Voyages by ship across endless seas are a fairly common trope in fantasy and adventure tales. There is something inherently perilous about the oceans, even in the mundane world, so in a sword & sorcery setting, the dangers and wonders to be found offshore are even more awesomely spectacular… and deadly!
When it comes to running a role-playing game, Game Masters have quite a few options for how to handle a journey by sea. But more often than not, the trip boils down to a few encounters with pirates and sea monsters before the heroes are back on dry land and heading off in search of a dungeon to delve.
But Frog God Games has other ideas for what to do with a sea-side fantasy campaign for Pathfinder RPG. Fire As She Bears is a supplement to the Razor Coast setting (see Frog God Games’ Razor Coast broadsides Swashbuckling Adventures in Your Pathfinder Campaign! ) which presents new rules and character options to make wooden ships and iron heroes in any Pathfinder RPG campaign!
Fire As She Bears (for Pathfinder RPG)
Razor Coast: Fire As She Bears is a Pathfinder RPG supplement which presents new rules and character options for creating adventures and campaigns on the high seas. Fire As She Bears presents a primer of nautical lore, as well as new rules and variant rules for shipbuilding and customization of existing ancient and medieval ships – and even custom-built crews. The supplement also presents a new ship-to-ship and crew-to-crew combat system, allowing GMs and players to resolve sea battles with more detail and ease. There are new character options such as new uses for skills, new feats, and new spells, as well as new magic items which apply to both ships and the crews that sail them. And finally, there are guidelines and advice for GMs on how to handle naval battles within a Pathfinder RPG campaign.
Production Quality
The production quality of Fire As She Bears is very good, with excellent writing from the authors and a decently designed layout. The writing is detailed and well thought-out, and clearly represents considerable research and game design elements which mesh well with the Pathfinder RPG system. The layout is functional and presents the material in a lovely format, utilizing sepia ink tones and fonts which are evocative of the subject matter.
Fire as She Bears is well-organized, and comes with both a table of contents which is hot-linked to the appropriate chapters within the book along with a set of PDF bookmarks. Regretfully, the PDF bookmarks are not much more than links to the start of chapters, and a more detailed set of bookmarks might have been more useful to the reader. Special rules and design notes appear in boxes for ease of reference on the pages, and the numerous charts are designed neatly, presenting arrays of considerably useful pieces of information.
The artwork in Fire As She Bears is sparse compared to the page count, but of good quality. The cover depicting a commander brandishing a cutlass athwart his cannons is has a certain dramatic flair, but the interior artwork is considerably better. The heavy ink drawings have a wood-cut feel to their artistry, and the sepia tones of the printing really enhance their quality even over that of the full-color depictions.
Master and Commander
As a Pathfinder RPG sourcebook, Fire as She Bears presents a wealth of information for a nautical campaign in under 100 pages. While designed as part of the Razor Coast setting, the combat rules, character options, and ship customization could all be part of any Pathfinder RPG or d20/OGL campaign where voyages across the oceans or player-owned ships are a major focus.
The contents of Fire As She Bears is divided up into seven chapters, with three appendices with additional useful information for campaign building. First off, there is a three page introduction, giving a run-down of the books contents, some game mechanics used frequently in the book, and a crash-course in some nautical terminology applicable to the combat system and other rules.
In Chapter 1: Building A Ship, the authors have some detailed rules to design unique ships for Pathfinder RPG. Rather like rule for building a stronghold, these rules cover the ability to create some unique ship designs, cost and time to build them, as well as guidelines for generating the ships “ability scores” and stats from the features selected.
The second chapter covers how to Equip Your Ship, and this does include hull and rigging options (like a Darkwood hull), as well as armor and weapons. Weapons do include a wide range of cannons, gunpowder, and munitions options, however there are rules for “smokeless worlds” which recommend special ballista and catapults to damage other ships and their crews. There are even options to include steam and alchemical engines on ships to broaden the setting possibilities, and there are other mundane equipment and special locations which can be added to further customize a hero fantasy ship.
Chapter 3 discusses how a hero-captain goes about recruiting a crew, and presents rules for not only building the crew compliment but also covers a Loyalty system to determine how far the crew will go before they mutiny. There are descriptions of various ship crew types, special crew members and their effects on Loyalty and the ship, along with a crew Recruitment system to determine the quality and cost of the crew hands to be hired.
Combat is discussed in the fourth chapter, and the authors designed a ship combat system here which weaves fairly seamlessly into standard Pathfinder RPG combat rules. Player-characters get both the ability to perform standard combat actions, as well as perform nautical actions which typically involve giving orders to the crew. The rules are quite detailed, and include a variety of special maneuvers like ramming and crossing the T, as well as hit locations and crew casualties. There are even rules for sinking a ship – hopefully the NPCs’ ship, as a watery grave is a terrible fate for any hero to have to face!
Chapter 5 introduces new Character Options, which include new uses for existing skills, new feats, new ways for old spells to affect ships and ship combat, and a selection of new spells specifically with nautical applications. As one might imagine, many of the new feats have the prerequisite of having ranks in Profession: Sailor skill, and have strong applications to ship-to-ship combat. Many already existing spells have superb uses aboard ship, particularly spells that control weather and the elements, or affect wood in some way. New spells include efficacious spells such as the ability to summon a Ghostly Crew from the casualties of a sea battle, or to Rot Timbers and weaken the hull of an enemy ship!
Chapter 6 presents a selection of Magic Items to augment a ship or the ship’s weapons. These include enhancement bonuses to armor and weapons on the ship, specific ammunition like Null Cannonballs which cast dispel magic on impact, or enchanted hulls made of coral, living wood, and even bone which grant the ship special powers. There are even magical riggings which can be added to a ship to increase maneuverability or speed. The list also includes a few personal items for characters such as the Hammock of Restful Sleep to speed sleeping and healing, the Sailor’s Earring which can summon dolphins to protect against shark attacks, or Wave Sandals which grant water walking powers.
The final chapter covers Game Mastering Naval Battles, giving advice and ideas for planning and running encounters at sea. This section also includes monster stat blocks for common sailors, ship officers, and special named NPCs, as well as rules for capturing ships and crew, pursuit rules, and handling weather and obstacles in combat situations.
The three appendices at the end of Fire As She Bears include a special sheet for keeping track of a ship’s abilities scores, equipment, weapons, and magic items. There is also a selection of four fully detailed ships including stat blocks, and handy list of 100 ship names to use in the course of an adventure as needed.
Overall Score: 7.9 out of 10.0
Conclusions
Fire As She Bears is a guaranteed treat for Pathfinder RPG players who want to add some detailed high seas adventures to their campaign. The new rules are very inventive, and the content provides a level of immersion that might not have been accessible to many role-players before now. The new player options open up a wider range of gaming options for heroes, and make the prospect of creating a heroic ship’s crew a very real and exciting concept for a game.
And overall, the price for a boat-load of content is quite modest – this is one book that could easily launch a thousand ship-born adventures for Pathfinder players to enjoy!
Editorial Note: This Reviewer received a complimentary playtest copy of the product from which the review was written.
Grade Card (Ratings 0 to 10)
But Frog God Games has other ideas for what to do with a sea-side fantasy campaign for Pathfinder RPG. Fire As She Bears is a supplement to the Razor Coast setting (see Frog God Games’ Razor Coast broadsides Swashbuckling Adventures in Your Pathfinder Campaign! ) which presents new rules and character options to make wooden ships and iron heroes in any Pathfinder RPG campaign!
Fire As She Bears (for Pathfinder RPG)
- Authors: Lou Agresta & John Ling; (Additional Design) James MacKenzie, Ernest Mueller & David Poesner
- Illustrators: Erik Lofgren (cover); (interior) Brian LeBlanc, Chris McFann, Jim Nelson,Grey Thornberry & Savage Mojo’s: Aaron Acevedo and Carly Sorge
- Publisher: Frog God Games
- Year: 2013
- Media: PDF (98 pages)
- Price: $9.99 (Available from RPGNow in PDF format)
Razor Coast: Fire As She Bears is a Pathfinder RPG supplement which presents new rules and character options for creating adventures and campaigns on the high seas. Fire As She Bears presents a primer of nautical lore, as well as new rules and variant rules for shipbuilding and customization of existing ancient and medieval ships – and even custom-built crews. The supplement also presents a new ship-to-ship and crew-to-crew combat system, allowing GMs and players to resolve sea battles with more detail and ease. There are new character options such as new uses for skills, new feats, and new spells, as well as new magic items which apply to both ships and the crews that sail them. And finally, there are guidelines and advice for GMs on how to handle naval battles within a Pathfinder RPG campaign.
Production Quality
The production quality of Fire As She Bears is very good, with excellent writing from the authors and a decently designed layout. The writing is detailed and well thought-out, and clearly represents considerable research and game design elements which mesh well with the Pathfinder RPG system. The layout is functional and presents the material in a lovely format, utilizing sepia ink tones and fonts which are evocative of the subject matter.
The artwork in Fire As She Bears is sparse compared to the page count, but of good quality. The cover depicting a commander brandishing a cutlass athwart his cannons is has a certain dramatic flair, but the interior artwork is considerably better. The heavy ink drawings have a wood-cut feel to their artistry, and the sepia tones of the printing really enhance their quality even over that of the full-color depictions.
Master and Commander
As a Pathfinder RPG sourcebook, Fire as She Bears presents a wealth of information for a nautical campaign in under 100 pages. While designed as part of the Razor Coast setting, the combat rules, character options, and ship customization could all be part of any Pathfinder RPG or d20/OGL campaign where voyages across the oceans or player-owned ships are a major focus.
The contents of Fire As She Bears is divided up into seven chapters, with three appendices with additional useful information for campaign building. First off, there is a three page introduction, giving a run-down of the books contents, some game mechanics used frequently in the book, and a crash-course in some nautical terminology applicable to the combat system and other rules.
In Chapter 1: Building A Ship, the authors have some detailed rules to design unique ships for Pathfinder RPG. Rather like rule for building a stronghold, these rules cover the ability to create some unique ship designs, cost and time to build them, as well as guidelines for generating the ships “ability scores” and stats from the features selected.
The second chapter covers how to Equip Your Ship, and this does include hull and rigging options (like a Darkwood hull), as well as armor and weapons. Weapons do include a wide range of cannons, gunpowder, and munitions options, however there are rules for “smokeless worlds” which recommend special ballista and catapults to damage other ships and their crews. There are even options to include steam and alchemical engines on ships to broaden the setting possibilities, and there are other mundane equipment and special locations which can be added to further customize a hero fantasy ship.
Chapter 3 discusses how a hero-captain goes about recruiting a crew, and presents rules for not only building the crew compliment but also covers a Loyalty system to determine how far the crew will go before they mutiny. There are descriptions of various ship crew types, special crew members and their effects on Loyalty and the ship, along with a crew Recruitment system to determine the quality and cost of the crew hands to be hired.
Chapter 5 introduces new Character Options, which include new uses for existing skills, new feats, new ways for old spells to affect ships and ship combat, and a selection of new spells specifically with nautical applications. As one might imagine, many of the new feats have the prerequisite of having ranks in Profession: Sailor skill, and have strong applications to ship-to-ship combat. Many already existing spells have superb uses aboard ship, particularly spells that control weather and the elements, or affect wood in some way. New spells include efficacious spells such as the ability to summon a Ghostly Crew from the casualties of a sea battle, or to Rot Timbers and weaken the hull of an enemy ship!
Chapter 6 presents a selection of Magic Items to augment a ship or the ship’s weapons. These include enhancement bonuses to armor and weapons on the ship, specific ammunition like Null Cannonballs which cast dispel magic on impact, or enchanted hulls made of coral, living wood, and even bone which grant the ship special powers. There are even magical riggings which can be added to a ship to increase maneuverability or speed. The list also includes a few personal items for characters such as the Hammock of Restful Sleep to speed sleeping and healing, the Sailor’s Earring which can summon dolphins to protect against shark attacks, or Wave Sandals which grant water walking powers.
The final chapter covers Game Mastering Naval Battles, giving advice and ideas for planning and running encounters at sea. This section also includes monster stat blocks for common sailors, ship officers, and special named NPCs, as well as rules for capturing ships and crew, pursuit rules, and handling weather and obstacles in combat situations.
The three appendices at the end of Fire As She Bears include a special sheet for keeping track of a ship’s abilities scores, equipment, weapons, and magic items. There is also a selection of four fully detailed ships including stat blocks, and handy list of 100 ship names to use in the course of an adventure as needed.
Overall Score: 7.9 out of 10.0
Conclusions
Fire As She Bears is a guaranteed treat for Pathfinder RPG players who want to add some detailed high seas adventures to their campaign. The new rules are very inventive, and the content provides a level of immersion that might not have been accessible to many role-players before now. The new player options open up a wider range of gaming options for heroes, and make the prospect of creating a heroic ship’s crew a very real and exciting concept for a game.
And overall, the price for a boat-load of content is quite modest – this is one book that could easily launch a thousand ship-born adventures for Pathfinder players to enjoy!
Editorial Note: This Reviewer received a complimentary playtest copy of the product from which the review was written.
Grade Card (Ratings 0 to 10)
- Presentation: 7.25
- - Design: 7.5 (Excellent writing and research; decent layout; mediocre bookmarks)
- - Illustrations: 7 (Good art overall but felt sparse in a book of 100 pages)
- Content: 8
- - Crunch: 8.5 (Great new rules and variations; meshes well with existing Pathfinder rules)
- - Fluff: 7.5 (Very cool new content; very appropriate material for nautical camapaigns)
- Value: 8.5 (A ton of rules and new content for only 10 bucks!)
