[Adventure Idea] The Devil Pirate

[ugavine]

My adventure Global Warming seems to have been a success at our games club to the extent that I need to do a follow up adventure, or at least have one ready.

I've been brainstorming a few ideas, most include stealing bits from Big Finish Audios.

Things to take into consideration;

1. Cannot be too over complex a plot.
2. 7 Players (one is a Time Lord) & myself as GM.
3. Already done Cybermen and don't want to use Daleks (yet).
4. Needs to be a little bit silly

So I figured I'd mix up Bill Oddies Doctor Who and the Pirates with what appears to be a pretty popular monster, and one I'm using myself in another group, the Silurians (or Sea Devils).

I figured the TARDIS could land in a small port. PCs investiagte and a couple get kidnapped/forcibly conscripted onto a ship.

There is a pirate villain, and to make it interesting the Devil Pirate is actually a Sea Devil commanding a Pirate Frigate.

I can see this turning very much into Doctor Who meets Pirates of the Caribbean, but that wouldn't be a bad thing really as it could be pretty funny.

I also imagine a battle between Frigates and a sword duel between a PC and the Devil Pirate.

But any more ideas to help me flesh this out would be appreciated.

[Craig Oxbrow]

That sounds like enough to run a game to me. But I've thrown in a couple of added twists and a big historical event to tie things together. If nothing else, the links in the Port Royal Wikipedia page include a nice map...

A bit of an overlap with my previous idea Into The Leviathan's Maw but what the hey.


Devil Of The Deep

Pre-credits of a three-masted ship being battered by a fierce storm... and something monstrous clambering on board, drawing a cutlass and bearing down on the captain.

Port Royal

1692. Centre of British power in Jamaica and the Caribbean, home berth to the Royal Navy's pirate-hunters while still quietly welcoming pirates there to fence their loot. Best to watch your step in case of press gangs or cutpurses.

And berthed nearby and hiding, planning a raid on a well-laden Portsmouth merchantman, is notorious pirate Red Rab Campbell, captain of the Red Star. With him is his new assassin, the Grey Devil - a man who can swim his way onto any ship no matter the weather, who scuttled that Dutch merchantman single-handed and gave him the spoils...

Beneath his ragged oilskin cloak, the Grey Devil is really a Sea Devil warlord bent on forcing the human imperialists out of the Spanish Main, using Red Rab and his men as pawns. He knows that an earthquake is coming which will cast Port Royal into the sea, and intends to use the chaos to kill the survivors and sabotage the colony permanently.

But Rab has no idea of any of this - his one good eye is on the main chance as always, and when he sees the travellers' rich clothes and distracted tourist expressions, he kidnaps one who wanders off alone, in hopes of getting a good ransom.

This alters the Grey Devil's plan as there's now a good reason to send the Navy after Campbell's ship, the Red Star, but that could lead him away, so as the travellers follow in the Navy's fastest cutter, he calls in his fellow Sea Devils to kill all on board. The travellers can ruin the Grey Devil's plans then and there, or he can commandeer the Red Star and attack Port Royal directly as the earthquake hits...


Things To Do: Retrieve a lost companion, defeat a pirate crew with or without the aid of the Royal navy, stop the Sea Devil invasion.

Antagonists: The Grey Devil, more Sea Devils at his command, Red Rab and his scurrilous crew. Quite possibly the Navy and the Governor's men if the travellers put their foot in it.

Action Scenes: Escaping a press gang. Outrunning an earthquake. Surviving in the middle of an all-out sea battle. Duelling with the Grey Devil.

Visuals: A ghost ship crashing on the rocks in a furious storm. A cloaked figure with webbed hands just visible before he pulls them into shade. Travellers in period clothing. The travellers surrounded by a rowdy band of pirates. A companion walking the plank. Sea Devils climbing up the anchor chain onto the ship. The travellers running for the TARDIS pursued by cannonfire. A pitched sea battle. A swordfight.

Problems: The travellers have to be separated, so make sure they all get a fair amount of screentime. With the pirates, Navy and Sea Devils there are quite a few sides to keep track of as well.

Things To Prepare For: There are several sides to the conflict, both mundane and unearthly. Maps could be useful for Port Royal, and deck plans for the Red Star and the Navy cutter.

Continuing the Adventure: Who else might be seeking to profit from the destruction of Port Royal? What else might have been unearthed by the city's collapse?

[ugavine]

I like it.
And I've just remembered I have an old Ravenloft adventure with a ship deckplan, that will come in useful.

[zebaroth]

sounds good