Dungeon Master's Guide

the direction and distance of the ship's travel) or the sun
and the stars.
Use the Wilderness Navigation table earlier in this
chapter to determine whether a ship veers off course.
RANDOM ENCOUNTERS AT SEA
You can check for random encounters at sea as often
as you would check for them on land (see chapter 3 for
more information). The Random Encounters at Sea
table presents a number of options and ideas.
SHIPWRECKS
A shipwreck is a plot device that can be used sparingly to
great effect, particularly if you want the characters to be
washed ashore on some monster-infested island or (in the
case of an airship) dropped in the middle of some exotic
land. There aren't rules for determining when a shipwreck
happens; it happens when you want or need it to happen.
Even the strongest seafaring ship can founder in a storm,
run aground on rocks or reefs , sink during a pirate attack, or
be dragged underwater by a sea monster. A storm orhungry
dragon can lay waste to an airship just as easily. A shipwreck
has the potential to change the direction of a campaign. It
isn't, however, a particularly good way to kill off characters or
end a campaign .
If you and your campaign conspire to wreck a ship on
which the characters are traveling, it is assumed that the
characters survive with the equipment they were wearing or
carrying still in their possession. The fate of any N PCs and
cargo aboard the wrecked ship is entirely up to you.
RANDOM ENCOUNTERS AT SEA
dl2 + d8
2
3
4
Encounter
Ghost ship
Friendly and curious bronze dragon
Whirlpool (25 percent chance that the whirlpool is
a portal to the Elemental Plane of Water)
5 Merfolk traders
6 Passing warship (friendly or hostile)
7-8 Pirate ship (hostile)
9-10 Passing merchant ship (galley or sailing ship)
11-12 Killer whale sighting
13-14 Floating debris
15 Longship crewed by hostile berserkers
16 Hostile griffons or harpies
17 Iceberg (easily avoided if seen from a distance)
18 Sahuagin boarding party
19 NPC in the water (clinging to floating debris)
20 Sea monster (such as a dragon turtle or kraken)
WEATHER AT S EA
Use the Weather table earlier in this chapter when
checking for weather at sea.
If weather conditions indicate both a strong wind
and heavy rain, they combine to create a storm with
high waves. A crew caught in a storm loses sight of all
landmarks (unless there's a lighthouse or other bright
feature), and ability checks made to navigate during the
storm have disadvantage.
CHAPTER 5 I ADVENTURE ENVIRONMENTS