A Prompt for a pirate-themed adventure.

A Prompt for a pirate-themed adventure.

You’re all on a pirate ship. Who’s ever character has the highest charisma decides who is the captain.

Your pirate ship by default has a big ol’ pile of junk (treat like non-portable pack of Adventuring Gear), a stiff bunk for each party member, and a map to the Island of Wonder.

To determine what else is on the ship, the players take turns picking 1 item from this list. Go clockwise around the table starting with captain until everyone has picked twice. The last player to pick may instead pick 1 item the special list.

1. A pantry stocked with 3 Rations worth of food for each party member.

2. A couple kegs of Dwarven Stout.

3. A study, treat like a non-portable bag of books.

4. A cannons and enough gunpowder to launch 5 cannon balls.

5. A luxurious captain’s quarters.

6. A pack of dynamite! (3 uses, slow, dangerous, messy)

7. A chest containing 350 coins worth of loot.

8. A secret room. It’s empty, but you’re the only one that knows about it.

9. A curious piece of art that maybe worth something(2dx50 coins)

10. A parrot that’s overheard a lot of things.

11. A jail cell.

12. A lifeboat that almost seats the whole party.

13. Three scrolls with a level 1 spell printed on each.

14. An armory containing 30 coins worth of weaponry.

15. A partially decomposed corpse of someone you know.

16. A cabinet containing three antitoxins, a healing potion, and a vial of an unknown purple liquid.

17. A spiffy dining hall that seats a dozen people.

18. A set of very long planks that can be used to board other ships.

19. The flag of your enemies.

20. One use of each poison on the equipment list.

Special list

1. A ghost that appears to you in the middle of the night.

2. A monstrous shark that follows your ship.

3. Magical rapier enchanted with the spirit of murdered swordfighter.

4.  A strange doll strewn with needles.

5. A live zombie head in a jar.

6. A dusty mirror that shows you strange visions.

After all of the items have been picked, the players collaborate to draw a map of the ship.

Now we create some of the surrounding world. First, the GM draws the Island of Wonder on the map in a place that will be a place far from civilization. Each player may choose to illustrate a hazard surrounding the Island; if they do, they get 1 point of XP.  The player doesn’t know for sure what the Hazards are, it’s up to the GM to interpret what the illustrations mean. Ask the players what special things are rumored to be on the Island. If a player describes a rumored thing that is important to the character or what they want, give them 1 XP.

The captain describes a hub area where the crew frequently goes to buy equipment, recruit hirelings, get drunk, etc. now draws it on the map. Your ship starts out pretty close to that area.

Finally, every player describes a place personally important to their character and draws it on the map. The map can and will expand as new locations become relevant.