Post by Darko on Mar 10, 2017 20:54:53 GMT
"So you want to hear about the Riptide, eh lad? That's a dark tale. No, not the kind of riptide you're thinking of. This was a tide of the dead... and they ripped men to pieces with their bare hands and teeth. Most men started to save coin they would normally spend on rum to buy a second pistol to carry on their person - one for the dead, and one for themselves, lest they be forsaken by God and doomed to roam the Earth for eternity."
The year is 1725. The place? Nassau, Earth. But not our Earth. A parallel Earth where the golden age of piracy never ended because England and Spain remain at war. Amidst the chaos, the informal, fledgling Republic of Pirates managed to prosper and grow strong enough to defend itself from the reprisals of the two empires clashing like great behemoths overshadowing a young wolf.
Now there's a new threat. No one knows how it started, or where it came from. Some would come to say it is the result of cursed treasure, others the work of the devil and intellectuals would insist it was a form of disease from their ivory towers, reading second-hand reports of alleged supernatural happenings.
In this game, players will form key members of a pirate crew. Their goal? That's up to you. Pirates by nature desire to further their ambitions and expand their wealth, with many seeking to some day rise to be a feared captain of their own ship. Will you survive long enough to become an infamous scourge of the seas with two empires at war in the very oceans you call your hunting grounds? Will you become a legendary, wealthy figure or will you end up as another mindless recruit for the army of the walking dead, whose war against all living men will never end? Loyalty is in short supply among pirates; how far can you trust your shipmates - will they betray you, or will you betray them first?
Let's find out...
At the start of the game, the ship you are on board will have a captain and a quartermaster already (the two most important ranks on the ship). For those who may not know, pirates were democrats. They voted their captains in and out of position if the captain became too unpopular, too bloodthirsty or too incompetent. The captain only had absolute authority in battle, during which his orders were not to be questioned. The rest of the time, most decisions came down to a vote among the crew. The quartermaster had an unparalleled level of authority and for this reason they had to be someone extremely well-respected in the crew. They represented the crew's interests to the captain, ensuring any personal ambitions did not overshadow the prosperity of everyone else on board the ship. The quartermaster also protected the crew from themselves - fights and disagreements would be handled by the quartermaster, including punishments for all minor offences. Serious offences against and amongst the crew tended to be handled by a jury of the crew instead. Quartermasters also kept the ship's logs in order and oversaw distribution of shares of plunder, food and other provisions to ensure everyone was treated fairly. As a result of this responsibility, quartermasters were generally given a bigger share than everyone else, making this a comfortable and coveted position on the ship.
Both roles may be desirable for your character to seek out to gain greater influence over the crew and more say in the wider politics and strategies of all pirates. This does in fact mean that during this game, several characters might end up exchanging ranks and authority if they play their cards right, and possibly even regain lost authority if they are smart, respected or cunning enough to oust the one who usurped them.
And as a collective group, you may all want to work towards eventually having a more powerful ship or even a small fleet if you can get other pirates to follow you. Perhaps the ultimate scope this game could encompass would be the ability to conquer the Bahamas and even the Caribbean as a whole. Or, you may have no interest in being a small-time conquistador - you may not want to upset the status quo and attract too much attention. Instead, you might want to manipulate everyone around you so that you can fill your pockets with gold and then make a run for it to live out the rest of your days as a wealthy man, perhaps escaping to America to start a new life. The choice is yours. But above all else, the friendships, rivalries and adventures of this crew as they seek plunder and riches while avoiding zombies is going to be what forms the heart of this game.
No dice systems or anything in this one. Just good old fashioned roleplaying. I'm excited for this genre-mashup and hopefully some of you lot will be too!
Here's a character sheet. Assume that your characters are in Nassau (formerly Charles Town, and the one truly safe harbour for thousands of pirates) and have just signed up as new crew aboard a Brig named The Marauder.
Player Name:
Character Name:
Age:
Gender:
Appearance:
Personality:
Equipment: (pirates weren't too wealthy so keep that in mind... you won't be a walking armory. So you can't have four pistols, two swords, a blunderbuss and a musket)
Background: (What led them to piracy? A former slave, a captured sailor forced into a life of crime, or perhaps a veteran of one of the original privateer crews that turned rogue two decades ago, claiming Nassau under figures such as Edward Teach or Benjamin Hornigold)
Other:
If you need help, here's a great website full of pirate information.
Here's some basic pirate/ship information to help with writing in this game.
Although it is from a game, this is a good ship size comparison.
The year is 1725. The place? Nassau, Earth. But not our Earth. A parallel Earth where the golden age of piracy never ended because England and Spain remain at war. Amidst the chaos, the informal, fledgling Republic of Pirates managed to prosper and grow strong enough to defend itself from the reprisals of the two empires clashing like great behemoths overshadowing a young wolf.
Now there's a new threat. No one knows how it started, or where it came from. Some would come to say it is the result of cursed treasure, others the work of the devil and intellectuals would insist it was a form of disease from their ivory towers, reading second-hand reports of alleged supernatural happenings.
In this game, players will form key members of a pirate crew. Their goal? That's up to you. Pirates by nature desire to further their ambitions and expand their wealth, with many seeking to some day rise to be a feared captain of their own ship. Will you survive long enough to become an infamous scourge of the seas with two empires at war in the very oceans you call your hunting grounds? Will you become a legendary, wealthy figure or will you end up as another mindless recruit for the army of the walking dead, whose war against all living men will never end? Loyalty is in short supply among pirates; how far can you trust your shipmates - will they betray you, or will you betray them first?
Let's find out...
At the start of the game, the ship you are on board will have a captain and a quartermaster already (the two most important ranks on the ship). For those who may not know, pirates were democrats. They voted their captains in and out of position if the captain became too unpopular, too bloodthirsty or too incompetent. The captain only had absolute authority in battle, during which his orders were not to be questioned. The rest of the time, most decisions came down to a vote among the crew. The quartermaster had an unparalleled level of authority and for this reason they had to be someone extremely well-respected in the crew. They represented the crew's interests to the captain, ensuring any personal ambitions did not overshadow the prosperity of everyone else on board the ship. The quartermaster also protected the crew from themselves - fights and disagreements would be handled by the quartermaster, including punishments for all minor offences. Serious offences against and amongst the crew tended to be handled by a jury of the crew instead. Quartermasters also kept the ship's logs in order and oversaw distribution of shares of plunder, food and other provisions to ensure everyone was treated fairly. As a result of this responsibility, quartermasters were generally given a bigger share than everyone else, making this a comfortable and coveted position on the ship.
Both roles may be desirable for your character to seek out to gain greater influence over the crew and more say in the wider politics and strategies of all pirates. This does in fact mean that during this game, several characters might end up exchanging ranks and authority if they play their cards right, and possibly even regain lost authority if they are smart, respected or cunning enough to oust the one who usurped them.
And as a collective group, you may all want to work towards eventually having a more powerful ship or even a small fleet if you can get other pirates to follow you. Perhaps the ultimate scope this game could encompass would be the ability to conquer the Bahamas and even the Caribbean as a whole. Or, you may have no interest in being a small-time conquistador - you may not want to upset the status quo and attract too much attention. Instead, you might want to manipulate everyone around you so that you can fill your pockets with gold and then make a run for it to live out the rest of your days as a wealthy man, perhaps escaping to America to start a new life. The choice is yours. But above all else, the friendships, rivalries and adventures of this crew as they seek plunder and riches while avoiding zombies is going to be what forms the heart of this game.
No dice systems or anything in this one. Just good old fashioned roleplaying. I'm excited for this genre-mashup and hopefully some of you lot will be too!
Here's a character sheet. Assume that your characters are in Nassau (formerly Charles Town, and the one truly safe harbour for thousands of pirates) and have just signed up as new crew aboard a Brig named The Marauder.
Player Name:
Character Name:
Age:
Gender:
Appearance:
Personality:
Equipment: (pirates weren't too wealthy so keep that in mind... you won't be a walking armory. So you can't have four pistols, two swords, a blunderbuss and a musket)
Background: (What led them to piracy? A former slave, a captured sailor forced into a life of crime, or perhaps a veteran of one of the original privateer crews that turned rogue two decades ago, claiming Nassau under figures such as Edward Teach or Benjamin Hornigold)
Other:
If you need help, here's a great website full of pirate information.
Here's some basic pirate/ship information to help with writing in this game.
Although it is from a game, this is a good ship size comparison.