JoeGKushner
Adventurer
Pirates is a 3.0 d20 book by Living Imagination with material drawn from history and their Twin Crowns setting to augment the role that pirates and ships have in any campaign.
The first chapter, Pirate Life, is a good look at how pirates lived in the past but lacks any real details on using this in a standard d20 campaign. For example, while maggots and weevils are a great problem, with magic, how dangerous would they be to food stores? How much of a concern would food and water be to a crew with the right equipment? This problem hits the book in several other areas, but it's most felt here. For example, what skills should pirates have? Is there a Pirate Profession?
While those details aren't touched, we do get a look at some of the standard roles that pirate crews have and what codes of conduct that follow. About the only nod that this is indeed a d20 fantasy product is the amount of gold given to an injured pirate to retire, but even then, confusion is present because the gold is paid out of the common treasury, but where is that common treasury detailed?
The chapter introduces many feats of piracy such as Cold Resistance, where you don't free in water and Ocean Affinity, granting knowledge of water depth, temperature and strength of currents and a bonus to Swim Checks. Some of the feats are probably a little out there but most seem like the type GMs give NPCs to round them out. The chapter ends with a brief Gloassary of terms like Monkey, a small cannon or Black Spot, the death threat of a pirate.
The bulk of the book, Chapter Two, Pirate Profiles, is dedicated to NPCs. These NPCs often come from new Prestige Classes and have other unique bits about them. Some of them do draw on information, like skills, feats and PrCs, from other Twin Crowns material. The section starts with historical characters like Captain Kidd and Captain Blood, but then moves into fiction.
The PrCs perhaps specialize too much and it'd be the rare campaign that used even half of them, but for those interested in a diverse amount of pirates and sea going types, we've got the following: Gentleman Pirate, Pirate, Slaver, Sea's Chosen, Eldritch Captain, Brethren, J'Kurosgch Salteraters, Jali (Witch Doctor), Sail Rider, Lookout, Marauder, Recklet Boarder, Island Protector, and Smuggler. I can't really say that any of them struck me as new and original save perhaps the Eldritch Captain who gives up a little spellcasting progression in order to better influence his boat. Others I wondered at like the Smuggler gaining spellcasting ability as opposed to being more Rogue like and the use of the Island Protector in a supplement about pirates.
Other game mechanics are included like the Undead Captain and Crewman, as well as new rituals and organizations. The chapter is a give and take. If you're looking for NPCs to help flesh out the details here, then you're going to love the material. If you think that we've seen enough pirates and similar style PrCs, you'll just flip though it, make some notes on what might be appropriate for your campaign and move on.
Ships and Booty is a short chapter but important because it includes Trade Goods. I know I've always wanted to know what chocolate cost in bulk or iron or rope or silk or wood. It's a useful chart to have and the other material, in terms of cost and modifiers in cost, are useful for those cargo ships that the players may one day wish to own. The important information for a pirate though, isn't the shipping cost, but how much space the goods take up.
Those wanting their own custom ships will love Chapter Four, Ship Construction. It includes a listing of common ships in terms of ship stats like length, beam, depth, and average crew. Useful material but nothing we haven't seen in at least three other d20 books. Some of those other products with maps. The meat of the section is making your own ship, going through the ten steps and coming out with a cost in time and gold to make your mark on the world.
Those looking for a lot of equipment won't find a lot of standard items as most have already been covered in Broadsides and other products but we get some general items like Blunderbuss and Grenado (grenades). The majority of Chapter Five is magic items and these range from the Dagger of Action, granting the user a host of feats and a bonus to dexterity, to the Bounty Hunter, a +2 Longsword that drains strength when striking a foe. The magic items are detail oriented and lack any history, background or common uses but this allows more items to be stuffed into this chapter.
One of the more useful sections of the book, Kronor's Folly, is a small island with the town of Port King. Once a small colony run by Sameul Kronor who hoped to attract other colonist there once they saw how rich the land was for farming, Kronor instead created a base of operations to battle pirates, eventually losing both life and town to the pirates who set up shop here. Because it's an island setting, it's easy to take bits and pieces of this and put it into another campaign, ignoring references of gifts, the five lives characters get, and other campaign specific details.
A few short adventures to get a GM started using the material is included. The swimmers is for 6th-9th level characters, pitting them against merfolk and kithraas, a pirate group known as, yes, the Swimmers, who seek to limit the human's expansion. The next adventure, Bloodsong, is for 7th-10th level characters who go in search of Black Cat's treasure on her ship Nightfall hidden on an island chain. Short adventures that the GM will have to flesh out to mesh with the campaign and add details but useful to get the material moving right away.
The art in the book is solid but uses different styles creating dissonance. For example, the pen and ink work of both Marcio Fiorito and Rinaldo Santana work well together but the paintings stand out in stark contrast and because the interior is black and white, some detail is lost on those. For example, the painting to one of Feist books, The King's Buccaneer, is reproduced here on a small scale but looks nothing like the actual book cover.
Layout is standard two column. Text sometimes appears a little too justified with some empty spaces in the lines. Editing needs a little work. Take for instance, the Helm of Disguise, “This helm appears to be a helm...” Would that be a standard helm or ?
I guess when I saw Pirates, I was expecting a book that talked about the core classes as pirates. A book that showed what feats, skills, spells and magic items from the core books would make the best pirate. A book that went into some detail about the roles of different races and why they'd go the piracy route. Sure, I expected to see some prestige classes, but what's wrong with a Black Guard that takes to the Seas to raid the towns of his enemies or a Dwarven Defender who among with his comrades, guards a massive floating fortress? That's not what this book is.
If you're looking for PrCs, NPCs, feats and other crunch, the book has a lot to offer you. If you're looking for how magic effects the life of pirates, for example, common spells on ship, or how pirates arose and their history, then this book is not for you.
The first chapter, Pirate Life, is a good look at how pirates lived in the past but lacks any real details on using this in a standard d20 campaign. For example, while maggots and weevils are a great problem, with magic, how dangerous would they be to food stores? How much of a concern would food and water be to a crew with the right equipment? This problem hits the book in several other areas, but it's most felt here. For example, what skills should pirates have? Is there a Pirate Profession?
While those details aren't touched, we do get a look at some of the standard roles that pirate crews have and what codes of conduct that follow. About the only nod that this is indeed a d20 fantasy product is the amount of gold given to an injured pirate to retire, but even then, confusion is present because the gold is paid out of the common treasury, but where is that common treasury detailed?
The chapter introduces many feats of piracy such as Cold Resistance, where you don't free in water and Ocean Affinity, granting knowledge of water depth, temperature and strength of currents and a bonus to Swim Checks. Some of the feats are probably a little out there but most seem like the type GMs give NPCs to round them out. The chapter ends with a brief Gloassary of terms like Monkey, a small cannon or Black Spot, the death threat of a pirate.
The bulk of the book, Chapter Two, Pirate Profiles, is dedicated to NPCs. These NPCs often come from new Prestige Classes and have other unique bits about them. Some of them do draw on information, like skills, feats and PrCs, from other Twin Crowns material. The section starts with historical characters like Captain Kidd and Captain Blood, but then moves into fiction.
The PrCs perhaps specialize too much and it'd be the rare campaign that used even half of them, but for those interested in a diverse amount of pirates and sea going types, we've got the following: Gentleman Pirate, Pirate, Slaver, Sea's Chosen, Eldritch Captain, Brethren, J'Kurosgch Salteraters, Jali (Witch Doctor), Sail Rider, Lookout, Marauder, Recklet Boarder, Island Protector, and Smuggler. I can't really say that any of them struck me as new and original save perhaps the Eldritch Captain who gives up a little spellcasting progression in order to better influence his boat. Others I wondered at like the Smuggler gaining spellcasting ability as opposed to being more Rogue like and the use of the Island Protector in a supplement about pirates.
Other game mechanics are included like the Undead Captain and Crewman, as well as new rituals and organizations. The chapter is a give and take. If you're looking for NPCs to help flesh out the details here, then you're going to love the material. If you think that we've seen enough pirates and similar style PrCs, you'll just flip though it, make some notes on what might be appropriate for your campaign and move on.
Ships and Booty is a short chapter but important because it includes Trade Goods. I know I've always wanted to know what chocolate cost in bulk or iron or rope or silk or wood. It's a useful chart to have and the other material, in terms of cost and modifiers in cost, are useful for those cargo ships that the players may one day wish to own. The important information for a pirate though, isn't the shipping cost, but how much space the goods take up.
Those wanting their own custom ships will love Chapter Four, Ship Construction. It includes a listing of common ships in terms of ship stats like length, beam, depth, and average crew. Useful material but nothing we haven't seen in at least three other d20 books. Some of those other products with maps. The meat of the section is making your own ship, going through the ten steps and coming out with a cost in time and gold to make your mark on the world.
Those looking for a lot of equipment won't find a lot of standard items as most have already been covered in Broadsides and other products but we get some general items like Blunderbuss and Grenado (grenades). The majority of Chapter Five is magic items and these range from the Dagger of Action, granting the user a host of feats and a bonus to dexterity, to the Bounty Hunter, a +2 Longsword that drains strength when striking a foe. The magic items are detail oriented and lack any history, background or common uses but this allows more items to be stuffed into this chapter.
One of the more useful sections of the book, Kronor's Folly, is a small island with the town of Port King. Once a small colony run by Sameul Kronor who hoped to attract other colonist there once they saw how rich the land was for farming, Kronor instead created a base of operations to battle pirates, eventually losing both life and town to the pirates who set up shop here. Because it's an island setting, it's easy to take bits and pieces of this and put it into another campaign, ignoring references of gifts, the five lives characters get, and other campaign specific details.
A few short adventures to get a GM started using the material is included. The swimmers is for 6th-9th level characters, pitting them against merfolk and kithraas, a pirate group known as, yes, the Swimmers, who seek to limit the human's expansion. The next adventure, Bloodsong, is for 7th-10th level characters who go in search of Black Cat's treasure on her ship Nightfall hidden on an island chain. Short adventures that the GM will have to flesh out to mesh with the campaign and add details but useful to get the material moving right away.
The art in the book is solid but uses different styles creating dissonance. For example, the pen and ink work of both Marcio Fiorito and Rinaldo Santana work well together but the paintings stand out in stark contrast and because the interior is black and white, some detail is lost on those. For example, the painting to one of Feist books, The King's Buccaneer, is reproduced here on a small scale but looks nothing like the actual book cover.
Layout is standard two column. Text sometimes appears a little too justified with some empty spaces in the lines. Editing needs a little work. Take for instance, the Helm of Disguise, “This helm appears to be a helm...” Would that be a standard helm or ?
I guess when I saw Pirates, I was expecting a book that talked about the core classes as pirates. A book that showed what feats, skills, spells and magic items from the core books would make the best pirate. A book that went into some detail about the roles of different races and why they'd go the piracy route. Sure, I expected to see some prestige classes, but what's wrong with a Black Guard that takes to the Seas to raid the towns of his enemies or a Dwarven Defender who among with his comrades, guards a massive floating fortress? That's not what this book is.
If you're looking for PrCs, NPCs, feats and other crunch, the book has a lot to offer you. If you're looking for how magic effects the life of pirates, for example, common spells on ship, or how pirates arose and their history, then this book is not for you.
