Pirate’s Floating Shipwreck Fortress Free 40×30 Multi-Level Battlemap & Adventure

The Scourge of the Sea

During your visit to a seaside city tavern, a veteran warrior storms through the door and immediately heads for the bar. His hair is short, his chin unshaven and he’s dressed in hardened leathers, with a large sword strapped to his back. He demands a mug of ale from the barkeep and tosses a coin onto the counter. When it arrives, he drinks it down in one long gulp, then turns to look around the common room.

When he spots you, he casts his shrewd gaze over your equipment, then saunters over and points at the seat opposite.

“Mind if I have a word with you?” he asks. If you agree to hear him out, he sits down and makes himself comfortable. “My name’s Lorcan, a soldier-for-hire, and for once I’m actually looking to hire other soldiers to help me out with a job. The last one I had was defending a merchant ship, along with a bunch of other scurrilous mugs like myself. We were chased by pirates, boarded, and nearly lost our lives.

“A bunch of us managed to get away in a longboat, but there was nothing we could do for the rest of those poor blighters. Anyway, I’m in the mood for some revenge, and I know just where to hit these pirates. They’re a scourge to the region so it’ll do everyone a favor if their base was burned to the waterline.

“That’s right; their base is a huge ship, or rather, a bunch of ships tied together. I bet they think they’re clever, but we’ll hit ‘em when they least expect it. It’s where they keep a whole lot of their plunder too, so this job will pay for itself. You in?”

If you agree to accompany Lorcan on this rousing quest for blood and gold, He bids you follow him down to the docks, where you’ll find a ship waiting for you. It’s a dingy old scow, unremarkable in any way, but it’s all part of Lorcan’s plan. Should you follow him aboard, the vessel casts off and slowly sails along the coast. Lorcan speaks further about his plans.

“Okay, we’re going near their floating shanty town,” he explains as the brisk sea air gusts past you. “Once we’re close enough, we’ll hop into a longboat and wait for any docked ships to leave. Then, we sneak in, board the place and start our bloody work. Keep in mind It’s likely they’ll put out a distress call to any nearby friendly pirate vessels after our first assault so we’ll have to move fast to get what we can and be gone by the time they get back or risk a much bigger fight.

“Keep an eye out for looting options as you move through it. They’re messy sods and you’re likely to find all sorts of goods sitting around. Trophies from their victories. Chests of loot, you name it. Once we’re done, I’ll signal this ship to come and pick us up, and we can make a hasty getaway! So, if you’re ready, let’s get on with this.”

Should you board the longboat, Lorcan will join you as the crew of the scow lower it into the water. Once the ship is out of sight, Lorcan bids you help him row the longboat closer to the pirate base. If you’re perceptive, you might notice that the floating fortress appears to be clear of pirate vessels, so it should in theory at least, have a minimum complement of crew.

Lorcan agrees and bids you row harder to close the distance, and once you reach the docks, you can climb aboard the fortress. There are scattered groups of pirates, but they’re disorganized and sometimes don’t even help each other out as you and Lorcan fight your way across the lower deck. During this time you notice a magical flare go shooting into the air leaving Lorcan to remark “looks like our timer has started”

If you take the stairs, you’ll find some tougher challenges with pirate officers defending their dens filled with loot! If you make it past them and reach the top level, you’ll find the most ruthless and brutal pirates aboard, who will defend their plunder with their very lives. If you manage to dispatch them, Lorcan starts to rummage through their plunder, throwing anything of value into a large sack.

“Grab what you can,” he advises. “We have to be out of here before the others return. They won’t be too pleased that we’ve dispatched their captains and we need to be as far away as we can!”

Once you’ve grabbed as much as you can carry, Lorcan lights a signal torch on top of the fortress, then hurries down to the docks where you can board the scow and beat a hasty retreat!

GM Notes: There are small chests of gold and other random valuables stashed throughout the maps. The further the player(s) get, the more loot they can acquire! But if they stick around too long another pirate vessel may show up drastically increasing the difficulty.

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