Adventure Site Contest 3: The Wreck of the Spinefish

Written by ShockTohp
For ACKS II, levels 4-6
Prison Hulk
This adventure site is may be placed in any area of near-shore shallow water where a coral reef might be. It describes a former prison hulk which was attacked by a demon. The death and misery caused here has turned it into Shadowed Sinkhole of Evil (JJ pg 88) The ship is covered in tubes made of an unnatural coral like substance..
   Well we’ve finally let the temple theme behind and it’s with something we’ve never seen before in this contest, a prison hulk. ShockTohp, returning as a judge in addition to being a contestant, takes a classic old prison hulk and adds “nautical demon” to the mix for a coral-encrusted nightmare site ideal for exploration and looting. Easy enough to place anywhere there’s a shore. It’s nice to see our intrepid author has recovered from a certain late unpleasantness to return to the coast. This is out first ACKS adventure but I’m sure it won’t be our last, given Alex Macris’ callouts. Expect B/X Blackrazor to roast ‘em, that’s fine.
   Boats are a bit of a challenge for mapping, not because they’re hard, but because if we’re realistic then they’re far too simple. You got your top bits (open), your cabin bits (just a few), and then your hold (big simple space). Extra interconnections aren’t generally recommended because that lets the wet stuff on the outside slosh around on the inside. Not much to explore, and barely even anything in a set-piece arena combat.
   The solution in this case, as in so many others in life, is “magic coral”. Aforesaid demon has a little underwater chamber linked via coral tubes into the bottom of the hulk, while coral growths higher up have added interesting navigation wrinkles. There’s also a nice water-level mechanic where the bottom hold fills up entirely then empties out over the course of an hour. This gives us some welcome exploration potential, making it a little more interesting to poke around. The vertical and top-down pair of maps is welcome to make everything a little more clear.

​   So, what’s in the boat to threaten us? Well, the original prisoners, plus new ocean friends of course…sea snakes, giant crabs, and carrion horrors are the nautical side along with the demon, who is an acid-dripping crab with a horn and a shark’s mouth. Prisoners are all dead but that hasn’t stopped them from moving around. Sadly, most of these things are either non-sentient or always-evil “they attack” types, but the warden is able to chat along with his remaining six living guards, he’s sworn to a (different) evil demon so he’ll probably be treacherous but interaction is interaction, points to Ravenclaw for this one.
   Having an evil cleric allows us to have magical traps like a Rune of Warding which is nice, along with more mundane classics like needle traps. Most of the traplike interactions in this site are more in the line of monster hides behind X, jumps out to say “boo!”. There’s a very good bit of dungeon modification available in the laundry room with a ridiculous amount of vinegar, which dissolves the magical coral at a ridiculous rate. I don’t know how much practical use the players will make of it, but it’s a cute idea.
   Treasure isn’t anything remarkable, but there’s a solid amount present in the site as a whole; most of it is in the claws of the demon at the very end, which should be a nice tricky task to extract up the sharp coral tunnels after killing it. I like that the demon endboss baits the PCs into its lair with a trail of coins; I especially like that it is a little chintzy about it and uses electrum despite having gold available. Your players will be decently happy with their haul, especially if you have someone who can use the warden’s +2 whip.
   Placing the Spinefish should be pretty easy in most campaigns, as long as there are coasts and prisons. A rumor that immediately suggests itself to me is that there’s a prisoner the players need to talk to/free/interrogate, that’s a fine hook that I kind of wish was included at the get-go. Regardless, a very lootable site just begging for exploration.