The Drow War Book Two. The Dying Of - RoseRed

Deep Sea Encounters
d% Encounter Purpose Average EL
01–03 Greater shadow (night only) A manifestation of the Dark, attracted to the Starborn 8
04–08 1d4+2 sea hags plus calenture
patch (see below)
Lurking beneath a calenture patch, waiting for maddened sailors to jump
overboard
09–13 2d4+4 tritons Patrolling the waters, looking for sahuagin 8
14–19 1d4+2 Huge sharks (animal) Looking for food 8
20–26 Sahuagin patrol Defending their territory 9
27–35 Dire shark Looking for food 9
36–44 Dragon turtle Overturning ships and devouring the contents 9
45–57 Giant squid (animal) Picking off the survivors from the debris of a Sea Harrier attack 9
58–69 Sea Harrier raiding party Returning from a coastal raid (not expecting combat) 10
70–78 1d4+1 water naga Demanding tribute from passing surface-dwellers who come through
their waters
10
79–86 1d4+2 giant sea snakes (false
sea serpents)
Following ships in search of food 10
87–94 Ghost ship Seeking living souls to devour: see below 10
91–100 True sea serpent Either playing in the waves (50%) or attacking all who come near (50%) 12
Handling Ship-to-Ship Combat
Since most ships have a crew of low-level warriors
and higher-level commanders, it is easiest just
to assume that the crew on the Player Characters’
ship is engaging the crew on the enemy vessel,
leaving the commanders for the Player Characters to
confront. Unless either crew is badly outmatched,
there are roughly even losses on both sides, with the
outcome of the commanders’ combat deciding the
entire battle.
Player Characters will have to move past (or through)
areas occupied by enemy combatants in order to
reach their opposite numbers, thus provoking attacks
of opportunity unless they use the Tumble skill.
Event: Random Sea Encounters
Two encounter tables are given below, one for coastal
encounters and one for the deep sea. The Games Master
should use the Coastal Encounters table when the Player
Characters are within 15 miles of land. These tables
show only those encounters that would be noteworthy
or challenging; it is assumed that monsters too small to
attack a ship avoid the Player Characters’ vessel.
Ghost Ship
This rotten hulk is covered with fungus that glows faint
green. From afar, it seems to be a luminous blur in
the shape of a ship, as if it were made from ectoplasm,
but it is solid enough. Ghost ships swiftly bear down
upon mortal vessels and slaughter their occupants
without mercy, taking the strongest to be converted into
undead and either setting the empty ship adrift or
sending her to the ocean floor.
The ghost ships are said to be casualties of Xoth Sarandi’s
sea-portal system, the results of magical accidents in
which ships are not sent to their proper destinations
but to a place of shadow. While there, they undergo
a horrible transformation. The captains are drained
of their souls and transmuted into vampires, while the
crewmembers become hunched, grey-skinned cannibal
ghouls. Other scholars believe that ghost ships are the
result of sailors breaking one of the numerous marine
customs, from the trivial (never whistle at noon) to the
extreme (never eat human flesh, even if the alternative
is starvation).
A ghost ship has a captain, a first mate and a boatswain
who are all vampires and a crew of 20–30 ghouls. Ghost
ships have ragged, tattered sails but move as if driven by
high winds, even when there is no wind blowing.
Typical Vampire Crewmember, Ftr5: CR 7; Medium
undead (augmented humanoid); HD 5d12; hp 32; Init
+7; Spd 30 ft.; AC 22, touch 13, flat-footed 19; Base
Atk +5; Grp +11; Atk +11 melee (1d6+9 plus energy
drain, slam) or +12 melee (2d4+12/18–20, +1 falchion)
or +8 ranged (1d8+6/x3, composite longbow (+6 Str
bonus)); Full Atk +11 melee (1d6+9 plus energy drain,
slam) or +12 melee (2d4+12/18–20, +1 falchion) or
+8 ranged (1d8+6/x3, composite longbow (+6 Str
bonus)); SA blood drain, children of the night, create
spawn, dominate, energy drain; SQ alternate form,
damage reduction 10/silver and magic, darkvision 60
ft., fast healing 5, gaseous form, resistance to cold 10
Ibon Presno Gonzalez (order #73006) 8
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