d20 Mongoose Publishing Classic Play - Book Of The Sea.pdf - Mongoose Publishing - R5700

Classic Play

The Book of the Sea

Gareth Hanrahan

Credits

Contents

Introduction 2

Seafarers & Crew 4

Ship Design 20

Equipment & Weaponry 32

Ships of the Sea 43

Travel by Sea 59

Rum and the Lash 74

Ports 81

Trade 86

Battles at Sea 97

Ship’s Log 113

Naval Magic 114

Prestige Classes 136

The Undersea Realms 155

Underwater Adventuring 169

Underwater Equipment 178

Undersea Magic 188

Bestiary 198

Sea Campaigns 211

Random Naval Encounter Generator 228

Ship Design Worksheet

Editor & Developer

Richard Neale

Studio Manager

Ian Barstow

Cover Art

Brent Chumley

Interior Illustrations

Patricio Soler, Marcio Fiorito, Eric Lofgren,

Danilo Moreti, David Esbri Molinas, Tony

Parker, Phil Renne, Stephen Shepherd &

Nathan Webb

Production Manager

Alexander Fennell

253

Proof Reading

Mark Lewin

Crew Sheet

254

Log Book

255

Licenses

256

Open Game Content & Copyright Information

Open Game Content of this work by any means without the written permission of the publisher is expressly

forbidden. Classic Play - The Book of the Sea is presented under the Open Game and D20 Licences. See

page 256 for the text of the Open Game Licence. All text paragraphs and tables containing game mechanics

and statistics derivative of Open Game Content and the System Reference Document are considered to

be Open Game Content. All other signiﬁcant characters, names, places, items, art and text herein are

Content status of any material herein, please contact Mongoose Publishing for clariﬁcation. ‘d20 System’

and the ‘d20 System’ logo are Trademarks owned by Wizards of the Coast, Inc. and are used according to

the terms of the d20 System Licence version 5.0. A copy of this Licence can be found at www.wizards.com/

d20. The mention of or reference to any company or product in these pages is not a challenge to the

trademark or copyright concerned. Dungeons & Dragons® and Wizards of the Coast® are trademarks of

Wizards of the Coast, Inc. in the United States and other countries and are used with Permission. Printed in

China.

Mongoose Publishing

Mongoose Publishing, PO Box 1018, Swindon, SN3 1DG, United Kingdom

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Visit the Mongoose Publishing website at www.mongoosepublishing.com for additional rules and news

INTRODUCTION

Introduction

W hat is a woman that you forsake her,

Those engaging in the lucrative practice of Trade

should read the chapter of the same name, while

those engaged in the far more destructive activity

of war should consult Battles at Sea . Both might

proﬁt from Naval Magic, or even learning one of

the Prestige Classes.

And the hearth-ﬁre and the home-acre,

To go with the old grey Widow-maker?

She has no house to lay a guest in

But one chill bed for all to rest in,

That the pale suns and the stray bergs nest in.

Those seeking their fate under the sea and going

on an Underwater Adventure might purchase

some Underwater Equipment before visiting

the Undersea Realms and learning their strange

Undersea Magic. A section on Sea Campaigns

closes out the book.

She has no strong white arms to fold you,

But the ten-times-ﬁngering weed to hold you

Out on the rocks where the tide has rolled you.

The Classic Play

Series

Classic Play is a new series of books from

Mongoose Publishing, each examining an element

of fantasy gaming in glorious detail. Each book

contains new rules, new ideas and insightful essays

to bring a particular aspect of the game to life in

your campaign.

Yet, when the signs of summer thicken,

And the ice breaks, and the birch-buds quicken,

Yearly you turn from our side, and sicken

Sicken again for the shouts and the slaughters.

You steal away to the lapping waters,

And look at your ship in her winter-quarters.

You forget our mirth, and talk at the tables,

The kine in the shed and the horse in the stables

To pitch her sides and go over her cables.

Then you drive out where the storm-clouds

swallow,

And the sound of your oar-blades, falling hollow,

Is all we have left through the months to follow.

Ah, what is Woman that you forsake her,

And the hearth-ﬁre and the home-acre,

To go with the old grey Widow-maker ?

- Rudyard Kipling

Navigating this Book

For a short voyage, the players and Games Master

should begin by selecting a ship from the Ships of

the Sea chapter, some ﬁttings from the Equipment

and Weaponry chapter, and a beginning crew from

the Seafarers and Crew chapter, before braving the

chapter on Travel by Sea . On the voyage, travellers

may encounter Ports, Monsters or even Random

Naval Encounters. Those on longer voyages

should also refer to the Rum and the Lash , as well

as the Ship’s Log, as weeks or months at sea can try

the will of the doughtiest sailor.

INTRODUCTION

It has always been the custom in my village that at dawn on a boy’s thirteenth birthday, he must go down to the

pier and sit there the whole day. If a ship docks, he must beg her captain for the post of cabin boy, and he must

accept whatever pay or conditions are offered. Now, if no ship comes, or no captain wants the boy, he may return

home and never need go to sea again in the rest of his days.

If, however, a ship takes him, then the sea will forever be his home.

At dawn, I went to the pier and sat on a lobster pot, and I waited. All day long the waves crashed against

the stone, and I watched sails slowly cross the horizon. Little ﬁshing-boats went out with the morning tide,

vanishing before the blue sea met the blue sky. Once, far off, I saw a stately galleon, a warship from one of the

great kingdoms, and my heart rose. After all, if one must go to sea, surely it is better to go and become a hero

and great captain, and win renown ﬁghting pirates and sea-monsters than it is go to and serve on some little

merchantman hauling grain from Carrisport to North Vane.

The galleon sailed on without stopping. The wind grew chill, the tide changed, and the little ﬁshing boats came

bobbing back. The tide changed again, and I thought my fate was decided. The day was ending, and no ship had

come. Still, I waited as the sun slipped towards the west. It would be a glorious sunset.

Then, outlined against that burning orb, I saw a sail. It moved against the wind, and against the tide. Swifter

than any natural ship, it out-raced the gulls and cormorants, and made straight for the pier. It was a grey ship, of

strange design. It bore neither ﬂags nor emblems, and I could make out no crew on board. Transﬁxed, I stayed

rooted on the pier as she bore down upon me. Without dropping anchor or trimming sail, she slowed, and came

to a dead stop not ten feet from the pier.

A face appeared above the rail, that of a stern man – no, I thought, seeing his pointed ears and fey eyes – a stern

elf . He was dressed in sailors’ gear, but wore a shirt of iridescent silver and bore the pouches and implements of

a wizard. A pseudodragon coiled around his shoulder.

‘Is this the village of Kingsport?’ said he.

‘It is’, I replied, ‘and by tradition I must ask you for the post of cabin boy aboard your vessel, even though I know

not her name, nor yours, nor where you are bound, nor anything else about you.’

‘A most useful tradition, boy. My name is Undone. My ship is the Sea’s Daughter . I am bound wherever my

geas takes me, even unto the edges of the world. And you, boy, shall indeed come with me.’

He gestured and an unseen force grabbed me, lifting me off the pier and carrying me onto the grey deck of the

Sea’s Daughter. Captain Undone pulled me upright and pointed over the rail. To my amazement, we had already

turned away from the pier, and were moving out of the bay. I watched Kingsport dwindle behind me, its lanterns

lighting up in the gloaming as if to bid me farewell.

Undone said ‘they have forgotten you already, child. To go to sea is to die. If we prevail, perhaps you can return,

but it will never be the same.’

‘How…how long is your voyage, sir?’ I asked.

‘The lives of elven-kind are long indeed. Your grandfather was not yet born when I began it. You may be dust

‘ere I ﬁnish it.’

‘And what is your geas , sir?’ I ventured, greatly daring.

Undone’s eyes caught the last rays of the setting sun, and seemed to turn to ﬁre. ‘Why, to destroy it of course.

The machine, the Dreadnought . That which the ocean abjured.’

SEAFARERS & CREW

Seafarers &

Crew

F rom press-ganged paupers to the elite

There were some two dozen souls on board the

Sea’s Daughter , I discovered. Many of the tasks

on board were performed by Undone’s spells, but

even an enchanted ship needs stout men to handle

her. One, though, could not be described as stout.

Then again, she was not a man. Her name was

Isalte, and I fell in love with her as soon as I laid

eyes on her. She was also the helmswoman of the

Daughter , and under her hand the elf-ship seemed

to dance above the waves.

graduates of a military academy, the skill

and discipline of a crew vary greatly. Some

sailors barely know stem from stern, others were

born to the waves and can climb the rigging in

a raging storm. Some possess iron discipline,

following orders without hesitation or question,

while others are never sober while at sea. Cost

is not the only concern – a rich merchant might

pack his vessels with the best sailors money can

hire, yet still founder because they are not properly

commanded. It is better sometimes to bring aboard

men one can trust, but where this is not an option,

hiring a skilled crew can compensate for some of

the deﬁciencies of command.

She paid me no heed, just like the rest of the

crew. They were a strange assortment. Some

were rufﬁans, orc-blooded thugs whose speech

was fouler that I had thought possible, and that

was without counting all their oaths in languages

I did not speak. Other crewmen were clearly

sailors from the King’s navy, moving with military

discipline. Others were old salts from a dozen

different ports, quick to ﬁnd the best places on

board to sling a hammock and ﬁnd shelter from

the rain. (Powerful as Undone’s magic was, he

seemed unwilling to shunt storms away).

How Big A Crew?

Crew requirements for each ship type are listed in

the ship’s description. The majority of crew are

ordinary hands, who pull on ropes, make minor

repairs, stow cargo and so on, but have no special

role on board ship. A crew requires at least one

ofﬁcer for every twenty crew, although larger ships

often have far more junior ofﬁcers and a full-ﬂedged

chain of command. Specialists are also carried

on most large ships – a small ﬁshing boat has no

need for a carpenter or sail-maker to come on an

expedition, but an explorer travelling thousands of

miles from home needs to be self-sufﬁcient.

The last few crewmen were strange indeed

– adventurers all, laden down with magical

weapons, wands of destruction, ceremonial robes

and staves of power. They played no part in

manning the ship, and I cursed them as useless

landlubbers under my breath (hubris, for I was

almost as green as they were).

An elf-wizard, a maiden, thugs, pirates, young

ofﬁcers, old and grizzled sailors, strange and

powerful adventurers, and I – this was the

complement of the Sea’s Daughter.

For example, four characters have purchased a

longship, the Invidious, and intend to raid orcish

forts along the shore. A longship has a crew

requirement of 80. The characters will form part

of the crew, bringing the requirements down to

76. They employ a carpenter, carpenter’s mate,

sail-maker, cooper, cook and smith as ordinary

specialists, leaving another 70 places to be

ﬁlled. They then employ 60 crew, mixing in 20

hardy seamen with 40 ordinary seamen, and ﬁnd

another 10 able seamen to serve as ofﬁcers. A true

military ship would employ trained ofﬁcers, but the

characters decide that age and experience will serve

them better than training.

The cost of the crew per month is as follows:

4 characters 0 gp

6 specialists 107 gp

10 able seamen 200 gp

20 hardy seamen 240 gp

40 ordinary seaman 360 gp

Total:

907 gp/month

Note that by not employing any true ofﬁcers, the

characters do reduce the discipline of the crew

somewhat – see Rum and the Lash, page 74.

d20 Mongoose Publishing Classic Play - Book Of The Sea.pdf

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