Atlantic Ocean: Boat Races

7) Boat Races
Atlantic Ocean, Early November, 1844

A) Boat Races
Kingsport whalers have a tradition of conducting whaleboat races during the first few weeks at sea. These contests are more than exciting diversions, they allow the boat crews to practice and refine their skills before embarking on an actual whale hunt. It also offers the Keeper the opportunity to describe the operation of a whaleboat, and to settle the player characters into their respective roles. Although the first race is conducted in early November, it may be roleplayed at any time during the first month at sea. Subsequent races need not be roleplayed.

Boat Strength
Before the encounter begins, the Keeper must determine the crews of each whaleboat, assign oar positions, and calculate each crew’s Boat Strength. (The details of assigning and using Boat Strength are found in “Hunting Whales.” The results may be recorded using “Boat Crew Worksheets.”)

Secondary Characters
As Rachel, Morgan, and Lowell have no place on a whaleboat, their players may still participate by roleplaying an NPC whaleman. This may or may or not be a full “secondary character”—it’s fine for Morgan’s player to have fun as Pig Bodine for half an hour!

B) The First Lowering
One morning in early November the captain awakes to find the ocean calm and windless. After taking the quarterdeck and consulting with Mr. Pynchon, Joab calls all hands on deck. With a rare smile on his face, he nods approvingly at the men and announces—“Let the davy tackles fall! Time to see what ye can do with my boats. Mates, look sharp! Load the tubs and gear, the men must learn to pull like true Kingsport devils! Two miles out today, I should think. Mr Plunkett shall give the signal. And the first crew to touch iron to this wooden whale earns an extra tot of rum!”

A cry goes up and the crews spring into action. Each officer takes the stern of his boat and his harpooneer hops into the bow. The four remaining crewmen lower the boat from the davits—the arching braces that support the boat along the bulwarks; frequently called the “davies” by sailors. This is done by using the “falls,” a simple block-and-tackle system. This first time lowering may call for an Operate Heavy Machinery roll, with a failure resulting in a minor incident that adds a –1D10 penalty die to the mate’s Leadership roll as described below. Once the boat’s in the water, the men slide down the falls and take their places at the oars. Under normal conditions, an experienced crew can launch a whaleboat in one minute: that probably won’t happen here!

C) The Race
Once the crews have practiced for a spell, Joab orders the boats to assemble two miles from the ship. After an exchange of pleasantries between the officers, the crews get into position. Thomas Plunkett fires the ship’s blunderbuss from the quarterdeck: the plume of smoke is seen before the report is heard. And that’s the signal—the boats are off! The first crew to strike the Quiddity with a harpoon is the winner.

Normally, the mechanics of a boat race are simple: Each officer makes a Heart Roll, Boat Strengths are adjusted, and opposed Boat Strength rolls determine the winner. As per the standard rules, ties are broken by the crew with the highest Boat Strength. However, what kind of Keeper would merely toss a few dice and declare a winner? This first race should be narrated in breathtaking detail. The following mechanic divides the race into four “quarters,” each calling for a new set of rolls.

First Quarter
Everything starts well enough, with the officers urging their crews to row, row harder, row faster, row towards the “whale.” Here’s where the officers’ different personalities really come into play. Captain Joab encourages his men with excitement and drama—“Row for your lives, men! Bring me to that whale! Oh, for the love of God and all his angels, men, bring me to that whale, let me hear his heart beat loud as thunder!” Mr. Pynchon prefers a steely civility—“If you could please oblige me, Tom, and row a little harder? And young Mr. Crow, it would be ever so good if you could put your back into it, that’s right, I wouldn’t want to reduce your liquor allowance as incentive, please don’t make me do that. And Quakaloo, don’t hold back, I have every faith your arm will remain strong enough to dart the iron.” And true to form, Mr. Whipple uses good-natured bullying— “Jesus Christ Swain! When that devil of a cook brained you, did he strike the part that knows how to row? And Pig, shake off that hangover, man. Just pretend the whale’s a fat boy’s arsehole, and you’ll put yer fuckin’ back into it! Row, lads—we don’t want that Nantucket bastard to drink our rum, do we? No offense, Swain.” No matter the leadership style of the mate, the message is always the same: There are no slackers; and everyone is expected to pull the oars with all their hearts until they drop dead.

After an energetic start, the rowers’ muscles begin tiring. At this point, the mate’s encouragement grows a little more pointed, and they make their first roll for Heart: say, Leadership. A successful roll brings a burst of pride to the rowers and adds +5% to their Boat Strength. A failed roll reflects a torrent of words that can’t penetrate the increasing pain. It’s here where more experienced hands grin wolfishly at greenhorns, and the mates begin singling out individual sailors: “You there, Redburn! Put your goddamn back into it, man! Look at Quakaloo ahead of us—you’d fancy a cannibal waiting for you, do you? No, don’t actually turn and look, you idiot! Hey there, Quack—how d’ye like your greenhorns cooked? Oh, raw you say?”

Halfway Point
A mile into the race, the rowers’ muscles begin aching, crying out in agony: stop, can we please stop? Halfway to the finish line, the Keeper may call for each rowing player character to make a Constitution check to see how they’re doing. A failed roll results in a slip-up, perhaps taking one’s hands off the oar and breaking the rhythm, resulting in a –5% deduction to Boat Strength and immediate excoriation from the mate—“Tobias fucking Beckett! Put your fucking paws on that oar I’ll flog you, by God I will! No grog for you tonight! Or next week, goddammit!”

Third-Quarters
By now the Quiddity is looming large. Inexperienced rowers are exhausted, arms and shoulders burning, stomachs heaving, brains dizzy! At this point, each mate must command his men through sheer force of personality, completing his Heart Roll by rolling against Power—“Row my hearties, row until your hearts burst, row until your eyes pop out, row!” The Keeper should call for a Sanity roll from each player character new to whaling: that’s Redburn and Beckett. A successful roll gathers one’s courage; a failed roll loses 1 point of Sanity and brings the dreaded feeling of What have I gotten myself into?

The Finishing Line
It’s only in the final moments of the race that the Keeper calls for Opposed Boat Strength rolls and determines the winner. Normally, ties are decided by the higher Boat Strength score; but Joab declared the winner as the first boat to “touch iron” to the Quiddity, so ties are broken by opposed Fighting (Harpoon) rolls. The more dramatic the ending, the better—imagine Quakaloo and Dixon both throwing their harpoons at the same instant, but one gets an Extreme success and the other fails!

D) Aftermath
Upon climbing back on deck, the exhausted sailors are greeted by Natty Weeks, who’s prepared a plum pudding and a generous helping of grog for the winning boat. The sailors on this crew are relieved of duties until the morning watch, with their places being taken by the losers.

Swagger Die
The winners gets to swagger a bit, having proved themselves the fastest boat crew on the ship. The Keeper should reward every member of the winning crew a “Swagger Die.” This is a D10 they may use once per session as a bonus die for any roll made operating a whaleboat, hunting a whale, or interacting with the crew. This is not a permanent acquisition, and the Swagger Die may be lost to another crew at certain points during the campaign, including the first successful whale hunt (See Encounter 13 below.)

Bonus Skills
For participating in the boat race, Beckett and Redburn earn an automatic 1D6 in Whalecraft and a 1D10 in Pilot (Boat). Furthermore, any player character in the winning boat earns an additional +1D4 in Pilot (Boat), +1D4 in Leadership, and 1 point of Renown.

White Leviathan, Chapter 2—Atlantic Ocean
[Back to Encounter 5, The Hen Frigate | White Leviathan TOC | Forward to Encounter 8, Thanksgiving]

Author: A. Buell Ruch
Last Modified: 21 March 2022
Email: quail (at) shipwrecklibrary (dot) com
White Leviathan PDF: [TBD]