2025 Campaign materials

[Touc]

This path has been around for awhile. I'm not sure anyone still checks these forums, but I sure have for the last few months. I've been scouring these forums, campaign logs (most fizzle out long before the end), and the brains of other DMs to come up with materials for a Skull and Shackles campaign. There's too much credit to go around for great ideas on this site, and a campaign ago I ran what I felt, after 30+ years of DMing, was the epitome of my gaming career with a Kingmaker campaign thanks to everyone here (in another post I gave credit to a ton of avatars, including Dudemeister, A++ thoughts). I only wish Dudemeister had been able to run his S&S campaign thru, but I took a few ideas for the prologue. While I'm using D&D rules, they're easily ported over (e.g. Advantage means roll the d20 twice, usually equivalent of +4), and if anyone is kicking off their campaign in the future, hopefully this stuff helps. I'm still working on what additional stuff to run (e.g. Dungeon Magazine stuff, Plunder & Peril) and their conversions, but that's for another day.

Campaign Guide. Pretty much borrowed Dudemeister's work. The Path really left it wide open to why you want to be a pirate. I get it, they can't figure out what each table wants, so "you all end up shanghaied" was easiest. But Besmara and pirates are about revenge, so linking a revenge and foreshadowing threat of Cheliax early is a solid idea. Campaign Guide 2.0, using D&D rules but ignore and use your own.

Pirate sayings and insults. You need your nautical terms, and by the way, no pirate ever said "arrrr..." That's from a Treasure Island movie.

Pirate songs sung at sea to pass the time, hand to your players, these are not my creation but from modified song lyrics from mostly modern bands that make pirate music and put on Spotify

Firearms, cause they need to be more interesting than having the same stats as crossbows but not game-breaking either.

NPC tracking. Not since the days of Sasserine have I had so many NPCs to track in so little time. I have zero skill with graphics, but I think NPC cards for players and NPC cards for the DM will make life aboard the Wormwood so much easier. DM version with roleplaying notes and reference to stats & Player version, graphic plus space to gossip about them .

Pirate Code of Conduct, maybe posted on the Wormwood's mast.

Daily Activities on the Ship, cause if you don't have a handout for your players, it's confusing as Besmara reaping wheat

Infamy & Disrepute & PLunder. Later Pathfinder came out with Fame and Prestige rules. It's a solid idea. The more cool pirate stuff you do, the more awesome your reputation and what you can do with it. But, it really needs to be tailored to the campaign. So, I completely redid the Infamy standards and Disrepute rewards while still keeping to the idea you can (self-servingly) boost your own reputation. Plunder, that's still fairly easy.

Infamy & Disrepute, a campaign-based approach

Plunder rules, pretty much the same thing

Ship Combat. I looked at a LOT of rules. The default rules stink, consensus. I believe Fire As She Bears looks like the best to give meaningful roles to characters in ship conflicts and meaningful upgrades. It's Pathfinder compatible and actually, after a thorough reading, fairly easy to implement. Downside, there's no support material, such as enemy ships. But, there's an excel document floating around Reddit that lets you type in a few basic stats and boom you've got an enemy ship. Other downside is that the rulebook needs a cheat sheet. Its rules aren't organized efficiently.

Ship Roles, giving this to my players in advance so they can argue who gets to wear the captain's hat

Ship Improvements, aka shit to spend your gold on

Ship combat cheat sheet, aka what "Fire As She Bears" should've done

Naval tactics, aka more cheat sheet stuff you need

That Excel thing I mentioned

The Man's Promise sheet, I think

P.S. I'm ALWAYS on the lookout for better ideas. If you see a flaw in the material, or ideas on what worked or would've worked, lemme know!

[DM_aka_Dudemeister]

Touc wrote:

I only wish Dudemeister had been able to run his S&S campaign thru, but I took a few ideas for the prologue....

That's nice of you to say. I am currently running S&S, and my players are approaching the end of Book 2 (with some Additions).

Dungeon Issues and Module Recommendations I believe Salvage Operation has a 5e conversion in the Saltmarsh book so still easy to drop-in during the Wormwood Mutiny.

I've slipped in The Last Baron and Secret of Chimera Cove into Book 2 of S&S, for more Chelish shenanigans (lore conversions are in the above link for Last Baron, Chimera Cove works pretty much as written).

S&S Book 2 + Secret of Chimera Cove:

My Players freed the Terraken and used it to take down the Dominator in Book 2. Which was a thrilling climax. The crew of the Dominator survived, so I look forward to the Dominator 2 returning in future books.

House Rules An adaptation of the Starfinder Narrative Ship Combat for S&S. I've been using it throughout book 2 with great success.

[Touc]

Yes, plan on poking through those Dungeon adventures and plugging in as sandbox experiences. Salvage fits perfectly for the Wormwood! Curious on Last Baron, got a copy but never found a place to use it.

Any unusual ways the campaign has gone and any issues with players being motivated for anything?

[DM_aka_Dudemeister]

I created a form: HERE to help provide me with prompts to keep my party motivated.

[Touc]

The Form is blocked, "no longer accepting responses."

[Touc]

Added a Vices section (from Runequest Pirates RPG), just fits the setting so well. Easily ported to Pathfinder as it's just a reroll of any die.

Pirate Vices

[drsparnum]

I'm running a game with 7 players so I sometimes need to adapt things just for that reason. I recently wrapped up book 1. Here are my tips for that book....

1. cut the number of days aboard the wormwood by about half. This can be done by only running the days that have an event. Taking the Man's Promise and subsequent mutiny will still feel earned. This is especially true if you have a lot of PCs because that is a lot of ship actions.
2. take Dudemeisters suggestion and run salvage operation. I put a twist into salvage operation. When my players boarded the ship I had them make a sailor check to realize the ship was sinking and their movement would hasten that process. I told them they estimated they had 4 minutes and then wrote right on the battlemat: Rounds (40). After each round I put a tally mark down to make it 100% transparent they were on a clock. In the process we got some cool fights. The party split up to explore faster (you never get that!) and I had scenes where, for example, one PC still on the deck was throwing holy water down through a grate to help a fight on the lower deck. You do need to not punish your players for splitting up. I'm trying to run this game to reward jumping in. I took the suggestion too after the PCs got the treasure (I had it be magical sails), Peppery Longfarthing cast fly on Harrigan, Dimension Door'ed him above the squid, and he dove in the water solo and slew the squid under the water. That really sent a message to my PCs to not mutiny while Harrigan was around.
3. I house-ruled that in the shackles the spell create water is level 3 due to the presence of all the salt water, instead of level 1. This makes needing to find water on Bonewrack more logical, and it will also make the encounter with the Dominator in book 2 more logical.
4. At the end of the book I told my players they knew of three places to squib a ship: 1) rickety squib, 2) kracken cove, and 3) Lilly White. Kracken Cove had the advantage of being closest and cheapest but you had to do your own squibbing (make your own carpentry checks) and the place just gave you the supplies. Lilly White was full service, and you could buy PC magic items easily there too but you had to risk sailing into the shackles. My players chose Kraken Cove. But the main point is I had 3 adventure ideas and it wasn't the illusion of choice - Rickety Squibs stayed on the main path, Kracken Cove had me borrow from the Savage Tide adventure path, and Lilly White would have led into Plunder and Peril. I'm trying to give my players some real freedom (and not just the illusion of freedom) in this campaign.
5. I added an item called the Pieces of Eight (link below). I wanted an item to pull the party together into a team since I placed no restrictions on playing an evil PC. When my players found them they were silver coins with a symbol of Besmara on one side and the image of my players (one each) on the other side. When one of my players went to grab them as loot (they were aboard the ship in salvage operation) I spilled onto the table wooden tokens where I had printed and glued the PCs picture and symbol of Besmara on each side. I spilled them in front of the player and he looked, paused, paused again, and said: I don't want to touch them. He ended up swiping them, but the impact was priceless. In my game, I'm linking to the Savage Tide adventure path so the entity that left them for my players comes from there.

Pieces of Eight:
https://paizo.com/threads/rzs43nr4?New-Artifact-Idea-to-Encourage-Party

[Touc]

I've got RP notes thanks to the NPC cards for something to be going on every day with some NPC drama, learning the ropes (literally), as well as epic sea events. Definitely right that a day of "you wake up, you make a few rolls, repeat" would get old quickly.

Am running Salvage Operation. I like the idea of a timer. That's solid. I also am borrowing the idea of Harrigan killing the squid, though it ends up being dinner. Waste not, want not.

Interesting squib options, I'll take a look at my adventures. Haven't figured out post-Wormwood options yet.

Same for Pieces of Eight. Anything superstitious like that fits well in a pirate campaign!

[Here4daFreeSwag]

Good to have some free 2025 Skull and Shackles Campaign Materials stuff out there, Touc, drsparnum, and DM_aka_Dudemeister. ;)

[Lady Bluehawk]

drsparnum wrote:

I'm running a game with 7 players so I sometimes need to adapt things just for that reason. I recently wrapped up book 1. Here are my tips for that book....

1. cut the number of days aboard the wormwood by about half. This can be done by only running the days that have an event. Taking the Man's Promise and subsequent mutiny will still feel earned. This is especially true if you have a lot of PCs because that is a lot of ship actions.
2. take Dudemeisters suggestion and run salvage operation. I put a twist into salvage operation. When my players boarded the ship I had them make a sailor check to realize the ship was sinking and their movement would hasten that process. I told them they estimated they had 4 minutes and then wrote right on the battlemat: Rounds (40). After each round I put a tally mark down to make it 100% transparent they were on a clock. In the process we got some cool fights. The party split up to explore faster (you never get that!) and I had scenes where, for example, one PC still on the deck was throwing holy water down through a grate to help a fight on the lower deck. You do need to not punish your players for splitting up. I'm trying to run this game to reward jumping in. I took the suggestion too after the PCs got the treasure (I had it be magical sails), Peppery Longfarthing cast fly on Harrigan, Dimension Door'ed him above the squid, and he dove in the water solo and slew the squid under the water. That really sent a message to my PCs to not mutiny while Harrigan was around.
3. I house-ruled that in the shackles the spell create water is level 3 due to the presence of all the salt water, instead of level 1. This makes needing to find water on Bonewrack more logical, and it will also make the encounter with the Dominator in book 2 more logical.
4. At the end of the book I told my players they knew of three places to squib a ship: 1) rickety squib, 2) kracken cove, and 3) Lilly White. Kracken Cove had the advantage of being closest and cheapest but you had to do your own...

O.M.G! :D

Bless your sweet butt to Besmara, me lad! :D

Here I was, a mere Level 2 GM, trying to run six characters, run by four Level 99-100 players, through this mess in Part 1 (usually, I'm among the 99-100 player chorale meself, but they're all like Level 99-100 GMs as well. Luckily, they're very nice, and we've all been gaming since the 70s and together since the 80s. Very forgiving, but only to a point...).

"Sandboxes" can be my most favorite thing to play in, and my LEAST favorite to run. I'm tearing my hair out, and I vaguely remembered seeing YOUR POST specifically, somewhere...taken awhile to find it.

But, THANK YOU! :D

You may just have saved the day! :D

LB

P.S. One of my biggest bugaboos was in convincing my 25 point build PCs that no, they can't just take over the Wormwood right now (for one thing, they have no weapons beyond rigging tools and maybe sail needles and no armor; all of that stuff of theirs is in the ARMORY, not the Quartermaster's store (there's no armor or weapons in the Store at all; that's not where that stuff belongs, but at least one of them got almost all his other gear back by dealing with Grok)), so what I need is more encounters, preferably showing off how bad-arsed the NPC officers are, rather graphically. I'll see what I can find...but thanks again for suggestions like that, and the whole "blow off days when nothing's going on" bit in general! :D --LB

[Lady Bluehawk]

Touc wrote:

I've got RP notes thanks to the NPC cards for something to be going on every day with some NPC drama, learning the ropes (literally), as well as epic sea events. Definitely right that a day of "you wake up, you make a few rolls, repeat" would get old quickly.

Am running Salvage Operation. I like the idea of a timer. That's solid. I also am borrowing the idea of Harrigan killing the squid, though it ends up being dinner. Waste not, want not.

Interesting squib options, I'll take a look at my adventures. Haven't figured out post-Wormwood options yet.

Same for Pieces of Eight. Anything superstitious like that fits well in a pirate campaign!

Hey, as long as no one's allergic to squid on board (/raising_hand), they should be fine. :)

And I hear that poor Fishguts is actually quite the artiste with ingredients... :)

(No, our version does not -- insult -- the ingredients, just to get back at his tormentors; if he has nothing else, he has his culinary pride. And his chickens.)

LB

[Lady Bluehawk]

Here4daFreeSwag wrote:

Good to have some free 2025 Skull and Shackles Campaign Materials stuff out there, Touc, drsparnum, and DM_aka_Dudemeister. ;)

Amen! :D

Where does Salvage Operation come from, again? And if it's now out of print, is there anything similar you can recommend?

LB

[Lady Bluehawk]

Touc, on "that Excel thing [you] mentioned," I tried following that link, but it glitched on the receiving end, and even they don't know what happened. :-/

I do have Dropbox, but I doubt it even got to the point of my being able to download anything? :(

LB

[Touc]

Salvage Operation is from Dungeon Magazine #123, probably only available in PDF form now. You could create your own version of it, in theory, if you just have a reason for PCs to search ship wreckage for something particular (then inserting a timer when a BBEG monster squid shows up and attacks the ship so they have to GTFO).

Dropbox doesn't have a preview for the file, but I think it can still be downloaded. If not, it's still on Reddit. Having tried it, it's more complicated and labor intensive than I preferred, but it's the only game in town. I did try Chatgpt (free) to see if I gave it raw data if it could random generate ships. It took a LONG time, with many errors, but I now have it coughing up ships I can (mostly) use (often with errors, for some reason it likes to ignore me and grab random crap off the internet rather than repeat the task).

Personally, I think S&S is going to be like Kingmaker (building your kingdom), except with raiding ships. It'll be awesome for a bit, then it will get repetitive and tedious. The ship encounters will have to become a bit more dynamic or unique.

P.S. 25-point builds??? That's virtually demi-gods! The AP was written for 15-point builds. No wonder they feel like taking over. While you've already started, I'm doing a prologue (with unique backgrounds) wherein most characters were rescued by Harrigan. Some of his minions might suck, but inherently there's less reason to want to mutiny right away against the guy who picked you out of the ocean and is offering to share his loot under the Pirate's Code.

[DM_aka_Dudemeister]

I provide a Pathfinder conversion of Salvage Operation HERE

You'll still need the original adventure, available either in PDF of Dungeon #123. It was also reprinted as a 5e adventure in the Ghosts of Saltmarsh adventure compilation.

[Touc]

I'm also considering adding a few Campaign arcs as fighting "humanoids" from beginning to end is just bad design.

Arc 1 Cheliax plans to invade & the pirates need someone to take control and do something about it. That's the basic premise of the original: become awesome.

Arc 2 Cheliax researchers have a lead into the very secrets of the Eye of Abendego itself. If it can be removed, or controlled, as they now believe it can, the Shackles would be an easy take.

Arc 3 Harrigan

Spoiler:

is a Cheliax agent

but he's not sitting still. For years he's been devoting resources into the Eye, Ghol-Ghan, and Azlant as well, and his agent steals a key piece of Cheliaxan research. He has to be covert: his new masters can never know what he's up to until he has the power to break his bonds.

Arc 3 Mun-Toruun (new stuff, still working up the ideas). A sentient storm entity predating the gods, a mind within the hurricane, sealed away by the Ghol-Ghan and vaguely misunderstood by the Azlanti. Efforts to pry into secrets weakens the barrier. If fully free and empowered, it IS the storm, possessed of an eternal desire to rage and unleash its fury. It becomes a sentient hurricane, and with the size of the Eye, one capable of apocalyptic consequences.

This adds in cultists, strange alien deepwater beings, etc., that have some empathic connection to it all and want this to happen. The efforts of the Cheliax researchers, Harrigan, and probably the party, will likely speed this up as they dig into stuff meant to be hidden forever.

[Lady Bluehawk]

DM_aka_Dudemeister wrote:

I provide a Pathfinder conversion of Salvage Operation HERE

You'll still need the original adventure, available either in PDF of Dungeon #123. It was also reprinted as a 5e adventure in the Ghosts of Saltmarsh adventure compilation.

Found it! We're using it right now, though we got to that point a wee bit late, so we haven't finished yet. They went down to Krell's level via the stern (sigh...) and they defeated him before they ran out of spells and ammo and hit points. They've yet to face most of the rest... ;->

And, of course, there's still the BBEG to go... :D

Thanks again for your conversion, Dudemeister! You've saved the day as well! :D

LB

[drsparnum]

We just finished book 2. A few adjustments I made that turned out pretty well...

1. At character creation I told each character they would start with a treasure map. They could either incorporate it into their back story, or I would make something up. After Book 1, I had them make knowledge geography checks to identify the spot of their treasure map on the Shackles map (I used the black and white map that doesn't have names - after the players in game found that map). It makes the campaign more open-ended when there are more places to go then time. So far, my party did one. They found Mr. Ripples. I used a modified version of the PFS adventure Beneath Unbroken Waves. And I determined Mr. Ripples provides strong cloaking to the ship when installed (DC30 Caster Level check to have divination like scry or track ship spells work).
2. I offered my players 3 places to squibb the ship. Krakens Cove (using Krakens Cove from the Savage Tide Adventure path), Rickety Squib (from Raiders of the Fever Sea), or Lilywhite (from Plunder and Peril). Each would have played out differently with different adventures. My players ended up going to Kraken's Cove. I made it a bit strategic too. Kraken's Cove was the cheapest, but they expected to be more DIY (make your own carpentry checks), Rickety Squibb just like the book. Lilywhite was not just for squibbing but for character shopping too, but you had to have the guts to sail right into the Shackles.
3. I added my own custom ship combat system. I'm happy with it. I don't know how to share it. But I think any system that A) gets all the players involved, and B) makes the players care about upgrading the ship - does the job.
4. I charge my players a port fee and a quarantine time every time they dock, with higher port fees for larger cities. Free Captains pay less, and the Pirate council still less. This lets you give a tangible benefit to becoming a Free Captain and then a Council Member that your players will feel.
5. Each settlement has a settlement point score based on the size of the settlement. A thorp is 1 point, a metropolis 7 (it is just reading the size of settlements in Pathfinder from top to bottom). That matters. The most infamy checks you can try in a port is the number of settlement points before you have to shove off. The most crew recruitment checks you can attempt in a port is the settlement points before you have to shove off. And the most plunder you can spend on ship upgrades is the number of settlement points before you have to shove off.
6. I made the attack on Tidewater Rock a mass combat. I had players run the crew members and the Tidewater Rock guards. I ran the attacking pirates and the sauaghain. I used a really simple system for NPC vs. NPC fighting. Roll a d8 and if you get an "8" you kill your enemy. Anything else is ineffective. Some NPCs get a bonus to hit (letting them use a d6 or even a d4 - you really just need to roll the highest number on whatever die your rolling), some had a penalty (e.g., you need a 10 on a d10), and some had better defense (which shifted the die your opponent used up). I had a couple NPCs (e.g., Royster) able to take a few hits. Any system will do but I recommend something simple but one that really lets the battle play out. It was a great session.
7. The Dungeon Magazine adventure Tammeraught's Fate fits well in this book. I added it after my players arrived on Windward Isle. Agasta agreed to marry a PC if they could find out what happened to her trading partners at Firewatch Isle a few miles to the east.

[Touc]

We just finished Book 1 (successful mutiny and deciding if a few of the Plugg/Scourge loyalists should become part of their new crew), and having a real-life break for a few weeks.

I'm building off my original thoughts into merging this with some of the Ruins of Azlant AP. After all, the Shackles is a perfect setting for discovering Azlanti tech. If you've read through AP #1, The Lost Outpost, there's a lot of crossovers (e.g. a grindylow cave lair and a ton of NPCs to manage, ankhegs) as if someone recycled some ideas. Perish the thought!

It all begins on Tidewater Rock, which I merged with the Azlanti isle. It's the only piece of land not sunk by the Earthfall. Chelaxian researchers suspect this, they cut a deal with Lady Smythee to settle the island, and they begin unearthing stuff they shouldn't. From the player perspective, Lady Smythee has just been ousted from her realm (a breach in her Chelaxian contract when the Chelaxians unwittingly reactivate the Azlanti defenses, folks go missing or die, they get to take over in a vote of no confidence) and seeks help through the Pirate Lords and the area's newest, boldest pirate crew. Or, the PCs may simply just want bragging rights of taking the island.

I haven't scripted the merged plot out from here fully, but the real danger is if the Eye of Abendego storm gets infused with sentience, thereby threatening a global catastrophe.

A long long time ago, the Ghol-Ghan empire began working with the idea of global weather manipulation, infusing storms with sentience and controlling them. They ended up infusing a storm with a dead primeval godlike essence and managed to seal it up before worse could happen. The empire collapses and Azlanti eventually uncover and resume the research into the entity and the idea of living storms. They weaken the Ghol Ghan barriers with the discovery of something called "stormglass" (an elemental resource now only found on Tidewater's island), but Earthfall happens before the Azlanti could unwittingly free this godlike power (randomly called "Mun Toruun"). If free, Mun Toruun is taking over the Eye with a godlike portfolio of rage, rage, and rage.

Fast forward to modern day, Chelaxians discover stormglass and where to harvest it what little is left. They think it controls weather and that they can use it to disperse the Eye, or at least safely navigate through it using stormglass. They just don't fully understand what they're messing with. The Azlanti systems on the island are accidentally awoken and try to rebuild defenses, but with lots of errors.

In the Ruins adventure, the aboleth (who gave the Azlanti intelligence) pop up when one is released from stasis into the modern world. They're going to be players as well. Captain Harrigan, seeking a way out of his Chelaxian contract and bondage, has stumbled upon what he believes is ultimate power through stormglass. The Chelaxians in the know about stormglass are willing to invade the Shackles for it (convincing their peers that the Shackles just finally needs to be cleared out for trade purposes).

And in the middle are the PCs.