I'm in the Air Force stationed in Korea. And here we are talking about the Navy... go fig.
I use the Seafarer's Handbook, part of of the Legends & Lairs line of sourcebooks from Fantasy Flight Games. It doesn't have rules on pirates, per se, but it handles topics that would be used in a water/underwater campaign.
The chapters are (with information from the Welcome! page):
1. Seafaring Adventures; intended for players hwo want to create characters uniquely suited to seafaring campaigns. This chapter presents new races, feats, equipment, magic itmes, and spells designed for seafaring adventures.
2. Seafaring Campaigns; provides a detailed discussion of seafaring campaigns, presenting information on sea conditions, ships, officers, crews, seafaring expeditoins, sefaring nations, and ports of call.
3. Undersea Adventures; presents information on running fantasy campaigns below the surface of the ocean. The physical characteristics of the undersea world are described and information is provided on its adventure locations, hazards, monsters, and civilizations.
4. Ship Construction; provides complete rules for designing and constructing your own ships and vessels. These rules are fully compatible with the d20 System core rules, as well as the ship combat rules introduced in this book.
5. Ship Designs; provides 20 complete and fully detailed ship designs, including the ghost ship template. Each entry offers a complete description, detailed deck plan, and illustraion of a seafaring vessel.
6. Ship Combat; introduces all-new rules for resolving ship-to-ship combat and boarding action based on the d20 System. Using these rules, DMs can fully incorporate fantasy naval combat into their ongoing campaigns.
I've used rules from each of the chapters except for ship combat in my Adventure Path campaign. I haven't read the ship combat rules closely (because I haven't run any ship combat), but they seem to be fairly extensive (15 pages) with rules, diagrams, and in-play examples.
You can buy it as a download from DriveThruRPG.com, or the hardcopy from Amazon. You can buy the actual book for less than the download.
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Now, also available is Swashbuckling Adventures, from AEG, but I've never seen it. Maybe someone else can chime in...
You can go to www.alderac.com to see all of the products that are available to the Swashbuckling (formerly 7th Sea) Adventures line. They have even more books dedicated to the adventure series, if you are looking for a complete campaign world, then AEG might have what you are looking for.
You could look at the KoK Salt and Sea Dogs (it is from Kenzer). Not bad rules but can become bogged down IMHO for sailing. Yet it does have good rules for this aspect of the sea. Just something to watch out for...
There is Sea of Blood, from Mongoose. Pretty simple combat rules has nice tables and is a simple read that can be adapted to all seetings. I used this for a springboard to adapt the rest of the sea type books.
There is the 7th Sea setting, from AEG. I didn't think this was the best setting for the rules are not very clear or conscise to what things are supposed to do in the game. IMO, they tried to get to technical in the actual sailing aspect of things. I used it to get ideas and deeper concepts for sea and concepts of coastal towns and port cities.
Seafarer's Handbook is one that is out there that I haven't looked at.There is a few others out there but I can't remember.
Be careful down range in the great sandbox...
Interesting....I was in the AF for eight years....and yet we know a lot about the sea aspects....ironic..;)
I am planning a nautical campaign. After looking at many of these books, I have decided that the Seafarer's Handbook was the best. It is what I am planning on using.
Neomorte
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There is also the Broadsides! book from Living Imagination + Skull & Bones as a Mythic Vistas book from Green Ronin. I had prepared an outline for a pirate campaign as a choice for our next campaign (pirate, oriental L5R d20) or the Shackled City Adventure Path, guess what they've chosen...
The Adventures for the pirate campaign...
1) Polyhedron - Freeport Adventure
2) Freeport Trilogy
3) somewhere in between (Nbod's room from Dungeon 51)
4) interspersed with some encounters from Tales in Freeport
5) se big one - Black Sails in Freeport...
if Hellin Freeport suits in there... i do not know...
Mongoose also puts out PIRATE ISLES. Nice product. Definately an authentic and gritty fantasy feel..afterall, D&D started with the theme...
http://www.mongoosepublishing.com/search.php?searchterm=conan&Submit=Se arch+Site
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There is also the Broadsides! book from Living Imagination + Skull & Bones as a Mythic Vistas book from Green Ronin. I had prepared an outline for a pirate campaign as a choice for our next campaign (pirate, oriental L5R d20) or the Shackled City Adventure Path, guess what they've chosen...
The Adventures for the pirate campaign...
3) somewhere in between (Nbod's room from Dungeon 51)--
Ooh...I remember Nbod's Room :) That was one of my favorites from that era and perfect for a 'pirate' theme! One suggestion I could also make which would fit your campaign theme (with a tiny bit of tweaking) is 'The Wreck of the Shining Star' from Dungeon 15.
to/\/\
I am an Army medic deployed in Iraq.
I'm in the Air Force stationed in Korea.
Well, for starters - Thank you! to both of you, and stay safe.
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As to the topic at hand, I have heard good things about The Seafarer's Handbook Big Jake mentioned, but I do not own a copy (yet). However, FFG is one of my favorite 3rd party publishers and I highly recommend them.