Any advice for running a Swashbuckling Sea-going Campaign?

[Dash Dannigan]

Starting up a new campaign to be run in-between times for our group's current DM. Any words of wisdom from those who've experienced such campaigns? I've never played or run one before. Here's the skinny:

Pirate's of the Fallen Stars: Dark Tidings
Setting: Forgotten Realms, Sea of Fallen Stars
Starting Location: Selgaunt, Sembia

I've also gathered such books as: The Sea of Fallen Stars (WotC), Sahuagin Slayer's Guide, Seas of Blood (mongoose), & Seafarer's Handbook. Still looking for Pirates of the Fallen Stars. I've found the game mechanics in the Seas of Blood to be immensely useful as I was worried fro some time how to run large cre-based combats between ships, damage on ships, fires, and sea trade, and this book had it all, I was very impressed. Might anyone else recommend other sea-based rpg books?

Thanks to all in advance!

 

[CarlZog]

Check out this thread:Pirates

CZ

 

[Bob Aberton]

Get Broadsides. As I mentioned in the other thread, it's a superb general reference book for all things (RPG) nautical. It doesn't, however, focus solely on pirates, if that's what you're looking for.

It's also very realistic with its rules for weather patterns, ship movement, and ship design, moreso than any other sourcebook I've read. Being something of a sailor myself, I can appreciate realism in this area.

I would also suggest taking a look at some of the swashbuckling PbPs in the In Character forum (try the one I DM, Deep Water and Shoals) for ideas.

I've got some other advice, but I can't articulate it right now...hopefully someone else will weigh in.

 

[Wombat]

Again, a lot of this depends on style, but with swashbuckling I have three basic rules:

Keep it FAST
Keep it LOOSE
Keep it FUN

I had a great musketeer game running for about a year which included the ultimate fight -- in the middle of a performance of a Commedia del Arte performance in a large theatre!

 

[Anavel Gato]

I suggest...

eyepatches and bandanas for everyone...
and checking out swashbuckling adventures...
even if you don't want to draw on AEG's 7th sea setting which you have already set in FR, they do have NPC's like the DMG for various classes, pirate, swashbuckler and the like....

 

[Michael Tree]

To GM your game a good swashbuckling feel, make sure that you don't reward cauion, and do reward recklessness. If you make lots of traps, and intricate clues to discover, then expect the PCs to be cautious, meticulous, and boring. Run it fast and loose, don't punish character for charging into unknown circumstances, and give PCs circumstance bonuses to rolls for attempting actions with style and panache.

Similarly, to encourage players to use cool swashbucking derring-do, judge maneuver DCs by what the character is trying to achieve, not by how difficult the maneuver would actually be in real life. For example, if a character is in the crow's nest wants to attack an enemy on deck, then make leaping out of the crow's nest, sliding down the sail, and grabbing hold of a rope and swinging to attack the enemy no more difficult than just sliding down a rope and running across deck to attack. Heck, give the former manever a bonus because it's cooler.

 

[Larry Fitz]

Michael is exactly right, during the golden age of piracy there were less than three thousand men who made their livings as pirates. We remember them because of the boldness and audacity of what they did, don't reward caution, reward boldness!

Remember to have a very high level of superstitions among sailors, they were as bad as baseball players in that way. Give your players ample opportunity to blow through their loot in a "safe town" of course being a "safe town" means a seriously inflated economy....

Lastly, get Broadsides! and Pirates!... had to go for the on topic plugs...

Seriously as Bob put it, the rules are realistic and they are fun, they incorporate everything that made swashbuckling... well... swashbuckling! Plus your PC's can find a load of molasses and can figure out that it's worth stealing (Molasses is a key ingredient in Rum by the way...)

 

[Wombat]

Then again, in the Golden Age of Piracy most of the money was gained through shore-going raids rather than from plucking targets from the sea.

In any swashbuckler campaign you have a very major decision to make -- keep it REAL or keep it CINEMATIC.

I prefer the latter, but my brother prefered the former, which explains why he came up with detailed maps of Port Royal, etc.

Me, I like Errol Flynn movies

 

[tetsujin28]

And don't forget to celebrate National Talk Like a Pirate Day! Arrr!

 

[blackshirt5]

And go see the Pirates of the Caribbean movie; awesomeness.

Also, because it's FR, you need Drow.

Drow, drow, and more drow.