Fish Story

A One Shot Adventure

The PCs find themselves aboard the Corky, a small neatly painted fishing boat roughly 30ft long by 10ft wide. They have chartered this boat and its captain Phillip Davies , a short stocky balding man with a neatly trimmed black mustache who speaks with a slight drawl, for a two day fishing expedition deep into the vast lake Cerulean. It is about halfway through day one that they have found themselves fishing in a small backwater cove which unlike the vivid blue of the rest of the lake is the color of strong black tea which has caused it to be christened Teapot cove. Teapot cove is surrounded on three sides by steep banks with small cedar trees leaning out over the edges and a few snags are visible where some of them have reached too far for the sun and much like Icarus have tumbled and fallen from their lofty heights. Read the following: " Well boys here we are. Teapot Cove, one of my favorite little spots, should be a bit better luck here than you had this morning. Maybe one of you'll actually hook something worth keeping here." Davies says as he drops the anchor over the edge and begins to light his ever present pipe.
Allow the PC's to begin fishing. They're a various types of fish to catch here and many ways to catch them. The PCs can use a wide array of skills to catch fish in this area, suggested skills are Deception , Handel Animal, Survival, Knowledge nature, Knowledge Local etc. or any other method they players might use to lure a fish into biting. The DC of this check to attract a fish is 15. Once a fish is hooked look at the table to see what it is then have the player who hooked it perform a Str contest against the fish with advantage if the player has any reasonable or creative ideas or if they are assisted by one of the other PCs. If they fail they fail by 3 or more the contest ends and the fish escapes. Repeat this process at least once for each player. Davies can offer advice if your players are having trouble if asked. His advice offers a flat +5 bonus to any skill check the players use to hook fish and a +2 bonus if asked about how to reel them in once hooked. Otherwise Davies is relatively quiet and happily watches the PCs attempts at sport fishing however inept they may be.

Roll	Fish Type	Strength Modifier
1	Junk/Seaweed	-15
2	Small Fish	-5
3	Spiny Fish*	-3
4	Medium Fish	-3
5	Large Fish	0
6	Trophy Fish	+2

*Note Spiny fish requires a Dex check of 10 to remove from the hook. On a failed check the player takes 1 damage.
Read the Following: Several hours have passed and dusk has begun to settle on your fishing hole when Davies stands up stretches and says "Well fellas we hit the prime hours now the bite will really start once the bugs come out but as soon as night falls we'll set up camp in the next bay over and pack it in for the night."
At this point any players with a high passive perception or who make a perception check notice that another smaller boat has arrived with two people aboard. A man in his late twenties and his young daughter have also begun to fish on the other side of the small cove. If asked about them Davies has this to say " Well I don't own the lake so they are free to fish where ever but best we keep to our side to avoid any lines getting tangled or other such mishaps."
Allow another few PCs to roll fishing or just allude to the passage of time before having all of the PCs roll perception. On a perception of 20 or higher they notice several large shapes moving through the water. Whichever PC is fishing at this time has hooked one of these shapes. If they notice, allow them time to react to the shapes. If not Have the player who has hooked one make a STR check at disadvantage to avoid being yanked overboard as an enormous green and black mottled Aviator Bass leaps from the water taking the bait and rapidly pulling the line taunt.
At this point roll initiative. While the bass will attempt to small into any PCs who are overboard or to use its gliding slam ability to hit those on board the boat not realizing this maneuver is likely to drop it into the boat with the PCs. Should this attack hit a player near the opposite edge of the boat from where it launched out of the water instead of being knocked prone they are instead knocked out of the boat.
While the PCs are engaged with the fish the canoe has had a similar encounter and had both of its passengers dumped into the water and are currently struggling to deal with the large fish.
Read the following: A commotion cause by frantic splashing suddenly springs to life as the canoe holding the other fishermen has been violently relieved of its passengers who are now struggling to stay above the water and hold on to their overturned boat while another panicked Aviator Bass tries to free itself from the hook and in doing so has managed to entangle the young girl who has begun to drown by being repeatedly pulled below the surface of the water.
If the PCs killed or pacified their fish or if directed to by the PCs , This will require a Persuasion check by DC 20 if a PC is overboard and will be impossible if more than one PC is over board or if the PC in the water objects, Davies will begin to move the Corky towards the struggling pair stating " Well boys looks like we are about have either one damn good or one damn sad fish story once this is all over! " It will take Davies 1 turn to hoist the anchor and 3 turns to move the Corky to the overturned boat by himself. If the PCs assist in some way either by some means such as helping raise the anchor, helping raise the sail, creating wind, etc. this time can be lowered to 2 rounds, or less if they do something you find particularly clever.
This 2nd fish is panicking and will not use it's gliding slam to attack the pc's it instead swims or flies wildly around with the entangled child halving all of its movement speed. In order to free the girl the PC's must somehow get to the line and cut it. This will not be as easy as it would appear due to the fact that in its current state the fish is afraid of the Corky and will try to move away from it. It is likely that the PCs will need to get into the water to help the situation and again the fish will attack any PC that is in the water with its slam attack.
After 8 rounds from going into the water the child will fall unconscious and must start making death saving throws each round. If she stabilizes but is still attached to the fish she will begin having to make death saving throws one round after a successful save setting the number of saves back to 0 fails. During this encounter the child's father will attempt to try and help though he is mildly confused due to hitting his head as the boat was flipped. He has disadvantage on all rolls in this state and is likely to be more hindrance than help while he remains in the water.
If the PCs fail to save one or both of the other fishermen the rest of the trip is cut short overshadowed by the grim event and Davies returns the PCs early the next morning barely saying anything until the party finishes unloading at the docks when he says “ Well boys at least we tried…”
Should the PCs manage to save both the girl and her father they are extremely grateful and offer the party use of their lake cabin anytime they want to use. In addition they are also given a luck lure. In this event the party's fishing trip continues to its scheduled end and Davies takes the group for a round of drinks.

Relations

Allies

Phillip Davies Captain of the fishing boat Corky

Adversaries

Aviator Bass These creatures are similar to the standard largemouth bass in coloration and habits, however given enough space and food they can grow to truly enormous proportions measuring roughly 4 feet long. Like their smaller cousins they have a voracious appetite and will eat anything they can fit in their mouth. Unlike other bass they also have broad stiffened pectoral fins that allow them to glide short distances after propelling themselves out of the water. They use this ability to catch and eat airborne food such as ducks and other waterfowl or to escape from some truly monstrous predators that lurk in the depths of large lakes and impossibly deep ponds.
Armor Class: 13 (natural armor)| Hit Points: 33 (7d8+5), Speed: 5ft. Swim 60ft. Fly 20ft.,
STR DEX CON INT WIS CHA, 12 (+1) 15(+2) 12(+1) 3(-4) 10 10,
Skills: Perception +6 Stealth +14, Senses: passive Perception 16, Languages: N/A, Challenge 2 (450 XP) Proficiency Bonus +2,
Actions, Slam. Melee Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, reach 5ft, 10 (2d6+3) bludgeoning damage.,
Flying Slam: If an Aviator Bass misses its slam attack while gliding it may continue its movement as if the attack had not occurred. If the attack lands the fish's movement immediately stops and it drops to the ground. A creature hit by this attack takes an additional 2d4+2 bludgeoning damage and must make a DC 15 STR save or be knocked prone.,
Flopping Panic: When removed from the water this large fish begins to panic and flail wildly in an attempt to reach water. During this time the fish gains an extra slam attack and it's Armor Class is reduced to 10.

Backdrops

Locations

Teacup Cove