Copyright (c) 1996 by "S.D. Anderson" <102250.1425@compuserve.com> William Danton Age: 36 Height: 5'9" Weight: 185 lbs Hair: light brown (greying) Eyes: Brown Captain of the Jersey Sky Move/Dodge: 6 Parry: 5 ST: 13 DX: 11 IQ: 13 HT: 13 Attribute cost: 100 pts Comfortable Wealth [10] Literate [10] Patron: British Crown 6- [15] Status +1 {ship's captain} [5] Advantage cost: 40 pts Administration 12 [1], Area Knowledge: Carribean 14 [2], Area Knowledge: American colonial shores 13 [1], Area Knowlege: Port Royale, Jamaica 12 [1], Area Knowledge: Bahamian Cays 14 [2], Boating 11 [2], Black Powder Weapons 13 [4], Carpentry 12 [1], Carousing 13 [2], Climbing 13 [4], Cartography 12 [1], Cooperage 12 [1/2], Dancing 10 [1], Diplomacy 11 [1], Fast Talk 12 [1], First Aid [TL 4] 12 [1], Fishing 13 [2], Gambling 11 [1], Gesture 12 [1], Gunner: Naval Cannon 12 [4], Heraldry 13 [2], History 10 [1/2], Jumping 11 [1], Knife 12 [2], Language: Spanish 11 [1/2], Language: Dutch 11 [1/2], Leadership 12 [1], Merchant 13 [2], Meteorology [TL 4] 12 [2], Navigation 15 [8], Polearm 11 [2], Sailor [TL 4] 13 [2], Savoir-Faire 13 [1], Seamanship [TL 4] 12 [2], Shiphandling [TL 4] 13 [4], Shortsword: Cutlass 10 [1] Skill Cost: 65 pts Compulsive behaviour: Wanderlust [-10] Curious [-5] Gluttony [-5] Overconfidence [-10] Overweight [-5] Disadvantage Cost: -35 pts Quirks: Dislikes Spainiards [-1] Enjoys sunsets [-1] Likes to wear Dark Blue [-1] Quirk Cost: -3 Total 167 pts Danton is an explorer by heart, the second son of a banker, he entered the navy as a young man and loved seeing new places. His family arranged to buy him a ship. As captain he's done fairly well for himself hauling cargo but his real wealth comes from a commision by His Majesty's Navy to help map the seas and the lands around the Carribean, Gulf of Mexico and the Southern parts of North America. And the occasional bit of privateering. Adventure Seed: The PCs are Pirate hunters for the navy, operating out of Virginia Colony under the command of an NPC, Captain sir Harold Terrance. Sir Harold has considerble repute as a pirate hunter, but the PCs had a chance to see that it was the real brains of the outfit were in the head of Harold's first officer Samuel O'Reilly. Sir Harold provided the dashing good looks and connections to friends in high places. All was well until O'Reilly was killed during an engagement. Sir Harold's ineptitude is becoming apparent to the PCs but not to the rest of the crew, who still trust their captain implicitly. The PCs have some evidence that several Charleston merchants have been selling pirated goods (a telescope bearing the monogram of the owner's family was recognized by a PC or NPC. It belonged to the second mate of a ship taken by pirates not three weeks earlier, and some other goods seem to have come from the same ship) and subsequent investigation leads the PCs to conclude the ship that brought it normally is found in Bahamaian waters. Sir Harold sets sail south by south east to the Bahamas, where he uses his King's warrant to commandeer Danton's ship to help find the pirate. Sir Harold and Captain Danton do NOT get along very well (treat as if critical reaction roll failures occured both ways) and the relation grows steadily worse as the mission continues. Player characters may begin to note signs of Paranoia in Sir Harold, particularly regarding anything involving Danton. The evidence the PCs should find if successful to this point would lead them to a small island in the cays. Sir Harold has the PCs on board The Jersey Sky to conduct some part of the raid. Until the PCs bring their orders to Danton, he's been kept in the dark as to what Sir Harold planned. He pales when he reads them. Sir Harold is falling into a trap, Danton explains there is a sandbar covering most of the harbor. At low tide only a very narrow channel allows any ship that takes more than 2 fathoms to pass. Sir Harold's attack time will put the ships into the harbor an hour before the tide closes off all but the channel route out and the winds generally blow the wrong direction at that time for a ship in harbor to reach it easily. You'd far more likely run aground on other sandbars trying to tack to it. Given the kind of defenses his scouts saw in place, it'd only take one of the pirate ships they know are somewhere in the region to close in on the harbor and surround them. Can the PCs convince their captain to abandon the plan or otherwise defuse the trap?