Random Events at Sea (Medium)

[Sir Thalius Hayle]

Something fun to spice the humdrum of waiting on trade fleets...

Random events at sea.

From time to time get a rare "event" reported by a trade fleet- "Your trade fleet encountered X [a sea monster(s), NPC pirate(s), unusual anomaly (uncharted island, ship wreck), whale pod, etc.] while in route to Y port."

Player would then have the choice to send a fleet to investigate the anomaly or hunt down the NPC Pirates/Military Armada/whales, etc. They would have to decide to send a fleet right then- no saving the opportunity for later. Whales, pirates and sea monsters would not stick around while you got something together to send back at them.

Gold or credits could be the prize, or a stash of rum that boosts yer crew's moral... which may or may not be a good thing.

Loot gained would be higher if any battles with monsters or NPC characters are won in a single round, loot would be less if player had to make multiple attacks.

Significant sea monsters could be created that would be worthy of note, and whales could occasionally yield ambergris, which is a very valuable prize.

Just a simple suggestion to spice up a player's day a bit. No real change to game play, and would be simple to implement.

[William Pitt]

+1

This would make things a little less dull around here...

[Stan Rogers]

I have been an advocate for random encounters out on the high seas among all fleets sailing.
"The Quartermaster Reports a sail on the horizon Would you like to investigate ?"
"The Quartermaster reports a large fleet flying a Spanish Flag."
"Would you like to skirmish/plunder or continue on route?"

Obviously you would not want 100 trade fleets all sending reports to the captain so stop-checks need to be in play.
Also, as mentioned a time limit to respond or the opportunity is lost and fleet continues with no effect.

Ability for trade ships to respond in event they are attacked at sea. Stuff like throwing overboard the cargo to escape.
dropping a tail ship as distracting bait ?
I dunno, but stuff like this will distract from the voodoo and make ships and battle the more interesting aspect of the game,

[Sir Thalius Hayle]

What I envision would be relatively rare, in the grand scheme of things, and would largely be centered on unfamiliar pirate NPCs and natural phenomena- sea creatures and whales and such. Sea creatures already exist, they just don't seem to effect ships much unless the player is on a nation mission, and whales should... so seems natural to include them as primary candidates for random encounters.

Something like every 50 fleets would have a 10% chance of a random encounter each day. Percentages are not cumulative- i.e. 100 fleets do not give you a 20% chance for the day. One die is rolled for the first 50 fleets, a second die is rolled for the next 50 fleets, and another die for each 50 fleets after that. Each die has a 10% chance of scoring an encounter, thus the more fleets you have, the greater the odds of more encounters (and possible multiple encounters each day).

And what is adventure without risk? Completing the quest should put the fleet on the plunder boards whether successful or no, and failure should have consequences to the ships/fleet as well. A level lost in a tough fight is already common, but what if yer fleet responds to a sea monster sighting and encounters a kraken and fails to kill it? A level lost, at least, and perhaps one of your smaller vessels drug down into the deep if the ships you sent to hunt him were not large enough. And if you succeed... a healthy reward for ridding the seas of such a menace.

And as for things being dull around here...

It seem to me there is adventure enough around here for those willing to pursue it. This idea is inspired mostly because I've been searching for those blasted whales and sea monsters for months now, and aside from nation bounties put on some (and the voodoo summoned kraken from time to time), I can't seem to find sea monsters anywhere when I want too, and not a whale to be seen!

It be UN-natural...

[Sir Thalius Hayle]

I'd even be glad to see a "Go exploring" option in exchange for random encounters. Exploring would work similar to going treasure or shipwreck hunting.

Select a fleet (or fleets), outfit them, and send them out for X number of hours to go "exploring" on the high seas. Could find nothing, or anything mentioned in the posts above.

I would suggest not costing turns, as sending a fleet from port to port or just sailing around Avenmora does not cost turns, just time. The longer a fleet stays out though, the greater chance of encountering something. The better outfitted the fleet, and the more ships/fleets sent on the journey, the greater the chance of success in whatever they encounter. Fleets sent thus also could not be recalled. They are out of play until they return from their expedition.

[Astragek]

+1

[Grimrock Litless]

+1