Summary: Seven more hexes (sea fillers, an abandoned ship, a view of the mainland and a peninsula with survivors in need of help) and seacrawling procedures.
Hexes
*Serenity Sea, continued (hexes 0104, 0305, 0306)
*
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*By now you get the idea, Sérénité is a calm sea, so use your own descriptions. However, what did come across my mind is that I shouldn’t even write these descriptions for sea hexes, as they will largely depend on the weather conditions (see below). Something to think about, so I'll go over this in next week's post..
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| "Monk by the Sea" by Caspar David Friedrich |
*Thessala Mainland (hex 0105)
The northern regional tip of the old Kingdom of Thessala comes slowly into view of your spyglass. Unsurprisingly, the land is devoured by the Pale Death, so thick that for a moment you feel your eyes going numb from the whiteness. It is as if nothing ever existed in that corner of the world, the rich history and culture of the kingdom destroyed, life itself erased. Although you perhaps expected the mainland to be doomed, somehow you can’t help but feel your heart sink at the sight of such tragedy.
*Peninsula Neosica (hex 0205)
The once beautiful Neosican peninsula, famous for its lush flora, appears on the horizon. Drawing closer however, your gut clenches, the landmass before you laying sullenly as it is being choked by the thick fog and its eerily familiar white bleakness. Strange shapes limp about and black monoliths pierce the deathly veil as if mocking your foolish hope.
*Peninsula Neosica. continued (hex 0206)
As the peninsula bends towards the south, so too is the mass of the Pale Death seen extending its coils. Grotesque immovable objects stand ominously within it, statues perhaps, as if gazing towards the rising mass of land. For indeed, the landmass ascends upwards, forming a natural headland where the fog has not yet reached, still slowly crawling to the summit.
As you sail closer, you are faced with a horrific realization. At the top of the southernmost part of the peninsula where the headland is at its highest, some 50 meters above sea level, is a church with dozens of people in the field around it. Once you get close enough for them to notice your ship, some start crying, some to wave at you in panic, swaying white bedsheets and torches, screaming in a desperate attempt to reach your attention… as if they are pleading a savior.
*O Siopilós Kólpos (hex 0106)
The Silent Bay, as it is called in the common tongue, greets you with calm waters as the Sérénité follows the southern side of the Neosican peninsula closer into the mainland. The gentle rocking of the waves puts your mind at ease, a nigh strange feeling as you are surrounded almost on all sides by a devastated mainland a dozen miles away.
Somewhere in the middle of the bay sits an island lush with vegetation, while half a kilometer away floats an anchored carrack, the name “Sjøorm” painted on its stern. More disturbing however, is that none of the crew can be seen on the deck or in the crow's nest, the vessel lifeless and empty.
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And finally, what it all looks like on the map so far is attached below! Not 100% complete yet, since I'd like to add some color to the landmass and I'm trying to figure out what to draw on the messed up mainland. We'll see.
In the future, I think I will add map updates at the end of each post, as to not have my doodles smack right in the middle.
The Sea is a Harsh Mistress: Seacrawling Procedures
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| "Seascape with a brig heading for a coast" by Carl Emil Baagøe |
Seacrawling procedure, each day of travel:
- GM rolls for weather
- GM rolls for winds (2d6 for force/type and 1d6 for direction)
- Player 1 rolls for Celestial Navigation
- Player 2 rolls for Ship Navigation
- If a new hex is entered:
- Weather conditions rolled again
- Wind conditions have chance to change
- Random encounter roll (coming soon)
- If changing course, roll Navigation again; otherwise, maintaining course requires no subsequent Navigation rolls for the rest of the day
Weather and Winds
Weather - roll d6 (GM)
1-2 - Clear sky (no effect)
3 - Cloudy (-1 to Celestial Navigation)
4 - Fog* (-1 to Celestial Navigation, -1 to Ship Navigation)
5 - Heavy clouds and rain (-2 to Celestial Navigation, -1 to Ship Navigation)
6 - Special (coming soon)
*This is mundane, not the Pale Death fog
Wind - roll 2d6 (GM)
2 - No wind (no movement unless via oars/rowing)
3-4 - Light Breeze (no effect to movement)
5-8 - Moderate Breeze (+1 hex movement if ship is headed the same direction as the wind, otherwise -1)
9-11 - Strong Wind (+2 hex movement if ship is headed the same direction as the wind, otherwise -2)
12 - Storm* (ship thrown in random direction, chance of capsizing/sinking)
*Storms are visible 1 hex ahead of time (roll d6 to determine adjacent hex), so if rolled, roll again for current weather (if Storm is rolled again, populate another randomly determined adjacent hex, etc.)
Wind Direction - roll d6 (GM)
1 - North
2 - Northeast
3 - Southeast
4 - South
5 - Southwest
6 - Northwest
Example: if a 5 is rolled, means the wind is blowing in the southwestern direction.
Wind does not effect movement if sails are down and ship uses oars for movement (potentially should reflect on crew morale somehow, TBD)
Entering a new hex, Wind Conditions - roll d100 (and d6, if needed to check direction) for the appropriate current Wind (GM)
- Light Breeze has 50% chance of changing direction and has 50% chance to change to Moderate Breeze.
- Moderate breeze has 50% chance of changing direction and 25% chance of changing to Strong Wind.
- Strong Wind has 25% chance of changing to Squall (sudden violent wind with rain or snow, d6 for direction, visibility/navigation not possible)
- Storms have 20% chance of capsizing vessel and losing unrestrained cargo. If capsized, further 40% chance of sinking.
Wind Direction Change - roll d6 (GM)
1-2 - No change
3-4 - Wind pivots a step clockwise
5-6 - Wind pivots a step counter clockwise
Example: if the wind was initially blowing to the southwest and entering a new hex a 5 is rolled, the wind is now blowing to the northwest
Celestial and Ship Navigation
Celestial Navigation:
Uses relevant character's (Captain or Quartermaster) Navigation skill.
Items on board a vessel that are used for Celestial Navigation:
- Sunstone (Celestial Navigation skill check reroll when used during a day with clear sky)
- Astrolabe (+1 to skill check, possible to use in both day/night)
- Sextant (+2 to skill, possible to use in both day/night)
- Nautical Almanac* (publication that details positions of celestial bodies, provide reroll for skill check, possible to use in both day/night; should be extremely rare)
- *The Nautical Almanac is actually an annual publication, so use your own judgement if the current one is available in the apocalypse or see how the characters might use an almanac that is outdated.
Ship Navigation:
Uses relevant character's (Sailing Master) Navigation skill. If Celestial Navigation was successful, provides +1 bonus to Ship Navigation roll.
Items on board a vessel that are used for Ship Navigation:
- Compass (removes negative weather effects, provides skill reroll)
- Chronometer (keeps correct time, Tinkering roll is for maintaining the device; provides a +1 bonus to Ship Navigation)
Getting Lost
When all Navigation rolls are done in the procedure AND if one of the Navigation rolls failed, the getting lost roll is triggered:
1-in-6 getting lost if Celestial Navigation roll failed
2-in6 getting lost if Ship Navigation roll failed
3-in-6 getting lost if both Navigation rolls failed
4-in-6 getting lost if there is no skilled Navigator on board
5-in-6 getting lost if caught in a Storm/Squall
If lost, hide map and move in random direction, roll d6:
1-2 - No change to course
3 - Ship pivots one step clockwise
4 - Ship pivots two steps clockwise
5 - Ship pivots one step counter clockwise
6 - Ship pivots two step counter clockwise
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Disclaimer about the Seacrawling procedures: Obviously, these have been written on the fly and not tested, at all. Reading over the whole thing it does seem like a bit of a bookkeeping process, but honestly I would like the whole seafaring process to be its own mini-game of sorts, especially with the added crew mechanics and interactions on bigger vessels. It should feel like a voyage and not just "we go from this hex to that hex". Excited to test this out in a game and will probably have a chance to do so sooner rather than later since I am currently running a hexcrawl for a group of friends.
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That's all for this week. Whoever is still reading these I want to sincerely thank you. Hope you're enjoying the read so far and if you have any kind of feedback I'd be happy to hear it.
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