Pirates & Plunder: 5E Seafaring Options for D&D and TOV
Created by Kobold Press
With complete naval combat, gunpowder, cargo, and spell casting rules for naval adventures, Pirates & Plunder offers rich 5E booty.
Latest Updates from Our Project:
An Epic Haul from Pirates & Plunder!
11 days ago
– Mon, Jun 22, 2026 at 12:45:24 PM
Ahoy Pirates & Plunder backers!
We're delighted to report a tremendous haul of new and exciting material from our stretch goals that are now available for you to add to your holds and enhance your seafaring, pirating campaigns and adventures!
Digital Treasures from the Hoard!
To kick things off, we've got a few handy tools to help you run a tight ship. First is a Ship Tracker PDF designed to assist a party with keeping track of their crew and supplies, along with space for you to equip your ship with armaments, and a handy quick-reference sheet for ship-to-ship combat rules! It makes a life at sea a lot easier than it's ever been!
If you can't wait to dive into the world of high-seas adventure, we've also uploaded a collection of pregenerated pirates and sea-dogs from our latest installment of Kobolds at the Table, which featured a slice of gameplay from the Pirates & Plunder adventure Seggotan's Song Pearls.
The last legacy of a grizzled pirate draws your party into a race against dread pirate hunters for a chance at looting the treasure hoard of a god! Captain a ship, set sail, and enjoy this epic adventure from Dot Steverson!
All backers at the $39-tier and higher have been sent a coupon code in their Kickstarter inboxes which can be redeemed in the Kobold Store for a copy of this PDF adventure for characters level 5-6!
While you dig into your new digital treasures, we'd also like to provide an update on the launch of the P&P BackerKit. We've been hard at work prepping the pledge manager and getting all of our (pirate) ducks in a row.
We expect to have the pledge manager ready and for surveys to go out by the end of this week. All backers will receive an invite to the pledge manager and they'll have an opportunity to complete their pledges, provide shipping details, and add on any other rewards and items that capture their fancy!
We've Made Port – Time for Carousing & a Video
about 2 months ago
– Fri, May 15, 2026 at 02:14:56 PM
Landfall!
A HUGE THANKS to every eye-patched, hook-handed, and sea-legged backer who chose to join the crew for Campaign Builder: Pirates & Plunder.
We'll leave an extra ration of grog out for all 2,761 backers who raised over CA$280,000 to expand nautical options for seafaring characters and new tools for plunder-centric campaigns!
The Kobolds invite everyone to take a few days to carouse, enjoy the plunder, and get ready to hit open water when the tides run with us next week. We'll release the BackerKit survey when ready, and hope to have a launch date for that survey soon!
Expect a new project updates every 4 - 5 weeks, which will feature new details, art, and other behind-the-scenes material from production. We're also working on the digital rewards to release this summer.
Raise your pirate flags for all the designers, artists, editors, and folks working behind-the-scenes to produce the next entry into the Campaign Builder series. They're building new and playable options for your adventures on oceans, rivers, and Astral seas, and we know you're going to enjoy what they've cooked up.
And now, a word from a scraggly wind-strewn pirate, plus an art preview of a creature of the deep.
Raise the mainsail!
Less than 24 Hours to Shore!
about 2 months ago
– Thu, May 14, 2026 at 08:44:39 PM
Ahoy again,
Like a seasoned seadog bearing down on a prize vessel laden with loot, new riches await backers of Pirates & Plunder in the final 24-hours of our campaign! Follow the X to our final stretch goal of our piratical treasure hoard.
A life at sea is never dull, particularly if you're fond of piracy, black powder, and plunder. We're pleased to announce our final stretch goal has been unlocked: Buried Treasures!
Buried Treasures is a collection of one- and two-page set pieces perfect for introducing nautical encounters to your seagoing campaign. Whenever a bit of that Pirates & Plunder flavor is missing from your grog, you have a full encounter complete with a description, GM notes, and even a few maps and handouts for your crew. These encounters are intended for 1st and 2nd tier levels, so there's no shortage of challenges to send your players to Davy Jones' Locker.
Fight Night. The PCs can participate in an organized brawling competition for prizes.
The Sunken Room. A single trapped chamber hides a pirate treasure.
Sea Life in Bronze. A tricky magical trap keeps a portal locked.
An Incomplete Treasure Map. Partial clues may lead to legendary wealth.
Dormant Lighthouse (Double Sized). A complex puzzle is also a nexus between worlds.
Message in a Bottle. The classic sea tale leads the heroes to a rescue and a fine reward.
Slimy Cargo. The hold of a ship contains something dangerous among the crates of goods.
Did you miss out on last week's Scouting Party? We'll skip the keehauling and share a link to check it on YouTube now!
Last week Kendo sat down with P&P designers Brian Suskind, Sarah Madsen, and Rajan Khanna to talk about what you'll find in this book to draw players into a life at sea on the deck of a pirate ship!
Get a sneak peek at our stretch goal adventure, Seggotan's Song Pearls, during the latest installment of Kobolds at the Table. Lost treasures, sea shanties, and one very stinky encounter awaits!
Map Previews & Proper Insults
about 2 months ago
– Tue, May 05, 2026 at 11:46:30 AM
Maps, insults, and desperate messages are a pretty good start for a seafaring adventure. All three are right here, along with news from the Scouting Party.
To celebrate Campaign Builder: Pirates & Plunderon Kickstarter, the Kobolds cracked open the rum cask and hauled up something special from the depths—a Pirate Insult Generator! Be careful with this one near the powder magazines and cutlass storage; pirates are known for short tempers and quick draw with a musket.
Backers asked “Is there a Message in a Bottle table?” and alas and alack, there wasn’t. So we turned to the sea—and asked our community to help build one!
What came ashore was everything we’d hoped for: desperate pleas scrawled in haste, half-burned confessions, dubious treasure maps, and warnings best not ignored. The only thing we seem to be missing is a crackerjack grog recipe!
Your submissions washed in from every corner of the world, and now they are gathered, trimmed, and combined into a single table. Grab a message any time, ready to drop straight into your salty sea and swashbuckling campaigns.
This table will not appear in Campaign Builder: Pirates & Plunder. Instead, it lives here as a free community resource. You built it, and it stays open for everyone. That's the Pirate's Code (as we see it, anyway).
A pirate without a map has a good chance of ending up broke and lost, but Pirates & Plunder offers two sets of CONNECTED maps to make sure your crew has a clear view of what's out there. The two-page city map of Cayona is a harbor you can drop into any campaign—and sections of it match up with the locations in the Pirates & Plunder Map Folio, so you can zoom in on the harbor, floating market, fortress, beach, or shipwreck as you please for combat-level detail.
There's more charts and maps in the Map Folio and Map Pack than shown here, but you get the idea. It's a way to make your game easier and brighter. We can't promise any treasure, but whoever heard of pirates motivated by treasure?
If you missed the Scouting Party on Friday April 24, you can check it out now on Youtube!
From building dynamic island-hopping campaigns to crafting memorable pirate crews and rival captains, the team dives into how Pirates & Plunder helps everyone improve their seafaring, plundering, and boarding actions, from navigation to crews to carousing in Port Cayona or any pirate-friendly harbor.
UNLOCKED: Song Pearls Adventure Plus Designer Video
2 months ago
– Thu, Apr 30, 2026 at 04:19:02 PM
You did it, crew. We’ve officially crossed the $200,000 mark, unlocking the Seggotan’s Song Pearls adventure—and we couldn’t be more grateful.
This 5th-6th level adventure dives deep into the dangers of the Middle Sea, where cursed treasure, ancient gods, and impossible choices await. At its heart lies the Wealth of the Willing—a hoard so vast and powerful that no mortal was meant to claim it. And hidden within? The Song Pearls themselves—artifacts said to grant dominion over the seas.
To celebrate this milestone, adventure writer Dot Steverson put together a short video to walk you through this salty, high-stakes journey. From haunted catacombs and shadowy bargains to a crumbling lighthouse hidden deep within the Labyrinth, this adventure is packed with danger, mystery, and hard choices that will test what characters truly value.
Thank you for helping bring this adventure to all backers! With two weeks remaining, there's more to come, including the Buried Treasures stretch goal—so keep those spyglasses trained on the horizon, and spread the word!
