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Sea of Thieves Tall Tales

Tactical Quick Answer

Tall Tales are the story campaigns, and there are four of them plus the Maiden Voyage tutorial: Shores of Gold with nine chapters, A Pirate's Life with five, The Legend of Monkey Island with three, and Ashen Age with two. Every tale has been unlocked and playable in any order since patch 2.10.1, so nothing is gated behind completing another campaign. Each completion pays 8,000 gold, which is shared across an alliance, and none of them have been vaulted.

Tall Tales are the closest thing Sea of Thieves has to a single-player campaign, and they are the most-skipped content in the game. Players hear "story mode" and assume it is filler. It is the best-designed content Rare has made.

What are the campaigns?​

CampaignChaptersWhat it is
Maiden VoyageIntroThe tutorial. Repeatable from the main menu
Shores of Gold9The original arc, and the longest
A Pirate's Life5The Pirates of the Caribbean crossover
The Legend of Monkey Island3The Monkey Island crossover
Ashen Age2The most recent arc

Every tale is unlocked and can be played in any order. That changed in patch 2.10.1 back in February 2024. Older guides describing a locked progression where you must finish Shores of Gold chapter by chapter are out of date.

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Nothing in the Tall Tales lineup has been vaulted or removed. Both crossover campaigns are still fully playable, which is unusual for licensed content and worth knowing if you have been putting them off.

How do you start one?​

Tale books sit at specific locations rather than on a menu. Shores of Gold books are in outpost taverns and on certain islands, A Pirate's Life starts at the Castaway's Camp, and Monkey Island starts at the Castaway Isle tavern.

Interact with the book, and everyone in the crew votes to begin. From there:

  • Progress saves per chapter, not per session.
  • Failing or dying does not reset the tale, it drops you back to a checkpoint.
  • You can leave and come back later, and the tale resumes at the chapter you reached.
  • Anyone joining mid-tale can pick it up with the crew.
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Leaving the session entirely while a chapter is in progress can cost you that chapter's progress rather than the whole tale. Finish the chapter you are in before you log off.

Do they work in Safer Seas?​

Yes, all of them, fully. This is the single best reason to use Safer Seas even if you are an experienced player.

Tall Tales involve long stretches of reading journals, solving environmental puzzles, and standing still in caves. Doing that on High Seas means a Galleon can turn up mid-puzzle and end a two-hour run. Safer Seas removes that entirely, and the tales pay the same.

The rank 25 cap that limits Safer Seas does not apply here in any meaningful way, because Tall Tale gold and commendations are not Trading Company reputation.

What do you get for finishing one?​

8,000 gold per tale completion, and that gold is shared across an alliance rather than split, so allied crews all receive it.

Commendations are the real reward. Each tale carries a set tracked in your Reputation menu, and they typically pay out in two stages:

  1. One cosmetic for completing the tale the first time.
  2. Another cosmetic for completing all the related commendations.

Tale commendations tend to ask for things you would not do naturally, like finishing a tale within a time limit, completing it solo, or finding optional journals scattered through the chapters. Read the commendation list before your second run rather than after.

Which should you play first?​

Shores of Gold, without much debate. Nine chapters, it explains the world's lore, and the later chapters teach mechanics that show up nowhere else in the game.

A Pirate's Life second. Five chapters, the highest production values of any content in the game, and genuinely strong set pieces.

The Legend of Monkey Island third. Three chapters, heavy on dialogue and puzzles, and much lighter in tone. It rewards patience with reading rather than combat skill.

Ashen Age last. Two chapters, and it lands better once you already know the world the other tales set up.

Practical advice before you start​

Bring a crew that wants to be there. Tall Tales involve reading. A crewmate who wants ship combat will be bored by chapter two and will start suggesting you go do something else.

Set aside real time. A Shores of Gold chapter runs 45 minutes to well over an hour. Nine of those is a serious commitment.

Do them in Safer Seas the first time. Learn the puzzles without pressure, then run them again on High Seas for the timed and solo commendations if you want those.

Take notes on journals. Several puzzles reference details from journals you found chapters earlier, and hunting back through them is much slower than jotting a line down.

Frequently Asked Questions​

How many Tall Tales are there in Sea of Thieves?

Four campaigns plus the Maiden Voyage tutorial. Shores of Gold has nine chapters, A Pirate's Life has five, The Legend of Monkey Island has three, and Ashen Age has two. All of them are currently playable and none have been vaulted.

Do you have to play Tall Tales in order?

No. Every tale has been unlocked and playable in any order since patch 2.10.1 in February 2024. Guides describing a locked chapter-by-chapter progression through Shores of Gold are describing how the game used to work.

Can you play Tall Tales in Safer Seas?

Yes, all of them, and it is the best reason to use the mode. Tales involve long puzzle and reading sections where another crew turning up can end a two-hour run, and the gold and commendations are identical to High Seas.

How much gold does a Tall Tale pay?

8,000 gold per completion. That amount is shared across an alliance rather than divided, so every allied crew receives it. The commendation cosmetics are generally the bigger draw than the gold itself.

Does dying reset a Tall Tale?

No. Progress saves per chapter and dying returns you to a checkpoint rather than the start. You can log off between chapters and resume later, though leaving mid-chapter can cost that chapter's progress.