The Drowned Captain’s Gale | Fantasy Hazard Generated by CharGen

The hazard

The Drowned Captain’s Gale is a roving sea storm that seems to hunt vessels flying stolen colors. It does not merely batter a ship with weather: lightning seeks the deck, the wind twists the rudder, and enormous waves slam the hull at moments when the crew is already off balance. Run it as a complex hazard with a repeating three-action routine. The storm continues until the crew escapes or disables it.

Environmental
Weather

Stealth: +17 ( to notice the storm’s unnatural pattern; the storm itself is plainly visible)
Trigger: The hazard rolls initiative when a ship bearing a stolen pirate token, or a ship the storm chooses to pursue, enters its area.
Disable: The storm is disabled after 4 successes, using Nature, Occultism, or Survival checks to read, appease, or outmaneuver its unnatural pattern. Each attempt takes 2 actions and uses . A character can attempt each skill only once during the encounter. On a critical success, count 2 successes; on a failure, make no progress; on a critical failure, the storm immediately uses its Wave action. A character must be aboard the ship or able to affect the storm from its immediate vicinity to attempt these checks.
Initiative: +18
Routine: On each of its turns, the storm uses Lightning That Knows Your Name, The Captain’s Hand, and The Black Wall, in that order. The storm’s effects occur in sequence, and the GM can adjust the order after the first round if circumstances make one action impossible.
Reset: The storm persists until it is disabled or the ship escapes it. If the ship reenters the storm after escaping, the hazard resumes its routine at the start of the next round.

Damage

Immunities

Critical hits, Object immunities, Precision damage

Effects

3

Lightning That Knows Your Name
DC 25
The storm hurls a bolt at a creature on deck, chosen by the GM or randomly. The target attempts a basic Reflex save, taking electricity damage on a failure, or electricity damage on a success. On a critical failure, the target also becomes dazzled until the end of its next turn. The ship takes electricity damage, ignoring the creature’s save. If the crew has grounded the mast or disconnected its metal rigging from the hull, the ship takes half damage.
The Captain's Hand
DC 25
The gale strikes the ship broadside. The pilot attempts a Sailing Lore check or other appropriate vehicle check. On a success, the ship holds course. On a failure, it is pushed 30 feet off course and its pilot is off-guard until the start of the next round. On a critical failure, the ship is pushed 60 feet off course and collides with a hazard or obstacle if one is present. Reefed sails grant the ship the countermeasure bonus.
The Black Wall
DC 25
A towering wave crashes over the deck. Each creature on deck attempts a Reflex save. On a failure, it takes bludgeoning damage and is knocked prone; on a critical failure, it is also pushed 10 feet toward the rail. On a success, it takes half damage and remains standing; on a critical success, it takes no damage. The ship takes bludgeoning damage.

Special rules

Ship Under Siege.The hazard's attacks target the ship as an object as well as any creatures specified in an effect. Apply damage to the ship using its normal object statistics and any relevant resistances or weaknesses. If the ship has no statistics, treat each storm effect as damaging a substantial wooden object with Hardness 10 and 40 Hit Points.

A Storm Without a Body.The hazard does not have a single physical body. Destroying its listed Hit Points represents disrupting its supernatural heart. When reduced to 0 HP, the storm dissipates, though ordinary weather may remain.

Spotting it

Discovery

The storm is obvious once it forms, but its unnatural nature can be identified with a successful Nature or Occultism check.

Perception

+17

Stop it

Signs of dangerThe wind abruptly changes direction while the clouds remain motionless. · A ship’s compass spins toward a distant black pennant visible only during lightning flashes. · The waves rise and fall in a repeating three-beat rhythm. · Ropes and metal fittings vibrate just before a bolt strikes.

Countermeasures

DC 23A character can spend an action to direct the crew, calling out sail and rudder adjustments. The character attempts a Sailing Lore check or an appropriate vehicle-related skill check. On a success, the ship gains a +1 circumstance bonus to its next check to resist the storm’s wind or waves; on a critical success, the bonus is +2.
DC 23Reefing the sails requires two successful Sailing Lore or Survival checks, each using an Interact action. Once reefed, the ship takes a -10-foot penalty to its Speed but gains a +2 circumstance bonus to checks against the storm’s wind and waves.
A character below deck or behind substantial cover is protected from the lightning strike’s direct target effect, but the ship still takes damage.
DC 25The ship can attempt to escape the storm by spending 3 consecutive rounds traveling in a consistent direction and succeeding at a Sailing Lore check each round. A failure resets this progress; a critical failure also causes the ship to lose 20 feet of progress or drift into a nearby danger.

In short

Reefing the sails and keeping the ship’s bow toward the waves makes the crew’s handling checks easier.

Its story

What it looks like

A wall of black cloud boils around the ship, lit from within by blue-white flashes.

Why it is here

To punish ships that steal from the Drowned Captain’s wreck or sail beneath a marked pirate pennant.

Who made it

The Drowned Captain, a pirate navigator said to have bargained with a storm spirit.

Lore

Pirate tales call this storm the Drowned Captain’s Gale.

Where it is found

Open sea during a violent storm

Variants

The Bell Below: Replace the lightning’s dazzling effect with a DC 25 Will save or the target is frightened 1 as it hears a drowned bell toll from beneath the waves.

Red Sail Squall: The gale’s wind action also tears at rigging. On a critical failure, the ship’s Speed is reduced by 10 feet until the crew spends 2 actions repairing or securing the sails.

The Kindly Eye: The storm leaves one small patch of calm water around a wreck or floating treasure. The eye shifts each round, forcing the crew to choose between shelter and its objective.

Plot hooks

A pirate crew offers a rich reward for retrieving its captain’s compass from a wreck inside the storm’s eye.

The storm has begun circling a coastal village instead of moving out to sea. A ship carrying the village’s only healer is trapped offshore.

A captured pirate insists the gale will stop if the crew returns a stolen black pennant to the sea.

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