I didn’t post in 2016 or 2017 at all either! At the time, I felt very conscious of this gap, but I like to think I’ve come to own it. This also marks the first appearance of my nebulously maritime campaign ideas.

Recovered: Why is this boat?

Some possible passing ships.

1. Wine merchants traveling in a large circle to age their cargo of Madeira. Very bad at sailing because they weren’t willing to pay any experienced crew.
2. The hold is filled with crates of earth and a coffin. Otherwise deserted.
3. Lycanthropes who set out to sea with no plan other than to escape their curse.
4. Pilgrims seeking a spot in the middle of the ocean where they believe their patron saint drowned.
5. Scientists hailing from a distant land. Tasked with charting the seas, recording other cultures, and taking samples of flora and fauna back with them.
6. Salvagers, attempting to recover a previous salvaging expedition. Know where they’re going, but not what the original was seeking. Increment if re-rolled.
7. Monkeys. Do they know where they’re going? How did they learn that?
8. Smugglers who can’t return to port until they figure out how to stop their ship glowing at night.
9. Lone man in a kayak. Does not speak any common language. Grateful for assistance, but unconcerned that he is far from home.
10. A diver convinced that there is an underwater civilization right below him. No one else sees any evidence, but he’s wealthy, so everyone humors him. He endeavors to be the first ambassador to that civilization.
11. Mutineers who never agree. Any given member of the crew has been captain, prisoner, or both. They want the PCs to take the most recent captain off their hands (they have no more rafts).
12. Heretic monks who were kicked out of their monastery.
13. Lone pirate captain, stranded on a life raft after a mutiny.
14. The entire navy of a local noble’s vanity micro-nation (two vessels). Out practicing war games.
15. Woman with magic boots can walk on the surface of the water (no boat).
16. Weird merchants. See e.g. Gorgonmilk’s Goblin Market.
17. Cannibals.
18. Tax collectors / excise ship.
19. Stowaway who has just escaped your ship in your life raft.
20. Conquistadors.

Photo by Marcin Szala, CC-BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

This post was first shared October 17, 2018.

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