Great White Games/Pinnacle Entertainment Group

[Jordan Peacock]

In my continuing Pirates RPG campaign at The Amorous Armadillo Game Shoppe, I ran one of the pre-written "one-sheet" adventures: Dead Men Tell No Tales.

The heroes were seafaring adventurers in La Amorosa Armadilla, a two-masted hoy (the ship recovered as part of the Double Crossbones adventure, but with a different name, inspired by the store where my games are run). For this session, we had:

Helmsman: Barnacle Ben, an ex-whaler determined to track down and get revenge upon the sea monster that destroyed his previous ship.

Shipwright: Keelhaul Henry, an industrious fellow who's happy enough when there's something that needs fixing, but who has also been trained in the "Pegleg Academy," a master of appearing to be a "defenseless and harmless" person in order to get the drop upon enemies at the start of a combat.

Master of Arms: Philip Gujon, a Frenchman, marksman, and ex-musketeer, with a greatly inflated sense of his own attractiveness to the ladies.


We started off in the port town of Niven, and I used my homemade "Port Event Cards" to hand out to players for some randomized events during their stay. I offered the heroes an opportunity: There was a traveling performance troupe with an excitable playwright eager for new material; by hanging out with this group, a bit of partying, and such, they could get a chance to build up their own exploits and gain a name for themselves. The downside is that it'd involve blowing even more money than they usually did while carousing in port. (Translation: You have the chance to gain +1 Fame point, but your carousing/living expenses in port are multiplied by a factor of 10; you make this decision BEFORE rolling to see how much you waste on Carousing.)

Barnacle Ben ended up getting some dubious "magical potions" of unknown potency and purpose ("but it was a bargain!"), while Philip Gujon got in a bar fight.

I’m sorry I didn’t catch his name, but we had a "special guest star" player who joined in to play one of the pre-generated characters - "Captain Jack" – for the bar fight. He did an excellent "Captain Jack" slurred accent and impersonation.

Everyone did a fine job of using improvised weapons in the sea-side tavern (thrown beer mugs, bottles smashed over heads, pushing opponents with a table, cutting ropes and letting cargo fall on an opponent's head, rolling barrels to knock people over, etc.). Our mysterious "Captain Jack" staggered off after the battle was completed (in the heroes' favor), and Philip Gujon proved to be so "deadly" with a candlestick that he earned a name (and quite a few bad puns) for himself. ("You can't hold a candle to him!" "Don't pick a fight with Philip, or you'll get waxed!")

Despite their success at building a name for themselves in town, the crew was unsuccessful in finding fair rates for the cargo that they had brought out from the secret pirates' cove (e.g., nobody in attendance had Streetwise, and the group's Merchant wasn't there that week). Rather than dumping it on the market at a fraction of its worth, they decided to just restock on provisions and basic supplies, and set back out to sea for the next port.

On the way, the lookout spotted a dinghy floating adrift, with a body in it. The ship pulled alongside, and they hauled the dinghy and its contents aboard. The lone passenger was only barely alive, manacled to a rusted iron box. He managed to cough out something about "treasure aplenty" and a warning to "finish what ye started," dying in the middle of a final warning about the "cur--." Seeing as the superstitious ship's cook was otherwise occupied, they opted to keep the meager treasure in the box without telling him anything about curses (or for sure he'd have them throwing everything overboard). They gave the expired sailor a burial at sea, but kept the dinghy, as the ship's carpenter was only too happy to have a new project to work on for the remainder of the voyage.

The rusted box also contained a map to "Isla de la Vega," an island that didn't appear on any of their charts. Given the notes on the map, it would seem to indicate a hidden treasure - and since they were already heading in that general direction anyway, they opted to take a detour to pay a visit.


Two days out from Niven, they came across a sloop listing heavily to port, with dead bodies visible on the deck, and rats feasting on the corpses. One of the masts was broken and trailing in the water, and with the risk of running into flotsam by pulling alongside, they opted to instead send out their new (and recently patched-up) dinghy to investigate - with Keelhaul Henry (shipwright), Barnacle Ben (whaler and helmsman), Philip Gujon (master at arms) and Cannonball Bill (a regular crewman) heading over.

The stench and carnage on the other ship was overwhelming. They set about hauling the bloated and burst bodies to dump them overboard, while the shipwright tried to cut the trailing mast loose so that the ship wouldn't list so badly. In the midst of their work, rats streamed out from below-decks, swarming them. (GM Note: This was an embellishment upon the original adventure, as it mentions feasting rats, but doesn't turn them into an encounter. I balanced this with more loot, as the original adventure didn’t indicate that any would be found on the doomed ship at all.)

Cannonball Bill panicked, fleeing for the dinghy and casting off, but cooler heads prevailed among the others as they climbed up into the rigging or atop the rotted cargo crates and barrels to escape the bulk of the swarm. Keelhaul Henry, noting the extreme rot of the deck planks, worked at weakening a section of them further, then lured the bulk of the rats over - and smashed the remaining supports, collapsing the forecastle and sending most of the swarm falling into the bilge waters of the partially-flooded hull. (GM Note: Keelhaul Henry's player used the "Rotting Hull" Adventure Card, appropriately enough, to allow him to deal Heavy Weapon damage with an attack, using it to attack the deck's Toughness. For special effects, I allowed him to treat this as an Area Effect attack, doing normal damage against a swarm, and he rolled ridiculously high on the result, taking out the swarm.)

In the confusion, Barnacle Ben had hurled his harpoon but lost it through a deck grating (GM Note: Critical Failure), so after the battle he went below-decks, alone, to retrieve it. In the dim light, he was faced with a grim vision of a young lady who at first appeared to be smiling at him ... but then he noticed that she was swaying back and forth, hung by the neck from a support beam. Before he could react, her eyes flashed red, and then her body began to rapidly decompose before his eyes. He fumbled to pull out a vial of holy water (GM Note: Hidden Cache Adventure Card to conjure the holy water) to douse the corpse. However, he suddenly realized that there was no corpse at all - there was just some broken netting swinging back and forth, supporting the rotten remains of some of the ship's provisions. Shaken by the episode, he began to question his sanity.


After exploring the ship further, and finding little worth salvaging, they decided at last to check the captain's cabin. Barnacle Ben found that the door had been bolted from within, but the wood was so heavily rotted that he was fairly easily able to force it open - and he was promptly attacked by a frothing mad-man - the ship's captain! Barnacle Ben had the sudden inspiration to toss his holy water upon the captain, but in a moment of disorientation (reflex habit from too many times of digging his his pocket for a flask and taking a quick swig of rum), he accidentally drank it instead.

(GM Note: Poor Barnacle Ben rolled a Critical Failure on his Throwing skill with the holy water.)

The fight was a frustrating one, for it seemed that the captain, in his madness, was deadened to pain and seemingly indifferent to harm. Or, perhaps he was one of the walking dead. He single-mindedly focused his attacks upon poor Barnacle Ben, slashing at him furiously, but Keelhaul Henry and Philip Gujon took advantage of this by attacking the enemy from the sides. At last, they decided that the only option was to disarm him ... which they did, literally, hacking off first one arm, then the other. Still, the mad captain persisted, moving as if he was going to lunge at Barnacle Ben (severely wounded by this point) and sink his yellowed teeth into his throat! At the last, Barnacle Ben recovered his senses and managed a desperate wild attack, cleaving the former captain's head from his shoulders - which Philip promptly kicked overboard. This, at last, seemed to do the trick.

At this point, they were sure a terrible curse was at work. They sent Cannonball Bill back to La Armadilla Amorosa to retrieve all the gold they'd saved from the rusted chest (exchanging "untainted" coinage from the ship's purse for it, for any crew who had this as part of their share of the treasure). The dinghy had already started to show further signs of rotting, even despite Keelhaul Henry's maintenance, and was taking on water as Cannonball Bill came back. They made arrangements to get the longboat over to help ferry them back, while they left every "tainted" thing on the ship - even what was left of its coinage and cargo - and tasked Keelhaul Henry with sabotaging it so that it would sink. Still, Barnacle Ben saved the ship's rudders and the captain's journal - filled as it was with maniac scribbles toward the end - in the hopes of learning more about the nature of this curse.

At last, they sunk the doomed vessel ... but back on the ship they learned that strange things had been afoot. Cook, who also acted as the ship's navigator, was bedridden. Several crewmen were complaining of aches, and their hair was turning grey or even white. Barnacle Ben and the others were not exempt by any means ... and they discovered that their beloved ship was showing signs of advanced decay and corruption as well. In their panic, they decided to try to head back to Niven, even without the aid of a navigator. The sun went down, the waters became more turbulent, and thick clouds obscured the stars. Crewmen began to lose their senses, fretting over "the curse." Everyone suffered through feverish dreams ... but Barnacle Ben, recuperating in bed from his wounds (after being treated by the ship's surgeon), and marked by that horrible vision he'd had, took the worst of it.

(GM Note: I asked players to make Vigor rolls to check for progression of "the curse," though the one-sheet really doesn't explain how to handle its effects. I also had them make Spirit rolls to reflect how they were holding up to the mental strain - with each success and raise on the Spirit roll granting a +1 bonus to the subsequent Vigor roll. Barnacle Ben got a Critical Failure, and hadn't the Bennies to reroll it, so...)

Barnacle Ben dreamed of a riding on a derelict ship which by no rights should be still afloat, let alone sailing, in a sea of blood, tossed by howling storms. In the flashes of lightning, he could see the silhouettes of other ragged vessels, crewed by doomed souls, and the prowling forms of gargantuan monsters of the deep - or the Abyss - shadowing them and looking for the chance to strike. In the distance, he caught glimpses of twisted islands and ancient ruins, places of legend and myth. Something in his mind snapped, even though it was "just a dream."

(GM Note: Sanity loss! For this campaign I've been using Morale/Sanity scores to keep track of, for failed Guts checks, and also in lieu of the normal Pirates RPG Fatigue rules for spending too long at sea. I based this off the Sanity rules from Weird War 2, but just tied it in with "morale" as well in order to encompass the rules for being too long at sea, without crippling the PCs with Fatigue penalties.)

Upon awakening, Barnacle Ben started studying the journals, looking for some sort of clue on the progression. He began scrawling nonsensical words, strange sigils, and mad "maps" on the ship walls, scrawling with chalk or carving them in with a knife. At last he proclaimed that there was only one way to end this - "Finish what ye started." They must go to that cursed island on the map!

Reluctantly, the crew turned about. The ship seemed to be falling apart about them, and the shipwright had his hands full trying to keep up with it all. Barnacle Ben, though unskilled in the ways of navigation, tried his hand to the task anyway, working with Philip Gujon, and "borrowing" an astrolabe from the bedridden Geoffrey Cooke. (GM Note: Cooke's player was absent for this session.)

The weather worsened, but at last they caught sight of the island. Along its broken cliffs, they could see the remains of a fishing village, with a delapidated church peering out over the waters - and also some docks set into a rocky cove, and, as indicated by the map, the entrance to an old mine, and a seaside cavern.


They sent a boat ashore, heading straight for the caves, and therein found the remains of a pirate base, with several bones scattered about, and the remains of pirates covered with the Jolly Roger. In the center of this scene was a cluster of chests laden with treasure, and above that hung the upper half of a corpse - the body of the young lady Barnacle Ben had seen in his vision, though she had decayed enough that her lower portion had broken free, now lying on the treasure pile. He immediately set forth to clamber up and cut her down, ignoring the treasure - but at that moment, the dust began to swirl and the bones to clatter, as the skeletal pirates began to rise, reaching for rusted weapons and wearing their makeshift Jolly Roger shrouds like baldrics.

At this point, the heroes weren't the least bit surprised, though perhaps just a bit addled. Poor Keelhaul Henry was caught away from the others, desperately trying to smash at the bones of the skeletons as they began to reassemble, while Barnacle Ben stayed focused on his task, and Philip Gujon ran about the room trying to cave in skulls. Several skeletal pirates converged upon Barnacle Ben, and for his part, he taunted those picking on Keelhaul Henry, prompting a few of them to pull away. Barnacle Ben kept most of the undead focused upon himself, going on the defensive, and actually managing to skewer a couple who were too clumsy.

(GM Note: As a house rule, if an Extra rolls a "1" on the skill die, I typically roll again to see if it's another "1." If so, I treat it as a Critical Failure; in melee combat, that typically means the opponent gets a free automatic hit against the character because he basically ran into the blade, etc.)

Barnacle Ben's armored corselet proved quite helpful, but he still took some severe wounds from the assault. Still, Philip managed to turn the tide of battle single-handedly, whittling down the undead ranks, while Keelhaul Henry finally managed to overcome his lone opponent. At the last, they put down the skeletons. At this point, Barnacle Ben decided that the only way to allow the dead to rest would be to bury them upon holy ground - starting with the body of this poor girl who'd been mercilessly murdered by the pirates. They used one of the Jolly Rogers as a shroud to gather up her broken remains, and worked together to carry them out and up the steep walkway to the cliff-side church. There, they found that a few graves had already been dug, but were left open. They put her in one of them, covered it over, and said a few clumsy words in an attempt at giving her a proper burial.

At once, the aura of gloom seemed to weaken around the island. The aches in their bodies (save for those recent ones caused by being stabbed or slashed in combat) eased. They checked back with the ship and confirmed that much of the unnatural corruption was beginning to fade - though there were still many damages and injuries to tend to, indirectly caused by the curse and hence not automatically erased with its lifting. Only once they were satisfied that the dead of the village were properly buried did they feel confident enough to help themselves to the pirate treasure stash, distributing it amongst the crew. Among the curious treasures, however, was a strange chalice set with blood-colored stones, which Barnacle Ben seemed to think might have some sort of arcane import.

And so, our heroes survived another harrowing adventure, and their first direct conflict with the Cursed.
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[jasales]

Wow oh wow oh wow! Your game is full of awesomesauce!

[Jordan Peacock]

Craft Notes:

I managed to get a nice deal on a box of scattered Mega Bloks "Pyrates" bits off of Ebay, and as it so happened, I had the majority of the pieces to assemble a second "Captain Cutlass's Stormstalker" and a "Dread Eye's Phantom" - just minus a few minor accessories, some figures (which I wouldn't be using alongside miniatures anyway), the bowsprit of the Stormstalker, and a sail or two.



For this scenario, I decided to convert my second Stormstalker to be a weathered-looking ship that I could use to represent the derelict. As it was missing the bowsprit, I crafted a new one using a section of dowel with about the right diameter to fit into the sockets used to mount masts on these ships, plus a thinner segment of dowel (about the thickness of the yard arms on these sets) to extend it. I used Magic Sculpt to roughly make fittings (this was a night-before rush job, alas), and I finally found use for a Horrorclix "Playboy Monster" figure I'd gotten as part of a random assortment of figures, by removing the legs and replacing them with some extra putty-sculpted tentacles, and trimming off the "bunny ears." (I used those to convert a "Miss Lucky Rabbit" miniature for my Wonderland No More scenario at Necronomicon.)

I used a bit more putty to affix the figure to the bowsprit to act as a figurehead. The bowsprit was longer than the original piece (the original piece from another Stormstalker toy is shown for comparison) so that the figurehead would have enough clearance over the "shark's head" figurehead/ram on the front of the toy, as if this "octo-mermaid" was riding it, perhaps.

For the ship itself, I disassembled the main body, and then used a small screwdriver to pry off the four glued-on pegs that hold the "conversion chamber" (the cylindrical section at the front of the craft) on the toy. I kept the "conversion chamber," as it looks vaguely technical and cage-like, and eventually I might find a good use for it for some sort of steampunk construction (especially since now I have two of them as spares).

I used some cardboard backing to cut out a flat starting point for a level main deck, for the poop deck, and also for a wall for the cabin (which on the original toy is left open to the air). I then used craft sticks, using snips to cut off the rounded edges, and cutting them to length as appropriate to lay down as planks on the cardboard. The cardboard warped a bit, but this was just fine for my purpose of making a derelict/run-down ship. I saved the grates and hatches that would normally be in the lower part of the deck, and used a hobby knife to cut notches out of planks to make room for their hinges, so they'd be glued directly onto the upper deck (with holes cut out underneath the grates so that I could convey a sense of depth, looking down into the lower hull). For the main deck, the primary purpose of this was to create a flat, level area upon which to place miniatures (leaving a hole cut out for the mast, and a slot for the half-circle frame that once held the "conversion chamber"), and to conceal the "pegs" normally on the deck. I also used the planking to extend the poop deck so that it didn't have a large chunk cut out of it (leaving a space for the helm to be attached), and made a wall for the cabin (though in my rush I didn't bother to actually make the door openable, or add any windows or a ladder/stairs). I also cut out planks and glued them on to hide the pegs at the gunwales, though there are still a few occasional peg points that could be used to attach accessories such as lanterns or skulls - just not in the "walking" areas for miniatures.

As the adventure mentioned the sloop having a broken mast, I used the remainder of the dowel I'd cut for the bowsprit in order to make a wooden replacement mast. The "torn sails" were from a previous attempt I'd made at "ghost ship sails," using some pin-striped fabric I'd found in the remnants section at a fabric store, a section of dowel, and some elastic cord. (The result is a bit flimsy, but conveys the general idea.)

This all done, I spray-painted the whole ship black - though not very thoroughly, as I didn't want to coat the ship too heavily or waste time on extra coats. I then spritzed the bottom of the ship a few times with green spray paint, to give a hint of algae growth, and once everything dried, I drybrushed the whole ship a mid-tone grey. For trim and metalwork, I used a metallic "patina" green paint, to give a suggestion of corroded metal. (Later on, I'll likely go back to paint highlights with a copper/bronze color.)

Although it's not pictured, I have an alternate "figurehead/ram" piece that I salvaged from a tube of cheap plastic "safari animal" toys, the cap of which was a somewhat rubbery plastic lion's head. I painted that "patina green," then drybrushed the thing with bronze metallic paint; it fits over the "shark head" figurehead/ram section built into the front of the toy, flexible enough to hold well in place, so I can have an option to switch up the ship a bit for future encounters. (The trouble with making too many unique, distinctive features on a miniature or terrain piece, rather than aiming for the "generic," is that if I use it again, players are more likely to be struck by the notion of the fact that I'm "recycling" the same material in a new encounter. They seem to be a little more forgiving and less likely to "joke" if I leave the details generic, or if I provide myself some way to switch out a few token details for slight variety.)

For future uses, I intend to plank the cabin floor (as I did for the exterior) to cover up the pegs, and either furnish the details, or make a separate "terrain tile" meant to represent the cabin interior (so I can set it to the side and place minis on it where they should be easy to see). I'd also like to either add stairs or a ladder, and make the door openable or removable. I'm also considering sticking a few crates and barrels in the below-deck area underneath the grates, though I'm not certain how visible they'll be. Also on my list is to make a below-decks terrain piece to use for miniatures combat in the hull. The ship also needs an anchor.

I plan on doing similar work to my extra "Dread Eye's Phantom." I love the weathered-wood look to it, but the flexible, semi-translucent blue plastic used for the "membrane" portions of the ship is a bit weird. I've seen someone else do a repaint of this toy to rather nice effect, painting the "membrane" areas a sickly green with lighter yellow-green highlights. Redoing the decks will be more of a challenge, as I think I'd be losing something by simply planking over the large grills; I'll probably have to get out the Dremel and grind down most of those pegs.

Another essential step will be to cover up the "sacrificial pit," as it seems to be a real magnet for miniatures to fall into it (even if the players are amused the first time or two it happens, and the ship's electronic sound effects and flashing lights are set off, if the battery's still good ). I've been thinking about figuring out how to make the cabin section lift off (as with the Stormstalker), but I'm leery of hacking up this nice toy too much, if I can help it. I also need to figure out what to do with the bannister walkways around the cabin, as they're conspicuous enough to inspire players to want to go there during a fight, but just not wide enough to be practical for placing a mini - especially since one of those walkways is a "breakaway" section that will need to be fixed in place.

...

In the pictures of the "cursed ship" (repainted Mega Bloks "Captain Cutlass's Stormstalker"), the little dinghy is a boat from the Pressman Games "Weapons & Warriors Pirate Battles" board game - which has also been released under some different names and configurations (e.g., "Siege Pirate Battles"). The game comes with several plastic pirate figures (25 mm scale), 12 plastic cannons (which I use on my ships), several plastic palm trees (usable if you give them new bases), a nifty plastic tower (usable if you disable the "spring-loaded" action), two dinghies (some conversion required with a Dremel to remove the "figure ring"), several plastic treasure chests, and two small "pirate ships."

Of those, the "pirate ships" are way too small to be plausible for 25mm scale miniatures or larger. However, I've converted one of them to work as a "dhow," inspired by a gaming web site that (alas) isn't around anymore. Extensive Dremel work is required to remove rings and tabs relevant to the game, and some putty or air-dry clay is needed to fill in gaps.

For the final pirate battle, I used a number of Reaper "Razig's Revenge" "Skeleton Crew" figures provided by John Vega of Armadillo Game Shoppe. (Thanks!) I managed to get a few of those, so I'm ready in case the PCs end up getting themselves killed off and joining the ranks of the undead somehow ... or in case I need a whole ship's crew for an undead pirate ship. (Like that's ever going to happen! )
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[Jordan Peacock]

Adventure Feedback:

This shouldn't really be a surprise for a one-sheet, but Dead Men Tell No Tales is pretty rough as adventures go, and while it makes for an interesting starting point, a GM really needs to put in some more preparation before running this (and I'm not talking about crafts and minis here), to be ready for this.

The Curse:
First off, there's the matter of the curse. It's hinted that the PCs start aging, and crewmembers may end up dying off, so the heroes may have to replace crew by the time the adventure is over, but no mechanics are provided for this. It's really left open-ended, however cruel the GM wishes to be, or however he wishes to treat it as little more than white beards and mysterious aches and a way for the players to ham up supernatural "old age." If you're comfortable "winging it," so be it, but I think it's worth having a plan for, ahead of time.

Breaking the Curse:
In my opinion, the course of action for the PCs is not intuitive. They find this sailor, they bring him aboard, he dies, he gives them a vague warning. As per the narrative, the PCs are already cursed. If the PCs take his curse too seriously and decide to continue on and ignore the map, they're still cursed. If bad things start happening to the ship and they decide to just dump everything overboard that came with the cursed sailor (map and box included), then they're still cursed and with no clue as to where to go.

If the PCs find the desolate ship, there's a chance to fight with the crazed captain, but technically going on board has little to nothing to do with solving this adventure (aside from whatever connection might be gained from seeing that ghost). The ghost encounter, alas, really tells the PCs nothing about what they need to do. If the curse effects start kicking in here, a natural response is just to flee the ship, drop anything that might be "contaminated," and sink the ship (thus sinking any hopes the GM might have for providing another "clue" for frustrated PCs searching it). And, my PCs promptly decided to try heading back for civilization. I basically had to give one of the PCs troubled dreams (the one who rolled a Crit Fail on a Spirit check) and to slip in a reminder of the doomed sailor's words ("Finish what ye started") in an attempt at a clue on how to proceed.

If the PCs had still gone on, rather than going to the island ... what next? Well, I could've had them all die, sure. Perhaps they could turn into the undead ... but in that case, judging from the examples on that doomed ship, only the Wild Cards would turn into undead, and regular crew would just be ... dead. That might permit for an interesting branch to the campaign, but it'd still require some work on my part to figure out all the implications. (Plus, should breaking the curse return them to normal, or just end the campaign by letting them "rest in peace"?)

Then, even once the PCs get to the island, deal with the skeletons, etc., they still have to break the curse. Fortunately, we had one PC with Knowledge (Occult), so we had a great excuse for one PC to "get a clue" on what to do next with this supernatural weirdness, rather than the GM having to just force this knowledge onto the group. There's no indication of any clues anywhere that would help the PCs find the way, though I suppose I could try to wing it with a few troubled dreams/visions.

Lastly, there's the matter of treasure. No details are given to the treasure the PCs get for dealing with all this mess, or whether there are any relics of note, etc. It's really just in the GM's hands at this point.

Anyway, it's still a very interesting and creepy scenario, and a nice introduction to the element of the undead. We have a ship with lots of corpses on it, and ONE of them animates, but most of them don't. We don't fall into the fantasy-game cliche of "if there's a dead body around, it's going to eventually pop up and attack you." In this setting, some do, but not always.

It's just the sort of thing a GM should read through ahead of time and plot out a few things in preparation. You just probably shouldn't take this one-sheet to a gaming group and read and play through it "on the fly."
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[ferret]

Jordan,
Another great write-up!
As it so happens, I'm going to run my group through a modified version of this in my Sundered Skies campaign this Sunday. I'd like to take a look at those 'Port Event Cards' if you're willing to share.
I've been tossing around ideas in my head for expanding this one-sheet a bit, adding some depth to the story. Specifically, the girl, and the curse. Who's the girl? And why the curse?
Another thing I could never figure out...why was the sailor in the dinghy manacled?
Anyway, any thoughts or conjecture would be greatly appreciated.

[HawaiianBrian]

My jealousy is profound.

Not only about your awesome ship and sets and overall excellent game, but also the fact that you live in Orlando. I miss Florida bad.
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***** HawaiianBrian / getsavaged.blogspot.com *****

[Jordan Peacock]

[warrenss2]

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this, JP!

But I could not help but laugh at this part... "but Keelhaul Henry and Philip Gujon took advantage of this by attacking the enemy from the sides. At last, they decided that the only option was to disarm him ... which they did, literally, hacking off first one arm, then the other. Still, the mad captain persisted"

Make me think of that Monty Python knight... ""Tis only a flesh wound! Have at thee!!!"

You make me want to run a pirate game... I love the swashbuckler movies and whatnot... but I think I would suck at coming up with good adventures for the game.
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[Jordan Peacock]

[HawaiianBrian]

Also, the Buccaneers & Bokor magazine that Adamant made for Green Ronin's excellent Skull & Bones d20 Pirate rpg has several adventures, as well as mysterious islands, ships, enemies, etc. Needs a conversion, of course, but the ideas are solid. I also like the use of voodoo and the supernatural, a la Tim Powers' On Stranger Tides novel (NOT the lame movie!).
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***** HawaiianBrian / getsavaged.blogspot.com *****

[Lord Karick]