Suggestions for a Pirate Campaign?

[Sintanan]

Round 1:

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This was sort of just dropped into my lap. My regular gaming group wants to stop with the current campaign and jump into a heroic pirate themed game. This will be a 3.5 campaign.

Currently I have been suggested a few variants to use by the players:
+ Epic 6.
+ Gestalt characters
+ Raising the Stakes.

Resources sample:
+ I have Stormwrack, Eberron, and 3.0 A&EG. Also many other books.
+ I have a large collection of Dragon mags, referring to them is possible.
+ Homebrew is accepted through general consensus with other players.

I would like to work in a replacement for arcane/divine spellcasting to make spell use more like classic fantasy; demon pacts, rituals, summoning circles, rare power components, etc.
So, my question to you -my fellow playgrounders- can you help me locate resources or offer suggestions on what to do with this campaign?



As for the campaign world itself, I haven't accomplished much work. I know I want to remove elves and half-elves (one of our players always falsl into the rut of playing either a half-elf psion or a half-elf cleric). I'm tempted to remove half-orcs because there is always at least one half-orc barbarian played by someone in every campaign that's allowed it (usually played with a very limited vocabulary of 1-3 words despite an average int and cha... )


Thank you for reading this fairly bloated request.


(inb4 ninjas vs pirates: no overdone memes, please.)

Round 2:
So here's the low-down so far:

Mechanic Variants
+ Epic 6
+ Raising the Stakes: Death Flag, Conviction, Raising the Stakes
+ Unearthed Arcana: Gestalt characters
+ Unearthed/Urban Arcana: Invocations (4th level equivalent and higher spells)
+++Knowledge (arcana) -> Spellcraft.
Races
+ Humans
+ Half-Orc I like the idea of Cretean/Roman minotaur/half-minotaur civilization. Reflavored Kyrnn Minotaurs (DLCS), maybe?.
+ High Elf Fire Elf (UA). Egyptian flavored, dark skinned, snake worshipers. Maybe a speak with animals (snakes only) ability?
Classes
+ Retool partial spellcasters (paladin/ranger/bard(?)) for e6 play.

Prestige Classes

Wanted Campaign Setting Concepts (according to players)
+ Conan-esque. x2
+ Curse of Monkey Island with airships. (O.o ?)
(Two players non-reporting)


I'll continue to edit this with further information as things are fleshed out.

[Dairun Cates]

To be perfectly honest, I don't recommend D&D for doing Pirate campaigns. Most of the base classes just don't mix contextually with most Pirate settings. You essentially have to gut and ban a lot of things or homebrew A LOT.

There's just other systems that do it better. Exalted has a pretty extensive way of doing it (although, that may be a bit over the top for you). Seventh Sea is also EXCELLENT for those Errol Flynn pirate campaigns, and a new copy's pretty cheap. I also hear Savage Lands can handle it pretty well.

There's also my own 2d6 system linked in my signature that I'm trying to publish, which is still in beta but is definitely finished enough to run a campaign in (although, you would have to actually *gasp* put up with Ninjas and Wanderers). It still has a few kinks to work out, but there's more than enough content to keep most groups busy for years, and since I'm actively looking for beta testers, I'd be willing to give feedback. </self-promotion>


Of course, if you're going to INSIST on doing d20 because you don't want to learn a new system, go for D20 Modern and don't throw in any book for future or magic. Run the whole thing at a low tech level. Should handle it decently enough. D20 Modern's not too expensive and there's not too much new to learn. You'll still have to make-up some of the more piratey stuff, but at least it gives more melee options. Fair warning. D20 modern characters play a lot different from D&D characters and you should be aware as such. Being able to do 3d8 damage on each attack at first level makes a huge difference.

[Raistlin1040]

EVERYBODY WAS KUNG-FU FIGHTING!

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•One officially listed campaign suggestion for Dungeons And Dragons is to have everyone be a gestalt monk (basically, add in the abilities of the monk class on top of whatever actual class any character has), specifically to evoke this kind of feeling in a campaign.

Now seriously. Here's what I'd do, and I'm a very strange DM (and not a great one at that) so feel free to throw all this out. Reflavor races. Elves aren't another race, they're just thin, pretty humans. Dwarves are short, ugly humans. If you're throwing out sword and sorcery, this allows people to still play the races they want, but makes it a bit more sensical.

Throw out anything that seems absurd for them to fight. A Kraken in the middle of the ocean? RAM IT, MATE! Demons invading from a Whirlpool Portal to Hell? Get the cannons! Some crazy American is building constructs in his lab? Break in and stop him! Minotaurs have climbed onto the...Wait Minotaurs? Those don't make sense. Now, you can reflavor as you like (Davy Jones is a Mindflayer. True story.) but not everything in D&D works in a Heroic Pirate campaign.

Emphasize the world as unique! You're not going to build a generic fantasy land, I assume, so emphasize the feel you're going for. Steampunk? Cool, narrate some scenery erotica with all the cool mechanics. More PotC style? Detail the port towns in detail. If your campaign is different, make the world different. Your players have probably met a gruff, but kindly barkeep in a tavern a dozen times. They might be used to barfights. Go the extra mile to make these tired tropes exciting and fun and nautical!

Find out what they want most in terms of RPing style. If they want to be the Big Damn Heroes...except On A Boat, give them a boat and plot hooks so they can sail around to their hearts' content. If they want heavy roleplay and political intrigue, work up a story about people trying to hunt down pirates, and your players have to convince people to join them, from the little swordsmith putting on a cap and joining you on the open sea to the wizened old diplomat trying to deflect some of the blame onto more murderous pirates.

Spellcasting is easily done away with. If they want to be pirates, let them play Rogue/Swordsages, Bards (with some reflavored spellcasting), and Revolver-wielding Rangers. Find out what they want to play. If they want the comfort of the Wizard/Sorcerer/Druid/Cleric, find ways to accomidate that through your ritual ideas. Low level spells aren't going to wreck the campaign, if you do some reflavoring (it really can solve a lot of problems), and if something requires an XP cost or a material cost of note, have it be a ritual instead.

The possibilities are ENDLESS!
Just give us a bit more direction in which to go, alright?

[Vitruviansquid]

I don't care how well everything else fits into this campaign, if there are no GUNS and CANNONS (or ersatz versions of both), it's not pirates.

[Skorj]

I would like to work in a replacement for arcane/divine spellcasting to make spell use more like classic fantasy; demon pacts, rituals, summoning circles, rare power components, etc.

It seems like E6 would be perfect for this. There is magic more powerful than 3rd level spells, but it's only available through "DM specials". You could do a lot with that premise, magic-wise, even re-flavor some mid-level spells to make them seem more rare and special (and don't let the plyers know what the actual spell is), but as the DM you'd know what you were getting.

I don't care how well everything else fits into this campaign, if there are no GUNS and CANNONS (or ersatz versions of both), it's not pirates.

Early guns and cannons would work fine - both were "fire once and then the real fight starts" for centuries. Realism works in your favor here - get the flavor without it being too unbalancing.

[Sintanan]

Wow... just wow. There's a LOT of options available for a 'pirates campaign.'

Seeing as there are an overwhelming number of options available, the first step would be to get a better idea exactly what everyone wants. It's too late to contact the group tonight, so the earliest I can reach them will be tomorrow afternoon/evening. I'll try to get a response from the group as a whole, individual if a group isn't possible.

I'll get back to this topic on suggestions by the group. I know what style I want (seeing as I've been on a nostalgia kick lately and just started up Pirates of Darkwater), but the rest of the group...?


I'll keep the Playground informed on their responses. Thank you for your input thus far.

[freebiewitz]

In comes ME!

Freebiewitz Aka owner of the character
RERED NAW CAPTAIN OF THE SS SILVER!!!

Anyhow a few ideas you could incorporate into you pirate campaign/idea's

Since you have stormwrack everyone has RP reasons for thier classes to be pirates or at least some sort of sea faring folk.

If you want the players to be good guys I reccomend them playing privateers which are basically legalized pirates.

I'd say the DM CAN play as the captain but I think it's better if it's put to a vote. If you do put it to a vote and have one of the players be the captain have everyone start at level 6 so said capatian can have the leadership feat.

If you are going to make it a pirate campaign make it free roaming with lots of quests for treasures and sea battles. Remeber if it is a pirate campaign put the focus on the ship, tricking it out and then having ship to ship boarding battles etc, going on islands to find treasures and fighting monsters also good.

[Lord Vukodlak]

Interesting note about historical pirates, traditionally they were democracies the crew would vote on where they sailed and who they plundered. The captain was really only in true command during battle.

So if there is a player who usually comes up with battle plans the party follows[or tries to] that player should be the captain. The party then decides on a course of action like most parties should do by agreeing on one.

[FelixG]

Well, depending on the campaign world, you could build a very interesting campaign around sky pirates/privateers in an eberron setting, i had worked up a very fun campaign around such an idea personally that failed to get off the ground due to IRL obligations.

And in ebberon if you have the ship built right it could easily go from air to sea and back again so their adventures could take them all over the place

[woodenbandman]

It is mandatory in any pirate campaign that my one true contribution to the arts sees play.

Bruce, the Anthropomorphic Shark First Mate. Originally he was a psychic warrior, but you can use whatever you want. The design goal was to create a being that had enough size and strength to wield an anchor as a weapon. An anchor for a 60 foot boat apparantly should weigh about 50,000 pounds. also, who needs for it to return, when it has its own chain to pull it back with?

[joe]

I almost was in a pirate campaign once, but it ended up not happening. One thing the DM was going to do to go with the whole pirate feel, was to use the Defense rules from Unearthed Arcana, where the players AC increase by level instead of with armor, thus making heavy armor far less necessary.

If you can get access to some of the Dragonlance campaign setting books, they have a class in there called "Mariner" which has skills and abilities generally geared around ship combat. I've never played one myself, but it might be useful as one of the classes.

[Snake-Aes]

Minotaurs have climbed onto the...Wait Minotaurs? Those don't make sense.

In the setting I'm playing (Tormenta), minotaurs inhabit a roman-inspired country that is part of the coalition of kingdoms(one of three non-human kingdoms in a total of 20 or so), and they have the best navy around :o


For a pirate campaign, I don't see much reflavoring needed. The only thing that won't really fit is Heavy armor, but the rest can fit in nicely. Scoundrel types will fit nicely there anyway.

Remember, if most of the campaign is going to be seaborne, there's nothing funnier than a shark animal companion. Or a whale. Stupid ships.

[hamishspence]

When it comes to whales, how about the newly discovered Leviathan?

http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=158561

The pic further down the thread looks a whole lot meaner than the Leviathan pic in Monster Manual 2.

[Morph Bark]

Since I am going to be DMing an E6 pirate campaign myself soon, I will watch this thread closely.

First off, pirates vs ninjas is a clichéd meme, yes, but you could try see if you could make a Ninja/Dread Pirate character, with something else on the other side? Or do Rogue instead of ninja and Monk on the other side, since that essentially is what the ninja is. Considering Monks don't get much good things after level 6, it is perfect for it.

The suggestion for ridiculous monsters is a good one, and I support the inclusion of cannons and flintlocks. We used them in previous campaigns as well and I've actually once made stats for Davy Jones for a Gestalt campain (I think he was level 8, Mindflayer//Rogue/Dread Pirate).

Also, maps. Make faulty maps or good maps, and of course treasure maps. Have there be enough rival crews (three sounds about right, with some being more often encountered than others, and some being friendly and others enemies). Perhaps you could also throw in some weaker Inevitables that were created by the local empire the crew is harrassing or escaping from all the time. "Primitive" constructs (as in un-robot-like) might fit in that day and age. Good call on including Eberron, the steam/mage/dungeonpunk feel would go good with it.

[Aroka]

Interesting note about historical pirates, traditionally they were democracies the crew would vote on where they sailed and who they plundered. The captain was really only in true command during battle.

So if there is a player who usually comes up with battle plans the party follows[or tries to] that player should be the captain. The party then decides on a course of action like most parties should do by agreeing on one.

This. They voted in other officers, and the officer in charge of the food was usually the most popular one - not surprisingly. The officer in charge of the armory was also powerful. It's not surprising - how would a single person hold power over a crew who didn't want him in power? These are pirates - the ship is probably stolen in the first place. Military and merchant ship crews were constrained by laws, and by military discipline, but pirates only had their personal loyalties to the captain, based on his ability to command them.

The Caribbean pirates also had very long charters, detailing payments for crew members (captains usually only got, at most, 3-4 shares to a crewman's one) and compensation for limbs lost and other injuries sustained in battle, rules of conduct, punishments, etc.

They also weren't outright bloodthirsty, because it was far better to have a reputation as letting your targets live (they'd also tend to not rob the crew's personal effects, giving more incentive for hired crews to just surrender their employer's cargo). Of course, ships that did not surrender were treated with great brutality, also to encourage surrender over fighting or fleeing.

Of course there were exceptions, and this stuff is pretty exclusive to Caribbean pirates in the mid-to-late 17th and early 18th centuries. The Barbary corsairs of the Mediterranean were more likely to just enslave everyone they caught alive, for instance, since they could sell European slaves on the Barbary Coast.

Incidentally, for a cool d20 sourcebook on pirates, check Mongoose's Conan - Pirate Isles. Easy to adapt for D&D.

[Paul H]

Hi

No prob. 7th Seas had a D20 campaign setting, effectively 17th Century Europe, with all the political & religious intrigue thrown in. Download a few maps of the Carribean and you're away..............

I've done it myself
Thanks
Paul H

[Optimystik]

One spell I've always wanted to use in a pirate campaign is the one from Spell Compendium that turns your ship into a submarine:

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[Morph Bark]

One spell I've always wanted to use in a pirate campaign is the one from Spell Compendium that turns your ship into a submarine:

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I've seen that one. I forgot the name and level though, but I'm betting it's higher than 4th and so out of the E6 scope bigtime, sadly.

[Sintanan]

Actually, come later today when our group gets together to see what's wanted, I'm going to suggest the following:

+ Take Urban Arcana rules to allow for rare and powerful incantations and rituals to achieve 4th+ spells.
+ Power components (as shown in Unearthed Arcana) and expanded upon to apply metamagic.

So.. yes... submarine ships would be possible via a long ritual.


Thanks for the continued suggestions, everyone.

[AtopTheMountain]

If you're not married to a d20 or D&D system, I'd suggest 7th Sea. It's got everything a pirate game needs -- guns, ships, heroics, not-so-heroics, swashbuckling, and the rulebooks all but mention by name the Rule of Cool. It's a d10 system, which can be a little out there, but it's definitely fun to play.

[Bagelz]

give everyone profession (sailor) for free.

Dwarves on a Boat!

[hamishspence]

Dwarves on a Boat!

Dwarves + Pirates- makes me think of Long Drong's Slayer Pirates in the Warhammer setting.

[Optimystik]

I've seen that one. I forgot the name and level though, but I'm betting it's higher than 4th and so out of the E6 scope bigtime, sadly.

Submerge Ship. And nothing is out of E6 scope, just make it a ritual incantation.

[Satyr]

If you have the money to spare, get Black Flags by Avalanche Press, a 3rd party product about pirates, and a very good one at that.

I would also suggest to stay away from 7th Sea - the system is not that good anyway, and the setting is not only a lot less interesting than the historical period it mocks badly tries to represent, it is also so rife with stupid and insulting clichés, it's borderline racist.

[Dizlag]

Again, if you're not married to the d20 / D&D 3.5 system then I recommend Savage Worlds as a gaming system and specifically their 50 Fathoms campaign setting. It's a pirate-themed swashbuckling extravaganza to save a world from flooding. It was the best campaign I've ever played in, hands down.

Savage Worlds also has the Pirate of the Spanish Main campaign setting set in the Caribbean though I haven't played this one yet.

EDIT: Oh, one more campaign setting for Savage Worlds ... The Savage World of Solomon Kane ... based on Robert E. Howard's Solomon Kane stories. It's set in the age of sail time period, so it might be worth a gander.
Good luck!

Dizlag

[Severus]

I would go with "The Demon Haunted Sea".

Your pirates sail the Demon Haunted Sea, the most terrible stretch of water in the Multiverse. To most, it is home to unbelievable storms, horrific monstrosities, desert islands littered with wreckage and the unsettled dead. But to a few, the Demon Haunted Sea is the key to the multiverse, for in its twisted waters gates to a million worlds open and close and the wonders and horrors of those places spill forth. Can you do what no one before has done and find the key? For with it, you can reave a million worlds.

That's what I'd do. In some worlds you sail seas of blood, or strange other fluids. In some, the air itself lifts you up and you sail among clouds. etc, etc.

[mabriss lethe]

You're saying you want to ditch conventional D&D-esque magic for something a bit more meaty. If you decide to stay in d20, I really recommend the Binder as one of the primary magic using classes.

[Sintanan]

I decided to opt for normal spellcasting. Spells beyond 3rd level will have to be achieved through incantations.

I like the idea of a minotaur society (I really need to get my hands on Dragonlance rulebooks), other than that with the wanted influence of Conan, I figure a Stygia like culture to replace elves would help make things memorable.


I am too tired from a long day at work and home maintenance to focus right now. I'll check on this thread in the morn. G'night.

[Kosjsjach]

I like the idea of a minotaur society...

Have you considered the Goatfolk (Ibixian) from MM3 p63? They look the part, at least. +1LA and 3 RHD wouldn't make for a very powerful player race, but as non-player antagonists they work fine.

Apart from that, woo E6! I second the suggestion to use the Defense Bonus variant, and possibly combining it with the Armor as Damage Reduction variant so they'd have a reason to wear it.

[DracoDei]

I am going to do my usual think of dropping by and listing what of my stuff I think could help...

Ships of the undead are popular... but if they get boring, one twist you can throw in would be to have the ship itself be a Fat Glob (200+ HD might do for a small one... that shouldn't be more than a decade's worth of whaling by skeletons etc to gather). It makes a better base than a pursuit vessel though...

I have heard it said that an Empty Skin parrot might work well for flavor.

Best. Captains. Bed. EVAR. (even helpful in preventing mutineers form ambushing you in your sleep.

If you are allowing ToB and having a lot of stuff that swallows whole, a few martial scripts of THESE might come in handy. I don't think you can technically have martial scripts of stances, but it should be possible to come up with a solution to that relatively easily.

If you ask nicely I could probably even finish up my Fin Dragons some time within a month or two. Those would be the aquatic counterparts to my Wing Dragons... basically imagine your standard "playful dolphin" personality put into a dragon with a swim speed of 100 or more.