Skull & Bones: Your Experiences?

[dvvega]

There are some Erol Flynn movies which are quite "spot on" with a little romanticising about them ... Sea Hawks is one of my favourites.

The TV Series Hornblower is excellent as well.

D

 

[GMSkarka]

There are some Erol Flynn movies which are quite "spot on" with a little romanticising about them ... Sea Hawks is one of my favourites.

Captain Blood is my all-time favorite Flynn flick.

The TV Series Hornblower is excellent as well.

Yes, although about 100 years out-of-period (late) for SKULL & BONES. Even with that, though, the Napoleonic age of sail stuff is nifty in its own right. Hornblower, Ramage, Master & Commander.... love it all.

 

[Insight]

I'd love to be able to give you a short answer on this, but, no joke, the shelf in my office devoted to Age of Piracy research currently houses 38 books.

Here are three good places to start, though:

Under the Black Flag: The Romance and the Reality of Life among the Pirates by David Cordingly

The History of Pirates by Angus Kongstam

and

Pirates!: Brigands, Buccaneers, and Privateers in Fact, Fiction, and Legend by Jan Rogozinski.

You can't go wrong with either one.

Awesome thanks!

 

[drnuncheon]

Even with that, though, the Napoleonic age of sail stuff is nifty in its own right. Hornblower, Ramage, Master & Commander.... love it all.

Maybe if I beg really hard for a supplemental PDF...?

J
Aubrey & Maturin forever!

 

[GMSkarka]

Maybe if I beg really hard for a supplemental PDF...?

Hmmm....Some D20 Modern-based Advanced Classes, historical notes, the rules from CORSAIR....

Something to think about, at least.

Hell, people have been telling me that I should do a PDF release that fleshed out the Napoleonics + Magic setting that I detailed in a column over at RPGnet a few years back, originally called "Black Powder, Cold Iron", but in later development re-titled "Apollyon Noir" and then "Black Powder, Black Magic."

 

[dvvega]

Hornblower is highly accurate for naval combat, and the way a ship ran didn't change much so it also gives a view of the day to day of a ship and her crew.

 

[barsoomcore]

Seconded on Under the Black Flag -- it's just a great book generally. I also had access to the Time/Life book on Pirates. I made vast use of the WikiPedia (great for getting really obscure bits), and I started trawling YACHTING websites -- great for getting detailed information on the anchorages around these islands, the sailing hazards and so on.

Google is your friend. Google loves you and wants you to know more.

 

[GMSkarka]

I made vast use of the WikiPedia (great for getting really obscure bits).

Gotta be careful with WikiPedia, though--it's the living embodiment of the old computing maxim GIGO (Garbage In Garbage Out)---sometimes the info provided by users updating the Wiki is flat-out wrong.

 

[Cam Banks]

Hell, people have been telling me that I should do a PDF release that fleshed out the Napoleonics + Magic setting that I detailed in a column over at RPGnet a few years back, originally called "Black Powder, Cold Iron", but in later development re-titled "Apollyon Noir" and then "Black Powder, Black Magic."

Yes, you should.

As for Skull & Bones, I'm playing in a S&B campaign right now - my character's a priest on the run from a nasty Cardinal named Mendoza and one of several children of the famous pirate "Lucky" Will Hamilton. The rules are excellent and full of rich background, highly recommended. It's also very easy to add rules to, such as base classes or supplementary systems like those found in Unearthed Arcana or Grim Tales.

Cheers,
Cam

 

[beverson]

Hmmm....Some D20 Modern-based Advanced Classes, historical notes, the rules from CORSAIR....

Something to think about, at least.

Yes, please... think about it!