Should I give in the the nautical stereotype or not?

[BlackStaticWolf]

So, my PCs are about to embark on an ocean voyage. We all know what happens next... the ship either gets attacked by something or wrecks. Or maybe both. It's just one of the laws of the ocean... adventurers + boat = catastrophe.

So, I've got a bit of a conundrum. I WANT something to happen while en route... but I don't want it to be something contrived or stereotypical. That means no sea monsters, no pirates, and no ship wreck.

Any suggestions?

[Druid_lord]

They could see a wreked ship on an nearby island and find the crew all dead when they get there and finding strange tracks leading of into dark wooded areas............ or somethining like that.

[lotofsnow]

Mutiny? Dissent erupts on the ship and the PCs are forced to choose sides.
Disease? A plague strikes the ship and the PCs are forced to sail it themselves to their destination.
Distress? The ship passes another ship flying a flag of distress. NPCs on the distressed ship require aid with .... well, whatever you want.

[Irenaeus]

A storm.

Seriously. A series of desperate attempts at damage control can be a good encounter. Other interesting events can be contaminated water/food, an outbreak of disease or a little murder mystery.

Sadly, none of these events present any problems if the party is above low to mid level.

Edit: Double emued.

[Yechezkiel]

Vampires on sea voyages are fun.

[Fax Celestis]

One or any of the following:

• Supernatural weather event.
• Destruction on-land, where the ship survives.
• Political upheaval while party is in transit and unaware, potentially returning to a war zone or being arrested for their ethnicity.
• Encounter with benevolent, powerful being (such as the God of the Sea) who merely wishes to talk--or ask the party a favor.
• Violent storm that throws ship off course and gets them lost--coupled with mystical/divine/arcane rearrangement of the stars and long range ocean trek.
• Ship destroyed--combat, storm, disrepair, or a combination thereof--and party is rescued by undersea creatures. Malevolent ones would cunningly use water breathing spells with set durations to keep their prey/prisoners within grasp (if you flee, you drown); benevolent ones might show them art or teach them magics.

[Fax Celestis]

A storm.

Seriously. A series of desperate attempts at damage control can be a good encounter. Other interesting events can be contaminated water/food, an outbreak of disease or a little murder mystery.

Sadly, none of these events present any problems if the party is above low to mid level.

Edit: Double emued.

I actually ran a remarkably successful opener for a campaign I just started where the encounter for the first session was a burning inn. The PCs were in little-to-no real danger, but were hard-pressed to save all the commoners.

[Yakk]

Storms that drop the players in an alternate dimension.

Supplies get damaged. Ideally supplies they can't just replace via magic.

This makes them want to land somewhere and aquire new resources. Adventure ensues.

They leave land, and get lost at sea. Becalmed, they use magic to stay alive. Eventually the wind brings them to a strange shore.

The ship plans to stop off at a certain location for trade purposes. Hilarity ensues.

[Subotei]

As long as they aren't able to teleport off etc, have the ship becalmed at sea for days and the rations run out. See who eat who first - crew or the PCs....

[GolemsVoice]

Once the group I was in sailed to sea, the DM attacked us with a guy sitting on a magic fly summoned by some weird magic item, who threw fire upon us. Combat was pretty challenging, and it was certainly unexpected.
But, on the other hand, giant sea snakes, kraken and whatnot are surly impressing. For a combination of sea monster and suprprise, try a giant turtle the crew mistakes for an island. Loads of turtle fun.

[Vyker]

Depending on what level the PCs are, a murder onboard might be fun (well, for all except the key party, I s'pose).

You can go a couple places with that. The crew can suspect the PCs. They're new passengers, after all... isn't it suspicious that Ol' Jenkins was killed just when these new folks showed up? And that lets you work in all the sailor superstitions without too much of a cliche, since murder doesn't bring out the rational in folks. Or the PCs can solve the mystery, if there are a lot of passengers. Or both! Solve the mystery while under suspicion from the crew!

If they're low level, that's easier. If they mid to high level, now you need to put your thinking cap on.

Or, if the boat is more passenger oriented (cruise liner!), you could throw a party. Have it coincide with some arcane bad omen/spooky holiday. Watch your PCs jump at every shadow, expecting the "EVIL THING!" to leap out at them or do something unspeakable nearby for them to rush in and save. I got a great half-session out of playing against my players preconceived notions that "something bad must happen," and they really enjoyed rushing about solving problems that existed only in their mind. It can be a good humor game to serve as a break between hack 'n' slash or serious roleplaying.

[Mr the Geoff]

Marie Celeste style ghost ship - the PCs encounter an empty wreck then once they are all aboard the dead crew come back to life and attack.

A stowaway aboard their ship sent to assassinate the PCs while they have nowhere to run.

Mistaken identity - the ship attacking you isn't pirates at all but a coastguard patrol that thought you were pirates (nasty one for a lawful party).

I am assuming here that the party is low-ish level or they wouldn't be travelling by ship anyway. Why hire a ship and crew if you have teleport?

[Storm Bringer]

as some people have suggested, being beclamed out at sea is a sometimes overlooked hazard. Main worry is how long water/food will last, which runs into problems when both can be made by magic. However, sailors are a superstitions bunch at the best of times, and are likey to blame just about anything for their ill luck (e.g. a party member who happens to be a female/ wizard/ non-human/ whatever, that stange creature off the port bow last week, the lucky ring Bob lost yesterday on the maintop, etc)

Another is a non-combat race. The players book passage on a ship, once onboard, they find that the captain of the ship has purchased half of a very rare cargo (spices,gnomish inventions, the translation into common of a famous elven Scholar's works....) at a fair sum of money, plans to sell it at port Y at a Huge profit. However, the other half of the cargo was brought by another merchant with the same plan. The demand for the product at port Y is such that the frist ship in will make the huge profit and the second ship in would run at a serious loss. the captian of the merchant ship offers the players a share of the money if they can help him win the race (prefferably without doing something highly illegal, like sinking/killing the other merchants)

Thus, the players find they are stuck in a race agianst the other merchants, each doing things like taking short cuts arcoss merfolk-infested shallows and passing close to known pirate bases in an effort to reach teh port ahead of the other. expand elements as needed to make the story flow.

[BlackStaticWolf]

Thanks for all the help brainstorming everyone.

To clarify some about the party: it's a group of three humans (a 4th level psychic warrior, a 3rd/1st cleric/fighter, and a 3rd/1st rogue/fighter). They've actually booked passage aboard the ship because it's a pirate ship and they need to find a self-proclaimed pirate king who's stolen the proverbial crown jewels. They have no idea how to actually find him, but supposedly, the ship's captain/crew does.

The mutiny suggestion sparked an idea... they're on a pirate ship. Pirates plunder stuff. The PCs have been a bit careless about flashing the sparklies about. Now they get to deal with being captured by pirates without even realizing it.

[squishycube]

In case you go with a storm, I wrote a little story for my campaign where they got into a storm. (Note: this text has been machine-translated from Dutch - badly. I read it through once and translated the words the machine left. It's funny Text between quotes ' ' is to be read out loud, the rest is for the DM)

I also did some calculations and wrote out a system to calculate the price of hiring a ship, that's below.

The shipwreck
'Travel goes successfully and even the captain shows from time to time his (satisfied) face. The rich ladies sit on the deck and coo while the more attractive sailors try their attract attention.
Unfortunately it becomes grey later on the day and it even starts to rain. The ladies retreat to their cabins and the sailors pick up the work. It becomes later and the rain pushes on. Also the captain has locked himself up in his chamber.' If the players talk to a sailor with some experience then he says: 'North wind, which does not promise much good. If I was you I went below deck and tied up I my stuff.' 'Slightly worried you look up your sleep places and fall you in sleep'. Those who sleep lightly wake up after a couple of hours because the ship is rocking considerably. The deep sleepers become awake of an enormous cracking in the middle of on the ship. He who up ventures sees that it is infernal outside. 'Enormous waves with yellowy white heads beat piece on the deck of the ship. Foam flies in the air just like the backside sail tears. You see also that the main mast has been demolished. The demolished mast withdraws the ship by its weight considerably crooked and just like you head draws himself to see you the two varkens are how overboard beaten by a large wave. The sailors work with all their power the demolished mast separately at tried and the sails of the staanden lower masts. Below deck is not it much improve, the ship is back and forth thrown as a playball of wind and the sea. People with a less fixed flatulence have already emptied the contents of their stomachs and it starts as a result unpleasant stink all kinds of stuff which or badly permanently bound products do not fly by largely gone. You see a large wooden travelling box is how largely thrown by and someone crushed against the wall. People fall concerning each other and everywhere are gone screamed. Many people pray to their gods and some even find the time to make a small sacrifice. A certain high wave lifts the ship and smacks one's lips it and, meanwhile with blood and other bodily fluids covered, the wooden travelling box makes a new victim and there is nobody whom something can acquire. Everything for your gone crack and moan as if the last judgement has come. The thundering continues infinitely and you lose all notion of time. Each second must fight you to continue and the flying round avoid debry staande. After what seems a year in your head you keep it no longer full and fall you in spite of stamping for your gone in sleep. If you awake become lies you (not totally unexpected) in salt water the ship is nowhere, confess although you see yourself trying itself keep gone still a couple other people who fixed to pieces of wood. (These people in the party, start liking them:P are) are rather still turbulent, but for a long time as terrible more as. After while around for floating come there something spectacularly float. This still what is able promise, your poor have entirely soured by holding to the piece wood. Your hands sit under the blood of all splinters in the wood and you gladly on what larger piece wood to sit. But if you look at better, this a very sinister consideration proves be: What here is above comes float is the body of the Ogre which you on the ship to learn has known as entertaining company. Now the players make therefore a choice, if on the Ogre to sail has they choose them a rather easy travel; if with the wood to drift along is it heavily and must they choose them constitution checks make. (More for the feeling of the players, them does not roll them thus himself, that they die if it failed more that tekstje happen there that it falls heavily etc.) How it said also: After 2 demolishing days you operate reels on a range. You have terrible thirst and hunger. Your skin has entirely dried out by salt.

Costs of the use of a ship
Standard costing for passage is 1 sp/mile, but that's only when travelling along. If the PC's want to decide the destination, they pay for the complete crew plus the possible profit the captain wants to make. The prices per day for the ships include the pay of the captain and payment of the ship, but without profit. (The prices mentioned below are basically the non-negotiable part.) The prices are based on the following principle:
10% well trained hirelings (1 gp/day, minimum 1)
20% trained hirelings (3 sp/day, minumum 1)
70% untrained hirelings (1 sp/day)

The price of the ship is without crew, but then the PC's themselves are the owners and do not need the ship be paid off and need no profit be made there.

The prices are also without food and drink and without lodging.
Food can of course be taken along by the PC's, or bought on the ship.
Most ships offer two of three meal types, depending on the level of luxury.
With most captains a package deal for meals and lodging, for complete travel and the complete party, can be made. This the only way to get the package deal-prices.

Take into account that a ship must sometimes travel without the PC's, for example when dropping the PC's somewhere, but that they must pay for the ship's return journy as well.

I tried to establish in what time frame a captain would want to repay a ship (on average naturally), AND therefore how much profit he needs to make. Repaying of a ship in a year or 8-9 seems reasonable to me. I guess that a ship approximately sails 50% of the time (and therefore make money). A ship must therefore be payed of in ~ 4*365 days, round up.

Food, drink & lodging:
Meals (per day, includes food and a few drinks)
Good 5 sp
Common 3 sp
Poor 1 sp

Lodging (per day)
Good 2 gp
Common 5 sp
Poor 2 sp

Package deals (per day, including quantity discount. Only give on long travel/many persons)
Good 22sp (3 sp discount)
Common 7 sp (1 sp discount)
Poor 25 cp (5 cp discount)

- Sailing Ship
75 to 90 feet long, 20 feet wide
crew of 20
150 tons of cargo
square sails on its two masts
2 miles per hour (48 mile/day, sailed)
10,000 gp to buy, 46 sp/day to hire crew, 7 gp/day to hire ship

- Keelboat small
50 feet long, 15 feet wide
crew of 8
40 tons of cargo or 80 soldiers
has a few oars to supplement its single mast with a square sail
1 mile per hour (10 miles/day, rowed)
3.000 gp to buy, 29 sp/day to hire crew, 2 gp/day to hire ship

- Keelboat big
75 feet long, 20 feet wide
crew of 15
50 tons of cargo or 100 soldiers
has a few oars to supplement its single mast with a square sail
1 mile by hour (10 miles/day, rowed)
3.500 gp to buy, 4 gp/day to hire crew, 3 gp/day to hire ship

- Longship
75 feet long
crew of 50
50 tons of cargo or 120 soldiers
forty oars, single mast and a square sail
3 miles per hour (72 mile/day, sailed + rowed)
10.000 gp to buy, 165 sp/day to hire crew, 7 gp/day to hire ship

- Rowboat
8 to 12 feet long
boat holds two or three medium passengers
1½ miles per hour (15 miles/day, rowed)
costs 50 gp to buy

[Jayabalard]

go with a string of events that all seem to be about to become stereotypical nautical catastrophic, but have the catastrophe never materialize.

[Yeti]

Have you ever read the book Dagon...

[goat]

A ship-wide shuffleboard tournament.

Fire. Fire's always good. The Cook's drunk and spills hot coals everywhere. The ship catches and there's a desperate struggle to put it out. While this is going on, someone murders someone else and the crew becomes polarised into two camps out of fear and accusations. The PCs have to act as intermediaries between the two factions, trying to keep the ship functioning while hunting down the murderer and trying to get the captain to come out of his cabin where he's off his rocks on bad rum.

[Green Bean]

Need a water-dwelling monster that isn't cliched? I have a great one here for you;

That is not dead which can eternal lie. And with strange aeons even death may die.

[Storm Bringer]

If the ship is a pirate vessal, then have it deliver the players to the right island.....then shove them off in a rowboat onto the dangerous wilds beyound the port town.....the players must first land the boat (not easy if the surf is up or the shore is rocky) locate the pirate chiefs den/liar/fort on the island and THEN make thier way across hostile ground to do whatever.

other ideas:

The ship's 2nd in command tries to get the players to help in a coup over the current captain.

One of the pirates has (or thinks he has) a grudge against one of the players ("YOU! you were the swine who cost me this leg!")

[Mr Croup]

Need a water-dwelling monster that isn't cliched? I have a great one here for you;

That is not dead which can eternal lie. And with strange aeons even death may die.

I might even go so far as to say that's a great old one, even.

[de-trick]

if you do have the ship sinking have enough lifeboats for everyone but the PC so theres some major role playing for good people

[ArmorArmadillo]

How about you reverse the paradigm, make the problem off the ship.
You're in open waters when the Captain recieves a carrier pigeon carrying a note, he looks extremely troubled and tells you that a war has broken out among the kingdoms between which you are travelling.
As it stands, both ports are closed and each nation's navy is mobilizing for war. The PCs ship is trapped in the ocean between them and if they don't find somewhere else to be soon, they're going to be in the crosshairs of a massive naval battle.

Combines:
Survival in open waters (the act, not the skill)
Politics
Creative problem-solving

[Driderman]

Well, the characters might have a verbal agreement of being delivered to the pirate king, but maybe the agreement didn't specify the condition...
As in 'beaten up, hog-tied and looted of all their worldly possesions'.
The mutiny thing is good too, perfect for a pirate ship as pirates are notoriously "democratic". At least, real-world pirates were

[Fax Celestis]

I might even go so far as to say that's a great old one, even.

*groans* That was horrid.

[Ceres]

My players hade quite an encounter while on a ship a couple of sessions ago. I won't get into details, but it started with a pretty normal trip, looking for the lost islands of the dark elves. It ended with them fighting 60 dark-elves (30 of them undead) on a boat held up 300ft in the air with magic, while at the same time battling a Ctulhu-kraken below and freeing the dark-elf's minotaur-slaves. It was some fight :)

[Wraithy]

find a man shipwrecked on a 10ft x 10ft island, instead of asking you to rescue him he sends you on a menial chore (eg: gather items from a list, deliver a message to a baker etc.)
trust me, your players will love it

[clockwork warrior]

heres an idea, the ship, like most ships, has rats. these rats, however, are moonrats, and during the voyage they gain their sentience and thieve in the night. everyone wakes to find things missing, and the hunt for the thief is on. everyone will be paranoid and showing no trust in everyone, and looking for the lost loot, when it is just some rats taking it and hiding it away. if you really want to have fun, have the rats plant some of the missing items in party members

[Driderman]

...if you really want to have fun, have the rats plant some of the missing items in party members

Yes, that will definitely spice up the story: Attack Of The Sentient Moonrats

[Deme]

For the record, I would like to thank the people who posted here. I'll probably be DMing a ship-based adventure or two soon enough, and I love all the ideas!