I’ve been thinking a bit about pirate legend voyage variety. I tried to come up with a couple of voyages that were simple in concept and would provide a significantly different experience to athena’s fortune voyages, athena runs and fotd. Of course I don’t have any knowledge of SoT’s codebase so I don’t know how complicated these ideas would be to actually implement. The numbers are also just rough ideas that would need balancing. Anyway, here’s what I came up with:
Ghost Fishing
Fluff
When the Fort of the Damned was created—intertwining the lands of the living and the dead—those responsible inadvertently created a path for ghost fish to travel from the Sea of the Damned into the Sea of Thieves proper. The mysterious stranger has ‘acquired’ spectral bait to catch these unnatural creatures and entrusted Duke to distribute them to worthy pirates.
The voyage
Pirate legends can purchase the new ‘Ghost Fishing’ voyage from Duke for 25 doubloons. This single stage voyage gives players a 4-step riddle on a nearby island leading to a storage crate containing 20 spectral bait. Spectral bait looks similar to other bait but is a slightly translucent pale green in colour. Spectral bait only attracts the new ghost fish, but you have to find the right place to fish first. (Spectral bait can, of course, be used by non legends who are sailing with a pirate legend, or who steal it from one.)
Ghost fish schools
At any time there will be 4 schools of ghost fish spread across the sea of thieves. Once 5 ghost fish are caught at a school that school disappears and a new one is spawned elsewhere.
Ghost fish can be sold to the mysterious stranger for Athena’s Fortune reputation. (The value depends on the same factors as other fish: raw/undercooked/cooked/burned, different variants including a rare variant, normal/trophy.) Catching a ghost fish increases your Athena’s Fortune emissary grade.
[Note: Any ghost fish that have been hooked but not caught when the 5th fish is caught may be caught as normal. A school being fished out only prevents new fish from being hooked.]
[Note: If a partially fished school goes for 20 minutes without any fish being caught it replenishes back to 5 fish. This is to prevent potential frustration for a new crew arriving to find the school fished out after catching a single ghost fish.]
Finding ghost fish schools
Spectral bait is drawn toward ghost fish. When a pirate places spectral bait on their fishing rod it hangs down at an angle, pointing the way to the nearest school of ghost fish. The pirate can then use their fishing rod as an unorthodox magical compass to guide them to a school of ghost fish.
Ghost fish schools leave a soft green glow just under the water’s surface to mark their area.
[Note: Perhaps this glow is only visible if you have spectral bait in your inventory or on your fishing rod. Both as a minor performance concession and to avoid confusion and frustration for players who don’t have any spectral bait and so are unable to interact with the school.
An alternative visual would be the spectral bait itself glowing when over a school of ghost fish.]
Legendary Riddles
Legendary riddles use an expanded set of locations and activities across the sea of thieves, rather than being centred on a single island.
Pirate Legends can purchase the new ‘Legendary Riddle Voyage’ from Duke for 25 doubloons. A legendary riddle voyage has 2 stages. In the first stage the crew receives two 4-step riddle voyages. Each riddle leads to a collector’s chest with 1-2 athena items inside (chalices/relics/skulls).
The 3rd and 4th steps in these voyages are clues found in regular riddle voyages. The 3rd step indicates an island and the 4th a location to dig. The 1st and 2nd steps are new tasks that require interacting with other systems and locations on the sea of thieves. For example:
Skeleton Thrones
Find and sit on a specific skeleton throne (the multi-crew thrones could be included but wouldn’t require a second crew for the riddle step.)
Eg. “Sit in the Throne Beneath the Ridge.”
Forsaken Shores Alliance
Find a specific member of the Forsaken Shores Alliance
Eg. “Uncover the Fate of ‘Fetcher’ Farley.”
Beacons
Light a specific beacon with a specific colour
Eg. “The Canon Cove beacon stands apart, light it with the flame of burning hearts.”
Legends of the Sea
Find a particular Legends of the Sea player immortalisation
Eg. “The remains of a ballistic buccaneer were left where they landed, high up on Plunder Outpost.”
Hunter’s Call
Deliver a particular type of fish to a specific member of the Hunter’s Call.
Eg. “On Stephen’s Spoils Merrick has a wish, for a tasty battlefish.”
[Note: For some of the above examples the existing commendation text could serve as a basis for the riddle text.]
Once both riddles are completed the crew receives a regular 4-step riddle voyage for Thieves’ Haven leading to a chest of legends.
[Note: each step in the earlier riddles could provide a measure of Athena’s Fortune emissary grade progress.]
