D&D General Freeport Trilogy vs Lost City of Barakus

[earthsea_wizard]

Can anybody speak to how "piratey" it is, and by that I mean does it require stereotypical pirate shenanigans with the speech and slang and funny hats?

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Can anybody speak to how "piratey" it is, and by that I mean does it require stereotypical pirate shenanigans with the speech and slang and funny hats?

There are pirate NPCs that are like that, mostly comedic characters. (Hence my advice to not use the 3E gazetteer, which is extremely jokey.) But the trilogy is almost entirely deadly serious NPCs and most of the action is dealing with corrupt officials, crawling around sewers and dealing with the various temples in town.

The temples are interesting because they're left only lightly detailed, with the explicit instruction to drop in your own gods for the god of knowledge, etc. Later Freeport products, most notably Black Sails Over Freeport, detail the pirate god and the pirate god he replaced, but the temple district of town is intended to be customized to fit your own world. It's a well done bit of the setting.

 

[Stormonu]

I have most of the 3E versions of Freeport, what other editions does it exist for and @Whizbang Dustyboots which would you suggest is the best edition?

EDIT: I mean, best edition of the setting, not the game system.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

I have most of the 3E versions of Freeport, what other editions does it exist for and @Whizbang Dustyboots which would you suggest is the best edition?

I think most of the adventures have never been updated past 3E. I don't own any of the Pathfinder ones that came later, although it doesn't seem that they set the world on fire. (Note that Green Ronin doesn't seem to be actively doing any more Freeport stuff.) I ran the trilogy via the remastered all-in-one trilogy edition for 3.5.

The gazetteer I recommend is the system-neutral Pirates Guide to Freeport.

 

[Dax Doomslayer2]

Freeport was updated to 5E in "Death in Freeport" 20th Anniversary edition.

 

[Voadam]

In addition to the 20th anniversary 5e Death in Freeport, there is a 20th anniversary Fantasy Age Death in Freeport and for Shadow of the Demon Lord a version of Death in Freeport, Terror in Freeport, and Madness in Freeport for the whole trilogy. I ran the trilogy in 3.5 and Pathfinder 1e using the 3.5 5-Year Anniversary Complete Trilogy which I found great for both the setting info and the adventure aspects.

There are various system player's guides for Freeport as well, but they are mostly some stat blocks in the appropriate systems for a number of NPCs. For the setting in general I would either go off of what is in the 3.5 anniversary trilogy which is more than enough to cover the city, or for fantastic detail goodness go with the statless Pirate's Guide to Freeport. The 3rd Era Freeport Companion provides some 3.5 mechanical bits like sample stat blocks and such, but it is not needed for running the trilogy.

 

[Voadam]

Can anybody speak to how "piratey" it is, and by that I mean does it require stereotypical pirate shenanigans with the speech and slang and funny hats?

The first module has one set of pirates the PCs interact with but they are not human so how stereotypically their speech is Long John Silver patterns is up to the DM.

Later on they meet and interact with the city's Captain's Council of which some members are pirate captains and others are city faction leaders like the dockworker's union and rich established merchants.

I'd say the pirate aspect is one third of the flavor of Freeport, the other two are Cthulhu and D&D urban.

 

[mamba]

I have most of the 3E versions of Freeport, what other editions does it exist for and @Whizbang Dustyboots which would you suggest is the best edition?

Most of it is for 3e, there are Pathfinder 1e books and the Companion is available for many systems

Freeport Product Listing - RPGnet RPG Game Index

index.rpg.net

That list is a bit outdated, there also are SotDL books and the first adventure exists for 5e and Fantasy AGE in a 20th Anniversary edition at a minimum

Freeport for Shadow of the Demon Lord - Schwalb Entertainment

Everything you need, from sourcebooks to adventures, to run Freeport adventures in Shadow of the Demon Lord RPG

schwalbentertainment.com

 

[mamba]

Note that Green Ronin doesn't seem to be actively doing any more Freeport stuff

I believe they have something planned for their Fantasy AGE system

"Finally, we’ve got the book I’m most excited about—Stranger Shores. This book (slated for 2024) is going to provide the nautical-themed campaign setting for Fantasy AGE that you’ve always wanted (even if you didn’t know it). This book will be crammed full of details on new islands and continents made accessible with the Mystic Navigator talent. Most of these lands are completely new, but you’ll also find some old favorites, such as the ever-popular Freeport setting! "

Fantasy AGE 2nd Editon—Set Sail for Adventure!

With the core book behind us, one would think I might be taking a moment to relax. We've got the book out, right? No need to rush ahead. Nothing could be furth

greenronin.com

obviously they missed the 2024 date

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

I forgot about Stranger Shores. I hope it's still in development.