The merfolk palace has been taken, and their princess has been kidnapped, in a plot orchestrated by the young power-hungry merfolk prince. He has promised to lead Captain Steamtooth (a gnomish steampunk submarine pirate) to his father’s Trident (which controls the Kraken) in exchange for kidnapping and killing the princess (so that he could rule the kingdom instead of her). The heroes will need to help the merfolk people to liberate their palace, then they will need to chase and board Captain Steamtooth’s submarine, and defeat him and his Kraken in order to rescue the princess.
Despite their appearance, merfolk are peaceful and not well-versed in the matters of combat, that's why their palace could be taken over by a small gang of pirates.
A teenage princess. Intelligent, kind, and capable of being a good ruler. Has been kidnapped by the pirates.
Extremely old, sick, senile king. All his affairs are actually ran by the General Tasaru with the help of the princess.
Loyal and brave warrior. Way over his head trying to run the kingdom for the old king.
A ruthless and machiavellian prince. Sylvestia's younger sibling, obsessed with killing her to be the one to rule the kingdom (Prince Joffrey).
Captain of the dwarven pirate submarine. Loves committing crimes and getting treasure. Obsessed with getting his hands on the Trident of the Seas to gain the power of controlling the Kraken.
Captain’s first mate. Smarter than captain, but weaker. Wants to commit a coup and get in charge. Will help players if they will help him.
Trapped underwater Djinn. Captured by the pirates, forced to serve them. If liberated will help players to overthrow the Captain and defeat the Kraken.
Players are taking a small vacation/weekend, chilling on the beach, when they see the ocean water bubbling, seeming to boil, and a huge group of merfolk are marching onto the land from the water. They seem distraught, agitated.
A small group in the middle are carrying a huge tent with the Old King Silvair on his throne. Jebediah and General Tasaru are accompanying him. Old Kind Silvair is holding an impressive and clearly magical Trident.
They will beg anyone who'll listen to help them liberate their city, which has been taken over by the pirates, and to rescue their princess.
The Merfolk have access to Gillyweed - a magical algie that will allow the players to breathe under water. They will also tell them that they have seen a few submarine pods in the port nearby.
There are two pods, created by a cooky and eccentric inventor. They are untested, one of them is half broken, the previous testing crew didn't survive the experiment. He'll be happy to give them to players in exchange for feedback on his inventions. Pods are fast and have powerful weapons, but are more noticeable, and not very reliable.
Merfolk people also have trained sharks players can ride. Sharks can get rowdy and dangerous though.
Players talk to the merfolk general, come up with a plan, train the merfolk soldiers, and travel to the merfolk city. Merfolk Prince and the General will join them, the Prince will take his father's Triden't with him.
They see combat raging in the middle of the city - merfolk soliders are attacking the palace occupied by pirates. Pirates shoot back, their submarine has powerful weapons holding them at bay.
It's very difficult to fight your way into the palace, but it's possible to use the hidden passageway to the throne room.
Inside the palace players will see Captain Steamtooth, his first-mate One-Eyed Willy, their captive Djinn Kali El, and a bunch of pirates carrying the treasure from the palace to the submarine. Pirates are wearing necklases that allow them to breathe under water.
Captain Steamtooth is willing to exchange the merfolk princess for the Trident. But once he gets his hands on the trident, he escapes to his submarine, without liberating the princess.
One-Eyed Willy is grumpy, and it's clear that he doesn't enjoy following captain's orders. If players establish contact with him, he’ll be able to help them later in exchange for helping him stage a coup.
If the players help to liberate the captured Djinn, she can help them to defeat the captain.
The princess is held on the Captain's submarine. Players can sneak onto it before it departs, or chase it. They can break in, teleport in, convince the captain’s first mate to open a hatch, or use the powers of Kali El to help them get in.
The submarine is filled with pirates ready to trigger the alarm the moment something goes wrong.
The princess is held at the back of the submarine, in the giant fish tank, guarded by two pirates. If the fish tank breaks, the princess will start running out of air until she's put back into the water again.
If the players confront the Captain Steamtooth and he realizes that he’s at a disadvantage, he will use his Trident to summon the Kraken.
It's possible to take over the submarine and use it to fight or escape the Kraken. If the players liberate Kali El - she will help them to defeat it. It's also possible to defeat the Captain, take his Trident, and gain control of the Kraken.
Before dying, the Captain Steamtooth will mention that everything was Jebediah's plan, who wanted to take over the throne and give them the Trident in exchange for killing the Princess.
Once the Captain Steamtooth and the Kraken have been defeated, the players can return the Princess and the Trident back to the city and receive rewards from the grateful merfolk. They can also decide what punishment is fit for Jebediah. The merfolk will be happy to help them in the future adventures.
This adventure was made by the Adventure Writer's Room community. We are a group of GMs who meet in the discord voice chat, and challenge ourselves to improvise a one-shot adventure in 2 hours. Our goal is to brainstorm fun ideas and improvise stories together in a chill, lighthearted, no-pressure environment. It works, it really helps with the writing, and it is super fun. We're looking for some friendly and creative people to join us!
Authors: Lumen, Krysiskeyblade, jgaylord87
Art: Dino Riders by Saad Irfan.
I have created an adventure writing course where I share everything I know about creating adventures. Check it out to learn an easy to follow step-by-step process for creating awesome adventures for roleplaying games.
