My new campaign has begun and it features a nautical theme. The party escaped from the New Kingdom aboard a very special ship, and are currently seeking out adventure, as well as the keys that unlock their ship's full power.
The gist is that an Elf wizard, of power contemporary to the Eight, found an unused divine spark somehow (Procan actually lost his marbles, somewhat, and those marbles were used...) to make a new sea god--Aqutallion. However, the elf, Marvelus, used the Annulus artifact to lobotomize the newborn deity, essentially removing any trace of ego or personality. The player characters literally birthed the ship into the world and had it imprint on them.
So, its just a little green cog right now, but when it was born objects all over Oerth changed to become Aquatallion's "keys." These can be almost anything--from a living pixie to an actual key. Each time they find one, the ship gains a new ability. They find them rarely and don't really seek them out on purpose often.
I would like some suggestions for keys, and what they could do.
They've already found:
Key 1: Membranous Sail (the ship grows its sail; the key was an actual key)
Key 2: Quantum Displacement (50% miss chance; they traded a pixie NPC henchman in as a key instead of keeping him as an ally.)
Key 3: Swimmerets (the ship grows oars; the key was a fish-man figurine made of serpentine)
The ship also has a door that opens up onto that island north of Greyhawk City, but there's a 5% chance that it will instead empty out onto the Astral Plane beside a colossal petrified shipwreck. This feature was inducted so that players and their characters could be fluidly swapped in an out.
So far, they've gone through several of my custom scenarios, as well as Evil Tide and are into both Night of the Shark and Drums on Fire Mountain.
Aqutallion
She sails...
She goes to pieces...
She attempts to break the pirate-blockade at the Port of Luda (Lordship of the Isles).
A couple of adventures you might like to try that require the use of a ship are The Savage Tide AP and A Paladin in Hell. Having a special ship of their own would make those adventures even more fun.
In answer to your question, possible 'keys' might include:
A special/magical weapon (trident?);
A small animal that acts like a pet or familiar (monkey, parrot, gecko, three-legged dog, etc.);
An aquatic animal that swims with the ship (dolphin, orca, manta ray, hippocampus, flounder );
A magical patch to sew onto one of the sails;
Other parts of a ship that are specially magical (belaying pins, ropes, spars, nets, anchors, steering wheel, rudder, life boat, etc.);
A special/magical tree somewhere that can be crafted into a magical part of the ship;
A gem, coin, pearl, piece of jewelry, or piece of art;
A feather from a special bird that must be worn in that hat of the helmsman in order for its powers to work.
No. I wasn't aware of it until now. Actually I was (and still is) writing a campaign largely inspired by Robin Hobb's Liveship trader for Greyhawk, when I saw this topic. The ship with a figurehead sentient, able to speak and with the lost soul of god trapped inside is the main NPC.
Thank you for the link. I'll download and read it.
My new campaign has begun and it features a nautical theme. The party escaped from the New Kingdom aboard a very special ship, and are currently seeking out adventure, as well as the keys that unlock their ship's full power.
I would like some suggestions for keys, and what they could do.
The ship could acquire the ability to travel under the water like a submarine.
The ship grants Breathe Water ability.
The ship can fly.
A curse upon the ship and its crew.
Increased speed beyond what the standard rules grant.
Routes itself to a magical island that only the ship can access.
Advanced weaponry, such as magical cannons that do not require gunpowder.
Ability to communicate with sea creatures.
Ability to control sea creatures.
Ability to change its flag to that of the characters whim.
Ability to animate mops, brooms, pails, brushes to automatically clean the ship.
Change shape into a larger or smaller craft, this enables the crew to navigate different waters or take the ship down an underground river.
Attack and damage bonuses against a specific aquatic race.
Multiply any booty loaded upon the ship, perhaps 1.5 times that loaded.
Ability to change its name on the side of the ship.
Duplicate the appearance of a specific ship to confuse other sailors about which ship they really saw. _________________ Eileen of Greyhawk, Prophet of Istus, Messenger of the Gods
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