Aleolus
2015-10-10, 05:39 PM
Hello all. Some time back I posted a thread requesting assistance with a survival based campaign I am working on. Here is what I have so far, submitted for your critique, suggestions and approvals. I was planning on starting at level 3, though that can be adjusted.
The party wakes up lying on sand, the smell of salt and the sounds of the ocean all around them. They possess no weapons, armour, or any other gear. Sitting up, they will see an expanse of ocean before them, lush foliage behind, and soft sand as far as they can see too either side. About forty feet to one side is a raft wrapped in canvas, bound up with twine. Examining under the canvas the party will find a rolled up piece of parchment, on top of a number of supplies. The parchment explains why the party is there and what is expected of them, as well as what they can expect in the form of assistance. On the raft, below the parchment, are the following supplies:
One shortbow with a full quiver
Two shortspears
One longspear
One axe (treat as a Battleaxe for combat)
Three different types of knives (Identifiable with a DC 5 Survival check as a hunting knife, a fishing knife, and a carving knife)
Flint and steel
200 feet of hemp rope
One waterskin for each party member
The first challenge the party is given will involve the party setting themselves up to survive long term on the island, by making or finding food, water, shelter and fire for themselves. A supply of drinkable water can be found with a DC 15 Survival check, or can be provided if one of the characters is a Cleric or Druid. Food can be found through foraging (DC 17), hunting (DC 13), or fishing (DC 15). Shelter can be made by using the canvas and twine to make tents (DC 10) or by making a DC 15 Search check to find a cave. Any cave found has a 65% chance to have a randomly rolled occupant already, which the party can either avoid or deal with as they see fit. Fire can be built with a DC 10 Survival check and lit with the flint and steel. The party has to find water, shelter, and fire once, and food three times for the challenge to be considered completed. The morning after it is completed they will find a bottle with another rolled up piece of parchment in it near their campsite. The parchment has a map of the island drawn on it, with a handful of points marked on it, including a section marked as the territory of a goblin tribe, an ancient abandoned temple and an old iron mine. The party then has two weeks in game to do as they desire. If survival checks are still rolled, DCs reduce each day that passes.
The second challenge arrives in the same manner as the map, showing up in a bottle near the party's campsite, regardless of where they may have moved to. This note will inform them of an old shipwreck off the coast due west of the temple marked on their map. In this wreck will be numerous items they may find a use for, but the captains sword in particular, described as a magic sword of peculiar make. It also warns of serpents and sea creatures that have made the wreckage home.
Reaching the wreck can be done in several different ways, requiring random encounter rolls each day, depending on which route is taken (The safest route is following the coastline).
Once the party arrives at the location needed, the group sees that the wreck is a former merchant ship, ran up on a reef a couple hundred feet off shore. It looks like it probably wrecked some decades ago. It can be reached by swimming (no check needed, but a chance of a random encounter, warm aquatic setting), or by making a DC 10 Survival check to make a crude raft and paddles to paddle out to it.
On the ships deck are ten humanoid skeletons, picked clean, some of which have bones missing or their skulls cracked open. Scattered on the deck are numerous daggers and cutlasses that are rusted to the point of uselessness, and 1d6x10 copper pieces, plus 1d10 silver pieces. With a DC 13 Seach check an additional 75 feet of usable rope can be recovered as well, by making use of one of the knives or the axe, but the canvas is too decayed to be made use of. The door descending into the hold is stuck shut, requiring a DC 13 Strength check to open. When the group reaches the hold, they will be in about two and a half feet of water (movement speed halved for Medium creatures, Small creatures need to swim, the passage is too small for a Large creature). Looking around the room shows six crates present. Three floating freely, and three sitting firmly on the floor. A DC 21 Spot check will reveal the presence of four small vipers (MM pg. 280) in the room with them. If they are not seen then they attempt to move close enough to bite and engage combat, with the party getting a new check each round at a DC 16.
The crates each carry a different type of supplies. One of the floating crates has the remenants of foodstuffs in it, most of which is inedible and useless, though there are a couple days of preserved materials that can still be eaten. The other two floating crates have textiles in them, one cotton, the other appears to be silks which have been ruined by the seawater.
Of the two sunken crates, one registers four magical auras within it, one faint abjuration, two faint transmutation, and one faint divination. Opening that crate it is seen to have all forms of jewelery in it, and the magic auras are found to be eminating from two rings and two amulets. Once the party can identify them, they are found to be a Ring of Protection +1, an Amulet of Natural Armor +1, a Ring of Water Breathing and an Amulet of Comprehend Languages.
One of the crates on the bottom has numerous blades of various sizes within it, ranging from daggers to one Bastard sword. Most of the blades have been severely damaged by the sea water, but two daggers, three shortswords, two longswords and the one bastard sword are still usable. The last crate sunk on the bottom is filled with straw, and a bit of digging reveals bottles of spirits. There are 30 bottles in the crate, 10 of which are not drinkable anymore owing to their seals being broken or cracks in the glass letting seawater in.
On the far side of the room is a wooden door, which is swollen shut from its exposure to the seawater, and can only be opened by breaking the door itself open. On the far side of the door is a Sea Cat (MM pg 220), which has made its lair in the Captain's quarters. Defeating the creature allows the party to search the quarters, finding a few bones, a waterlogged, illegible journal and a few other odds and ends. A DC 15 Search check will allow the group to find the sword under the water in one corner of the room. The scabbard is crusted over with corals and barnacles, and the sword requires a DC 10 Strength check to pull from it, but once it is drawn it shines like new with a silvery blue sheen. This sword is a +1 Damascas (+5 Hardness, +10 Hit Points, +2 Damage rolls) Cutlass (use longsword stats).
The party wakes up lying on sand, the smell of salt and the sounds of the ocean all around them. They possess no weapons, armour, or any other gear. Sitting up, they will see an expanse of ocean before them, lush foliage behind, and soft sand as far as they can see too either side. About forty feet to one side is a raft wrapped in canvas, bound up with twine. Examining under the canvas the party will find a rolled up piece of parchment, on top of a number of supplies. The parchment explains why the party is there and what is expected of them, as well as what they can expect in the form of assistance. On the raft, below the parchment, are the following supplies:
One shortbow with a full quiver
Two shortspears
One longspear
One axe (treat as a Battleaxe for combat)
Three different types of knives (Identifiable with a DC 5 Survival check as a hunting knife, a fishing knife, and a carving knife)
Flint and steel
200 feet of hemp rope
One waterskin for each party member
The first challenge the party is given will involve the party setting themselves up to survive long term on the island, by making or finding food, water, shelter and fire for themselves. A supply of drinkable water can be found with a DC 15 Survival check, or can be provided if one of the characters is a Cleric or Druid. Food can be found through foraging (DC 17), hunting (DC 13), or fishing (DC 15). Shelter can be made by using the canvas and twine to make tents (DC 10) or by making a DC 15 Search check to find a cave. Any cave found has a 65% chance to have a randomly rolled occupant already, which the party can either avoid or deal with as they see fit. Fire can be built with a DC 10 Survival check and lit with the flint and steel. The party has to find water, shelter, and fire once, and food three times for the challenge to be considered completed. The morning after it is completed they will find a bottle with another rolled up piece of parchment in it near their campsite. The parchment has a map of the island drawn on it, with a handful of points marked on it, including a section marked as the territory of a goblin tribe, an ancient abandoned temple and an old iron mine. The party then has two weeks in game to do as they desire. If survival checks are still rolled, DCs reduce each day that passes.
The second challenge arrives in the same manner as the map, showing up in a bottle near the party's campsite, regardless of where they may have moved to. This note will inform them of an old shipwreck off the coast due west of the temple marked on their map. In this wreck will be numerous items they may find a use for, but the captains sword in particular, described as a magic sword of peculiar make. It also warns of serpents and sea creatures that have made the wreckage home.
Reaching the wreck can be done in several different ways, requiring random encounter rolls each day, depending on which route is taken (The safest route is following the coastline).
Once the party arrives at the location needed, the group sees that the wreck is a former merchant ship, ran up on a reef a couple hundred feet off shore. It looks like it probably wrecked some decades ago. It can be reached by swimming (no check needed, but a chance of a random encounter, warm aquatic setting), or by making a DC 10 Survival check to make a crude raft and paddles to paddle out to it.
On the ships deck are ten humanoid skeletons, picked clean, some of which have bones missing or their skulls cracked open. Scattered on the deck are numerous daggers and cutlasses that are rusted to the point of uselessness, and 1d6x10 copper pieces, plus 1d10 silver pieces. With a DC 13 Seach check an additional 75 feet of usable rope can be recovered as well, by making use of one of the knives or the axe, but the canvas is too decayed to be made use of. The door descending into the hold is stuck shut, requiring a DC 13 Strength check to open. When the group reaches the hold, they will be in about two and a half feet of water (movement speed halved for Medium creatures, Small creatures need to swim, the passage is too small for a Large creature). Looking around the room shows six crates present. Three floating freely, and three sitting firmly on the floor. A DC 21 Spot check will reveal the presence of four small vipers (MM pg. 280) in the room with them. If they are not seen then they attempt to move close enough to bite and engage combat, with the party getting a new check each round at a DC 16.
The crates each carry a different type of supplies. One of the floating crates has the remenants of foodstuffs in it, most of which is inedible and useless, though there are a couple days of preserved materials that can still be eaten. The other two floating crates have textiles in them, one cotton, the other appears to be silks which have been ruined by the seawater.
Of the two sunken crates, one registers four magical auras within it, one faint abjuration, two faint transmutation, and one faint divination. Opening that crate it is seen to have all forms of jewelery in it, and the magic auras are found to be eminating from two rings and two amulets. Once the party can identify them, they are found to be a Ring of Protection +1, an Amulet of Natural Armor +1, a Ring of Water Breathing and an Amulet of Comprehend Languages.
One of the crates on the bottom has numerous blades of various sizes within it, ranging from daggers to one Bastard sword. Most of the blades have been severely damaged by the sea water, but two daggers, three shortswords, two longswords and the one bastard sword are still usable. The last crate sunk on the bottom is filled with straw, and a bit of digging reveals bottles of spirits. There are 30 bottles in the crate, 10 of which are not drinkable anymore owing to their seals being broken or cracks in the glass letting seawater in.
On the far side of the room is a wooden door, which is swollen shut from its exposure to the seawater, and can only be opened by breaking the door itself open. On the far side of the door is a Sea Cat (MM pg 220), which has made its lair in the Captain's quarters. Defeating the creature allows the party to search the quarters, finding a few bones, a waterlogged, illegible journal and a few other odds and ends. A DC 15 Search check will allow the group to find the sword under the water in one corner of the room. The scabbard is crusted over with corals and barnacles, and the sword requires a DC 10 Strength check to pull from it, but once it is drawn it shines like new with a silvery blue sheen. This sword is a +1 Damascas (+5 Hardness, +10 Hit Points, +2 Damage rolls) Cutlass (use longsword stats).