If you have a crew member that's proficient in a skill or tool, it's just listed with in a single spot with the rest of the stats.
This also saves you from being required to stat out Steve the helmsman, Serena the Quartermaster/carpenter, and Hanna the Navigator. If they're not coming ashore, they're all amalgamated into 'the crew'.

[Zhorn]

Being able to add NPCs to the crew as quest/encounter rewards. A rescued wizard joins the crew, giving everyone proficiency with Arcana and readily available Identify while on the ship, as well as the occasional Fog Cloud. A shipwrecked cleric provides some healing, but also extends your range by purifying old rations and desalinating water.

Using this. Thanks Vogie :smallsmile:

[ImproperJustice]

Kind of reminds me of the obscure gem of a video game called “Infinite Space”, where you play as the captain of a small space fleet.

One of the many, many ways you upgrade your fleet is recruiting all manner of NPCs of various roles to aid in your ventures.
A quality cook can have a profound effect on morale. A good steward can help secure wealthy and influential passengers for extra coin while traveling. Helmsman and lookouts have obvious applications but you can really get creative with some of the various fantasy roles that 5e brings your way.

Something like a caster who specializes in Sending, Animal Mesenger, Skywrite, and Semaphore to serve as a comms officer perhaps?

[ZenBear]

Thanks for the tips everyone! I think I'll take your advice and just staff the ship with NPCs. I already have a mage NPC I posted about in another thread, plus Captain Aryn Hest as mentioned above. So if the crew is full of NPCs, what will the party be doing while underway? Just lounging around and goofing off? I know the Warlock wants to be lookout and the Paladin wants to be chef, but I'm not sure what the other two will busy themselves with. I'm always worried when this party has free rein, they are a truly absurd bunch. :tongue:

[jjordan]

Thanks for the tips everyone! I think I'll take your advice and just staff the ship with NPCs. I already have a mage NPC I posted about in another thread, plus Captain Aryn Hest as mentioned above. So if the crew is full of NPCs, what will the party be doing while underway? Just lounging around and goofing off? I know the Warlock wants to be lookout and the Paladin wants to be chef, but I'm not sure what the other two will busy themselves with. I'm always worried when this party has free rein, they are a truly absurd bunch. :tongue:
Making decisions. That's what the owners do. They are presented with facts and conditions and have to work with their employees to achieve their desired ends. They also have to lead.

[napoleon_in_rag]

The Warlock is skilled at Deception and Intimidation but not Persuasion, and is functionally insane so really isn't well suited to Captain or First Mate.

What kind of insane? Captain Ahab type insane might be fun!. "wilt thou not chase the white dragon turtle? art not game for Moby ****?"

Or Captain Queeg in Caine Mutiny. In fact, literature is filled with a lot of insane sea captains.





So I can't mention the title of "Moby ****" by Herman Melville without being censored? Like one of the greatest novels in American Literature? So this site censors "Moby ****". Let's see what it doesn't censor:

100% All Beef Thermometer
John Thomas
Purple Helmeted Warrior
Pork Sword

This is why censorship is silly. I can't write "Moby ****" but I can come up with all sorts more explicit slang words that will get by.

[JackPhoenix]

What kind of insane? Captain Ahab type insane might be fun!. "wilt thou not chase the white dragon turtle? art not game for Moby ****?"

Or Captain Queeg in Caine Mutiny. In fact, literature is filled with a lot of insane sea captains.





So I can't mention the title of "Moby ****" by Herman Melville without being censored? Like one of the greatest novels in American Literature? So this site censors "Moby ****". Let's see what it doesn't censor:

100% All Beef Thermometer
John Thomas
Purple Helmeted Warrior
Pork Sword

This is why censorship is silly. I can't write "Moby ****" but I can come up with all sorts more explicit slang words that will get by.

If Melville named the whale Moby Richard, it wouldn't be a problem. But no, it had to be Moby ****.

[ZenBear]

What kind of insane? Captain Ahab type insane might be fun!. "wilt thou not chase the white dragon turtle? art not game for Moby ****?"

Or Captain Queeg in Caine Mutiny. In fact, literature is filled with a lot of insane sea captains.

More like, doesn’t recognize the difference between a living person and a corpse insane. Think 40k psyker kind of crazy. He really leans into his character having all of 4 months of sapience and massive psychological trauma buried under compensatory psychosis.

[Tanarii]

Making decisions. That's what the owners do. They are presented with facts and conditions and have to work with their employees to achieve their desired ends. They also have to lead.
Making decisions is the Captains job, and there can be only one.

[ZenBear]

Making decisions is the Captains job, and there can be only one.

https://pics.me.me/there-can-be-only-one-seems-legit-betty-white-is-22105817.png

[jjordan]

Making decisions is the Captains job, and there can be only one. Nope. If I own the boat I tell the captain what to do and he makes it happen. On the other hand, if I'm smart, I don't micromanage. "Get us to Nicodramus as fast as you can and try to avoid other ships along the way." That works. Issuing orders directly to the rest of the crew would not work. Not for long anyway.

[Tanarii]

Nope. If I own the boat I tell the captain what to do and he makes it happen. On the other hand, if I'm smart, I don't micromanage. "Get us to Nicodramus as fast as you can and try to avoid other ships along the way." That works. Issuing orders directly to the rest of the crew would not work. Not for long anyway.
I was referring to the rules in ghost of the salmarsh, "I own the ship soI override the rules by giving meta orders to the person that gives direct orders" is a nice attempt at dodging them though.

[JackPhoenix]

I was referring to the rules in ghost of the salmarsh, "I own the ship soI override the rules by giving meta orders to the person that gives direct orders" is a nice attempt at dodging them though.

The owner doesn't "override the rules". He's not giving commands, he sets the objective, and it's the captain job to make sure that objective is achieved. The owner doesn't need to know anything about sailing, the captain is there to both communicate with the owner if there's any problem with reaching the objective and manage the crew and anything else that needs to be done. It's management 101.

[Tanarii]

Look, if you don't like the rules as present, don't use them. You don't have to convince me why you don't like them.

[Vogie]

Using this. Thanks Vogie :smallsmile:

:smallsmile: If you like more ideas like this, check out my post on the other thread (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showsinglepost.php?p=24029923&postcount=22) concerning unique spells that could be added from earlier editions. Giving such abilities to DM-controlled PCs is much less likely to be a problem in the long run.


I think I'll take your advice and just staff the ship with NPCs. I already have a mage NPC I posted about in another thread, plus Captain Aryn Hest as mentioned above. So if the crew is full of NPCs, what will the party be doing while underway? Just lounging around and goofing off? I know the Warlock wants to be lookout and the Paladin wants to be chef, but I'm not sure what the other two will busy themselves with. I'm always worried when this party has free rein, they are a truly absurd bunch. :tongue:

Just because you have a crew doesn't mean that the rest of them just sit in hammocks and drink grog for the entire trip.
They'll be:

Performing routine maintenance
Managing cargo, including rations and treasure
Assisting crewmembers in various tasks
Other downtime activities, as described in the DMG and XGtE
Crew members can teach PCs skill and tool proficiencies, and vise versa
You can use access to the crew members to provide additional options for potential homebrew injections - such as studying under the ship's cook unlocking the ability to multiclass into a Bakery Cleric (https://dmdave.com/cleric-baking-divine-domain/)
You could probably steal some ideas from Fallout Shelter, FTL, and other "put meeples in rooms" games.