Help with adventure building!

[Yoroichi]

Hey guys, i want to make a session for my players where they have to rescue a princess, that was kidnapped by a pirate lord.

Thing is i have never really build a quest @ sea, and was wondering if you had some thoughts since you guys have more experience.

So i am asking for some ideas regarding that quest, and how do you handle sea battles etc? or in water battles, swimming with armor?

[NotVeryBatman]

In answer to the last question, I'd say an easy guideline would be: any armor that affects the sneak skill (half-plate, scale) affects the swim skill the same way. And maybe let Medium Armor Master's sneak bonus affect swimming the same way. That seems like an easy one.

Depending on the origins of the battle, there's a lot of fun stuff to consider. If it's something like suhuagin coming up over the side, you might be looking at a lot of shoving which changes things up. If it's a ship-to-ship battle there's fun to be had with piloting/navigation checks trying to outrun or run down the opposition. Once the battle for the decks commences, you can add a mechanic where while the ship is listing or rocking, the combatants positioned on the high side have advantage on attacking opponents on the low side. Likewise, attacks on the opponents on the high side could confer disadvantage. Ship decks can be crowded places, so it can be a good time to play around with cover. Any Errol Flynn screengrab can give you an idea of how the battles should look. A leap to the railing can be another way to seize advantage on opponents via rule-of-cool. That's an acrobatics/climb/athletics check, which never gets enough play.

I've always found it cool to have the party steal or "steal" their first ride in order to chase down the bad guys. If you're looking for cool ideas for ships, you should look into what the Koreans, Chinese, and Japanese were working on while Europe and North Africa were still tooling around with Brigantines and Galleys.

Maybe this isn't what you want.

So, on another note-a lighter note; end with the princess saving herself and the party ruining everything. Be sure one of them screams "ELAINE!" at the wedding.

[Yoroichi]

In answer to the last question, I'd say an easy guideline would be: any armor that affects the sneak skill (half-plate, scale) affects the swim skill the same way. And maybe let Medium Armor Master's sneak bonus affect swimming the same way. That seems like an easy one.

Depending on the origins of the battle, there's a lot of fun stuff to consider. If it's something like suhuagin coming up over the side, you might be looking at a lot of shoving which changes things up. If it's a ship-to-ship battle there's fun to be had with piloting/navigation checks trying to outrun or run down the opposition. Once the battle for the decks commences, you can add a mechanic where while the ship is listing or rocking, the combatants positioned on the high side have advantage on attacking opponents on the low side. Likewise, attacks on the opponents on the high side could confer disadvantage. Ship decks can be crowded places, so it can be a good time to play around with cover. Any Errol Flynn screengrab can give you an idea of how the battles should look. A leap to the railing can be another way to seize advantage on opponents via rule-of-cool. That's an acrobatics/climb/athletics check, which never gets enough play.

I've always found it cool to have the party steal or "steal" their first ride in order to chase down the bad guys. If you're looking for cool ideas for ships, you should look into what the Koreans, Chinese, and Japanese were working on while Europe and North Africa were still tooling around with Brigantines and Galleys.

Maybe this isn't what you want.

So, on another note-a lighter note; end with the princess saving herself and the party ruining everything. Be sure one of them screams "ELAINE!" at the wedding.

Thank you for this, i had not thought ship to ship battle, was thinking pirate lord would be on an island, this could be more fun.
When they defeat him and ask him for his hoard, he will point them to a dragon lair, HAR HAR HAR.

If anyone got anything to add, please do

[Ninja_Prawn]

I assume you've checked out UA Waterborne. If not, the Mariner style might be of interest.

NVB's points above are all good, so there's not really much left to add. Depending on the level of realism you're going for, you may want to take into account weather conditions, food supply management (better bring a fishing rod!), and different types of ship (especially sail vs oars vs steam if it's allowed).

I'd second the princess saving herself; it's practically compulsory nowadays. Or twist it up a bit - the dragon is the princess!

[Shining Wrath]

Even in the medieval period ship to ship combat was likely to feature a lot of boarding and hand to hand combat. Of course, in D&D, spells are more effective than any weapon invented prior to the 19th century - Old Ironsides got her name, after all, because cannon shot fired at point blank range literally bounced off. Compare that to a fireball into the rigging, or a lightning bolt going down the ship lengthwise taking out several masts.

The worst enemy a fleet can encounter is a druid who can cast while Wildshaped. From 30' below the flagship the druid in shark form casts Control Weather ...

[Yoroichi]

Even in the medieval period ship to ship combat was likely to feature a lot of boarding and hand to hand combat. Of course, in D&D, spells are more effective than any weapon invented prior to the 19th century - Old Ironsides got her name, after all, because cannon shot fired at point blank range literally bounced off. Compare that to a fireball into the rigging, or a lightning bolt going down the ship lengthwise taking out several masts.

The worst enemy a fleet can encounter is a druid who can cast while Wildshaped. From 30' below the flagship the druid in shark form casts Control Weather ...

I get what you are saying. Party is level 3 and consists of 2 fighters an assassin and a warlock. Im trying to keep low magic in my campaign in general.

Just checked waterborne, is really useful! Thank you

[Ninja_Prawn]

Im trying to keep low magic in my campaign in general.

Just checked waterborne, is really useful! Thank you

No problem. It was made for this type of campaign!

Low magic means (to me) that your average small ship (including pirate ships) will not have a spellcaster on the crew. If they do, it will likely be a low-level cleric.

That means a mid level arcane caster is a powerful weapon and any serious navy will go to great lengths to recruit them - possibly including press ganging! Your warlock should be wary of going out alone at night...

Equally, your 'dread pirate king' types wouldn't get far without either being wizards themselves or having a 'right-hand-arcanist'. I would have thought.

[Bubzors]

A few other ideas I could think of to throw at your players:

- Have a ship battle start poorly for the players. They run aground, the enemy got the jump, sabotage from inside etc. Then give them a count down until their ship sinks, forcing them to board the enemy ship and take it for themselves. Prevents destructive spells like fireball and all.
- the pirates lair is inside a set of tidal caves. Have the players start inside during low tide and slowly realize in horror they may get trapped or risk swimming into now flooded chambers. Throw in monsters with swim speeds of course to hassle them.
- set up the lair with plenty of different levels of walkways and planks, with ropes dangling all over the place. Allows for some real Peter pan swinging around the room action

[Shining Wrath]

Consider that the Pirate King has bribed a Dragon Turtle with fish (lots of fish) to protect his base. First thing that happens to the party approaching his lair is having their keel be removed from below.

[Ninja_Prawn]

Consider that the Pirate King has bribed a Dragon Turtle with fish (lots of fish) to protect his base. First thing that happens to the party approaching his lair is having their keel be removed from below.

Captain: "Umberlee's teats! That monster's had me keel!"
Player: Do I know what a "keel" is?
DM: Hmmm... roll an Intelligence (Vehicles (Water)) check.
Player: *rolls* 6.
DM: Yeah, you've heard of keels. You don't think they're important.
PC: "Phew, could be worse."
Captain: "......"

*ship sinks*

[Shining Wrath]

Captain: "Umberlee's teats! That monster's had me keel!"
Player: Do I know what a "keel" is?
DM: Hmmm... roll an Intelligence (Vehicles (Water)) check.
Player: *rolls* 6.
DM: Yeah, you've heard of keels. You don't think they're important.
PC: "Phew, could be worse."
Captain: "......"

*ship sinks*

Resulting, of course, in a TPK.

Total Party Keel.

[INDYSTAR188]

I know you said in a post you wanted to keep your campaign kinda low on the magic spectrum, which I can certainly respect but I wanted to share an idea for an adventure I had. Essentially the BBEG is a 'dread pirate lord' who dwells under the sea (directly inspired by Davie Jones). His lair is a coral castle and that is where he has absconded with the Princess. He directs a small but deadly fleet of pirate ships who use hidden coves and monsterous crew/allies to waylay targeted vessels. While searching for the princess I propose to have the PCs join one of these ships crew in order to infiltrate the organization. They will (when appropriate) find an Apparatus of Kwalish (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apparatus_of_Kwalish) which will allow them to assault the BBEG lair when they're ready.

The BBEG's inspiration for kidnapping the princess in the first place is that she has celestial blood which is needed to complete a ritual (of course) allowing my BBEG to become the personification of the sea's wrath. I imagine this guy to be a Tempest Cleric mc Fighter. Anywho, just one of the adventures I'm working on that I thought you might like to use for inspiration!

[Yoroichi]

I know you said in a post you wanted to keep your campaign kinda low on the magic spectrum, which I can certainly respect but I wanted to share an idea for an adventure I had. Essentially the BBEG is a 'dread pirate lord' who dwells under the sea (directly inspired by Davie Jones). His lair is a coral castle and that is where he has absconded with the Princess. He directs a small but deadly fleet of pirate ships who use hidden coves and monsterous crew/allies to waylay targeted vessels. While searching for the princess I propose to have the PCs join one of these ships crew in order to infiltrate the organization. They will (when appropriate) find an Apparatus of Kwalish (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apparatus_of_Kwalish) which will allow them to assault the BBEG lair when they're ready.

The BBEG's inspiration for kidnapping the princess in the first place is that she has celestial blood which is needed to complete a ritual (of course) allowing my BBEG to become the personification of the sea's wrath. I imagine this guy to be a Tempest Cleric mc Fighter. Anywho, just one of the adventures I'm working on that I thought you might like to use for inspiration!

TPK was awesome :P


And on another previous post, we are roleplaying the magic side of the warlock, where he doesnt exactly know that he is a magic user, but things just sort of happen for him. He would see nightmares etc and through narrating those nightmares he accidentally casts spells