It has been arranged (though this does not appear on
the parchment) for the first signal to be repeated every
10 minutes for an hour. If the ship gets no response, it
is assumed that there is some delay and the Sea Ghost
sails away, returning the next night.
The smugglers will drop anchor if the character s send
any kind of return signal to the ship not necessarily the
correct one. The crew of the Sea Ghost is accustomed
to seeing an improper signal from time to time, because
the gang on the shore often operates the lantern clum-
sily.just in case something has gone awry. however. the
ship's crew will be on alert when the characters make
their approach.
BOARDING THE SEA GHOST
How long it takes the characters to reach the ship de-
pends on what arrangements they have made before-
hand. If, for example, it is arranged that the guard mem-
bers, once they have seen the ship, row ashore and pick
the characters up (say in the cave below the haunted
house), that takes^15 or^20 minutes. The characters then
board the fishing boat, which is rowed out toward the
ship. The journey to the ship takes^30 minutes (20 min-
utes with more than two rowing), but if the boat is to ap-
proach the Sea Ghost from the seaward side. another^5
minutes should be added. The ship is lying broadside to
the coastline, the starboard side facing landward. If the
characters approach it from this side, they are automat-
ically seen when within 20 feet, even if they approach
silently and without light.If the characters approach silently from the port side.
without using light sources. they will be totally unob-
served-the smugglers on deck are watching the coast
from the starboard side and do not see or hear intruders
who don't give themselves away. Thus, whether the
alarm is raised or not depends on a number of factors:
from which clirection the boat approaches the ship,
whether the watchers on the ship are alerted to possible
danger (a previous incorrect response to the signal), and
whether the characters have taken all precautions to
conceal their approach.
Between the extremes outlined above (automatic de-
tection of a direct approach or no detection of a silent
and dark approach from the seaward side). you must
judge the circumstances. decide on the probability of
detection, and determine the outcome.CROW'S NEST
This area is not shown on the map but is- predictably-
atop the mast. 40 feet above the main deck. Access to
it is provided by a rope ladder whose lower end drops
near the hatch on the main deck. The crow's nest is an
open, wooden platform. 10 feet square with 3-foot-high
wooden walls. Opening a 2-foot-square hatch in the Aoor
lets out the rope ladder that descends to the main deck.
A single crew member (bandit) occupies this area
when the party appr oaches the ship. The crew member
looks toward the house and awaits a signal. There is no
chance that he detects the characters' approach to the
ship or their boarding of the ship if the others on board
below fail to do so-his gaze is fixed at a higher level.tJl\l!fR lllF SIShHP I Rf OP-:.>AllM\RSll