Nautical Ideas?

Allistar1801 · Jan 1, 2019

I'm very new to being a DM and I've decided to run a Pirate campaign, but i don't have much for random sea encounters. I've posted around here before and gotten pointed to some really good resources such as Savage Tides, and a few supplement that I cant remember the official name of for the life of me.

So far I've had my party of level 3s face a few sahaugans who were in leagues with a sea hag who was summoning some merrow and "blessing" the sahaugans by making them undead slaves. The party put a stop to that but the hag got away, and I'm thinking about launching into a plot-line about that hag making a coven.

I've also had the idea for a pirate ship named The Siren's Call captained by the ghost of a bard and crewed by the zombie remains of their troupe. It seems like it has a lot of overlap with the hag thing though

Other than that I've got a few side-quests for when the party goes port-side, but I've not got much else besides that and was wondering if y'all had any cool ideas.

aco175 · Jan 1, 2019

At level 3 you can have a treasure cave that is only exposed at low tide. This makes taking more than 1 short rest while exploring the cave dangerous in that the party can be trapped. They are low enough level where they cannot water breath or survive the threat of drowning.

I liked the encounter in Savage Tides AP with the Sargasso sea trapping the ship and the PCs needed to climb along the seaweed and other trapped ships to defeat the undead kelp-thing.

I could also see a pirate gathering in a secret Mos Eisly hive of villainous scum. Maybe at low levels the PCs discover a plot to kill their captain while he is meeting with the other captains. There could be a secret spell or book the mage needs to recover. A few other smaller quests during the meet. Later on the Pcs may be captains and need to return to gather the captains together to help the kingdom they have been pirating from against a larger threat. This way you can weave some things for future levels early.

Bupp · Jan 1, 2019

Black Shark Enterprises is a good source of nautical stuff.

Their blog has a bunch of random charts on it that you could use for inspiration.
https://www.blacksharkenterprises.com/blog

I've picked up a few of their pieces on DriveThruRPG that I've found useful.
(Note: my affiliate link)
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/browse/pub/6593/Black-Shark-Enterprises&?affiliate_id=624945

I also like Raging Swan's random tables. Here's the link to their "Free Resources: Wilderness Dressing" page. Scroll down to the Seas and Oceans section for a nice variety.
http://www.ragingswan.com/free-resources/wilderness-dressing/

Eltab · Jan 1, 2019

A ship has struck a reef and sunk in shallow water. Most of the crew escaped. The Captain made his way to a nearby port, and is looking for help to salvage what he can. You can keep the cargo in the hold, but he wants his Navigator's Tools and some personal mementos from his cabin. Your Captain is inclined to help an old friend.
Sub-plots:
- creating a small craft with a block-and-tackle that can haul up cargo crates and "treasure chests"
- hauling stuff out of the wreck and into the salvage boat
- the wreck was not an accident: there was a traitor on the sunken boat. He survived / didn't? He is part of a larger cabal / solo?
- natives on the island have a strict NO TRESPASSING policy
- an undead or two of the lost crewmen haunt the wreck. For good or for ill or to protect their ship
- secret cargo: crate full of magic items. The wreck's Captain is looking for them, too, but will not spill the secret.
- some of the crew of the sunken ship come along, and get "proprietary" beforehand about the salvage
- invite the players to be creative with their ideas and resources. (Maybe an Unseen Servant could help tie ropes around sunken crates?)
- electric eel or other fishies have moved into the wreck
- what was in the cargo that could survive a bath in salt water? What would not?

Eltab · Jan 1, 2019

Allistar1801 said:
Other than that I've got a few side-quests for when the party goes port-side, but I've not got much else besides that and was wondering if y'all had any cool ideas.

Plunder the Pirates of the Caribbean series for lore and legends and characters and ideas.

Draegn · Jan 2, 2019

While in port the party runs into a group of seal hunters. The hunters have a cage of small defenseless seal pups that whimper and whine. A clumsy drunkard knocks over the cage and the pups run to the nearest character adopting him or her as they look for protection from their new mother.

If the players are not hobos they can be visited by the great white seal ghost and given a quest.

[video=youtube;1DXyxgu9_9s]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1DXyxgu9_9s[/video]

Quickleaf · Jan 2, 2019

Allistar1801 said:
I'm very new to being a DM and I've decided to run a Pirate campaign, but i don't have much for random sea encounters. I've posted around here before and gotten pointed to some really good resources such as Savage Tides, and a few supplement that I cant remember the official name of for the life of me.

So far I've had my party of level 3s face a few sahaugans who were in leagues with a sea hag who was summoning some merrow and "blessing" the sahaugans by making them undead slaves. The party put a stop to that but the hag got away, and I'm thinking about launching into a plot-line about that hag making a coven.

I've also had the idea for a pirate ship named The Siren's Call captained by the ghost of a bard and crewed by the zombie remains of their troupe. It seems like it has a lot of overlap with the hag thing though

Other than that I've got a few side-quests for when the party goes port-side, but I've not got much else besides that and was wondering if y'all had any cool ideas.

Love that pirate ship concept - lots of fun!

I actually wrote a supplement called The Buccaneer's Bestiary (DMs Guild, pay-what-you-want) which includes many random encounter tables suited for a Caribbean-themed pirate campaign.

Swarmkeeper · Jan 3, 2019

Quickleaf said:
Love that pirate ship concept - lots of fun!

I actually wrote a supplement called The Buccaneer's Bestiary (DMs Guild, pay-what-you-want) which includes many random encounter tables suited for a Caribbean-themed pirate campaign.

I picked this up previously - really good! Try it for free then go back and buy it again to throw @Quickleaf some coins if you enjoy it!

Another great supplement on the DMs Guild is Captains and Cannons. I picked it up a few weeks ago and will be trying it out at the table next week. Really nice mechanics for handling ships and ship combat. Plus, there are several encounters included.

Yunru · Jan 3, 2019

aco175 said:
At level 3 you can have a treasure cave that is only exposed at low tide. This makes taking more than 1 short rest while exploring the cave dangerous in that the party can be trapped. They are low enough level where they cannot water breath or survive the threat of drowning.

And now I'm just picturing a higher level party just sitting around taking a rest, their hair and stuff floating gently in the current. Completely underwater.