-Nate
Watches
It's a tried-and-true element of
Dungeons & Dragons
adventures: setting watches while the party is resting. In a Skull
& Bones game, however, it's
more than just good practice; it's the long-established custom of the
sea. Using this system can help to provide a sense of realism in a
campaign, and it also divides time at sea nicely into six segments
for the purpose of determining encounters. (Note that the following
time references use the twenty-four clock.)
Watches
and Times
20:00
- 0:00 / First Watch
0:00
- 4:00 / Middle Watch
4:00
- 8:00 / Morning Watch
8:00
- 12:00 / Forenoon Watch
12:00
- 16:00 / Afternoon Watch
16:00
- 20:00 / Dog Watch
The
dog watch is divided into two separate segments of two hours each,
the first and last dog watches. In this way, the time periods in
which different groups are on watch vary from day to day. Depending
on the size of a ship's crew, there could be two groups or three.
Naturally, having three watch groups means more time to rest for
everyone involved.
In
this way, the ship's traditional organizational scheme also provides
the GM with a natural arrangment for determining random encounters.
For example, there might be a 1-in-6 chance of an encounter during
any watch, and so the GM rolls 1d6, with something happening for each
result of a 1. Should an encounter be indicated during the dog watch,
there's a 50% chance of it being during the first or last part of it,
respectively. As always, the PC's should decide who is awake for each
watch. Additionally, if the GM is using the system for tracking crew
members as detailed in the article "A Motley Crew,"
specific NPC's could also be assigned to serve with the PC's.
Time
is kept with a thirty-minute glass; therefore, every watch consists
of eight glasses. Since the ship's bell is rung after each such half
hour, time can be noted as the Nth bell during a given watch. For
example, half an hour before midnight is the seventh bell of the
first watch.
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