Watches

This post is a quick one, but, I think, a useful one. In my reading, I've encountered references to different watches aboard a ship. After a little research, I've summarized the system of timekeeping for ships so that it can be used in nautically themed campaigns.

-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.

Interlude--The Puzzle

In honor of International Talk Like a Pirate Day, I'm posting this puzzle that can be used in pirate-themed games.

-Nate

Interlude 50: The Puzzle

Treasure maps are a ubiquitous element in pirate adventures, harkening back to the mysterious chart carried by Billy Bones in Treasure Island. In a Skull & Bones campaign, however, it can be difficult coming up with new ways to encode secret messages so as to keep things fresh and challenging for the players. To that end, presented here is another idea for such a puzzle.

At some point, the PC's receive a cryptic verbal message along with a note that consists of compass points. The message is that "The Rose holds the key." The note contains the following.

W E NNE SW S WSW

NNE SSW S ESE SSE W

WSW W S W E NNE

SSW SW ESE NW NNE WNW

SSE N NNE SW W E

NNE ENE NNW NW NNE S

NE SSW NNE SE NNE NNE

A DC 12 Knowledge (local) or Gather Information check reveals that Rose could refer to Lady Rose, the lover of a renowned pirate; DC 18 checks, or asking around town, reveals that she is buried beneath St. Paul's Church in Port Royal. At that point, a clandestine visit to said holy place can reveal a secret door in the back of her burial location, one that opens onto a tunnel leading to a small circular chamber. The walls of that room are lined with letters, as depicted on the map.

It shouldn't take a skill check to recognize that the directions on the note refer to compass points, and thus to letters in the chamber. In this way, the note can be translated as follows.

"The rose points to the prize

under the gaze of Pelee."

That, in turn, is a reference to Rose Point on the island of Martinique, something characters can recognize with a DC 12 Knowledge (navigation) or a DC 18 Knowledge (local) check. Refer to the map of Martinique on page 169 of the Skull & Bones rulebook. Of course, what awaits the PC's there is for the GM to determine.

Dehydration and Starvation

Sometimes, throughout the course of an adventure, characters find themselves without a decent supply of food or water. Since the average human being can only survive for about three weeks without the prior, and for about three days without the latter, this can present a whole new kind of danger unlike that presented by gunfights, brawls or natural hazards.

The following rules are intended to better reflect the amount of supplies that characters may need to carry aboard ship for long voyages.

How Much Water and Food Does a Character Need?

The amount of water that a character must consume to remain healthy depends largely upon two factors--one's level of activity and the average temperature. Increases in either of these factors means that she must drink more water to stay healthy. The amount of food that a character needs works a little bit differently. While this amount increases with a character’s level of activity, it also increases when the air temperature is colder.

Amount of Water Needed, in Pints

Weather/Temperature	Low Activity	Medium Activity	High Activity
Cool/Cold (49º or lower)	4	6	8
Mild (50º-79º)	6	8	10
Warm (80º-99º)	8	10	12
Hot (100º+)	10	12	14

Amount of Food Needed, in Pounds

Weather/Temperature	Low Activity	Medium Activity	High Activity
Cold (29º or lower)	2	2.5	3
Cool (30º-49º)	1.5	2	2.5
Mild/Warm/Hot (50º+)	1	1.5	2

Should a character be forced to make do with an inadequate supply of food or water, she begins to suffer damage as detailed in the Core Rulebook. Note also that, should a character be suffering from a lack of food while also trying to resist damage from cold weather, he suffers a –2 circumstance penalty to the Fortitude save made to resist that damage.

Using These Rules in a Skull & Bones Campaign

The threat of death via dehydration or starvation can arise in a number of different situations during a quasi-historical, pirate-themed campaign; a few of the possibilities are detailed here.

A voyage by ship is probably the best example. This is especially the case if a vessel is caught in the doldrums, unable to make progress while supplies are slowly dwindling. The situation could also arise while traveling in a remote and barren wilderness environment, where sources of freshwater and foodstuffs simply cannot be found. Finally, a pirate vessel in enemy territory, where attempts to land parties for refilling water casks, foraging or hunting might receive a hostile reception, could also present such a difficulty. Of course, these situations also provide a good opportunity for characters to use their skills and abilities outside of combat.

In these instances, it becomes necessary for the players and GM to keep track of the food supply that a vessel is carrying. This works much like determining how much cargo it's carrying, except that the total is reduced every day based on the number of crew members multiplied by the amount of food needed. Once the supply runs short, refer to the Dungeon Master's Guide to find rules for how this affects characters. Additionally, running on short rations--anything less than the necessary amount--has a cumulative negative effect. For example, every two days subsisting on half rations count as one day of going without food.

Such hardships also present opportunities for heroic action, however. For one thing, characters can make Survival checks to gather food for themselves or others, as detailed in the core rulebook. At the GM's discretion, there could also be some encounters with potential food sources such as wild animals. This could also create a need for some good interaction or roleplaying, such as visiting a previously unknown native tribe or even the settlement of an enemy nation while seeking sustenance. Finally, crew members who take exception to the decisions of the vessel's leadership could also begin causing trouble.

Three More Relics

Detailed here are three more items drawn from tales of piracy and swashbuckling.

-Nate

Da Gama's Ashes

Vasco da Gama is a renowned explorer, one who helped to connect Europe to Arabia and India at the same time that Cortes was leading the conquest New Spain. Even though da Gama is regarded as an explorer and not a warrior, however, he has an act bloodshed on his record that can rival anything Cortes ever did. It happened when he encountered a ship carrying Muslim pilgrims en route to Mecca from Calicut. After claiming that the treasures that it carried, da Gama had his men seal the passengers aboard it and then set it on fire. According to the tales, they then watched while the unfortunate victims pleades for their lives, and let them die. It is not known just how someone came to be in possession of ashes from the ship. Moreover, it is not known if they come from the wood of the ship itself or from some of the victims aboard it.

In game terms, a pouch containing these ashes grants to its possessor the benefits of a prayer spell once per day.

Gainy's Pieces of Eight

During one of the expeditions that William Campier accompanied across the isthmus of Panama, the buccaneers found themselves needing to cross a torrential river. To do so they rigged a rope across it, and then tried to use that as an aid for fording. One member of the party, George Gainy, carried a backpack containing 300 pieces of eight. Such was his greed that he would not leave them behind. He learned his lesson, of course, when the force of the water tore his overburdened self from the line and he drowned somewhere downstream.

Although the buccaneers never recovered his body or his lucre, somebody else did so. Now these accursed pieces of eight are in circulation, carrying their taint. The person who acquires them also gains the Vice fortune as it applies to greed; he or she becomes obsessed with stockpiling money, even if that means risking everything that once was more important.

La Popa Madonna

Many people believe that calling on some kind of supernatural force--be it the loa, a saint or the spirit of an ancestor--can provide real protection in life. Such is the case with this item, a statue of the Virgin Mary from the nunnery that overlooks Cartagena. The Spaniards in the area frequently called on her to deliver their prayers for retribution against buccaneers, freebooters and other such scallywags. Indeed, some credit her with the skinking of Captain Henry Morgan's flagship, the Oxford.

In game terms, praying to the Madonna allows a person to inflict the effects of the doom spell on an opponent, one that lasts for a full day. Doing so requires that the supplicant succeed at a DC 18 Knowledge: religion check, and failure by five or more means that the supplicant instead suffers the effects of the spell.

Unusual Equipment

As I've been reading about pirate history, I've come across references to a number of usual incendiary devices. Knowing what kind of fun they could add to a combat, I've written some stats for them.

-Nate

Unusual Equipment

Pirates are innovators of violence. They are willing to experiment with any tactic that could provide quick and easy victory; for that reason, they are more likely to try out new types of weapons than are members of official military organizations. Detailed below are a few of the ingenious device they are known to have used.

Item	Cost	Weight
Fire Pike	1 reale + pike	4 lbs.
Smoke Pot	3 reales	8 lbs.
Stink Pot	4 reales	8 lbs.

Smoke Pot

This pot, containing a variety of combustible materials such as lamp oil and gunpowder, creates thick, opaque smoke starting one round after it is ignited. The smoke fills a ten- foot cube (treat the effect as a fog cloud spell). The pot burns for five rounds, and the smoke dissipates naturally at a rate determined by the strength of the prevailing winds: five rounds for no wind, two rounds for a light breeze and one round for stronger winds.

Stink Pot

This item functions in the same manner as a smoke pot, but the addition of caustic material such as sulphur (more commonly known as "brimstone") gives the smoke an acrid, cloying smell. For that reason, characters caught in it must make a DC 11 Fortitude save or become nauseated. This nausea lasts as long as the victim remains in the cloud, and for 1d4+1 rounds thereafter.

It is said that Blackbeard once prepared items such as these and ignited them in the hold of his own ship, daring other crew members to last as long as they could in such hellish conditions.

Fire Pike

The buccaneers somtimes uses these weapons, which augment a normal boarding pike with a jar of combustible materials on the end. Because this makes the weapon awkward to wield, the user suffers a -4 penalty to hit with it. On the first successful hit, however, the target must make a DC 10 reflex save or be lit on fire, suffering an additional 1d6 damage per round. Should that occur, the victim can make use a full-round action to make a DC 15 Reflex save to put out the flames, with a +2 bonus for falling prone and rolling on the ground. Of course, trying to put out the fire grants opponents an attack of opportunity.

Note also that, if the wielder of the fire pike rolls a natural 1 to hit, that character must make the Reflex save to avoid being lit on fire.

Interlude: The Kid

Here's another encounter that could be a single event, or that could develop into an ongoing element in a campaign.

-Nate

Interlude 49: The Kid

One of the lesser-known, but no less remarkable, pirates from the annals of history is a young fellow by the name of John King. He was a passenger aboard the ship Bonetta, when it was overtaken by Samuel Bellamy and his crew aboard the ship Mary Anne. He was a passenger when the cutthroats claimed their prize but, to their surprise, he insisted that he be allowed to join their crew. Although the pirates initially scoffed at that notion, the boy threatened suicide if he should be refused. With that, perhaps the youngest scallywag in the history of piracy began his career. (It is also interesting to note that, when the wreck of the Whydah was discovered and excavated, it is believed that John King's remains were found and identified.)

This interlude, of course, features a similar situation. It can begin in the aftermath of an attack by the PC's on another vessel, at some point when they meet a young boy named Zaccharias. He takes an immediate liking to the PC's and declares his intention to join the crew. Should they be less than enthusiastic about it, he insists that he can do what pirates do; he tromps around the deck brandishing his wooden cutlass and saying pirate-sounding things like "Avast, there!" and "Run out the guns and hoist the Jolly Roger!" Failing that he pleads to be allowed to join. At that point he seems to except the decision--but later he intends to sneak aboard and hide somewhere until the ship has sailed. (Note that this interlude assumes a boy has decided to join a predominantly male crew, but it could just as likely be that a girl wants to join a band of female pirates.)

As long as he does manage to sail with the PC's, Zaccharias then chooses one PC who is his complete hero. This could very well be the most dashing, charismatic and swashbuckling member of the crew. On the other hand, it could be fun for this to be a character who is not very personable at all, even one who might be displeased by such hero worship. Whaterver the case, the boy slowly begins emulating that character--dressing in a similar manner, carrying the same kind of weapons, using the same language and expressions, etc. This should be subtle at first, but eventually grows to be quite blatant.

While this situation is developing, there's also the question of combat and other dangers of life at sea. As Zaccharias begins to mimic his hero, he also begins taking more and more risks. This could be trying to join a boarding party, or it could be more mundane tasks like climbing the mainmast and the like. It should be apparent that he is doing these things out of a desire to be like his idol; it's up to the PC in question, along with the rest of the party, to decide whether or not such behavior is encouraged. If the GM is tracking shipboard NPC's as suggested in the article "A Motley Crew," the boy can develop just like other characters--but there's also the chance that he could be injured or killed in combat.

Zaccharias

Commoner 1; CR 1/2; Size small; HD 1d4; hp 5; Init +2 (+2 Dex); Spd 30 ft.; AC 12 (+2 Dex); Atk -2 (1d4-2, wooden sword) or +2 (ranged, modified by nonproficieny penalty); SQ details; AL NG; SV: Fort +1, Ref +2, Will +2; Str 7, Dex 15, Con 12, Int 8, Wis 14, Cha 13.

Background: None.

Skills: Climb +7, Jump +2, Swim +2.

Feats: Rope Monkey.

Fortunes: Kid.

Equipment: Clothing, wooden sword.

Zaccharias is a tow-headed young kid with blue eyes and a bright smile. He dresses in a manner suitable to the situation in which the PC's first encounter him.

Passage

Building on yesterday's post, here are rules for a game within the game.

-Nate

Passage

In his book How History's Greatest Pirates Pillaged, Plundered and Got Away with It, Benerson Little asserts that a favorite dice game among pirates was one called passage. While there are some different variations known, presented here is a more streamlined version.

A dice game such as this can be useful in a number of ways. For one thing, the players and GM can always throw some dice for in-game money while waiting on others. Alternately, the game could be part of an encounter while the PC's are meeting an important contact. Against a particularly ambitious or reckless NPC, the stakes could become very high indeed.

1. Each of the players involved antes a certain bet, such as one piece of eight.

2. Each player takes turn rolling the two six-sided dice.

3. The player with the lowest opening total then rolls one die to "set the point;" that becomes the number needed to score points for future rolls during that game. (In the event of a tie, the two tying players can roll off against each other.)

4. The player with the highest opening roll starts playing by rolling both dice. That player scores one point for each die that matches the "point" number, and three points total if both dice in one throw match it.

5. Play proceeds around to the left until one player scores eleven points, at which time that player wins the pot.