Quiddity Random Tables

By heaven, man, we are turned round and round in this world, like yonder windlass, and Fate is the handspike.
—Herman Melville, “Moby-Dick,” Chapter 132

Introduction

The following tables are designed to help a Keeper provide variety in the campaign by randomizing certain incidents involving the Quiddity. These tables are not meant to produce ironclad outcomes—the Keeper should always exercise discretion when consulting a random table. Some results may not be suitable for the situation, while others may be too extreme. In the end, it’s always the Keeper’s decision!

Table 1: Random Crewmen
Table 2: Sailing Incidents
Table 3: Cutting-In Incidents
Table 4: Trying-Out Incidents
Table 5: Whaleboat Incidents [TBD]

Table 1: Random Crewmen

Occasionally the Keeper may wish to select a random member of the Quiddity crew. New members of the crew can be written over deceased members as the voyage progresses. These values are all equally weighted.

Roll 1D100
01-03—Captain Joab
04-06—Mr. Pynchon
07-09—Mr. Coffin
10-12—Mr. Whipple
13-15—Quentin Shaw
16-18—Mattashunama
19-21—Ulysses Dixon
22-24—Quakaloo
25-27—Stanley Ruch
28-30—Leland Morgan
31-33—Seph S. Lovecraft, Jr.
34-36—Natty Weeks
37-39—Thomas Plunkett
40-42—Peter Veidt
43-45—Owen Love
46-48—Henry Swain
49-51—Pig Bodine
52-54—Suresh Joshi
55-57—Ricardo Reis
58-60—Ao’nalu
61-63—Virgil Caine
64-66—Zimri Folger
67-69—Israel Reed
70-72—Tisquantum
73-75—Duke Nelson
76-78—Paddy Garcia
79-81—Isaac Townshend
82-84—James Cabot
85-87—William Crow
88-90—Ben Warnock
91-93—Dr. Lowell
94-00—Rachel Ward

Table 2: Sailing Incidents

Occasionally the Keeper may wish for something unusual to happen during the standard course of the voyage. Here are some possible incidents and events, aligned as a 2D6 roll to reflect a probability curve. Obviously some of these incidents are non-repeatable, and the Keeper is free to reroll or make creative substitutions.

Roll 2D6

2—Wreckage. The Quiddity discovers the wreckage of a whaler or merchant ship. There is nothing supernatural about this encounter, but it may be tragic. The Keeper is free to improvise details, which may or may not include survivors. Possible causes of destruction include squalls, piracy, mutiny, or Mocha Dick. (Piracy is quite rare in these waters; but with the Call of Dagon nigh…)

3—By Zeus! Lightning strikes the ship during a storm; the compass needle’s magnetic polarity is reversed. If the lightning rods have not been hauled up (slender rods connected to a chain that trails into the sea), the ship may take 1D20 damage. There’s also a 25% chance a shipboard fire begins. (See “New Systems and Mechanics” for “Shipboard Firefighting.”)

4—Old Friends. The Quiddity speaks another Kingsport whaler, the Illsley Dawn Whistler, fresh into a three-year cruise. Captained by the friendly Barnabas Beetle, the Dawn Whistler was Morgan’s first ship, back when Beetle was chief mate. It’s possible the captain may even remark on Morgan’s change in appearance. In any event, a gam could possibly bring news from home, or even mail.

5—Fire! Someone knocks over a lantern or drops a burning pipe, starting a shipboard fire. If the Keeper would like to escalate this encounter, it may be impossible to spring into action and fight the fire until 1D3 rounds of burning have already occurred.

6—Bad Weather. The weather becomes squally. The captain orders the sails reefed and the ship prepared for rain. While not an emergency, the weather refuses to change, and the Quiddity spends the next 1D4 days drenched by rain. If the Keeper would like to escalate this encounter, a second 2D6 roll resulting in 6 intensifies the squall, inflicting 2D6 HP structural damage to the ship and forcing 1D4 random sailors to make Seamanship rolls or suffer 1D6 HP damage from various mishaps.

7—Unpredictable Winds. A sudden change in the wind requires some fancy sailing. All player characters on watch must make Seamanship rolls. The number of successes indicates the neatness of the response. If there’s two or more failures, the ship misses her stays, and Joab berates the officer on deck. There’s a 25% this shift is accompanied by rough seas, forcing all characters to make Seasickness rolls. (See “New Systems and Mechanics.”)

8—Unusual Visitors. The Quiddity is visited by an unusual bird or sea creature. Possibilities include an albatross blown off course, an escaped parrot, a pod of orcas, a floating tangle of jellyfish, a feeding frenzy of sharks, a storm of flying fish, a venomous serpent, a scorpion, or a stowaway racoon. Even stranger visitors could include a cloud of mysterious insects, an inexplicably wayward puffin, or a stranded albino penguin of unusual size.

9—Whale Sounds. Eerie, mournful sounds resound through the hull at night. A Whalecraft roll recognizes them as baleen whales.

10—Mysterious Illness. A mild sickness begins to circulate among the crew. Over the course of a week, each sailor must make a Constitution roll of become ill for 1D3 days. A critical failure results in a permanent deduction of –5 CON points. If the Keeper would like to escalate this encounter, a second 2D6 roll resulting in 10 intensifies the illness. A Hard Constitution roll is now required, with a critical failure killing a non-essential character!

11—Rogue Wave. Out of nowhere, a large wave batters the Quiddity! All crewmen on deck must roll Dodge or be flung overboard. Characters below deck roll Dodge or suffer 1D6 HP battering damage. If the Keeper would like to escalate this encounter, a second 2D6 roll resulting in 11 intensifies the wave and causes 1D20 HP of structural damage.

12—Ghost Ship. A strange ship is sighted that simply cannot be! If during day, it may appear normal, but then reveals itself to be some long-lost ship like the Essex or the Janus. The ship may be pursued, but vanishes in a sudden fogbank. If the ghost ship appears by night, it may appear more supernatural—a glowing presence just over the horizon that lasts until dawn.

Table 3: Cutting-In Incidents

Although cutting-in a whale is usually routine, the Keeper may wish to spice up a game with some curve-balls. These incidents are best rolled before the cutting-in commences, and then narrated appropriately.

Roll 2D6

2—A sudden rogue wave tears the whale loose from its moorings, and it sinks! It takes the hook and tackle with it, splinters the yardarm, does 2D6 damage to the ship, and smashes the cutting stage. All nearby workers make a Dodge roll. A successful roll escapes the calamity. A failed roll inflicts 2D4 HP damage and necessitates a Luck roll. A sailor who fails his Luck roll becomes ensnared with the whale as it sinks, beginning the drowning process until rescued.

3—Shark frenzy! For some reason, 2D4 sharks slip into a frenzy and begin attacking any humans on the whale’s carcass. They will continue to attack until killed, or there are no more humans. (See Chapter 3, Encounter 7 for mechanics on shark attacks.)

4—While bailing the case from inside the whale’s head, the ship lurches, and the head breaks free, sinking into the deep! The pressure and slick oil impedes the worker from escaping. He has five rounds to make three Swim rolls, or he begins drowning.

5—Rough seas create a suction below the whale, and the whale-hook bends straight. A new hook must be used. (The ship only has three hooks total, and the Blacksmith’s forge is incapable of bending a hook that size.)

6—Rough weather makes it hard to fasten the whale to the side of the ship. The man on the monkey rope must make a Dodge roll or take 2D4 damage from being smashed between whale and ship. A critical failure snaps the rope.

7— A worker slips on the oily decks. If he makes a Dodge roll, he takes 1D3 HP damage. if he misses the roll, he falls overboard, stumbles into the try-pots, gets in the way of a spade, etc.

8—A spade slips! The worker must make a Dodge roll. If he makes it, he cuts a nearby worker for 1D6+1+DB damage. If he fails, he wounds himself. Inflicting maximum damage severs 1D4 toes, permanently reducing the character’s Dexterity by –5%.

9—A swaying blanket of blubber knocks over a sailor. He must make a Dodge roll or fall into the blubber room and receive 1D6+1 damage.

10— An unusual artifact is discovered lodged in the whale’s blubber—a knotted iron, a rusted lancehead, or perhaps something even stranger—a Deep One hook?

11— A frayed monkey rope breaks, and the seaman falls into the shark-infested waters. Each round in the water, he must make a Luck roll, or a shark will savagely attack him.

12—Ambergris! While probing a sickly whale, the mate finds a clump of precious ambergris. Mr. Pynchon rewards the men with tobacco, and everyone on watch earns +1 Luck point.

Table 4: Trying-Out Incidents

Although trying-out a whale is usually routine, the Keeper may wish to spice up a game with some curve-balls. These incidents are best rolled before the trying-out commences, and then narrated appropriately.

Roll 2D6

2—What were you thinking? The men tending the tryworks have allowed the water in the duck pen to evaporate! The heat from the fire has scorched the deck and ignited the planking, causing a shipboard fire. Even worse, the men cannot spring into action until the second round of burning. Once the fire causes 26 HP of structural damage, the trypots crash through the decks, inflicting an extra 4D6 HP damage to everyone inside the blubber room and automatically advancing the fire an additional round of burning. (See “New Systems and Mechanics” for “Shipboard Firefighting.”)

3—Sparks have made it to the rigging! The men must make a Climb roll before they can “spring into action” and fight the spreading fire.

4—The ship rolls. Boiling oil is splashed from the trypots, scalding the workers for 1D10 damage. There’s a 15% of starting a shipboard fire.

5—A sudden splash of hot oil requires a Dodge roll from every worker. Failure brings 1D8 HP damage.

6—An unlucky worker is splashed by oil and takes 1D6 HP damage.

7—An unlucky worker is burned by the fire and takes 1D6 HP damage.

8—An unlucky worker stumbles into a hot trypot and takes 1D6 HP damage.

9—Stanley Ruch visits the trypots to make dough-nuts and funnel cake! All workers receive +1 Sanity point from Pennsylvania Dutch deliciousness.

10—An exclamation is heard from above. A few seconds later, a random artifact careens down the rigging and splashes into the trypot: a hammer, a grappling hook, a pulley tackle. Hot oil splashes the workers’ faces for 1D8 HP damage. Maximum damage causes a permanent loss of vision reducing Spot Hidden by –5%.

11—A sudden downpour causes the try-pots to overflow, spilling boiling oil across the deck. Everyone nearby suffers 1D10 HP of damage.

12—With a thunderous crack, one of the trypots splits open. Scalding oil overflows the deck, burning everyone at the tryworks for 1D10 HP damage. Escaping the oil requires a Dodge roll, with failure inflicting another 1D10 HP damage/round. If the Keeper would like to escalate this encounter, a second 2D6 roll resulting in 12 triggers a shipboard fire, the hot oil burning each firefighter for 1 HP damage/round.

White Leviathan > The Quiddity and Whaling
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Author: A. Buell Ruch
Last Modified: 19 August 2023
Email: quail (at) shipwrecklibrary (dot) com
White Leviathan PDF: [TBD]