(Seafaring Campaigns) - "Broadsides" and "Seafarer's Handbook" which one? and w
I followed these three releases pretty closely and waited for all three to come out before I made my choice. In the end I decided on Broadsides, but this might not necessarily be the choice for you.
I chose Broadsides because it is firmly based in realism, which is of strong importance to me. For example, I think that Broadsides is the only supplement that really fully accounts for wind direction and strength for tactical combat. In addition, most of the ships detailed are historically grounded rather than fanciful musings (although there are several fantastic ships as well, like very well thought out air ships and a few submersibles for example). It also has extensive coverage of navigating and piloting the ship. In addition, the ships are all categorized by technological level, which makes it much easier to select groups of ships based on how advanced you want the naval technology in your game to be. This is one of the things that really impressed me. It runs the gamut from old longships to royal galleons and frigates all divided into rough tech classifications. With Broadsides, I feel that I have the ability to create a Moby Dick or Mutiny on the Bounty story and I almost feel like I might eventually have the ability to sound like I know what I'm talking about when I let out the mainsheet or turn hard a-lee.
Seas of Blood and Seafarer's Handbook, on the other hand, are more grounded in fantasy and simplicity. The rules for sea travel and combat are a bit less complex. The loss of realism is compensated by the fact that things move quickly and get to the meat of the matter (the story!), rather than focusing on the real details of sailing. Seafarer's has the strongest section on underwater adventuring while Seas of Blood has a handy system for resolving the mass combat situation of boarding actions. All three books have different strengths. For a high fantasy story where the actual ship is less important than where it's taking you and who's aboard, one of these supplements might actually be the better choice over Broadsides, although I'd be hard pressed to choose between Seas of Blood and Seafarer's if that were my preference. Other folks can give better advice about that.
Note that this opinion is based on skimming through all of them on several occasions but only a complete cover to cover reading of Broadsides, as that's the one I ended up buying based on the skim throughs. I think choosing the book that is best for you depends on how you want to use it in your campaign.
I chose Broadsides because it is firmly based in realism, which is of strong importance to me. For example, I think that Broadsides is the only supplement that really fully accounts for wind direction and strength for tactical combat. In addition, most of the ships detailed are historically grounded rather than fanciful musings (although there are several fantastic ships as well, like very well thought out air ships and a few submersibles for example). It also has extensive coverage of navigating and piloting the ship. In addition, the ships are all categorized by technological level, which makes it much easier to select groups of ships based on how advanced you want the naval technology in your game to be. This is one of the things that really impressed me. It runs the gamut from old longships to royal galleons and frigates all divided into rough tech classifications. With Broadsides, I feel that I have the ability to create a Moby Dick or Mutiny on the Bounty story and I almost feel like I might eventually have the ability to sound like I know what I'm talking about when I let out the mainsheet or turn hard a-lee.
Seas of Blood and Seafarer's Handbook, on the other hand, are more grounded in fantasy and simplicity. The rules for sea travel and combat are a bit less complex. The loss of realism is compensated by the fact that things move quickly and get to the meat of the matter (the story!), rather than focusing on the real details of sailing. Seafarer's has the strongest section on underwater adventuring while Seas of Blood has a handy system for resolving the mass combat situation of boarding actions. All three books have different strengths. For a high fantasy story where the actual ship is less important than where it's taking you and who's aboard, one of these supplements might actually be the better choice over Broadsides, although I'd be hard pressed to choose between Seas of Blood and Seafarer's if that were my preference. Other folks can give better advice about that.
Note that this opinion is based on skimming through all of them on several occasions but only a complete cover to cover reading of Broadsides, as that's the one I ended up buying based on the skim throughs. I think choosing the book that is best for you depends on how you want to use it in your campaign.
Patrick-S&S
First Post
I know I might be speaking to deaf ears since most of the members here prefers a little different gaming than I. However you could try out Pilots' Almenac from Columbia Games. They are having a 30% sales off which you will find right here or you could read a review at RPG.NET for more information.
Emiricol
Registered User
In contradiction to Henrix' dislike for Seas of Blood - I rather liked it. It covers most of the bases quite nicely, and the rules are easy to use and understand. I, being a tinkergnome sort of DM, tweaked the rules to suite my tastes as I do with most products I buy, and the rules were flexible enough to accomodate my habit
Also, Seas of Blood is nicely supported with a number of race-based ship books that add depth and flavor to a system which is designed from the ground up to plug into any setting with minimal effort.
YMMV.
Also, Seas of Blood is nicely supported with a number of race-based ship books that add depth and flavor to a system which is designed from the ground up to plug into any setting with minimal effort.
YMMV.
Bob Aberton
First Post
*Bump*
Keep 'em coming, please.
And, if Broadsides is, as you say, the most realistic, then thats for me.
I am an avid sailor myself, so I like realism in my Nautical campaigns...
Keep 'em coming, please.
And, if Broadsides is, as you say, the most realistic, then thats for me.
I am an avid sailor myself, so I like realism in my Nautical campaigns...
Donatello
Explorer
Here's a little self-promotion...
When we were at the GAMA trade show, we met this old man who's name escapes me, but he's the father of the owner of a store called Check Point Charlie's in British Columbia, Canada. Well, he's an old ship inspector for the Canadian Merchant Marine, and basically a sailing enthusiast. When I gave him my typical sell line of being the more "realistic" of the three, he offered to take the book back to his hotel room and see if we were telling the truth.
Two days later he returns to our booth with this to say;
"If you guys were any more realistic, it would be unplayable. You really got everything you should have, and left out the things that'd just bog it down."
The best praise I think we've ever gotten.
When we were at the GAMA trade show, we met this old man who's name escapes me, but he's the father of the owner of a store called Check Point Charlie's in British Columbia, Canada. Well, he's an old ship inspector for the Canadian Merchant Marine, and basically a sailing enthusiast. When I gave him my typical sell line of being the more "realistic" of the three, he offered to take the book back to his hotel room and see if we were telling the truth.
Two days later he returns to our booth with this to say;
"If you guys were any more realistic, it would be unplayable. You really got everything you should have, and left out the things that'd just bog it down."
The best praise I think we've ever gotten.
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