Advice on new summer campaign

[Stahn Li]

I am starting a new campaign this summer with all who are not running away from college at the end of the school year.

What I was thinking of as a campaign setting is this. A Gnomish ship builder just finished constructing a new type of Galley capable of surviving any storm. This new huge ship will allow travelers to finally sail into deep ocean and explore other contents. Of coarse the PC's will find themselves on this expidition.

Under a political treaty, the maiden voyage of this vessel will contain 3 colinization crews of about 150 people each. Each colonization crew is sent from one of the three main kingdoms of the old continent.

Now, what I am looking for help with is I want the first adventure to take place soley on this ship. I want to show the PC's that this was a long and hard journey rather that saying as a DM "After a long and hard voyage you finally make it to land".

Now the three kingdoms are all at peace with each other, but that does not mean that they are not competitive. It is possible the party could run into conflicts with the other colonization crews.

I don't really feel it would be apropiate fro any sea monsters or merfolk attacks on the ship, nor would there be any pirates (this is the first ship to ever sail this far out. So I am looking for internal strife within the ship or a battle against the elements type thing.

Let me know if any of you have ideas on how to make this dramatic. Thanks

 

[Nifft]

For some reason all I can picture is this ship meeting a large Elemental Iceburg...

-- Nifft

 

[DM with a vengence]

Have some sort of storm where the really important people, like the high level cleric and wizard, get washed overboard. You may want to give everybody penalties at the end due to hunger and dehydration, check the DMG for more, and also make sure to have at least one person close to each of the PCs die enroute.

 

[RangerWickett]

First, have them develop some rivals on the ship. Figure out what the PCs want their characters to do in this new colonist group, and present some rivals who want to do the same thing. Then you could have them have a shortage of fresh water. They spot land, but it's only be a remote, desolate island, with dangerous shoals around it. But the PCs volunteer to go and explore, and some of their rivals go along.

Or on the ship, some of the crew are secretly members of a sea god cult, and they only came on the ship because they believe it will be able to reach the home of their god. But before they can arrive there, they must prepare an offering of a sea Dragon to present to their god.

 

[Agnostic Paladin]

1. Agents from the PC's kingdom are plotting to mess up the supplies and possibly off some of the leaders of the other two colony groups in order to hurt their chances of success.
2. Agents from one of the other two kingdoms are plotting to destroy most of the supplies of the others, steal the rest, kill off all the leaders, most of the colonists, and enslave the rest to ensure their own success. (If neither of the other kingdoms is normally that evil, well, it wasn't the kings idea, but the idea of some mid-level official)
3. A third group (preferably with members from at least two kingdoms) is just looking to sink the thing outright to prevent a: this horrible insult to the god(s) of the sea and travel; b: finding some wonderful secret that lies across the ocean.

Blend well for three hours and serve.