Talk:Set Sail… For Adventure!

--Matts 16:44, 8 April 2009 (MST)My take is that as long as we're all pirates and everyone's on board (heh) with that, or we're all privateers or whatever; as long as the premise is pretty set I think we'll be in good shape.

Crazy idea: What if we each had a boat?

--Gdaze 16:04, 9 April 2009 (MST) Here is a crazy idea, keep your fucking mouth shut and make me dinner. Wow, work brings out the ass in me.

But no, everyone has a boat sounds fun, but GM wise that is a nightmare. Every player can go anywhere at anytime... Plus keeping all the players allied could be difficult if everyone had their own boat. "Oh yeah? Well how about I just fucking broadside you?"

And if we did that I believe each boat becomes the main character with the crew becoming the "stats". Which might not make a bad game but Wiz Kid's pirate game is already like that... sorta.

I actually thought of fleet combat since some pirates did have fairly impressive fleets.

I'm actually so down for this game, but I'm wondering if the others are. As Ben said, it will be silly... at times...

I'd like to hear from Ed & Dieter on this.

--Brandon 16:42, 9 April 2009 (MST) As I was saying to Ben yesterday, you guys should totally play a game akin to Pirates of Dark Water.

JASON: What if they each have a boat, but only one of them has a ship...

--Gdaze 09:16, 10 April 2009 (MST) Hahaha, I like Jason's idea.

Yes, Pirates of Dark Water, buy only if Matt plays the confounded Monkey Bird.

--Dieter the Bold 12:05, 13 April 2009 (MST) I don't know why, but I could deal with silly pirates better than silly Supers. Totally down with any version of pirates (magic, non-magic, focused or unfocused campaign). I think with this we'd want to make sure the characters are very well hooked together though.

--Gdaze 10:40, 14 April 2009 (MST) Alright, well if your okay with silly pirates, or rather that pirates will be silly at times, I'd like to try it. Good point though, the characters should be well hooked together. I'll start coming up with some ideas.

Edmiao when you say "our world", all well and good, what time period? I suggest that we should put it in April, 2009, and that all the players should be Somali pirates (that's a joke).

--Gdaze-- I dunno, Somali pirates really seem to lack effort when it comes to clothes... I was thinking the Golden Age of Piracy, which is like what... 1700's? 1800's?

Matts - late 1600s - early 1700s.

GABE: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bartholomew_Roberts

This guy is a pretty good example of uh... pirate nature. And thank ye Matt, yar. Try to think up what type of character you'd like to play. Dieter, no you can't play someone who won't leave the ship.

Also something I found out... the captain has little power in day to day duties, but in battle his word his law. The quarter master is in charge for most the rest of the time. Something to keep in mind.

Did people want to use another system? WHFRP is fine? Want to keep using the Hero system?

And so real world is fine? I picked it because that way at least everyone has a general idea of the world instead of having to ask "So what is that like normally?". Course that question will still come up, and I am in no way going to try to make this game very historically accurate. Think of it kinda like an alternate real world.

I'm actually fairly excited about planning this as I love ships, cannons, muskets, and all that jazz. And surprise surprise I've got props for this game...

Edmiao WFRP is fine by me, we all know the system. are you going to let the players be magic users? alternate real world is fine, thinking pirates of the carribean type alternate...there's magic and monsters in a real historical setting. is one of us going to be the captain and boss all the others around? that might kind of suck. Hey, what if you start the game with the captain dying and the players form a kind of council of pirates that run the ship? we should try to not make this like the last time we had a ship with a rag tag crew who were above the law. i vow not to play a viking pirate.

--Matts 22:23, 15 April 2009 (MST)I like WFRP, and concur that the POTC style altered real world is good. As for who is captain and who isn't, if we're pirates, then I see two options: One, a captain who understands that his power rests on the trust of his crew, and we expect some conflict to come between captain and non-captain players (entirely in-genre I might remind you), or, we run the ship as a sort of cabal, which also would work just fine I think. However, there's going to be someone whose job it is to make the high-level calls in battle, unless we all have our own ships/boats/whatever. I'm fine with either option.

--Gdaze-- Well the thing is I think the players should own the ship, and be fairly in charge. That said Ed makes good points, nobody likes to be bossed around by another player. But pirate ships actually worked like a democracy. Votes were often held, rules laid down, and what not. If someone wants to be the "captain" I'd imagen he be geared more towards fighting skills and command skills, which I would allow to give bonuses to the other players.

POTC style sounds great... but maybe not with sword fights that last over 30 minutes... that was just tiring.

Also note that if someone plays the quarter master, he won't be like "We are going here, that is that." Crews would often vote on where to go next, again, I guess they figured that if the majority agreed mutanity was less likely. A quarter master PC would be more like a face man or some one with a lot of know how or knowledge skills.

Point is though is that the crew will be above the law, but not above the law of the crew itself. Does that make any sense...

And YES Ed, I will allow spell casters, I hope only one though. Some of the lores may not be aviable, still looking into it. Thanks for input guys.

Edmiao here's a thought: 4-5 players does not a crew make. Consider how to crew the ship with NPCs. Should each player make some alt characters? there was an idea once from jason about a ship where each player had 2 or more characters, would primarily play one, but on certain "away missions" could jump into an alternate character as appropriate for the mission. ie i might have a smooth talker and a sneakster, smooth talker is pretty useless on a sneak and steal job, so i could switch into sneakster.

--Gdaze-- Yes, I thought of that idea, and I think Ben said it once too or came up with it I have no idea. And yes you will have other crew, but they will be NPCs. During outtings to towns, or exploring ancient ruins they won't come into play as much. However during ship to ship combat they will be commandable.

Reason I'm not doing multi-characters is that I really want everyone to get into their characters, plus having that many characters to keep track of just seems really taxing. And right, a smooth talker might not be of huge help on a sneak (less he is distracting guards), but I would rather characters have to make up for weaknesses with clever ideas then having a huge stock of guys to pull on.

Another reason for this is much of the day to day activites on the ship... like rigging, I'm NOT going to have roleplayed out, so I just don't think it will be nessary. There will be parts where some characters will have more to do then others just like any other game, but I'll try to keep it balanced.

Speaking of crew I believe I'm going to use a level up system where their stats become better for navel engagments. Basically their will be certain types. Something like, general, boarding party, cannoner, whatever.

Oh and everyone will be able to pick their starting character. Most likely with around 6-8 advances.

Edmiao groovey

--Dieter the Bold 15:22, 16 April 2009 (MST) I think a fun approach would be us as actual adventurers and the crew as actual nautical types. So we have some basic maritime knowledge, but not enough to actually get anywhere, while the crew are consummate professionals, but would totally get their asses handed to 'em if we were to make it a straight fight. So we have this bargain struck where we come up with the mission/heist/job and they handle getting us there and everything and we cut them in on a fair share of whatever we take. And what's this about me not wanting to leave the ship? Also, totally down with WHFRP, not planning on a magic user.

Edmiao personally, i don't like rolling for stats, because i often roll poorly. certainly won't make a stink about it if y'all want to go that way. how about this, though: roll for 5 stats and the sixth is equal to 66 minus the total of your 5 rolls. gives an element of randomness but in the end everyone has the same totals.

--Gdaze-- Hmm that could work, the reason I don't like assinging stats is the min/max thing that happens, of course in a game like this that could be useful. This method you are talking about could work though.

--Matts 23:04, 16 April 2009 (MST)An interesting thing I've seen other games do is say stuff like "your highest roll is a 10, your lowest roll is a 3, everything else is what you actually rolled", maybe adjusting to a certain minimum.

--Dieter the Bold 12:15, 23 April 2009 (MST) So, like the various personalities so far. re: the swashbucklery feat, does there have to be a minimum amount of re-rolls available before pulling it off (i.e., no using all re-rolls but one and then pulling out the feat)? And does this include talking actions? Can I linguistically swashbuckle my way through encounters? I'd like to have some kind of group hook, and I think some version of Ben's card-game would be a good way to build a story together. And once we were done doing that, having Gabe put really short vignettes together where each player actually rp'd the various links together with the other characters would really link us together. Also, let's try and streamline roles in the group. Try and limit having 3 facemen and a pit-fighter.

--Gdaze -- Hmm, pretty sure you couldn't Swashbuckle your way through an entire encounter, but lets say you had one shot to knock the hat off of a rival captain from 200 yards, something like that. It has to be something of great importenance to either the story, or how the character wants to be seen by others. This does not mean a combat character can use it for every fight, don't even try.

I actually thought of something like that, but with an already end result, as in you know the ship, etc. Also since its should be really clear already, your cap won't be around for the entire game, but will be there for at least 2 to 3 stories.

Ed has already expressed interest in playing an African shaman. But yes, classes should not be 3 of one type.

Oh something else, if you play a crafter class, you WILL be able to make stuff. Want to make an insane cannon round that explodes with glue? Want to make a self rowing ship? Go for it.

--Gdaze-- Speaking of which, what kinda classes/arch-types were others thinking of playing?

Edmiao what kind of mood are you looking for in this game. jubilant reckeless pirates having fun pillaging on the high seas? grimy dirty pirates cutting the throats of any scallywag who gets in their way?

--Dieter the Bold 15:23, 26 April 2009 (MST) I'd like to be jubilant pirates about some serious business. Like PotC. We're swashbuckling fools, but with very serious stakes at risk. Gives us a chance to act all crazy, but a reason to be serious at times.

--Gdaze-- I was going to pretty much do what Dieter said, but was also gonna say you guys should let me know what you perfer. A game of blood thristy cut throats wouldn't last long though. Of course you guys can still do pirate stuff, rob ships and what not.

--Dieter the Bold 15:28, 28 April 2009 (MST) I'm thinking of playing either a Native or Port-Born navigator. Knows all the reefs and islets in the area as well as the stars above.

--Matts - I'm thinking either a catholic seaman or an out-of-place swordsman in the vein of Gabriel Goto from Neal Stephenson's Baroque Cycle.

BEN: possibly a port born Water Rat: ie, has lived all his young life on the sea, and knows everything about maintaining/piloting a boat. possibly a Noble with a "Count of Monte Christo" feel. Maybe a caster, if Ed doesn't make one. Haven't been totally inspired yet as to what the concept will be.

--Matts - I had some inspiration the other night for a Portuguese swordsman: O Lobao

Edmiao weren't space opera and gemini both kind of space pirates? that said, up for whatever, although leaning towards previous idea.

Matts - I also lean towards sea pirates, though space pirates might be neat.

--Gdaze-- Me as well actually, haha. Yes, we were "kinda" like space pirates, but not really. In Space Opera we were basically minions of that rich dude. In Gemini we were every other big player's whipping boys, we also happen to be pirates, scientists, archeologists, smugglers, warriors, but mostly a bunch of dicks.

Some different if we did decide on space would be that: A. The players would decide who to work with/for. Now, how the heck do you run a space game where you can't force the players to pay attention to the story? Even the old school pirate game will have this problem.

I think I've got some ways around this. Again this is all just mostly musings.

While space pirates are neat, what about sky pirates? HMMM. Let me know.

Edmiao sky pirates, like DeNiro in Stardust?

--Dieter the Bold 11:28, 6 May 2009 (MST) I'm enjoying the regular ole' sea pirates idea. But I wouldn't say no to sky pirates if there was some enthusiasm there.

--Gdaze -- First off, thanks for the input. And you know, I never saw Stardust. It looks okay though.

Here are some examples of what Sky Pirates might be like...

http://soaworld.rpgplanet.gamespy.com/Index.htm (Check out Pictures, then Ships)

http://www.atlus.com/sg/sg_characters.html

The sky pirates from Tail Spin.

Edmiao I humbly request that you find a name for this game eventually that is not "a pirate game".

--Gdaze -- Well I will once the game is hammered out.

--Matts 13:01, 19 May 2009 (MST)I'm not so into sky pirates; I'd prefer regular pirates I think.

--Gdaze -- Regular it is then!

--Dieter the Bold 16:29, 28 May 2009 (MST) Yay for Regular pirates. In terms of gameplay I'd like to see some kind of meta-plot that gets addressed every session, but not necessarily in a big way (more than episodic but less than OAAA), one swashbuckling encounter and a side-quest of the day (either GM introduced or player generated). This way we've got something we're working towards, but it's not our whole reason for being, and we get to have fun along the way. I'd also like to have a rogue's gallery (not us, but those other rogues that bedevil our steps) that makes regular appearances, sorta' like a Supers game. Like we piss off Ruthless John and every three or so sessions he shows up to fuck with us in some way, or part of his crew is scheming something up on an island for a future job and recognize us and change their scheme to get us in trouble with the locals. That's my sorta' dream for how this would go. And Gemini was pirating for people that didn't plan on being pirates, which is where a lot of the trouble came from. All characters made for this are pirates who know they are pirates who want to do pirate-y things. Hence all on the same page. I think it would also be fun to have some specific milestones everyone's going for, like fastest ship in the Caribbean (a la PotC), crew that's made a most dangerous passage the most times, etc, etc. I'm sorta' thinking like a leveling kinda' system here (and WHFRP is like a leveling-lite system), but I know most people don't like leveling systems, so I won't get too invested into that.

--Dieter the Bold 16:47, 28 May 2009 (MST) Also, in terms of Occult, I think it would be great to all (players) agree to pirates are to be played as superstitious. And I mean really superstitious. That way Gabe can totally through in the occult, but it's always a big thing when it makes a naked appearance (zombies, giants, etc). All pirates and seafarers know X, Y and Z exist, A and B are total hogwash, and you just do L, M and N because you never know. That way we can have little charms, trinkets or rituals that everyone buys in to (and may or may not have 'real' game effects or just NPCs ducking because they "believe" there will be 'real' effects), and then the real hardcore occult shit that's epic when it happens. Like O Lobao always has this juju charm around his neck that everyone agrees keeps him safe from the evil eye because that old hag gave it to him and it stinks something awful (example of L), and maybe Gabe gives him bonuses to resist curses (either for O Lobao's firm Willpower in believing his protected status or because the juju-charm is for real) or maybe it's a straight roll (it's just a stinky little sack). Either way, all the characters and the crew totally go along with it being for real (and yeah, maybe snark a little that he got robbed and it's all fake and shit (but they'd never try and put it to the test deliberately)). And then some time we're exploring a cave and come upon some kind of zombie-giant-king and THIS IS A HUGE DEAL FOR ALL INVOLVED. Something that get's spoken of either in quiet, harsh whispers or as drunken boasting that's obviously a big fish-tale (but how much of it is secretly truth?). That's sorta' the occult feel I'm thinking of.

--Matts 16:55, 28 May 2009 (MST)I pretty much agree with dieter. I'm not a big fan of leveling systems in general, but that's because I don't like the idea of gobs of hitpoints unless I'm playing a video game. I'm sure there are leveling systems that, like WFRP, don't dole out hitpoints-per-level and use other mechanisms to make experienced characters better in combat.

--Matts 17:01, 28 May 2009 (MST)Also, in re: occult, I'd like a less explicit fantasy world as well. O Lobao is sort of based on the idea of the Age-of-Piracy gentleman, and would probably lose his shit if a zombie king popped out of a cave-hole.

Not that I'm opposed to a higher-fantasy feel, but one of the things that makes pirates cool is that having a boat makes them better/different than landlubbers. If there's pirates, but also gryphon raiders, it muddies the waters.

BEN: I agree with Matt and Dieter. Since this looks like it is going to become a reality, I'll say that I'd like to ask to keep the deliberate "silly" to a minimum: we bring plenty of that to every game just naturally, and introducing a bunch into the game world is, I think, going to push it over the top. I want flamboyant, swashbuckling, droll pirates as much as the next guy, but I'm looking for Pirates of the Carribean, not "I'm on a Boat".

ED: gabe, did you decide on WFRP system?

--Dieter the Bold 18:16, 1 June 2009 (MST) I'm fine with any system. I'd prefer we go with a non-HERO system, as I could go for a little more variety.

Edmiao what's the group hook, besides "ARR we're pirates!"

GABE: Okay so I missed a lot of what was put here, yikes. As for group hook I should have that up in a few days. Basically everyone should try to be tied in with the Captain, or another player.

So taking the above into account, are we still okay with magic?

My idea for this, is to basically keep it around the levels of PoC. There are lots of rumors, not all of them are true. That said, there is some pretty large occult stuff I DO have planned. No, not dragons or giants or stuff like that. More of locations. In a way I think a pirate game should be about discovery... since it means a new place to get booty!

Sorry I haven't posted more, but actually busy at work... I should have classes and what not up today after I get home. This way people can plan out the kinds of characters they want to play (very important), and then make connections accordingly.