Astral Sea Freebooters
This page is devoted toward the development of a D&D 4th Edition campaign, to be played via the Maptool virtual tabletop.
Campaign Overview
The Campaign is set in the Astral Sea aboard a Spelljammer ship. The characters are Freebooters -- treasure-hunters, explorers, heretics, swashbucklers, outlaws, mercenaries, renegade arcanists, and pirates. At the start of the campaign, the characters have just "liberated" a Varian Confederation (see below) penal ship, and have gone from being "honored guests" en route to a Astral Prison Island to becoming full blown Pirates.
Campaign Themes
Monster of the Week
The campaign involves travelling to many exotic settings. Many of these places will have their own antagonists, mysteries, and conflicts that can be resolved and left behind.
Recurring Villains
The campaign features several recurring villains, agents of the four great Astral-going Civilizations:
- The Illithid Empire: This mighty empire's influence stretches into the Astral Sea from Mnemos, a dark planet just beyond the border to the Far Realms. They control countless "worlds", and can call upon thralls of every race to serve them.
- The Slithering: An ancient primordial force known as the Leviathan has awakened on a tropical swamp "world". Serpentfolk riding great scaled behemoths have ventured forth into the Astral Sea, to bring other "worlds" the blessings of the Leviathan.
- The Hegemony: Dark spider-shaped ships raid peaceful "worlds", enslaving the populations into service to the drow elf Matriarch.
- The Varian Confederation: A human-led coalition of allied "worlds". The Varian Confederation consists mainly of player races. The ships of the Varian Confederation seek to bring justice and order to the Astral Sea, and see any who snub their generous offers of alliance as "part of the problem." The Varian Confederation has strict laws controlling the study and practice of magic, and considers spellcasters of all sorts as 'dangerous weapons'.
Horror
Twisted bio-tech tentacles horrors, ancient primordial forces beyond our ken, the undead, cursed lycanthropes, even Hell itself can be found in the Astral Sea and its islands. The characters will undoubtedly encounter many Things Man Was Not Meant To Know.
- Game Mechanic Note: There will be hazards included in Horror-based encounters that will inflict various conditions on the players to simulate the pure horror of the situation. These will likely target your Will defense.
Intrigue
The Four Great Civilizations are often engaged in intrigue against one another, and often choose areas friendly to Freebooters as neutral ground suitable for their espionage. It is likely that the characters will find themselves caught in the middle of this shadow war.
- Game Mechanic Note: If you're into intrigue, then Streetwise, Diplomacy, Bluff, and Insight are good skills for you -- they will be used a lot in intrigue-based Skill challenges.
Swashbuckling
Pirates on the Astral Sea, salvaging derelict shipwrecks, and following maps to hidden treasures. Time will spent not only in dungeon and wilderness areas, but also in rowdy ports, governor's palaces, and of course the open Astral Sea.
- Game Mechanic Note: The DM will be somewhat lenient on Acrobatic stunts, enabling you to swing from ropes and do other acts of athletic derring-do. Being trained in Acrobatics will be useful if you're into that sort of thing.
Swords and Sorcery
Magic is a sinister and dangerous force, often in the hands of the enemy, and those who abuse their mystic arts are often deserving a proper, old-school beat down. Characters tend to be a bit gritty in outlook, and mercenary in motivation.
- Game Mechanic Note: In order to (slightly) encourage the sword and sorcery feel (for people to play Humans, and Martial characters), Humans may choose a second bonus trained skill from their class list, and Martial classed characters gain +1 healing surge. Also, you gain a one time bonus of 500 gold pieces if your character is Unaligned.
Character Creation
In general the following books are allowed: PHB; PHB2; Martial, Divine, and Arcane Powers; Adventurer's Vault, Manual of the Planes.
Level
Characters will start at level 11.
Races
Any player races from the PHB or PHB2. Humans may choose a second bonus trained skill from their class list.
Class
Any classes or builds from the PHB or PHB2, Manual of the Planes, and the Martial, Divine, or Arcane Powers books.. Characters whose primary class is Martial gain +1 healing surge.
Ability Scores
You'll have to use the Standard Array: 16, 14, 13, 12, 11, 10. Yeah, I know it sucks. You'll get over it.
Skills
Choose these as normal.
Feats
Any feats from the PHB or PHB2 or the Martial, Divine, and Arcane Powers books. Please indicate which book the feat is from so that I can look it up if necessary.
Powers
Any powers from the PHB or PHB2 or the Martial, Divine, or Arcane Powers books. Again, please specify which book the power is from so that I can look it up if necessary.
Equipment
You may choose one item of level 10, one item of level 11, and one item of level 12, which may be selected from any of the allowed books. You also start with 5000 gold pieces that you can spend on any gear from the allowed books. Unaligned characters gain a bonus 500 gold pieces (for a total of 5500 gp). Please indicate which book the item is from so that I can look it up if necessary.
Character Details
Characters should all have a background that would lead toward incarceration at the hands of a lawful inter-planar government. Backgrounds include (but are not limited to) the following: Mercenary, political dissident, religious heretic, unregistered arcanist, pirate, thief, con-artist, smuggler, or spy. Characters may be any non-evil alignment.
Setting
The Astral Sea is a vibrant place, a misty ocean that stretches from the Elemental Chaos to the Far Realm. Countless worlds, big and small, mundane and fantastic, drift like islands in the Astral Sea. Majestic vessels, constructed by the great Astral-going civilizations, ply their trade from world to world, sometimes bringing commerce and wealth, and other times bringing slavery and death.
As the campaign starts out, the player characters have just overcome their captors and freed themselves from their bonds aboard a Varian Confederation prison ship, the Varian Confederation Spelljammer (V.C.S) Relentless. Now in command of the ship, they must determine their own course for adventure!
The average journey time aboard a Planar Dromond between close worlds is two months -- half that time aboard an Astral Skiff or Spelljammer. Utilizing a Sextant of the Planes enables much more rapid travel, at the price of a small fortune of arcane material components.
The V.C.S. Relentless
Formerly a prison ship of the Varian Confederation, this newly liberated ship is in the hands of the players, along with its former Navigator's very valuable Sextant of the Planes.
Carceri
This prison plane was crafted by the gods themselves, and is used by all the Astral-going civilizations as a place to imprison their worst criminals. With the relatively free access of Raise Dead rituals, the best way to assure you'll never see an enemy again is to usher him to the gates of Carceri and place him in the care of the powerful angels who vigilantly guard the gates to this realm.
This was the planned destination for the player characters, and the Relentless is within sight of the red color veil of Carceri at the start of the campaign.
