Having Trouble As A DM

Allistar1801 · Nov 20, 2018

I'm a new DM who has only run one homebrew campaign before. It worked out pretty well and now we have a few legacies around the table and I was super proud. Later on though one of my players had to leave for about 7 months. Upon their return I decided I would dm again and they asked if I could do a pirate themed campaign. I said sure, but I'm not sure how well it's gonna go.

Anyways, we've been playing for 4 sessions 2 of which were improvised and 2 of which one of my players told me last minute that they couldn't make it. So far they've found a job, set sail, found and saved shipwreck survivors, defended themselves from a few sahaugans who tried to capsize the ship by using grappling hooks and tying giant boulders to them, and currently they're going through the sahaugans lair where I plan on putting them up against a few sahaugans and a sea hag that I'll probably give a few spells. My group seems like they're enjoying it, but I as a DM I feel like I'm not doing my best and I feel like like I just dont have any direction and none of my encounters have impact. I realize the point of a pirate campeign is that the enjoyment comes from exploration, and adventure but I'm coming up blank...

Anyone have any ideas of where I can go from here?

Edit: Thank y'all so much for each of your responses, you've shown me so many awesome things and given me so much inspiration!

aco175 · Nov 20, 2018

There was some Dungeon modules in 3e where the PCs sailed from the mainland to the Isle of Dread. Several adventures were had in town and in Pirates Cove up the coast from the main city. Sailing to the Isle had several encounters, including getting stuck in a Saguaro Sea and had to journey to the center to defeat the undead living there in order to free their ship.

Eventually the PCs are going to want their own ship to operate. This means that you will need a lot of NPCs to operate the ship. These all can provide adventure and opportunity. Some may be fleeing something like a drunken father or an arranged marriage. Others want revenge on something maybe even another ship mate or PC. One may have a treasure map tattooed on his back or thinks it is hidden on the ship.

You can introduce a BBEG that the PCs encounter in town and make an enemy of. This can be a recurring threat until they travel to his lost island and finally deal with him.

aco175 · Nov 20, 2018

I also see you are new to the boards, most everyone here is well meaning and try to help. Have some XP to get started.

KenNYC · Nov 20, 2018

I think you need The Isle Of Dread. That was module X1 in Basic D&D but Goodman Games I think recently transposed it to 5e and turned it into a huge book. I would go to that immediately if I were you. If you don't want to spend all that money just read the original first and decide what you think of the subject matter.

KenNYC · Nov 20, 2018

Another thought just came to me. This was an actual product back in 2e

I haven't read it, but this might offer some inspiration or actual adventures.

GlassJaw · Nov 20, 2018

See if you can track down some of the the Freeport setting material from Green Ronin. It was originally for 3ed but a lot of the material is system-agnostic. It's one of my favorite settings for any system. It has a TON of flavor and oozing with ideas.

The setting was introduced with a module trilogy (Death, Terror, and Madness in Freeport). That's always a good place to start.

Allistar1801 · Nov 20, 2018

Thanks for the recommendations, I'll definatly give it a look!

What I had been thinking before was while the party was off dealing with this hag, something would happen to their ship and the capitan (an elderly dwarf) would have either gone missing or gotten injured and once they got to the city that they were making their shipment to, the capitan would give them rights to the ship/ they would quest around a bit and buy it off of him. Main thing being, how fast should this happen and around what should I have them do once they get to that point?

In regards to the BBEG what do you think would make a good candidate? The party is level 3 and consists of 2 fighters, one is triton noble/cavalier who rides what is basically a reef shark with legs, the other is a bugbear mercenary who I think is going brute from UA, a Triton druid of the Shepard who has some ties to the elemental plane of ice and also a tiny elemental crab friend, and an arcane trickster rogue. I could do the tried and true kraken priests, but I want to spice it up a bit more than that.

The Big BZ · Nov 20, 2018

Tomb of Annhilation set in Chult in the Forgotten Realms has a lot of cool coastal/piratey stuff in it including a ready made Port (Port Nyanzaru) which happens to be the best location yet made for 5e in my opinion! Could have a look there!