Ships on the Seas of RavenLoft

[ewancummins]

Darkon, with its higher 'magic level', might be the prime sources of 'ship's witches' for the islands and coastal lands of the Sea or Sorrows and the Nocturnal Sea.

I imagine that the suprestitious crews of sailing vessels would hold a ship's witch/warlock in dread. The warlock might get blamed for any bad weather.

[ewancummins]

This is exactly what I was thinking too. A fireball or lightning bolt might be too fantastical. But a mage who mutters a few ominous curses and casts a baleful glare on the PCs is definitely Gothic... all the moreso if they then run into a damnable fog bank and get lost because of it

Even a lightning bolt wouldn't be much out of place on a stormy sea... and a fireball might be a whispered hex that causes a powder keg explosion in the ship's hold.

Indeed.

I like the idea of summoning a ghostly cannon or two.

[Rotipher of the FoS]

One of the Mystara supplements had a CD&D version of a "ship's mage"-type class. Many of its spells were converted to 2E for the Spell Compendium, if anyone has copies and is looking for nautical-themed spell ideas that didn't make it into Stormwrack.

Given that Darkon is among Ravenloft's most mage-friendly nations, it makes sense that they'd have a few maritime wizards in the navy. Some members of the Kargat might also have relevant salient abilities, such as the power to raise storms.