Thedemoninthecorner - Greaper's Corner

I’ve been trying to think of a setting for a nautical campaign. A vast expanse of tropical islands and waterways with the obligatory shady towns that sit on the water and temples of worship deep in both the jungle and the water. Any thoughts?

Yeknow what, fuck it, I wasn’t planning on writing a full pirate campaign anytime soon but everything’s better with pirates so lets do this!

Campaign: Scoundrels of the Sundered Isles

The Priests debate as to how our hearts may be weighted against its bearer’s sins.. but we Sailors no Better: ‘tis not sin our hearts are weighed against, ‘tis coin, as only coin could get a man to sail out to the edge o’ the bleedin world and gettim to stay ‘ere long enough to get to sinnin in the firstplace. 

-Overheard at The Last Hurrah Tavern

Setup:  The Tropical waters of the Tourmaline Sea have been a flurry of activity over the past century and a half, as natives and settlers from three different continents work together to reclaim land once lost after a half-millennia of supernatural darkness rendered a large chunk of the mainland uninhabitable. Most people deserted the Sundered Isles ( their name derived from a mistranslation that they were “Sun-Dead”) fearing the raiders and plagues that issued from that calamity, and they stayed away even after the sun returned, letting the gentle creeping of green reclaim the once barren rocks. 

Ever hungry for expansion, civilization makes its first tentative steps into these dangerous lands, with ports popping up all along the coast and archipelagos, the first wave of resettlement of a land once thought consigned to oblivion. 

All is not peaceful however, as powers both foreign and continental strive to establish dominance in this new frontier, with settlers, traders, and foolhearty sailors caught in the clash between. Discover the Mysteries long buried in darkness and sunken beneath the crashing waves, as you and your party strive to make your way in the Sundered Isles

Campaign Start

Captives of the Villainous XROC Merchant company and on their way to do hard labor in one of a number of debt-colonies, the party is miraculously saved when a tremendous wave crashes against the ship where they are imprisoned, shattering it upon the coastline and giving them the chance to escape together through the island.   There they find themselves Port Calmayne, a prosperous trade hub where the party can get their sea-legs under them while determining the best course of action and evading the Company. 

Early Game: 

A Priestess of the sea god has work for the party, neverminded that she’s a “retired” pirate, and the job involves helping a group of smugglers exterminate some monsters they accidently imported from the continent 

Investigate the haunted manor of an old Commodore, recover a treasuremap, and perhaps acquire some funds by looting through his hold treasures. Don’t get shot by a ghost while you’re at it. 

Earn the Respect of the local sailorfolk by diving for treasure into shark infested waters. Hidden among the bones of a great dragon are tokens that prove the party’s skill and sea-blessed luck, earning them passage on any ship going anywhere in the Sundered Isles

Mid Game: 

Make your way to Greenveil Lagoon, hidden home of all true pirates and the Bretherin Court. Help reunite an old salty-dog pay respects to his long departed crew, or start treasurehunting for the world’s most skilled but unlukiest mapmaker. 

Hunt ruins for a fabulous relic, then defend it in a ship-duel from a mystic privateer intent on taking it back.  When a job goes bad, it goes bad, and it’ll take all the party’s skill as sailors to evade this tenacious ( and seemingly omniscient) foe. 

Sign on With the Monster Hunting Crew of the Leviathan’s Bane, travel to the most dangerous corners of the archipelago, fight creatures that break ships between their coils, learn how to cook seamonster

Explore an ancient, eternal lighthouse, used as a lair by an eccentric pyromancer. Help a wayward celestial find their misplaced chariot of fire and learn clues as to the darkness that overtook the mainland so long ago. 

Late Game

The Merchant company that enslaved the players wants control over trade in the Sundered Isles, and is willing to unleash a madwoman in order to get it. This renegade pirate is obsessed with becoming the terror of the high seas, going so far as to overthrow the brethren court that keeps order among the Isles’ freebooters, and even unleash a vampire on the populace in hopes of becoming one herself. 

Venture into the lush jungles and overgrown ruins of the continent, and meet the fallen demigod who caused the devastation in the first place. Now little more than an eccentric old lizardfolk, this seemingly benign evil has many stories to tell, and more than a little wickedness still in him. 

The Wave that set the party free was only the herald to a true upset, as over moths an entire new archipelago of islands emerges from the seafloor after millennia in the depths.  Dotted with ruins and artifacts of a long dead civilization, these new isles draw fortunehunters into a clash with the merfolk exiled by the sudden rising of their home, all the while an ancient power wakes, looking to assert itself over the world once again. 

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Art 

five steps for not writing a boring story? i can never ever write something that doesn't end up boring 😂

Hiya! Thanks for your question. Writing an engaging story is complicated, but it can be done.

First off, there are so many aspects to writing a gripping story. Honestly, it can’t be done in five steps (and certainly not in one blog post). To prevent a boring story you need strong characters, an exciting plot, good pacing… the list goes on and on.

So rather than type out a 3000+ word response, I’m going to give you a mini-masterpost of the key aspects of writing a non-boring story with links to other LGF posts. Here you go:

How Not to Write a Boring Story:

Descriptions:

How to Write Better Descriptions

Showing vs Telling

How to Create Interesting World-Building

Dialogue:

How to Create a Unique Character Voice

Writing Unique Dialogue

How to Prevent Your Story from Being Dialogue-Heavy

Characters:

What Do You Do When Your Main Character Doesn’t Jump Off the Page?

Three Types of Character Traits

Writing Character Arcs

Plot:

How to Make Your Conflict Less Plain

The Element Every Story Needs

How to Avoid Unnecessary Scenes

Pacing:

Why Your Story Feels Too Fast

How to Pace a Scene More Quickly

Pacing Through Details

Beginning:

What to Write in a First Chapter

How to Avoid Info Dumps in the Beginning

10 Ways to Start Your Story

Middle:

How to Build-Up to a Climax

Plotting the Middle

Creating and Maintaining Tension

End:

Traits of a Strong Ending

Examples of Narrative Endings

Dual Duties of Chapter Endings

Misc.:

What Aspects Make a Good Story?

The Four Horsemen of the Bore-Apocalypse

Thanks again for your question! If you need any more writing advice, feel free to send in another ask! Happy writing!

- Mod Kellie

If you need advice on general writing or fanfiction, you should maybe ask us!

This resonates with me in a way I like a little too much, and it's perfect for most of my wips. I'll do my best to reach the point this can fit and write it.

Person A: “The answer is no.”

Person B: “I haven’t even asked you anything!”

Person A: “I know that face, and I know you’re going to ask me to do some crazy dumb shit that’s likely to get us both killed, all for the sake of some ridiculous plot that doesn’t make sense to anyone but you. So the answer is no.”

Person B: “….”

Person A: “….”

Person B: “….”

Person A: “You totally were weren’t you?”

Person B: “…….Maybe.”

all the tips I found for drawing a fantasy map are like :) “here’s a strategy to draw the land masses! here’s how to plot islands!” :) and that’s wonderful and I love them all but ??? how? do y'all decide where to put cities/mountains/forests/towns I have my map and my land but I’m throwing darts to decide where the Main Citadel where the Action Takes Place is

so what you’re saying is you’re alcoholic

Are you poisonous?

venomous

hey do you have a tumblr

no sorry

Could you guys imagine if the only sex education people got was from bad fanfiction?

so i made another picrew of myself and this one more accurately depicts me, and you can make yourself here: https://picrew.me/image_maker/400146

hey could you please suggest some story titles with the word 'flower' in it

Flower Title Ideas

-> feel free to edit as you see fit.

Let Us Live Like Flowers

The Flower in the Eye of the Storm

A Landscape of Pain and Flowers

Talk About the Flowers

Flowers and the Divine Creation

A Flower with Tough Roots

His Flower

Speaking in Flowers

Hope in the Flower

The Language of Flowers

The Enchanted Flower

Whispers Among the Flowers

Flowers of Promise

Songs of the Flower

Dancing with the Flowers