Set Sail… For Adventure!
UPDATE THINGY:
Story and Background
Story: The characters will start out under the command of one Captain Phillip the Bold. A gentleman pirate who is known for his daring raids, flamboyant swordsmanship, heavy drinking, and fine dress. The name of his ship, and the players’, is The Red Rover (yes named after the child’s game), and it is well known for breaking through blockades due to her speed.
Phillip being the way he is, of course has his own rival, and that would be Sir Joseph Keenly. He has had a number of run-ins with Phillip and has made it his personal vow to capture Phillip then return with his head.
Pirates of Note:
Borus the Boar – Friend and ally of Phillip, he uses a large mace in combat and is known to break through his opponents’ weapons with his swings. His ship’s name is “Wild Thing”.
Mark: A red skull with a crack in it.
Von Rictenhous – A pirate of German descent. He is known to be very active around the English Channel as well as Northern America. He has a reputation of being no nonsense and is rumored to have broadsided one of his own ships that resisted his orders. His quarter master is a odd fellow who is rumored to dabble in the dark arts. His ship’s name is “whatever the German word for King is”.
Mark: A skeleton wearing a crown and holding a sword in each hand.
Ruthless John – A younger pirate whose name pretty much sums him up. He is nasty in combat, he curses and swears more then any other pirate, he has numerous scars, and it’s once said he cast anchor just to burn down a village because a passing resident looked at him wrong. Many other pirates say his bark is far worst then his bite.
Mark: A skeleton riding a shark.
Bahir – A Muslim pirate who is very active in the Mediterranean and the Caribbean. He is known for wearing very flashy clothes laced with jewels and gems. He also has an impressive fleet of 3 ships. His personal ship is called “The Gem Hunter” and has 65 guns. The other 2 ships are called “Last Resort” and “Star Taker”. He is known for being overly dramatic.
Mark: An overly complicated tapistry.
Cerise Heartbreaker - French female pirate. She has a blazing red colored ship. She is known to be a bit ruthless, but this is usual for most female pirates. She is also known to be very strict with her crew. When she docks she will usually have a rather large group of people who with to join her. She seems to be unmarried and will usually respond that her true love is gold. Her current ship is the Goldrush.
Mark: A red skull with a white "kiss" mark on it.
Musad - A Muslim pirate known to deal in slavery. He is feared by many as his strikes are utterly brutal. His ship's name is "Man Breaker".
Mark: Two chains circling a skeleton.
Ricardo - A Spanish pirate. Known to strike quite often against the English. Known to be a very easy going man, but has no clear interest in women. Known to act like a gentleman in navel engagments. His ship is called the Gallant Lad.
Mark: Two muskets crossed under a skull.
Other Personalities of Note
Lady Elda - One of the few powerful female members of the Catholic Church. She seeks out and destroys any pirates… and sometimes those accused of piracy against the Church’s interests. She is known for being overly cruel and is sad to have a sadistic streak. She commands three ships.
Sir Joseph Keenly -Rival of Phillip the Bold. English born, just like Phillip, he is part of the Royal Navy. He has two ships under his command. His ship is the Shield and the other ship is known at the Grand Duke. He is well known in most respectable circles and does come from noble birth. He seems to have a personal grudge against Phillip, which could be in part to something referred to as The Pleasant Abduction incident. There may be another reason why Joseph hates Phillip so much...
System
Stats: People will throw pennies into the air, about 100, for each stat and call "heads" or "tails". The character's stat will be equal to how many coins come up with what the player called. Pennies may not be dropped, they must be thrown up at least 3 feet.
The Occult: Just enought to add some flava?
Action Points: Pending.
FATE:
A pirate’s life is about freedom, movement, unrestrained life. However there are some binds that not even these free and easy souls can escape. The stars. While a pirate might say they do not believe in the laws of man, that land living is decadent and full of meaningless gestures and courts, one would be hard pressed to find a pirate who did not believe that the stars hold sway over man.
Fate, which seems too many to be an avoidable string of events or event. But, this is not quite the case. Rather it is an event that will trigger specific things to happen. It is up to each person to decide what to do when the moment arrives. The choices made can make the difference between a pirate hero, and a monster pirate.
So this game mechanic I thought up today, then realized it is a bit like the one in place in our current fantasy game. There will be times when the characters are presented with a choice, and depending on what they do, will shape the way the world turns so to speak. Before such choices I will let the players know that this is a “Fate Event”. I will not, however, tell the characters what will happen, or even hint at, the results of their choice or choices.
Leveling up System:
Time to try something new, well kinda. I'm not sure if this is going to work either. After looking at 40k and WHFRP, clearly FRP would be better to use because there is more equipment that is better suited for the game. I also took a look at what classes would work well with it and found a good amount. However, WH40K has some 135 talents compared to the 68 or so in WHFRP. After looking at them, WH40K characters are suppose to be more powerful then their WHFRP counter parts.
So I think what I will do, and this should allow character to play the kinds of character they want, is take away all the classes in WHFRP and put in a level up system like WH40K.
Why do this... Because there is a limiting amount of classes that will work with this game, and each class only has so many skill selections, I wanted to give players more options to round out their characters the way they want, and keep characters a bit different. I am hoping more choices = a more diverse pool of skills and talents picked by the players.
There will be arch types which determine when certain skills open up as well as how much it costs to advance stats. I'm not sure I can balance this right from the start, but I think it should be quite fun. I also want to use the exp system from WH40K which means 200 per night.
Ranged Attacks: Characters may dodge these now, and dodge is now a basic skill. I believe I may make it a difficult roll (-10%) to dodge ranged attacks.
Armor: Anthing besides leathers will give some fairly big minuses. Metal armor doesn't fit well with pirates. That is why the above rule is going to be implemented.
"Classes"
Figther - A boring name, but it fits it the best. You know how to fight. Words are not really your thing, and neither are flashy fighting styles. However, they have been known to became great leaders.
Cheap Stats: Strength, Toughness, WS
Rogue - A little from column A, and little from column B. This character is best known for charm and the ability to know when to drive a dagger into someone's back. Assassins and thieves come from this path.
Cheap Stats: INT, FEL, DEX
Man of Learning - Not all ships have these, but those who do benefit quite a bit. Doctors, very skill navigators, and other such types come from this class. Not the best figthers, but are respected for their skills which keep the ship and crew running.
Cheap Stats: INT, WILL, FEL
Swashbuckler - Fancy footwork and the social skills to match. Not as strong as the fighter but has a lot more social skills. Tend to favor talents that involve DEX. Captains also tend to come from this path.
Cheap Stats: DEX, FEL, WS
Occult - Masters of the hidden art. They invoke both fear and awe in their crewmates. Is it really just a captain's luck that the winds seem to change? Or that rats invest a town before an attack? Or are there other powers at work. This class does not need to take magic.
Cheap Stats: INT, WILL
(All of these are still a work in progress.)
Back Grounds:
Chosen by players during character construction. These reflect generally your character's up bringing. They give a certain set of skills to start with and in some cases talents, if it doesn't list talents then they are rolled randomly.
Society Born: You were born in one of the major powers, England, France, Spain, or the Holy Roman Empire. This reflects someone brought up in a "proper" setting.
Skills: Speak Language - Whatever matches your country of origin, Common Knowledge your country, Common Knowledge Special: For England, France, etc, pick one of the other countries or religion. For Spain and the Holy Roman Empire it is religion, Common Knowledge Pick one.
Talents: 2 Random
Native (Africa, Islander, etc): Taken from your home as a slave, you have freed yourself and now are part of the crew.
Skills: Speak Language - Native tonuge, Speak Language - Choose any, Survival.
Talents: Resistant to Disease or Strong Willed, One Random
Arabic: A traveler form a distant land.
Skills: Speak Language - An Arabic one, I'm not looking these up, Speak Language - Any one, Common Knowledge Arabic, Common Knowledge: Choose a major power.
Talents: 2 Random
Port Born: A bastard child of semi-globalization.
Skills: Speak Language - Any 2, Common Knowledge - Any one
Talents: 2 Random
Chinese: You come form half-away across the world, just what happened to make you a pirate? A pirate crew makes you feel much more at ease then being in these white devils' cities.
Skills: Speak Language - Chinese (either dialect), Speak Language - Any one besides tribal, Sailing, Acadmic Knowledge: Asia.
Talents: Seasoned Traveler, 1 Random
New Equipment:
Boarding Axe
Hand Mortar
Grenades (I actually think these are already in the equipment book)
Musketoon Basically a musket with a shorter range that can be broguht on with a boarding party
Notes:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rating_system_of_the_Royal_Navy
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naval_artillery_in_the_Age_of_Sail
