These rules haven’t been playtested at all and are very much a WIP.
Ships & Voyages
Of the four common ships given below, the Twinpaw and Windgrasp are the most likely vessels for a party of adventurers to find themselves sailing. If they’re on board a turtle or a seaviper, it’s more likely that they’re a small part of a much larger crew.
Twinpaw. A long double-hulled ship with a pair of broad triangular sails. The favourite of sailors and explorers throughout the Archipelago because they’re stable and dependable, even in storms. Twinpaws grant +1d when dealing with choppy waters and poor weather.
Windgrasp. A swift and sleek canoe with a forked sail that claws at the heavens. Narrow and cramped, but unparalleled in terms of speed and agility. Windgrasps are faster and more maneuverable than any other ship, but can’t be sailed without the Seafaring skill.
Turtle. Stout and roomy with a single huge sail and elaborate rigging, turtles need a pretty large crew to operate effectively. These expensive ships are usually trading vessels, as all that lumber costs a small fortune. A turtle is a floating warehouse with endless room for goods and treasure.
Seaviper. A fearsome war canoe favoured by raiding parties and pirate crews. Named for their length: they are long and narrow ships that cut through the water with a hiss, propelled by sails and dozens of oars. A fully-crewed seaviper that rams another vessel at speed can inflict devastating damage.
Preparing for a Voyage
To make a successful voyage, your ship needs three things: food, water and supplies. At any given time, each of these resources is either Surplus, Enough, Dwindling, or Out. These levels are always relative to the voyage you’re making; for example, if you’re making a voyage of two weeks, then two weeks of food for your crew is Enough.
Certain random events can make the journey take longer than expected, or make your ship’s supplies dwindle faster than expected. In that case, you may need to find a way to replenish your ship mid-voyage. That might involve stopping at an uncharted island, trying to fish for food or conjure rain for water, or anything else that might solve the shortage.
Drawing Supply. If your ship isn’t Out of supplies, the player characters may withdraw units of Supply from its hold to use on their adventures. When they do so, the GM will create a 4-clock for a windgrasp or twinpaw, or an 8-clock for a turtle or seaviper. Each unit of supply taken fills one tick of the clock; when the clock fills, the ship’s supplies dwindle.
Making a Voyage
When you set sail for the vastness of the ocean, the GM will create a Voyage Clock to reflect how significant of an undertaking this journey will be.
- 2-clock. A voyage of a few days. Sailing between two islands in the same island chain.
- 4-clock. A voyage of a week or two. Sailing over the open ocean to the next island you can anchor at.
- 6-clock. A voyage of several weeks. Sailing over the open ocean to a remote, distant island.
- 8-clock. A voyage of many months. Sailing to the furthest reaches of the ocean.
For each leg of the voyage, your ship’s navigator must roll against the risk of losing their way. If they have a map, rutter or guide to their destination, treat this as a masterwork item and add 1d to the roll.
Judge the results as follows:
- 66. Mark three ticks of the voyage clock.
- 6. Mark two ticks of the voyage clock.
- 4-5. Mark one tick of the voyage clock.
- 1-3. Mark no ticks of the voyage clock.
If this is enough to fill the voyage clock, then you will reach your destination after this leg of the voyage. First, though, the GM will roll 1d6 to see what befalls you along the way.
1. Encounter
The GM rolls for a random encounter, or introduces a setpiece encounter they have prepared. The GM should prepare a handful of potential encounters in advance of each voyage the player characters undertake.
2. Milestone
You come across an island or other point of interest along the way. The GM should prepare a handful of potential milestones in advance of each voyage the player characters undertake, or select a premade one from the Seafarer’s Almanac.
3. Depletion
Your ship’s reserves of food (1-2), water (3-4), or supplies (5-6) are dwindling more quickly than you’d expected. If they were already dwindling, they run out entirely.
4. Peril
Some thing happens to endanger the ship (1-2), the crew (3-4), or the cargo (5-6). If there is no cargo, the crew is endangered instead. For example:
- The ship is endangered by a hidden reef, a fire breaking out onboard, or a sudden whirlpool.
- The crew is endangered by a fight, an accident, a plague, or a bad omen.
- The cargo is endangered by pests, theft, accident, or contamination.
5. Change of Weather
Roll on the table below to see how the weather changes. If you roll the current weather, there is no change.
| 1d6 | Weather |
|---|---|
| 1-2 | Fair Weather |
| 3 | Clement Weather |
| 4 | Inclement Weather |
| 5 | Becalmed |
| 6 | Storm-Wracked |
Ordinary Weather. If the weather is fair, travel proceeds normally. Clement weather gives +1d to the next navigation roll, while inclement weather imposes a -1d penalty.
Becalmed. You are forced to a stop unless you have a weatherworker or some other way to get the ship moving without wind. The GM rolls the Dice of Fate to see whether it lasts a few days, a week, or several weeks.
Storm-Wracked. Your ship and crew are endangered by hazardous weather. The GM rolls the Dice of Fate to see just how dire your situation is. How bad is the storm? How much warning do you have? Will your ship merely be damaged if you’re unable to escape, or will it be dashed to pieces?
6. Peaceful Sailing
Nothing of particular note befalls you on this leg of the journey.