50 Fathoms

50 Fathoms is a Plot Point campaign for Pinnacle Entertainment Group’s Shane Lacy Hensley’s Savage Worlds which mixes pirates, magic, fantasy, and a mystery. It is set on Caribdus, a world cursed to drown under a constant rain that has submerged nations and forced refugees to flee to other islands or to take to the sea. It is prophesized that a stranger from Earth will save Caribdus and its Thousand Isles, many humans having been transported to Caribdus from Earth’s Age of Sail (approximately 1500 to 1815) via great storms. Player character options include the crew, passengers and even live cargo from Earth, plus Caribdus’ own races: including the winged Atani, the Walrus-like Grael, Dolphin-like Doreen, and the Squid-like sorcerers, the Kraken. Caribdus’ magic is based on the four elements. A mage can only master one element at a time, but master all four and he becomes an ArchMage. Unfortunately, elementalists are hunted by Tomas De Torquemada’s magic-hating Inquisition.

The core of 50 Fathoms is its Plot Point campaign, consisting of Savage Tales (scenarios) triggered when the characters go up levels, visit somewhere, or discover something. It reveals the source of the threat to Caribdus, three vengeful Sea Hags. The players can follow the campaign, but are also free to roam the world, letting the GM run the 40 other Savage Tales set across the Thousand Isles and explore the book’s material. 50 Fathoms is fantastically complete, enough character information, a good gazetteer, and an easy, pulpy, swashbuckling, piratical campaign.