-Nate
Watercraft
Use the following
game stats for these vehicles.
|
Vehicle
|
Size
|
Handling
|
Top
Speed
|
Toughness
|
Crew
|
Cost
|
|
Canoe |
-1 |
1 |
3 |
5 |
1+2 |
100 |
|
Rowboat |
0 |
-2 |
5 |
8 (1) |
1+3 |
300 |
|
Sailing Ship |
11 |
0 |
10 |
13 (2) |
10+5 |
15000 |
|
Steamship |
16 |
-1 |
5 |
15 (3) |
10+100 |
45000 |
|
Steamboat |
16 |
-1 |
9 |
20 (4) |
6+30 |
90000 |
Notes:
- The speed of a sailing ship is dependent on available winds; as such, its maximum speed may never be higher than that of the current wind speed -2.
- It is possible to use a rowboat for towing a sailing ship, in which case the maximum speed becomes 2.
- Some canoes can be rigged with a short mast and sail, thereby becoming like a small sailboat. In that case, the maximum speed increases to 6.
Shipboard
Artillery
Use the following
stats for weapons that are installed on watercraft.
|
Type |
Range |
Damage |
AP |
ROF |
Blast |
Weight |
Cost |
|
Cannon |
50/100/200 |
3d6 |
4 |
1 |
– |
1000 |
5000 |
|
Swivel Gun |
20/40/80 |
2d6 |
2 |
1 |
– |
100 |
500 |
Ghost Ships
Whether it was due to carelessness, greed, or some other factor, the steamboat Sultana set sail from Vicksburg, Mississippi carrying two thousand or more passengers on the night of 24 April 1865. They were Union army soldiers, men who'd just been through the hell of the Civil War and who were eager to sail back upriver to their homes. Such was the crowding that nobody was able to keep an accurate record of exactly who was onboard.
Although the ill-fated voyage managed to last a couple of days, in the early hours of April 27 one of the vessel's four boilers exploded. The resulting hole, it is said, was so large that a smokestack and the wheelhouse fell into it. Fire spread quickly through the remaining hull, forcing passengers to decide between burning to death or drowning in the river. Some managed to float to shore by clinging to debris and even animals, but in all 1,547 people were killed. What is more, the story received little publicity in the press at that time, because it happened on the very same day on which the assassin John Wilkes Booth was capture and killed. Indeed, the official investigation into the matter never resulted in any criminal charges that could bring those responsible for the disaster to justice, and a natural change of course for the river meant that the wreck of the Sultana was eventually buried, and all physical trace of the disaster was lost.
There is still a spiritual trace remaining, however.
Those who ply the waters of the Mississippi River sometimes report seeing a ghostly steamboat, one that moves in an unnatural way and that seems to have an unearthly glow. Skeptics, of course, try to explain away these sightings with notions including tricks of moonlight on the fog and similar ideas. Even so, those who are more attuned to the spiritual realm know that ghosts of the victims, traveling aboard a spectral form of the Sultana still continue their voyage, cursed to haunt the location of their demise, and always looking to bring other helpless victims aboard to share in their fate.
Rules for Ghost Ships and the Sultana
- Just like with humanoid ghosts, ghost ships have the Ethereal and Fear (-2) qualities. While they still move at a speed similar to their specific vehicle type, they can thus ignore impediments such as sandbars and other snags, they cannot move across land.
- Additionally, although there are ghostly crew members aboard the ship, they do not individually have the Fear-causing effect; rather, they have become an extension of the vessel itself.
- The unfulfilled purpose of this vessel, along with its crew and passengers, is to deliver everyone safely to the railroad junction at Cairo, Illinois. Sadly, however, this has become twisted into reliving the nightmare of their voyage every year on its anniversary. For that reason, it appears near Vicksburg on the night of every April 24, and then explodes, burns and sinks a little after midnight on April 27.
- Those who encounter the Sultana during this span of time find that the passengers try to drag them aboard the ghost ship, intending that they should share in its curse. They use their ability to hurl physical objects as their main attack, and then use it to pull the bodies of those beaten into unconsciousness aboard their vessel.
- Indeed, any who die during this repetition of the calamity are also turned into ghosts—with the limitations mentioned above—and thus continue the annual attacks.
- There are a few ways to end this curse. One is to find the culprit responsible for the overloading and bring him to justice, but few can agree on just who that might be. Another is to use magical weapons to destroy the steamboat, thereby sending the souls trapped aboard it to one final rest.
|
Deck Plans
for Vehicles Referenced
Refer
to the following resources and scenarios to find deck plans and
descriptions of the vehicles listed below.
|
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