Converting Voyage of the Doomed (Fires of Marl)
I am converting this adventure to a one-shot for conventions.
The characters, for their own reasons, board the tramp steamer Jolly Marie, bound from Galitia to the city of Dela. The boarding and launch takes place at night from the docks in the Esler district.
I happened to have a large steamer ship terrain piece that I built for a Flash Gordon under water adventure.
I plan to modify this to be more 3D to work in this adventure. I had to re-write the adventure and drop a few encounters to make it fit in a 4 hour slot. I also added a chance at the end of the adventure for the players to change the outcome (timey-whimey wibbly wobbley stuff).
One thing that bothered me also was that if you have a huge steamer going from one city to another on a river that is surrounded by Wilderness, wouldn’t the boats be armed. No mentioned of that. So I am going to give the ship a few guns.
The adventure also had Cat (from the novels) as an NPC, but I decided to make her an optional PC. I have 7 total characters.
Alton Mosley
The Guild Agent, I based this off of some of the material given in the adventure. I made him a new race I am introducing in this world – a version of Half Elves called the Na’Sidhe. He is the main magic users.
Avero Reed
Some material in the Wilderness guide talked about other settlements in the Wilderness. I decided to play into that in a Noir style making exotic cultures that somehow survive in the Wilderness. Basing this on a Morrocan trader, this guy has Wilderness knowledge as well as a strange ability called Wilderness Sense. He is sort of a rogue.
Cheyenne Garrison
A vampire and a gang moll who owns a night club, she just wants out of the gang life. If this was more than a one shot, we may have her hunted by the mob. Her specialty is fighting.
Quinn Solaman
Based on Allan Quartermain or Solomon Kane, this Explorer/Courier is a little more grumpy and a loner. He has a artifact that he needs to deliver. He is one of the fighters in the group.
Mayson Lawrence
The gambler, Mayson is another rogue type with some limited shape-change ability and some magic.
Riley Woods
Dime Novelist – He’ll be a fun character to roleplay but not much use in the adventure. He has some brains and may help with some Common knowledge rolls. After the playtest, I retooled him as also the healer (a side gig).
I also added Cat to the group. The adventure makes her an NPC because she is in the novels but I decided to make her my wife’s character if she plays.
Time Travel
The time travel aspect of the adventure was (intentionally, I think) under utilized and I think if done right, it can be a fun thing to experience in a one shot. Give the player a second chance to save the boat. I was always disappointed that they never could save the boat in the original writing.