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Of Shanties, Plunder and a Bottle o' Rum [Pirate Quest]

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Okay, thanks.

I'll use the 8/14 rolls, but in future I'm going to specify one roll per person since this was slightly messy.

And if I get two duplicates in future I'll just have to deal with it. Not gonna try this reroll stuff again, on advice from others in a discord group I'm in.
 
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Prologue - Anchors Aweigh 3
  • Threadmarks
    • Winning votes:
    [X][Prisoners] Don't recruit. You don't trust them not to rebel when underway, particularly with this cargo. You're not taking any risks of them sabotaging the ship.
    [X][Destination] Or we could head to the Thousand's Waypoint. A port and town on the easternmost isle of the Thousand Needles, a sprawling archipelago of islands numbering almost 1,000 unique landmasses across a truly massive area. Best prices for goods and the latest gossip, but more chances to encounter other ships. (2 encounter rolls.)
    [X][Weapon] Off the captain of the Altrisian sloop HMS Lance, your first successful hunt. A fine sabre, with a handle of black leather inlaid with gold thread alongside a polished steel knuckle guard and cross guard beneath the gentle curve of the single-edged blade of 75 centimetres. You'd ceded the captain's share of the ship for it and it was worth every penny.
    [X][Remainder] Send them on their way with a dinghy, provisions and a map. They might make it to a nearby island, or they might die, but you'll give them a good chance.

    "Bo'sun! Ship this size has dinghies, surely. Fetch two of them and the remainder of the supplies we can't take, and a chart from their map room. Mister Aglen will be be wanting the rest, I suspect."

    Turning, you looked over at the prisoners. There's quite a bit of relief shown there at your decision to not kill them, tempered by some worry that they'll still be stranded at sea, though not without hope. You'd toyed with the idea of leaving them without food, but decided against it. No reason to not give them any, particularly when your stores were already full. There might have been some hesitation if you were giving up food you could take with you, but as is, anything you aren't taking is getting sent to the bottom.

    "We'll lower them down with the supplies, but you'll be jumping in after them. I hope one of you can read a map, but if you can't then land is about three days away."

    One bursts into tears. You take a closer look at him. Young, barely a hair on his cheek to show his youth.

    Stepping closer out of sudden interest, you squatted down and looked him in the eye.

    "What's your name and story, boy?"

    He hiccupped, stammering out of fear at your sudden inquiry. Poor bastard, he'll be the first one to go if they run into trouble at this rate.

    "J-ja-ames. Signed up for a j-job for money for me ma."

    You run your eyes over him quickly. No callouses on his hands from hauling lines or sails, shoddy clothes. Nothing to wield, either.

    "Boy. You have a knife?"

    He shook his head wordlessly, haltingly trying to respond. You saved him the effort, speaking right over his pathetic attempts.

    "A knife is a sailor's best friend. Can use it for defence, to cut rope, whittle wood, threaten... never go without one, understand?"

    So speaking, you took your spare knife from your belt and rammed it into the wood in front of him.

    "I expect you to hold onto that." Standing, you walked back to your own ship, before your stride halted as he spoke one last time.

    "What's your name?"

    Oh, my. No stammer or hesitation this time. He does have some fire and spirit in him. Good, he'll need it. You spin on the spot and give an exaggerated bow, taking your hat off in one smooth motion.

    "Me? Captain Calico Vane, at your service. Best remember the name, aye?"

    You turn, flip your hat in the air and walk away, hat landing just so back on your head without breaking stride.

    It's all about presentation and style.

    [X][Name] Captain Calico Vane.
    [][Name] Captain Eliza Redwater.
    [][Name] Captain Henry Barbarossa.
    [][Name] Captain Rob Ironwood.
    ~~~~~~~
    ​
    Six days into your voyage after sinking the merchant, your crew is singing a merry shanty.

    Come get your duds in order
    For we're going to leave tomorrow
    Heave away, me jollies, heave away
    Come get your duds in order
    For we're going to cross the water
    Heave away me jolly mates, we're all bound away
    ​
    Tapping your foot along with the tune, an errant voice enters your idle daydreams. It's your newest lookout - Jess - from the crow's nest - "Cap'n - ship to starboard!"

    You raised your farseer, quickly finding what she's pointed out to you.

    She's got a real set of eyes to have spotted that - you're barely able to see the dark shape in your view with the additional help of your farseer. Knowing where you are though, you suspect it's not a threat.

    Encounter roll: 14.

    "Miss Sorensen! Reef in the mizzenmast entirely, as well as the main and fore topsails. Helm, move to a north-easterly bearing, and I want three boarding parties assembled. Weigh anchor a mile out - I don't want us running aground like this lot have."

    You return to examining the ship as she grows larger in your vision. Beached on a reef, she's also snapped midways right down to the keel, suggesting something set off her powder stores. Planks and rigging are strewn around her, slowly being carried off by the sea. A recent wreck - else any debris would have long floated off by now. You're curious as to what could have done this - an unlucky encounter with a privateer firing on her until destruction? A captain setting off the powder stores themselves in one last act of spite, run aground in an act of incompetence?

    Further answers will have to wait until you get on board.

    ~~~~~~~​
    This, you mused to yourself, is quite the conundrum.

    The ship has been run aground, that much is clear. But nothing makes sense as to how! What sails are left rigged from the blast are oriented entirely wrong given the bow's direction on the shoals, and that's just a start to the oddities. Not a single bloodstain suggesting combat in sight, excluding what could have been a panicked turn without time to re-rig the sails.

    You grumbled to yourself as you tapped your driftwood staff around the captain's cabin for any hollow spaces. There were no letters or journals found anywhere else aboard, leaving you to look for anything hidden. The staff was just a curio you'd picked up off a trader for a pittance - you rather liked the bleached, stark look it had.

    (And it amused you to walk around with it like a posh cane like those idiots in Galanna.)

    Tap, tap, tap, thunk.

    Ah-ha! That definitely sounded different. You examine the area more closely, before finding one plank recessed slightly into the hull of the ship. It opens with a satisfying click, revealing a sealed brass cylinder. Shaking it doesn't reveal anything solid inside - maps or charts? You nearly drop it when you spot the scribbled rune on the hinged lid, before gently sliding it into the inside breast pocket of your coat with all the care you'd give to a musket with a light trigger.

    Someone really didn't want whatever is inside this thing known about.

    Spooked, you jog back to the open deck - it's never good to look panicked in front of the crew by sprinting or rushing - and see them scavenging amongst the debris. A few have found new blades, judging by the comparing going on, but no cargo has been recovered - another oddity. The light planks and rope floating in the sea would be the first things to be carried off by the tides, but the heavier cargo barrels and crates would weigh down in the sand unless taken or disposed of. Yet the former are still present and the latter gone?

    Something niggled in your mind at that thought, but you're just unable to fully string the pieces together.

    Irritated, you snap more harshly at your crew than you intended.

    "Back on the boats! We're heading back to the Barracuda. Now!"

    Later that night, after running your lovely sabre over a whetstone with some oil kept specially for maintenance, your mind percolates over the mystery of the ship. You're sure at this point that however it got aground wasn't natural - too many things didn't add up. The fact that the first damage from the reef appeared on the right corner of the stern, suggests it was pushed on those rocks, and not by the wind.

    Mermaids? They were creatures of the sea, and so could control it. You'd heard stories of vengeful mermaids running ships aground or sinking them in a whirlpool - but as a rule they were quite pacifistic, rarely stirred to anger.

    You groaned. At this rate you'd keep going in circles over it. You set the matter aside with difficulty, leaving it to be answered by whatever is inside that cylinder.

    ~~~~~~~​
    Three days out from the Waypoint, you run across a most peculiar sight.

    A privateer sloop under the colours of the Galannan Navy, on the near side of a sandbar to your northeast. It was rare for privateers to stray so close to the Waypoint, given the amount of pirate activity in the immediate area. A target rich environment doesn't end well when the targets gang up on you, after all.

    Encounter roll = 8.
    Sometimes I'll be throwing a map your way and asking you what your plan is. Other times your PC will handle the sailing offscreen, as happened with the first fight.
    You are heading east (the free map software didn't have a sprite pointing that direction) to your destination. The wind is from the northwest and your ship is running on a broad reach. Your enemy is a sloop with lighter armament than your corvette on a beam reach bearing southwest.
    The map is 10 km by 10km.

    [][Privateer encounter] Continue east. You think you can outrun them if they gybe to follow, and you're not interested in fighting. (Flee roll - d20 + 5)
    [][Privateer encounter] Tack into the wind, bearing north. You'll manoeuvre for the windward side in the upcoming fight, and rake her bow if she turns to follow you. (Intercept roll - d20)
    [][Privateer encounter] Head south. You'll definitely escape, but have a few days added to your journey. (One more encounter roll before berthing at the Thousand's Waypoint.)
    [][Privateer encounter] Write in?


    -----------------------------------------------​

    I had been planning to leave the name vote up a bit longer until the next part of the prologue, but then the first scene happened and I thought it worked really well to establish the name there.

    So! The first two names are for a female captain and the last two are male. Vote now for it or forever hold your peace.

    As for the first encounter, it's setting up some actions you can take after the prologue ends. Plot threads to pull and all that.

    The second encounter is reasonably safe for you, insofar as being a pirate is safe.

    And a question - am I keeping my tenses straight? I've edited it before posting, but I'm still not quite sure I'm staying consistently in past tense.
     
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  • Threadmarks
    • [X][Name] Captain Henry Barbarossa.
    [X][Privateer encounter] Head south. You'll definitely escape, but have a few days added to your journey. (One more encounter roll before berthing at the Thousand's Waypoint.)
     
    [X][Name] Captain Rob Ironwood.
    [X][Privateer encounter] Continue east. You think you can outrun them if they gybe to follow, and you're not interested in fighting. (Flee roll - d20 + 5)
     
    [X][Name] Captain Eliza Redwater.
    [X][Privateer encounter] Tack into the wind, bearing north. You'll manoeuvre for the windward side in the upcoming fight, and rake her bow if she turns to follow you. (Intercept roll - d20)
     
    [X][Name] Captain Calico Vane.
    [X][Privateer encounter] Continue east. You think you can outrun them if they gybe to follow, and you're not interested in fighting. (Flee roll - d20 + 5)
     
    [x][Name] Captain Rob Ironwood.
    [x][Privateer encounter] Head south. You'll definitely escape, but have a few days added to your journey. (One more encounter roll before berthing at the Thousand's Waypoint.)
     
    What did people think of the map addition? Something you'd like to see continued in the future for additional flavour in combat scenes?
     
    [X][Name] Captain Eliza Redwater.
    [X][Privateer encounter] Continue east. You think you can outrun them if they gybe to follow, and you're not interested in fighting. (Flee roll - d20 + 5)

    Pirates are opportunists, a sloop even if weaker is still a risk of losing crew or worse getting a mast knocked over etc for questionable gain as its hold is not likely to overflow with precious cargo.

    I like the map!
     
    Yanez said:
    Pirates are opportunists, a sloop even if weaker is still a risk of losing crew or worse getting a mast knocked over etc for questionable gain as its hold is not likely to overflow with precious cargo.
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...

    Entirely reasonable. I thought people might be a bit more gung-ho about it but seems that the prevailing movement is for safety.

    Kaboomatic said:
    Yes
    Please
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...

    Yanez said:
    I like the map!
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...

    Glad to hear! I'll keep on doing them when appropriate.
     
    [X][Name] Captain Henry Barbarossa.
    [X][Privateer encounter] Continue east. You think you can outrun them if they gybe to follow, and you're not interested in fighting. (Flee roll - d20 + 5)
     
    Name vote pretty spread out. Strange, when you see how popular Calico Vane was in the first round with 12 votes.

    If no clear winner is formed I'll likely pick Calico as a tiebreak.
    Adhoc vote count started by commando2341 on Apr 30, 2020 at 7:09 PM, finished with 10 posts and 7 votes.
    • [X][Privateer encounter] Continue east. You think you can outrun them if they gybe to follow, and you're not interested in fighting. (Flee roll - d20 + 5)
      [X][Name] Captain Henry Barbarossa.
      [X][Privateer encounter] Head south. You'll definitely escape, but have a few days added to your journey. (One more encounter roll before berthing at the Thousand's Waypoint.)
      [X][Name] Captain Rob Ironwood.
      [X][Name] Captain Eliza Redwater.
      [X][Privateer encounter] Tack into the wind, bearing north. You'll manoeuvre for the windward side in the upcoming fight, and rake her bow if she turns to follow you. (Intercept roll - d20)
      [X][Name] Captain Calico Vane.
    Click to expand...
     
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    [X][Name] Captain Calico Vane.
    [X][Privateer encounter] Continue east. You think you can outrun them if they gybe to follow, and you're not interested in fighting. (Flee roll - d20 + 5)
     
    [X][Name] Captain Rob Ironwood.
    [X][Privateer encounter] Continue east. You think you can outrun them if they gybe to follow, and you're not interested in fighting. (Flee roll - d20 + 5)
     
    [X][Name] Captain Rob Ironwood.
    [X][Privateer encounter] Tack into the wind, bearing north. You'll manoeuvre for the windward side in the upcoming fight, and rake her bow if she turns to follow you. (Intercept roll - d20)

    Why everyone is so keen to avoid this fight is beyond me.

    We have more guns, more crew and free cargo space. We are near our destination so repairs won't be difficult.

    Finally we are a pirate, attacking targets of opportunity is kind of the whole point.
     
    [X][Name] Captain Calico Vane.
    [X][Privateer encounter] Continue east. You think you can outrun them if they gybe to follow, and you're not interested in fighting. (Flee roll - d20 + 5)
     
    [X][Name] Captain Calico Vane.

    [X][Privateer encounter] Continue east. You think you can outrun them if they gybe to follow, and you're not interested in fighting. (Flee roll - d20 + 5)
     
    [X][Name] Captain Calico Vane.

    [X][Privateer encounter] Head south. You'll definitely escape, but have a few days added to your journey. (One more encounter roll before berthing at the Thousand's Waypoint.)
     
    [x][Name] Captain Rob Ironwood.

    commando2341 said:
    What did people think of the map addition? Something you'd like to see continued in the future for additional flavour in combat scenes?
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...
    Definitely helps make sense of the options.
    I would probably recomment rotating the ship pictures to show the direction they are heading towards, but that might not always be feasible. Possibly a wind direction could be added, since it might be a factor.

    [x][Privateer encounter] Tack into the wind, bearing north. You'll manoeuvre for the windward side in the upcoming fight, and rake her bow if she turns to follow you. (Intercept roll - d20)

    We have the cannons (did we install the extras we captured from our last target?), let's put them to the test.
     
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    Nevill said:
    Definitely helps make sense of the options.
    I would probably recomment rotating the ship pictures to show the direction they are heading towards, but that might not always be feasible. Possibly a wind direction could be added, since it might be a factor.
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...
    The ship sprite looked upside down if I pointed it in the right direction haha. I could try adding something in post after using Inkarnate, I suppose.
    Wind direction is a good idea, will remember that next time.
    Nevill said:
    We have the cannons (did we install the extras we captured from our last target?), let's put them to the test.
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...
    The heavier cannons are not currently installed, but you could swap out three of your current lineup, leaving you with 8x14lb and 3x18lb.
     
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