Not a lot of nuance but at least if they get sidetracked than they will always have a "plot this way" device. You just have to think about a series of set pieces you want this pirate themed adventure to do and then the compass literally points them to it. He's been watching that spot for decades, unable to get the treasure himself, thank you very much. Have the ship taken way by an elder dragon that swoops down, snatches it up, the whole ship, and flies away. Loose the treasure upon the open seas on an abandoned ship. Go watch The Goonies, and make the players run a gambit like that. Go visit the merfolk, whom when they meet them, they have a giant glass diving bell to bring the party down under the ocean. Throw in some other characters the pirates want the treasure for themselves, some royal navy wants you as bait for the pirates, then they'll take the treasure, some guys are protecting the treasure. If the players don't pick up on it, you don't have them just roll for it because you don't just tell them, you either make them lose time figuring it out - no, Captin' Buckaroo never sailed here says the tavern owner, or you deliver the knowledge again because the NPC first mate remembers hearing that back in that other place! Wait! What was it that ol' sea hag said.? Cap'in' Buckaroo was blown off course, having sailed this way in the rainy season. You work the lore in all over the place earlier by role playing salty sea dogs. He had sailed this way once before and was blown off course by a storm, you have to know that to know the compass bearing isn't going to save you, you have to actually just sail 200 miles south to the port of whatever, but if you didn't know that, perhaps there's a red herring or a trap waiting for the mere intrepid looter. You can work in a lot of history about the ol' pirate captain if you want, again as tantalizing bits and clues, but also as a backup plan built-in to his quest. The risk of getting it wrong is having to retrace your steps and doing it all again to account for error. So that means the riddles and clues help you to recognize the next riddle or clue - they don't tell you where to go or how to get there, and you have to carefully navigate the course to get wherever there is so that you use the riddle to recognize the solution when you see it. Perhaps the compass itself is inscribed with the first, which leads to the next, and so on. Starting points are one thing, careful navigation is another, but you can introduce riddles, puzzles, and clues along the way. All sorts of natural and magnetic phenomena can give a new bearing to sail by, and they have to carefully follow the compass as the effect relents and the compass changes. Sunken cities, merfolk cities, same thing. Hell, a pirate graveyard, with all the iron on the sunken ships could be a navigable puzzle only the compass can guide you. Magnets are sensitive to magnetic fields, so if you were to sail through a region like some fjords or an underwater mountain range high in iron, you might have a compass that tilts and turns, calibrated to those fields that follows a particular path, especially if the fjords offer options to sail different directions like through a labyrinth. Sure, the treasure is North, Northeast, but from where? Perhaps they might deduce it'll be from an Eastern shore, but maybe not, it could still point over a substantial amount of land. If a compass isn't magical and has a particular bearing that isn't north, then it will only make sense in reference to a starting point. You can do this magically, or you can do this mundanely. Typically the compass points toward the treasure. Combat areas for every conceivable encounter. Collection of Podcasts, Vidcasts, and other D&D Multimedia for your consumption. Worldbuilding, Storybuilding, DM Discussion. The DM Help Multireddit Check out our wiki! Message the Moderators Keep Little Questions in the megathreadįull rules with additional explanations can be found here.Keep Problem Player talk in the megathread.External Links & Advertising are limited to active community members.Only three kinds of posts are allowed here: DMing Questions, Advice and tools. Please refrain from downvoting legitimate questions. We are not only for new DMs, but the bulk of the posts will no doubt be submitted by newer DMs. We welcome DMing questions, DMing advice or tools to help DMs old and new. The aim of this subreddit is to serve as a platform for learning to DM. Before Submitting a Question, Please Check our Rules Remove All Need Advice See Advice Only See Resources Only Join the Discord
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