I am working on a campaign that will involve ships quite a bit including the players eventually owning one of their own. I want the ship to be a plot device as it can obviously be blown off course or attacked by pirates, but I also want it to be a place where the pcs can rest and regroup. I’ve had a couple ideas of how to do that, but I was wondering what others thought.
Originally I was thinking a town that was very limited, but now I am thinking of using it as a camp (with sailing being the skill to ‘set up’ camp). Laborers hired in town would be sailors allowing the ship to carry more cargo and guides would become navigators. Thoughts, comments?
I wrote up “At sea on a _________” (pirate ship, merchant ship, naval ship) as a hometown and also “at sea” camp events. They’ll be in the Outcasts, coming soon (I hope!).
My 2 copper pieces would be: make it town if they are visiting the ship, camp if they make up the majority of the crew.
I like that idea. I’ve also added a few ship based towns/ am in the process of doing that. Mostly halfling’s will now live entirely shipboard and their towns are groups of ships that have been rafted together. I like the idea of visiting a ship being a town as well.
Another idea: above deck = adventure phase. Below deck = camp phase. Things like storms, sea monsters and pirates are things that can knock you out of the “below deck” phase.