resources for an island-based campaign (D&D)

[GlassJaw]

I'm currently planning a new campaign (D&D 5E) and I want to do something a little different. My current plan is an island-based campaign with the city of Freeport (Green Ronin campaign setting) as home base.

I'm going to start small so I'm not too concerned with the world at large (yet) but I want to have some background so I can give some details to the players as the need arises. The primary campaign area will be an island chain similar to the Caribbean. However, the rest of the world will primarily be islands as well.

The world was once "normal" as far as fantasy worlds go and was ruled by a few very powerful groups. They did bad things with magic and angered the wrong gods/Elder Things/elemental forces/kender with laser beams/demons/whatever and the world went to hell. The continents fractured and the sea level rose. Fast forward a few thousand years, give or take.

The campaign will begin with the PCs on a ship after spending their life savings to secure passage to Freeport. There is a mutiny on board and the ship is destroyed, leaving the PCs stranded. They have to survive and find their way to Freeport (Lost/Tomb Raider/Indiana Jones vibe to start). Once they arrive, I'll run a chopped up and mashed version of the Freeport Trilogy and introduce them to Freeport's politics and the Cult of the Yellow Sign (serpentfolk). Overall, the keywords for the campaign are jungles, pirates, melting pot cities, lost civilizations, serpent people, dinosaurs, and a dash of chaotic weather patterns for flavor (maybe related to the cataclysm that created the world as it is now).

So what I am looking for is recommendations, advice, or resources for running a campaign like this. Thanks!

 

[snafuy]

I'd start by looking at what has come before:

* Isle of Dread
* previous recommendations on EnWorld: /forum/showthread.php?244190-Shipwreck-Island-adventures
* previous recommendations on Reddit: /r/rpg/comments/21i2zw/desert_island_adventure/
* maybe The Savage Island on 6d6rpg, free adventure download

(new user, can't post links yet)

 

[Imaculata]

Having a campaign take place on an island, or a chain of islands, is a great and simple concept for a campaign. I might even recommend you to embrace the Lost vibe, and make the starting island (seemingly) deserted. Then you can leave it up to the players to find a way towards nearby other islands.

What might be interesting, is if the calamity that raises the oceans actually takes place during the opening of the campaign. So rather than making it ancient history, you could have them experience the terror of the event that changes the world. This also vastly changes the tone of the campaign, where now a great number of civilisations are struggling with the sudden apocalyptic conditions. I would also embrace the mystery aspect of the various islands, and put a strong focus on survival and exploration. Each island could have their own mystery and flavor for the players to discover.



This makes it extra important that you think hard about a good reason for the raising of the seas. Maybe a giant asteroid has struck the pole of the world, melting the ice caps, and raising sea levels. Such a catastrophic event could be accompanied by all sorts of ancient prophecies, and terrifying weather phenomena.

Or maybe something has caused terrible storms to appear, pulling water away from one side of the world, and pushing it towards the other. This could have left a whole continent barren and without water, while the other is almost swallowed by it.

I think you might want to build a very intriguing mystery around this, that is more than just your standard villain of the week plot. I would go deep into this scary ecological disaster, and the unique weather patterns that it might create. It could make for some really exciting visuals, and it might help to explore a lot of concept art as inspiration.

 

[Ralif Redhammer]

The Dungeon Crawl Classics: Gazetteer of the Known World (originally a boxed set, but now available as a PDF) has a great Caribbean-inspired section of the world.

Would definitely also recommend Isle of Dread's various iterations.