With only a few hours to go, get your Nautical Campaign off the ground with our Complete Guide to Nautical Campaigns: www.kickstarter.com/projects/guysclanders/a-complete-guide-to-nautical-campaigns/
I am planning a star wars d6 campaign for my first campaign, I believe I heard a while back in one of your old videos that you liked that system. I was wondering if you had any kind of info or resources that would be useful. I am using the d6holocron for source material and it will be a Fallout New Vegas like game, in that there are multiple factions to work for and many locations to visit, all affecting the ending which deals with stopping the release of abeloth. Thanks for your time.
Why are you so concerned about video length? You are part of a D&D community where your audience is perfectly content with watching a 2 - 5 hr long D&D session. Making a video that starts skirting 40 mins should not end up killing anyone. Your content is always so informative and enjoyable, so you should know that it's quite alright to take your time and just have fun with this. Keep up the great work!
TH-cam algorithm doesn't like short or super long videos. This is probably a way to stay in a favorable light with the algorithm that recommends him to new viewers. Otherwise the channel stagnates and dies after time.
Been watching dnd sea/ship combat/ nautical adventure videos all day…. I don’t think I’ve found a single dnd channel that has so much, knowledge, enthusiasm, and Constant flow of information and actual good humor without wacky edits anywhere else. I can tell you genuinely care so much about your content and listening to this has honestly gotten me so inspired for my saltmarsh campaign.
Idea: Your chef is an alchemist that's been putting potions into the food so if one of the crew goes flying off the ship they actually don't drown horribly before they can be saved.
In 5e, my players had been hired onto a merchant's ship to quickly get out of the country as well as head down the coastline with little effort. They got to a few small islands where they picked up some cargo and set out. A few days into it they noticed that they were being trailed by a pirate ship. It took a day and a half for it to catch up to them. As they were talking about what to do as it was getting closing, I had a speaker at the other end of the room start playing "Medieval War Drums 2 (youtube)", which sounded like taiko drums, which at first was quiet, then as the ship gained, grew louder. As one of the players looked through a spyglass I told them that "You see a ship of dark red wood, with a black deck and black sails, and up in the sails you can see many kolbalds banging drums as well as many other crewmen running about on deck.". I then had another speaker set and played a "Dark, Ambient Viking War horn sound (youtube)" as combat started. After three volleys of cannon fire that nearly took everyone out, the kolbalds starting swinging over, in waves of 10 over five rounds, which were taken out for the most part with ease by the players. Then as the ship got closer, the pirate crew boarded and began the real fight. The players were going to all die, so the merchant captain called everyone to stop on his side, and to surrender. The pirates were taking everything off of the ship, and that would have been that, but one of the players decided to attack a pirate crewmen, and after a brief combat, were all taken aboard the pirate ship. Not sure what's going to happen next, but it'll be fun to see. My players are all level 3, a druid, alchemist, fighter, rogue, monk, and a wizard.
I often run into a similar problem of skilled NPCs with feats like Leadership. What I did is "Leadership lets you attract followers, but you can also turn them away by your own actions" So they might request pay, a share of the loot, some of your holdings, etc as time goes on due to them having their own lives to worry about. If you refuse to much, they become disillusioned and the feat no longer works on them. Then you are at the mercy of my Job board from then on of who might be a follower.
Great video, Guy! I can see where and how (more or less) I can stand to step up my oceanic adventures with it... as opposed to "mostly I just wing it"... (lolz) AND you can stand "Corrected"... in regards to a ship ever being run "democratically"... There's sufficient evidence that actual Pirates in their "hey-day" were a mostly democratic system of ship-running. It might be suggested as a "hybrid system" since they were still technically "Captained" ships, BUT the Captains were put into said positions by their crews, essentially "voted"... Most of the ship's operations (however nefarious) were decided also by crew majority. It was therefore only in the daily duties, and under the varieties of immediate leadership requirements that the Captains actually acted as "Rank" Captains over the crews. The "profits" were often also split relatively fairly among the crew so long as the ship's needs were covered and some agreed upon sum was added to the ship's treasury "for incidentals" along the next route(s). Okay, so you can come back at me with the essential argument that this is more of a "republic" archetype, and I'll not complain. However, I think the point stands... Pirates were over romanticized on a lot of accounts, but to get a roughian crew of murderers and thieves together and working under a single authority, there's really no better "leadership system" than a legitimized vote. Remember, start an outright brawl among them, to decide who's going to lead, and you chance killing most of them off before you even set sail... AND I'll grant you, NOT all Pirate vessels were necessarily run this way. But the likelihood is that a majority were... Faced with imminent demise at sea by incompetence, even the most stalwart killer and thief would rather put the most qualified man on the job... I should think. OTHER than that tiny point... (which I hope I covered)... I agree wholeheartedly. I'll even agree that you (GM) probably don't want to let every decision run on the democratic system, and certainly not by the anarchy that seems to consistently arouse around my Table. ;o)
I am recent dm, been dm just a year,and first time running a nautical one shot and had no idea how to tackle it,so if you read this, thank you! this is the best thing I have seen,informative and useful! thank you!
These videos and your kickstarter couldn't be more perfectly timed, the campaign I recently started is pirate themed and I wasn't entirely sure how I'd work out everything like trade and other ordeals so your book is gonna be a great help, I'm glad I helped fund the kickstarter
I'm running my first session of a homebrewed seafaring campaign this weekend. I'm watching vids like this as a refresher for why I put all this work in in the first place and it's making me really excited. Thanks for keeping me on track, chief.
An idea that I came up with in regards to NPCs on the ship, is that the PC's can each create one member of the crew who can be used as backup PC's if a death occurs
I really like this idea. I'm about to start plotting out a 7th Sea game, and this might be what I do. Main PC's will be the boarding party/away team, and their NPC ones will be the actual crew for the ship.
This is great, as the theme crosses over to almost all settings from ancient to the age of sail, and often beyond. Sooner or later the PCs are going to use a ship to get from A to B and across the C. A treasure trove of info on this vid, thank you.
Quick tip if you're going to do an underwater encounter, give the players a swim speed somehow. I had them go into a sahuagin temple with underwater breathing devices thinking it would be a cool one night deal. Holy cow. The movement and combat restrictions turned it into a 3 night dredge. The players liked it overall but it got a bit tedious near the end.
My recommendation is to look at one piece for inspiration for a nautical campaign as it has so many great ideas to use. 1.grey vs grey: the marines and the pirates have both good and bad members so your players can choose who they side with. 2.a great treasure: it is a short and simple plot hook that both the players and the antagonists can be involved in and if their characters aren't interested in gold then perhaps the great treasure has a powerful item such as a ring of three wishes. 3.conspiracies: a larger part of the story of one piece has to do with the void century a large part of history that has been nearly erased by the world government and uncovering it is the main goal of one of the main characters. There is more but look at it yourself as it has all the hallmarks of a wacky but awesome dnd game.
Because of this video, my next character will be... Dun duun DAAAA!!! A Ship's Purser! Yes, I will be the one with the key to the ship's vault! I will be the one in charge of the ship's manifests! I will be the one... who has to order all of that carbon duplication paper that goes between the copies when you sign for stuff. Yes, that will be ME!!!!!
Lovely video. I run a Traveler campaign. A bunch of players pooled their money and bought a ship. They are all owners. I let them decide who is in command. Important word: bureaucracy!
I'm making a campaign that I want to run like a nautical campaign, but with land vehicles instead (if anyone's heard of Last Oasis, sort of like that), and this video is very helpful
One thing I like about what you talked about is the Other Crew NPCs are just that: other crew. Perhaps it makes sense to make the NPCs the designated "away team", the ones who go off and do the missions on land per Cap'n's orders. The other NPCs will *rarely* have involvement in a bigger story, unless there's a significant reason to (example, your bo'sun has an old lover in this port and he heard tell that she too came down with this sickness and please could he join you). I also love the idea that there will maybe be once or twice in an entire campaign a situation where ALL HANDS ON DECK and there's some epic fight that means All The NPCs are fighting other NPCs. If the GM can find a way to track who's where and doing what, it could be epic. The scripted cinematography around that could be amazingly dramatic. Especially if it involves a named NPC or two getting badly hurt or worse. Bring on the pathos!
Me and my friend made Coral covered Galeb Duhr and aquatic Banderhobbs for a Sea Hag. We made a Zombie that spits tar at its foes, and a ooze that is made of tar as well. We also made a shambling mound made out of aquatic plants, and a mimic pirate ship
I wanted to run a nautical campaign on a stolen ship with the captain of the ship recruiting adventurers help him (and his officer) on his adventure to become legendary captains by slaying dome seabeasts and charting some temples. Basically they slowly become notorious and the captain becomes a more competent captain, until the original owner of the ship comes back to claim his small Brigantine for something under a floor board Thank you for the video
I have found that keeping combat/engagements in real time will get the PCs organizing real fast. When the second unanswered volley of arrows, swords, or lead shot hits them again they usually get the message. I use a stop watch, a real one with the clicks and ticks to add pressure. But I'm a BASTARD!!!
One of the PCs in the campaign I'm running is the daughter of a pirate captain, and I've been planning a nautical adventure arc to tie her backstory in to our larger campaign. I can't wait to stick the PCs on a ship. :)
Just itching to point out that piratical ships (in general and in theory, both dangerous words to use around pirates...) were surprisingly democratic. Sure, in combat everyone obeyed the captain. But said captain was elected by the crew, could be elected by the crew if they were dissatisfied (and not just in the mutiny sense), and any major decisions outside of combat was debated and put to the vote, with each man having one vote. Put the tactically least incompetent player in the role of captain, and this hits surprisingly close to how many groups function, in my experience...
6:35 Yes, that's a probably a sloop from the mid-1800s. In the early to mid-Medieval period, it would have been a singled-masted cog or the larger hulk with decks for archers (forecastle and aftcastle), since they didn't have cannons yet. In the 1400-1500s would come multi-masted carracks (with tall castles) and caravels (with low to no castles), which might have cannons. Later still would be galleons, then sloops, barks, and ships-of-the-line with cannons but no castles. Some ships thruout the Age of Sail had oars, especially pirate galleys, where the oars were manned with captives.
My plan Act one: An NPC is trying to find a crew of explorers to help him find his missing Sister who got lost while on her ship exploring an unexplored region looking for a new continent. The incentive the NPC tells the PC he will give them his ship once the mission is complete. During this portion the NPC is the captain. Provide this is a success. The players get a ship. And have experience on how this whole thing works at seas and hopefully who is best at what. And hopefully someone showed them self to be a leader. Part to those NPCs no reunited asks the players to find the new continent. Reward fame and gold.
Player: Keen mind is dumb DM: The Captain decides the standard rate of a 200th share for a deck hand is not fair for your skill set and offers you a 250th share take it or leave it. Player: Ishmael take the offer!
As a dane i feel obliged to tell you the meaning of Anton Melbye's painting. Marinemaleri is really two different words put together, Marine = Marine and maleri = painting. Med means with but is interpreted as "of" in this case, and Sejlskib is again two different nouns in one. Sejl = Sail and skib = ship. hård sø means hard/harsh sea. So all together it is: Marine painting of ship with sails during harsh seas. Oh also that if you ever go to Denmark, you might have to fix your pronunciation. Respectfully.
7:14 I would like to add that as a player myself, I would absolutely just random Lee come up with a random pirate name/nickname for one of the unnamed NPC’s, and leave it all to improv. You gotta keep your DM on their toes Just as much as they have to keep you on yours~
Footnote: watch Black Sails! For flavor, NPC ideas, battle tactics, technical details, plot lines, music, and some of the best writing and acting you've ever seen. Toby Stephens is a genius, and the supporting cast is stellar.
I tend to run 7th sea a lot, ship combat is tiring in a system designed for it. I can't imagine trying to make it work in D&D. I tend to run most ship combat cinematicly until the point of boarding. Even then, it's clunky. Which is a shame, piracy is my favorite theme.
Looking at the Ship 'character' Sheet in A Complete Guide to Nautical Campaigns, I see there is a section for ship roles. One in particular is listed as *"Squadron Cmdr."* What is the Squadron Commander? It's not mentioned anywhere in the book (that I can see).
Great Video but what about the weather? weathering a storm is more dangerous than any monster and can lead to being shipwrecked. Any tips for that and how to run a game with a ship in a storm?
You address the issue of offsetting potential profit generation with the expense of operating the ship, but fail to mention that the reverse it also something that needs to be watched. I once participated in a campaign where the amount of money the party was able to generate by transporting and selling cargo between ports was so marginal that we quickly began to rack up levels of debt that forced us into a life of smuggling and piracy. Now, that would've been fine if it had been the GM's intent, but he'd wanted us to be acting in the capacity of merchants conducting legal trade (admittedly as 'cover' for our true purpose which was spying and industrial espionage). The point is, if the the players are expected to survive as traders it requires the GM to do some basic time/distance/profitability calculations beforehand, to ensure that the game's economics make sense, rather than just "winging it" on the fly.
"Captain give me 100 gold and I'll take care of supplies" is a much more fun way of doing things once you're past 3rd level in any campaign. Let's be real what impact does that have on the game? Heroes don't fiddle with copper and silver.
Having characters with specific skill sets and roles is crucial. Having a character who doesn't know how to sail be forced into action while on a ship will be disastrous. Why would that person even be on a ship at that point? Players need to make characters appropriate for the setting and play in a manner that is also appropriate.
maybe that charactor is a noble who sponsored the ship but has no knowledge and is growing on the adventure to become the sailer they where always ment to be Like the tv show Our flag mean death. Where we have a noble who run away to live his dream of piratsy but he is really bad at it
I very much _dislike_ pirates. I have told my group this, but if they get even a hint of saltwater, they immediately drop whatever they're doing to try to be pirates. Campaigns have been derailed more than once just because the adventure took them to a coastal city, and they ignored everything to try hijacking a ship to start being pirates. I would love to run a nautical campaign about underwater dungeon crawling, but I know they would just ignore everything I said because of their pirate obsession.
Give them what they want. Then add in complications they didn't take into account. Don't punish what they want, but you can start from there and show them that what they want wasn't what they thought it was.
@@HoundofOdin I get that. And by making it this thing that you clearly hate, you've given it power over you that a group can exploit to frustrate you. A lot of players enjoy frustrating their DM, not meaning any true vicious intent, but because the dynamic of D&D is built on the DM frustrating the players for fun and it's easy to get satisfaction from subverting that. Everytime they get a hint of saltwater, they'll derail the campaign. But if you design a scathing arc for their pirate adventure, and make it so that it ends with them never wanting to set foot on a boat again, you can explore your coastal campaigns without fear ever again. Destroy what you hate.
Dr.Bright I hate to tell ya but there is a little Subclass called Swashbuckler... just saying. And if I may, why the vitriol and hate for such a time honored idea? People all over love the idea of sailing the seas, pillaging ships, raiding towns, nautical combat, etc. As both a player and a DM who is planning a piracy/adventure (a la One Piece) campaign, I can even begin to understand why you hate the fun idea of pirates so much.
@@HoundofOdin my opinion in a matter such as this is to just talk about it during session 0 and remind the players OOC whenever the topic comes up. Many people act as if the DM should accept anything the players do but if you are not even remotely interested in something and have established that then it’s completely fair to not allow certain things.
With only a few hours to go, get your Nautical Campaign off the ground with our Complete Guide to Nautical Campaigns: www.kickstarter.com/projects/guysclanders/a-complete-guide-to-nautical-campaigns/
I am planning a star wars d6 campaign for my first campaign, I believe I heard a while back in one of your old videos that you liked that system. I was wondering if you had any kind of info or resources that would be useful. I am using the d6holocron for source material and it will be a Fallout New Vegas like game, in that there are multiple factions to work for and many locations to visit, all affecting the ending which deals with stopping the release of abeloth. Thanks for your time.
Can you tell us of some good Nautical Swashbuckling RPG games?
Any way to still support this?
2:45 "If you're not doing ship-to-ship battles... all you've done is make it a very moist adventure."
It's such an amazing line
Why are you so concerned about video length? You are part of a D&D community where your audience is perfectly content with watching a 2 - 5 hr long D&D session. Making a video that starts skirting 40 mins should not end up killing anyone. Your content is always so informative and enjoyable, so you should know that it's quite alright to take your time and just have fun with this. Keep up the great work!
This ^^
Epheros Aldor This ^^
If he can consistently hit 40-min episodes then he should consider converting the audio for podcasts.
TH-cam algorithm doesn't like short or super long videos. This is probably a way to stay in a favorable light with the algorithm that recommends him to new viewers. Otherwise the channel stagnates and dies after time.
I actually appreciate it I have things to do
Me: Starts a document for a future nautical campaing.
Great GM: Well, do I have a video for you...
I think i'm struggling to decide if I want to run Nautical DnD or Space Western but I feel it's one of them
Perfect timing! I’m starting a nautical campaign this Saturday
Been watching dnd sea/ship combat/ nautical adventure videos all day…. I don’t think I’ve found a single dnd channel that has so much, knowledge, enthusiasm, and Constant flow of information and actual good humor without wacky edits anywhere else.
I can tell you genuinely care so much about your content and listening to this has honestly gotten me so inspired for my saltmarsh campaign.
The people count as magic items, you say?
“Hey crewman. What’s your name?”
“Healing Potion.”
"How much staff do you have on your ship? No, the other kind of staff."
wait until Invisible Grapeshot sits on a canon, them navy bastards didn't even know what hit 'em
Idea: Your chef is an alchemist that's been putting potions into the food so if one of the crew goes flying off the ship they actually don't drown horribly before they can be saved.
In 5e, my players had been hired onto a merchant's ship to quickly get out of the country as well as head down the coastline with little effort. They got to a few small islands where they picked up some cargo and set out. A few days into it they noticed that they were being trailed by a pirate ship. It took a day and a half for it to catch up to them. As they were talking about what to do as it was getting closing, I had a speaker at the other end of the room start playing "Medieval War Drums 2 (youtube)", which sounded like taiko drums, which at first was quiet, then as the ship gained, grew louder. As one of the players looked through a spyglass I told them that "You see a ship of dark red wood, with a black deck and black sails, and up in the sails you can see many kolbalds banging drums as well as many other crewmen running about on deck.". I then had another speaker set and played a "Dark, Ambient Viking War horn sound (youtube)" as combat started. After three volleys of cannon fire that nearly took everyone out, the kolbalds starting swinging over, in waves of 10 over five rounds, which were taken out for the most part with ease by the players. Then as the ship got closer, the pirate crew boarded and began the real fight. The players were going to all die, so the merchant captain called everyone to stop on his side, and to surrender. The pirates were taking everything off of the ship, and that would have been that, but one of the players decided to attack a pirate crewmen, and after a brief combat, were all taken aboard the pirate ship. Not sure what's going to happen next, but it'll be fun to see. My players are all level 3, a druid, alchemist, fighter, rogue, monk, and a wizard.
Kpny I am curious to hear what happens next, if you don’t mind posting it. Good luck to the players. May they roll many 20’s when needed
I often run into a similar problem of skilled NPCs with feats like Leadership. What I did is "Leadership lets you attract followers, but you can also turn them away by your own actions" So they might request pay, a share of the loot, some of your holdings, etc as time goes on due to them having their own lives to worry about. If you refuse to much, they become disillusioned and the feat no longer works on them. Then you are at the mercy of my Job board from then on of who might be a follower.
Nice way to invalidate however many sessions it took them to level up, just ban it and make a mercenary system lmfao
@@keighne7650 Or you can treat them like the people they are And role play a bit. Easy solution. Lmfao.
Great video, Guy! I can see where and how (more or less) I can stand to step up my oceanic adventures with it... as opposed to "mostly I just wing it"... (lolz)
AND you can stand "Corrected"... in regards to a ship ever being run "democratically"...
There's sufficient evidence that actual Pirates in their "hey-day" were a mostly democratic system of ship-running. It might be suggested as a "hybrid system" since they were still technically "Captained" ships, BUT the Captains were put into said positions by their crews, essentially "voted"... Most of the ship's operations (however nefarious) were decided also by crew majority. It was therefore only in the daily duties, and under the varieties of immediate leadership requirements that the Captains actually acted as "Rank" Captains over the crews. The "profits" were often also split relatively fairly among the crew so long as the ship's needs were covered and some agreed upon sum was added to the ship's treasury "for incidentals" along the next route(s).
Okay, so you can come back at me with the essential argument that this is more of a "republic" archetype, and I'll not complain. However, I think the point stands... Pirates were over romanticized on a lot of accounts, but to get a roughian crew of murderers and thieves together and working under a single authority, there's really no better "leadership system" than a legitimized vote.
Remember, start an outright brawl among them, to decide who's going to lead, and you chance killing most of them off before you even set sail...
AND I'll grant you, NOT all Pirate vessels were necessarily run this way. But the likelihood is that a majority were... Faced with imminent demise at sea by incompetence, even the most stalwart killer and thief would rather put the most qualified man on the job... I should think.
OTHER than that tiny point... (which I hope I covered)... I agree wholeheartedly. I'll even agree that you (GM) probably don't want to let every decision run on the democratic system, and certainly not by the anarchy that seems to consistently arouse around my Table. ;o)
Last time? Nonsense. I designed my whole campaign around an archipeligo. Keep these advice videos comming 😄
In a real settings “monsters” can be replaced with exotic sea creatures narwhals, great white sharks, giant octopus, etc.
Man, I have been running a pirate sandbox game for about six months now and then I get Ghost of Saltmarsh and now I get this. Woo
I am recent dm, been dm just a year,and first time running a nautical one shot and had no idea how to tackle it,so if you read this, thank you! this is the best thing I have seen,informative and useful! thank you!
These videos and your kickstarter couldn't be more perfectly timed, the campaign I recently started is pirate themed and I wasn't entirely sure how I'd work out everything like trade and other ordeals so your book is gonna be a great help, I'm glad I helped fund the kickstarter
I was watching this then you mentioned Captain Blood... 2 and a half hours later i´m back here and I have a new favorite movie of all time. Thanks
I'm running my first session of a homebrewed seafaring campaign this weekend. I'm watching vids like this as a refresher for why I put all this work in in the first place and it's making me really excited.
Thanks for keeping me on track, chief.
An idea that I came up with in regards to NPCs on the ship, is that the PC's can each create one member of the crew who can be used as backup PC's if a death occurs
I really like this idea. I'm about to start plotting out a 7th Sea game, and this might be what I do. Main PC's will be the boarding party/away team, and their NPC ones will be the actual crew for the ship.
This is great, as the theme crosses over to almost all settings from ancient to the age of sail, and often beyond. Sooner or later the PCs are going to use a ship to get from A to B and across the C. A treasure trove of info on this vid, thank you.
I'm currently blending one piece, traditional DND, and my own homebrew so I really appreciate this!
Quick tip if you're going to do an underwater encounter, give the players a swim speed somehow. I had them go into a sahuagin temple with underwater breathing devices thinking it would be a cool one night deal. Holy cow. The movement and combat restrictions turned it into a 3 night dredge. The players liked it overall but it got a bit tedious near the end.
My recommendation is to look at one piece for inspiration for a nautical campaign as it has so many great ideas to use.
1.grey vs grey: the marines and the pirates have both good and bad members so your players can choose who they side with.
2.a great treasure: it is a short and simple plot hook that both the players and the antagonists can be involved in and if their characters aren't interested in gold then perhaps the great treasure has a powerful item such as a ring of three wishes.
3.conspiracies: a larger part of the story of one piece has to do with the void century a large part of history that has been nearly erased by the world government and uncovering it is the main goal of one of the main characters.
There is more but look at it yourself as it has all the hallmarks of a wacky but awesome dnd game.
Literally my main inspirations for a nautical campaign I wanna run are pirates of the Caribbean and one piece
Because of this video, my next character will be... Dun duun DAAAA!!! A Ship's Purser! Yes, I will be the one with the key to the ship's vault! I will be the one in charge of the ship's manifests! I will be the one... who has to order all of that carbon duplication paper that goes between the copies when you sign for stuff. Yes, that will be ME!!!!!
I can't under state how much I love the intros of your videos and the content.
Lovely video. I run a Traveler campaign. A bunch of players pooled their money and bought a ship. They are all owners. I let them decide who is in command. Important word: bureaucracy!
Does anybody else take notes on every video that comes out from this channel? Jeeze I feel like a nerd.
I'm making a campaign that I want to run like a nautical campaign, but with land vehicles instead (if anyone's heard of Last Oasis, sort of like that), and this video is very helpful
One thing I like about what you talked about is the Other Crew NPCs are just that: other crew.
Perhaps it makes sense to make the NPCs the designated "away team", the ones who go off and do the missions on land per Cap'n's orders.
The other NPCs will *rarely* have involvement in a bigger story, unless there's a significant reason to (example, your bo'sun has an old lover in this port and he heard tell that she too came down with this sickness and please could he join you).
I also love the idea that there will maybe be once or twice in an entire campaign a situation where ALL HANDS ON DECK and there's some epic fight that means All The NPCs are fighting other NPCs. If the GM can find a way to track who's where and doing what, it could be epic. The scripted cinematography around that could be amazingly dramatic. Especially if it involves a named NPC or two getting badly hurt or worse. Bring on the pathos!
Me and my friend made Coral covered Galeb Duhr and aquatic Banderhobbs for a Sea Hag. We made a Zombie that spits tar at its foes, and a ooze that is made of tar as well. We also made a shambling mound made out of aquatic plants, and a mimic pirate ship
I wanted to run a nautical campaign on a stolen ship with the captain of the ship recruiting adventurers help him (and his officer) on his adventure to become legendary captains by slaying dome seabeasts and charting some temples. Basically they slowly become notorious and the captain becomes a more competent captain, until the original owner of the ship comes back to claim his small Brigantine for something under a floor board
Thank you for the video
Y'know
This plot was kinda stinky coming back a year later, and isnt really about the players as much.
I have found that keeping combat/engagements in real time will get the PCs organizing real fast. When the second unanswered volley of arrows, swords, or lead shot hits them again they usually get the message. I use a stop watch, a real one with the clicks and ticks to add pressure. But I'm a BASTARD!!!
One of the PCs in the campaign I'm running is the daughter of a pirate captain, and I've been planning a nautical adventure arc to tie her backstory in to our larger campaign. I can't wait to stick the PCs on a ship. :)
I saw a living coral or mangrove tree ship seems cool even making a mimic ship that grapples your opponents ship
I really enjoy videos. They are a great source of inspiration and have been very helpful
Just itching to point out that piratical ships (in general and in theory, both dangerous words to use around pirates...) were surprisingly democratic. Sure, in combat everyone obeyed the captain. But said captain was elected by the crew, could be elected by the crew if they were dissatisfied (and not just in the mutiny sense), and any major decisions outside of combat was debated and put to the vote, with each man having one vote. Put the tactically least incompetent player in the role of captain, and this hits surprisingly close to how many groups function, in my experience...
Your videos are proof that you are in reality: Guy "On Point" Sclanders
6:35 Yes, that's a probably a sloop from the mid-1800s. In the early to mid-Medieval period, it would have been a singled-masted cog or the larger hulk with decks for archers (forecastle and aftcastle), since they didn't have cannons yet. In the 1400-1500s would come multi-masted carracks (with tall castles) and caravels (with low to no castles), which might have cannons. Later still would be galleons, then sloops, barks, and ships-of-the-line with cannons but no castles. Some ships thruout the Age of Sail had oars, especially pirate galleys, where the oars were manned with captives.
My plan
Act one: An NPC is trying to find a crew of explorers to help him find his missing Sister who got lost while on her ship exploring an unexplored region looking for a new continent.
The incentive the NPC tells the PC he will give them his ship once the mission is complete.
During this portion the NPC is the captain.
Provide this is a success. The players get a ship. And have experience on how this whole thing works at seas and hopefully who is best at what. And hopefully someone showed them self to be a leader.
Part to those NPCs no reunited asks the players to find the new continent. Reward fame and gold.
A piece of our long campaign is probably gonna play out on a voyage across an ocean, can't freakin' wait! =)
Ah yes now I can finally find the manifest on the missing merchant vessels
Player: Keen mind is dumb
DM: The Captain decides the standard rate of a 200th share for a deck hand is not fair for your skill set and offers you a 250th share take it or leave it.
Player: Ishmael take the offer!
What about “Nautober”? 🤣
im subbing from that intro alone
As a dane i feel obliged to tell you the meaning of Anton Melbye's painting. Marinemaleri is really two different words put together, Marine = Marine and maleri = painting. Med means with but is interpreted as "of" in this case, and Sejlskib is again two different nouns in one. Sejl = Sail and skib = ship. hård sø means hard/harsh sea. So all together it is: Marine painting of ship with sails during harsh seas.
Oh also that if you ever go to Denmark, you might have to fix your pronunciation. Respectfully.
Haha hilarious video 😄 Great content as well!
This is the first time your opening skit made me crack up.
Horatio Hornblower
so fantastic
I'm planning a Skull & Shackles campaign for next year. 🙂
Watching for airship ideas.
7:14 I would like to add that as a player myself, I would absolutely just random Lee come up with a random pirate name/nickname for one of the unnamed NPC’s, and leave it all to improv. You gotta keep your DM on their toes Just as much as they have to keep you on yours~
Personally, I am looking forward to the next Nauti Month
Really useful video, thanks!
Footnote: watch Black Sails! For flavor, NPC ideas, battle tactics, technical details, plot lines, music, and some of the best writing and acting you've ever seen. Toby Stephens is a genius, and the supporting cast is stellar.
I’ve been thinking about a pirate campaign where the players command a command a small ship with a crew of goblins.
You definitely should try Black sails
Very very good video
Clearly not a seascape near Copenhagen :-D Thank you the video though - informative and inspirational as always!
The title of the painting is literally: Marine painting, Sailing ship in rough sea.
a very moist adventure is an....interesting choice of words xD
sinking of the whale ship essex great idea for an adventure
I tend to run 7th sea a lot, ship combat is tiring in a system designed for it. I can't imagine trying to make it work in D&D. I tend to run most ship combat cinematicly until the point of boarding. Even then, it's clunky.
Which is a shame, piracy is my favorite theme.
Very good, very inspiring :)
Always wanted to do a sea campaign. Never got to it sadly
Maybe you could do a setting video on something like a bronze age sorta game?
love the intro
just wanted to mention that I presume the ship in the background is a tjalk (an old dutch small cargo vessel)
Looking at the Ship 'character' Sheet in A Complete Guide to Nautical Campaigns, I see there is a section for ship roles. One in particular is listed as *"Squadron Cmdr."*
What is the Squadron Commander? It's not mentioned anywhere in the book (that I can see).
Great Video but what about the weather? weathering a storm is more dangerous than any monster and can lead to being shipwrecked. Any tips for that and how to run a game with a ship in a storm?
You address the issue of offsetting potential profit generation with the expense of operating the ship, but fail to mention that the reverse it also something that needs to be watched. I once participated in a campaign where the amount of money the party was able to generate by transporting and selling cargo between ports was so marginal that we quickly began to rack up levels of debt that forced us into a life of smuggling and piracy. Now, that would've been fine if it had been the GM's intent, but he'd wanted us to be acting in the capacity of merchants conducting legal trade (admittedly as 'cover' for our true purpose which was spying and industrial espionage). The point is, if the the players are expected to survive as traders it requires the GM to do some basic time/distance/profitability calculations beforehand, to ensure that the game's economics make sense, rather than just "winging it" on the fly.
What about farscape as a source of inspiration
Everyone wants to have the pirate setting without any of the constraints or technology that makes the era so interesting.
Enterprise is best in series, I think.
Let them beat some monster pirates for expensive potions too?
"Captain give me 100 gold and I'll take care of supplies" is a much more fun way of doing things once you're past 3rd level in any campaign. Let's be real what impact does that have on the game? Heroes don't fiddle with copper and silver.
6:10 I saw that
And I just found this Kickstarter...I'm sad
Having characters with specific skill sets and roles is crucial. Having a character who doesn't know how to sail be forced into action while on a ship will be disastrous. Why would that person even be on a ship at that point? Players need to make characters appropriate for the setting and play in a manner that is also appropriate.
maybe that charactor is a noble who sponsored the ship but has no knowledge and is growing on the adventure to become the sailer they where always ment to be
Like the tv show Our flag mean death. Where we have a noble who run away to live his dream of piratsy but he is really bad at it
Nauctober
Slight difference???
Hey, there's nothing wrong with a moist adventure. owo
Enterprise > Voyager
Pirates were highly democratic
I'm danish, and you absolutely butchered the name of the artist and the painting XD great video though!
Anybody else see the slobber fall out of his mouth at 6:11
not Discovery because its ......er.......
I very much _dislike_ pirates. I have told my group this, but if they get even a hint of saltwater, they immediately drop whatever they're doing to try to be pirates. Campaigns have been derailed more than once just because the adventure took them to a coastal city, and they ignored everything to try hijacking a ship to start being pirates. I would love to run a nautical campaign about underwater dungeon crawling, but I know they would just ignore everything I said because of their pirate obsession.
Give them what they want. Then add in complications they didn't take into account. Don't punish what they want, but you can start from there and show them that what they want wasn't what they thought it was.
@@dm_ex_machina3395 You misunderstand. I _really_ hate pirates and swashbuckling. I want nothing to do with either in my D&D.
@@HoundofOdin I get that. And by making it this thing that you clearly hate, you've given it power over you that a group can exploit to frustrate you. A lot of players enjoy frustrating their DM, not meaning any true vicious intent, but because the dynamic of D&D is built on the DM frustrating the players for fun and it's easy to get satisfaction from subverting that. Everytime they get a hint of saltwater, they'll derail the campaign. But if you design a scathing arc for their pirate adventure, and make it so that it ends with them never wanting to set foot on a boat again, you can explore your coastal campaigns without fear ever again. Destroy what you hate.
Dr.Bright I hate to tell ya but there is a little Subclass called Swashbuckler... just saying. And if I may, why the vitriol and hate for such a time honored idea? People all over love the idea of sailing the seas, pillaging ships, raiding towns, nautical combat, etc. As both a player and a DM who is planning a piracy/adventure (a la One Piece) campaign, I can even begin to understand why you hate the fun idea of pirates so much.
@@HoundofOdin my opinion in a matter such as this is to just talk about it during session 0 and remind the players OOC whenever the topic comes up. Many people act as if the DM should accept anything the players do but if you are not even remotely interested in something and have established that then it’s completely fair to not allow certain things.
blather,blather, and in the end,not helpful
I actually have the first book of Horatio hornblower, a great resource for inspiration.