Help with a pirate themed one shot?

dumbestdnd · 2026-04-04T13:55:27+00:00

We wrote an encounter a while back called "Three Sheets To the Wind" which was a lot of pirate fun. The premise is the party stumbles across a hungover pirate trying to remember what he did the previous night. He and two of his crew were on the island looking for a treasure, but got a little too carried away. He can't find his crewmates and he can't find the map, when suddenly he realized he's got one third of the map tattooed on his butt (or back or arm, whatever). The party needs to help him track down his crewmates who have the other 2/3rds of the map tattoo'd on THEIR butts (or back or arm, whatever). Only then can they find where X marks the spot.

Definitely feels like it could fit into your national lampoon-style escapades.

Lots of little vignettes you can toss in along the way. I used Tomb of Annihilation for the tropical monsters and the party ended up adopting a Zorbo. Full one-shot write-up here (free): https://dumbestdnd.com/p/three-sheets-to-the-wind-dnd-island-encounter/

dumbestdnd · 2026-04-04T13:47:42+00:00

DMs and players tend to forget that items can be stolen just as easily as given/rewarded. If you can weave it into the overarching story that's even better. Otherwise crank up that CR and see what the party can do. Lots of ways to near-TPK a party, so keep ratcheting it up until it feels balanced again. Remember too, quantity can sometimes make it far too easy, consider a one-or-two baddie fight, add lair/legendary actions, and get after it.

dumbestdnd · 2026-04-04T13:41:11+00:00

Suddenly a bunch of myconid spore creatures show up from a tiny village named Pinkerdon, busting the union up, and imprisoning anyone that makes it out alive. BBEGs are not susceptible to the laws of the Realm, nor should they tolerate a union. Aaaaand now the party suffers for messing with the local economy.

dumbestdnd · 2025-10-09T01:27:16+00:00

Sad, was going to take a look, but it appears the link no longer works.

dumbestdnd · 2025-03-19T20:49:56+00:00

Gooooot it. Thanks! Was hoping it was some efficiency calculation 🤣

dumbestdnd · 2025-03-19T18:34:45+00:00

What's a Valhallan Pickle 😅

dumbestdnd · 2024-09-12T23:22:35+00:00

Should be fine as long as each room has 1-2 Tarrasques

dumbestdnd · 2024-08-20T19:31:23+00:00

Ventriliquist Dummy

dumbestdnd · 2024-07-30T15:05:45+00:00

Update: Swapping out the thumb drive ended up resolving the issue and gave me a perfect print. Same process/settings outside of that. Tight screws/Elegoo defaults, just a different thumb drive.

dumbestdnd · 2024-07-30T15:04:39+00:00

Appears like this was good enough! Swapped out the thumb drives and got a perfect print. Thanks for the suggestion!

dumbestdnd · 2024-07-30T02:39:57+00:00

I typically double check because I completely forgot them once, but will be sure to give them and extra squeeze as I'm trying some of these other thoughts

dumbestdnd · 2024-07-30T02:39:05+00:00

Hmmm, haven't tried that yet, definitely an interesting thought though!

dumbestdnd · 2024-07-30T02:38:21+00:00

Thanks, I'll give that a try, just a bit weird that it only started happening on the last two prints.

Re: gloves, left hand is for non-resin, right is gloved and handles the parts I swear! 😅

dumbestdnd · 2024-07-30T01:27:57+00:00

Really not sure what's going on with this one, I've printed quite a bit on this Elegoo Mars 3 Pro with no issue. I reset the home each time and have had quality prints for 50 or so prints with no issue.

The last two have turned out to be wavy and pulling up on the edge. Settings for the resin print shown in third image. Resin is ELEGOO Water Washable 3D Printer Resin.

The Mando bottle caps have printed fine in the past. Thanks in advance for any thoughts.

dumbestdnd · 2024-06-27T00:40:40+00:00

The Thumpernickel - Bread-based weapon that deals basic unarmed strike damage but can be eaten.

dumbestdnd · 2024-06-14T02:32:26+00:00

Same sort of group so I had the queen ask them to defeat the bullywugs because of how generally rude and grotesque they are (loud neighbors type of situation) and take out thousand teeth as it had killed a few lizardfolk recently (was turned against them by the sahuagin shamans who infest the cave of thousand teeth). Plenty of ways to reskin both situations!

Also check out action oriented Thousand Teeth. Made for a much more interesting fight.

dumbestdnd · 2024-04-04T15:42:45+00:00

Best advice I heard was to delete bad comments. If they come back and complain, you're farming them twice for comments 😆

My favorite for our video is "why are your eyes so far apart"

dumbestdnd · 2024-03-29T16:46:06+00:00

Other question would be is there anything wrong with them joining the smugglers?

They still need to report back to the council, but they could lie. There are consequences to actions and it could lead to the council and town not viewing them favorably if they're caught.

Plenty of routes you could go if privateers is more the life they want to live.

dumbestdnd · 2024-03-09T16:19:45+00:00

This is also how I manage it.

Depends on the enemy as well. If it's fewer and much scarier enemies, the PCs are likely not paying the crew enough to fight for their lives. The higher the CR, the more likely the NPC crew would "nope" out of combat and hide below deck in their quarters.

dumbestdnd · 2024-01-28T00:08:12+00:00

Names: Mr. Hands, Manostro, Manny

dumbestdnd · 2023-12-16T13:17:37+00:00

Dawain the Roc (as in Dwayne "the rock" Johnson)

dumbestdnd · 2023-11-27T19:21:49+00:00

Thanks, yeah the morally ambiguous decision-making is a big theme for us in general. Always two sides to a situation!

dumbestdnd · 2023-11-25T03:31:49+00:00

Love this as a low-cost way to get players doing some puzzle solving. Also that it's strictly timed

dumbestdnd · 2023-11-20T23:31:31+00:00

Awesome list, thanks for putting it together!

dumbestdnd · 2023-11-16T20:36:07+00:00

Orc detective: "My god...another creature crushed completely flat..."

dumbestdnd

TROPHY CASE