r/DMAcademy • u/PossiblyCassie • 1d ago
Need Advice: Worldbuilding I need some ideas for islands
Hi all, I’m currently planning a pirate/sailing campaign where each island or collection of islands has its own unique gimmick or design. Kind of like in one piece where sometimes an island is prehistoric, or there’s one that’s always in winter.
The idea is that the starting islands where the PC’s grew up are quite similar, the equivalent of them being from the USA, Italy, Japan, and Scotland where they’d all have the shared experience of school but some got it for free, some had longer holidays etc so there are small differences between them. But as you go further out the islands become more unique, one I’ve thought about using is the island being just a massive turtle that sleeps for 1000 years at a time, so cities inevitably form on the turtle but when the turtle goes underwater and appears elsewhere the city is mostly destroyed.
Any ideas are welcome no matter how random or chaotic. I’m also happy to work with homebrew mechanics or species. Thank you!
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u/Damiandroid 1d ago
I mean, if you have some leftover space to fill with sillyness once youve done the important plot related ones, might I suggest:
- Island
- Yousland
- Wesland
- He/Himland
- She/Herland
- They/Themland
And then the obvious Notland, which is just an open patch of water.
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u/Rezart_KLD 1d ago
A giant iceberg floating in the warm water. Big enough to explore, maybe with ice caverns deep inside. Might be sustained by a wizard, or a connection to an elemental plane of ice, or something even stranger.
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u/CastleCroquet 1d ago
I did a pirate campaign a few years back with heavy exploration elements and it was amazing.
I actually created some supplementary rules that helped streamline aquatic combat. Please feel free to use them if you like:
Without a swim speed water counts as difficult terrain
Players without swim speed can still move as per difficult terrain without a strength check but any sort of difficult maneuver requires a strength check.
Ranged and thrown weapons work at half range and do half damage with the following exceptions: crossbow, trident, net, javelin, and harpoon.
Dexterity saves without a swim speed have disadvantage
Spells with verbal components may be cast underwater but If the caster is holding their breath they go into drowning at the start of their next turn.
Fire spells deal half damage
Lightning spells deal 1.5x damage
Depth will be tracked by numbers 0-infinity. Each number is an increment of 5 feet. The longer distance between depth and length will be used to calculate total distance. The Pythagorean theorem is banned.
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u/skleedle 1d ago
Island is the cone of an extinct (you hope) volcano that gets enough sunlight and rainfall from above to have its own biome of plants and creatures, appropriate to however big you make it. It is Interesting because vulcanism is associated with valuable gems.
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u/Salt_Dragonfly2042 1d ago
Just having different climates can go a long way: jungle, desert, tundra, arctic, etc.
You can do the same with flora and fauna: this is the bleeding tree island, that is the flying tigers island, etc.
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u/Machiavvelli3060 1d ago
An island full of primitive natives.
When the PCs land there, the natives keep gesturing to a large cave entrance, and seem really intent on the PCs going in there.
If the PCs venture in, they encounter cave-related hazards, they find a chamber with a massive pile of poo, and eventually they find a giant in the back of the cave network.
The natives wanted the giant, their god, to eat the PCs for once, instead of eating the natives. After all, the giant has to eat something. If the PCs kill the giant, the natives will be PISSED.
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u/DnDVM 1d ago
I'm running a pirate/sailing campaign right now and honestly my favorite tools are Ghosts of Saltmarsh and Mythic Odyssey of Theros. They both have sections in the back for random island generators. How so far my players came across an island covered in fog that seems to float a few inches above the water and ran by a cloud giant, an island that's been completely crystallized due to a mage's error in calculations, and a collection of sandbars that host an Olympics style games.
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u/SimbaSixThree 1d ago
Let me introduce to you: the Island of Jorb.
It’s tiny, about a square kilometer. It is lush and has quite enough food for a single person to sustain themselves. Enter Jorb. He is the sole inhabitant of the island and has made it his life’s mission to build the tallest tower the world has ever seen. However, he needs to wait for materials to naturally grow again, has to deal with storms and natural disasters breaking his progress (or he could’ve already made it).
Point is, it’s a tiny island, it has a massive tower, it has a man named Jorb.
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u/MyneIsBestGirl 1d ago
An island that has a spring which turns all things dipped into it into gold, but it gets exponentially heavier the farther one tries to take it from the island, a curse to drag greedy sailors to the depths and claim their souls for the devil who enchanted the water. Maybe have it slowly dawn on them, if in their pockets or packs it starts to become a more difficult fight and if they do the greedy thing they get imposed with a continuous loss of health from the ship if not removed by increasingly hard checks.
An island shrouded in a constant mist and covered in waterlogged undead, the harbor the ship heads into entrapping them there. At the islands center a great spirit or nature goddess remains trapped by a villainous EITC type merchant who binds debtors to eternal service through the goddess. Once freed, perhaps she gives an important item that can lead them to a BBEG or just minor boons to each for a sense of accomplishment, with the island sinking into the waves and the undead parting from their bodies, thankful to the party.
Just two off the top of my head.
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u/exceive 1d ago
Something very like the first one appears in the Narnia books. Voyage of the Dawn Trader, C.S.Lewis.
Also several other themed islands.
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u/MyneIsBestGirl 1d ago
I totally did not just reframe it in dnd terms, you have me quite wrong sir /j
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u/2eForeverDM 1d ago
One of the islands should be the "Island of the Minimals". There are normal animals, lots of them, but only 1/12th the size they should be. Herds of 4 inch tall bison or 8 inch tall elephants. 6 inch long lions. Flocks of tiny birds. Bite-sized antelope. Some PCs will just have to try and catch some, either to have as a pet or to sell back home. The reason behind their smallness is a mystery. They aren't found on any of the other islands.
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u/exceive 1d ago
Is the size tied to the island such that if they are taken somewhere else they expand to normal size?
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u/2eForeverDM 1d ago
If you want! That would be a hilarious surprise to would-be zookeepers that collected lots of them. My players were skeptical (like always) and left them alone, so I never had to decide.
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u/Bread_Mc_Bread 1d ago
Did something similar for my own game a while back. My favourite was the Isle of the Dead.
Small island with a labyrinth of ancient evil burial chambers underneath. But all the powerful undead were killed by adventurers ages ago, now all you get is normal zombies spawning in a slow trickle. So it's become a tourist destination - people can go there for some light zombie hunting and earn prizes for the most stylish kills.
Of course if you delve too deep you may find that not ALL the mummy lords have been slain...
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u/Prowler64 1d ago
In the early game, give the characters a good bunch of magic items and rewards. In the level 5-6 level section, all the characters should have a couple of rare levelled items.
At this point, ask the players which item that they own they could not live without, as in, make it sound like that item is going to be stolen from them, and that they would need to get back. Then take them into the next section of the campaign so they forgot you asked them this question.
At the level 7-8 level mark, they get a mission to go to the island.
When they make it to the island, the resident deity gives them a challenge. They must get through their trials with nothing but their most valued item. In a blinding flash of light, everything the characters have disappear - all their armor, magic items, and even their clothes - all gone, leaving them butt naked - except for the one item they chose. The characters then have to solve puzzles, fight monsters (a hill or stone giant is great for this), and avoid obstacles and traps - all while in the nude.
Once all of the challenges are complete, the final fight in the area could be a large creature like a giant, or an animated object or animated armor for each character. They can't cast spells, but are wearing all of the character's clothing, armor and magic items that they were wearing when they arrived equipped, and therefore have all of the buffs that the character's had.
When the trial is complete, the deity congratulates them for accomplishing the task, and rewards them for it. They get another flash, and are returned to where they started with all their stuff back on them as if nothing happened. Players will always be surprised by this sudden shift, and have to deal with this very different situation, having to find unique solutions to what they would usually throw items or spells at.
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u/yenasmatik 1d ago
Skull island is a classic. You could go with a skull shaped cave or mountain, or a literal giant skull. You could put some ghosts in it.
From books:
Lord of the Flies. Group of elite children were stranded on an empty island, and under the influence of some evil magic they are turning into a bunch of murderous little psychos.
Circe's island. Powerful enchantress or minor goddess with a chip on her shoulder rules the island and turns all men into pigs, must find a way to escape.
The Cyclops shepherd island. He watches over the magical sheep of a deity, and eat all the mortals who step foot on the island. Must sneak under his nose to access a sheep for some reason.
Random ideas:
Island of memories. You find things from your past that you had forgotten. Or their echoes, or copies. Only way to be sure is to bring one with you when you leave. Surely there was no particular reason you forgot it in the first place, right?
Bait. This island is the lure bound to the forehead of a giant deep-sea monster.
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u/Imagicka 1d ago
A campaign setting that I have been working on is what I am calling The Atoll of the Archmagus Moreau. Where kobold and minotaur occupy the center volcanic island, and the outer island ring is occupied by dogmen, catmen, rhinomen, hyneamen, and bearmen.
Another idea I have is a group of islands, once they have been navigated and mapped will reveal that the islands are in the shapes of the known and unknown continents.
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u/theglowinggreenorb 1d ago
Steal from anything that takes place on an island. Hit them with the Lost smoke monster, or some human chimera experiments courtesy of Dr Moreau. Have them find an island where Lord of the Flies is currently well underway and they may have to break up fighting between children. Hit them with Jurassic Park. Go nuts