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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Quickleaf" data-source="post: 5501324" data-attributes="member: 20323">Does your group like swashbuckling?I've got a setting one-pager for "Seawolves", which is basically a re-skinning of traditional D&D elements toward a seafaring campaign. It's an age if crumbling colonialism, of a seafaring empire stretched too thin to control it's far-flung outposts. As the fires of independence burn in the hearts of rebels, state-sponsored corsairs plunder the coasts, and ruthless islander pirates ransom kidnapped princes. Ancient ritual magic spanning oceans is the greatest determinant of power (besides the navy), but it requires vast quantities of residuum and ritualists to sustain these rituals. Thus giving rise to a magical smuggling and magic-user slave trade. Every port of call has whispers of ghost ships appearing on a full moon, krakens destroying naval fleets, maelstroms sucking entire islands into the Abyss. Some are tales of a fevered mind, but gradually a common theme emerges of something profanely evil stirring beneath the waves. Plenty of opportunity awaits adventurous scoundrels.For races you'd want to reskin a few, for example:Dwarves would be Jules Verne inspired (there was a Dragon article with submersibles and hidden rocky settlements).Elves would be coastal nomads recently freed from the yoke of imperial rule; elven heroes are pirates who steal and ransom to bring back the bounty to their impoverished communities. For a twist include some kind of elven spice or drug trade.Halflings are gypsies if the high seas, masters of hidden straits and unknown islands, their navigational charts coveted by ship captains. They build floating towns on magic kelp beds, backs of great sea turtles, or lashed together rafts.Maybe you could reskin an incongruous race as descendants of mermaids/selkies who adapted to life on land, but still hear the call of the sea? Classes would also need a bit of tweaking:Arcane and Divine magic would be a matter of belief. Arcanists are independent and believe magic is internal will focused by ritual (or perhaps a pseudo-scientific view). Followers of the Divine belong to a holy order and believe magic is a gift from the gods. Both sides consider the other "arrogant and delusional."Primal classes could be flavored voodoo magic from far islands.Heavy armor wearers could gain straight AC bonuses, so paladins would become conquistadors and fighters merchant marine guards.Bards would be shantymen. Warlock pacts might be reflavored, eg. "deep pact". Archer Rangers could be pistol/rifle experts.On the topic of guns, you could just reskin crossbows. Alternately you could use an exploding dice mechanic (on a '6' roll another d6), tweak the range, make up a misfire rule on a '1', or any number of homebrew ideas. If you make them superior weapons give the archer ranger auto-proficiency in rifles and the rogue auto-proficiency in pistols.Skills could be used in a variety of abstracted ways while at sea. Heal might be used to ration food or prevent scurvy. Arcana might be used to operate enchanted sails or navigational equipment. Dungeoneering might deal with buried treasures, forbidden isles, and derelict ships - the "dungeons" of this setting. Ship-to-ship combat and ocean voyages could be modeled with skill challenges.Other planes would need heavy re-flavoring...The elemental chaos would become the Abyss (Dagon's realm) with malestorms and vortices as entry points.The shadowfell would be Davey Jones Locker.The feywild might be an island beyond time a la the TV series Lost.The astral sea might be the literal edge of the world, a place only the bravest more powerful adventurers explore as the oceans bleed into astral mists.Just some food for thought <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" /></blockquote>

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