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

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.

The Spelljammer

 Did anyone ever use THE Spelljammer? Seen in the Spelljammer logo, it was featured in the Legend of the Spelljammer boxed set. I owned the boxed set, but never got to use it. The Spelljammer is essentially a city sized living ship that has it's own life cycle. An enchantment made nearly all that breathed its air desire to stay. There was essentially an adventure path that dealt with a character becoming the captain. I'm really thinking about grabbing the pdf and using it as the end game of my first 5e Spelljammer game. If not, I still may draw some inspiration from it. Genial Jack could be a space god whale, right?

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. 

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.

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.