Setting Course, Part II

Now that I have a clearer idea of what happens in flashbacks and social interactions, I have a handle on how the player characters interact with the captain or change the course of the ship.

You can use the long term reaction goal mechanics in the Flashbacks post to determine whether the captain will set a course for a known port. This doesn't work at all if the character hasn't had a flashback to establish the goal (a relationship with someone currently located in a known location.) Interactions with the captain before having a flashback are all handled as trivial short-term interactions, with the understanding that the captain is very terse and probably won't react at all. Once you've set up a relationship, however, you can argue with the captain about how you need to see your one true love again, need to rush to your best friend's side, need to see your father before he dies. Rolling higher than the captain during your social interaction means that you do "damage"; if the total damage is more than the Curse rating of 5, the captain agrees to set course for the destination you request.

The risk, in this case, is the interference of the rest of the crew. One of the long dead mocks, threatens or attacks you in some way. Successfully dealing with this interruption lets you continue your argument with the captain.

You can use your relationship for a +1 bonus each time you present a unique example of your love, respect, or loyalty towards the object of your feelings. You describe a moment when you demonstrated the depth of your feeling, then make your roll. You may need more than one flashback, just to gain more examples of your true feeling.

Setting Course for Redemption

The basic structure for events on the ship is based on convincing the captain to set a course for a port you know, determining how long it will take, discovering what happens along the way, and finally arriving. Convincing the captain to change course obviously will require some kind of reaction roll, but what kind? I'm still debating. The captain is, in a sense, mindless. The conversation with the captain will seem almost one-sided, certainly. All I'm sure of is that the PCs can't pick a course for a port until they have established that port in a flashback scene, which is something else I'm working out the details for.

The distance to the port, though, is probably going to be abstract. I thought at first about just rolling for the voyage's duration in days and letting the players pick events that happen during the voyage: the events do "damage" to the "hit points" (days of travel), with more dangerous events doing more damage. Now, however, I'm leaning more towards setting an abstract number for the duration of the voyage, rolling for random events, and ending each event with a roll to see if the duration number is reduced by one.

EXAMPLE: through negotiation with the captain, the voyage duration is set to 5 (perhaps he says "it will be about 5 days".) The GM rolls for a random event; the players deal with that event, then roll 2d6 and pick the highest. If that number is higher than the duration number, the duration is reduced by one: there are only four days left. However, if the players roll doubles on the 2d6 roll, something unfortunate happens as a side effect; what happens depends on the kind of event.