Pirates!

[Kichwas]

Two years ago a bunch of publishers put out sea books.

The key question for all of these Pirate books is which of the Sea books are you compatable with?

If the answer is none, buying your book is a waste of funds. By contrast if it is one of the more popular ones, then your book is more likely to be useful to people.

 

[Bran Blackbyrd]

I'm pretty sure that it is against the rules here to advocate piracy.

Tsk, tsk, tsk.

 

[Kichwas]

?

 

[CarlZog]

CarlZog, what were you hoping for in Pirates! that wasn't there? Have you taken a close look at the ship rules in chapters 3 &4? If there was anything you needed above and beyond the content of Broadsides! that isn't in those two chapters let me know.

Good question. There certainly isn't anything missing from Chapters 3 & 4 of Pirates! As I indicated, I think Broadsides is the best sailing ship rules for RPGs there are, and the supplementary material in Pirates! fleshes it out even further. I mentioned Heart of Oak andBeat to Quarters only as sophisticated tactical naval rules sets -- far more detailed than most roleplayers need or want.

As for the rest of Pirates!, I do think it is a very good book. I liked most of character profiles. I found numerous good adventure hooks in the backstories of the characters. I wasn't too excited about the prestige classes, but I'm not big on prestige classes to begin with.

If any one thing is missing, it's details on the victims. For pirates to exist, there must be someone they pirate from. How do victim governments deal with pirates? Kings and Queens don't tend to sit around letting pirates raid shipping and take over fertile islands.

Official efforts to combat piracy -- or make some viable concession to it -- form the backbone of many great pirate tales. As such the naval heroes who pursue pirates on behalf of the crown are as significant as the pirates themselves, and offer great NPC -- and even PC -- opportunities. Outlines of the type of seagoing commerce that gives piracy an opportunity to thrive in the first place would also be valuable.

CZ

 

[Pramas]

Two years ago a bunch of publishers put out sea books.

The key question for all of these Pirate books is which of the Sea books are you compatable with?

If the answer is none, buying your book is a waste of funds. By contrast if it is one of the more popular ones, then your book is more likely to be useful to people.

Skull & Bones uses a slightly modified version of the Seas of Blood system.

 

[Kichwas]

Cool.

Looks like one of my two preferred publishers went with the FFG base, and the other with the Mongoose base.

-shrug-

I'll have to see what I can make of those books once they arrive.

 

[Larry Fitz]

Originally floated by CarlZog


(SNIP)
If any one thing is missing, it's details on the victims. For pirates to exist, there must be someone they pirate from. How do victim governments deal with pirates? Kings and Queens don't tend to sit around letting pirates raid shipping and take over fertile islands.

Official efforts to combat piracy -- or make some viable concession to it -- form the backbone of many great pirate tales. As such the naval heroes who pursue pirates on behalf of the crown are as significant as the pirates themselves, and offer great NPC -- and even PC -- opportunities. Outlines of the type of seagoing commerce that gives piracy an opportunity to thrive in the first place would also be valuable.

CZ

Good points, in Pirates! you'll find rules for values and weights of goods that are found on ships, but it sounds like you would have been interested in specific ships and their cargo, as well as rules governing something akin to the "Triangle trade" routes. Hmmm... now you have me thinking about a few things...

Also sounds like info on people who hunt pirates, and how countries deal with pirates might be up your alley ( more people like William Kidd perhaps). Fair enough, maybe we can come up with a few things for you...

 

[CarlZog]

Good points, in Pirates! you'll find rules for values and weights of goods that are found on ships, but it sounds like you would have been interested in specific ships and their cargo, as well as rules governing something akin to the "Triangle trade" routes. Hmmm... now you have me thinking about a few things...

Exactly. I know you guys don't want get sucked into writing the "d20 Guide to Maritime Commerce", but it is a grossly overlooked aspect of most nautical campaign material.

From a historical standpoint, most of the pirate/swashbuckling material mimics the Caribbean in the 1600s, but most D&D settings more closely resemble medeival Europe. The nature of maritime commerce and nautical activities in these two settings could not be more different. Nobody has done much to reconcile how the pirates of 1650 are staying in business in the Europe of 1150.

Granted, every fantasy setting is different and a DM's emphasis of economic realism will depend on the nature of the campaign, but if you're running a pirate game, I don't see how you can avoid grappling with commerce and trade routes. How are the pirates supposed to know where to find the booty? And what kind of booty makes sense? (How do pirates keep stumbling upon ships laden with gold and treasure in a world of small feudal, agrarian kingdoms?)

There is less of a conflict if your campaign is set in Twin Crowns, or some other commerce-rich, age-of-exploration setting, but if you're going to produce generic d20 stuff, it should be addressed.

Also sounds like info on people who hunt pirates, and how countries deal with pirates might be up your alley ( more people like William Kidd perhaps). Fair enough, maybe we can come up with a few things for you...

Exactly. And in a fantasy setting, the implications of being hunted are particularly dire for a group of PC pirates. If I ran a Kingdom being victimized by pirates, I'd be scouring for ways to magically protect my fleet, and looking for sorcerous ways to hunt down the scurvy dogs. Don't forget airpower: anything with wings can be used as a scout to find pirates, and by pirates to find targets.

CZ

CZ

 

[Kichwas]

Kalamar has a high trade region of city states (Reanaaria Bay) that finds itself plagued by pirates.

Major ocean trade routes are also outlined in the Atlas so one could expect pirates along them. I suspect many of these pirates are also privateers and slavers. I imagine the Kalamar "Salt and Sea Dogs" book will have a lot of info on maritime trade and how piracy fits into it. They tend to go into a lot of detail with logical explainations in their material.