How to achieve a swashbuckling flavour?

[randomling]

I'm currently running a two-player piratical-style game which is intended to feel "swashbuckling". Right now I'm feeling rather shaky about the game in general because I'm an inexperienced GM and seriously lack confidence in my abilities. The most major thing that's bothering me at the moment is that the swashbuckling flavour I had intended isn't really coming across (to my mind anyway).

So what I'm looking for is input on how to better get the "swashbuckling" feel across to my players. For the record, we use a modified D&D ruleset (I've restricted the PCs to the rogue class only and removed any and all magic for now) and Barsoomcore's wonderful swashbuckling cards. We also play fairly fast and loose with the rules when they come into play - I'm impatient with letting fiddly rules questions get in the way of a cool moment!

The most important thing, of course, is that the players and I have fun. The flavour I want is quite specific though - I want the players to feel like they're playing interesting and cool characters in an interesting and cool setting, which I want to be painted in bold, broad strokes on the surface, but with a dark (and potentially slightly scary) underbelly.

 

[StalkingBlue]

Hi r!

Being one of the two players, I have an opinion of course on how cool and interesting our two PCs are , but be that as it may ...

I've really had fun playing in the game up to now. I love the combination of rogue class, no armour, firearms with absolutely lethal damage (2d6 for a pistol! ), and absence of magic. I enjoy randomling's loose way of applying the rules, it suits the setting very well I think.

So if there's any problem with the feel (and I don't know whether there is), it has nothing to do with the rules, nor with R's DMing style in dealing with rules in play.

Can't say much about the setting yet, seeing we've only played a session and a half! It's great to have islands, which means a lot of sea and many fragmented places to explore. The 18th-century feel is very cool and the rules work well to evoke it. I liked some of your NPCs I've encountered, Shaunnessey is of course a favourite (I hope I'll get to seduce him yet!).

It's maybe a bit odd to have only one government, 'the queen' - it eliminates any chance of having freebooters, you can only be either on the side of law and order or a criminal. But of course I haven't exactly seen a lot of the setting yet, so I can't really judge; and my PC doesn't care much either way, certainly not at 2nd level.

So, er, I'd probably say above all give it a bit of time and see what develops. Of course asking for input from these creative boards is never a mistake.

 

[Whisper72]

Hmmm... define swashbuckling??

IMNSHO there are several points that can be thrown into a good pirate/swashbuckling game:

- legends of dead and still living (and undead?) pirates to evoke fear or act as examples / 'idols'
- ghost ships, disappearing islands, giant turtles whose backs are small islands
- legends of lost treasure, treasure maps and hordes of unsavory, rum swilling pirates, 'archeologists' and other treasure hunters with more or less scruples into acquiring a lead on the competition who is looking for the same treasure
- damsels in distress (kidnapped women for ransom) / romance (maybe the dread pirate is secretly in love with the duaghter of the local governor, and maybe the girl actually returns it?)
- natural terrors in the sea (dire sharks?)
- weather as an enemy (storms causing the sails to tear, masts to break, ships to strand)
- natives who like to cook stranded sailors or those trying to bury or recover ill-gotten treasures
- fast action (i.e. falling from one encounter into the next in quick succession)

Just a few thoughts...

 

[Menchi]

Hey there,

Well I'm a long time fan of swashbuckling games. The key trick is a combination of pacing and action. Swashbuckling adventures are fast, furious and action packed. Some have hints of tragedy - lovers dying, revenge plots.

I think you need to revise your classes - Swashbucklers aren't all rogues. They are a mix of fighters, bards and rogues. For a true swashbuckling character you need Whirlwind attack at some point, and a rogue PC will be working harder to get that.

Also, the new Swashbuckler base class from Complete Warrior is reasonably good too. Mix that with a Duelist - wowsa, awesome character.

It sounds like you have a reasonably good idea of what you want to do. Just remember that you need plenty of action - Carriage chases, battles on cliff-tops and keep the use of firearms to a minimum - otherwise players will wonder why they bother with swords at all. A good way to fix this is for firearms to have a to hit penalty. The firearms of the day were hideously inaccurate - they could kill with a hit, but they need to hit.

Laters!

Conan

 

[Aaron2]

The most important thing, of course, is that the players and I have fun. The flavour I want is quite specific though - I want the players to feel like they're playing interesting and cool characters in an interesting and cool setting, which I want to be painted in bold, broad strokes on the surface, but with a dark (and potentially slightly scary) underbelly.

I've found over the years that getting a specific tone is probably the hardest thing for a DM to do. So much depends on the players; during the course of my campaign, the tone has changed, without me doing anything, when a player joins or leaves. First get a stable set of players and work from there.

Some suggstions ...

1) Start small. Don't assume because you've spent hours developing a campaign world or NPC that the players will care. Keep the game focused in a small area (a city works great) and reuse characters and places from game to game. Slowly introduce elements (such as NPC and organizations) so the players can easily keep track of them. Have a high level NPC deliberately go out of his way to annoy the party etc. A well written backstory can't compete with one that the players have lived through.

2) Spend time developing the area where battles will take place. Deliberately add things the party can use to their advantage (chandaleres, tables covered with objects, empty barrels to hide in or behind). I spend some prep time drawing out the map on large sheets of 1" graph paper. Think about the use of minis: I've seen players that when not using minis just assume the battle is taking place in an empty, featureless plane. Likewise, I've seen creative players turn into chess players by the presence of miniatures. See which works better for your group.

3) If a character has a number on his sheet, most player will, even if subconsciously, want that number to be as high as possible. Consider the use of an Honor or Reputation stat to give the players something other than character level to strive for. Some rules from Unearthed Arcana might work. A Reputation or Honor bonus for joining a particular fencing school, for example, might be just the encouragement the player needs to seek out membership. Do everything you can to get the player to become involved in the workings of the game world instead of just being the typical wandering band of mercenaries.


Aaron

 

[Pielorinho]

Barsoomcore's wonderful swashbuckling cards

Huh? Share please!
Daniel
excited

 

[randomling]

Huh? Share please!
Daniel
excited

Here you are, sir:

http://barsoom.hyboria.net/Swash.html