Let's start assembling, crew!
So as I said earlier, I'd like to synthesize Iakob and John into having a semi-shared backstory. Here's what I envision. Let me know if you want to change anything about it.
Both of them are from Souston, a small village on the Andoran coast. They knew of each other - as all people do in a small town - but weren't that close because of the few years worth of difference in age between them. Iakob Steele joined the Andoran navy as a junior officer, the result of his family's legacy. He was assigned to the Righteous Eagle, a small ship assigned to hunt slavers. The ship's captain, Cornelius Havershaw, and first mate, Stevan Perth, had a strong reputation as defenders of freedom. A few years later, John Rawkins enlisted and was assigned to the same ship, where he developed his own reputation for boarding actions; he even met his wife while freeing her from bondage on his very first boarding. Havershaw and Perth were both known for having a keen eye for talent and had identified both Iakob and John for further promotion based on their different talents. Iakob was a strong, decisive leader with a seemingly unshakeable faith in Andoran ideals; John was looked to as an example for the other enlisted men based on his firm, no-nonsense attitude.
In the spring of 4712, the Righteous Eagle was on patrol in the international waters of the Inner Sea, just north of the mouth of the Uta River that separates Thuvia and Rahadoum. They had been chasing a slave galley, the Carrion's Maw, from Katapesh, having started along the coast of Osirion but only slowly gaining on it. Finally catching the ship, Iakob led the boarding of the slave ship with John as his most reliable man. Once on board, they discovered that the ship was a trap. Instead of slaves longing for freedom, they found an entire company of mercenaries with hidden cannons. As the cannons blasted away at point blank range, the Righteous Eagle found itself outmatched and in extreme risk of sinking. They gave the order to retreat, but the boarding party was too far on the slavers' ship to get back in time. If the Andoran ship were to wait any longer, it would be ripped to shreds. With a heavy heart, Captain Havershaw ordered that the ships break away.
The boarding party fought hard, but were eventually all captured or killed to a man - all but John Rawkins, who took a spear to the side and fell overboard into shark-infested waters. The Eagle recovered him with one of his legs shredded by a shark, then sent word to another Andoran ship only a few dozen miles away. With the slave galley now outmatched, the Carrion's Maw sailed west as fast as they could. Try as they might, the Andoran ships were unable to catch up before it slipped through the Arch of Aroden. Unless they wanted to provoke Cheliax, the Andoran ships had to stop.
The sailors were sold to a Chelaxian lord, then sent to work on the Deepmar Mine as forced labor. Iakob esaped a year later, leading a group of six men from bondage to freedom. Only Iakob and another Andoran sailor survived the escape to get to the abolitionist underground. The pair were smuggled out of Cheliax separately by the organization.
Let's talk about variant rules.
I like Hero Points, and they've been a good addition to my Kingmaker game. They're in and work as thus:
Other choices that I can see working are Called Shots. There won't be any critical fumbles or alternate critical hits. What are y'all's thoughts?
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Morning guys!
As I said in my PM, I'm good with that background. It easily incorporates our two history's, and sets us up well with a Captain / First mate dynamic later on, since John would have already been used to working with Iakob.
I also wanted to tell you Beshra, how much I enjoyed your background. So now we have a Malcolm, Zoe and River. I can't wait to see who else gets selected. Also Barcas. I just got done reading the Part 1 of your Kingmaker AP... it was awesome. I was up until 2am last night reading it. I loved the battle of Stagfall.
Anyhow, if anyone has suggestions about John, so that we can start getting our skills lines up to cover the bases let me know. As for the hero points, well I'm glad to have them. After reading part 1, its pretty clear that there would have been multiple points in the game where players had died without them. I'll go ahead and add it to my character sheet.
-John
I've never used Hero Points before, but I'm ready to give them a go! ^^ I'll have to read up on Called Shots a bit.
Quara, while I appreciate your enthusiasm, you've yet to be accepted to the crew. This section is for the crew only at this point.
Morning guys!
As I said in my PM, I'm good with that background. It easily incorporates our two history's, and sets us up well with a Captain / First mate dynamic later on, since John would have already been used to working with Iakob.
I also wanted to tell you Beshra, how much I enjoyed your background. So now we have a Malcolm, Zoe and River. I can't wait to see who else gets selected. Also Barcas. I just got done reading the Part 1 of your Kingmaker AP... it was awesome. I was up until 2am last night reading it. I loved the battle of Stagfall.
Anyhow, if anyone has suggestions about John, so that we can start getting our skills lines up to cover the bases let me know. As for the hero points, well I'm glad to have them. After reading part 1, its pretty clear that there would have been multiple points in the game where players had died without them. I'll go ahead and add it to my character sheet.
-John
The three or four hundred or so posts between the physical introduction of the Stag Lord and the conclusion of the battle is my favorite part of the story so far. There's been a lot to like, but everyone was up on all cylinders. The climax, with Tandlara sacrificing her familiar to blind the Stag Lord, was the result of some crazy late-night brainstorming between me and Eoin about how to pull this thing off with things looking so dire for them. Other parts that I have loved being part of were Jemini's trip through the afterlife, Bokken and his stories, Taisper's madness and temptation, some great stuff with Zander that you're likely not at yet, Berrin being miserable in charge of the kingdom, and a ton more. It's been a great game - and hopefully you liking it and not being scared off by the scope is a good sign.
Is Beshra River? The strangeness and semi-broken nature, I suppose, fits.
I have a bit of an unusual combat system. Iakob will be used to it, and John should have read through it a few times by now if he's read most of the Kingmaker game.
I roll Initiative for everyone to save some time. As long as you don't skip any enemies, you can take your turn anytime. (Example: Allies Bob, Henry, Fred, and Steve are at 20, 15, 10, and 5 respectively. Enemy goblins are at Initiative 13. At the beginning of the round, Bob and Henry can go. The goblins go next at 13. Following the goblins, all four of the characters can go in any order because no enemies would be skipped.)
Everyone rolls their own to-hit and compares it to the AC of the target. The same goes for saves. Both will be provided for all enemies, as will hit points. This puts a lot of responsibility on y'all to write good combat narratives and not rely on me to do so. The description is a common-sense sort of thing; 3 hit points will not cause the enemy's head to explode - but 30 might if it puts them in the negatives. This is also very trust-based. I expect that if someone gets something they don't like on the preview, they'll have the integrity to leave it there instead of modifying it based on the roll.
At the beginning of any in-combat post, I expect everyone to include the round/initiative count, current hit points, current AC, current saves, and remaining spells or resources. (By current, I mean following whatever action is in the post.) After that section, I like a section breaking it down into standard/move/swift/whatever actions with appropriate rolls. This way, I don't have to go hunting for that infomation and check if it is right. Here's an example.
===========EXAMPLE===========
The narrative would go here. In this particular case, the bard begins playing the stringed instrument to inspire the others. (This roll is technically extraneous, but I've always done them on my bard type characters.) He then makes his Acrobatics check to move while avoiding attacks of opportunity. With a 25, he succeeds and ends where he intends to go.
=============END EXAMPLE=============
I used to do maps, but I've been going without them lately and doing simple area-based narrative. I'm still on the fence. If I have the time, I'll try to do a map, but I find that it's easier to just do the narrative with my current schedule. Thus, AOO and positionally-tactical builds are going to see a little less utility.
I don't like to retcon posts. If we make an honest mistake, we'll try to live with it. If you have an immediate-action ability, tell me about the circumstances that you want to use it and I'll work it in. (For instance, if you have an ability that lets you get a move action as an immediate, don't tell me after I post the goblin hitting you that you want to negate that while moving. Just tell me beforehand that you want to use this instead of being hit, and I'll make that work.)
Well, awesome! Thanks for picking me (again) DM Barcas!
As I said in my background and in a PM I'd love to collaborate backgrounds and John's is perfect, I'll edit in your twist Isaac. I've got the computer back for myself so I'll get to work on the finishing touches.
In regards to variant rules; Hero Points have made my day on more than one occasion with Berrin so I love to have them. Called shots seem brilliant and I'd love to play with them and I wouldn't mind playing around with the Armor as DR and Wounds and Vigor rules as well.
Who are we missing? Inara, Wash, Shepard, Jayne, Kaylee, and Simon? Heh, it might be funny if we found someone to act as Beshras guardian, treating her like a baby and generally being overprotective..
A 9 player party might be tough to wrangle.
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Is Beshra River? The strangeness and semi-broken nature, I suppose, fits.
I was thinking about her potential to potentially kill everyone, but yes.
As for Inara, well, based on all of the firefly references, she was the first concept I was actually kicking around. Wasn't sure were I was going to go with it. But it was going to be a Bard
(Geisha) Archetype or possibly (Lotus Geisha). I was thinking she would have worked as a Calistrian Prostitute, but focused more on the social intimacy and status rather then the physical aspect. Somehow she was on the run. Perhaps she was being stalked by a former client or jilted lover. I hadn't really worked it out.
Mechanically the class and archetype would have really worked. Between the tea ceremonies, calligraphy and gracefulness of the class, I think she could have worked, and I would have focused more on the diplomacy and enchantment aspects of the class. I was even kicking around the idea of her being a Kitsune to really build upon that eastern feel. Ultimately however when I started to write her up and I compared her to John, I was much more happy with out John. I found him more grounded and believable as a character.
Anyhow... I'm really happy to be here, and very excited about the opportunity, and I can't wait to get started.
-John
I've always felt that Inara, Book, and River were all NPCs to the six-person party of Mal, Zoe, Wash, Jayne, Simon, and Kaylee.
Lol, I've watched Firefly and thoroughly enjoyed it, but I don't think I'm as familiar as the rest of you I'll have to do a refresh. Have any of you read the excellent Ketty Jay novels by Chris Wooding? Highly recommended for Firefly fans, its basically Steampunk Firefly and very well done.
I can see Beshra being the River, but perhaps shes more a combination of River and her brother. While I like the dynamic in Firefly I am sure we'll come up with something unique and different, so I'm not worried about conforming to any particular role, etc.
I like hero points, and I enjoy difficult games which they work well with, they're very cinematic in my experience which is a big plus. The armor as DR rules concern me a bit as I think they've got far reaching balance implications, Beshra would likely do fairly well with them though so I'm far less concerned than if I were running a marshal character.
I'm a bit torn on what to spend Beshra's freed up feat on, I'm very tempted to go with extra revelation and take Touch of Electricity
How are we going to be kicking off DM Barcas? We are all going to be passengers on the same ship traveling between Abalom and Eledar correct?
She has a fondness for hoop earrings, and tends to wear dark soft clothing, favoring purples and blacks. She almost always wears a pair of elbow length purple leather gloves - taking them off only when alone unless she has no option - that hide her burned hands and forearms.
That is correct, though the particular port of entry and destination might be before that. (Though destination is anywhere outside the Arch of Aroden.) John and Iakob would both join at Souston (or nearby).
Doesn't electric touch kind of get messed up by blackened hands and 7 strength? That's a -6 penalty, even to touch attacks.
Also, unless I am missing it, your sheet seems to be missing a lot of data. For instance, what is her actual mystery? Wind?
Also, if you three could send me a PM about who you think would also make a good addition to the crew, I will take the collaborative approach towards the rest of the picks. I've got a few that I have my eye on, but I'd like your opinion too.
DM Barcas: The penalty specifically applies to weapons only
You take a –4 penalty on weapon attack rolls
they would be at -2 though so its not ideal. Hmmm, maybe I'll just go with Skill Focus in Perception or profession Sailor... Or perhaps take Air Barrier, since it will work pretty well with her easily removable armored coat and I definitely plan to take it, problem is its only an hour per level. I'll look over the other entries and get back to you :)
John Rawkins: I went with the Winds Mystery, but as I'm dual cursed my first revelation is Misfortune, its just so much better than the others at 1st level - essentially a free reroll once per day for everyone in the party as long as Beshra can use an immediate action, it can also be used to force foes to reroll. Sadly this means I miss out on the alter winds spell which would have been great, but I think its worth it for the oracle themed spells I get instead.
New wrinkle idea! Ollivor's brother Jakib is in the Andoran navy, according to his profile. (Name may need changing.) What if: the brother was lost at sea - but in truth was captured in the same sea battle involving the Righteous Eagle and the Carrion Maw, and brought to Deepmar Mine as well? Iakob and he were on different levels of the mine, so they didn't escape together - though Iakob did promise him that the Andoran navy would return to rescue him as well. Of course, Ollivor wouldn't know this - but Iakob would. (Being the brother's first time on that particular ship, John didn't get to know him and wouldn't remember the name.)
Nice to be here. I've never worked with Hero points either, but am happy to try.
New wrinkle idea! Ollivor's brother Jakib is in the Andoran navy, according to his profile. (Name may need changing.) What if: the brother was lost at sea - but in truth was captured in the same sea battle involving the Righteous Eagle and the Carrion Maw, and brought to Deepmar Mine as well? Iakob and he were on different levels of the mine, so they didn't escape together - though Iakob did promise him that the Andoran navy would return to rescue him as well. Of course, Ollivor wouldn't know this - but Iakob would. (Being the brother's first time on that particular ship, John didn't get to know him and wouldn't remember the name.)
I will happily change Ollie's older brother's name to avoid confusion if folks like and I like the idea of the above connection. I didn't write up much of a personality for Ollie's brother, but Andoran:Spirit of Liberty indicates that many young lads are eager for the navy to get out of their small towns and 'see the world' etc which is what I based part of that on. Other than that, 'Jakib for now' is rather open to interpretation. I myself pictured him as more orderly (lawful) than his brother, but still a good joe.
Hey! Welcome aboard mate. I loved your background, my favorite part was the description of your power manifesting for the first time.
Hey! Good to see you as well. The amount of details you provided for your character here makes me feel lazy by comparison :)
So what else do we need? A skills guy, for one. Do we have (or need) a surgeon for the crew?
I think a lot on how much we need a surgeon might depend on if you're going for the optional rules in the Player's Guide regarding scars gained, limbs lost, and so on. I'm not a fan of those rules myself save perhaps for voluntary flavor, but if we use them I definitely think someone skilled polishing up peg legs might be handy.
We could perhaps do with a healing top up, Beshra has cure spells, but she also only really has her spells for combat. We could use more Knowledge skills, we've got Nature and Arcana, and I'll probably have Beshra take religion at 2nd.
To my mind a melee healer would be the perfect addition to the group, since we only really have one melee combatant, which is going to get worrying when things get up close and personal. A cleric would be perfect since channel energy takes a lot of the spell burden off healing - but then so do cure light wands from 2nd onwards so its not a big deal.
That's a good question from Ollivor, are you thinking of using those rules Issac?
I agree that a skill monkey and a healer might be good additions but I'm frankly not so sure how much we need to worry about healing per say. I'm sure it would be a nice safety vent to have someone with channel energy but healing can generally be done out of combat unless we're really careless (baring unlucky of course). Personally I'm looking more at the characters I like than their potential usefulness on the mat, and I think Isaac will agree with me that the ability to weave a good story outweighs the niche filled tactics wise in his games. f.ex. we've been without an arcane caster in Kingmaker for more than six months now. So, even if Beshra only has all the cure spells (which is plenty in my book) we can all carry potions for those pitched battles were they'll be needed.
A ships surgeon would be a nice addition to the crew, both for mechanics and flavor but that niche can be filled with an npc. A skill monkey/lookout guy is always useful but we can always hire an expert. I agree though that more knowledge skills would be welcome, I have a soft spot for bards actually... (and rogues).
Side note; Is the cutlass finessable?
Oh, and I made a wow the other day; If I ever become a millionaire I'm going to get in touch with the producers of Firefly and find out how much it would take to get the ball rolling. Man I miss those shows.
You'd think Whedon could self-finance them if he wanted now, thanks to the Avengers.
Is Iakob allowed to craft bullets and black power to start off with his gunsmith feat? (It's 10% the cost)
Also I'm wondering if the firearm can be personalized beyond the mastework or magical properties like rifling the barrel or extending it for a better range, or a revolver that hold fewer rounds but does more damage f.ex. (larger bullets). I don't see any rules for it.
Firefly could fund on Kickstarter in hours if there was the will to get it going again, but its probably been too long :(
Iakob you could always take a siege weapon exotic proficiency so you could man a siege engine for long distance battles.
Everyone send me your thoughts on a skill based crew member to think about when I read over them tomorrow.
Cutlass is not finesse. Guns are as per emerging guns and you can craft the powder and ammo.
I don't see an answer to Ollivor's question regarding the wound rules. Are you planing on using those presented in the players guide? To me they look cool and I don't mind them.
Sure. Let's lose some legs.
Welcome to our three new crew members. This gives us a strong, diverse, and dynamic group. Let's discuss what we can do to cover all our bases and properly differentiate all the characters.
Well, I think we've got a lot of Andorans here but that's a big country. Ollivor is from Cyremium, where as Iakob is from Souston... towns on the coast with much in common in that they have little to offer vistors and many of the young folks are bored sick of living there. I'm not sure where in the country John is from but we could certainly play up our regional differences and commonality.. either in slightly disparging ways "In my village, the position of idiot was highly competitive" or with pride, "I'll give you a fist full of (Name of location) right here!" (Thank you Walter O'Reilly). There might also be varying degrees of dedication to the Andoran idealogy. I picture Ollivor as not thinking of himself as particularly patriotic, and he's seen some of the nation's ugly side so isn't terribly impressed by the rhetoric but despite his own misgivings, ideas about liberty and freedom HAVE sunk in, and he'd certainly side with an Andoran ship against almost any other if he stumbled onto a fight.
John is also from Souston.
Synthia is from Varisia. Doran is from Cheliax (though a slave). Vrunyar is from Five Kingdoms, which I have to reread in detail. Beshra is from the Shackles. We should have some pretty diverse opinions.
Well first off welcome aboard Synthia Candle, Doran Tidewrack, and Vrunyar Magmabeard! Looking forward to getting underway.
So lets see, for fun, what Firefly analogues we have...
Iakob Steele = Malcolm Reynolds
John Rawkins = Zoe Washburne
Beshra Bleak = River Tam
Olliver Myles = Hoban "Wash" Washburne
Vrunyar Magmabeard = Simon Tam
Synthia Candle = Jayne Cobb
Doran Tidewrack = Kaylee Frye
Okay so there was a fair bit of shoe horning there, lol.
Mechanically we have...
Iakob Steele = Gunslinger = Ranged
John Rawkins = Ranger = Melee
Beshra Bleak = Oracle Winds = Support
Olliver Myles = Sorcerer Bronze Dragon = Arcane
Vrunyar Magnabeard = Alchemist = Ranged?
Synthia Candle = Rogue = Switch Hitter?
Doran Tidewrack = Rogue = Melee
Well first off welcome aboard Synthia Candle, Doran Tidewrack, and Vrunyar Magmabeard! Looking forward to getting underway.
Definitely, greetings guys.
Olliver Myles = Hoban "Wash" WashburneOkay so there was a fair bit of shoe horning there, lol.
I'm good with the comparison you gave Ollie. I don't want to die in our last great adventure, but I will definitely consider using some variation of "I'm a leaf on the wind" as soon as the optional wings kick in :)
Since slavery and opinions in at are likely to be important I imagine Beshra has not really thought about it much, as I don't imagine slavery is particularly common in The Shackles. She would be opposed to it, but probably believe that many poor people are in little better positions without it. She would certainly believe that owning a slave implicitly states that a person believes people can be owned and that means they can "legitimately" be captured and robbed blind since their robbers would own them until they were broke at which point they could be released. In short bad people are fair game.
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Welcome guys! Should be a great mix of characters. I'm thinking that I'm going to get rid of my Heal skill at level one since Vrunyar seems to have it, I would also ditch my healers kit. I might put the extra point into Survival or Stealth, I'm favoring Survival at the moment. We also have quite a few people with diplomacy, and I don't see John as the most likeable guy. He's gruff, and rough around the edges... On the other hand he's a front line leader... So I don't know. What do you all think?
Also DM Barcas, I was reading that peg legs can be hollowed out and can hide an item weighing upto 2lb. within it, of a reasonable size. I was thinking I might do that. Any suggestions? I thought it could double as a flask holding his grog, or perhaps a hidden dagger as a last ditch back up. Thoughts?
Welcome aboard guys! I must say this group looks awesome, I hope we can get the dynamics going for us :)
Synthia = Jayne; My thoughts exactly :D
Iakob will be a short ranged ranged combatant, he'll be more of a switch hitter by the end though with the sword and pistol feat looming in sight (in the far-far future) I see his as a dual wielder, getting off a shot before hitting someone, though if we're going with the called shot rules I'll head down that road.
Between the seven of us I think we have most skills covered and with an oracle, an alchemist and a sorcerer I think we look good in the magic department. Looks like John will be our front melee man with the rest of is figuring out our best spots to help out in that regard. With called shots and pirates jargon Iackob can act as a debuffer as well.
Stealth could be useful, it looks like we'd be a fairly stealth capable party and as pirates that can't be a bad thing. How about Knowledge Dungeoneering? I don't think anyone has it and even if someone picks it up later it would be nice to have some redundancy.
... We also have quite a few people with diplomacy, and I don't see John as the most likeable guy. He's gruff, and rough around the edges... On the other hand he's a front line leader... So I don't know. What do you all think? ...
I actually pictured John making up for Iackobs lack of diplomacy, he's got bluff and intimidate so he's more the distant command figurehead while John's 'one of the crew', an inside man so to speak, but then I'm thinking of larger crews than just the seven of us.
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... We also have quite a few people with diplomacy, and I don't see John as the most likeable guy. He's gruff, and rough around the edges... On the other hand he's a front line leader... So I don't know. What do you all think? ...I actually pictured John making up for Iackobs lack of diplomacy, he's got bluff and intimidate so he's more the distant command figurehead while John's 'one of the crew', an inside man so to speak, but then I'm thinking of larger crews than just the seven of us.
That's a good point, and I do like diplomacy, guess I'll keep it and just lose the heal. As far as my role, I envisioned John as a man of the people, kinda like Berrin in the fact that he dident have any fancy schooling or titles. He wasn't from an officers family or graduated from a naval academy. As far as party roles, I pictured holding the line and leading from the front, i.e. melee. At level two I had planned to go two weapon fighting, using a cutlass in one hand and a boarding axe in the other. I may have to rethink it however and go TWF cutlass and buckler.
Dagger. John seems a tad paranoid.
With two rogues, we should try to differentiate them a bit more mechanically. (In terms of the story, they are very different. Even their reason for sneak attack expertise is different.) Do I read correctly that Doran is a rogue with no archetypes, and Synthia has the burglar archetype?
Right, Synthia's archetype is/will be burglar (I don't think there are any mechanical effects of that choice until 4th level).
Meantime, I'm thrilled to be here, and need to spend an hour or two reading this thread, educating myself on hero points and so on, and catching up on everybody's back stories.
Looking forward to the game!
Ahoy! Wow, you all have been busy!
I'm very excited to be here, and I also need to spend some time getting caught up on this thread and everyone's stories.
Doran is a rogue with no archetypes, though suggestions are welcome if we're going to work on some mechanical differentation between our two rogues. I agree that's a good idea, and am happy to consider any thoughts people have on how to best do that.
@Synthia - just read your backstory and enjoyed it, and chuckled at the bit about the wealthy merchant son joining the Lord-Mayor to "look over his engravings."
A question - your sheet says you are Chelish, but your story says you're from Magnimar. There's lots of history of Cheliax in Magnimar as I understand it, though I don't actually know if it would be considered a Chelish city at this point.
I ask not to be nitpicky, but to think about our relationship. Many in Cheliax see halflings as less than people, and I'm wondering if Synthia would hold that view at all. If you're takng the Jayne role seriously, I can see Synthia readily making superficial judgements of people - but I have to agree with Beshra, that it'll be more fun to think about ourselves as a Firefly-like crew, but define our own identities and relationships. Your thoughts?
@All - I imagine it's clear from his backstory, but Doran is decidedly not pro-slavery.
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Welcome Aboard Dorian and Synthia!
Dorian, it looks like you are going more of a TWF route, while Synthia seems to be focused on the trapsmithing side of the house. Dorian, if the idea appeals perhaps you might want to consider focusing in daggers? I think daggers are *very* pirate-ish and if you took the (Knife Master) Archetype it would further differentate you from Synthia. This archetype loses the trapfinding ability, and this makes sense in a way since Synthia would only get better and better at traps over time. With the feat Quick Draw, and perhaps the trait "River Rat" reskinned, you could throw or fight upclose and personal based on the situation. Just an idea I am throwing out.
-John.
P.S. I'll echo what Barcas said: Three shipwrecks! Sailors are a superstious bunch! This should make for some fun RP