ideas for destinations

[Gilladian]

In my dungeon world campaign, which began yesterday, the PCs finagled themselves a ship (a flying ship because the world is a huge mass of floating shards instead of islands, but that's really irrelevant to this discussion in many ways).

On said ship is a dwarven scholar who is in charge of their expedition; there are also a few sailors and some hireling warrior types, but again, pretty trivial. The important thing is that in return for going where THEY wanted to go (last night's adventure) they are now required to go to four more shards with Farnik the dwarven scholar, who is going to survey said shards. On each shard, of course, some sort of adventure will ensue.

Being Dungeon World, I have NO CLUE what might be ahead of my PCs; but I would love to have a list of random ideas to draw from....

So, help me throw together a few ideas for what could be on each shard; they're probably remote places off the usual routes of travel, maybe places that have dangerous reputations or are particularly hard to get to, etc...

Oh, and things that could happen ON the flights to these shards would be fun, too.

So, suggestions and ideas welcome!

 

[Macbeth]

Sky krakens? I mean, who doesn't love a good kraken.

One way to think about what's on these shards is to think of what Farnik wants to get out of this. Is he looking for lost documents? Ruins, monasteries, tombs, royal retreats.

Is he looking for someone? Black market, dense jungle, port, prison.

Is he mapping the world? Strange societies, advanced magic, beasts never before seen.



Another way to look at it: who are the characters? What about them might Farnik have seen that made him take this deal? And, therefore, what tasks are suited to those things?

 

[Kinak]

[MENTION=11259]Macbeth[/MENTION] has some good thoughts, regarding Farnik's motivations (and sky krakens!)

I'd suggest dipping into Legend of Zelda: Windwaker and Star Trek. Windwaker is good for ideas of lots of little islands. All you really need is a loose theme (it has oozes) and a secret (there's a cave underneath with a fairy queen) and your players will fill in the rest. Star Trek, well, they're out exploring the islands and have a bunch of red shirts on hand, seems like a natural fit.

If I were going to sketch them out, I'd probably have three like this:
Isle of Dread - Not necessarily the actual Isle, but some sort of sandbox with lots of beasties, some native factions, and some sort of huge baddie. Think of this as the vanilla ice cream in your sundae.

Frontopia - Do you have some a front (or fronts) penciled out? Use one of the islands to introduce that front. Maybe it's been recently invaded or it's sinking into the clouds at the bottom of the sky or there are some ruins of a race that totally isn't about to come back. I'd personally go with the invading army, have them try to seize the ship.

Floatingville - I'd also include one that provides hints as to why the islands float or, if the players know already, plays around with that concept a bit. A newly minted island or a truly ancient island on the verge of collapsing is good for this.

For random stuff in-between:
Sky pirates, naturally.
Another ship, full of refugees fleeing from wherever they're going.
A monster attack during a storm, perhaps a sky kraken, perhaps a giant that has tamed a living storm.
Sky jellyfish, always good. Maybe they fly over the ship while the party is relaxing belowdecks, paralyzing the sailors and leaving the ship in the party's inexperienced hands until the sailors recover.
The full moon comes out, causing a sailor who was bitten by an animal on the last island to turn into a were-whatever.
The ship starts sinking and needs to be taken to the nearest port (cue arguments over whether this counts for the contract)
Swarms of harmless(?) insects decide the ship is a great place to rest and mate, covering every available surface.
The ship passes through a black haze to no seeming ill effect. When the cook goes down to make the next meal, he discovers all the food has rotted to sludge and the water is tainted.
A pod of whales or whale-equivalent creatures take up position around the ship. Farnik wants to kill one to collect samples, but the sailors know it's not just bad luck, the pod is extremely protective of their number. If the PCs don't talk Farnik down, they might be facing a mutiny.
To crib from the old D&D Rules Compendium, pixies riding giant bees.
An area without wind that holds the souls of all the sailors who have died there.
A massive rock, presumably dropped from an island far above, crashes into the deck and causes the ship to list to one side ominously.
Representatives from an unknown kingdom appear, demanding payment of taxes for using their trade route.

Cheers!
Kinak

 

[Celebrim]

but that's really irrelevant to this discussion in many ways

The setting is irrelevant to the construction of the setting?

The more you know about the setting the easier it will be to answer your own challenge.

I agree thoroughly with MacBeth. The answer here is rooted in your setting. Why would someone explore it, and in particular why is Farnik exploring it? What does he hope to find? Based on the history of your world, what is he likely to find? What might he find that might signal and illuminate some deep aspect of your setting?

Ideas are a penny for a dozen, but none of them will resonate in any way unless they have some relationship to a larger theme or idea. You'd do no worse by rolling two random encounters for each shard and working out quickly what the relationship between the two is.

 

[Celebrim]

Some random encounters:

Outpost: Lighthouse, Trading Post, Hunting/Fishing Camp, Smugglers, Pirate Camp, Barbarian Village, Humanoid Encampment, Settlers, Prison, Fortress, Archeological Expedition, Hermit, Monastery, Mine

Shipwreck: Wreck (Survivors), Wreck (No survivors), Wreck (Trap/Bait), Wreck (Artifact of Superior Civilization)
Ruins: Anything on the outpost list, but abandoned either recently or long past. Additionally: ancient city, barrows or mausoleums, giant statue(s), temple

Conflict: Two factions are battling for control of the island - predator vs. prey, civilization vs. seekers of plunder, battle for control of a resource, or a schism within a society

Buried Treasure: Pirate trove, ancient tomb, lost reliquary, city buried by volcano/sandstorm/ice

Arcane Oddness: Magical oracle, portal to demi-plane, dysfunction in reality which suspends or alters normal laws of reality, sentient or programmed illusion, unattended conjured servants, time/space bubble, rogue dream, rogue idea, malevolent spirit, magic jar trap, mass polymorph/transformation trap, curse trap, temporary magical resource, conjuring ring, ley line markers, astronomical observatory, magically maintained micro-climate (tropical, arctic, hurricane, etc.)

Divine Oddness: Worldly abode of a deity or divine servant (Abode The East Wind, Summer's Winter Home, House of a Fallen Star, oat fields, stables and store barns for the horses that pull the chariot of the sun, etc.), sacred grove or pilgrimage site, tomb or resting place of dead god, a Marae for the Gods themselves, entrance to the underworld/hell/heaven

Geological Oddity: River flowing through the sky, active volcano, entire shard is actually a piece of a giant tree, entire shard is actually a piece of a ruin, entire shard is made of glass, tar, ice or some other common but out of place material, shard has hot springs/geysers, shard is actually a titanic living organism