Whaling Upon an Astral Sea
Some dang fool blorbed an astral whaling ship into their prep, but never reckoned the players would set foot on the Most Interesting Thing.
The entries are written assuming the Players have taken on as Greenhands (180th lay), unless the character's have relevant failed Careers: Blacksmith (20th lay), Carpenter (120th lay), Cook (120th lay), Cooper (30th lay). If that is the case, then the characters may hire on as an Idle and receive higher pay.
It's also assumed the environment is more of a Treasure Planet style Etherium, awash in neon magenta and vibrant purples, along with all the oxygen you could ever want to huff down, rather than the cold, cruel void of realistic space.
The Meatgrinder
01. Lanterns Gutter
02. Lanterns Gutter
03. Lanterns Gutter
04. Lanterns Gutter
05. Lanterns Gutter
06. [Curiosity] The deck of the ship begins to become encrusted in salty rime.
07. [Curiosity] The Oldhands, as one, begin to sing a grim sea shanty of lost shores and forgotten loves.
08. [Curiosity] A lonely dyson sphere has come unmoored and drifts lost and forgotten.
09. [Curiosity] Out, just on the edge of vision, something red and blinking follows the ship for a watch, before turning off and returning to the eternal night.
10. [Curiosity] If you strain your ears, you swear you can hear a thin, monotonous whine of accursed flutes drifting upon the solar winds.
11. [Travel Event] A nearby star has gone super nova. The initial gravitational wave has knocked out the helmsman, with other crew, and the coronal mass is rapidly growing closer. If the card is [upright] the former star forms a diffuse nebula, or [reverse] it collapses into a black hole. Which brings it's own set of problems.
12. [Travel Event] The ship passes within view of a galactic void, long thought haunted, and the Oldhands of the crew make a sign of warding. Anyone who doesn't is Stressed by an odd foreboding sense.
13. [Travel Event] An Oldhand, scarred and grizzled, challenges a character to a wager of Five Finger Fillet. Two options here: test of Pentacles to avoid stabbing yourself, OR letting the player test their skill in the real world (their choice, obviously, and preferably with something safe, but I ain't your momma.) If successful, coin! If unsuccessful, the character takes a Wound as they stab their own hand.
14. [Travel Event] Just off to port, coming from the passing asteroid field, drifts the song of space sirens. Gods, it's enchanting! More and more of the crew are beginning to agree and REALLY want to get over there for a better listen.
15. [Travel Event] Chronowaves wash over the ship, revealing the ghost of a lost Cosmonaut. It largely stands there and screams, head aflame, unable to fully interact with the world around it. The distracting scream causes Disadvantage on tests of Fate aboard the ship until it's dealt with.
16. [Random Encounter] Many cultures interact with the astral space differently. One has sent out an arcane Von Neumann probe, which has attached to the ship and created [characters+1] aggressive copies of itself before setting off again.
17. [Random Encounter] With colors nailed, a pirate ship sets its eyes on the player's ship. The symbols upon their flag make it clear: there's to be no quarter offered or accepted.
18. [Random Encounter] A comet of burning green ice shoots overhead, dumping [characters] worth of Astro-zombies onto the deck of the ship.
19. [Random Encounter] A tear in reality reveals a Hilbert Whale returning to Real Space, diving down from a higher dimension to feed. These things are swollen with astrogris and stochastaceti; and are the reason you're out here.
20. [Random Encounter] From nova's heart I stab at thee! The captain has spotted the white Hilbert Whale and craves their revenge. All current quests and agreements are forgotten, all that matters to the captain is revenge. The captain's commands from here on out should be reckless and endanger everyone.
21. [Quest Rumor] A ship in distress, lulls in the distance to starboard. Convincing the Captain to give aid and succor to the ship allows the adventures to meet a traveling sage who surprisingly knows about the McGuffin the characters are after.
One day I'll get the patience to put that in a table to make it easier to read. Not today.
New Camp Action: Tattooing
Without devolving into another anti-capitalist rant (which I did half type out), I'll simply state that my brief research suggested that American whaling companies did not often keep maritime tradition, including that of line-crossing and tattooing. But, fuck 'em, this is a game about magically sailing a boat through space to hunt space whales. You're getting tattoos.
Until I've time to make them into a whole _thing_, they are Advantage in social situations among people who would be impressed by such things (sailors, former sailors, youth dreaming of adventure, etc).
Getting Paid
Whalers were paid in lays, rather than a wage. These were basically fractions of the profit from the overall voyage, which would return with $35-50K worth of oil. This meant, should a Greenhand not desert over the 2-4 years at sea, they would end the journey with a cool $200 lining their pocket. Assuming they didn't take on any debts with the company, that is. They most likely did.
Game wise, you can just reward the players with 100 gold per whale harvested. OR consult the list if you want to bring in their skills and importance to the ship:
Greenhand: 100 gold
Blacksmith: 900 gold
Carpenter: 150 gold
Cook: 150 gold
Cooper: 600 gold
If you've got some made up profession important to your "totally serious and need for complete accuracy space whale hunting game" the pay rate equation is ((36000/lay)/2) in gold per whale harvested.
Gamming
I seem to just be adding in random bits at this point.
Whalers weren't really liked in maritime social circles. Merchants and Navy folk often saw them as unfit sailors with subpar ships. This was basically true given the company owners cut costs at every turn, would hire anyone, and instructed the captains to encourage desertion on the return trip, so the owners wouldn't have to pay the sailors. Again, turning away from the rant, this didn't exactly breed competency. This in turn caused other sailors not to like being around whalers. So, they had to stick to themselves.
Gamming was a form of socializing at sea among whaling vessels. Basically when two ships met, they would come together, man and officers mingling ships, to trade gossip and information. Newspapers and gifts were often exchanged. Dances were common.
Mechanically, what this means, is if another whaling ship is encountered, a modified City action can be taken by the party. If you're gonna go into a whole whaling side adventure.
References
Most of what I learned about whaling came from here. Surprisingly interesting. I have learned too much about whaling to ever be happy again.
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