The CritFail.Post - Issue 005
Pitch Perfect
Hello and welcome to the official CritFail.Press Newsletter!
In this issue of the CritFail Post we take a look at ending a campaign through the lens of my long running Ghosts of Saltmarsh campaign. Then we have an exciting adventure for the Pirate Borg RPG called The Siren's Song, complete with download link (so you don't have to run it out of your email!)
Reflections on a Campaign's end
The Ghosts of Saltmarsh campaign I had been running for nearly two years ended at the beginning of September. It was the first major campaign I have DMed since the Coronavirus Pandemic, and since becoming a father. It was also completely online except for our epic grand finale (pictures to follow), so to say I have some mixed feelings about it is an understatement.
The campaign met weekly, a new phenomenon for me, and played for 2 hours each night. Shorter than what I'm used to but good for a group of tired 30/40-somethings at the end of a day of work and chasing kids.
What I find astonishing now is how the group came together. From a core group of three (a sibling pair and their cousin) three more of us were added. That cousin and I had played together before and he recommended me as DM, that's how I was looped in. The other two were acquaintances of one of that sibling pair, and he just randomly invited them in and they agreed.
What's more, the experience with D&D ranged from absolutely none to like 20+ years. It was all over the place, but by some incredible luck it just worked. I know group dynamics can be a really big sticking point for lots of tables so I won't gush about it, but these guys gelled right away. They say no TTRPG and is better than bad TTRPG and those are words to live by, but if you spend the energy and are lucky enough to find a group that works you'll know it immediately. And if you do, hold onto it for dear life.
The decision of what to play was mostly left up to me, everyone was pretty open to anything. I had wanted to run Ghosts of Saltmarsh since the book came out, and I felt the first adventure, The Sinister Secret of Saltmarsh was a good introductory adventure to D&D and the way the game functions.
And I was right. The mix of exploration and roleplay at the beginning of that adventure and the combat in the latter half was a great sampling of what the game has to offer and how it can all fit together.
It only went on from there. Over the course of 74 sessions plus two, side-story one-shot games, we dug into a really rich narrative. Our game was driven both by character goals and external pressures being applied to the region that they had to mitigate and adapt to.
It took me years to get comfortable with sandbox style play. As a young GM, like many others, I had overly prescriptive narratives that were too inflexible to the goals of the players. I was obsessed with staying as true to the pre-written adventure content as I could, but a decade plus of GMing gradually worked those tendencies out of me and in place instilled a more improvisational and laissez-faire approach to running games. One that is well suited for anthology and location based adventuring.
And that's what Ghosts of Saltmarsh really gives you, a location based adventuring sandbox. Three of the adventures have strong ties since they are updates of a first edition adventure trilogy, but the rest are all standalone. Wizards, to their great credit, wrapped this adventure corpus with such amazing support content. An interesting town, full of compelling NPC’s (Xolec, Manistrad, Captain Xendros, Anders, Welgar Brinehanded, just to name a few), other small adventuring locations complete with four different events or encounters, for different level ranges that, could occur there and a regional map brimming with exciting places to explore made this book such an incredible toolbox for telling stories. While the book is certainly focused on nautical themes, it also basically provides you with an outline for an entirely different campaign, set completely within the neighboring Dreadwood where the PC’s struggle against evil fey.
That's what makes this book so great and anthologies like it so useful. These disparate pieces become like LEGO blocks that we can assemble however we want to create our campaigns. It was so much fun for me to weave the story through the various parts of this books and use it to to tap into the characters back stories and to draw the players further into the narrative.
An anthology sandbox like this is also rife for expansion. Based on the needs of our story I expanded the Dwarven Mine settlement, which just gets a short paragraph description into a full fledged adventure location, complete with its own mystery. You can check that one out here if interested. But I also wove in the entire adventure The Lost Laboratory of Kwalish too. It was amazing, worked with our overall narrative and showed some of those players new to D&D just how weird we can get with our storytelling.
And that they should be ready for anything.
I could go on and describe everything about this campaign in excruciating detail, but I think the point has been made. This was one of the best, if not the best campaign I've ever run. It was so fun and so gratifying and I am very sorry to see it end. But it ran its course. We told the story of those characters and that town.
Now we're moving on to other characters, other games, other systems. And I couldn't be more excited, but I will still miss that campaign.
Oh, and as promised, our finale was in this awesome rentable gaming space. We had this sick table and room all to ourselves, got 3D printed minis, some beers and snacks. It was so choice. If you have the means, I highly recommend renting one sometime.
--Mike
The Siren's Song
Setup
- A coven of sirens has recently taken up residence on a deserted island. They have already lured one ship, the English trading vessel The Incorrigible to its demise, and the PC’s ship may be next.
- Potential hooks could include the Player Characters hearing Lumis’s song echo across the water requiring them to succeed on a SPIRIT test per the siren’s stat block. Failing the test causes them to be overcome with an urgent and unstoppable desire to travel to the Island.
- An NPC crew member of the PC’s ship is at the helm and hears the song of the sirens. They adjust the ship’s heading, but no one else notices until they run aground on the shoals in Area I.
- The players are hunting down the recently wrecked vessel The Incorrigible hoping to loot something of value.
Plot
- The sirens lured The Incorrigible here and are transforming the survivors into Deep Ones to serve them and protect their island.
- The survivors live in Area III. Each night one survivor is brought down by the sirens to the ritual site in Area IV and transformed through a dark ritual.
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Each of the three sirens (PB 102) rules over a different part of the island:
- Martis governs the lone palm (Area V). After the survivors are transformed she sends them off shore to construct an underwater barracks where they are to stay.
- Lumis governs the lighthouse (Area VI). From here she projects the sirens song across the island and out to the water placating and attracting new souls to their doom.
- Floris governs the grove (Area VII). Among the trees she cultivates and prepares the herbs and plant life needed for the ritual to transform the victims.
- The siren’s hold on the island is tenuous at this stage, and could be derailed with the correct interference on the part of the Player Characters.
- Destroying or stealing the ASH in the wreck of The Incorrigible (Area II) puts a complete end to their ability to make new Deep Ones.
- Similarly, burning down the grove (Area VII) ends their ability to create new servitors. The main difference with this course of action, is it only delays their plans. The eldritch herbs being cultivated their can be revived, given enough time, and blood.
- If the conch shell is destroyed, Lumis can not project her song across the island or out over the water.
- The siren’s must spend more time managing the survivors and the Deep Ones and their ability to lure in new victims wanes sharply.
- Eventually the remaining crew and the Deep One’s rebel and kill the siren’s, though at great cost to both of their numbers.
- If the Deep One’s are routed completely, the siren’s have no one to guard the island, construct additional fortifications, or even fetch the ASH from The Incorrigible. While this doesn’t stop the siren’s ability to make new servitors, it does greatly slow down their ambitions.
Locations
1. Landing
- Rocky and scrubby.
- Can see the wreck of The Incorrigible (Area II), the ruined manor house (Area III), the lone palm (Area V, but only the palm not the blue hole off the shore) and the lighthouse (Area VI).
- If the PC’s were entranced by the siren’s song, their ship has run aground here. Any PC so ensnared wishes to travel only to the manor house (Area III) by the most expedient means possible.
2. The Incorrigible
- Wrecked English merchant vessel is beached on the sand.
- All goods are still aboard, but there is no sign of the crew.
- Captains quarters:
- The top note on the desk appears to display attempts to scratch out music
- A comment says: I can't get this haunting melody out of my head. Perhaps if I write it down it will silence the yearning which grows in my heart…
- TREASURE:
- Six (6) kegs of ASH. It is enough to fuel the siren’s rituals for years, as long as enough victims can be acquired.
- A total of 200s can be found throughout the ship, but requires half-a-day of searching.
- Trade goods totaling a value of 1200s can be found as well.
- The Harbormaster can decide what the goods actually are, but examples can include tobacco, rum, sugar, lumber, etc.
3. Abandoned House
- A run-down English manor house, abandoned for many years.
- Leaky roof, rotting floorboards.
- Houses the survivors of The Incorrigible
- Twelve (12) men (all Naval Crew, PB 110) remain. All entranced by the siren song that carries across the island.
- If any attempt is made to force the survivors to leave, or any threats are made against the sirens while the song rings out across the island, the survivors become enraged and will attempt to kill who ever speaks such blasphemies.
- Survivors will not leave the manor house, not even to chase down blasphemers, unless Lumis sings her song of warning, in which case, the survivors will leave to defend the island from intruders.
- None seem to notice that each night their number decreases by one and if it’s brought to their attention, they just assume they were so overcome by the music that they went to seek its source and haven't returned yet.
- Survivors roused in the middle of the night, during the time the ritual is being performed can be convinced of what’s going on with a Difficult (DR 14) PRESENCE check. Otherwise they think they are just shipwrecked survivors awaiting rescue and the PC’s are just other castaways who have succumbed to madness.
- PC’s arriving here under the siren’s spell feel much the same as The Incorrigible’s crew.
- A new saving throw to cast off the siren’s spell may be made each day.
- Each night have all players roll a d20. Anyone who rolls a 1 is the siren’s victim that night. If a tie occurs, have them roll again, with the lowest roll being the unfortunate sacrifice.
- New PC’s can be drawn from the available survivor pool of The Incorrigible’s crew.
4. The Siren’s Three
- A small outdoor ritual site.
- Three statues made of driftwood and other detritus hauled from the sea, one for each siren: Martis the Strong, Lumis the Beautiful, and Floris the Wise.
- By day nothing happens here. Red and black blood stains cover the ground, evidence of the nightly ritual performed here.
- Each night a survivor is woken up and led here by the sirens themselves.
- During the ritual, the siren’s song ceases, and anyone under their spell is released for the duration of the ritual.
- It is for precisely this reason they wait until the middle of the night, when the survivors sleep, to perform their ritual
- The siren’s use the ASH housed in the shipwreck to initiate the ritual. Martis sends their Deep Ones to retrieve the ASH which is then mixed with the cursed herbs growing in the grove (Area VII).
- The blood of the victim is drained and carried away by Floris to raise more of their foul herbs.
- The potent concoction of the ASH and the herbs is injected into the victim as Lumis weaves their dreadful spell. This infusion mutates the unfortunate thrall into a new Deep One.
- Martis escorts the sirens new servitor to the Lone Palm (Area V) and sets them to work with the other Deep One’s constructing an underwater barracks for the siren’s growing army.
- When the ritual is complete, each siren returns to their lair, and Lumis’s song begins anew.
5. The Lone Palm
- A single palm tree grows here, its fronds hanging out over the water.
- The water immediately offshore is approximately 10’ deep
- A small blue hole is present here and descends to a depth of 100’.
- The Deep Ones are constructing a barracks for themselves within the top 20’ of the blue hole.
- At any one time six (6) Deep Ones (PB 100) can be found laboring here, unless they have been called away elsewhere. They work in shifts with three (3) others present here who are resting.
- The details of the barracks are left up the Harbormaster. The barracks can be a single cave slowly being excavated or a naturally occurring network of undersea tunnels with other threats lurking within.
- Similarly the bottom of the blue hole may be the lair of some powerful sea creature that would tolerate no incursion from those who dwell above.
- Martis spends their time during the day underwater overseeing the Deep Ones and their activities. After sundown they linger beneath the palm, plotting how to usurp control of the island from the other sirens with their growing army, and waiting for the night’s ritual to begin.
6. The Lighthouse
- The crumbling stone lighthouse has been worn down by the sea over decades.
- Rotting stairs wrap around the inside of the tower wall from the tower base up to the watch room.
- The old fire bowl for the lighthouse flame has been draped with fine silks and other garments making a luxurious bed of sorts. Lumis spends their time during the day reclining here and singing into the large conch shell they have mounted next to the bed.
- Several of the lighthouse mirrors are still intact and Lumis has arranged them such that they can watch themselves singing from multiple angles.
- Lumis spends all day at the top of this tower absorbed in their own self-indulgence. They sing of their beauty and the promises they can offer those who come to serve them. Their song placates the shipwrecked victims and lures new thralls to the island.
- At night, they stop singing and descend the tower to join the ritual with the other sirens.
- If Lumis becomes aware of a threat on the island, they can sing their Song of Warning. Similar to their normal song of thralldom, this rouses those individuals under their sway to seek out and kill whatever foe they sing of.
- The conch is incredibly valuable and is considered a relic. Its magical amplifying property permits sound to carry out to a distance of 6 miles. It can be used a number of times per day equal to SPIRIT+1. Beyond amplification, the shell makes the whatever spoken or sung into it sound sweeet and pleasing to the ear. This effect means that checks to resist the sirens song can only be made once per day instead of once per round. The shell is also quite fragile and will shatter if dealt a strong enough blow, or dropped from a great height (like the top of a lighthouse tower).
7. The Grove
- A large stand of trees grow here on the island.
- The small hills on either side provide some protection for the trees of the grove, and several different varietals thrive here.
- Bushes, shrubs, and exotic flowers have been able to grow underneath the canopy of the palms.
- Floris spends their time during the day here tending to the grove and raising the specific herbs and flowers required for the ritual to transform the sirens victims into their Deep One servitors.
- The plants Floris tends must be “watered” daily with human blood, to maintain their potency for use in the ritual. If the plants are deprived of blood for more than a few days they enter a period of hibernation. It can take weeks of careful tending, and copious amounts of blood, to get them to bloom and begin producing their dreadful flowers again.
- More mundane fruits can be harvested in the grove as well including bananas, papayas, mangos, and more.
Events
- A group of three (3) Deep Ones patrols the island. Each time the PC’s arrive at a location other than Area I, roll 1d6. On a 1, the patrol arrives and interrogates the PC’s, forcing them to the manor house (Area III) or attacking them if the PC’s act with hostility.
- The sirens oftentimes don’t get along with each other. Each night the ritual is performed, the Harbormaster may choose to roll 1d6. On a result of 1, the sirens are mad at each other about some perceived slight and waste time arguing about. They are distracted during this time, and no song is being sung. Clever crews (and victims) may be able to use this to their advantage.
- On the third day after arriving on the island, a powerful hurricane blows through the area. The song of Lumis cannot be heard across the island for approximately two (12) hours. The PC’s have a window of opportunity to act before the howling wind and crashing surf dies down, and the song can again be heard. They however must contend with the howling winds, driving rain, and thundering surf, the effects of which are left up to the Harbormasters.
- A week after arriving on the island another ship has been lured in by the siren’s song. The details of this ship, its mission and its crew are also left up to the Harbormaster.
Credits:
- Designed and written by Mike Kuhns
- Cartography (including North Arrow) by Dyson Logos
Download the PDF of The Siren's Song
Next Issue:
- Starting a Solo Campaign with the Free 2024 D&D rules
- The 3x5 Card