Sailing the Sapphire Isles
1. A map to the fabled Isle of Laarn
A campaign starter for Dungeon World by Jeremy Strandberg
(2017 CC BY SA), inspired by Dirk Detweiler Leichty & Brian Holland
Before creating characters, roll 8d6 and take turns
assigning them to the questions below. Set the
remaining 2 dice aside.
What happened here recently?
1. A storm that’s left you crippled and shorthanded
2. A narrow escape from an Imperial man-o-war
3. Open revolt by the Empire’s far-flung provinces
4. The Pirate Queen’s capture and the shattering of her
armada
5. A tenuous treaty between Empire and merfolk
6. A successful raid on a fat merchant ship
What here is not what it seems?
1. There’s a spy for the Empire in your midst
2. The prisoner in the hold keeps a dangerous secret
3. These islands… they aren’t on any of the charts!
4. You joined the crew under false pretense
5. You’re smuggling dangerous, valuable cargo
6. You’ve been flying a false flag since leaving port
Who or what is really in control here?
1. A fickle sea god, punishing you for your sleights
2. The curse that was but recently laid upon the crew
3. Merfolk (territorial & xenophobic) and their pets
4. The Imperial armada, who dominate these waters
5. The rebellious Imperial noble funding the voyage
6. The admiral who sent you on this mission
What (else) should we be on the lookout for?
1. Sea monsters... big ones
2. The Cult of the Shark, hunting what’s rightly theirs
3. The Ambrose, which sailed out of Death’s Black Gates
4. The captain’s obsession, and its dire repercussions
5. Pirates and buccaneers, who prey on these waters
6. A maze of sandbars & razor-sharp reefs
What here is useful or valuable to us?
2. A vast treasure, buried somewhere on this island or
lying in a sunken wreck
3. A fearsome and far-flung reputation
4. A compass pointing toward your heart’s desire
5. A favor owed you by a powerful sea witch
6. Your ship, fastest on the Sapphire Seas (+1 Speed)
What is about to happen?
1. A ship-killing storm bears down
2. A bloody mutiny boils, long overdue
3. Three sails are set to intercept you
4. An innocent is about to be executed on ship
5. You’ve dropped anchor and your boats approach a
mysterious, ruin-dotted isle
6. Your quarry’s been spotted, after months in pursuit
When all questions have had a die assigned to them, set
the two remaining dice aside and spend some time to
extrapolate the results and flesh out the world.
Starting Disposition
Next, create characters and establish Bonds. While or
after Bonds are established, GM, ask any or all of the
following:
☠ Which one of you, if any, is the captain?
☠ Which of you are officers? What is your post?
☠ Which one of you was crew long before the rest?
☠ Which of you are clearly still landlubbers?
☠ Why did you go to sea? Why did you join this crew?
Starting Disposition
Now, take those 2 remaining dice and total them up:
10+ You start play with the initiative—there’s an
opportunity for you to seize, time to make a plan,
and/or an opening to exploit.
7-9 You start play facing down danger, but things
haven’t gone south just yet—it’s tense!
6- You start pinned down, imprisoned, or on the run
The GM will set the scene. What do you do?
When Things Calm Down
Follow the procedure in The Perilous Wilds (“Draw the
Map”) to create the Sapphire Isles together.
Your Ship
She’s named the… ☐Peerless ☐Dark Star ☐Sea Fox
☐Prince’s Pride ☐____________________
All three start at +1. Add +1 to one of your choice:
Speed Hull Crew
☐ ☐☐
Choose 2 advantages:
☐ Increase a second stat by +1
☐ She’s fitted for war (a ram, artillery, arms and armor
for the crew); +1 to All Hands on Deck to attack!
☐ Spacious cargo: add an extra ☐ to “Low Stores”
☐ Unsinkable: add an extra ☐ to both “Crippled” and
“Sinking”
Choose 2 disadvantages:
☐ Reduce one of the ship’s stats by 1
☐ Cramped: permanently mark Low Stores
☐ Old & falling apart: permanently mark Battered
☐ Bitter crew: permanently mark Grumbling
☐ Savage crew: it takes work to keep them in line when
they have the opportunity for excess
☐ Distinctive profile: the ship is easily recognized
Conditions
☐ Low Stores (worrisome, but no effect just yet)
☐ Depleted Stores (cannot Refit at sea)
☐ Battered (mostly cosmetic damage, no effect just yet)
☐ Crippled (can’t sail)
☐ Sinking (taking on water, getting worse)
☐ Doomed (it’s going down, quickly)
☐ Grumbling (the crew isn’t happy, but no effect just yet)
☐ Miserable (need convincing to roll +Crew)
☐ Depleted (-1 ongoing to Crew and Speed)
☐ Mutinous (good luck with that)
Crew Members: Chayan Shiv, Jem the Tooth, Jezibel Mra,
Jon “Scurvy” Montalix, Long Nadja, Mosi First-Born,
Nym Glynlar, Old Geiss, Pitr the Cut, Precious Kito,
Rafaal Goldtooth, Rawiri, Tomas Filch, Tue Birch, and
any unused names from your playbook
http://www.fantasynamegenerators.com/
Wayfind
When you chart a course across the open sea to a known
destination, ask the GM roughly how long the journey
should take. Then, roll +INT: on a 10+, you chart a
sound course, though the GM might still pick 1 from
the list below; on a 7-9, pick 1 from the list below; the
GM might decide to choose another:
☠ You’ll need to mark Low Stores (or Depleted
Stores) by the journey’s end
☠ The route goes through perilous seas, sholes, etc.
☠ You’ll risk running afoul of ___
All Hands on Deck
When the ship and/or crew acts despite an imminent
danger or suffers a calamity, say how you all handle it
and roll…
… +Speed if you try to outrun or outmaneuver it
… +Hull if you hunker down or power through
… +Crew if you rely on the efforts of the crew
On a 10+, it works as well as can be expected, but the
GM might still choose 1 from below; on a 7-9, it works,
but the GM picks 1 and might ask you to pick another.
☠ You’re not quite out of trouble just yet
☠ Individual crew members are endangered
☠ It’s taxing; mark a condition on the ship
Refit
When you spend days drifting or at anchor to recover,
make repairs, resupply, or modify your ship, roll +Crew:
on a 10+, spend 3 on the choices below; on a 7-9, spend
2; on a 6-, spend 1 but ask the GM what crisis
interrupts your work.
☠ Remove a condition from the ship
☠ Work quickly, reducing the time spent refitting
☠ Trick out the ship for a specific purpose; take +1
forward to All Hands on Deck for that purpose
If you Refit at open sea, spend 1 less. If you Refit at a
port of call, spend 1 more.
Hold Your Breath
When you plunge beneath the waves, hold Breath equal
to CON+1 (minimum 1), or CON+3 (min 2) if you take
a deep breath first. Each time you roll 2d6 to make a
move, pick 1 (after you roll):
☠ Spend 1 Breath
☠ Mark a debility (that you haven’t marked yet)
☠ Take your Last Breath
GM Toolkit
Ship names: Agile, Arrowhead, Augustus, Beautiful Boy,
Bittersweet, Blackwater, Califax, Catspaw, Drakken, Diamon,
Emris Ray, Fisher of Men, Goodwind, Gray Lady,
Hammerhead, Magicienne, Manx, Matilda, Mistcutter,
Mother’s Love, Orphans’ Hope, Poor Ginny, Rogue, Seadevil,
St. Tristram, Starlight, Unswerving, White Zephyr, Wyvern
http://www.random-generator.com/index.php?title=Ship_Names
http://www.fantasynamegenerators.com/ship-names.php
Islands, Features, and Ports of Call: Arzikos Isle, Azur’s Gate,
Bay of Skulls, Bulqetz’s Maw, Cyclops Bay, Forsaken
Reef, Fort Leuthil, the Gauntlet, the Iron Cove, Honor’s
Landing, Isle of the Troll King, Kotri’s Teeth, Luin Tol,
Pearl’s Sorrow, Oxl Bay, Port Aran, Refuge, Seadevils
Hole, Silverhaven, Skyheart, Stoneheart Rock, the
Shattered Isle of Ai, Tower Island, Twelve Head Bay,
Vaknot Isle, Victors Rest, the Withered Witch
High Imperial Names: Anfalen, Amkissra, Calarel,
Delshandra, Elisven, Ellarian, Haramara, Llamryl,
Mihangyl, Naevys, Onas, Ornthalas, Quamara,
Rathiain, Ryfon, Selenlar, Shearah, Sundamar, Sylvar,
Vulas
http://www.fantasynamegenerators.com/elf_names.php
Merfolk Names: Aaz, Aqogzus, Bozdaatus, Braok, Butana,
Didrezo, Drursuqux, Druz, Ekuros, Grougruuxxuask,
Gugo, Huss, Kersho, Ocugit, Orqochozk, Ozorau, Raz,
Sozdoz, Sraexl, Ursesia, Uttiusz, Vizzk, Zothroax
http://www.fantasynamegenerators.com/lizardfolk-names.php
Sailor Names: Addonia Lefthand, Akbar ibn Raman,
Baalat, Belin the Fish, Big Coen, Bitse Firdotter,
Carolien san Vez, Chavi Two-Punch, Hagen Wyrmson,
Hemit dan Hemit, Javiar san Luz, Little Jebel, Jinoquo,
Junia the Snake, Keka Wavedancer, Kesi Venkrisja, Lashe
Godel, Leoz the Block, Lexia Vash, Nanti Drak, Ninye
Noee, Oki, Onyesha, Pale Ingfreid, Pashe, Rajabu, Rangi
Wyrmson, Red Bayana, Rinke dan Germ, Rozelle the
Lute, Slick Sebastan, Sno, Ubaldo, Velerea, Ol’ Wile
Useful references:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sailing_ship
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Island
Ship Conditions:
The PC’s ship (and other ships, if you like) can suffer
conditions. A ship marks a condition when:
☠ A move (like All Hands on Deck) says it does
☠ It’s your turn to make a move, and you choose to
apply one or more conditions to a ship
☠ The fiction demands it
Applying a condition to a ship is like dealing damage: it’s
a GM move on its own, but you can also do it as part of
another GM move when it makes sense. If they run
aground on the sharp corral of Kotri’s Teeth, you’ve put
them in a spot but the ship might be Sinking, too.
Ship conditions last until they Refit or take some other
fictional action to remove it. Conditions often require
that the PCs make moves to get something done despite
that condition, or to keep it from getting worse. But that
won’t remove the condition. Parley might convince a
Miserable crew to keep going onward to the next
island—but they’re still Miserable. An All Hands on
Deck roll might stabilize a Sinking ship, but it’s still got
the condition and it’ll take ongoing efforts from the
Crew to keep it stable.
Setting Sail:
When the PCs set sail for a location they can see (even if
it’s simply “we sail west”), make GM moves (change the
environment or point to a looming threat or introduce
a faction or whatever) to describe what they encounter.
When the PCs Wayfind, note the challenges indicated
by the roll. Also note any encounters that your prep
demands. En route, use your GM moves to introduce
these encounters in whatever order makes sense.
If you’re unsure what they’ll encounter next or on the
way, ask them to roll the Die of Fate (d6) and see what
they find:
1 a Danger
2 a Danger that hides or points to a Discovery
3-4 nothing of interest (a small isle, a shoal, etc.)
5 a Discovery, guarded by or harboring a Danger
6 a Discovery
Use the tables in The Perilous Wilds to generate Dangers
or Discoveries on the fly.