If the characters are especially low level, light on resources, or you’re just after a shorter, even comical encounter, maybe the man really is just insane. But now the voice returns, and the party is unprotected. Or perhaps an ancient voice had spoken from the deep, compelling the crew overboard, and this last man scrawled runes to protect himself. If the party is high enough level, have another rift open and let them fight/bargain to reclaim the lost sailors. Now the sole survivor is trying to make a similar deal for the lives of his crew. For example, maybe the crew had appealed to a creature of another realm but were lost in their attempt.
This particular setup suggests magic, and ocean encounters can be a great way to involve the water plane. Having them only meet one character also helps him to be memorable, which can turn a one-off encounter into a story told for years to come. Similarly, what business was the ship involved in? From this, who could their enemies be, and who could be capable of the scene in question? The single character for the party to interact with gives an easy jumping-off point for creating the encounter and limits the need to juggle voices and character knowledge. For a start, who is he? Deciding if he is the ship’s captain, or simply a crewman, is a good base. Like many ocean encounters, this gives a great level of freedom for deciding the context of the stranger. He stares at his visitors, scrambling to form an explanation for his predicament. In his hand is a knife, which he has used to carve a dozen concentric rings of symbols and text into the wood of the deck. They make their way over and are met by the surprised gaze of a single remaining crewman. Filled with curiosity, they bring their own ship to a stop and move to board. As the party’s vessel approaches, they can hear no crew aboard, and no lights are visible below deck.
Aboard is a single man, scrawling strange runes across the deck.Ī single ship floats, bobbing slightly against the waves, it’s sails raised and anchor lowered. 1 – An abandoned, yet undamaged ship floats in the water. We also have a second part, containing details for encounters 11-20, which you can find here. This should give you all the ideas and guidance you need to make the encounters your own and run them in your game. Under each of them, you will find a more detailed description of the encounter’s context, followed by tips and advice. To help you along, here are some expanded explanations for the encounters featured in our chart. Maybe you’re preparing to use our Ocean Encounters d20 Chart, after inspiration to run Ghosts of Saltmarsh, or crafting your own campaign. Your party now sails the seas, whether as hired crew or captaining their own ship, and encounters await them!
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