Making sure I've got the setting right

[choyer7]

So I'm making a Caribbean sandbox style world for my next campaign and I want to make sure Im not forgetting any of the cool themes for that I use for that setting.

I got a link to a rough map if your interested. Players start in Mudd (middle left): http://www.scribblemaps.com/maps/view/Pathfinder/Pathfinder

Themes Ive got so far. Ive got this sunken swamp, some monks on a volcano, a very eccentric Duke who loves bitter chocolate, a cardinal with a silver nose that keeps a tight grip on his surroundings, got some pirates coming up but no names yet (those would be appreciated), Some shady locations, some jungles, some temples (not sure on what treasures yet).

The Four current major factions are:
The Cordellian Republic, The Duchy of Francis Pup, The Farrunners, The Empire of the Silver Mold.

Light conflict, not huge war on the outset, but I intend to heat things up as we go along.

Also got Cannibalism, Natives, Commonplace guns ruleset (no advanced guns), Possibly slaves, Lots of different goods like Pearls, Lime and Coco which I need to figure out the standard price for and the average fluctuation (help appreciated). My Party alignment bias is neutral so the party could go any way.

So is there any themes, cool ideas, or just general advice on things I should add?

[choyer7]

Oh dang I forgot to mention I am also using parts of the occult adventures and will employing many occult npcs.

[VRMH]

A "letter of marque" might be a useful way of drawing the party into the larger political spiel.

[Broken Zenith]

I notice that the map is very Caribbean - looks fun! In that vein, some colonies and exploitation of the natives would be a good addition.

[choyer7]

VRMH wrote:

A "letter of marque" might be a useful way of drawing the party into the larger political spiel.

Right Privateers, how could I forget. Thats a great suggestion ty.

[choyer7]

Broken Zenith wrote:

I notice that the map is very Caribbean - looks fun! In that vein, some colonies and exploitation of the natives would be a good addition.

I intend to. I'll have to figure out some of the more inland inhabitants though and try to make the whole experience of exploring strange and new.

[choyer7]

Anything else anyone wants to add?

[choyer7]

I should mention the new world is still only a few years into discovery and we are in what would be termed the earliest part of the Caribbean proper.

[Goddity]

Do you mean historical Caribbean, or movie Caribbean? Because if you were thinking historical then watch the movies. They'll help.

[choyer7]

Goddity wrote:

Do you mean historical Caribbean, or movie Caribbean? Because if you were thinking historical then watch the movies. They'll help.

Sure, I mean this is what I got out of games, historical documents and movies and now I'm asking what others got out those things to make my campaign more fleshed out.

[choyer7]

bump

[lucky7]

Voodoo! Assuming you're basing slavery on the historical Triangle, slaves might have access to magic their captors do not. If the PCS become liberators, they get those powers or boons. As opressors, they have to fight it.

[choyer7]

lucky7 wrote:

Voodoo! Assuming you're basing slavery on the historical Triangle, slaves might have access to magic their captors do not. If the PCS become liberators, they get those powers or boons. As opressors, they have to fight it.

I definitely intend to use this, I don't think my trade will resemble the historical triangle though and may stretch a bit farther east due to some of the wars I have been thinking of for the history of the world.

Occult magic will definitely be at odds with the arcane and I love how that could go. ty

[Roccor]

Something corny and fun to do - add this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GI6CfKcMhjY

Make a bard who crops up at taverns/towns all over the area and sings of legendary persons and events; from this you can insert your rumors and such, while having a fun time with it....

[choyer7]

Roccor wrote:

Something corny and fun to do - add this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GI6CfKcMhjY

Make a bard who crops up at taverns/towns all over the area and sings of legendary persons and events; from this you can insert your rumors and such, while having a fun time with it....

Dang thats something I really should use thats perfect. ty

[choyer7]

Yeah, I'll have to think of some tall tales for the bards to sing thats gonna take some thinking.

[Cpt_kirstov]

This is only from one island but might help...I searched Caribbean folklore and found this. Note a number of these creatures such as the dumpy already have stats

[choyer7]

Cpt_kirstov wrote:

This is only from one island but might help...I searched Caribbean folklore and found this. Note a number of these creatures such as the dumpy already have stats

Thanks. It was weird I couldn't see your url at first, but now I've got it. Some good material here I'll add it to my notepad! ty

[choyer7]

Some of those are seriously spooky. That first one got me good. Thanks for all the help!

[Ventnor]

A few pirate ideas, since you asked for them:

- An intelligent wood golem who lost a leg and had it replaced with a human leg.
- An awakened parrot (probably named Polly) who mind controls the captain whose shoulder it sits on.
- Blackbeard. A dwarf, of course.
- Probably some kind of ghost ship, with skeletal pirates.

[choyer7]

Ventnor wrote:

A few pirate ideas, since you asked for them:

- An intelligent wood golem who lost a leg and had it replaced with a human leg.
- An awakened parrot (probably named Polly) who mind controls the captain whose shoulder it sits on.
- Blackbeard. A dwarf, of course.
- Probably some kind of ghost ship, with skeletal pirates.

Those are pretty good. I actually really like the wood golem and polly sounds like a good idea. Into the note pad they go!

[choyer7]

Im going to make a large character list of infamous and famous bards would sing about to populate the world on that suggestion. Ty for the excellent idea!

[Capn Cupcake]

Captain Redgut, a private known for his expensive collection of wine, that he almost never partakes in and instead gets hammered on good ol' rot gut, hence his namesake. Maybe some other equally eccentric pirates? I also strongly second the Polly suggestion. Ooh and a pirate whis a druid. Sort of a sea druid who attacks those who disrespect the sea as a sort of economic terrorist. Might not even like the term captain.

[Joey Cote]

How about an underwater civilization, aquatic elves, saughin, etc, that is in conflict with all these newcomers. You could even have the natives be worshipers of, or have made sacrifices/tribute to these beings. And now the aquatics are very upset missing these offerings and looking to get them back, by getting rid of the newcomers.

Really like the idea of water/weather witches too.

[thorin001]

Don't forget the lost city of some ancient race.
Maybe the cannibals are the descendants of that fallen civilization.

[The Goat Lord]

A few more for you:

-A season of bad weather that comes every few years and lasts a few months. Hurricanes and lightning storms.

-A Bermuda Triangle themed area where ships disappear in mysterious fog, the seas are strangely calm, and witnesses report sightings of oddities.

-Ghost ships/ships with no crew.

-Island of plague bearers.

-The kraken.

-Buried treasure by an ancient order of monks/holy knights. Check out the real world Oak Island and its Money Pit for inspiration.

-An island that sinks and surfaces with the tides, chosen as a perfect place to hide a secret.

-A ship graveyard.

[mellowgoth]

- A Sargasso sea type area.

- strong second on the kraken. Mostly very deep or asleep, but can be awoken by the foolish...

- Ports-of-sale and fences change frequently and unexpectedly - "Where do we sell this NOW?"

- An authoritarian or higly-moralistic body from out of the area that arrives to clean things up.

- an oracle or such that can speak with the drowned.

[choyer7]

Well thank you so much Im getting list of all the non-character things I want to add and will post that at some point. For the moment I wanted to show you the characters I have generated. Some of these I had planned out a ways back, but most of them are fairly recent here they are!
Some Characters of Renown

Tomas Balton AKA: Storm’s Child
Human CE Male
Lvl 5-8 Barbarian (Sea Reaver)
The brutal captain of the Storm’s Oath. Known for taking ships the defy his flag by himself, with maximum casualties…
Location?: Murdel sea

Master Joun
Orc LN Male
Lvl 5-7 Monk (Smoke Style)
The Watcher of the gates at Mt. Ipu and a dedicated master of most heavily guarded secret on the island.
Location?: Mt. Ipu

Natalia Bowyer AKA: The Cardinal’s Wing
Elf N Female
Lvl 3-9 Inquisitor
One of the shadowy hands of the Cardinal in his quest to root out heresy in all manners possible. Brutal and efficient, encounters are usually quite public as to gain the support of the crowd and executions are paraded around as trophies. Natalia considers this necessary because of her god, not her commander.
Location?: Whisper Hills

Lord Vega
Human LG Male
Lvl 6-8 Fighter
A Noble of some real talent, most known for downing a red dragon personally in a huge fight in Balden. Making the story even more wild it seems that he caught and climbed up the dragon mid-flight and stabbed his sword into its skull. This hurtled him and the dragon into the sea where by he is said to have swam almost a mile before a boat noticed him and put him aboard. The dragon is currently being recovered, but not a soul in the town tells the story any different. If anything the story gets more grand with every passing day.
Location?: Balden

Jafar
Human CG Male
Lvl 2-5 Occultist
A Seer and Soothsayer known to give very cryptic hints. Some say he is a very honest man, but many more say he is more than willing to cheat any gullible fool out of their money. He may even say he is both of these things.
Location?: Mudd

Jeralt Fetcher AKA: The Cardinal
Half-Elf LE Male
Lvl 8-14 Fighter
Possibly the most well known man in Dorals. He is vicious, cruel and has made a public oath to rid heresy from the land in its entirety. He acts on behalf of the empire and effectively acts as ruler of its dominions in the new world. He is well known for his silver nose and terrible temper.
Location?: Cardinal’s Roost

Natile
Sylph NE Female
Lvl 3-4 Witch
A almost unknown figure seen in the west of Salt’s Swamp.
Location?: Salt’s Swamp

Finnius
Halfling NG Male
Lvl 3-4 Druid
A almost unknown figure seen in the east of Salt’s Swamp.
Location?: Salt’s Swamp

Captain Redgut (hat’s off to cupcake)
Dwarf N Male
Lvl 2-5 Fighter
A relatively successful freebooter with a collection of very fine wines at his small estate on Sandpoint.
Location?: Sandpoint

High Seer Voi (hat’s off to mellowgoth)
Elf N Female
Lvl 7-10 Oracle
Known to be able to see the live of those that died at see and conjure the spirits of those who drowned. Often sought for consolation as she gives her services to any who ask.
Location?: Blue Light Sanctuary

Inquisitor Quill
Human NG Male
Lvl 6-9 Wizard
Sent by the Cordeliian mages to seek, record and collect all possible knowledge in the area. Most ships generally steer away from their flag, fearing the wizard’s ire in approaching any closer.
Location?: Eldin Sea

Lepidus Vern AKA: The Bloody Crow
Human NE Male
Lvl 2-5 Cleric
The priest of The Chapel of the Red Crow. Not much is known of the mission other than its fondness of visitors and its unusual choice of gods. A generally happy and jovial man, usually meeting those who dock personally to welcome them.
Location?: The Chapel of the Red Crow

Polly (coming soon!)

[choyer7]

Ok, as for the other things suggested.

Lost cities are planned, but not to any massive degree at the moment. I want to do a El Dorado style adventure though.

Cannibals are currently planned to be The Chapel of the Red Crow. I don't want to overuse the gimmick.

Yes there will be a hurricane season and I have a few other tricks to make nature quite terrifying out at sea.

Im not sure if I want to add a bermuda triangle location, but the corkscrew sea is prone to sudden whirlpools.

Ghost ships will be a small thing, whether they are actually supernatural or simply arcane I haven't decided.

I could see a Island where people with plague are brought to die and I could see plague ships which sounds like a welcome addition. I would imagine plague bearers could often be sent to the blue light sanctuary however.

Kraken happening. I have a old pc who had a lot of dealings with the kraken before so there might be some special flavor when it shows up.

The treasure fits right in actually so I really appreciate that and intend to make that a potential quest.

The Island thing I've seen done, maybe, but I think I have a better idea.

I like the idea of a ship graveyard, but I don't think the setting is old enough to warrant one. Perhaps one will develop as time passes.

The Sargasso sea really couldn't exist inside the Caribbean, but if the setting expands to encompass the world I make sure to add a counterpart.

The changing fences are a great idea, I will also occasionally empty out some of the pirate havens so not even those are a safe bet.

Ok, I think I covered everything. If anyone has more to add that would be appreciated, but I couldn't thank everyone enough for the contributions so far.