Welp my weekend of carefully getting this game up and running is shot to hell. See you all monday!

Sounds good, it is Monday for me ;)  I live in Germany.

Kalia Tyrnddare, the Dragon Mistress, is here to show you all how it's done mateys!

Alright everyone has been added. You will notice that we have 8 players to start with but don't worry.

First of all as this is a custom game we are not bound to narrow dungeons and fixed encounters. I can easily adjust things up and down appropriately.

Second I have had a lot of success in adding a few extra players early on and then if natural attrition takes off a few people the party is still robust. My interpretation of a "0-level funnel".

Finally the overall goal is to have you guys run a ship so the more players there are, the fewer NPCs I have to run to fill in the various roles on a ship.

Me Zug Zug Bob! Zug Zug Swim good like whale! No like then Zug Zug smash!

I think you and my dragon, Drakar, will get along just fine Zug Zug. He's a nice pretty red fella.

Well met, all!

Hello from your friendly-ish Ulfen raider turning pirate. So I'm going either fighter or cleric depending on the answer to the following question.


I have a question for our ranger and barbarian. What fighting style will you two be using. Archery, two handed weapons, two weapon fighting, sword and shield?

Rafe already mentioned being a one weapon dirty trick guy.

Well since I am a full orc, not just a half-breed, I'm anticipating my strength score being, "Lol." So smacking things around with a greatclub until a really big sword comes my way seems appropriate.

I am Vander Wargrider, ranger, archer, medic, and the person who goes on the back of my wolf Shaka.

Nobody else gets to ride Shaka! She don't like it!

Also...most of you are way too big...
This message was last edited by the player at 00:20, Tue 26 Jan 2021.

While you are getting up to speed consider the answer to the following:

Are you crew or are you just a passenger? Both options are fine and you all dont have to have the same answer. Some can be passengers, some can be crew.

I will work on a crew list and other passenger list. The big difference this makes is what parts of the ship you can access and where you will be sleeping for the night. Most crew have hammocks on a lower deck. Passengers get their own rooms or share with others in their group. Officers might have their own room or share it with their junior assistant.

If you are crew consider the following positions: deck hands are your bread and butter generalist, riggers man the sails and climb the ropes (you will want good athletics checks) and finally junior officers are apprenticed to a senior one. The surgeon has someone to bring the tools and mop the blood, the gunnery officer has an apprentice to help maintain equipment and do inventory of the armory etc.

As a passenger consider what kind of passage did you book (and how). Are you a VIP being invited to captain’s dinners or did you pay bottom barrel prices and are crammed into a cabin like cordwood with barely any space for your gear?

Dont fret too much on it, this is not a long term decision past the prologue ;)

Considering Kalia's background as written, and her Background trait (Aspiring Free Captain) I took, she's likely crew, and possibly climbing the ranks. lol
This message was last edited by the player at 01:04, Tue 26 Jan 2021.

Zug Zug is crew! He's a deck hand all too happy to do the grunt work, and to be the guy who does heavy lifting (like moving the barrels of water, the whale fat, or going overboard to get the crew that go flying in a storm.

In reply to Dungeon Master (msg # 17):

Vander is the ship's surgeon, as he knows battle medicine when he was a medic among his goblin tribe. Most of the time he is making sure Shaka the wolf gets used to shipboard life. Which means lots of treats and fur brushing.

Oivind could be a Rigger with his background and skills it would work pretty good.

Xao may have signed on for a short term, a work for passage sort of deal. She could be a rigger. She doesn't mop blood up, just spreads it around.
This message was last edited by the player at 01:32, Tue 26 Jan 2021.

There is no "work for passage". You don't have to worry about the cost of passage though, that can be hand waved away. If you're worried about it then she can just have a hammock in the bowels of the ship.

---

Right now here is the overall breakdown of available "spot"

4 VIP passenger slots
5 "low" passenger slots (you sleep next to the crew and only have a hammock to call your own)
10 Rigger slots
35 Crew slots
4 Midshipmen Slots (these are generic junior officers. Experienced crew who have earned responsibility and can generally be put in charge of teams of crew to complete tasks. The lowest ranking "officers" on the shps.
4 Junior Mate slots (apprentices to the Bosun, Apothecary, Helmsman and Gunnery Master)
5 Stewards (gophers basically but because you get to be "in the room" as the officers make decisions it's the path to higher office. The highest ranked "junior officers" although it is very situationally dependent.
10 Senior Officer Positions as follows: Cook, Purser (ship's accountant, pays crew etc.), Ship's Wizard (uses spell slots to fire cannons or fix the ship), Apothecary (healer/cleric), Carpenter (fixes ship), Gunnery Master (maintains weapons, organizes crew during combat), Bosun (every day maintenance and operation), Helsman (navigates & sets course), Second and First Mate (they run the day-to-day of the ship. First Mate during the day, Second mate during the night).

In general senior officers are higher level characters but if you want to be horribly underqualified for a job, be my guest but I expect an interesting story behind how what should be a junior officer is suddenly put into a senior position on the boat.

All in all this puts the overall crew size at about 77. A ship this size would probably normally have 2-3 times that but I am fudging things a lot because A) I don't want to come up with that many NPCs) and B) I figure that magic does a TON at reducing crew sizes. Between magical spells and equipment it brings crew complements down by a factor of 3-4.

Also, and I cannot stress this enough, do not get attached and enamored with any particular position on the ship because whatever job you have you probably won't have by the end of the prologue <insert ominous music>

In reply to Dungeon Master (msg # 24):

Dun, dun, duuuuuun!

I'm sure I could come up with a good story of why she'd be in a senior position, after all I had to come up with one on why she has a red dragon Eidolon, and how she got from Hyonin to here in the first place.

"Drakar, please eat the First Mate." :) lol After all she is an Aspiring Free Captain, no one says how she has to get there. ;)

As a side note, I find it good that it interesting that it only takes Lore Sailing, Intimidation, or Diplomacy to sail a ship.
This message was last edited by the player at 02:10, Tue 26 Jan 2021.

Athletics is probably a good one to have if you're doing any physical labor. Each of the officers probably has a specific knowledge or craft skill.

Apothecary = Medicine, Lore (Surgery), Lore (Herbalism), Lore(Alchemy)
Helsman = Lore (Astronomy), Lore (Weather), Lore (Ocean), Lore (Shackles), Lore (Vidrian)
Carpenter = Craft, Lore (Engineering)
Purser = Lore (Accounting), Lore (Business) or Lore (Bureauocracy)
Gunnery = Lore (Engineering), Lore (Siege Weapons), Lore (Smithy)
Bosun: Lore (Labor)
First/Second Mate: Lore (Pirates), Lore (Merchantile)
Crew: Lore (Sailing), Lore (Rope), Lore (Games)
Cook: Lore (Cooking), Lore (Butchery), Lore (Baking), Lore (Fishing)

Granted with a lot of these lores there is a lot of overlap. You don't necessarily need to  have every single one but certain checks would be easier or harder to make with one versus the other.

For example if you see a pirate flag you could try to use Lore (Merchantile) to perhaps recognize the ship instead of that particular pirate, or Lore (Shackles) in hopes they happen to be a known Free Captain of that area.

Well that being the case Oivind would likely be a low passenger.

Xao would make a good Barrelman. She has a great perception, so the crowsnest is a natural spot for her. It would fit her personality as well. Wind in her hair looking for something new.

Welcome to all the new players!

So, I was contemplating on adding Bard Archetype later, but since we have a summoner and a sorcerer I think I will stick to the shadows and enjoy easy pickings.  I went with Scoundrel and will be looking for one of the higher-ranking positions *cough* First Mate *cough*.

For now, I am going to be a VIP for this part of our adventure together.  The Apothecary gave me a special invite, he is an old friend who just got me out of a huge jam.

@Xao - there is no "barrelman" position. You would be a rigger and part of your assignment would be going up there but there is too much work to do on a ship this size to just leave someone up top all the time as a full time job.

Also I forgot to mention, an alternative position could be a stowaway or prisoner. Both of those are viable options depending on your background. Or perhaps you were rescued from a shipwreck en route?

Again just throwing ideas out there.