Adventuring at Sea: The Crimson Horizon Module

Life on the waves in Valeria is a perilous, yet exhilarating, path to fortune and legend. This module outlines the key elements to bring your maritime adventures to life, from the creak of the deck to the roar of a kraken.

I. Your Vessel: Home on the Waves (Or Home for Now)

Whether it's a ship you've earned, captured, or are simply crewing, your vessel is a vital part of your maritime adventures. It's a mobile base of operations, a powerful resource, and often, a character in its own right. The journey to commanding or owning your own ship is a significant aspiration in a pirate's life!

• Identity & Relationship: Encourage players to connect with the ship they are currently on. Even if they don't own it, they will spend significant time on it. How does the crew treat their ship? What's its reputation? What quirks does it have? This fosters a sense of attachment and responsibility.
• Maintenance and Upgrades: All ships require constant attention. Hull integrity, sail condition, rudder functionality, and cannon readiness are ongoing concerns. This provides natural hooks for resource management (finding timber, canvas, iron) and side quests to acquire rare materials or the services of master shipwrights (like those in Shadowport's Shipbreaker's Yard, Zone 2). Upgrades (whether purchased, earned, or "acquired") offer tangible progression, making the vessel a more powerful asset over time.
• Ship Combat: Naval engagements are distinct from land combat. Focus on positioning, wind advantage, crew actions (loading cannons, repairing sails, boarding), and the ship's own statistics (Armor Class, Hit Points, Damage Thresholds). Making ship combat feel dynamic and tactical is crucial.

II. The Crew: The Heartbeat of Your Vessel

Your fellow crew members, and the wider complement of sailors on your vessel, are your most immediate allies and resources. Their well-being and loyalty are paramount.

• Key Roles: Players will likely start in specific crew roles (e.g., a gunner, a boarder, a lookout, a rigger). As they gain experience and reputation, they might rise to more prominent positions like First Mate, Navigator, or even ultimately, Captain.
  • Captain: Makes strategic decisions, commands the ship and crew.
  • Navigator: Plots courses, reads charts, understands currents and celestial bodies.
  • Helmsman: Steers the ship, executes precise maneuvers.
  • Lookout: Scans the horizon for dangers, other ships, or landmarks.
  • Bosun/First Mate: Manages the deck crew, ensures tasks are done efficiently.
  • Cannoneers/Sailors: Operate cannons, trim sails, manage rigging.
• Morale and Loyalty: Keeping the crew fed, paid, and plied with spirits (or inspiring them with daring exploits) is an ongoing challenge. Low morale can lead to discontent, insubordination, or even mutiny. High morale might allow for critical successes on group checks or desperate gambits.
• Crew NPCs: Give key crew members personalities, quirks, and even personal ambitions or problems. Losing experienced crew members should have tangible consequences for the ship's performance.

III. Campaign Rule: Seafaring Aptitude

This represents a character's growing intuition, experience, and specialized skill in performing essential duties aboard a sailing vessel. It is a skill you earn through direct experience, not chosen like a normal feat.

Acquisition: Once a character has completed one full adventurer level while primarily adventuring at sea (meaning at least 75% of their adventuring time during that level was spent on or around ships, coastal areas, or explicitly maritime missions), they gain the following benefits:

• Seafarer's Aptitude Bonus: You gain a bonus to any ability check made specifically for sailing, ship operation, or navigation at sea. This includes, but is not limited to, checks for:

  • Helming the ship during maneuvers or adverse conditions (e.g., Dexterity (Athletics or Acrobatics) for tight turns, or during storms).
  • Plotting or maintaining a course (e.g., Intelligence (Navigator's Tools) or Wisdom (Survival) for charting and avoiding hazards).
  • Rigging, sail management, or emergency ship repairs (e.g., Strength (Athletics) or relevant tool proficiency for quickly handling sails or shoring up damage).
  • Acting as lookout to spot other vessels, maritime hazards (like reefs or icebergs), or distant land.
  • Understanding maritime signals, weather patterns, or ocean currents.

  This bonus is determined by the total number of adventurer levels you have gained while primarily adventuring at sea, as shown in the table below:

  | Total Sea Levels Gained | Seafarer's Aptitude Bonus | | :---------------------- | :------------------------ | | 1 | +1 | | 2 | +2 | | 3 | +3 | | 4-5 | +4 | | 6+ | +5 |

• Steady on Deck: You have advantage on saving throws and ability checks made to avoid being knocked prone or falling overboard while on a ship or other unstable watercraft.

• Maritime Know-How: You gain proficiency with Navigator's Tools and Water Vehicles. If you already have proficiency with either, your proficiency bonus is doubled for any ability check you make that uses that proficiency.

IV. Maritime Challenges: Beyond the Horizon

The open sea is full of dangers and opportunities, turning "just sailing" into an active adventure.

• Navigation & Exploration:
  • Charting the Unknown: Uncharted waters, lost maps, and whispered legends of hidden islands (like Atlantean outposts) make exploration a core component.
  • Navigational Hazards: Treacherous currents, shifting sandbars, hidden reefs, or even magically obscured zones can require critical Wisdom (Perception), Intelligence (Navigator's Tools), or Dexterity (Helm) checks. Failure can lead to ship damage, getting lost, or a forced encounter.
• Weather & Environmental Hazards:
  • Storms: These are dynamic skill challenges. A series of Constitution (Athletics) checks for the crew, Dexterity (Acrobatics) for the helmsman, and Strength (Athletics) for managing sails. Failure can result in hull damage, lost cargo, or injured crew.
  • Dense Fog/Mysteries: Wisdom (Perception) for the lookout to avoid collisions or spot dangers, Wisdom (Survival) for navigation. Fog can lead to tense, atmospheric encounters with unseen ships or monstrous echoes.
  • Doldrums: Long stretches of no wind test patience and resources. Charisma (Persuasion) to maintain morale, Intelligence (Navigator's Tools) to find elusive currents.
• Monsters at Sea:
  • Terrifying Encounters: Krakens, sea serpents, merrow, aboleths, or custom monstrous aquatic threats. These are often epic combat encounters where the ship itself is the battlefield.
  • Evasion or Combat: Players might try to evade a monster through daring maneuvers (using Seafarer's Aptitude), or engage it directly with cannons and boarding parties.
  • Unique Loot & Lore: Defeating mighty beasts can yield valuable components, or lead to discoveries about ancient lore, Abyssal influences, or lost treasures.
• Other Ships:
  • Pirate Encounters: Rival pirate crews, naval patrols (from Rosengard), or even mysterious ghost ships. These can lead to chases, diplomacy, or thrilling ship-to-ship combat and boarding actions.
  • Boarding Actions: A distinct combat scenario where players transition from naval combat to hand-to-hand fighting on the decks of a target ship. This often involves Athletics or Acrobatics checks to swing across or leap.

V. Logistics & Economics: The Daily Grind

The practicalities of operating a ship ground the adventure in realism.

• Buying & Selling (Trade & Loot): Players will acquire plunder from raids or find opportunities for legitimate (or illicit) trade between ports. This feeds directly into the campaign's economy, as they manage their wealth and decide how to spend it. Shadowport's Black Market Bazaar (Zone 6) and various fences (like Madam Xylos) are crucial for this.
• Provisioning: Food, fresh water, rum, medicine, and spare parts are all consumable resources. Tracking these adds a layer of survival. Running low can create urgency and lead to unexpected side quests or desperate measures.
• Repairs: Ships take damage. Whether from storms, combat, or wear and tear, repairs are inevitable. This costs money, time in port (like Shipbreaker's Yard, Zone 2), and sometimes requires specialized materials or skilled labor, creating its own adventure hooks.
• Salvage: Discovering derelict ships or shipwrecks can lead to unexpected finds of cargo, supplies, or even mysterious artifacts, but often comes with its own dangers.

VI. Downtime & Travel: The Journey Between

Long voyages offer opportunities beyond immediate encounters.

• Character Development: Use quiet moments for roleplaying, character arcs, and interactions among the crew.
• Skill Practice: Characters might spend downtime practicing skills, repairing equipment, or studying maps.
• Unexpected Events: Even quiet journeys can hide surprises – a strange message in a bottle, a mysterious island appearing through the fog, or a rumor whispered by a passing vessel.

By embracing these elements, your campaign will transform into a vibrant, dynamic maritime saga where the waves are as much a character as the adventurers themselves.