The Blackwake Squall | Fantasy Hazard Generated by CharGen

The hazard

The Blackwake Squall is a living sea storm that hounds a ship rather than following the wind. Its gales wrench the helm, its waves slam the hull, and its lightning seeks the people and vessel caught beneath its clouds. The storm's rhythm can be read and opposed, but every round it remains active makes the ship harder to control and the deck more dangerous.

environmental
magical
complex

Stealth: to notice the unnatural storm before entering it; the storm is not hidden once it surrounds the ship.
Trigger: The hazard rolls initiative when a vessel enters the storm's area or when the storm closes around it.
Disable: Three successful Nature, Occultism, or Survival checks disable the hazard; a critical success counts as two successes. Each check requires 2 actions and must be made from the deck or another place where the character can observe the storm. Nature reads and exploits shifts in wind and current, Occultism breaks the spirit's hold, and Survival guides the ship toward calmer water. A failed check makes no progress; a critical failure causes the storm to immediately make its lightning strike against the acting character, if exposed.
Initiative: +17
Routine: On its turn each round, the squall uses Raking Gale, then alternates between Spear of the Squall and Blackwake Broach. It uses Spear of the Squall on odd-numbered rounds and Blackwake Broach on even-numbered rounds. If the hazard is disabled, its routine ends immediately.
Reset: The storm remains active until disabled or until the ship escapes it. If the ship leaves the storm's area, the hazard pursues it for 1 minute before dissipating. It returns after 1 day if Blackwake's bargain remains intact.

Damage

Immunities

critical hits, object immunities, precision damage

Effects

3

Spear of the Squall
DC 25
A fork of lightning strikes the most exposed creature on deck, chosen by the GM. That creature attempts a Reflex save, taking electricity damage on a failure or on a success. On a critical failure, it takes electricity damage and is dazzled until the end of its next turn. The lightning also strikes the ship, dealing electricity damage to the vessel, subject to its object immunities and any applicable resistance or Hardness.
Raking Gale
DC 25
The storm makes the ship's steering and movement treacherous. The character currently directing the vessel attempts a Sailing Lore or Athletics check. On a success, the ship holds its course. On a failure, the ship is driven off course and each creature on deck must attempt a Reflex save or fall prone. On a critical failure, the ship is driven off course, each creature on deck attempts the save, and creatures that critically fail are swept 10 feet toward the nearest edge. A creature swept overboard falls into the sea.
Blackwake Broach
DC 25
A wall of water crashes across the deck. Each creature on deck attempts a Reflex save, taking bludgeoning damage and falling prone on a failure, or half damage on a success. On a critical failure, the creature takes double damage, falls prone, and is swept 10 feet toward the nearest edge. The wave also deals bludgeoning damage to the ship.

Special rules

Storm Turn.The storm's routine is one hazard turn per round. The GM should describe its wind, lightning, and waves before resolving their effects, and should make clear which characters are exposed and which character is directing the vessel.

Vessel Damage.A ship's Hardness applies to damage dealt to it, if the vessel has Hardness. Apply damage to the ship as a whole or to a specific component according to the vessel rules in use. The storm's damage does not automatically destroy a mast or other component unless the vessel's damage rules say it does.

Spotting it

Discovery

The storm can be spotted approaching with a Perception check.

Perception

+17

Stop it

Signs of dangerThe wind shifts to blow directly against the ship's course, even as the surrounding clouds move in another direction. · Lightning flashes beneath the waves before striking upward toward the rigging. · A sudden drop in temperature and pressure makes ears ring and every loose rope snap taut. · The sea ahead rises into a ridge that seems to pace the ship.

Countermeasures

DC 23A character can use an action to help steer or brace the vessel with a Sailing Lore or Athletics check. On a success, the ship gains a +1 circumstance bonus to its next storm-handling check; on a critical success, it gains +2.
A character adjacent to a mast, rail, or other sturdy fixture can Interact to secure themselves. Until they move from that space, they gain a +2 circumstance bonus to checks or saves to avoid being swept across the deck or overboard.
DC 25Three successful Nature, Occultism, or Survival checks disable the hazard. Characters must describe how they read the storm, perform a rite, or guide the vessel through a break in the waves.
The crew can seek shelter in a sufficiently enclosed part of the ship. Characters there are protected from the lightning strike, but the wave still threatens the vessel and anyone needed on deck.

In short

The storm can be weathered by coordinating the crew, securing the ship, and succeeding at three Nature, Occultism, or Survival checks to calm or redirect its unnatural heart.

Its story

What it looks like

Black clouds twist into a vast spiral above the ship.

Why it is here

To guard a pirate captain's hidden cove and punish vessels that approach without the storm spirit's consent.

Who made it

An infamous pirate captain called Blackwake, who bargained with a storm spirit to keep pursuers from the waters around his hidden cove.

Lore

Sailors say Blackwake's storm is the ghost of a pirate fleet's last battle, trapped in a cloud by its captain's bargain.

Where it is found

Sea Storm

Variants

The storm is a hungry sea spirit that can be appeased by throwing a valuable treasure overboard. Offering treasure grants one success toward disabling it, but the offering must be worth at least 50 gp per party level.

A ghostly pirate ship appears within the clouds. While it remains visible, the storm's lightning targets the ship's crew, and disabling the hazard requires finding and breaking the ghost ship's cursed figurehead.

The squall guards a reef instead of a cove. Its waves drive vessels toward hidden rocks, making each failed steering check threaten the ship with additional damage at the GM's discretion.

Plot hooks

A merchant captain offers a reward for a safe route through the squall, but the storm seems to follow a particular sealed cargo crate.

A pirate crew uses the storm as a natural blockade and offers passage only to those willing to pay in maps, memories, or captured sailors.

The squall repeatedly circles a patch of open water where the wreck of Blackwake's ship lies just beneath the waves.

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