Islands of Peril and Lost Civilizations on a Sea Voyage....

DM_Matt

First Post

• Dec 13, 2003

• #1

Ok, so my RL players are going on a sea voyage to a far-away Island following a lead regarding demonic activity in Freeport. I'd like them to come accross some various island encounters on the way. Perhaps an island rules by an evil mage, or a lost civilization...wahtever workd. They are 11th level. Any good ideas out there?

 

Last edited: Dec 13, 2003

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Dinkeldog

Sniper o' the Shrouds

• Dec 13, 2003

• #2

Dinosaur island? An island full of psionic characters?

Hmmm. Here's an odd suggestion--pick up Gulliver's Travels or The One Tree (2nd book of 2nd Chronicles of Thomas Covenant). Both are full of those types of adventures.

From GT: a land with intelligent horses, a land populated by giants, a land populated by people 6 inches tall.

 

DragonLancer

Hero

• Dec 13, 2003

• #3

I'm assuming that RL refers to Ravenloft?

How about the ship pulls into dock at a small-ish fishing community to resupply and allow the crew to stretch their legs on dry land. However, the community is under a curse of sorts. If they do not conduct a human sacrifice under the open sky to a wrathful sea god, the servants of that god come to punish the villagers. Only problem is that the ship arrives a day or two before the sacrifice must be carried out...
If it comes to it, you could use the Sea Spawn (IIRC the name correctly) from Denizens of Darkness or something similar, as the punishing force. Try and make the story as Lovecraftian as possible.

Just an idea that came to mind.
Good luck.

 

Hand of Evil

Hero

Epic

• Dec 13, 2003

• #4

Sargasso Sea, ships locked in the waters by the sea weed, hundreds of them trapped there cargos still in holds just waiting for some one to come along.

Isle of the Dead - the island is tomb after tomb. Once there was this island race you felt their dead had to have an home and so they built them on this one, vast palaces and manor homes, filled with the dead or images of the dead doing what they did in life.

 

Last edited: Dec 16, 2003

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krichaiushii

First Post

• Dec 13, 2003

• #5

Perhaps find a conversion - or do it yourself - of X2 The Isle of Dread.

Something involving a sleeping zaratan might work too.

 

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Dinkeldog

Sniper o' the Shrouds

• Dec 13, 2003

• #6

Oh, or stuff from the Odyssey: two giant sea monsters (Scylla and Charybdis), Circe (if they misbehave, they're turned into pigs), Lotus Eaters (some form of drug or magic that renders them mindless), sirens (will save or jump into the ocean).

RL == Ravenloft. Well that makes more sense than the "Real Life" translation I'd made. Just as a friendly note, I assume that no one knows any abbreviations for campaign settings except Forgotten Realms (FR), Greyhawk (GH) and Dragonlance (DL).

 

Melan

Explorer

• Dec 13, 2003

• #7

An island of Lotus Eaters! That's an excellent idea, and it could be given a creepy twist in the Ravenloft setting (or a sword&sorcery one in another).

Or how about an island with coastal caverns that get flooded during high tide, so you must always take care in your dungeoneering?

An island like the Easter Isles - no threat, just monolithical black idols?

An island with intelligent avian men, who live in glass cities? (Make that "cannibalistic intelligent avian men" for RL ).

Islands are full of possibilities, since each can be a self contained microworld. Think Sindbad and the Odyssey.

 

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Liolel

Explorer

• Dec 13, 2003

• #8

A island with an immense fortress on it watching over the bay. Only its uninhabited and there is no signs of its builders.

Then if you want to be really nasty use this explanation as why its empty, The builders were cursed by some god to be undead until they were slain or reached the mainland. Now they saw the ship coming (how do you hide the approach of a ship big enough to hold the supplies for a see voyage) and waited in the water to try and steal the ship once the party investigates the shore.

 

der_kluge

Adventurer

• Dec 14, 2003

• #9

Something I ran a long time ago -

The PCs landed on an island that was inhabited by vampire Yuan-ti, and a Coutl that had been battling them for a very long time, who was in hiding because he was outnumbered.

 

Aeolius

Adventurer

• Dec 14, 2003

• #10

The PCs encounter a prison ship; a decommissioned galleon with her masts removed. Her windows barred, the ship holds the diseased (and possibly undead) remnants of various pirate ships, captured and imprisoned to a life of scurvy.

Look through the Fiend Folio. The octopus tree, vine horrors, and kelp anglers make for interesting encounters.