Give me some pirate ideas to steal!

scourger · Jul 4, 2007

I used the great, little, free advenure for Skull & Bones called Isle of the Damned:

http://www.gamewyrd.com/echoes/previews5_15.php#end

I made a mini-campaign of Pirate D&D after that adventure, but the main PCs were not spellcasters; which kept magic strange and magical.

Dannyalcatraz · Jul 4, 2007

Aquatic Pirates who sail the Seas with submarine sailboats.

Submarine sailboats?

Yes.

The aquatic pirates design a vessel based upon the same principles as the Portugese Man o War jellyfish (which has a large crest protruding into the air that catches the wind, taking the animal for a ride). They even make the vessel look like an oversized Man o War, but they can control the crest like a normal sail. This camoflage keeps the targeted ships from turning tail and running or fighting with cannon & spell until its too late.

When it gets close to a ship, the pirates boil up from the sea and attack, just like normal pirates do!

Are the pirates air breathers or aquatic? You decide.

Tonguez · Jul 4, 2007

Dannyalcatraz said:
Aquatic Pirates who sail the Seas with submarine sailboats.

Submarine sailboats?

Yes.

The aquatic pirates design a vessel based upon the same principles as the Portugese Man o War jellyfish (which has a large crest protruding into the air that catches the wind, taking the animal for a ride). They even make the vessel look like an oversized Man o War, but they can control the crest like a normal sail. This camoflage keeps the targeted ships from turning tail and running or fighting with cannon & spell until its too late.

When it gets close to a ship, the pirates boil up from the sea and attack, just like normal pirates do!

Are the pirates air breathers or aquatic? You decide.

Shark World was an aquatic game setting, created here an ENWorld once long ago
One of my submissions was the 'Aquasphere' a huge submersible colony occupied by gnomes. The colony was itself psychic and covered in a Psionic skin which they gnomes had grown. The gnomes used other algal, coral and slimey growths to produce oxygen, fuel and some of their food.

Anyway whilst not pirates per se they also had a set of Crab-claw Apparatus's onboard which they would use to go out and explore both the seabed and any land they came across.

Now imagine your PCs ship suddenly having a squad of crab apparatuses climbing up the sides ready to attack!

Dannyalcatraz · Jul 4, 2007

CRAB apparatus?

Bah, humbug! In my campaign, those guys would be all super devoted to the jellyfish theme...right down to the transparent hats.

And somewhat like the neuro-whip wielding Ferengi from the early days of Star Trek Next Gen, they'd simply use arcane bioweapons...

Whips containing magical nematocysts filled with jellyfish poison, causing those damaged intense, immobilizing pain!

After all...who wears armor at sea?

BWAH-HA HA HA HAAAAAAAAA!

Mighty Veil · Jul 4, 2007

OK here's a pirate idea *I* just thought up just for you.

The PCs are young sailors. Their captain has promised them their own boat. So they go to an used boat lot. There the old seadog boat salesman tells them "how it's the boat whom chooses its sailors". And they find an old beaten up boat, which the seadog doesn't remember being in his stock.

It turns out that one of the PCs has a treasure map to an artifact which golems from another Plane want to find! These golems... they can transform themselves so to hide. That old boat - actually one of these golems!!! I know, good plot twist.

But there are two groups of the Planar golems. One good, one bad. And for poor measure you should throw in a tacked on sub-plot about a bunch of navy soldiers. Can never have enough characters in a story.

RichGreen · Jul 4, 2007

Calico_Jack73 said:
Obviously Green Ronin's "Skull & Bones" is a great source for d20...

Alderac Entertainment has an E-Zine for Skull & Bones called "Buccaneers & Bokor" and it is available for download at RPGNow.com. I've bought numerous issues and each has pirate adventures to run as well as setting info for the Caribbean in the golden age of piracy. Probably the best source overall.

QFT. I've just finished running a Pirates of the Caribbean game using Skull & Bones and Buccaneers & Bokor, loosely based around the Governor's Prize adventures in the e-zines. i added in bits of D&D, part of the plot of The Mummy and stuff from the Monkey Island computer games, Tim Powers' On Stranger Tides, Cutthroat Island etc etc. We had a blast playing this game! See my story hour, link in sig, for more info.

Cheers

Richard