2011 Feb 8 9:31 PM

Random encounters for sea crawls

How would a sea crawl work?

Sailing from point A to B—even with an accurate map and a skilled navigator—the characters will find more than empty ocean. The referee will make periodic checks for random encounters, perhaps a 1 in 6 chance per 5-6 mile hex through which the characters sail. Those encounters might involve aquatic or flying monsters, but they could also be sightings of other ships, land, or even a change of weather.

The referee can prepare a chart for each of these possibilities: islands along the characters’ course, other ships know to sail those waters, and so forth.

When the d6 roll for a hex indicates a random encounter, the referee can roll 1d12 against this chart to determine the nature and direction of the encounter:

Depending upon weather conditions and if the characters maintain an active watch, they may be able to avoid the encounter or sail to meet it.

This image and text is © Paul Gorman 2011, and licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial License. Also available as an EPS file suitable for print use.

7 comments:

Carter Soles February 8, 2011 at 9:35 PM

Very nice! And already added to the “Sea of O’SR” page.

Paul February 8, 2011 at 9:43 PM

You’re fast!

C’nor (Outermost_Toe) February 8, 2011 at 10:35 PM

Zak S. had us come up with a chart for this at one point. Might be worth looking.

Paul February 8, 2011 at 10:47 PM

That rings a bell, C’nor, but this is all seem to be able to find.

Lord Gwydion February 8, 2011 at 11:18 PM

That’s more or less what I was doing in my Maritime Campaign, until all my careful planning hit that one player in my group who sort ruined it for everyone.

Telecanter February 8, 2011 at 11:52 PM

Wowza, encounter type and direction in one roll, you got my attention. And great looking too. Awesome.

C’nor (Outermost_Toe) February 9, 2011 at 12:32 AM

That’s the one I was thinking of, yes. I hadn’t realized that it wasn’t compiled though.

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