Water elementals are always fun. I like the idea that the party discovers a lone boat with the survivor of a wreck on it unconscious, the only thing on their possession is a jewel or a piece of jewelry that is enchanted with the ability to summon a water elemental. Turns out the elemental has been bound to the gem is and it's mate has been tracking it to get them back. You can play with how your PCs discover this information and what they do with it.
How about a Sea Hag plus some zombies and a couple of ghosts. The Zombies and Ghosts are victims of the Sea Hag and trail water and generally look like victims of drowning (picture the girl from the Ring series and the pirates form Davy Jones ship in Pirates of the Carribean). The Sea Hag is after something or someone on board the ship and uses the undead as a diversion so the party don't have to fight her just the minions.
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As an additional to the previous post...add in a zombie giant shark that attacks the boat so whilst the zombies, ghosts and sea hag are on board the party also have the shark damaging the hull and trying to sink it.
EDIT: as ana additonal to the additional....
If you want a non-combat encounter use a Mary Celeste style event. The party come across a ship thats adrift, they board and find no sign of life, the dinner table set for a meal, plenty of supplies but nothing living, no crew, no passengers not even rats. As the part explore ask them to make saving throws or skill checks at random intervals and play on their paranoia by giving them the sensation of being watched, odd smells drifting around a room, candles that snuff out as they approach etc.
I like the idea of threatening dangers of being pulled into the water. Put a lot of sharks in there or some other creatures that cannot climb out of the water. Now your PCs will be scared of falling into the water. Whether you actually execute on all the potential or not, the threat is there and that can influence their behavior.
in the middle of a calm ocean: bubbles. so many bubbles bursting at the surface. they could easily be mistaken for a great deal of fish activity except that the players probably noticed it from the occasional drifting iridescent bubble that survived to lift off into the air. if they go closer to investigate there might be a shape hurtling out of the water only to splash back down. then another and another, then pairs. bubbles trail behind them like ribbons, now obviously colored in blues, greens, and pinks. what's more, each bubble seems to release a snippet of distant music and merriment.
let the player speculate. does anyone have sea-adjacent proficiencies? maybe someone's heard that packs of great rays have been rumored to surround a school of fish and force them up in a vortex. someone else swears whales are known to use bubbles to wall in less intelligent prey. someone more cynical is sure it's mute sirens luring incautious prey with naught but giggles and coy splashes.
if they get don't flee the scene, perhaps they'll find that it is in fact a sea elf wedding party. there might be some grumps from guests if their boat is directly above the bubble column or blocking the sun. otherwise, despite some reservations by the groom, the bride welcomes all those who would celebrate. in fact, if the players stay relatively close to the column of bubbles they'll find that they can breathe magically, although it's likely they'll keep floating to the surface without some weight. if someone notices there's a few sea elves down below focused on keeping the bubbles active and asks about it then one of the bubble technicians can cast Air Bubble on them. mingle with the guests, some of whom they might be unlikely ever to see again without someone spilling blood: a bored sea hag who might describe to you the delicate armistice and then immediately try to sneakily goad someone into breaking it, a Sahuagin ambassador and his shark entourage, Kraken Priest snooty and irritated about not being asked to officiate, etc.
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A pirate ship approaches they have the PCs have the option to try to escape (They say what they do and you decide an appropriate skill chack and DC) if they succeed (say 3 times) they escape and if they fail three they get boarded
A Ghost ship maybe two ghosts on board, maybe they attack if the charcters do smething like loot their ship put can be calmed if the players offer to help put them to rest (e.g .To deliver their cargo, deliver a message to a loved one, revenge their death by pirates)
A giant shark that atemps to tip the boat enough to cause people to fall in the water (Dex save)
I would build tension by having the boat be damaged. Sails get torn in a storm and/or a mast(s) breaks. An attack causes a leak in the hull, which can only be partially patched. Now they must regularly bail out the boat. Running out of fresh water. Rats soil the food. Sailors desert with a lifeboat and supplies (if a bigger ship). The ship gets lost or a storm makes them navigate further from the intended port. These events happen several times. Make them feel the angst of being lost at sea. Multiple set backs to increase anxiety. Sharks start circling the boat sometime in the middle of these events. Sharks increase in size, number and proximity with every bad event. A bad omen is seen. These events make the adventure much more intense, like a suspenseful movie.
When I ran a transoceanic voyage recently, I also used an encounter with two ships (one was full of pirates and one was a merchant ship. Both flew the same red sails, confusing the PCs). I used a giant squid who hit and ran several times; they could not see it during the earlier attacks because they happened at night or at the other end of the ship. Not knowing their enemy was also used to build tension. The squid put holes in the boat during the early attacks! ;) I also used a glowing patch on far off in the ocean at night. They chose not to investigate but it was bioluminescent algae with flying fish and larger predators (based on my personal experience fishing offshore); they had no idea it was so innocuous and were afraid to get closer.
My last encounter was some strange floating jetsam. They jumped into the ocean (very brave!) and tied up the item, hefting it aboard. It turned out to be an unspoiled cask of Fire Giant Fire Whiskey and everyone got drunk! (We drank some whiskey ourselves at this point, to feel what the PCs were feeling!)
The whole thing ended with an all out giant squid attack (each arm could attack, and hurl people from the ship into the sea. Cutting off an arm decreased its attacking abilities and HP). They killed it but not before it irreversibly damaged the ship. They had a few moments to pack up their magical backpack with a few key items and jump in. Then, they had 24+ hours adrift in the open sea (being harassed by sharks of course! I subsequently found out one of my players has a real life phobia of sharks). Then, they had to make it over a coral reef and finally to the shore of an island.
I think it made for a pretty tense and unusual adventure.
I am a 40 something year old physician who DMs for a group of 40 something year old doctors. We play a hybrid game, mostly based on 2nd edition rules with some homebrew and 5E components.
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I've thought about using a giant squid, even though that's a bit cliche. Any ideas for monsters I could use? Or, any ideas on unique circumstances?
Water elementals are always fun. I like the idea that the party discovers a lone boat with the survivor of a wreck on it unconscious, the only thing on their possession is a jewel or a piece of jewelry that is enchanted with the ability to summon a water elemental. Turns out the elemental has been bound to the gem is and it's mate has been tracking it to get them back. You can play with how your PCs discover this information and what they do with it.
How about a Sea Hag plus some zombies and a couple of ghosts. The Zombies and Ghosts are victims of the Sea Hag and trail water and generally look like victims of drowning (picture the girl from the Ring series and the pirates form Davy Jones ship in Pirates of the Carribean). The Sea Hag is after something or someone on board the ship and uses the undead as a diversion so the party don't have to fight her just the minions.
Awesome. I was just thinking sea hag, but adding the zombies is a nice touch. Thanks!
There’s a homebrew monster called a water zombie. Gives them some cool abilities and flavor. Looking like the Ring? Awesome!
As an additional to the previous post...add in a zombie giant shark that attacks the boat so whilst the zombies, ghosts and sea hag are on board the party also have the shark damaging the hull and trying to sink it.
EDIT: as ana additonal to the additional....
If you want a non-combat encounter use a Mary Celeste style event. The party come across a ship thats adrift, they board and find no sign of life, the dinner table set for a meal, plenty of supplies but nothing living, no crew, no passengers not even rats. As the part explore ask them to make saving throws or skill checks at random intervals and play on their paranoia by giving them the sensation of being watched, odd smells drifting around a room, candles that snuff out as they approach etc.
I like the idea of threatening dangers of being pulled into the water. Put a lot of sharks in there or some other creatures that cannot climb out of the water. Now your PCs will be scared of falling into the water. Whether you actually execute on all the potential or not, the threat is there and that can influence their behavior.
"Not all those who wander are lost"
in the middle of a calm ocean: bubbles. so many bubbles bursting at the surface. they could easily be mistaken for a great deal of fish activity except that the players probably noticed it from the occasional drifting iridescent bubble that survived to lift off into the air. if they go closer to investigate there might be a shape hurtling out of the water only to splash back down. then another and another, then pairs. bubbles trail behind them like ribbons, now obviously colored in blues, greens, and pinks. what's more, each bubble seems to release a snippet of distant music and merriment.
let the player speculate. does anyone have sea-adjacent proficiencies? maybe someone's heard that packs of great rays have been rumored to surround a school of fish and force them up in a vortex. someone else swears whales are known to use bubbles to wall in less intelligent prey. someone more cynical is sure it's mute sirens luring incautious prey with naught but giggles and coy splashes.
if they get don't flee the scene, perhaps they'll find that it is in fact a sea elf wedding party. there might be some grumps from guests if their boat is directly above the bubble column or blocking the sun. otherwise, despite some reservations by the groom, the bride welcomes all those who would celebrate. in fact, if the players stay relatively close to the column of bubbles they'll find that they can breathe magically, although it's likely they'll keep floating to the surface without some weight. if someone notices there's a few sea elves down below focused on keeping the bubbles active and asks about it then one of the bubble technicians can cast Air Bubble on them. mingle with the guests, some of whom they might be unlikely ever to see again without someone spilling blood: a bored sea hag who might describe to you the delicate armistice and then immediately try to sneakily goad someone into breaking it, a Sahuagin ambassador and his shark entourage, Kraken Priest snooty and irritated about not being asked to officiate, etc.
unhappy at the way in which we lost individual purchases for one-off subclasses, magic items, and monsters?
tell them you don't like features disappeared quietly in the night: provide feedback!
I like encounters where combat isn't inevitable:
I would build tension by having the boat be damaged. Sails get torn in a storm and/or a mast(s) breaks. An attack causes a leak in the hull, which can only be partially patched. Now they must regularly bail out the boat. Running out of fresh water. Rats soil the food. Sailors desert with a lifeboat and supplies (if a bigger ship). The ship gets lost or a storm makes them navigate further from the intended port. These events happen several times. Make them feel the angst of being lost at sea. Multiple set backs to increase anxiety. Sharks start circling the boat sometime in the middle of these events. Sharks increase in size, number and proximity with every bad event. A bad omen is seen. These events make the adventure much more intense, like a suspenseful movie.
When I ran a transoceanic voyage recently, I also used an encounter with two ships (one was full of pirates and one was a merchant ship. Both flew the same red sails, confusing the PCs). I used a giant squid who hit and ran several times; they could not see it during the earlier attacks because they happened at night or at the other end of the ship. Not knowing their enemy was also used to build tension. The squid put holes in the boat during the early attacks! ;) I also used a glowing patch on far off in the ocean at night. They chose not to investigate but it was bioluminescent algae with flying fish and larger predators (based on my personal experience fishing offshore); they had no idea it was so innocuous and were afraid to get closer.
My last encounter was some strange floating jetsam. They jumped into the ocean (very brave!) and tied up the item, hefting it aboard. It turned out to be an unspoiled cask of Fire Giant Fire Whiskey and everyone got drunk! (We drank some whiskey ourselves at this point, to feel what the PCs were feeling!)
The whole thing ended with an all out giant squid attack (each arm could attack, and hurl people from the ship into the sea. Cutting off an arm decreased its attacking abilities and HP). They killed it but not before it irreversibly damaged the ship. They had a few moments to pack up their magical backpack with a few key items and jump in. Then, they had 24+ hours adrift in the open sea (being harassed by sharks of course! I subsequently found out one of my players has a real life phobia of sharks). Then, they had to make it over a coral reef and finally to the shore of an island.
I think it made for a pretty tense and unusual adventure.
Velstitzen
I am a 40 something year old physician who DMs for a group of 40 something year old doctors. We play a hybrid game, mostly based on 2nd edition rules with some homebrew and 5E components.