Music Monday - Peg Leg Silly-Billy

This collaboration between Patty Gurdy and Alestorm's Christopher Bowes is some nautical fun. Listening to it reminded me of how much I want to run Secret of the Black Crag 

Music Monday - In The Undertow

In The Undertow is a fan created sea shanty based on Critical Role Campaign 2, Episode 42. It was written and performed by R Morgan Slade with help from Ginny Di, Jesse Phillips, Madeline Lee, and Danny Dourado. Dan Yoon did the animation. 

Uk'otoa will definitely be a major force in my upcoming Grognautical campaign. Also if you want to hear an official sea shanty about the great many eyed sea serpent, check out this post. 

I Am The Sea

Preparing for my nautical 5e game and decided to stat up some cursed sea mutant pirates like the ones from Pirates of the Caribbean. They aren't a perfect conversion of the ones from the story, but are definitely in the same spirt. 

Davy Jones Crew Member

Medium monstrosity, any non-good

Armor Class 12 (leather)

Hit Points 22 (4d8+4)

Speed 30 ft., swim 40 ft.

11 (+0) Dex 12 (+1) Con 14 (+2) Int 6 (-2) Wis 13 (+1) Cha 5 (-3)

Saving Throws Wis +3

Skills Athletics +2, Stealth +3, Survival +3

Proficiencies Vehicle (Water) +2

Damage Vulnerabilities Acid

Damage Immunities cold, poison

Condition Immunities blinded, deafened, exhaustion, frightened, paralyzed, poisoned, stunned

Senses  blindsight 60 ft., passive Perception 10

Languages Aquan and one other (usually Common)

Challenge 2 (400 XP)

Amphibious The crewmember can breathe both air and water.

False Appearance. If the crewmember is motionless at the start of combat, it has advantage on its initiative roll. Additionally, unless the character can succeed on a DC 16 Intelligence (Investigation) check they see the motionless crewmember as part of the ship.

Part of the Ship. The crewmember is connected with all other crewmembers and the ship itself. All information, senses, and memories are shared.

Regeneration. The crewmember regains 5 hit points at the start of each of its turns. If the crewmember takes acid damage, this trait doesn't function at the start of its next turn. The crewmember only days if it starts its turn with 0 hit points and doesn't regenerate.

Actions

Rapier. Melee Weapon Attack: +3 to hit, reach 5 ft, one target. Hit: 4 (1d6+1) slashing damage.

Customization

You can customize your crew members by giving them any combination of the following traits.

Crab Claw. Melee Weapon Attack: +3 to hit, reach 5 ft, one target. Hit: 4 (1d6+1) bludgeoning damage and the target is grappled (escape DC 12).

Lamprey Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: +3 to hit, reach 5 ft, one target. Hit: 4 (1d6+1) piercing damage and the target is grappled (escape DC 10). While grappled it takes another 4 (1d6+1) piercing damage at the beginning of the crewmembers next turn. 

Protective Shell.  The crewmember has an AC of 14

Urchin Spines. Any creature within 5 feet that hits the crewmember with a melee attack must make a DC 12 Dexterity saving throw or take 1 piercing damage and make a DC 12 Constitution saving throw or gain the poisoned condition.

Music Monday - The Wave-Soaked Maiden

Ginny Di is a delight. For this Music Monday post I thought I'd share a sea shanty I've been listening to in order to get in the proper mindset for my upcoming game.

If you'd like to hear more nautical Ginny Di tunes, check out Songs to Drown Sailors To.

Nautical Achievements

While looking on the DM Guild for useful supplements for my upcoming nautical game I found Nautical Achievements by BenDjinn. I love BenDjinn's stuff and am sad they took down all their horror content (which I'm assuming was for legal reasons).

Achievements and Trophies have been a regular thing in video games for a few decades now, though if you look at things like arcade high scores, the ideas has been around since the inception of video games. The modern idea is that you do a certain task in game and you get a named achievement added to your gamer record. This pdf takes that idea and adds it to 5e. It adds some nautical spice to the game. The pdf includes 100 achievements. Here are a few examples from Nautical Achievements:

• Wave Rider - You successfully ride a giant seahorse  
• Ship Hunter - You discover the remains of a sunken ship

For every ten achievements you unlock you get a Nautical Trait. These are very minor boons that add some flavor to your character. You can either let your players pick one or roll for it randomly. There are 10 presented, as well as blank space to create 10 more. Here's an example:

• Parley - You have advantage on Charisma (Persuasion) checks against pirates and sailors.

I can see some people bitching about this being another example of trying to make D&D like a video game, but I think it's a fun little touch. It's not going to take anything away from the game and I think it will encourage players to do some interesting things that they might not do otherwise. This 7 page pdf is only .99 cents. The achievements and traits are formatted to be printed off on labels, which is a handy way to use them. If you are open to the idea I think it's could be a nice addition to your game.

May Your Blade Be Wet And Your Powder Dry

After talking to friends it looks like I'm going to be running a 5e game back home once or twice a month. I've decided that I'm going to finally run the nautical exploration game I've been dreaming about. So that I have an established setting, I'm going to use Critical Role's Exandria. This gives me established main continents and a pantheon of gods. The game will start on the Menagerie Coast (and I might even use the starter adventure for that area). I will also be using Darktow Isle and the Revelry.

I won't be sticking strictly to established setting stuff. For example. I definitely am including Genial Jack. The new races presented their will be available to players. To fit him in the setting, I'm making Jack a divine servant of both the Melora the Wild Mother and Erathis the Law Bearer. Additionally, because he is known to save civilizations, he's a mortal (or rather immortal) enemy of Uka'toa.  

I will definitely be stealing encounters and the town of Flotsam from Limitless Adventures' Pirate Bundle. In addition to Darktow Isle and Flotsam, I plan on using Runeterra's Bilgewater as a pirate haven in the game. While I haven't planned all adventures I'm using, I am including Jungle Tomb of the Mummy Bride. The party will come across a copy of A Field Guide to Hot Springs Island and be enticed to head to Hot Springs Island (which I finally have physical copies of). Captain Hartchild's Guide to Oceanic Depths will help me populate the world.

I'm rather excited that I have dice that fit the game thematically. I have a nice collection (with dice bag) that I obtained via Black Oak Workshop's Deathgale Galleon (and another Advent-ure Calendar set). Looking forward to session 0 and planning this one out with the group. Expect more updates and ideas.

Also if you have any recommendations for nautical or jungle/exotic exploration adventures, let me know. 

Source

Fuccubus Friday

This is the third printing cover of The Dark of Hot Springs Island. The art was done by Martin Sobr. I realize that naked ladies in chains isn't very 2023, but I love this art and its a nice Frazetta-esque throwback.

Svarku might not be a sex demon, but the lusty efreeti druglord is just as decadent. 

Vortex Isles Review

Vortex Isles is a pirate/treasure hunt themed adventure by Jim Hall of Brooklet Games. The adventure contains stats for 5e and Cairn. I dont know much about Cairn, so I'm looking at this as a 5e adventure. It's designed for 3rd level characters. The book is 22 pages and quite colorful. The core of the adventure's setting is awesome and frighting. The Vortex Isles are a group of volcanic pumice stone islands that float in a vortex in the sea. What causes this vortex... a massive unknowable creature that is thought to be consuming the world, starting with the ocean. 

The character need money and hear the legend of the lost treasure of Captain Lolligo. There are some great charts to help figure out why they need the treasure and what edge they have.  They book a merchant ship and got to the island of Last Haven. There they hire a captain and go to several other other islands gathering more crew and avoiding adversarial pirates. There's a cavern/dungeon towards the end of the adventure and there's a nice pay off and potential to permanently alter your game. The book ends with 5e and Cairn stats for the foes and monsters you'll face. The final page (back inside cover) also has a create a pirate table and details 8 magic items that can be found in the Vortex Isles.

This is a fun nautical adventure. This is a pretty versatile little module. It can be used as is and just be a nautical diversion. It can lead to other planes and campaign worlds. It can also add a new pirate territory to your nautical game. Finally, the Horror's influence could expand.

You can get the pdf in Itch.io or the print on the Cairn site.

The Harrowing

In League of Legends, the Harrowing is an event/force that periodically strikes at the living. Originating from the Shadow Isles it strikes out and reaps the souls of the living, turning them into restless undead spirits. Check out this puppet-centric cinematic describing it. 

Music Monday - Booty Bound

It's International Talk Like A Pirate Day, so why not enjoy this live action JTMusic video inspired by the video game, Sea of Thieves. Also keep an eye out because I believe the Pirate Borg pdf drops today.

Captain Hartchild's Guide to Oceanic Depths Review

I made some cool purchases at Origins and one of them was Captain Hartchild's Guide to Oceanic Depths. Much like the Pirate Bundle, if you are running Ghosts of Saltmarsh, Freeport, Genial Jack, or any nautical themed campaign this book is a must have! The book is a 110 page black and white tome that includes content for both players and DM's. 

Four players there are four new races:

• Ardro a humanoid goblin sharks that are both goblin and shark.
• Sharkfolk are humanoid sharks that often get mistaken for weresharks.
• Sirens are charming fey that can be tied to the sky or the sea.
• Undine are a humanoids tied to the elemental plane of water who make deep connections with others.

There are subclasses for all Player's Handbook classes and the Blood Hunter. 

• The Path of the Drowned Titan channel the power of long-forgotten Titans and trapped in the depths
• The College of Allure are masters of charm. The subclass was created with sirens in mind, but can be taken by others.
• The Order of the Hagspawn is a Bloodhunter child of a hag.
• The Tidal Domain allows clerics to tap into the power of the sea.
• The Circle of Evolution allow druids to combine characteristics of different animals when shapechanging.
• The Corsair allow fighters to fight dirty and go toe to toe with others on the sea.
• The Way of the Crashing Way is a monk fighting style that draws up the power and movements of the oceans.
• The Oath of the Guardians allow paladins to serve as gatekeepers of the free world.
• The Deep Sea Ranger patrol coastal waters and hone their abilities to fight there.
• The Contender rogue is a gladiator that focuses on looking good in the ring.
• The Soul Seeker seeks to harness the ability of the inborn magic to search for solidarity and the eternal soul. While designed with Undine in mind, it can be taken by others.
• The Wavemistress Patron has made a deal the queen of the sea for power.
• The School Astrology's magic is focused on the stars.

Players can choose several new backgrounds. They are castaway, coast guard, shipyard salvager, and whaler. Finally for players there are 27 new spells.

That ends the players section of the book. There are 13 new villains described. While the gods and things are generic, when I refer to them I'm going to use the iconic D&D names for them.

• Dom the Snapper is a tortle cleric that serves Tiamat 
• Joran Nu'rain is a human that made a deal with Jubilex to gain the power to keep his remaining family safe
• Zurgyl Troskwer is a newly turned wereshark that wants to become a lord of the seas
• Thys'tre is a mermaid that crafts powerful arcane music instruments
• Arnumnook is a kua-toa that serves Zuggtmoy
• Naakassis, the Bloody Baron is a powerful sahuagin pirate, his close ally is Duurzan, a sharkfolk wizard is also presented
• Dread Captain Scarfin is a wereshark pirate captain
• Aearnen are legendary fey that protect the coasts
• Lursivor is an aquatic beholder. Like all of its kind, it was born from dreams and nightmares
• Wavemistress Kyuril is an elvish shapechanger
• Cot'gool is a powerful ice-prawn wizard
• Unceggila Delta is a legendary and gargantuan eel
• The Black Admiral is a frightening lich that commands and undead dragon turtle/ship (featured in the cover art)

This section is followed by 34 minions. Several among them are sea serpents, which makes perfect sense, given the theme of the book. This is followed by 12 aquatic themed npcs. Finally there are 16 nautical magic items. 

Music Monday - Leave Her Johnny (Little V)

 Here's another pirate metal shanty cover by Little V. 

Grognautical - The Kittyman

Before my second hospitalization last year I was working on a nautical zine for 5e. Called Grognautical, it would feature the piracy cleric domain, new oceanic creatures, npcs, and other content of that nature. I've started working on it gain. One of the npc's featured will be inspired by this sea shanty I recently shared. My friend Devan is going to try to come up with a piece of artwork for him. This is the format I'm thinking, though I'm not sold on it. If  you have suggestions on the format, let me know.

The Kittyman

While he may seem simple to some, the gnomish sailor known as the Kittyman is far more intelligent that he initially appears. An accomplished carpenter and engineer, he is a valuable member of any crew lucky enough to gain his service. While his moniker is unusual, anyone who has seen him faun over a cat or cat-like creature, know that it suits him perfectly. Whether through divine magic or purity of heart, they tend to show him the same reverence.  It is said even mighty Rakshasa treat him cordially and exclude them from their schemes.

Stats : As Bandit Captain with the following additional abilities:

Now That’s  A Pretty Kitty: The Kittyman has advantage on all social rolls when dealing with felines (including monstrous and humanoid ones).

The Kittyman Comes: Conscious feline allies (including monstrous and humanoid ones) receive advantage on saving throws when they are within 60 ft of the Kittyman.

Music Monday - Wellerman (Little V)

As Tim recently pointed out, sea shanties are in again. I have no problem with this. A metal guitarist I love has recently started doing pirate metal covers of classic shanties.

Music Monday - Feminist Sea Shanties

 I've started work on Grognautical again. To get inspiration I've been playing Assassins Creed Black Flag, watching swashbuckling and nautical films, and checking, and listening to sea shanties and hurdy gurdy music. This lead me to the discovery of this Key & Peele sketch.

I got a few good laughs out of it. Semi-related to the subject of the shanties I was reading this article earlier and thought I'd share it with this post. If you don't want to read the article, you can check out video it's about here.  Moral of the story is don't be a shit heel and saying someone can't take a joke when you get called out for it just makes you look even more dumb. 

Genial Jack: Volume 2 Review

While the first issue of Genial Jack gave an overview of the Godwhale and the society that dwelt on and in him, the second issue details the living dungeon inside him. The focus of issue two is all about his guts. The dungeon is designed for low level adventurers, but there are several really tough creatures found inside. 

Of course, like any good adventure we're given several adventure hooks. This is followed by 8 items that prove helpful to those braving Jack's entrails. 

A new druidic circle related to Jack's entrails is detailed. The Circle of the Gutgarden uses magic that's been blended with ancient technoscience to affect "animalcules" that surround living beings. The class grants gaseous related spells and abilities. It kind of reminds me of the Circle of Spores from The Guildmaster's Guide to Ravnica and Tasha's Cauldron of Everything.

There are some interesting rules for the perils of adventuring inside a giant Godwhale's intestinal track. A random encounter chart with 20 unique intestinal encounters follows the perils.

There are several pages of magical items, lost within the Godwhale. Some of these are unique treasures. Others are less rare. There are some cool items, some of which tie into the first issue, such as the Crown of Y's. 

The majority of the oversized zine is dedicated to locations within the small intestine, the wild town of Herniaheim, and the large intestine. There are so many unique places to explore. There are various ruins, wrecks, and monster lairs to keep characters busy for many levels. I like these locations because they are well organized and include sensory bits. For example, a location might mention the sound or smell of the area. They also include people, perils, or plunder you might find within. 

The zine ends with numerous stat blocks for important npcs and unique monsters found inside Jack's digestive track. I have to say, I had a good laugh at the sections name "Colonic Creatures."  My favorite of these is the True Vampire Squid. This undead leviathan is quite frightening. 

I was not let down by the second issue of Genial Jack. I'm pretty sure this release has cemented my resolve to run a nautical 5e game as soon as I can. You can get the pdf and print on demand versions here.

Genial Jack On DriveThruRPG!

Genial Jack is a really interesting 5e setting by Lost Pages. Jack is a god whale that is the host to a cosmopolitan city. While nautical in nature, it reminds me of Sigil, the hub of the Planescape setting. That's high praise from me, given that Planescape is one of my all time favorite D&D settings. 

I reviewed the first volume last year. You can now get a print on demand version from DriveThruRPG. This is good news, because originally the zine was only available from the UK publisher or occasionally Exalted Funeral, which meant shipping was costly.  

The second issue is now available too. I'll be picking up a copy when I have some extra money. I'll make sure to review it when I do.

Until then expect a how to use Genial Jack in an Exandria game later this week.

Death in Freeport 20th Anniversary Edition

 I was beyond excited to find out that Green Ronin has released a 5e update to their classic adventure Death in Freeport. I also felt strange because this meant that 3rd edition came out 20 years ago. Long time readers will know that I love Freeport! The Freeport Trilogy is one of my top 5 all-time favorite adventures. It's the perfect mix of fantasy and horror and is Pirates of the Caribbean meets the King in Yellow. Plus, Freeport can be easily dropped into just about any setting. 

The pdf is roughly 40 pages (which is about 10 more than the original version if I remember correctly). They layout and art are all fantastic, which is a staple of Freeport releases. 

Ther pdf is broken down as follows

• Freeport background - 4 pages
• Adventure - 14 pages, for levels 1-3 
• Appendix - 16 pages

I won't go into too much detail about the actual adventure. In part one the characters face pirate pressgang slavers and get a job offer. In part two they do some investigation that leads them to the Temple of Knowledge and an orcish pirate ship. The final part leads them to the layer of a secret cult! The party are left with things to do to tide themselves over until the update of Terror in Freeport.

There's quite a bit of new material in the appendices. There are several npc stats and a new humanoid race (with two variations and a pc option). There are also two new magic items. For players there are four new archetypes. The Valor Domain allows clerics to be champions and bastions of bravery and courage. The Buccaneer lets fighters become feared pirates.The Alley-Rat is a rough and tumble urban rogue.Finally the Serpentkin is a sorcerous origin that ties the character to the serpent god, Yig. There are four pre-gens that are built around the four archetypes. Because only the acolyte is in the SRD, there are three new backgrounds: Privateer, Historian, and Street Knife.

The adventure is currently pdf only, but Green Ronin has said a POD version is in the works. You can grab the pdf on DriveThruRPG or GR's site.

Genial Jack Review

Genial Jack Volume 1 is a strange, wonderful, and fantastical zine for D&D 5e. The first volume is A4 sized and 57 pages.

The zine is about the city of Jacksburg... a giant city built on and inside of the Godwhale, Genial Jack! There's quite a bit of content here, including:

• 12 playable races (including a human variant)
• Gazetteer of the districts of Inner and Outer Jackburg
• Descriptions of government, laws, and criminal organizations 
• Jackburg slang
• 20 quick NPC's
• Centerfold map of the city.

The races are really unique. Take a form of underwater life and there's probably a humanoid race based on it. I think my favorite are the psychic jellyfolk. Each district includes one or more adventure seeds that really bring this metropolis to life. Honestly, I think the best review I can give it would by using the words of Levi from Planet X Games, "It feels like Planescape in the belly of a whale, and that's a good thing."

I ordered my copy from Exalted Funeral, although it's currently out of stock. If you want a print copy you'll have to snag it from the publisher, Lost Pages. Since they're are based in the UK that means you're looking at about ten dollars for shipping to the States, but Genial Jack is worth it. I personally have some big plans for this, Hot Springs Island, and the Pirate Bundle by Limitless-Adventures.

Men & Monsters of Polynesia Review

Men & Monsters of Polynesia is a monster source book by Skirmisher Games. The pdf is 22 pages, though only about 15 are actual game content or background information behind the design. Illustrations were created by by Travis Hanson and they are phenomenal! The book is OSR and the stats are provided for 1e D&D, though could be easily adapted to other editions. Obviously, the creatures included are based on legends and things from the islands of Polynesia, specifically Oahu, Hawaii, Kauai, Bora Bora, Moorea, Tahiti, and both the main islands of New Zealand.

Before proper stats are given to the new creatures, there's discussion of guardian animals and divine creatures, important concepts in many Polynesian cultures. There's also discussion about how to make them using existing animals and such. This is followed by a random encounters table (because every old school monster book has one, right?) and then the "monster manual" proper. In addition to the new monsters presented here, existing MM monsters that are fitting to the setting are mentioned.

Here's a quick run down of the new monsters:

• Boar, Monstrous - gigantic destructive beast touched by the divine
• Green Lady - an evil undead spirit of a mother that's lost or even slain their own children
•  Kawekaweau and Kawekaweau, Giant - island geckos, the smaller aren't normally aggressive but the giant variety can be
• Kupua E'epa - were sharks
• Kumi - large monitor lizards bites that can cause awful infections
• Maero - man-size woodland troll-kin (these are the creatures on the cover
• Menehune - island demihumans who were the original inhabitants of Lemuria
• Mo'o - female guardian creatures of natural sites, their natural form is a man-sized lizard
• Night Marcher - undead warriors who rise from the graves at certain times of their year and can draw others into their marches
• Tiki Statues (Wood and Stone) - Tiki are spirits that serve the gods and can be drawn into statues of stone or wood to protect sacred sites.
• Weta, Monstrous - heavily armored spikey giant crickets
• Weta, Workshop - intelligent spell casting giant crickets and a nice joke

The monsters are well designed and if you want to include some non-standard European inspired monsters you can't go wrong with this one. If you're running a pirate game such as Freeport, Skull & Shackles, or Razor Coast, this would be really good to have.

Normally a 1.99, its currently only .99 because of the Christmas in July sale.