Pirates of the Spanish Main RPG

[RichGreen]

Hi,

Went into Orc's Nest in London today and they had this in stock, but shrink-wrapped so I couldn't look at it. It's based on Savage Worlds and the WizKids collectable ships game.

Does anyone have it or know if it's any good? I'm happy with Skull & Bones as a system for my pirate game but was wondering if there's stuff in this to plunder (yohoho), particularly adventure ideas and so on.

Cheers


Richard

 

[CaptainChaos]

Savage Worlds is a pretty fun system to start with. I'm not sure what that version has added. Perhaps a trip to the game store tonight will rectify that.

 

[Gothmog]

I bought Pirates yesterday, and I'm really impressed with what I've read so far. Its a self-contained game using the Savage Worlds system, so you don't even need the SW book.

In addition to the standard SW rules, there are sections for ship-to-ship combat that are the best I've seen in a game and quick to resolve, sections for randomly determining the types of goods on a ship, edges and hinderances for crews and ships that make them distinctive, a big section on the Age of Piracy including cultural attitudes and how legal conflicts are resolved between various nations in the Mediterranean, a comprehensive section on shipborne hazards (storms, cabin fever, etc), and the Gazeteer of the Pirates world, going into depth on many of the locations and islands along with adventure ideas ranging from courtly politics, to trade, to exploring ancient ruins. Like most of the SW stuff, there are horror undertones and rumors of dark creatures in the deeps. There are NOT rules in the book for magic casters, but it would be extremely easy to slot in bokkors, Christian missionaries, etc using the SW powers system.

I really like Skull & Bones (its one of the top 3 books GR ever put out), but I find myself even more partial to Pirates of the Spanish Main. The SW system is more free-flowing and quick than D20, which IMO better captures the spirit of swashbuckling adventure. Even if you loot the book for ideas in your D20 game, you won't be disappointed- buy it!

 

[RichGreen]

I bought Pirates yesterday, and I'm really impressed with what I've read so far. Its a self-contained game using the Savage Worlds system, so you don't even need the SW book.

I really like Skull & Bones (its one of the top 3 books GR ever put out), but I find myself even more partial to Pirates of the Spanish Main. The SW system is more free-flowing and quick than D20, which IMO better captures the spirit of swashbuckling adventure. Even if you loot the book for ideas in your D20 game, you won't be disappointed- buy it!

Thanks for this - sounds great. Anyone else have it?

Cheers


Richard

 

[BluSponge]

I picked up my copy yesterday. I haven't had a chance to read much of it, but the book is beautiful. Most of it is a full port from 50 Fathoms , but there are a LOT of new features (like Fencing Schools!!!) and, of course, the whole Caribbean setting. At this point, I'd recommend the book wholeheartedly, especially if you've never played SW.

My real master plan, however, is to use a lot of this material when The Savage Tales of Solomon Kane comes out later this year!

Tom

 

[RichGreen]

I picked up my copy yesterday. I haven't had a chance to read much of it, but the book is beautiful. Most of it is a full port from 50 Fathoms , but there are a LOT of new features (like Fencing Schools!!!) and, of course, the whole Caribbean setting. At this point, I'd recommend the book wholeheartedly, especially if you've never played SW.

My real master plan, however, is to use a lot of this material when The Savage Tales of Solomon Kane comes out later this year!

Tom

How much setting and non-rules material is there? I'm not so interested in the rules system as we're pretty happy with Skull & Bones.

Cheers


Richard

 

[Michael Dean]

I've never played SW or had much interest in the system. However, after looking at it on my FLGS shelf on Thursday, I had to have it. I even bought a couple packs of the CCG just so I could have some ship minis to have battles with.

The game seems easy to play and character creation is fun. The actual layout of the book is one of the most gorgeous of any rpg books that I own. I LOVE Skull & Bones, but to be honest, I think the rules here are pretty fun at first glance, and I can see this becoming my favorite ruleset for pirate action. It gives me great hope that Solomon Kane will be terrific.

As far as rules/setting, it's pretty evenly mixed. The game rules section goes from p. 71-106, while the GM section is from p. 141-174, and includes a (very brief) description of all of the islands and important cities along the coastal areas.

There is a complete adventure called The Lady's Favor which is 8 pages long with some nice maps and floor plans. The general plot is to help a young woman rescue her father and retrieve a fortune in stolen booty.

Oh what the heck, here is an abbreviated TOC:


Getting Started, p. 5-12

Characters, p. 13-49

Gear, p. 51-62

The Age of Piracy, p. 63-70

Game Rules, p. 71-106

Flashing Blades (rules for fencing academies), p. 107-114

Life at Sea (ship combat rules and misc. info about, yes, life at sea), p. 115-140

GM's section (brief rules for forts, and short description of islands and coastal regions), p. 141-176

Running the Game, p. 177-208

The Lady's Favor (adventure with 6 scenes), p. 209-216

Encounters (beastiary and important npc stats), p. 217-253

Index (right before the index there is a character sheet and a ship sheet that can be photocopied, as well as some blast templates), p. 254

 

[RichGreen]

Oh what the heck, here is an abbreviated TOC:


Getting Started, p. 5-12

Characters, p. 13-49

Gear, p. 51-62

The Age of Piracy, p. 63-70

Game Rules, p. 71-106

Flashing Blades (rules for fencing academies), p. 107-114

Life at Sea (ship combat rules and misc. info about, yes, life at sea), p. 115-140

GM's section (brief rules for forts, and short description of islands and coastal regions), p. 141-176

Running the Game, p. 177-208

The Lady's Favor (adventure with 6 scenes), p. 209-216

Encounters (beastiary and important npc stats), p. 217-253

Index (right before the index there is a character sheet and a ship sheet that can be photocopied, as well as some blast templates), p. 254

Thanks for this! Starting to think I should buy this.

Cheers


Richard

 

[crazy_cat]

Thanks for this! Starting to think I should buy this.

Cheers

Richard

Agreed. It's looking pretty tempting isn't it

 

[BluSponge]

How much setting and non-rules material is there? I'm not so interested in the rules system as we're pretty happy with Skull & Bones.

41 pages of combined setting material.

27 pages of "running the game" material, including adventure generators. Most of this material is relatively system-neutral.

3 pages of major NPCs.

Oh, and an intro adventure.

I don't know that I would drop money on this just for the setting material. Rumor is they will be releasing a PDF version eventually. I would just wait for that. $40 is a lot to spend for a third of the book.

Tom