Ghosts of Saltmarsh : Exploration Hex Engines

Ghosts of Saltmarsh : Exploration Hex Engines A Ghosts of Saltmarsh Supplement Introduction: This supplement is a practical compilation of the many tables and resources presented in App. A: Of Ships and the Sea of the Ghosts of Saltmarsh book. It allows DM’s to generate weather and sea conditions along with a wide variety of rich ocean encounters and locales. The three Hex Engines presented below are the only tool you need to run realistic and engaging ship travel on the Azure Sea. With near unlimited possibilities, no two voyages will ever turn out the same. by Matthew Long DUNGEONS & DRAGONS, D&D, Wizards of the Coast, Forgotten Realms, the dragon ampersand, Player’s Handbook, Monster Manual, Dungeon Master’s Guide, D&D Adventurers League, all other Wizards of the Coast product names, and their respective logos are trademarks of Wizards of the Coast in the USA and other countries. All characters and their distinctive likenesses are property of Wizards of the Coast. This material is protected under the copyright laws of the United States of America. Any reproduction or unauthorized use of the material or artwork contained Sampleherein is prohibited without the express written permission of Wizards of the Coast. file ©2016 Wizards of the Coast LLC, PO Box 707, Renton, WA 98057-0707, USA. Manufactured by Hasbro SA, Rue Emile-Boéchat 31, 2800 Delémont, CH. Represented by Hasbro Europe, 4 The Square, Stockley Park, Uxbridge, Middlesex, UB11 1ET, UK. Not for resale. Permission granted to print or photocopy this document for personal use only. Ghosts of Saltmarsh : Exploration Hex Engine 1 Using A Hex Engine There are three Hex Engines provided: One for weather conditions, one for ocean conditions, and one for encounters. Start by marking the bottom hex of each of the three Hex Engines. For each day and each night of travel (ie. Rolling on the Hex Engines once for every 12 hours of travel), follow these simple steps. Step 1: Navigating the Hex Engine At the start of the day/night, roll 2d6 for each of the three Hex Engines and move the three markers in the corresponding directions as shown in the diagram to the right. If you get to the edge of the map and roll a number that will lead off, simply wrap around to the other side. Note: the top and bottom hexes are exceptions as they are the only hexes that do not connect across the board. To clarify, if you roll a 6 or 7 on the bottom hex, the marker just stays where it is. Similarly, if you’re in the top hex and roll a 12 with the 2d6, the marker stays on that hex another day. Step 2: Weather and Sea Conditions Describe the weather and sea conditions corresponding to the current hexes on the Weather and Sea Conditions Hex Engines and perform any checks that need to be made. Step 3: Encounters Roll a d20 to see if the encounter for the current hex takes place. If it does, execute it. It’s important not to confuse the hexes on the Hex Engine with physical space. You’re not charting a map just generating the next step in the direction the players are headed. To be as clear as possible, just because your players are traveling north doesn’t mean you travel in an upward direction on the Hex Engines. The beauty and magic of the Hex Engine is that rolls downwards are slightly favored so that, over the course of the journey, your party is less likely to encounter the more dangerous things at the top and more likely to face the slightly more mundane things at the bottom. It’s for this very reason that each of the Hex Engines is capped off with a “worst case scenario” hex that will likely present the players with a great challenge. So, if you want to make a Hex Engine of your own or modify the ones provided here, just remember to put the least likely occurrences at the top and the most likely at the bottom so the probability carries the players towards the more likely. Sample file Not for resale. Permission granted to print or photocopy this document for personal use only. Ghosts of Saltmarsh : Exploration Hex Engine 2 The Encounter Hex Engine One of the problems I had when running Ghosts of Saltmarsh for my group was properly utilizing all the wonderful tables, events and environs presented in the book. Short of deciding beforehand what your players are going to face on their travels, there’s no way to use them effectively in the spur of the moment during a game session. This Hex Engine compiles all the amazing tables presented in the first chapter as well as App. A: Of Ships and the Sea of the Ghosts of Saltmarsh book and gives you a way to let chance decide what will happen on your players’ travels. Each hex on the encounter table has a probability (ex. D20>=14). This is the likelihood that the encounter will take place that day/night. Say you rolled the 2d6 for the day/night and landed on a blue hex that reads “Creature Encounter d20>=14”. You would then roll a d20 and if the result is a 14 or higher, an encounter takes place that day/night. On a d20 roll of 13 or less, no encounter would take place. If you determine an encounter will take place, consult the color-coded legend to the right. Each entry on the legend (Except “Creature Encounter”) has a die value next to it. Roll the specified die to select one of the options in the list then execute it however you see fit as DM. Whenever possible, a page number is provided that references a section in the Ghosts of Saltmarsh book. Some of these options, such as “Disease”, do not exist in the book so a bit of creativity is required on the part of the DM. Sample file Not for resale. Permission granted to print or photocopy this document for personal use only. Ghosts of Saltmarsh : Exploration Hex Engine 3 .

Load more