OSR: 10 Additional Island-Based Reviews

This is the last set, I swear!

I wanted to build an archipelago of tropical OSR island hexcrawls, similar to Dan D's "Distant Lands of DIY" map.  I've reviewed 7 adventures here and 8 more here. I'm running out of islands to review.
 
I'm going to focus on the map and hex key and the random encounter table. The module might contain other stuff and the other stuff might be very good... but I've found these two sections are a good barometer for how useful I'll find a given product. 

Does the module contain the 3 most common tropes for island adventures: volcanoes, dinosaurs, and invisible walls that gate certain areas or otherwise limit player options?

And the final verdict:
Drop In: I don't need to edit this module to run it in a wavecrawl-type game. I might need to add things, but I don't need to rearrange or remove anything.
Mangle: I'd need to rewrite, copy-paste, edit, and substantially rework this module to make it meet my standards. The module isn't mangled as is; I'll need to mangle it to use it.
Pass: I won't be using it.

Again, I'm focusing on utility to my potential islandcrawl. It's a very narrow scope.

In this post, I hastily review:
1. Treasure Hunt
2. Drums on Fire Mountain
3. Isles on an Emerald Sea
4. Red Tide
5. Skull and Shackles - The Wormwood Mutiny
6. Skull and Shackles - Raiders on the Feve
7. Skull and Shackles - Tempest Rising
8. Skull and Shackles - Island of Empty Eyes
9. Skull and Shackles - The Price of Infamy
10. Skull and Shackles - From Hell's Heart

N4: Treasure Hunt

TSR, Aaron Allston, 1986
Volcano: No
Dinosaurs: No
Magical GM-Conveniencing Energy Barrier: No
Use: Drop-In

It's an origin adventure, and a fairly good one. The PCs are shipwrecked. They have nothing - no weapons, no tools, not even a character class. These days we'd call it a Funnel. Stab a bunch of people in the kidneys, become a Thief. Muck around with magical items, become a Magic-User. Good stuff.

Of course, this doesn't work in a standard tropical island hexcrawl mashup. Take away the initial premise and how does the adventure hold up?

Hex Map
It's on a grid. 150' squares. The island is about 1.5 miles tall and 1.2 miles wide. North, for some reason, is on the left side of the diagram. Locations are numbered and a key is provided next to the map, but it's not terribly easy to spot what's what. Elevations are also marked. All the locations are clustered on one corner of the island, so a zoomed-in map would have been nice, but it's not a huge issue.

Player handout maps of buildings are provided as charming little drawings on leaves. I like it.

Random Encounter Table
There isn't one. Since this is an introductory adventure, I'm perfectly fine with it. The island apparently has only goats, rats, and a lone hermit for wildlife. There's a convenient "all NPC" chart at the back of the module so the GM can track how many orcs, goblins, and giant rats have met their end at the hands of the PCs.

Final Notes
It's newly arrived orcs vs. newly arrived goblins in the ruins of an old town. Because of their piratical rules they aren't fighting. They're just... feuding a bit. It's very nice. I might have read too many of these modules, but I actually chuckled at the little jokes and dry humour in this one. It couldn't be the core of a campaign, but as a one-off location - or an emergency funnel after a TPK or shipwreck - it's very good. There's a bit of setting info on the archipelago but not enough to use more than this island.

X8: Drums on Fire Mountain

TSR, Phil Gallagher & TSR UK Design Team, 1984
Volcano: Yes
Dinosaurs: No
Magical GM-Conveniencing Energy Barrier: No
Use: Mangle With Caution
This module is infamous. Double infamous. Doesn't take more than a look at the cover to see why.

The green, native orcs – the kara-kara – borrow the language, art, technology, environment, music, and weapons of ancient Polynesia, but they are also presented in an entirely negative light, as brutal and fanatical savages. They are also under the sway of a (white) interloper who has tricked them into believing he is their god.
-vestige

Yeah...

Here's how to mangle it into something less... heinous.

1. Get rid of the Orcs. Orcs have bad connotations. Sure, in a group fully versed in the weird gonzo world of OSR homebrew might not read it that way, but typical new players, having seen the Lord of the Rings films and not much else, won't take a nuanced view.

2. Make them people. Don't make them Polynesian people - unless you're willing to put in adequate research time, and let's be honest, you're not - but just people. They live on an island. They've got their own thing going on. They ride giant chameleons, hold dances, raise children, trade, make war, make peace, and do foolish things while drunk. Who doesn't? (except for the chameleon bit, that might be unique).

Side Note: Most of the time - unless your setting is a mythical heroic battle between Allegorical Good and Evil - you should consider making everyone people. Even the damn goblins. Not to introduce some ethical conflict - the goblins probably still want to cut your throat and feast on your innards and you probably don't want them to - but to introduce more methods of solving problems.

3. Make them sensible. In the module, they're constantly, mindlessly hostile. If you're going to make them people, make them smart people on their home turf. Not nessesarily rational by our standards or the PCs, but they have reasons for doing the things they do. Possibly very good reasons. They're holding a ceremony and they don't want to be interrupted. Would you? If a bunch of Vikings started poking around your town during the annual Christmas concert you might very well be annoyed.

4. Adjust the backstory. There are all sorts of ancient ruins and strange locations. In the module, the backstory is... troubling. Have you read Terry Pratchett's Nation? Spoiler alert in the link. Anyway, read it immediately. You'll see what I'm getting at.

5. Describe, don't name. Nothing is labelled in D&D. Describe the monsters, weapons, and locations, don't name them as the module names them, unless the PCs are part of this culture. Show, don't tell.

6. Adjust the adventure hook. In the module,  you're hired to kill the new leader of the orcs because he's made them "troublesome". Yeah. Get rid of the hook. You can make it simple robbery, possible trading, a lost expedition, a shipwrecked friend. Anything with a bit more nuance.

7. Get rid of the mastermind and his goons. They're superfluous anyway. You can re-use some them as less scrupulous adventuring party if you have to.

8. This is just personal preference, but get rid of the elementals and replace them with creatures and ghosts, or at least make them as interesting as the Hot Springs Island elementals.

Hex Map
It's very good. Full colour, 1/2 mile hexes, keyed locations with labels.

Random Encounter Table
It's reasonably good. The entries include full stats. Night and day encounters are also keyed in the table.

Final Notes
The module's core - the maps, the island, the encounters - is worth adapting. Really, the island works perfectly well as a location instead of the adventure as written.

Isles on an Emerald Sea

Knockspell 1,2,4,6, Gabor Lux, 2009
Volcano: No
Dinosaurs: Yes (flying ones)
Magical GM-Conveniencing Energy Barrier: No
Use:Mangle and Pass

Knockspell #1: Isle of Birds + the Isle of Arsinoi
Two little islands in a very funhouse arbitrary style; mimics, inscriptions, if->then curses, all that. Not to useful for my purposes.  

Knockspell #2: Isle of Barzon + The Isle of Armul Urthag
The Isle of Barzon isn't an island and the Isle of Armul Urthag doesn't have an island map. Anyway, the Isle of Baron is pretty good. The entire thing is written in a peculiar style. Rules mixed with descriptions, terms thrown out without definition, little incongruous hints.

The valleys of the island are blooming with strange flowers that bring uneasy dreams (-2 to saving throw when trying to avoid sleep while proceeding through), and are also populated by an abundance of wild sheep. The Flying Gods hunt them according to their Purpose.

Armul Urthag is too sci-fi for my purposes, but Barzon is useful and interesting enough to plonk onto a coastline somewhere as an emergency port.

Knockspell #4: The Isle of Molonei
A neat idea, but I just don't feel it's quite right. I might mine it for supplementary ideas for Misty Isles of Eld.

Knockspell #6: The Isle of the Ur-Stones
Again, a little too sci-fi, but the core idea is neat and it's very well written (except for the unfortunate title-swap in the print version).

Final Notes
The articles are worth mining for ideas, but unfortunately, I don't think they're quite suitable for the wavecrawl I'm building.

Red Tide

Sine Nomine, Kevin Crawford, 2011
Volcano: No
Dinosaurs: No
Magical GM-Conveniencing Energy Barrier: Yes (red mists)
Use: Pass

Red Tide isn't a module. It's a setting and a sandbox toolkit. The toolkit is quite good; a big heap of tables and neat ideas. The setting is a bit confusing. I'm lumping the Red Tide book in with the Scarlet Heroes book for convenience.

It's not great for conceptual density. We're told dwarves are dour and stern and wear horned helmets and all the usual stuff. The setting includes a grab bag of standard fantasy races and numbers-filed-off cultures. If that's what you want, it does an exceptional job. Beautiful formatting, clean layout, useful indexing, answers to questions. It's very well designed.

Hex Map
Several illustrated maps with 25 mile hexes. The hexes aren't keyed and some of the maps don't have labels, which is a bit unfortunate. When would I need to know the terrain in 25 mile increments, but not where major cities and ports are located?

It's possible that a very close reading will bring more nuance to the setting, but from my skim-through, it seems a bit... strange. The faux-European and Generic Fantasy cultures are mostly Good. The faux-Asian cultures - the ineffectual decadent Imperial state, the devil-worshiping Shogunate state, the torture happy Pulp Wizards - all seem somewhat Evil. The setting seems to be designed for pulp adventures, but from a quick skim, it's generic european fantasy heroes in a setting with a thin oriental veneer.

The Houses of the Lost and the Game Resources section are both excellent. Maybe that's the issue. The book is designed to be so easy to chew, so easy to implement, that the setting doesn't challenge any preconceptions. It's a song played in the key of C, white keys only, 4/4 time. If you know the style  you can hear a few bars and improvise the rest. That's excellent from a design standpoint. From a setting standpoint... I'm not so sure.

I guess that's the heart of it. Red Tide feels like a setting with heroes and villains. Yoon-Suin feels like a place with people.

Final Notes
I'll take some of the tables, but I don't think any of the locations are worth dropping onto the islandcrawl map. There's not enough detail to mangle them from one genre to another, and since I'm mostly looking for locations, I'll pass

Skull and Shackles Adventure Path

Paizo, 2012
"Adventure Path". Are there any more accursed words? I have caught a glimpse into the suffering Bryce Lynch must endure and I have recoiled in horror! No more reviews! Spare me!

Anyway, to round out this post, I have stared into the abyss. And what I found there was deeply confusing.

1. The Wormwood Mutiny: Part 3: Bonewrack Isle

Paizo, Richard Pett, 2012
Volcano: No
Dinosaurs: No
Magical GM-Conveniencing Energy Barrier: No
Use: Mangle
A small island with a shipwreck, ghoul-infested botflies, and actual ghouls above, grindylows (half octopus half goblins) below. The PCs are supposed to arrive and fight everything in sight, but it works as a location instead of a series of combats. 

Hex Map
No hexes, but a grid with 1/5th mile increments. The maps are genuinely lovely.

Random Encounter Table
There isn't one.

Final Notes
I had to stop and do a double take when, skimming the book for maps, I noticed that one building was marked "Whores’ Boudoir". Skimmed a bit more, found out it was full of ghouls, flipped back to find out where the ghouls came from.

The Chelish scouting vessel Infernus was carrying some unpleasant passengers when it ran aground on Bonewrack Isle—a small pack of ghouls used as shock troops by the captain. These ghouls escaped the wreck and subsequently infected the local botflies and mosquitoes with ghoul fever.... In addition, at night there is a 50% chance of encountering 1d3 of the ship’s whores from area C5 out on a hunt.

Ah, so "whores" were the shock-troop ghouls; a very nautical thing to call the captain's chained up undead monsters. All is well. Except a few paragraphs later...

When the ghouls aboard the Infernus escaped the wreck,the local botflies and mosquitoes quickly spread their affliction among the surviving crew. The three ship’s whores fell victim to ghoul fever first, transforming into ghouls and turning on the rest of the crew. The ghouls devoured the survivors one by one, but were unable to reach Arron Ivy, fearing the cliff paths leading to his stockade (area C8). The three whores now lair in their boudoir, the remnants of a considerable tent lashed around a great tree (see the map on page 42). Inside the tent are more rotting human remains, a huge pile of filthy clothes, and a vast bed of moldering cushions at the base of the tree. Cloud of flies dance above the decay. 

Creatures: Three ghouls, the rotting remains of the experienced harlots from the Infernus, occupy the tent during the day, dressed in decaying silks and vermin infested dresses. At night, the three whores go on the hunt, following paths across the isle looking for prey.

Ship’s Whores (3) CR 1
XP 400 each
Male or female ghouls (Pathfinder RPG Bestiary 146)

Wait, what?
     In 2012? 
          In a Pathfinder adventure?
               Localized entirely within the starting area?
Yes.
Can I explain it?
No.

Side Note: Maybe this could be some sort of New Yorker caption contest. Rewrite that part of the module in your favorite OSR style. LotFP: include more graphic sex acts with whore ghouls. Zzarchov Kowolski: the real monster is societal pressure. Etc.

There's no mention of male or female sex workers on the PC's ship. Maybe this is a local thing to whatever a "Chelish" is, and a setting-savvy reader would instantly recognize it? Does that make it more explicable or better? Not really.

Anyway, ignore that bit (which seems a bit tacked on anyway; where did the shock troop ghouls go?), and make the Grindylows a faction instead of an enemy, and it's an interesting location. This is, after all, their island. Other people just keep crashing into it.

2. Raiders on the Fever Sea: Part 2: Lady of the Rock + Part 3: Treasure of Mancatcher Cove

Paizo, Greg A. Vaughan, 2012
Volcano: No
Dinosaurs: No
Magical GM-Conveniencing Energy Barrier: No
Sex Worker Mentions: None
Use: Pass
Island maps are small and vague, dungeon layouts are linear sequences of fights, enemies don't seem particularly useful.

3. Tempest Rising: Part 3: Port Peril

Paizo, Matthew Goodall, 2012
Volcano: No
Dinosaurs: No
Magical GM-Conveniencing Energy Barrier: No
Sex Worker Mentions: PCs visit a combination temple and brothel
Use: Pass It's a pirate city. The map is numbered. There's a key listing the names of the sections, but the sections aren't numbered in the text, so the map and they key are both fairly useless.

4. Island of Empty Eyes

Paizo, Neil Spicer, 2012
Volcano: No
Dinosaurs: No
Magical GM-Conveniencing Energy Barrier: No
Sex Worker Mentions: Brothel in the fort, now abandoned.
Use: Mangle
In the adventure path, the PCs are given this island for some reason or another. It's 2 miles wide. There are harpies, cyclops statues, a fort, and pinup art galore.

Did I mention the pinup art? I should probably mention the pinup art. There's a lot of it. Even the goddamn zombies have perfect cleavage and enormous breasts. Three books in and my rapid flip-throughs are starting to resemble subliminal programming. Whenever I close my eyes I see melons. Send help, Bryce Lynch! Free me from this prison of my own devising!

Anyway, it seems salvageable. There are factions (if you give them sensible motivations), a fortress that could be rebuilt, some magical gubbins. If you just replace combat with possible alliances, the entire thing feels a lot richer.

5. The Price of Infamy

Paizo, Tim Hitchcock, 2012
Volcano: No
Dinosaurs: No
Magical GM-Conveniencing Energy Barrier: No
Sex Worker Mentions: None
Use: Pass
Tiny island maps, linear combat. Possibly a few good ideas but since these reviews are all about locations, I'm content to give it a pass.
 

6. From Hell's Heart

Paizo, Jason Nelson, 2012
Volcano: No
Dinosaurs: No
Magical GM-Conveniencing Energy Barrier: No
Sex Worker Mentions: Brothel-prison(?) the PCs can visit
Use: Pass
Everything seems to be dungeon exploration or ship combat, so I'll give it a pass.

Final Notes
It's pirates 24-7. Not interesting ones, as far as I can tell, but lots of them. It's an adventure path. Badass things will happen in this sequence or by god nobody will have any fun!

In Conclusion

I need a drink. Several drinks.

Light blue hexes are 100 miles. Dark blue hexes are the open ocean and represent a considerably larger distance.

OSR: Ship Combat Rules Test

I'm trying to build a set of very simple ship combat rules. They should be mechanically crunchy enough to allow for variation, upgrades, and tense duels, but not so complicated that you need a slide rule and a whole table of terms to use. The rules are vaguely based on FFG's Rogue Trader starship combat rules. They should work for Age of Sail combat... as seen on TV.

The core ideas should also be adaptable to ancient sailing battles. Just adjust the speed and range accordingly.

Feel free to pick these apart. The exact numbers are trivial to adjust based on playesting. General concepts are more difficult.

Jeremy Paillotin

Combat Sailing

As opposed to exploration sailing. This is for fights.

Wind

There are 3 kinds of wind:

1. No wind (doldrums, becalmed). A special event on the weather table.

2. Way too much wind (storms, hurricanes, waterspouts, etc.). Special events on the weather table.

3. A sensible amount of wind.
If there’s a sensible amount of wind it fades into the background. Films generally don’t consider it important. Ships maneuver at great speed into the wind, round corners, and pass in front of each other without too much difficulty.

Rules for fog, whirlpools, hurricanes, rapids, shoals, and islands during combat will be added at some point, but based on these rules I think you can see how I'd do it.

Ship Combat

You’ll need a grid. Each square is 100 feet. Each ship combat turn is 5 minutes. Ship speeds are quite a bit lower than top sailing speed, but it's a sacrifice I'm willing to make to avoid using hundreds of sheets of graph paper.

Each round, ships act in order of size, largest to smallest. In order:
1. The ship attempts a Manoeuvre for the round.
2. The ship moves its full Speed straight ahead.
3. The ship may turn up to 45 degrees.
4. The ship fires its Weapons.
5. The ship performs any Special Actions.

Ship Stats

Speed: How fast the ship can move, in squares per turn. This doesn’t correspond to knots or actual speeds. It’s a convenient abstraction to make combat interesting. Don’t tell the sailing people.

Manoeuvre Bonus: How nimble the ship is. Applies to rolls made for Manoeuvres.

Ship Hit Points: The total health of the ship. Negative effects occur at half and quarter HP.

Masts: Number of masts. Useful for some critical hits and identifying ships at a distance.

Crew: Hit Points of sailors and officers who perform regular sailing tasks and assist with boarding actions.

Marines: Hit Points of specialized combat-only troops who do not assist with regular sailing tasks. Cargo Capacity: How much Loot a ship can carry.

Main Weapon Capacity: Arcs are 45 degrees. Prow weapons only fire forward, Stern weapons only fire backward, Port and Starboard weapons fire left and right. Some esoteric ships carry Turrets capable of firing left, right, or forward, or Spine weapons that can only fire dead ahead.

Examples

Stats are all provisional; testing is ongoing.

Rowboat
Speed: 2
Manoeuvre Bonus: +0
HP: 5
Masts: -
Crew: 1 HP
Marines: -
Cargo Capacity: 1
Main Weapon Capacity: -

Raiding Sloop
Speed: 6
Manoeuvre Bonus: +5
HP: 20
Masts: 1
Crew: 10 HP
Cargo Capacity: 2
Main Weapon Capacity: 1 Pro
Raiding Sloops may automatically use the Quick Turn Manoeuvre each turn, in addition to any other Manoeuvres. It may not use the Hard About Manoeuvre in the same turn.

Costal Cutter
Speed: 5
Manoeuvre Bonus: +5
HP: 30
Masts: 1
Crew: 10 HP
Marines: -
Cargo Capacity: 2
Main Weapon Capacity: 1 Prow
Coastal Cutters may automatically use the More Sail Manoeuvre each turn, in addition to any other Manoeuvres.

Brawling Corvette
Speed: 4
Manoeuvre Bonus: -10
HP: 50
Masts: 1
Crew: 20 HP
Marines: 10 HP
Cargo Capacity: 3
Main Weapon: 1 Port, 1 Starboard

Customs Frigate
Speed: 4
Masts: 3
HP: 100
Crew: 50 HP
Marines: 20 HP
Cargo Capacity: 6
Main Weapon: 2 Port, 2 Starboard

Weapon Stats

Range: In squares. Each square is 100 feet. This is the maximum range of the weapon.
Range 1 means the ships must be adjacent.
Range 0 means the ships must occupy the same square or be Locked Together.

To shoot a weapon, roll under 8+ any bonuses. An extensively trained crew might increase this to 10+bonuses, but most of the time, gunnery is horribly inaccurate at anything beyond point-blank range.

A weapon firing at half range gains a +4 to hit. Any weapon fired at Range 0 gains a +8 to hit. Getting to point blank range is the goal. The role of a ship is to carry its guns within point blank range of an enemy, fire them as many times as possible, and render the enemy unable to return fire. Victory is assured through boarding actions.

On a critical hit, roll on the Critical Hits table.

Damage: Like a standard weapon. On a hit, deal damage to the ship’s HP. All hits also deal 1 damage to a ship’s Crew HP and Marines HP. 

Some weapons have special properties, restrictions, modifiers, etc. listed below their main stats.

Prow or Stern Chasers
Range: 8
Damage: 2d6

Cannon Broadside
Range: 8
Damage: 2d6+3

Carronade Broadside
Range: 2
Damage: 3d6+6

Manoeuvres

The helmsman must roll under their Dexterity + the ship’s Manoeuvre bonus + any bonus or penalty from the manoeuvre attempted.

Quick Turn
Bonus: 0
Pass: After moving half its speed, the ship may turn 45 degrees, then complete its movement. It may not turn at the end of its movement.
Fail: The ship moves and turns normally.
Hard About
Bonus: -4
Pass: After moving half its speed, the ship may turn 45 degrees, then complete its movement. It may then turn 45 degrees at the end of its movement.
Fail: The ship moves and turns normally but takes 1d6 damage from the strain.
Drop Anchor
Bonus: -10
Pass: The ship moves 1 square forward, then immediately turns 45 degrees. It does not move further and may not turn. All shooting is at a -4 penalty this turn. The ship is now At Anchor. It takes 1d6 damage from the strain.
Fail: the ship moves 1 square forward, then immediately turns 45 degrees. It does not move further and may not turn. The ship may not shoot this turn. The ship is now Swamped. It takes 3d6 damage from the strain.

More Sail
Bonus: 0
Pass: The ship may move up to 2 additional squares straight ahead.
Fail: The ship moves normally but may not turn.

Trim Sails
Bonus: 0
Pass: The ship may move up to 2 fewer squares this turn. It must move at least 1 square.
Fail: The ship moves and turns normally.
Line Us Up
Bonus: -4
Pass: The ship’s shooting gains a +4 bonus this turn. The ship may move and turn normally.
Fail: The ship moves normally but may not turn at the end of its movement.
Take Evasive Action
Bonus: -8
Pass: All incoming shooting suffers a -4 Penalty. This penalty does not apply at Point Blank range. The ship moves normally but must turn at the end of its move.
Fail: The ship moves normally but must turn at the end of its move.

Prepare For Boarding
Bonus: -4
Pass: The ship may move up to 2 fewer squares this turn. If the ship ends its move next to an enemy ship, while moving parallel to it, the ship may instead move into the same square as the enemy ship. It is now at Point Blank range and may initiate boarding actions.
Fail: The ship may move up to 2 fewer squares this turn.

Ramming Speed
Bonus: -5
The prow of the ship must be facing the target.
Pass: The ship moves up to its full speed towards the target. If the ship has any weapons that face forward, they may fire with a -8 penalty just before the ships collide. Both ships deal 1d6 damage to each other for each 10 HP they have remaining. They are now Locked Together.
Fail: The ship moves its full speed past the target. If the ship has any weapons that face forward, they may fire with a -8 penalty.

Special Actions

Any PC can attempt a Special Action. Roll under the stat listed with the action, applying the bonus or penalty listed. NPC ships can generally attempt 2 or 3 special actions.

Fire at Will
Roll: Charisma +0
Pass: The ship may fire at any point during its Move, interrupting the usual turn sequence. It may not fire a second time in that turn.
Fail: The ship shoots normally, but with a -8 penalty this turn.Cut Anchor
Roll: Charisma or Strength +0
Pass: The ship is no longer At Anchor. The ship will require a new anchor.
Fail: The ship is still At Anchor.Cut Apart
Can only be used if the ship is Locked Together with another ship.
Roll: Strength or Charisma -4
Pass: The ship is no longer Locked Together. At the start of its next turn it may move normally.
Fail: The ship is still Locked Together.

Man the Pumps
Can only be used if the ship is Swamped.
Roll: Strength or Intelligence -4
Pass: The ship is no longer Swamped. At the start of its next turn it may move normally.
Fail: The ship is still Swamped

Lock Together
Roll: Dexterity or Intelligence -4
Can only be used if the ship is at Point Blank Range with another ship.
Pass: The ships are now Locked Together.
Fail: The ships are not Locked Together.

Boarding Action
Can only be used if the ship is Locked Together with another ship.
Roll: Any Stat – 4
Pass: Deal 1d6 + 1 damage for each 10 HP of Crew + 2 damage for each 10 HP of Marines to the enemy ship’s Crew HP or Marines HP. The enemy inflicts 1 damage for each 10 HP of enemy Crew + 2 damage for each 10 HP of enemy Marines to the boarding ship’s Crew or Marines HP. Damage occurs simultaneously.
Fail: Deal 1 damage for each 10 HP of Crew + 2 damage for each 10 HP of marines to the enemy ship’s Crew HP or Marines HP. The enemy inflicts 1 damage for each 10 HP of enemy Crew + 2 damage for each 10 HP of enemy Marines to the boarding ship’s Crew or Marines HP. Damage occurs simultaneously.

Hasty Repairs
Roll: Any Stat -4
Pass: Heal 1d4 Ship HP or repair 1 damaged weapon or repair a damaged rudder or put out a fire.
Fail: No effect.

Statuses

Locked Together
The ships move straight ahead at the slowest ship’s speed. Both ships can still fire normally. They count as being at Point Blank range with respect to each other.

At Anchor
The ship does not move and cannot make any Manoeuvres. It may turn up to 45 degrees.

Swamped
Instead of moving normally, the ship moves 1 square forward. It may not turn and cannot make any Manoeuvres.

Sinking
A ship will sink in a number of rounds equal to its original HP divided by 10. Find boats, flee, grab treasure, and run around in a panic.

Dismasted
A ship with no masts cannot make any Manoeuvres. If it didn’t start with any masts (Rowboats, Gigs, etc.), this does not apply.

Half Ship HP
A ship at half HP takes a -4 penalty to all Shooting, Manoeuvres, and Special Actions.

Quarter Ship HP
A ship at half HP takes a -8 penalty to all Shooting, Manoeuvres, and Special Actions. It is automatically Swamped.

Zero Ship HP
A ship at Zero HP is Sinking. It cannot Shoot, or take any Maneuver or Special Actions.

Half Crew HP
A crew with half Crew HP takes an -4 penalty to all Shooting, Manoeuvres, and Special Actions.

Zero Crew HP
A ship with Zero Crew HP must surrender. This doesn’t mean everyone is dead, but it does mean further resistance is impossible. Everyone is wounded or exhausted.

There will be some sort of ship character sheet to help track all of this.

Critical Hit Chart

1. Mast Shattered. Remove one mast from the target ship.
2. Holed. The enemy ship is now Swamped.
3. Cannons Damaged. 1 weapon on the facing struck now inflicts 1d6 less damage.
4. Cannons Destroyed. 1 weapon on the facing struck is inoperable until repaired.
5. Rudder Struck. The ship must turn after moving, in the direction it last turned (or a random direction if no turns have been made), until repaired. It may not
6. Deadly Splinters. Inflict an additional 1d6 damage to both Crew HP and Marines HP.
7. On Fire. The ship takes an additional 1d4 damage to Ship HP each turn until the fire is extinguished.
8. Well Struck. The ship takes an additional 1d6 damage to Ship HP.

Example Combat

A Raiding Sloop (Red) has run into a Customs Frigate (Blue). The sloop is enormously outclassed and outgunned. She is also carrying a cargo of opium from Yoon-Suin; very illegal.

1. The Customs Frigate moves first, as she is the larger ship. Her Speed is 4. She is not sure where the Sloop will go, so she attempts no Manoeuvres.

2. The Customs Frigate moves straight ahead 4 squares, then turns 45 degrees to starboard, hoping to catch the Sloop in her powerful broadside. She takes no Special Actions. She could take the Fire At Will Special Action, but she hopes to catch the enemy in a fully organized broadside at the end of her next turn, not sporadic and less damaging fire.
3. If the Sloop moves straight ahead she will be at the Frigate's mercy. The Sloop can automatically perform the Quick Turn Manoeuvre. She chooses to perform this Manoeuvre, and also chooses to try for the Line Us Up Manoeuvre. She succeeds. Her shooting gains a +4 bonus this round.

4. She moves 3 squares ahead, turns 45 degrees, and moves a further 3 squares.

5. The Sloop now has the Frigate directly in her sights. She fires her Prow Chasers. The enemy is at half range (+4 to hit) with a further +4 from the Line Us Up Manoeuvre. Base 8+4+4 = 16. The Sloop rolls, hits, and deals 2d6 damage to the Frigate's Ship HP, plus 1 damage to their Crew HP and Marines HP. This barely chip's the Frigate's paint, but it is still a nasty surprise for her officers and crew.

6. The Frigate, realizing the Sloop may escape her, decides to use the Hard About Manoeuvre. 
7. She moves half her speed (2), turns 45 degrees, moves her remaining distance (2), and then turns a further 45 degrees.
8. From her new position, the Sloop is likely to pass within her full broadside.

9. The Sloop, however, hopes to use her considerable speed to escape. She lays on More Sail and uses her automatic Quick Turn Manoeuvre. She succeeds. She moves 4 squares, turns 45 degrees, and moves another 4 squares.
10. The Frigate can try to come about and catch her, but at extended range and no easy way to add bonuses to shooting, the Frigate is very unlikely to ever catch up with the quick Sloop. The Sloop can also manure directly in front of the Frigate

Design Space

There's lots and lots of room.

It should be reasonably simple to add rules for flamethrowers, chain shot, lightning guns, torpedoes based on the core weapon stats.

Upgrades for extra sails, crocodile-powered waterwheels, fog generators, and all the usual piratical nonsense should be easy enough to add. I don't want to create an explicit "upgrade slot" system because that gets fiddly.

OSR: 8 More Island-Based Reviews

I wanted to build an archipelago of tropical OSR island hexcrawls, similar to Dan D's "Distant Lands of DIY" map.

Turns out, a lot of the adventures I found are... kind of bad. I've briefly reviewed 7 of them here. 

In this post, I hastily review:
1. Sacrebleu
2. Misty Isles of Eld
3. Sea of Vipers
4. Lost Island of Castanamir
5. Neither Man Nor Beast
6. Stranded on the Baron's Island
7. Tammeraut's Fate
8. Golden Voyages

I'm going to focus on the map and hex key and the random encounter table. The module might contain other stuff and the other stuff might be very good... but I've found these two sections are a good barometer for how useful I'll find a given product. 

Does the module contain the 3 most common tropes for island adventures: volcanoes, dinosaurs, and invisible walls that gate certain areas or otherwise limit player options?

And the final verdict:
Drop In: I don't need to edit this module to run it in a wavecrawl-type game. I might need to add things, but I don't need to rearrange or remove anything.
Mangle: I'd need to rewrite, copy-paste, edit, and substantially rework this module to make it meet my standards. The module isn't mangled as is; I'll need to mangle it to use it.
Pass: I won't be using it.If you've got any other island, nautical, piratical, aquatical, or tropical adventures you'd like me to review, feel free to add a comment.

Sacrebleu

Self published, Tito B.A., 2018. Get it here.
Volcano: No
Dinosaurs: No
Magical GM-Conveniencing Energy Barrier: No.
Use: Mangle

Hex Map
56 6 mile hexes. Hexes aren't keyed. Major locations are marked. The map was made in one of those free programs (hexographer, I think), so it's got some issues. It's difficult to tell the jungle types apart and there are 2 types of tiles used for mountains, but since the random encounters aren't based on terrain type it's not a huge issue. If any kind souls would like to redraw the map for Tito in a fancy Hot Spring Island isometric view, I'm sure he'd appreciate it.

The scale is also wonky. It looks like a small island, but there are 2x 6 mile hexes of cultivated farmland next to a hex with a village. On a smaller scale, this works well, but a 6 mile hex is... very big.

Encounter Table
It's good. Not perfect, but miles ahead of most products I've reviewed in this series.

There's also a "Things" table and a "Weather" table and few other encounter tables for other locations. Anything marked with an ace is unique. It shows up once, ever, unless the GM decides otherwise. That's a nice touch.

Final Notes
I might need to rearrange a few things and add some notes (there's a lot going on in the module), but you could run it as-is without too much trouble. The WW1 goblin aesthetic is excellent in abstract, but I'd probably replace them with generic piratical goblins if I was to plonk this into a hexcrawl. Gunpowder barrels, a cannon, maybe a captured experimental 17th century chain gun.

Misty Isles of the Eld

Labyrinth Lord, Chris Kutalik, 2016
Volcano: No
Dinosaurs: No
Magical GM-Conveniencing Energy Barrier: Arguable (the mists around the island).
Use: Drop-In

Hex Map
There isn't one. There's a nice pointcrawl map, but no scale is given. Points of interests are 300-400 yards apart, but some of the worms are 3 miles long, so... well, point is, it's a small island. Less than one 6 mile hex. It's a little misty speck. No expeditions. Just sprint around the place like lunatics.

The map itself is lovely. The little illustrations help the GM remember what goes where.

Encounter Table

Each encounter has a full description in the text, including stats and useful tips. There are also tables for the patrols. It's pretty much perfect.

Final Notes
There's not a lot to say. It's a bit gonzo and weird, but it's also very, very well designed. I never felt lost reading it. Answers were provided as soon as I started to form a question in my mind.

Sea of Vipers

Self published, Kyle Marquis, 2017
Volcano: Yes
Dinosaurs: Yes
Magical GM-Conveniencing Energy Barrier: No.
Use: Special Consideration
It's just a big list of ideas. Some of the ideas are quite good, but it's not a finished project. It might be possible to run it as written, but it's much more useful as a box of spare parts. Grab a few ideas, toss the rest.

A huge part of making a quality product is revising your ideas. Take your best ideas and discard or rework the rest. Makes sure everything is consistent. One hex a day is a great way to take a bunch of scattered ideas and put them into a context, but is it a useful context? Is there a plan from the very start? Why work in sequence instead of starting with a few critical locations and building around them? Where's the guidance for a GM? Where do I start, what's vital, how are these areas tied together?

But it's a free project and, for what it is, it's excellent. Go steal some ideas.

C3: Lost Island of Castanamir

TSR, Ken Rolston, 1984
Volcano: No
Dinosaurs: No
Magical GM-Conveniencing Energy Barrier: The power of boxed text.
Use: Pass 

I will point out that this is an "official competition adventure", and should be judged accordingly. The goal is to get the players (pregenerated, if needed) into the dungeon and see how far they get. It's not really an adventure. I grabbed it because it had "island" in the name, but, as you'll see, there's no island.

Here's the boxed text.

Five years ago in the Sea of Pastures an island mysteriously appeared. When adventurers attempted to investigate, their ships developed gaps in the hulls or were wrecked on invisible rocks. Those who managed to swim to the island were never heard from again. Those who clung to the wreckage and flagged down passing ships swore never to return. For a while no one dared go near the place. Then one day a young magician heard of the island and it reminded him of a legend he knew. After a little further investigation, he was almost certain the island belonged to Castanamir the Mad.
[...]
Believing that Castanamir had either died or lost his faculties and that this accounts for the reappearance of the island, the magician hired your party of adventurers to explore it and bring back whatever treasure you could find there. Since you were short on funds and winter was coming on, you decided to risk the attempt. You anchored your ship a distance away and swam to the island. The sea was rough, however, and much of your equipment and provisions was lost, and when you looked back, your ship was sinking.

At first glance the island is a disappointment. It is barren of all but rocks and short, wind-swept grass. There is no shelter, no edible plant life, and no wood for a fire. You are wet and hungry and a chill wind is blowing that promises to bring a storm with it. But just as darkness falls, you discover at the center of the island a shallow depression with a stone door. The door is unlocked and when opened reveals a descending stone stairway. At its bottom is another door of an unfamiliar material.

It would be amusing if the rest of the module continued like this, with the boxed texts commanding the characters hither and yon, telling them what they do and see and feel. But it doesn't. It's just a fairly standard dungeon with portals and gimmick monsters. Huzzah. Useless for my purposes.

Neither Man Nor Beast

TSR, 1995, Jeff Grub
Volcano: No
Dinosaurs: No
Magical GM-Conveniencing Energy Barrier: Ravenloft, so... sort of?
Use: Mangle

It's the Isle of Doctor Moreau, but in Ravenloft! Ooh, spooky. Anyway, after a mandatory shipwreck, the PCs arrive on an island. There are beast people. A helpless old man is actually an evil doctor. It's all very predictable (provided you're familiar with the genre and the source material) with lots and lots of grim and dark '90s boxed text, hamming away like a late Jason or Exorcist film.

Hex Map
No hex map, but a pointcrawl map is provided. The adventure is extremely linear. No exploration, no cutting overland, just moving from point to point. It doesn't tell you to railroad your players but it doesn't offer any other options.

Random Encounter Table
There isn't one.

Final Notes
You're right to ask why this is even being considered for mangling. Well, it's done most of the work of making and Island of Doctor Moreau for me. It's got good factions: the Doctor and his loyal creations, some rebellious creations ready to splinter further, and some monks with a strange secret, all in opposition. Take away the "unkillable plot-vital NPC" problem Ravenloft creates, add an encounter table, and add a typical group of OSR PCs, and they'll either be running the place or doing their own Mad Doctoring within the week. I'll post my own map and encounter table at some point.

Stranded on the Baron's Island

TSR, Dungeon Mag. #13, Willie Walsh, 1988
Volcano: No
Dinosaurs: No
Magical GM-Conveniencing Energy Barrier: No
Use: Mangle

It's a social adventure formatted like a location-based adventure. Applying a Kidnap the Archpriest style schedule would simplify this module immensely. The core idea of the social adventure is hilarious, interesting, and useful. The world is alive. The PCs just happen to blunder into things. Don't take the text too strictly. Just improvise on the theme and NPCs provided.

Hex Map
Hexes aren't keyed. Major locations are marked, but only the mansion is given a detailed description. The island is still 26 miles wide, but at least the hexes are 1 mile across.

Random Encounter Table
There isn't one. Not surprising, considering this is a social module.

Final Notes
You could probably drop this module into  your island-based setting without any significant issues. I'd add some notes, expand the island's description... and probably make Weird Elves (see: Misty Isles of the Eld) involved somehow.

Tammeraut's Fate

Paizo, Dungeon Mag #106, 2004
Volcano: No
Dinosaurs: No
Magical GM-Conveniencing Energy Barrier: No
Use: Pass

It's a 3.5 adventure, so there's a full failed novel's worth of backstory, named NPCs, locations, and all the usual cruft. The adventure hook is finding a corpse being devoured by harpies, telling the local villagers, and then deciding to check on the local hermits and their island. Skip ahead a bit and it's a standard "seal away the evil thing to protect the world".

Hex Map
There's a map of the island. It's very tiny. No exploration, no marked locations, just a building with rocks, a dock, and a garden.

Encounter Table
There isn't one.

Final Notes
I picked this up because of this positive review, but the reviewer fails to mention a major flaw. The module is about a zombie attack on a hermitage. It's 29 pages long. The attack itself is a page and a half. The rest is stats, cruft, readaloud text, superfluous art (though some of it is quite good), and pages of backstory. This adventure isn't designed to be used. It's designed to be read.

ALQ1: Golden Voyages

TSR, David "Zeb" Cook, 1992
Volcano: Yes
Dinosaurs: No
Magical GM-Conveniencing Energy Barrier: No
Use: Mangle

We've had King Kong and Dr. Moreau. Time for Sinbad the Sailor.

Hex Map
There are several maps, including map of currents and a "what the players know" map. It's reasonably convenient. Here's the main map, because it's not online as far as I know.

The map is ~200 miles wide, but the largest islands are only ~20 miles long, so it's fairly sensibly scaled. Everything feels connected. Major locations are marked with little illustrations... but adventure locations aren't always linked to the text. Some of the mini-adventures start in locations that aren't explicitly mapped.

Encounter Table
There isn't one. The text includes helpful advice like, "You can create any random encounters you wish for characters ascending to the summit." Good, and so can you David Cook! And you're the one writing the book, so why don't you do it and save me the trouble?

Final Notes
There's decent advice for sailing and shipwrecks, but the layout is a bit of a mess. It's full of proper Sinbad adventures; sorcerers, giant birds, islands on the backs of turtles, towers, mountains, spirits, and mythic treasures. They're a little wordy and sometimes very linear, but they often feel alive. For some reason, I can only imagine them in the colour palate of Popeye meets Sindbad the Sailor. Take them out of context, improve the map, and you're good to go.

In Conclusion

I've hastily thrown a few of these adventures into the same map. You can view it here. Hexes are 100 miles wide. I've added a 2nd page with the real world Caribbean added.