Organizing and creating a homebrew D&D campaign

Made a basic outline describing various events I want to lead the players through. It’s a bit railroad-y while introducing them to Darktow, but it was nice getting everything down in one place. For anyone interested I’ll be pasting the notes below (Potential Critical Role spoilers):

TODO:
	•	Figure out/design points of interest
	•	Fill out shops/shopkeeps
		o	Basic equipment + 1 or 2 magic items of interest
	•	Figure out adventures/encounters that the players could get into

Recap from previous session
Chaos Crew dives underwater into the sunken island of Flora Isle
In combat with:
	•	7 Sahaugin warriors
	•	3 sharkbody abominations
	•	Selechai the sahaugin warlock leader
Killed the sharks, most of the sahaugin, plus Selechai.  Loot:
	•	Tridents – 5gp each (x5) – 25gp
	•	Rod of Retribution (given to Kralok) – 1800gp – 600gp to Chaos Crew as agreed on
		o	Rod of Retribution is actually a weapon gifted by Ukutoa, a lesser idol that is working towards its own release
		o	Amber Crystalline Eye on the end is a point of interest, and sheds sea water when
	•	Loot from Flora Isle
	o	Silver chalice with gold filigree - 45gp
	o	Sharktooth necklace beaded with tiny shells - 25gp
	o	Golden bracelet family heirloom - 25gp

 
Session Events
	•	Kralok and crew of the wavecrasher sail into Darktow
	•	Do they get followed by another ship? Yes
		o	Perhaps the ship is Clovis Concord?
	•	Kralok instructs one of Chaos Crew to look through a spyglass to figure out which flag to hoist up
		o	Up until this time the flag being waved has been Clovis Concord
		o	Now needs a specific pirate flag to hoist up
		o	TODO: Design various flags to have them choose from
				1d7 x 1d16 (5x13 rolled for flag)
				3 opportunities for perception checks (DC: 18)
				Ship needs to slow down until the right flag is picked
				After 3 failures, ship gets boarded by other clovis concord crew and battle must be fought
	•	Bandit captain/thugs (2/4) board the ship
	•	Cannon-fire (1 shot/2 rounds, 3 hits (DC 12) = ship starts to sink)
	•	Once successful identification of flag is made, wavechaser hoists up the correct flag, raises sails and evades the cannonfire from here-on out.  Wavechaser makes it through the reef barrier, passing wrecked ships half above water, supported only by the reef, itself to serve as a warning to intruders, picked clean of any loot from the wreckage by Darktow inhabitants
		o	When sails are raised, have a crew member give one of the players a scroll of Gust of Wind.  They also have one and need to use it to accelerate the Wavechaser passed the pursuing ship
	•	As they pass the reef, the clovis concord ship gives chase, only to be ship-wrecked by the dragon-turtle named Idok
		o	Describe a wake forming as something unseen underwater makes its way to the ship
		o	As the turtle dragon starts to surface, you see what at first looks like a dorsal fin of a shark, then more, almost strangely in formation, until you realize that as the surface of the water parts these fins instead make up the spined shell of a giant dragon turtle
		o	Crashes through the clovis concord ship, wood splintering in the air, you can faintly hear the shrieks coming from the boat, but they are quickly drowned out as the dragon exhales scalding steam onto the boat, enveloping the remaining crewmembers in one swift motion
	•	Wavechaser safely (or barely manages) to make it into port.  As soon as they dock they are greeted by an NPC passing on a message that the Plank King wishes to see them.
		o	Kralok waves them on like he knows already.
		o	Instructs Chaos Crew to join him, as Plank King will want to make note of all newcomers
		o	Dajarkal, who’s helped navigate this entire time, gets banished from the wavechaser
		o	Remaining crew carts loads of loot up to the Throne Roost, where the Plank King resides
				Spices/Alcohol/Barrel of Gunpowder/Cannon/treasures
	•	Throne Roost is at the top of Darktow, giving a 360 degree look out across the sea, allowing for the Plank King to make strategic decisions at a moment’s notice.
		o	There’s a pulley system that is used to cart up the loot while the party walks up.  On their arrival they see the quartermaster inspecting everything and nodding while jotting everything down
	•	Sitting on the throne, Wyatt Maranoss (Plank King) greets the party heartily, clearly glad to see Kralok.  They shake hands and basically recreate the scene from Predator, trying to out-muscle each other
		o	Wyatt asks about *snaps fingers at Linus, who hurriedly rustles through notes* Faril, Dajarkal, and Zui
				Faril and Zui were taken out while bravely defending the wave chaser while Palma Flora was sinking
				Kralok lies and says that Dajarkal was killed by these sharkbody abominations when they ambushed the ship
		o	Kralok introduces Chaos Crew to the Plank King
				Wyatt gives each player a chance to introduce themselves, then asks various questions, each response being written down by Linus:
				•	Where do you come from?
				•	What drives you?
				•	Any affiliations? Have you run with any other organizations before now?
				•	Do you want to be a pirate?
					o	If yes: What do you bring to the table?
					o	If no: What will you do now that you’re here?
				Any interruptions will set Wyatt off, threatening to pull out their tongue
				•	2nd interruption becomes capture and thrown to jail
					o	“I never said WHEN I’ll pull out your tongue”
		o	After Chaos Crew introduces themselves, Wyatt turns to Kralok and asks what he’ll do now
				Needs to repair his ship
				Needs to find a new navigator
				Needs to sell this Rod of Retribution
				•	Holds it out to Wyatt who looks it over, comments on how it’s probably not great in combat, then hands it back
				•	Plank King mentions that the next auction is at the end of the week, along with festivities to allow for would-be pirates to prove their worth
					o	Combat
					o	Navigation
					o	Thievery
					o	Water challenges
					o	Deceit
	•	Kralok mentions that he owes Chaos Crew 600gp for their efforts in retrieving it.  Plank King motions to Linus to retrieve it from the loot brought on by Kralok
		o	Plank King dismisses the crew.  On their way out, they bump into Vandran, another pirate captain
				Human male in his 40’s, tan skin from being in the sun on the open sea, but has seen some shit. Blonde hair down to his shoulders, ashen blonde beard that goes down to his clavicle
				At this point Kralok has the rod of retribution held in his hand, and Vandran takes notice of it and something….drives at him.  He asks to take a look at it, but Kralok taunts him a bit and holds it high above his head “Oh sure, here you go!”
				Vandran chuckles and tries to take a swipe at it, but Kralok swiftly moves it out of the way, laughing and moving it back above his head.  As he does so, the amber eye starts magically conjuring sea water which drips steadily onto Vandran.  Kralok laughs more and says that it must still be water-logged from when Chaos Crew went to retrieve it.
				•	Insight Check: DC 10 = more sea water than usual, like there’s a bit too much coming out o fit
				•	DC 15 = notice the eye blinks just once
				•	DC 18 = the eye is staring only at Vandran
				“If you want to look at it so bad, you’re more than welcome to buy it at the auction.” Kralok then shoulders passed him and leaves.
		o	At this point, Chaos Crew and Kralok part ways.  He needs to see about making repairs to his ship, plus he’s going to scout out new navigators at the next festival, though there’s plenty of work available. Check the bulletin for details
				TODO: Look up one-shot things to do around Darktow
		o	Have an interaction with Oni and her Patron (Baba Yaga)
				Dream sequence that lets him talk to her
				Baba Yaga appears in the form of metal grinning teeth and craggy old hands (think Andross)
				In the dream, give Oni the opportunity to report on the current happenings.  At the mention of the Rod of Retribution, Baba Yaga reaches into Oni’s mind and pulls out the Rod of Retribution, much like the someone from Harry Potter dragging a memory from their mind
				Baba Yaga plucks the amber eye from the rod, pops it in her mouth and chews thoughtfully for a moment, commenting on how she absolutely LOVES how it tastes and how velvety smooth the texture is, then suggests to Oni that she would love a physical version
				At the end of this dream sequence, Baba Yaga offers a gift to Oni, a Quasit familiar.  Pulling the quasit from her teeth, she hands it to him as it struggles
				Oni wakes up short of breath, looks around, and finds the creature patiently waiting for him on the side of the bed/cot
		o	Sometime before the day of the auction, one of the party members is to find Kralok dead
				Rod of Retribution is on him, but the amber eye is missing
				PLENTY of bodies surround him, all with deep wounds that he’s cut down
 
Points of Interest
	•	Throne Roost
	•	Temple of Kord – along the shoreline
	•	Temple of Melora – along the shoreline
	•	Museum of Darktow for tourists (just read verbatim of the history…try to drag it out as a joke)
	•	The Pit  - verdant basin in the center of the island, hosts the only greenery and wildlife on the island and is only hunted when resources are scarce

Shops and Items
	Each shop and tavern are its own ship, some permanently docked and others sticking around until they run out of wares
	•	Each equipment type has its own shop, along with 1 or 2 magic items for sale
	•	Add a curiosities shop with various trinkets plus a few more magic items

Adventures on Bulletin
	•	The Wild Sheep Chase
		o	POORLY written words scrawl across the this wanted ad looking for help in restoring the status of a wizard to his former glory
o	https://winghornpressdotcom.files.wordpress.com/2018/02/the_wild_sheep_chase_v2.pdf
		o	Wooden shield of Animal Hide - wraps around user when polymorphing into a beast, giving them +1 natural armor
	•	Wolves of Welton (Wolves of The Pit
		o	Some sheep farmers are having issues with wolves and are willing to pay handsomely to clear them out
		o	https://www.dropbox.com/s/vj5noyyq9hglxjf/5E_Wolves_Of_Welton.pdf?dl=0
	•	Bloody Maggie’s Crew
		o	The characters are hired by Bloody Maggie (chaotic neutral, female human Bandit Captain) of the ship Dragon Turtle to find out who or what keeps murdering members of her crew.
		o	Culprit is Blue Martita, a revenant who wants revenge on Bloody Maggie and her crew for leaving her behind during a Clovis Concord raid on one of their safe houses.
		o	Blue Martita tries to recruit the Chaos Crew to her cause.
	•	Bulletin advertising the festival. To sign up for a particular competition, consult Linus in the Throne Roost.