I've updated this idea and made a new post in the suggestion forum! Please post there instead! :)

https://www.seaofthieves.com/forum/topic/49741/the-rum-runners-a-new-faction-focused-on-sailing-speed-and-agility

Hello again!

Looking over @MaximillianZeus excellent thread on Treasure Chests had me realize that lots of people want to bury chests but there is no reason to do so currently in the game. (Thread: Mega Thread Treasure Chests)

Instead of repeating all the main issues with burying treasure chests and whether they can be found by other players, I'll just jump right into my idea of how to incorporate the "Bury Chest" mechanic while keeping in line with the core-gameplay already structured in the game.

The Rum-Runners

The Rum-Runners are a faction of NPC's that work tireless to move rum around the Sea of Thieves under-the-radar. There is more than enough rum around but no where to stash it until it's ready to be sold. Unfortunately this has led to a lot of theft of Rum. The Rum-Runners therefore are enlist the aid of brave Pirates to help stash their goods. They don't expect something for nothing, so in exchange for burying their Rum shipments (and a deposit fee of course), the Rum-Runners will give you a large increase on your investment at a later date upon returning with their Rum.



The Rum-Runners quest UI

Investment Quests

Rum-Runner quests are pretty straight-forward. The player selects a quest which represents how much money they would like to "Invest" - this is essentially the cost of the quest. As the player advances in reputation with the Rum-Runners, they are able to select quests that have higher Investment amounts.

Once a quest has been accepted, the player receives a "Quest" as per the usual song and dance of receiving quests from NPC's. They place this quest on their Captains table, the Crew votes, and once accepted everyone in the Crew receives a map for the Rum Pickup Point. This could be a map or a riddle, very similar to finding chests from the Gold Hoarders.

The Retrieval

Special thanks to @NunoAzuldimeter for contributing to this idea!

When players find the spot the Rum is buried they dig it up as usual. Instead of a chest, they find a Crate o' Rum. Crates can be returned to vendors for 70% return on investment (or whatever % value works for balancing!). This means if you manage to collect a Crate o' Rum carried by another player and return it, your crew receives gold based on the value of that Rum shipment!

After finding the crate, the Crew receives new maps of an island location marked with an X - this is where the Rum-Runners wishes their Rum to be buried. Often these islands will be a very far distance away from the initial location of the Crate o' Rum.

The Voyage

Crate o' Rum in hand on safety aboard the ship, crews will sail forth to the island destination. Because of the potentially high value of these Crates o' Rum, enemy pirates will surely be on the lookout for them! It's important to keep them safe and move quickly towards your destination. Smuggling isn't an easy trade, and given the far distance to your destination, it's important to be swift!

The Burial

Once at the island, you and your crew will head towards the X marked on the map with a chest in hand. Upon arrival, place the chest on the ground and using shovels, bury the Crate o' Rum. This process will be faster with more members of your crew digging. When a crate us buried a Rum Voucher will spawn. This is a carried piece of loot much like a chest and can be dropped like any other piece of loot (skulls, chests, etc). This voucher is worth substantially more than just a Crate o' Rum so it is crucial that it is protected from other pirates!

Possible Optional Step / Complication

Special thanks to @pukakattack on Reddit for helping brainstorm this step!

When burying the Crate o' Rum, a signal is shown in the sky above your crew as you dig. This signal could be the shape of a giant Rum bottle (or something that suits the UX / UI better) and it would broadcast and alert other player Crews to your presence. This gives the Crew burying the treasure one more moment of excitement and risk before cashing in. This also gives other Crews a better opportunity to know where in the game world these Crates are located.



The Rum Signal as seen through a spyglass from another ship.

As a back-up, in case there are no players nearby, Burying Crews could/would fight off waves of skeletons that spawn as they bury the chest.

Another wrinkle that could be added to this step is that the Rum signal could be above you regardless of where you are - i.e. if you have a Rum Crate on your ship, there will be a Rum signal above your ship making your voyage even more dangerous!

The Return

Players return to the Rum-Runner with the Voucher Stub. Handing it back in rewards them with a large return on their investment and a thank-you from the Rum-Runners for helping stash the goods.

Example 1

PirateBob accepts a quest for stashing 1000 gold worth of Rum. After burying the Crate-o-Rum, he recieves a voucher stub. Returning the voucher stub, the Rum-Runner NPC pays him 1500 gold. (in this example, the payout is 150%, but the payouts could be whatever works balance wise or even vary depending on the difficulty of the quest!)

Example 2

PirateBob finds boards another ship and notices a Rum-Crate. Taking it aboard his ship he heads back to port to turn it in. Upon turning it in to the Rum-Runner NPC (who thanks Bob greatly for saving his goods from sinking to the bottom of the ocean) the Rum-Runner rewards Bob with 70% (or whatever works) of the Crates worth!

Additional Notes

Rum-Runner quests could involve burying multiple crates before receiving a voucher

Rum-Runner quests introduce the pirating career of "smuggling"

Rum-Runner quests allow players to "bury treasure" while fitting in line with the design mechanics already present in the game

Having the Rum Voucher as an item that can be picked up adds a level of complexity to the PvP environment in Sea of Thieves. Do you steal someones Rum-Crate right away, or do you sneakily follow them until they bury it, only to swoop in and try to claim their Rum Voucher?

As always I am interested to hear peoples thoughts, and thank you for reading!