Greetings unaugmented humans! It is I, Magos Geologis of the Adeptus Mechanicus, here to provide inspiration and food for thought for the aspiring Masters of Games amongst you! First, I will wander down the city streets, drawn by the increasing sodium chloride concentration in the air, to the water’s edge and a city’s docks.
Any settlement on water will have some manner of interface between the land and the water. For the purposes of this discussion we will broadly refer to all such interfaces as docks. A small fishing village on a planet with an approximately medieval (within a standard deviation) technology level might feature a single pier and a few shacks as its docks. A city located in a distant galaxy in the forgotten past might have an impressive dock, with berths for watercraft, submersibles, repulsorcraft, and aircraft. In the grim darkness of the far future such places might be dominated by massive cranes, teams of labouring servitors, and oily black water, full of contaminants, all for the glory of the Machine-God. Regardless of the setting you find yourselves in there are some commonalities all docks share.
Primarily, docks are a frontier within a city. Docks are where the urban and organized gives way immediately to the wilds of the ocean. In all ages and locations the sea is jealous of its mysteries and secrets and yields them reluctantly. As a result strange things occur near the water and superstition and rumour run rampant. Docks are a jumping off point out into the world but they can also be a place where the wild intrudes into where a party might believe themselves safe.
Docks are an excellent place to launch an adventure from. All manner of people and creatures can pass through a dock, either simply stopping over or moving into the city. People might need assistance in an unfamiliar city, ships may be hiring, less scrupulous ships might press gang unfortunates, cargo might need guards or escorts, cargo or crew could go missing; the employment opportunities for a resourceful party are endless.
Docks are also an excellent place to look for information. The denizens of this area will typically be well traveled or exposed to many who have travelled. Rumours, stories, and tall tales will be readily available at any of the taverns in a dock district. For the price of a few drinks, willing adventurers could learn of fabled treasure, lost ships, distant lands, or terrifying monsters.
Now that we have reviewed the general concept of docks I am sure you all can see that this region is quite valuable to a Master of Games. Furthering our noble pursuit of knowledge, I will examine a few key environmental factors, followed by some musings on possible encounters set in this area.
First the environment, as I have dedicated my life to studying the physical word. Notable tacticians claim that the terrain a battle is fought on is akin to a third army. With this much of an influence, it is important to understand the details of any terrain a party might enter. In many way docks are very similar to whatever settlement they are a part of. There will be more warehouses, taverns, and the trades that cater to ships, but they will be arranged along roads, built out of the same material as the rest of the city, and staffed or occupied by the same sorts of residents. The interesting part of the docks is the piers themselves. Here one can find the very edge of land surrounded by water. The chance of falling from a dock is always present and could increase in likelihood during a rain storm or fight. Clever creatures or characters could even use the water as an alternative and unexpected means of moving around the dock area.
Docks will have ready access to rope and nets. Coils might be stacked on the pier, nets could be hanging on walls or posts, and barrels or crates will provide cover, not to mention they could have all manner of things inside them. Cunning characters could make use of the cranes used to offload cargo to gain a height advantage or move around a foe.
The final thing to remember is that a dock is unlikely to be deserted. Ships will have crew or guards to watch over them, along with the security for any particularly valuable cargo. During the day docks are bustling hives of activity so any illegal activities would be ill advised at this time.
Environmental Factors to consider:
DnD
- Acrobatics checks to move quickly on the slick piers or swing on overhead ropes
- Athletics checks to climb rigging and ladders
- Nature/Perception to notice signs of the tide, ripples or bubbles announcing underwater creatures
Characters could gain advantage in combat for attacking from higher levels. A character with a nautical background might have advantage when speaking to sailors and dockworkers. Characters might suffer disadvantage in combat if their targets are behind barrels or crates. Natural 20s on attacks might send targets off the edge of a pier while conversely natural 1s might be the sign of a slip and fall.
Star Wars RPG
- Coordination can be used to maintain footing on rain slicked surfaces
- Perception can notice key placement of overhead crates and cranes
Triumphs could be spent to drop crates on opponents, collapse sections of pier, locate controls to locks and cranes. Advantage could cause barrels of volatile liquid to explode, crates to open and release critters to complicate the battle, trigger automatic fire suppression systems, or knock opponents into the water. Disadvantage could cause slips, or the inadvertent activation of slideways. Despair could activate a berthed ship’s security, destroy valuable cargo. Setbacks could arise from rain, spray from a sea in storm, or crates and barrels being used as cover. A source of Boosts could arise from targets being trapped on a pier with nowhere to dodge.
An exotic idea could be utilizing tractor beams meant to guide ships into their berths to grab opponents (after overriding the safeties).
Deathwatch
The most different from the above settings, both in terms of what a dock would look like and what would challenge a Space Marine. For a Marine the docks themselves do not pose a particular challenge to their skills; the interest in using a dock would be either from a locale to investigate or as a large area with lots of height variations, movable structures, and fire lanes in which to stage an exciting battle. Possible factors that could be added to the fight is civilians, either as simple obstructions to either be saved, killed, or ignored, or as more active participants. Imagine a Kill-Team tracks a Lictor to the docks of a hive and must hunt the beast through the piers, gantries, and cranes, all the while ships are coming and going, cranes are loading and offloading cargo, and large vehicles are picking up or delivering other cargo.
Some ideas for conflicts or adventures centered around docks:
- The PCs are hired to guard a ship since cargo has been going missing from other vessels recently but no one has ever seen anything. The thieves are aquatic creatures or have aquatic gear and are stealing the cargo via the water.
- The PCs are asked to investigate a string of grisly murders. Signs eventually point a newly arrived vessel, when the PCs board they find the crew slaughtered and a large crate smashed open.
- After a night of hard drinking some or all of the PCs wake up to find themselves press ganged into service as rowers aboard a ship bound for distant lands. The PCs must escape or rescue their comrade.
- Proscribed artifacts are making their way into the city through the docks. The PCs have located the pier but a battle erupts when they arrive and then the suspects take off in a watercraft, forcing the PCs to give chase.
I hope my musings have given the aspiring or experienced Masters of Games amongst you some ideas for your adventures. Until next time, remember; Knowledge is Power, Guard it well.
Eamon Duffy
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- The Cursed Town - October 28, 2016
