Pirates of Vistula: how wet?

[Adm.Lee]

Inspired by the other thread on this: how many of you had your groups spend a lot of time on shore while playing/running this module?

It's been a long time, but I ran it twice, and I don't think I remember either group ever getting off the boat, unless to round up prisoners or loot the bodies after a firefight. Yet on reading through, it seems to me that a smart group might spend a lot of time scouting ahead, from shore.

Opinions? Memories?

[Raellus]

I've been running a PbP campaign for about 5 years now (with a post-rate average of 2.5 "turns" a week) and I'd say about a quarter of the game has been spent ashore. In fact, most of the last two years or so (real time) has been spent on dry land.

If you want to get your players off the river for a while, give them significant obstacles- real or rumored- to overcome- ones that can't simply be overwhelmed by the tug's firepower (ours started off with 3 HMGs, 1 AGL, and a Vasilek automortar). I've used man-made locks, natural obstacles, rumored ambushes, riverside defenses (usually manned by a large riverside settlement), and heavily armed government checkpoints, just to name a few, to force my players ashore for short or extended periods.

At the moment, the campaign has morphed into Ruins of Warsaw. The tug is still around, and operating in support, but most of the action has been on dry land.

[Legbreaker]

It's gotten to the point now where the tug is probably more of a lodestone than an asset really. Mind you, if there wasn't a friendly town to use as a base...

[Legbreaker]

One thing I would like to see one day is a group playing the module who actually mounts a 20mm Vulcan on the aft deck as shown on the cover. THAT would be fun!