What Mermaids Want

So, this weekend I ran a one-shot (that turned into a two-shot) for some friends so we'd have something to do between abalone dives.  The one-shot was nautical-themed, of course.

The game had some mermaids (HD 2, AC 13) who spoke in Dutch accents.  After their statblock, I wrote down their motivation, but these mermaids had two, instead of the usual one.

• To eat people.
• To trade juicy gossip.
• (They'll be content with either, but both is best of all.)

This led to some lovely emergent behavior, at least for me as the DM.  The mermaids came up to chat, but when the opportunity presented itself, they swam away with a dude and ate him.  Later on they came back to apologize (at a safe distance) to chat some more, since they hadn't had their share of gossip.  They even offered to share some of the meat (since the party was short on rations).  So, in my mind, the mermaids became nice, reasonable ladies who couldn't resist adding some easy protein to their diet.

The situation could have unfolded a lot of different ways, but most of the potential events would have had that same tension, I think.

The players might not have noticed the difference, but it made a big difference to me, as the DM, to figure out what the mermaids wanted to do next.

A lot of games list a monster's motivations after the stat block.  I think Dungeon World and Numenera are among those.  But I just want to point out that giving monsters two unrelated (or even conflicting) motivations can lead to some wonderful behavior.  Plus, it was a bit more fun for me, as a DM, to think about which goal the mermaids were more interested in pursuing at that particular moment, instead of just how to accomplish a single goal.

Side Note: Every NPC should probably have a goal as well, and usually a pretty visible one.

Anyway, I look forward to giving more monsters conflicting goals in the future.  Examples:

• Protect the nest.
• Make a new friend.

• Do not damage anything beautiful, especially faces.
• Collect meat for the master.

• Keep the sanctum perfectly silent.
• Throw intruders from the Precipice of Consequences.

• Stop the invaders!
• Kill nothing, not even an ant.

• Steal all the gold in the fucking world.
• Learn some new songs for the wife to dance to.

Even stupid predators could have two goals.  Could a purple worm have two goals?  Probably.

• Hunt.
• Protect the babies.
• OR Teach the babies how to hunt.

Six Pirates and a Bird

Six more pirates to go with the last twelve.

13. Queen Zio Zalavendi

Rumored to be an actual queen from the darklands, Queen Zio is a darklander, and is said to be beautiful in the darklander way (teeth dyed black and filed to points, elegant pink scars framing her eyes, constantly erect nipples). Her ship is a worm-rigged galleon with a worm stable beneath the waterline. It's 50'-long otterworms can pull the ship through doldrums or they can be mounted by her crew to form sea-cavalry. She has a small fleet of three other ships, and has a terrific rivalry with Captain Calico Kill, the self-professed “Pirate Queen”. It's rare for the pirates to hold court without one trying to kill another. Her ship is The Ulula and her flag is a double-ended trident.

14. The Green Lady

She (it) is a sludge vampire. That's all you really need to know about her. Her ship's masthead is the head and shoulders of a taxidermied elephant (that she supposedly drained herself). She is fantastically beautiful (shapeshifters always are) and dabbles in poisons and alchemies belowdecks. Many of the multi-colored gases are highly toxic, and so are vented through the masts, which are hollow. Her ship is The Lucky Gardener (referencing a well-known dirty joke) and her flag is an elephant's head.

Twelve Pirates

Still working on the Land of Flowers.  It's gonna involve sailing, and the best part about writing encounter charts for sailing is the pirates, obviously.

You know how people are always calling pirates Foobeard or Plunderbeard and shit?  Centerra has a similar convention.  Boy pirates often take the name of Jack, and lady pirates often take the name of Jane.  It's common enough that "jacks and janes" usually refers to a pirate crew, but the captains rename themselves so its totally literal for them.

I've included their ethnicity.  A lot of them are marinel, because they're the seafaringest race.

Nalta

I don't think Nalta will play much of a part in a Land of Flowers game, but whatever.

Nalta and the Glimmering Isles

Seven Years Upon The Fish

The greatest ocean in the world is the Sea of Fish, and the men who sail upon are the greatest of sailors.

The Sea of Fish is sometimes also called the "Fishy Blue" or sometimes just the "Fish".  A sailor might say something like, "aye, I spent seven years upon the Fish, an watched her swallow me mates and me son, though I still love her, I do".

It is said that the gillmen call it the "Sea of Apes" because of all the humans sailing on it.