Skull & Bones: Your Experiences?

[drnuncheon]

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

Something to think about, at least.

Think long and hard...and read some O'Brien and Cornwall. You know. To help you think. Not in the hopes that it will make you do this. Really.

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."

It might be interesting, but for what it's worth, I think I'd find it easier to add magic to a historical game if I wanted it than I would to excise it from a magical game.

That said, if it's like S&B, where you could remove the magic without an issue to have a historical game, I wouldn't begrudge the pages it took.

 

[GMSkarka]

That said, if it's like S&B, where you could remove the magic without an issue to have a historical game, I wouldn't begrudge the pages it took.

The intention was to have it "dialable" from straight-historical, to hidden-history ("Napoleonic X-files"--weird behind-the-scenes kinda stuff), to full-blown-gonzo-alternate-history (summoning demons in battle, Napoleon is actually the antichrist "Apollyon Noir", magic-specialist troops, etc.).

Damn. Now you've got me thinking about it again.

 

[drnuncheon]

Damn. Now you've got me thinking about it again.

My work here is done!

J

 

[CarlZog]

As for reference works:

If you're only looking for one book on the subject, I'll cast another resounding vote for Cordingly's Under the Black Flag.

A couple other contemporary histories of characters of the period (and a bit earlier) I like are:

A General History of the Pyrates, by Daniel Defoe

History of the Buccaneers of America, by James Burney

I think Dover reprints of these are available.

If you're interested in a broader look at the development in the Caribbean that made it so ripe for piracy, I recommend
"From Columbus to Castro" by Eric Williams

For the ultimate guide to the intracacies of sailing a square-rigged ship, see
Seamanship In The Age of Sail, by John Harland

Another excellent, cheaper book on seamanship is
The Young Sea Officer's Sheet Anchor by Darcy Lever

Carl

 

[Peterson]

Nothing to see here.

Bloody double posts

 

[Peterson]

My work here is done!

J

And what good work it is.

Peterson

 

[barsoomcore]

Sometimes the info provided by users updating the Wiki is flat-out wrong.

Which matters to people writing research papers. My needs are for coolness, of course, so sometimes flat-out wrong is just what the doctor ordered.

But the point is correct and worth noting. I just know I got a couple of key campaign plot points out the Wiki that I didn't see elsewhere.