Author Topic: Opening for a Pirate Campaign  (Read 972 times)

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Offline gandalf970

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Opening for a Pirate Campaign
« on: May 04, 2021, 09:38:09 AM »
I am doing a Shadow World Pirate Campaign.  Give me any ideas you have for an opening adventure with 1st level Swashbucklers!!!!!  We are playing near Emer for now, but let me have anything you got. 

Offline Hurin

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Re: Opening for a Pirate Campaign
« Reply #1 on: May 04, 2021, 12:01:00 PM »
One word (ok, two words): Sea Kralls!

It would not be a SW pirate adventure without them.

Also, with skyships, you have the option of... Sky Pirates! It gives all new meaning to the phrase, 'Walk the plank'!

There are also some regions famous for their pirates, IIRC. The area around Plasidar, the island in SW Jaiman, is infamous for its pirates.

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Offline Spectre771

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Re: Opening for a Pirate Campaign
« Reply #2 on: May 04, 2021, 04:36:22 PM »
The crew needs to Shanghai some drunks or homeless to pressgang them into service.  They need to get the "new recruits" onto the ship before the ship departs.  They can approach with stealth, cunning, or brute force.

They could also be working in tandem with another pirate ship to capture a 3rd ship on the sea.  I used something similar to this scenario for my gaming group.
If discretion is the better valor and
cowardice the better part of judgment,
let's all be heroes and run away!

Offline Ruffie

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Re: Opening for a Pirate Campaign
« Reply #3 on: August 26, 2021, 12:54:57 PM »
I know old topic but I like the idea too much to not react.

The party are sent to act as crew on a large ship which is very well guarded. After 7 days they need to sabotage the ship in such a way that their pirate ship can easily capture it. They need to place a signal (change a flag) when it has been done.

Except:
- There are a few very powerful individuals aboard.
- They are sent with a seasoned pirate (lvl 7-8) who is their leader. He gets killed on the second day.
- They talk to one of the crew/passenger who tells them (while he is drunk) of the secret mission the boat is on.. to save the kingdom!

How will they sabotage the ship? Don’t know!

To make matters worse:
- Their own ship doesn’t show! But how will the guards/crew react to a different flag?
- They get caught?
- After 5 days another ship turns up. Turns out a different pirate crew is doing exactly the same thing. What are the odds?
- They find out that their own pirate leader has done these kind of things before and killed the people who did it.. why? He’s a maniac!

Online EltonJ

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Re: Opening for a Pirate Campaign
« Reply #4 on: August 27, 2021, 01:06:55 PM »
You could also invoke the disease rules and have the men roll against scurvy!

Those scurvy knaves!

Offline jdale

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Re: Opening for a Pirate Campaign
« Reply #5 on: August 27, 2021, 03:21:41 PM »
Our RMSS campaign began with all the characters sentenced to serve on the militia in a remote settlement (each for their own reasons). The settlement was besieged, and then we had to capture one of the besieger's ships in the harbor to escape. (Which involved a side mission to a magical lighthouse to summon heavy fog to conceal our activities.) Enough actual pirates had been sentenced to the same location to serve as crew, although we had serious concerns about their cook also being their poisoner....
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Offline Thot

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Re: Opening for a Pirate Campaign
« Reply #6 on: August 28, 2021, 03:35:17 AM »
Near Emer? Give them a doable opportunity to steal a skyship, I'd say!