Can I Make My Games More Like Pirates of the Carribean?

[bento]

I'm taking the OP's message to not necessarily mean run a better pirate story, but instead take some of the "fun-ness" he's seen in the movie and inject it into the spirit in his game.

A few suggestions (and book purchases) I would make:

* For incorporating more evocative settings there's a section in the DMG II on doing this - fighting in a lava field, on an ice bridge, and so forth. I don't know the ruleset you use, but you might also want to pick up some of the D&D setting books like "Stormwrack" or "Frostburn". They're good for giving you details on water, desert and freezing settings that you can enrich your game with, and rules on fighting in specific conditions.

* Action points are a great way to help your players loosen up and be more heroic. Another idea would be to incorporate a minion rule for yourself - if a hero gets a successful hit on a minion, they automatically go down, rather than reducing their hp. Essentially they are "knocked out."

* Use interesting magical items or developing interesting character features - this sounds like something that a ruleset such as FUDGE or FATE might work better with. Both sets of rules encourage unique hero creation that allow for unique, one of a kind items, that better define the character. Both rules (FATE is a variation of FUDGE) are free on the Internet and allow for more cinematic play. Check here http://www.fudgerpg.com/fudge.html and here www.faterpg.com

* I think you could be encouraged by reading how other GMs/DMs raise the bar on their performance by visiting web sites like http://www.treasuretables.org/ and http://www.roleplayingtips.com. Both are very good places to pick up new ideas and broaden your experience.

If you have a vision for what you want to play I would suggest presenting them to your group and see what kind of reaction you get. If you get a general agreement, or a compromise between what you have today and where you want to be, write up a Social Contract http://www.treasuretables.org/wiki/index.php?title=Social_Contract with your group stipulating the kind of game you want to run. This way everyone is in agreement and works towards making it happen.

Good luck.

 

[sckeener]

• Interesting Enemies - Don't make every combat against a particular type of enemy, but have them as a constant, palpable and thematic threat.
• Interesting Places - Run-down windmills, a wicker ball hanging in a canyon, the deck of a ship, and so on.
• Different Difficulties - Throw very weak and extremely powerful enemies at the PCs, allowing them to triumph absolutely against some creatures, and be forced to run and hide with others.
• A Living World - Have changes in the world around the PCs affect them.
• A Sense of Time - Have situations where the PCs must act quickly.
• Description - Describe things in detail, both to immerse the PCs and allow them to use unconvential techniques to destory/defeat their foes.
• Moral Greyness - Have the PCs fight foes that are as good as they are.
• Use Interesting Magical Items - Sparrow's hat might be a hat of resistance +5 and protection +3, but no one really cares. It's his magical compass that affects the story.
• Include the Unexplained
• Recurring Villains

Does anyone have any more ideas?

First off, I'd recommend Skull & Bones from Green Ronin. Nice and very much like PotC.

A lot of what you mention is just good for campaigns in general and should be the goal for all (Interesting Enemies/Places, a living world, recuring villains.)

You have to watch interesting magic items. The reason the +5 hat of resistance is boring is because it is balanced. Interesting magic items sometimes become unbalanced. I prefer intelligent magic items since then I can treat them like NPCs.

Time challenges - view them like traps. Consequences, but not world ending....otherwise the living world bit won't matter.

Descriptions - good stuff, but be afraid of going to graphic. I once had half a party so timid that I had to type the descriptions up so they could decided for themselves if they wanted to read the descriptions

Moral Greyness - without moral greyness you might as well be playing a 4 player xbox game. You need it...especially for the recurring villians.

Including the unexplained - a basic of descriptions. I can remember several adventures I've created that started after the party found the treasure. I hate giving out coins and I love creating unique mudane items for treasure. I give the players a list and see what strikes their fancy....the most recent adventure involved a mask with a wolf face which started a werewolf side quest.

Get a subscription to Dungeon Magazine. I find I lift tons of unexplained descriptions from Dungeon.

One party still talks about the Black and Crimson bridge fight. The party had to travel to the Black and Crimson bridge. They had no idea what it was until they got there and saw a bridge made out of black and red ants(dead)! I had some NPCs waiting to ambush them, but it was the description of the setting that stuck...not the battle. They could easily picture the scene.

I used an idea from Dungeon to create the bridge scene.....there are plenty of ordinary battles in a game and Dungeon helped me create some interesting scenes....

Here's another suggestion. Personalize magic. I use spell thematics but without any of the bonuses....basically I have every player create a spell theme. That theme is then applied to all their magic.....Look at Ars Magica for inspiration.

Nothing like having the players get familiar with the spell theme of the recuring villian....such exactness....one of my villians is very precise. There are no rough edges to his spells....if he casts a damaging spell my players can tell from the cookie cutter type of damage...such as melf's acid arrow would burn nice little squares....
In my high level game I had a powerful half-fiend (devil) that had the sterotypical sulfur theme to her spells to tip the players off to her nature....She conjured up a wall of salt that had flecks of blood and the smell of suffer to it....beautiful....admittedly behind the wall was not so pretty...slagged enemies.

 

[rounser]

For a piratical campaign setting, check out the 2E supplement Pirates of the Fallen Stars, and the adventure The Oracle at Sumbar set there in Dungeon issue number 48, which is definitely in the style of the movies, right down to the villain.

 

[Scribble]

I think part of the issue you might face is in the nature of the rules...

Not in a bad way, but just how it's written often doesn't emulate the movies.


For instance, in movies like Pirates, the combatants tend to run around and jump on stuff while fighting...

But in D&D, a fighter over level 5 (which most movie people seem to be...) would loose his extra attacks if he moved around durring combat. Is the +1 bonus for gaining higher ground worth losing the extra damage? What is the impetus for movement? (I suppose if you are lower level, moving would force your opponent to loose extra attacks and help keep you alive longer, but aside from that?)

All in all, I think it's doable, but as others have said talking to your players is a good idea (to emphasize dex fighters and swashbuckler types...) but you might also have to tinker with a few rules to change strategies a bit...

 

[Desdichado]

I had a similar issue, when my supposedly "swashbuckling horror" game was starting to feel a noticable lack of swashbuckling. I didn't have to tinker with the rules; I ended up just giving some thought to the enemies and the locations where combat was being fought ahead of time. If you're setting the example by having NPC combatants doing crazy things like leaping from balconies, swinging from chandaliers, etc., the PCs will probably tend to start trying it too. They did in my game, at least.

A few weird little events like having rice paper walls that NPCs would burst through, steam pipes that could be ruptured, or have their valves turned (emiting cones of steam for damage and cover) and whatnot went a very long way towards really making my combats more fun. And it wasn't much work, or any real houserules; just a little bit of thought ahead of time.

 

[Hjorimir]

Well in real life you move around a lot to avoid being wounded. In D&D the gods have a cleric there just waiting to put you right (even if you're a whoremongeringdrunkenpirate).

 

[Stalker0]

Well in real life you move around a lot to avoid being wounded. In D&D the gods have a cleric there just waiting to put you right (even if you're a whoremongeringdrunkenpirate).

Also, keep in mind that a 5 foot square is a decent area, and with a 5 foot step, you actually have a LOT of movement you can do and still make full attacks. Not everyone in the movies are making 30 moves all over the place. For instance, running up stairs to the top area of a ship from the bottom could most likely be done with movement in your own square + 5 foot step.

If you want to make things cinematic, here are some things you should do:

1) Use mooks. In the vast majority of movie fights, the main characters are always higher level than those they fight.
2) Emphasize terrain. Now that the players don't have to worry about dieing (because your using mooks) now they can worry about making their actions cool.
3) Emphasize creative descriptions. As I mentioned above, dnd characters can be doing a whole lot of stuff in their 5 foot squares. Let the players describe their leaps and jumps and somersalts and just use the basic dnd mechanics.
3) Reward creative fighting. Give extra bonuses for creative ideas. This is where the dnd rules make a good baseline, but the dm can push off with his style of play.


In my mind, creative combats are about 20% rules and 80% dm and players involvement. You do NOT need rules to tell you how to make interesting combats.

 

[Hand of Evil]

What HENRY said.

See the link in my sig named DM Advice.

Create a 'word' list, synonyms are your friends. Look for colorful words and phases to use in combat/action.

Homework - use the words and phases, prior to a game, after a game, in your day, just say them out loud. A easy way to do this is to dialog a movie, turn off the sound and describe the action out loud.

 

[Janx]

Also, keep in mind that a 5 foot square is a decent area, and with a 5 foot step, you actually have a LOT of movement you can do and still make full attacks. Not everyone in the movies are making 30 moves all over the place. For instance, running up stairs to the top area of a ship from the bottom could most likely be done with movement in your own square + 5 foot step.

If you want to make things cinematic, here are some things you should do:

1) Use mooks. In the vast majority of movie fights, the main characters are always higher level than those they fight.
2) Emphasize terrain. Now that the players don't have to worry about dieing (because your using mooks) now they can worry about making their actions cool.
3) Emphasize creative descriptions. As I mentioned above, dnd characters can be doing a whole lot of stuff in their 5 foot squares. Let the players describe their leaps and jumps and somersalts and just use the basic dnd mechanics.
3) Reward creative fighting. Give extra bonuses for creative ideas. This is where the dnd rules make a good baseline, but the dm can push off with his style of play.


In my mind, creative combats are about 20% rules and 80% dm and players involvement. You do NOT need rules to tell you how to make interesting combats.

These are good points. In real fights and movie fights, the participants are generally moving constantly. The only time you don't move, is when you're holding the line, or have nowhere to move.

I would suggest that EVERY round, you must move, at least 5'. The exception would be if you've got nowhere to go, or if you're in a defensive position (like holding a line with fellows, or blocking a hallway). By forcing movement, you would add some motion to the combat. If there's no reason for the fighter to stand still, he should be moving.

 

[JohnSnow]

Watching PotC and PotC II has made me realise how boring combat is in my D&D game, and I was wondering if people have any ideas how to make it more interesting. Thoughts I've had:

• Interesting Enemies - Don't make every combat against a particular type of enemy, but have them as a constant, palpable and thematic threat.
• Interesting Places - Run-down windmills, a wicker ball hanging in a canyon, the deck of a ship, and so on.
• Different Difficulties - Throw very weak and extremely powerful enemies at the PCs, allowing them to triumph absolutely against some creatures, and be forced to run and hide with others.
• A Living World - Have changes in the world around the PCs affect them.
• A Sense of Time - Have situations where the PCs must act quickly.
• Description - Describe things in detail, both to immerse the PCs and allow them to use unconvential techniques to destory/defeat their foes.
• Moral Greyness - Have the PCs fight foes that are as good as they are.
• Use Interesting Magical Items - Sparrow's hat might be a hat of resistance +5 and protection +3, but no one really cares. It's his magical compass that affects the story.
• Include the Unexplained.
• Recurring Villains

Does anyone have any more ideas?

Interesting that you bring this up. Some of these are just a mark of good storytelling, particularly good descriptions, interesting villains who come back, and the like. The moral greyness is best accomplished by removing D&D "alignment" in favor of the Allegiance system from D20 Modern. That way, you can have an allegiance to a moral or ethical philosophy, but you don't have to. It allows one to set up a roleplaying hook, without it being something totally tangible. Whether "Allegiance" is detectable is your call...

However, what you seem to be getting at more is ways to provide over-the-top, swashbuckling action in your games. Unlike those further up, I will unabashedly shill two systems here. One is Iron Heroes for its approach to character concept, skills, skill challenges, stunts and "zones." The last 3 are all about providing interesting locations and encouraging heroes to do more than stand still and swing at each other.

On top of that, the Action Point mechanic, which was introduced in d20 Modern and added to D&D as an option in both Unearthed Arcana and Eberron is a good mechanical way to encourage players to attempt tricky things.

I'm a firm believer in providing mechanics that encourage the behavior you want. If players don't know what mechanics will be used to resolve a particular action, they probably won't try it. Some of the "rules-light" folks feel differently, but I think that the game mechanics should support the type of play you want. If you want stunt-type actions, you need rules for how stunts are resolved.

So, if you like Pirates of the Caribbean style action, I think you'd find the IH stunt, challenge and zone rules catering very much to your taste. The lack of need for ubiquitous magic items is just a bonus.

Of course, if you want them...