Adventure on the High Seas- a D&D 5e campaign

Here is where we will be playing the campaign I create sooner or later. I will lay down some groundwork rules right now-

RULE 0) ONLY CERTAIN PEOPLE ARE ALLOWED TO POST HERE. At the moment, that is only myself, David, and Spidey (and maybe Ragna or Flame if they ask nicely.)

1) You start at 5th level.
2) In addition to your normal inventory, you may have 500 GP, 1d10 x 25 GP in addition to that, one trinket (which I will assign to you), and one uncommon magic item. For a list of magic items, go here: http://tribality.com/2014/12/02/magic-items-by-rarity-dd-5th-edition-dmg/
3) If you have any questions on what a magic item does, just ask!
4) This campaign will involve lots of sea-travel, so you may take aquatic steeds, pets, or familiars based on your class.
5) This campaign WILL HAVE GUNPOWDER. If you want to start the game with proficiency in a gun, you must spend 250 GP to do so. The two guns available are pistols (250 GP, 1d10 piercing damage, range 30/90, ammunition, loading) or muskets (500 GP, 1d12 piercing, range 40/120, two-handed, ammunition, loading). Bullets cost 3 GP for 10. A powder horn costs 35 gold and is needed to fire the gun. A bomb costs 150 GP, and a keg of gunpowder costs 250 GP.
6) If you want to use a custom Background, just ask.
7) If you play as a dwarf, I have some customizations to them I'm willing to let you use that involve a love of ships and gunpowder.
If you wish, you can start play as a merman/mermaid. They have no stat changes, but have a swim speed of 40 and a land speed of 10, and can breathe underwater.

I will list the current characters signed up below:

1) Level 5 Human Ninja Assassin
2) Level 5 Forest Gnome Valor Bard
3) Level 5 Dragonborn Evocation Wizard
4) Level 5 Human Ranger
5) Level 5 Tiefling Paladin

At the start of this campaign, we'll be pulling into port at a central trading hub. Here's what your characters already know about this town:

1) The island's name, what the government is like, etc. (Just ask me in chat and I'll happily define everything. I'm just still typing it up and this is a placeholder post)
2) Where they like to hang out while on shore leave and relevant people at those locations; taverns, stores, temples, etc.
3) Where to spend or gain money if they need to

You have just pulled into port at the island town of Dirkton. This isn't your first time here; the busy town always has merchants buying and selling exotic goods, and as treasure hunters, you are repeat customers. Even from the ship you can see the forests in the distance beyond the town, and the volcano in the center of the island beyond that. Most people would be discouraged by this, but a population of dwarves has set up camp in the volcano, which has translated into a booming shipyard and forging business for Dirkton.

You, however, are not here to sell this time. Your last adventure dug up nothing, and you're back in town to shake down your contact, Baern, for information on better treasure hunting spots. He can most often be found in one of the local taverns, so you'd best get moving.

Captain Quills was strolling through town, looking around at the streets that were as busy as ever. Seemed people were buying and selling as always. Good for them! 

Quills though? Nope, nothing, not even a single flipping copper statue to sell, or piles of gold to buy improvements to her ship with. Nothing! Saying she was a little salty about these affairs would be an understatement.

"Baern better have something good for us..." She muttered to whoever may be with her. One such person was Biri, her dragonborn companion.

"I'm sure he'll have something for us this time," She shrugged, mostly only talking to try and calm the captain down. It didn't seem to have any affect on her whatsoever.

Back on the ship, Nanami leaned over the railing, letting the wind through her hair, although she kept her face wrapped for the sake of it. A distinctive sigh could be heard, and a voice popped up from below.

"Bored, Nanami? You can always swim with me!"

Nanami looked below, and could see the mermaid of the crew, Shalia, enjoying the ability to swim freely. A couple of people at other docks could see her and were gawking openly, but Nanami paid them no mind. "I'm guarding the ship, Shalia. And you, so don't go too far, alright?"

Shalia rolled her eyes a little. "Alright, alright!" She dived under the water again, letting her fish-tail make a big splash that almost reached Nanami's height.

[DM Post]

You enter the first bar you can find. The Sleeping Dragon is closest, and the one Baern seems to like most. On the outside, it's a regular wooden building, two floors, like every other building on this row. There's a sign outside, with a metallic sleeping dragon, just in case people can't spot a tavern by the presence of drunken sailors.

On the inside, it's very loud, and very smelly. You can't quite tell if that's the smell of the drinks or the smell of the customers- you've been here many times and still are not used to it.

Many of the patrons stop and stare at the unusual folks who just walked in. After all, usually they just get humans and dwarves in here. Others, however, are so wrapped up in their drinks that they don't even realize there are people around them.

One such patron is Baern the Dwarf. Bald, red in beard and in cheeks, he's laughing while he gets a little too close to one of the barmaids. "'ey, 'ey! You look like a lovely lass. Why dontcha take a break from workin' and have some fun with me? 'ey?"

"If not, we'll have to get a new contact," said Roywyn, as she followed behind Quills. 

Their last trip hadn't even left her a single coin richer. If they had many more failures like this; she'd have to take up street performing just to pay her bar tabs. 

As she walked into the bar, she noticed Baern flirting with the barmaid. She had to resist the urge to grin mischievously as she approached him. 

"Baern! Long time no see!" she said, enthusiastically. "How's that wife of yours? And the kids?"  

(Roll for cockblocking deception. (12)+4=16) 

--

Akta, meanwhile, stood on deck with her weapon ready. A seagull landed on her helmet; but she ignored it. It was her job to guard the ship; and she had to be ever vigilant! 

It occurred to her that the seagull might be a familiar of some sort. You could never tell. But wasn't worried. She was ready to take down ANY spell-caster! 

"I wouldn't try anything if i were you," she said, to the seagull. "I have an axe with your name on it!"

[GM Post]

Baern looks confused at the new arrival. "Wife? Kids?! When did this happen?! Ach, I can't be laying about with a wife and kids!" He immediately tries to get away, dashing towards the door, forgetting to pay for his drink even.

Quills quickly put herself in the doorway, blocking Baern from his escape. On his other side was Biri, who almost looked apologetic but she wasn't moving.

"Ahoy Baern! You shouldn't just run away without saying hi, eh?" Quills gave him a smile that hid a very obvious intent. She was here for a reason, and her luck looked good so far that he was in the first bar they walked through.

[DM Post]
Baern looked surprised to see her. "Oh! Quills! Well, would you look at that, I wasn't expectin' ya back so soon! Can it wait? I have a wife and kids I didn't know about and I'd best be on my way before they think me some sort of good for nothin'!"

"Can it Baern, we both know ya have no family to speak of," Quills responded jokingly, "Now how about we go sit down, huh?" she gestured back towards a table in the tavern.

"So Baern," said Roywyn. "If ya ran away so fast, you must know how your last lead went," 

She took a step towards him, and leaned close. Uncomfortably close. 

"If I didn't know any better, I'd say you gave us bad information on purpose,"

[DM Post]

Baern at least has the presence of mind to look embarrassed.

"What? Bad information?! Nonsense! It may have just... been my very last piece of information. You guys have picked the area clean of all the good treasures I know of! It's not MY fault if you're too good at your jobs! And it most certainly isn't my fault if someone fed me bad information or someone beat you to a treasure, now is it?"

"Oh come now, Baern, surely you have something else for us, right? We can't have gotten everything! Don't you think so Roy?" Quills passed the conversation over to raise the pressure on the dwarf.

[DM Post]

Baern glanced to his side at the uncomfortably close halfling, then back to the captain and Dragonborn looming over him. A sudden seriousness entered his expression, a seriousness you haven't seen in the old dwarf before due to all of his drunken revelry. "Damn it, woman, the only thing I have left is the Grave of Captain Shorn! People stopped hunting for that years ago, for good reason! His greed and malice are so strong that even in death he won't let go of his gold. If you go hunting for that, you're as dead as everyone else who went after it. You'd best just find new places to hunt, because I'm not telling you where it is!"

You've heard the tales, the pirate captain who used to be the terror of these seas. He raided Dirkton more than once, even pillaging the temples and stealing sacred artifacts. He was infamous for sinking ships first and using his magic to take what he wanted after everyone on board was dead. As far as you know, no one knows where "The Grave of Captain Shorn" is, the place where he had placed all of his treasure and then had himself buried with it.

(Posting this now cause I won't be on long) 

Roywyn paused as Captain Shorn was mentioned. The name sounded familiar to her. 

She remembered quite a few songs about the pirate. 

(Roll for Intelligence (20)+2=22)

[DM Post]

Things that Roywyn knows about Captain Shorn:

He was a human pirate captain, and even though there was no trace of Tiefling blood in him, others said he must have been the child of a devil to do what he had done. They said he had the strength of a giant, the marksmanship of an elf, the good looks of an incubus, and was at home underwater as he was above it. In Dirkton, his most infamous crime was one of his first: raiding the temple of Poseidon and stealing one of the temple treasures, the Amulet of the Waves. It had been a gift to the Wave-Dwarves to allow them to mine underwater, but Shorn used it for darker purposes. It was said he was cursed by Poseidon after that, so that his greed for gold would never know an end, but it is often said this was as much a punishment on the dwarves for allowing it to be stolen as it was a curse on Shorn.

Possibly the most legendary aspect of Shorn's crew besides Shorn himself were two saltwater crocodiles he kept as pets, Davy and Jones. Shorn didn't believe in captives, and sank ships quite often. Anyone who managed to make it to the water was soon croc-food. The image of Shorn riding one of his crocodiles into battle, bow in hand, is one bards continue to use today.

It was said he refused to let old age do him in, and one day, he decided to bury himself, his treasures and crew included. Some survived to tell the tale, and treasure hunters greedily went to dig him back up. None have ever returned, and so the Grave of Captain Shorn has been stated to be where treasure hunters go to die, joining Shorn in guarding his treasure from others who would dare take it.

"Captain Shorn? So you know where it is?" Quills gave the dwarf a devious grin, catching the slip of his tongue.

Sure, she knew about this treasure. What treasure hunter didn't? It was like the wet dream of all treasure hunters in the area, but also a bit of a nightmare for the more superstitious. Quills though? She wasn't going to let superstition get between her and her gold.

Biri was a little more hesitant, "Pirates are not something I know very well. Is this such a good idea?"

Quills rolled her eyes, "I'm not letting some old ghost story the bards sing stop me. We'll be fine, long as Baern here has the right information for us," she turned her attention back to him, listening for his response.

[DM Post]

The entire tavern goes quiet. Baern takes a moment to compose himself. "I-I don't know what you're talking about, haha. I don't know where that is! Why would you think that? Who the hell is Captain Shorn? Who knows? NOT ME HAHAHAHA"

The entire tavern remains quiet. Yeah, no one's buying it.

"Well that's awkward," Quills muttered, "Oi, lets take this outside," she 'gently' pushed Baern towards the door. He wouldn't have brought it up if he didn't have intentions to share it, it just might require a bit of... convincing. Few gold coins now could lead to the mother-lode of treasure hunts, from the way the patrons of this foul smelling bar were reacting.

[DM Post]

Baern needed little prodding to leave the place, and immediately turned to Quills afterwards, looking serious again. "If we're going to do any more talking on this matter, it'll be on your ship. I don't want anyone else hearing about this, alright?!"

Quills looked back at the bar, "You know what? I have no qualms with that. Hell you can save me the trouble of briefing my crew, lets go," she started leading the way to the ship, though she wasn't fool enough to take her eyes off of him with how he'd been acting.

[DM Post]

As you approach the dock where your ship is, a man's voice calls out to you. "Hey, Baern!"

When you turn around, you can see that some of the people in the tavern had followed you out. You recognize them as a band of rival treasure hunters, lead by a tattooed human with spiky blue hair named Malark. "Why don't you let us in on the secret, too? We'll pay ya pretty handsomely for it."

Baern scowls. "Nothing you can pay me will be worth it, Malark. You lot would die for sure if you went after it. Go home, and forget about it. No treasure is worth your life."

Malark grins a little. "Oh, maybe not, but I don't have any plans on dying. We're every bit as good as Quills and her lot here, after all."

[DM POST: BACKGROUND INFO]

Malark and his crew are a band of up and coming treasure hunters that are more than a little bit annoyed that Quills has been having so much success.

If you would like to have a past with these rivals of yours, here's some info you can use to RP with:

MALARK: A rather scrawny human with tattoos and spiked blue hair, nothing about Malark would suggest he's really all that great a guy. His crew seems to like him enough, however, and he makes up for his lack of strength with brains. He is always slouching forward, as if holding up his head is too big a burden for the rest of him.

MELODY: A Tiefling sorceress that works with Malark. She's as pale as moonlight, and as pretty as an elf despite her horns and tail. She has braided hair the color of straw. She has more braided hair than some ships have ropes, some jest, but it's not too far off from the truth. Even fully braided it goes down to her ankles in curtains. She's friendly enough, often cracking puns or making impersonations, but she has a fondness for sinful pleasures that's in line with her demonic ancestry.

KRUSK: A half-orc, Krusk is the very obvious muscle of Malark's group. He's large, has triplet scars going over his left eye, and wears very large and very expensive golden necklaces. He's not the brightest candle in Malark's study, however, and is actually a lot friendlier than his appearance would suggest. He passes the time by humming to himself.

EREVAN: A half-elf swordsman, Erevan's beautiful appearance and manner of dress makes him stand out against the rest of the crew, to the point that some think he's the leader at first impression, or perhaps Malark's girlfriend at any rate. However, his personality is as blunt as Krusk's club, and he prefers gold and drink to the company of others. He's always chewing on something for some reason. His motto in life is if you don't stab him, he won't stab you. His golden eyes always make people think twice if he stares hard enough.

ZASHEIR: A rather ugly, pale-skinned and thin-haired human warlock in ragged robes. Given the choice of a book or talking to a person, he'd take the book any day. Given the choice of a book or a chess match, however, and he'd try to do both at the same time. Hints of tattoos can be seen under his robes. He likes to predict how badly things will go for people if they pursue their current course of action.

DARRAK: A local dwarf ship-builder who for some reason started hanging out with Malark. He's considered wise and spiritual, honest and traditional, as he considers a good dwarf to be. He wears a series of gold earrings on his left ear.

As Roywyn turned to face Malark; she smiled as if she was greeting an old friend. However, this was far from the truth. Malark and his crew had been rivals of theirs since the start of their adventure; always competing for the same treasure. 

"Ah, Malarkey; they still singing that nice song I wrote about you?" she said, in the most innocent voice she could muster.

"As good as my crew?" Quills looked amused, "That's a joke, though not a very funny one," she then took a more aggressive tone, "Now piss off, me and Baern's got business what ya got no part of," She turned as if to ignore him, making light of his appearance as if he posed no threat.

Biri gave a nod towards Malark and his crew, as if to be the only friendly one here. However, due to her appearance as a dragonborn, on top of her nod following that line from Quills, it would likely come off as a silent threat instead of a kindly gesture.

[DM Post]

Malark looked annoyed, but smiled a little as the others started walking away. "Hey, Melody... ya mind?"

Melody holds up her hands and calls out a word. "SLEEP."


Instantly, both Biri and Roywyn fall to the ground, fast asleep. The rest of Malark's party draws their weapons. "Sorry Quills. We really do need to borrow Baern for a bit. We'll give him back after we're done, mkay?"

ROLL FOR INITIATIVE


(For clarity's sake, you guys were about to get on your boat when this happened. The people who were at the boat must spend one turn to get to where Quills currently is.)

[Initiative: 15 + 4 + 2 = 21]

As quickly as they fell down Quills had her gun out, pointed right at Malark, "You really should rethink that," without taking her eyes off of them she shouted, "Oi! Nanami, can I get a hand over here?"

(Initiative: 19 + 2 = 21) 

Akta arrived at the scene just in time to see the bard and the wizard down; and the captain with weapons drawn. This would not do. 

Clearly these ruffians were going to need a show of power to back off. 

(Akta cast Thaumaturgy) 

The ground around Akta started to shake; as she tapped into her natural abilities. If the enemy was dumb enough to mess with her after that display of power; they were going to get an axe to the head. 

Meanwhile, Roywyn suddenly woke up to find the ground shaking; and a bunch of people she didn't like approaching with weapons drawn. 

Somehow, she managed to get to her feet, and drew her sword. 

"Must be a tuesday," she muttered, preparing for a fight.

INITIATIVE COUNT TOTAL


24: Nanami
21: Akta
21: Quills
18: Melody
12: Darrak
9: Baern
8: Roywyn
6: Sharia
4: Erevan
3: Malark
2: Krusk and Zasheir

Still need: Biri

Nanami instantly appears at the side of the ship. She takes out her bow, aims it, and fires in one smooth motion. Malark looks down to find an arrow sticking out of his chest. A moment later, he falls over, out for the count.

Nanami blinks as she thinks for a moment. "Oh. Wait. Was that... oops."

[Nanami makes an attack with the shortbow! 

1d20+8
15+8 = 23

Hit!

Sneak Attack + 3d6 Damage!

4d6+5
4,1,2,3+5 = 15

Malark has reached 0 HP!]