Pirate Borg general thread

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Backers of the "Down Among the Dead"-Kickstarter should check their emails and/or BackerKit. There's a lot of final PDFs that were uploaded yesterday.

I'm trying to decide whether to spoil it all now, or wait until early in the New Year and just devour the books once they arrive.

Realistically, I'm not going to run a full-on Pirate Borg campaign until the Dark Caribbean is out, although my players were surprisingly gung-ho for one after I ran Cavern of Cursed Tears as a TLAP adventure.

 

[schneeland]

Realistically, I'm not going to run a full-on Pirate Borg campaign until the Dark Caribbean is out, although my players were surprisingly gung-ho for one after I ran Cavern of Cursed Tears as a TLAP adventure.

I suspect it will be the same for me. I'm tempted the grab the Starter Set once it hits retail and run a single adventure, though (backed digital only in the campaign because of international shipping).

 

[RichGreen]

I suspect it will be the same for me. I'm tempted the grab the Starter Set once it hits retail and run a single adventure, though (backed digital only in the campaign because of international shipping)

I'm trying to decide whether to spoil it all now, or wait until early in the New Year and just devour the books once they arrive.

Realistically, I'm not going to run a full-on Pirate Borg campaign until the Dark Caribbean is out, although my players were surprisingly gung-ho for one after I ran Cavern of Cursed Tears as a TLAP adventure.

I didn’t intend to run a campaign either but it just happened. We’re now on our sixth adventure - Venom in the Veins from Down Among the Dead - and having a great time! The PCs have levelled up 5 times so have a decent amount of HP but there have been quite a few scary moments for them.

 

[darjr]

Well that Effin’ GM went and made an Effin’ Pirate Borg adventure.

Crowdfund by a friend.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/thiseffingmgames/pirate-borg-these-bloody-sails

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Well that Effin’ GM went and made an Effin’ Pirate Borg adventure.

Crowdfund by a friend.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/thiseffingmgames/pirate-borg-these-bloody-sails

That's a pretty good bullet point list of features.

 

[Velderan]

So after discussing what the group I run games for would like to try this holiday break, we landed on Pirate Borg so planning on using the sandbox scenario from the back of the book and see where that goes.

Since this will be our first time running the system, any tips or pitfalls to avoid?

 

[overgeeked]

So after discussing what the group I run games for would like to try this holiday break, we landed on Pirate Borg so planning on using the sandbox scenario from the back of the book and see where that goes.

Since this will be our first time running the system, any tips or pitfalls to avoid?

Make sure you have a ready supply of NPCs to recruit/promote to PC status. Have a stack of pre-gens ready.

Print and hand out copies of the rules summary. The rules aren’t complicated, but they are just different enough in places to catch you out.

If you can, get some faux doubloons or pieces of eight as tokens, trackers, etc. It’s a fun little visual. Printing out any maps and weathering them with tea and burning the edges can be a great touch.

Some do full talk like a pirate and Spirit Halloween-level cosplay. You don’t have to go that far, but it’s an option.

Buried in the Bahamas is also a good adventure.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

I second the rules one-sheet. It's very handy.

The Limithron how to play videos are good for the GM.

And when in doubt, just lean into Rule of Cool and the vibes. This is not a gritty simulation. If people aren't laughing much of the game, something's wrong.

 

[1QD]

The darkness of Mork Borg is not for everyone, and it is the same for Pirate Borg. You do you. However, this is a gorgeous book that was obviously a labor of love. I backed it, received it a couple of weeks ago, and thoroughly enjoyed reading through it and gawking at the art and layout. It now sits on my shelf, along with many other unplayed RPGs.

Did you buy it for the art then? Or was there something else that drew you to the book?

 

[overgeeked]

I second the rules one-sheet. It's very handy.

The Limithron how to play videos are good for the GM.

And when in doubt, just lean into Rule of Cool and the vibes. This is not a gritty simulation. If people aren't laughing much of the game, something's wrong.

Yep. I think it was best described as Pirates of the Caribbean meets Army of Darkness/Evil Dead.

I think of it as a horror-comedy game. You can kill undead and snort their powdered bones to get psychic powers. This is not a “serious business” game. It’s beer & pretzels at its finest.