Building Bhakashal - Waterborne Adventures - Ships
Bhakashal is set billions of years in the future, water vessels are descendants of past designs, but built of woods and resins with different buoyancies, suppleness and resilience thanks to millions of years of evolution. So their dimensions and builds will be different from historical ships. There is a limited range of ship types to keep things simple, but within each type there can be variation. Each entry lists a small / large version of the ship type in question. Referees may extrapolate to fill in the gaps if so desired.
A few crucial abstractions have been made to make this system simple, in Bhakashal you can hop on a ship and sail off to adventure easily. I didn’t want these rules to make it too fussy, but I want generative variety, so it isn’t always the same.
For example, All boats have 1hp per foot of length and have WvrsAC classification of “Leather”. Typically half the length of the ship is dedicated to storage (e.g., the front and back quarter of the ship are used for ballistic purposes or for other non-storage uses, e.g., crew quarters, captain’s quarters, brig, mess, etc., on larger ships)
So for cargo, rather than either committing to tonnage conversions (there are several distinct uses of “tonnage” in the literature), or trying to use encumbrance rules, Bhakashal keeps it simple and defines a cargo unit as one 10’x10’x10’ cube - more or less - An 80 foot long 20 foot wide ship has roughly ½ its length for storage, so that’s 40’, and at 20’ across could fit two rows of four 10’ cubes in the storage areas, or 8 units, fully loaded. All cargo gets placed in one of three categories, heavy, medium and light, and there are adjustments to speed based on those.
Bhakashal gives each ship a base movement rate which is essentially their “drift” on the ocean / movement with river current, etc., they move this speed with minimum wind, on average, all day. That isn’t realistic, it should be keyed to the water movement in the ship’s area at the time, but that’s too granular. Instead we assume an average movement rate just for being on water, it generally makes smaller versions of the same boat a bit faster. We also don’t consider wind direction, Bhakashal assumes that wind direction shifts about, sometimes to your benefit, sometimes to your detriment, and the distance you travel in the day represents an averaging of a bunch of that randomness.
With this system, you set out every day, adjust for weather and cargo (since cargo can stay the same for many days, this adjustment becomes standard for a while), and travel your distance, with encounter and weather checks at regular 6 hour intervals. Easy as pie.
Each boat lists crew compliments, there was startling range in crew numbers for ships in history so there is a decent range here as well, there is an AC rating for purposes of inter-ship warfare and two sizes of ship listed. If two speeds are listed the smaller is for the larger size of boat, the referee will make adjustments for fast rivers and rapids, or particularly windy areas.
Avast ye scurvy dogs!
NOTE: For all time, cargo and travel calculations, round where necessary to make the calculation simpler, this will sometimes work to your benefit, sometimes to your detriment, and represents losses, variable environmental conditions, etc.
Boats, Bhakashal
*Longboats can be pulled by giant eels (1 adds 1 mph, two add 3mph), pulled by beasts of burden along paths beside the major slower rivers and through local marshlands adding their movement rate to the ship, pushed by pole adds 1 mph, rowed by oar adds 2 mph, or propelled by wind at listed speeds. Paddling and poling require rest just like overland travel (same movement duration), and giant eels have a movement duration of 6.
**Barges can be pulled by beasts of burden along paths beside the major slower rivers and through local marshlands adding their movement rate to the ship, pushed by pole adds 1 mph, rowed by oar adds 2 mph. Paddling and poling require rest just like overland travel (same movement duration).
***Pirate ships tend to be Merchant Ships, only very rarely (10% of the time) they are warships
NOTES:
1. All boats have 1hp per foot of length and have WvrsAC classification of “Leather”.
2. Movement by Oar/Pole - Barges and rowboats in Bhakashal tend to have tents/canopies for their occupants to keep off the merciless sun, and thus no room for sails. Instead they are moved by oars (rowboats) and oars+poles (barges). Galley’s move with oars and a mainsail, their base speed is meant to represent alternating between these methods of propulsion. Barges, rowboats and Jinx Longboats can be pulled along waterways by beasts of burden as well. Merchant ships and Warships can move at 1 mph using oars alone, 2 mph at top speed, and can combine this with wind speed for standard durations.
Rowing and paddling use standard exhaustion rules.
2. Weather - Roll for weather d10:
Clear, low wind
Clear, light wind
Clear, medium wind
Cloudy, medium wind
Cloudy, medium wind, light rain
Cloudy, strong wind
Cloudy, strong wind, light rain
Cloudy, strong wind, medium rain
Cloudy, very strong wind, heavy rain
Cloudy, extremely strong wind, very heavy rain*
*When on the ocean, if a 10 is rolled, roll an additional d12:
1-6: no change, 7-8: Strong Gale, 9-10:Storm, 11-12: Hurricane
Every 6 hours of a strong gale, storm or hurricane roll a check*:
*a galley deducts 2% from each of these numbers, a merchant ship deducts 5% and a warship deducts 10%
Wind Speed Modifiers:
Low wind or light wind does not alter speed.
Medium wind adds 1 mph to speed to galley’s, merchant ships and warships
Strong wind adds 2 mph to speed to galley’s, merchant ships and warships
Very strong wind or higher adds 3 mph to speed to galley’s, merchant ships and warships
Note that to estimate travel times increase base speed by 1 mph and round results, as the oceans are on the balance windy, so for a 60 hex 1200 mile journey, a small merchant vessel would travel at 6 mph average, 20/6 = approximately 3, so round to 3 hours per hex x 60 hexes, 180 hours or and estimate a 7.5 day journey, round up to be conservative, round down to be optimistic.
Weather Variability - If you want to leave weather alone for the day you may do so, roll in the morning and leave the weather the same all day. If you want to mimic the volatility of the tropical environment, after each daily time period (morning, afternoon, etc.) roll two d4, for the first d4: 1: move down the chart, 2-3: no change, 4: move up the chart. For the second d4, jump the weather by 0, 1,2 or 3 places. Wrap around the end or beginning of the table as needed.
3. Cargo - Cargo is classified as light, medium or heavy as follows:
Light: plants, spices, clothing, furs, wooden objects
Medium: venison, fish, ceramic objects
Heavy: Liquids, coins, heavy stone, metal objects
If more than half the cargo is heavy, speed is reduced by 2mph, if more than half the cargo is medium, speed is reduced 1 mph, if less than half the cargo is heavy/medium speed is unmodified. Note that larger ships tend to leave 1 unit of storage for tools, ammunition and weapons, repair materials, supplies, etc.
4. Regular Weapons - Using regular weapons (e.g., swords, arrows, etc.) against any ship except a rowboat does not generally do damage to them unless targeted (e.g. cut the sails, flaming arrows - see 8.) However, the use of catapults, ballistae, etc. will do damage as listed.
5. Grappling and Boarding - An attacking ship can throw grappling hooks on to another ship, pull it over and board it. The ship must make a saving throw versus fire (5), if it is successful, the crew of the ship to be boarded successfully cut enough of the ropes to avoid being pulled close. After a failed attempt it takes 1-3 rounds to attempt to board again.
6. Ramming - Ramming done by a galley requires a saving throw versus acid (8) for a merchant ship or galley, and a saving throw versus fire (5) for a warship. If the save is failed, the ship takes 6d8 damage. The ramming ship must then remove itself by back paddling or be dragged down, this requires a saving throw versus fire (5) on the part of the ramming ship.
7. Ship’s Weapons - There are two primary weapons on ships in Bhakashal
1. Ballista: 4-16 (4d4) damage, Weapon Speed: 8, WvrsAC [+2M/+4L/+6N], range: 16/24/32
2. Catapult: 5-30 (5d6) damage, Weapon Speed: 10, WvrsAC [+3M/+6L/+8N], range: 18/27/36
8. Fire - Fiery bolts, stones or arrows do an additional +1 damage per die, and require the ship to make a saving throw versus regular fire (5) for each bolt or stone, and every 5 arrows, or be set on fire. Fires not put out will spread doing 1 hp damage per round, cumulatively, e.g., 1 hp in round 1, 2 hp in round 2, etc.
9. Damage and Sinking - Ships that take more than half their HP in damage begin to sink, losing 1 hp per round thereafter unless they are repaired. When a ship reaches 1/4 of their total HP they sink.
10. Repair: Repairing a ship while it is damaged and sinking requires a skill check. A shipwright gets a check at a bonus based on their INT or DEX, whichever is better. Every crew member beyond the first who aids in repairs adds a +1 to the check, to a max of +3.
11. Food and Water
Water -
All boats require 1 cubic foot of fresh water per 10 crew per day.
So for a ship with 50 total crew (average merchant ship/pirate ship), that would be 5 cubic feet of fresh water per day
A barrel of water is approximately 10 cubic feet of water, or 2 days of water for this crew.
Food -
All boats require 1 cubic foot of food per 20 crew per day
So for a ship with a crew of 50, that would be 2.5 cubic feet of food per day.
So a barrel of food, which holds 10 cubic feet, lasts 4 days.
Ships can supplement food and water in the following ways:
A. Magic - Create water makes 1/2 a cubic foot of water per level of caster. Create food/water makes 1 cubic foot of food/water per level of caster
B. Water purification system, “the Goralupe”. In Bhakashal a system for water purification is used on some ships. Made by Urdyll blacksmiths, at it’s heart is a cauldron of an electrum blue colored metal alloy which is extremely heat transmissive, and 3 mirrored bright gold colored metal discs that are extremely heat reflective. The discs are trained on the cauldron and reflect sunlight. Below the cauldron is a box for wood or charcoal. The device boils seawater and uses a hood over the container to collect the steam, which drips down into collectors and fills jars.
The system, known as a Goralupe, named after a variation of giant frog with a large vocal sac, will produce an average of 5 cubic feet of water per day if run every day for 5 days in the tropical environment around Bhakashal. Every day less than 5 run reduces the per day amount by 1 cubic foot, e.g. if it is run for 4 days it would produce 4 cubic feet per day. This assumes a mix of weather and circumstances, using wood to supplement the solar heat and provide water on days without sun, rather than calculating it out for each case. It requires on average 5 cubic feet of wood per day to produce this much fresh water. It requires a crew of 2 sailors to keep it going.
A Goralupe costs 1000gp and takes 3 days to install.
So, for example, a merchant ship with a Goralupe and a crew of 50 on a trip of unknown duration might allocate one unit to food, water and wood in equal measure (333 cubic feet each), this would give them water for approximately 66 days, wood to generate 66 days more water, and food for 132 days.
C. Hunting - Ships pass by islands and coastal areas where hunting is possible. Use standard wandering monster tables to find prey, hunting checks are rolled every hour. Odds are the same as listed (e.g. 1 in 12 in the morning, 1 in 10 in the afternoon, etc.) Slayers get to reroll one check per level per day, those with hunting proficiency get to reroll one check per point of INT or WIS bonus, whichever is higher, and one per point of skill bonus, all per day.
Small sized animals create 1 cubic foot of food per 10 animals (1 hr/10 animals)
Med sized animals 3 cubic feet of food per animal (3 hrs/animal)
Large sized animals produce 1 cubic foot of food per HD (1 hr per HD)
Listed times are for skinning/scaling, cleaning, portioning, salting/storing animals for food.
D. Fishing - Fishing is done with trawling nets and requires 4 sailors to perform. Up to 6 hours of fishing may be done per day (off and on). On the open ocean this produces very little, 1 cubic foot of fish per day. On a coastline of an island or any larger land mass it can produce 5 cubic feet of fish per day. If the ship has any crew with the fishing skill, they can perform a check to double daily yields. It takes a full day to salt and preserve fish, otherwise it must be consumed quickly.
E. Privation - Every day without the regular complement of food and water creates a -2% modifier to the crew’s loyalty checks and every 2 days without the regular complement of food and water creates a -1 penalty to all rolls.
12. Booking Passage - travel options are generally available on rowboats, barges and merchant ships. Rowboats charge approximately 1 sp per day, 5sp if you are being rowed rather than rowing. Barges cost 5 sp to book a ride, though this can be waived if a passenger is willing to pole or row. Barges rarely go out of their way or stop unless well compensated. Merchant ship passage is expensive as space is valuable. Cost is approximately 20gp per day per person, or if the PC has a relevant sailing skill, passage is free if work is done. Making the ship wait is expensive, 100gp per day minimum.
Ship’s Crew
1. Command Crew - Galley’s, Merchant Ships and Warships require at minimum a navigator, a pilot, a captain, and a boatswain/shipwright to travel and perform the necessary maintenance. Tasks can overlap, e.g. the captain could be the pilot. A Barge only requires a pilot/captain. A pilot or navigator may make a skill check once per day, if successful, they may reduce travel time for that day by 1 hour per point of INT or WIS bonus, whichever is higher.
2. For every barge, galley, merchant ship or warship:
The captain will be, roll d6: 1-3:mercenary, 4-5: spider, 6: spartan
Level of the captain will be as follows:
Barge: Level 1 + 1 level for every,10 crew on the ship, e.g. a barge with 20 crew would have a 3rd level captain
Galley: Level 2 + 1 level for every,10 crew on the ship
Merchant Ship: Level 3 + 1 level for every,10 crew on the ship
Warship: Level 4 + 1 level for every,10 crew on the ship
Captains will have 1 permanent magic item per 3 levels of experience, and 1 temporary magic item per 2 levels of experience
3. Playable Groups: All sailors are 0-level and have the Sailor skill. Ship crews can be homogeneous or mixed (d4, 1-2 homogeneous, 3-4 mixed) Roll on the table below for the primary crew playable group:
Homogeneous crews are all the same playable group
Mixed crews are d4: 1-2 (75%), 3-4 (50%) one playable group, the remainder are another playable group
Command Crew: Captains are the same playable group as the majority of their crew 60% of the time, if the captain is a different playable group than the crew, the remaining command crew are the same playable group as the captain 80% of the time, if not, they will be the same as the crew.
Command crew who are the same playable group as the crew get a +5% on loyalty checks/encounter reaction rolls with them. A captain gets a floating bonus of 5% x d6 (1: -3, 2: -2, 3: -1, 4: 0, 5: +1, 6: +2, 7:+3, 8: +4) on loyalty rolls from the crew to represent past experience.
Feel free to assign small bonuses and skills to the various command crew just to create some depth. So for example, you could give a command crew a high stat in an important area (e.g. Charisma) or a bonus on their skill (e.g. navigator [+1]).
4. Crew Equipment by Ship Type
Barges - Most barges are used for commercial purposes within Bhakashal or in the marshes, so the crew tend to be armed and armored cheaply. Typical equipment is padded leather armor (AC9) or no armor (AC10), short sword, club and crossbow.
Galleys - Galleys are most often used for fast raiding, mainly at sea but also on the larger rivers in the marshes. Their lower carrying capacity means they are not as popular with pirates. Typical equipment is breastplate (Samnite armor) AC:7, broadsword, battle axe and shortbow
Merchant Ships - Merchant ships are prepared for (and used by) pirates, so tend to be decently armed, typical equipment is leather armor (AC:8), cutlass (scimitar), hand axe and crossbow.
Warships - Warships are the tanks of the waves, crews are appropriately armed and armored, with typical equipment being chainmail armor (AC 4), longsword, mace and shortbow.
5. Crew Skills
Amongst the crew, 1 in 10 will have a skill in addition to their main skill (sailor), common additional skills include (d20):
1. Animal Handler
2-6. Chef
7-10: Fisherman
11: Gambler
12-16: Hunter
17: Juggler/entertainer
18-19: Musician
20: Trader
6. Spell-Casters - All Galley’s, Merchant Ships and Warships will have a spell caster aboard*, and 1 in 4 barges will have a spell caster aboard, as follows:
*Spell casters will have 1 permanent magic item per 3 levels of experience, and 1 temporary magic item per 2 levels of experience
Playable group for the spell caster is as follows:
*If the spell caster is in the same playable group as the captain and command crew, they get a +5% encounter reaction bonus with the crew, if they are in the same playable group as the crew, they get a +10% bonus. They also get a floating loyalty bonus of 2% x [d6, 1: -2, 2: -1, 3: 0, 4: +1, 5: +2, 6: +3] with the whole crew.
Example of Ship Creation/Commission/Travel
Bograma the Boastful is a 5th level Warlock from House Hinn. Bograma has found a map to the possible location of a long buried hoard of treasure on a remote island approximately 100 miles away. He has paid a fee and consulted the shipping registers at the guild and determined that a ship heading out to the port city of Gorme will pass by the island. Borgrama heads down to the docks to book passage on the Chimera of Gorme. It will cost him as follows: approximately a day to and from the island - 40gp, ship waiting for 2 days - 200gp. Bograma makes an encounter reaction roll and it comes up unfavorably, perhaps the boatswain doesn’t like warlocks very much, so the price is set at 300 gp total. Bograma reluctantly pays.
The referee decides that the Chimera is a small merchant ship specializing in transport of fine manufactured items, mostly wood weapons and musical instruments, along with wine and beer. The referee generates a crew for the ship.
- Merchant Ship crew (all results rolled)- d8x12 = 36, homogeneous, captain a different group than the crew, command crew rolled the same as the captain. Each member of the crew is Malu, the captain is Saan and the remaining command crew Saan.
- The crew are equipped with leather armor (AC:8), broadswords, battle axe and crossbow
- With a crew of 36, the captain is Level 6 and has two permanent and 3 temporary magic items. The captain is rolled as a mercenary. S 15, I 12, W 17, D 8, C 10 C 13, HP: 18, Breastplate/greaves and +1 shield - AC:3, Weapons rolled as: Katana, javelin, battle axe, crossbow, with one extra proficiency slot
Permanent items are a +1 katana and a +1 shield, temporary items are a potion of healing, a potion of treasure finding, and (8) +1 crossbow bolts
- Captain gets a +10% loyalty bonus with the crew, and +15% with the command crew
- We roll and get a 3rd level Phantasmist as the ship’s caster, we roll and she is a rakasta, she has one permanent and two temporary magic items. She has a loyalty bonus of +4% with the crew.
- we roll relevant stats and she gets (S:9, I:15, W:10, D:14, C:12, C:16), she can cast 5 spells per day, has base spell casting odds of 61% and has 9 memorized spells (4 level 1, 3 level 2, 1 level 3).
- we roll equipment, spells and items for the phantasmist, she has a broadsword, no armor, and the following:
Spells: 1st Level - Byntar’s Soothe the Beast, Chromatic Orb, Hypnotism, Wall of Fog, 2nd Level - Cargstad’s Transforming Incantation, Improved Phantasmal Force, Cargstad’s Magnification of the Sensibillia, 3rd Level: Divad’s Doom From the Depths
Magic Items: +1 broadsword, potion of polymorph self, scroll of Summon Shadow and Shadow Monsters
There is no need to fully stat all the NPCs on the ship, just the relevant details, full stats can be generated when needed until the session is over, and the rest of the details can be generated between sessions.
So Bograma books passage on the Chimera of Gorme
For food and water, a crew of approx 40 requires 4 cu ft water/2 cu ft food/day - 1 week journey, 3 barrels water/2 barrels food, they bring double this.
Note that with this cargo loadout, there are no speed modifiers. Also, the planned journey to Gorme is 7 days, enough food and water for that time period are on the ship, so rather than deduct food and water every day, unless food/water is destroyed or the trip is unduly delayed, there is no need to track food and water consumption. You could even leave this blank and only if unusual delays or damage occur do you calculate amounts and determine impacts. Remember as well that there is some wiggle room here, if rationing becomes necessary there is a slow, cumulative impact on morale, but nothing that leads to immediate mutiny or severe penalties.
Chimera of Gorme - Merchant Ship
AC:5 (leather)
Length 80 feet
HP: 80
Speed: 5mph
Cargo: 2 units wine/beer, 4 units wooden artisanal items, 1 unit supplies, 1 unit empty
Food/Water: 6 barrels water/4 barrels of food
Armament:
(3) Ballistae (front, side, side) - Ballista: 4-16 (4d4) damage, Weapon Speed: 8, WvrsAC [+2M/+4L/+6N], range: 16/24/32
Catapult (back) - Catapult: 5-30 (5d6) damage, Weapon Speed: 10, WvrsAC [+3M/+6L/+8N], range: 18/27/36
Crew: 36 Malu, leather armor (AC:8), broadswords, battle axe and crossbow
Command Crew: (Pilot,Navigator,Boatswain) - Saan, leather armor (AC:8), broadswords and crossbow
Rolled: Pilot has Pilot [+1] skill
Captain Norgak Gemil - 6th Level Saan Mercenary
[S 15, I 12, W 17, D 10, C 10 C 13], MV: 15, HP: 18, AC: 3, +10% loyalty crew, +15% loyalty command crew
Weapons: Katana [+4/+4], javelin [+2/+2], battle axe [+2/+2], crossbow [+1/+1]
Items: +1 Katana, +1 shield, (8) +1 crossbow bolts, potion of healing, potion of treasure finding
Ship’s Spell Caster Boylea the Silver - 3rd Level Rakasta Phantasmist
[S:9, I:15, W:10, D:14, C:12, C:16], MV: 15”, HP: 9, AC: 8, Loyalty +4% crew
Weapons: Broadsword [+1/+1]
5 spells per day, spell casting odds: 61%
Spells:
1st Level - Byntar’s Soothe the Beast, Chromatic Orb, Hypnotism, Wall of Fog
2nd Level - Cargstad’s Transforming Incantation, Improved Phantasmal Force, Cargstad’s Magnification of the Sensibillia
3rd Level: Divad’s Doom From the Depths
Magic Items: +1 broadsword, potion of polymorph self, scroll of Summon Shadow and Shadow Monsters
Travel Procedure
For each daily quarter (morning, afternoon, evening, night)
Determine any speed penalties due to cargo and modify the base ship speed for the trip, this will only generally be done once at the beginning of the trip
Roll for weather, determine wind speed modifiers, calculate ship’s speed and total distance for this quarter
Roll for potential encounter (1 in 12 morning, 1 in 10 afternoon, 1 in 8 evening, 1 in 6 night)
If an encounter is indicated, roll d6 to determine timing from hour 1 to 6 of the quarter
Move ship to location of encounter and follow encounter procedure
After encounter resume movement
If an encounter is not indicated, check with players about actions in that quarter
Move the ship the distance indicated by speed for the quarter
Go back to 2. and repeat for the next quarter
The Voyage
The Chimera sets out day 1 in the morning (6am), the weather roll is a 4, cloudy with medium wind, adding 1 mph to speed. So over the next 6 hours (before we run the next weather check) the ship will travel 6mph, so 36 miles, covering a hex and roughly 4/5 of the next hex. The random encounter roll comes up a 5 on a d12, so no encounters.
In blocks where there are no encounters check in with the players to see if they want to RP some aspect of the trip, e.g. train, gamble, talk with the crew, participate in regular ship activities (e.g. fishing), plan, cast spells, etc. The player running Bograma decides to spend some time talking to Boylea to establish a relationship with her, as another “outsider” on the ship (both are not Saan or Malu) he wants to make some allies and create a channel for information.
For the next 6 hour section of travel, the referee rolls 2d4 for weather, the first gets a 4, so the weather moves up the chart, the second roll is another 4, so it jumps to 7, Cloudy, strong wind, light rain. That adds 2mph to speed. So the ship is traveling at 7mph. At this stage the pilot tries to speed up the trip by reading the shifting winds, they have a +1 skill and an INT of 11 (+1 for that), so they roll a d6 +2, the dice roll is a 5, any score of 6 or higher is successful. This reduces daily travel time by 1 hour, so they add an extra 7 miles to the travel total for this 6 hour section. So total travel time is 7 x 7 = 49 miles. Added to the previous 36 and the Chimera has traveled 85 miles, 4 and 1/4 hexes.
NOTE: if you want to simplify the process, keep the weather the same all day, so you make one roll at the beginning of the day and the travel speed stays the same all day.
The roll for random encounters in the afternoon is a d10, it comes up a 4, no encounter. The referee checks in with the PC and he decides to spend time praying and meditating with several Malu sailors.
It is now 6pm and time for the evening rolls. For weather the referee rolls a 4 (move up), and then a 2 which indicates jumping 1 to 8, “Cloudy, strong wind, medium rain”, so the speed for this section of travel is still 7mph. The map reveals a small island nearby, Boylea has requested that they stop briefly at any island on their route to look for potential exotic components for spells. The captain decides to honor this request, but wants to reduce the time wasted, so he orders the oars manned to speed up the ship. This adds 1 mph to their speed, so they move at 8 mph and reach the island in an hour.
The crew likes fresh game, even though they are well stocked for food, so two sailors with the hunting skill accompany Boylea to the island on the ship’s rowboat. Now, since the PC is not accompanying them to the island, I wouldn’t bother to roll for hunting in the normal fashion, I would abstract it to one roll to speed things up as the PC is not involved. So in this case a pair of d6 rolls, one determines how much time is spent rowing to the island, hunting/looking for components, etc. I get a 4, so 4 hours total. The second determine success: 1: Extreme failure, 2: Failure, 3: base success (hunting only), 4: high success (hunting went well), 5: great success (hunting good, component collection OK), and 6: hunting and collecting both successful. I roll a 4, I interpret this as bringing back two deer which will create 6 cubic feet of food, enough to provide venison dinners for three days.
Back to the ship, 4 hours gone to hunting and collecting, it is now 1 hour from the end of this time period (e.g. 11pm) and they are at 86 miles. The captain orders the ship to depart, and to have the rowers add to it’s speed again. Rowers can row for 6 hours maximum at regular speed and they have had an ample break. The Chimera leaves the island and they row, increasing the speed to 8 mph for an hour, getting them to the 87 mile mark for the next time period weather/random encounter check (night, midnight to 6am).
The weather check is a 4, so weather moves up the table again from Cloudy, strong wind, medium rain (8), the second roll is a 4, so it loops the table and the clouds/wind/rain break leaving them with “Clear, no wind”, and dropping them down to 5 mph. The random encounter roll for night is a d6, it comes up positive with a 1. You roll another d6 to determine when the encounter happens, this generates a 4, so hour 4 of the next 6 hour block.
So the ship will travel for 4 hours to cover 20 miles more when the encounter occurs. Their destination is at the 100 mile mark, so in this case, they travel to 92 miles in the first hour, 97 miles in the second hour, and in the third hour they arrive at the destination. Since it is 3 am the PC is asleep, as are many of the crew, so the Captain orders the anchor dropped off the shoreline and the ship stops. He will have Bograma the Boastful woken at dawn.
However, hour 4 the encounter happens. Regular procedure is as follows:
Roll encounter - a 77 is rolled on the deep water encounters table, indicating a giant 15HD sea turtle
Determine Surprise - surprise is indicated against the ship
Determine Monster Focus - The turtle spots the Chimera first, I roll a d6 to see what it’s focus is at the moment, (d6): 1-2: food, 3-4: water and 5-6: survival, I roll a 3 for “water” and it continues past the ship uninterested. It is narrated as one of the crew noticing a huge shape passing by under the water…
When Bograma is woken, another weather roll is made as it is 6am and the start of the next quarter, in this case it moves down the table, looping around, a 2 point move takes it back to 9: Cloudy, very strong wind, heavy rain. This means that Bograma’s trip will require a roll to ensure that there are no issues paddling to the island. The ship will stay anchored off the coastline for 2 days as per the agreement made with Bograma when he paid for passage. He has two days to find and remove the loot before the ship will leave, then return on the way back to check on him, in approximately 14 days (6 more days to port at Gorme, two days in port, 6 days back to the island).
The cycle of weather, speed and encounter checks is generative of endless adventure. There is a place for social RP and other activities between encounters, I find that over multiple sessions the players will start to do more social RP to fill the time. Talking to the crew, building alliances, discovering their skills, etc.
I don’t generally roll for details about the crew until I need them, e.g., one of the players asks if any of the crewmembers play instruments, so I roll, the ship arrives at an island so I roll to see if any crew members have a hunting skill, etc. Rather than formalize these rolls, I tend to improvise them, e.g., roll a 3 in 6 chance that some crew member will play an instrument.
In addition to these rules, Bhakashal will have pregenerated ships for the referee, complete with crews and cargo, so as to save time if a ship is needed quickly.
Your adventure at sea awaits.
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