Pirates of not Freeport or the Caribbean

[mayapuppies]

Hello all,

My f2f group has decided they want to go pirate for a while. So I'm modifying Freeport and doing a bit of research as I've never done a nautical campaign, let alone a pirate campaign.

I want this to be more cinematic than historic, so I turn to you kind folks for movies that I can grab on Netflix and watch for research. I'll likely be coming back for more questions about ships and what not...so be warned.
:shock:

[mayapuppies]

Ok, I currently queued up Pirates of the Caribbean 1-3 and Cutthroat Island. Are there any other movies you can recommend from the 90's or newer?

[Shadowsoul]

'Hornblower' and 'Master and Commander' spring to mind. For the historical content if not the pacing or plot.

Pirates of Penzance is a classic, (as in old), take on the pirate myth.

Came across this while trying to track down a pirate film which I watched as a child, years before 'the Caribbean' stole the show. http://www.beaglebay.com/jensens_reviews.html

Found the one I was looking for. 'Cuthroat Island'. The reviewer in the link above doesn't think that much of it but I have fond memories myself, such is childhood.

[ghostwolf]

I highly recommend reading at least a few of the Horatio Hornblower books to get a feel for life on ship and nautical terminology.

[mayapuppies]

Groovy, thank you all!

[Markdoc]

If you can find a copy in English, try "Red Orm" (I think it was also published as "The Long Ships" in English) - it's a book about a bunch of vikings who go a-pirating along the coast of France and Spain, amnd run into some Barbary corsairs, for a slightly different take on things.

Also - a must-read - is Tim Power's "On stranger tides". It's got pirates, magicians and voodoo!

cheers, Mark

[mayapuppies]

Sweet. Thanks

[Lethosos]

I suggest looking a little at Puzzle Pirates as a source of inspiration--lots of things to think about there. I've got a little project sitting around called "Pirates of the Cerulean Ocean," which is sorta a mix of the setting of Puzzle Pirates and the style/magic of Brave Fencer/Samurai Legend Musashi.

[mayapuppies]

I am not familiar with any of the shows/games you've just listed. :o

Do you have any good reference sources?

[Lethosos]

Puzzle Pirates (http://www.puzzlepirates.com)--lots of stuff you can use in your own game just from glossing over the material. (Who wouldn't want to search a haunted island fulled with zombies? :D )

As for Brave Fencer/Samurai Legend Musashi, those two are Playstation games, but they use a Wushu-like feel with fancy bladework and elemental magics.

*hunts up his blurb of a PotC Davey Jones-style character for Cerulean that's worth adding*

[mayapuppies]

(Who wouldn't want to search a haunted island fulled with zombies? :D )
My players soon won't. :smoke:


As for Brave Fencer/Samurai Legend Musashi, those two are Playstation games, but they use a Wushu-like feel with fancy bladework and elemental magics.
Yeah, I don't do console games so I'll need some linkey or showey, hehe

[Lethosos]

Too bad, you'd have liked them.

Here's one of Samurai Legend that's a good start. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QduZlBHkOZ0) There's not too much that shows either in all their glory in one go, but plenty of clips from both Brave Fencer and Samurai Legend on YouTube.

[mayapuppies]

Nice. I never really got into consoles, though I am going to get a WII for Punchout. :)

I'm an RTS guy deep down.

[CourtFool]

Nate and Hayes

You can probably pick up Sid Meier's Pirates for cheap. That can give you a loose frame of reference for cities and ship types. It is a fun play, but does get repetitive.

I highly recommend picking up GameMastery Flip-Mat: Ship (http://paizo.com/store/gameAids/gamingMats/steelSqwire/v5748btpy7xpz). I made extensive use of it in my Pirate campaign.

[CourtFool]

Oh, I forgot New Dimension Games' Pirate (http://paizo.com/store/downloads/newDimensionGames/piratesRPG) series.

[CourtFool]

A little self referencing…
Pirate (17th Century Caribbean) Resources (http://www.herogames.com/forums/showthread.php?t=29693)
Pirate Hero arrrrg! (http://www.herogames.com/forums/showthread.php?t=30405)

[mayapuppies]

Nate and Hayes
Added


I highly recommend picking up GameMastery Flip-Mat: Ship (http://paizo.com/store/gameAids/gamingMats/steelSqwire/v5748btpy7xpz). I made extensive use of it in my Pirate campaign.
I've been eyeballing this. I've got the tavern/bar on the docks and the dockside maps already.

[mayapuppies]

Oh, I forgot New Dimension Games' Pirate (http://paizo.com/store/downloads/newDimensionGames/piratesRPG) series.
Very nice

[mayapuppies]

A little self referencing…
Pirate (17th Century Caribbean) Resources (http://www.herogames.com/forums/showthread.php?t=29693)
Pirate Hero arrrrg! (http://www.herogames.com/forums/showthread.php?t=30405)
Thank you!

[Ian Mackinder]

As a Referee of the '7th Sea' rpg. I would suggest a look in that direction for some inspiration.

The "Ramage' series of books by Dudley Pope are worth a look. Set in the Napoleonic Wars (with a couple of side-mentions of a fellow called 'Hornblower').

I wholeheartedly second Sid Meier's 'Pirates' as a thoroughly awesome computer game.

A couple of links:

http://www.piratesmagazine.com

Online magazine for all things pirate-y
-----
http://www.piratesoul.com

For general flavour

[mayapuppies]

Oh sweet awesomeness

[CourtFool]

I've been eyeballing this. I've got the tavern/bar on the docks and the dockside maps already.

I had enlarged the sloop from G.U.R.P.S. Swashbucklers 3rd edition and had printed it out so that each hex = 1 inch (I hope I am not admiting to violating copywrite laws). It was rough, but serviceable. After laying my hands on the flip mat, I just let the PCs capture a two master and used it.

I am not sure what kind of pirate campaign you are going to run. For me, at least 50% of the battles involved the ship, so it was indispensible.

[mayapuppies]

I'm starting off pirate lite until I can get a better handle on the whole nautical game style. But right now they're on a sloop and eventually I'll give them an opportunity to capture their own ship.

Cannon and such are rarities, so that ship map may be a bit late in coming to the game.

[Ian Mackinder]

I'm starting off pirate lite until I can get a better handle on the whole nautical game style. But right now they're on a sloop and eventually I'll give them an opportunity to capture their own ship.

Cannon and such are rarities, so that ship map may be a bit late in coming to the game.

I suggest that, whatever ship the PCs end up having, you provide not just deck plans but a fair amount of detailed description. Stuff like what the figurehead looks like, general condition, arrangement / style of cabins, etc..

Maybe include a "special capability" or two, for the PCs' benefit - nothing game-breaking, just something to make them think they have an advantage. Perhaps the ship is tougher than it looks, or sails better than usual in certain conditions, or has a secret compartment or two, or whatever. If this worries you, provide a couple of disadvantages for counter-balance - maybe the ship sails slower than usual in certain other conditions, or tends to roll more (extra checks for sea-sickness), or is haunted or something. 7th Sea's advanced ship design / combat system has several ideas for both sides.

The ship's name is damned important. Make sure there is one in advance. If the PCs want to change the name later, let them - though maybe drop an ominous hint or two about this being "UNLUCKY", just to mess with their heads.

The thing is that whichever ship the PCs have, it is both their means of travel AND their home. Treat the ship like an NPC - give it a history, something that can be used for a scenario or two. The ship itself may once have belonged to a certain noble family, or maybe different parts came from elsewhere (the compass once belonged to a certain smuggler, for instance - and maybe he needs it back for something). Have a few cryptic inscriptions or other peculiarities scattered around - you don't have to do anything with them immediately, but it lends a certain depth and flavour to proceedings.

[mayapuppies]

Very cool advice, thank you

[IndianaJoe3]

Maybe include a "special capability" or two, for the PCs' benefit - nothing game-breaking, just something to make them think they have an advantage.

I saw something on the History Channel a few weeks ago on pirate tech. Pirates would frequently modify their own ships. They'd chop bits off to reduce weight, add sails for extra speed, and add cannons for extra firepower. There was an interesting aside on how cannon weren't standardized, so pirate ships might have trouble when their cannonballs didn't match their cannons.

[Ian Mackinder]

There was an interesting aside on how cannon weren't standardized, so pirate ships might have trouble when their cannonballs didn't match their cannons.

Not necessarily a problem solely for pirate ships. The better-organized fleets (such as the Napoleonic-era Royal Navy) usually managed to avoid the worst of this problem, but even they had to be careful. Weapons standardization tended to be rather hard to nail down until the Industrial era.

At the other end of the scale was the Spanish Armada - on top of all its other problems, the matter of weapon ammo calibres there was just plain ridiculous. There were ships within that fleet with maybe a dozen-plus different sizes of cannon. Various nobles apparently equated quantity of guns with manhood / ranking, and set about grabbing anything that could shoot (often from other lesser ships within the Armada) and cramming said weapons on board their own ships. For all the good it did them ....

[IndianaJoe3]

Not necessarily a problem solely for pirate ships. The better-organized fleets (such as the Napoleonic-era Royal Navy) usually managed to avoid the worst of this problem, but even they had to be careful. Weapons standardization tended to be rather hard to nail down until the Industrial era.

Pirates might also have cannons from several different nationalities, which would compound the problem.

[Markdoc]

Pirates might also have cannons from several different nationalities, which would compound the problem.

And, indeed, cannon of different quality, which compounded it further - what might be a suitable load for a high quality casting could turn a poor quality casting into a lethal bomb. A master of gonne had to not only know about cannons in general, he had to know the capacities of his own particular cannons - which is why so many of them got blown up using new cannon.

cheers, Mark

[Ockham's Spoon]

This may not be quite what you are looking for, but there is a fun card game called Skallywags where you try to create a pirate crew. The various crewmembers/characters have unique abilities that affect your crew or voyage, and there are a number of special cards that reflect possible events in the pirate world. And of each card comes with a bit of pirate trivia or a verse to a sea shanty. The game is worth having even if you don't get any RPG inspiration out of it. You can find it at:
http://www.bentcastle.com/skally.htm

[mayapuppies]

Neat

[greenbriar]

I'm surprised noboby mentioned 3 old movies, you want cinematic, The Sea Hawk, Captain Blood, and The Crimson Pirate. first two star Errol Flynn and the third stars Burt Lancaster.

[Shadowsoul]

A bit off the wall, but if you're looking for some original piratical material you might want to check out the the work of a Weird Tales writer called William Hope Hodgson. He wrote at the very beginning of the 20th century so his stuff is rather formal and not the easiest read for a modern gamer. But it has plenty of action and some surprisingly bizarre monsters in it. Giant sea-creatures, slug-men, malevolent beings out of mythology. (Bear in mind that he predates H. P. Lovecraft).

The reason I mention Mr Hodgson is that he spent some years at sea and wrote at least two stories filled with a great deal of maritime language and the realities of seagoing life, (as well as hordes of horrors that dare not speak their name). These stories are 'The Ships of Glen-Carrig' and 'The Ghost Pirates'. They're both in the Fantasy Masterworks anthology of his work.

No films that I know of, I'm afraid.

[Badger]

For less than 20 years. TNT did Treasure Island remake starring Charlton Heston as Silver, and a teenage Chistian Bale as Hawkins.

circa 1990

[Shadowsoul]

Another potential resource.

High Seas Cthulhu (http://www.esp-books.com/shop/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=221)

[mayapuppies]

Very cool stuff, guys. Thank you

[Worldmaker]

You can't go wrong by having an Errol Flynn weekend. I don't know where you can find them all anymore, but The Adventures of Captain Fabian, Against All Flags, The Master of Ballantrae, The Sea Hawk, and of course Captain Blood, which may well be the best pirate movie ever made.

I especially recommend Against All Flags, for its storyline. Flynn plays a loyal British sailor sent as a spy to infiltrate an infamous pirate lair. Great stuff to base a game on.

Then there's Douglas Fairbanks. If you can find a copy of The Black Pirate, do so. Its a silent film, but well worth the watching. And its got one of the best cinematic swordfights in the history of history.

Oh, and Robert Newton! This is the guy who basically invented the idea of "talking like a pirate", based on his performance of Long John Silver! He played Long John Silver in the Disney version of Treasure Island (well-worth getting), but he was also in Long John Silver and Blackbeard the Pirate (which co-starred Irene Ryan... Granny Clampett from The Beverly Hillbillies).

And last but not least, you have to try Yellowbeard, starring Graham Chapman in his last role before his death.