I am going to attempt to build a Pirate campaign, and i am having trouble finding source material. The campaign will be based in Golarion and will use Pathfinder rules, with a small amount of 3.5 hybrid. I have been trying to use Google to find things but haven't been too successful in finding much other than what i already know about. The campaign i would like to build will allow 3.5 source-books and Pathfinder material. I would like to do somewhat of a "kingmaker on a Ship" type of game, where the players can go from being broke thugs to Pirate Kings. Also there will be no alignment restrictions on classes. IE an Assassin does not have to be evil. Paladins will have to be the same alignment as their deity, but a CG, LN, N, CN, NG Paladins are entirely feasible. I also don't mind reworking any 3.5 material to Pathfinder standards.
The things I need are:
1. Adventure's: One shots and Adventure paths that i can work into my campaign. Any adventure based on landing on an Island could also be useful.
2. Source material about pirate groups and slavers and such.
3. Classes that can be used as Pirates.
4. Maybe some help fleshing out how to build the campaign.
This is the first time ive tried to create a campaign like this, so i figured i could get help from you guys here. Any help here would be awesome.
There is a 3.5 book called "Stormwrack" that is all about oceanic adventures/boats. It's got a ton of appropriate material for anything happening near the water as I presume pirates will. Also has a few one shot adventures in the back. You'll have to convert, naturally, but it really is cool stuff. I've run a mini-campaign based off of the ideas in that book.
One thing that I've been doing for my campaign, is going through Wikipedia, and cribbing notes on what happened for each year in the first half of the 17th Century.
Maybe in your case, you want to look at the first half of the 18th Century, and make notes on events that might be of interest to pirates, such as kings and colonial governors that swore to eliminate the scourge of piracy, famous pirates who arose or who were killed, and other things that are interesting.
This is also a great source of ideas. For example, I noted that Henry Hudson was killed by being set adrift in the Hudson Bay by his mutinous crew. But, as far as I know, nobody actually saw him die. So did he really die? Or might he still be alive? Perhaps he was found by a vampire, and now has the Gift, and an appetite for revenge.
If you are not running a historical campaign, you can mix and match to your hearts content. Perhaps a fiery red-haired queen like Elizabeth has a stable of roguish privateers who are barely under her control and occasionally have to be beheaded. She could be a contemporary of a fire-eating puritan autocrat who led a revolution and beheaded the king, leading the supporters of the king to have to flee across the ocean to colonies in the "Terra Nova".
As for adventures, there are lots of adventures out there that are suitable for a maritime campaign. Other adventures could be converted. For example, if you have The Witchfire Trilogy from Privateer Press (published for the 3.5 ruleset), it can easily be converted to a pirate campaign by moving the locations to islands, and using boats instead of horses to get from one location to another.
Savage tide Ap and the Dragon mag support articles.
Stormwrack hardback.
Freeport campaign setting, city sourcebooks and adventures therein
Golarion products featuring the Shackles Pirates, also Riddleport.
One very important word of advice. In order for a campaign like this to work, make sure that the players like the captain. If they don't, then have the first mate kill him and let them elect a new captain.
I've found that if PCs are stuck on a ship with a captain they hate, the campaign will end badly.
I ran a game where the PCs owned shares of the ship, and hired a Ships Master to actually run it. This let the PCs have freedom of movement, both on and off the ship.
d20 Past has some relatively easy rules for sailing, and cannons! Stormwrack is pretty good too.
I found that rangers make excellent pirates and sailors. Pretty much any of the mobility-based and skill-based classes excel on a ship.
I also made a cavalier archetype for ships: The Corsair.
Freeport campaign setting, city sourcebooks and adventures therein
Freeport is like pirates meets supernatural horror. Think maybe Pirates of the Caribbean without most of the humor. Probably not the best comparison but there it is. A lot of fun! And IIRC there are Pathfinder compatible Freeport supplements now.
You may also want to look into instituting a Defense Bonus as opposed to being reliant upon armor, afterall Full Plate + Open Ocean generally doesn't end well for the can of humanoid.
You may also want to look into instituting a Defense Bonus as opposed to being reliant upon armor, afterall Full Plate + Open Ocean generally doesn't end well for the can of humanoid.
I have a funny story about that. But it's longish.
The Classes ive been able to Find that fit into a pirate campaign, so far, are:
Dread Pirate, Pirate, Swashbuckler, Duelist, Rogue, Legendary Captain, Brad, and the Classes in Stormwrack.
Any other suggestions?
@ SimianChaos: I have actually thought about that already, and my plan is to have all of the Players play Light-Medium armor classes.The only way im going to allow a heavy armor character on the ship is if they can Back story the hell out of it.
The Classes ive been able to Find that fit into a pirate campaign, so far, are:
Dread Pirate, Pirate, Swashbuckler, Duelist, Rogue, Legendary Captain, Brad, and the Classes in Stormwrack.
Any other suggestions?
@ SimianChaos: I have actually thought about that already, and my plan is to have all of the Players play Light-Medium armor classes.The only way im going to allow a heavy armor character on the ship is if they can Back story the hell out of it.
I have lots of suggestions, organized by class.
I think any class could fit into a Pirate campaign. They may have to give up some iconic paraphenalia like full plate armor, but sure, they could fit. It's not like pirates were obsessed with conformity to social norms.
I've been working on a way to fit the various classes into a 17th Century historical campaign; that might be helpful, although if you are doing a fantasy campaign you probably don't need to work so hard to fit Monks and Summoners in.
The short story:
I. Wizards are people who study magic from books. They are very rare, and most pirate ships don't have one on the crew, but if one can be found and enticed to join, she would be a very valuable addition to the crew indeed, and likely to be well regarded.
II. Witches are more common, being a common trope in fiction from that period.
III. Oracles would be common in this sort of story. I decided that I did not actually like this class, so I don't think I'll use it.
I decided to take the Pathfinder Ranger, and rename it the Huntress class, making the Huntresses the heirs to ancient techniques of the Amazons. They are very very rare, but most likely to be found in an order of female ascetics called the Theclanae, where they focus on hunting monsters. A Huntress might arrange to travel on a ship on a temporary basis to hunt down some monster, but would keep herself separate from the crew. There is no reason why a male might not be trained as a Hunter, although he could not join the Theclanae.
IV. Fighters would be common on Pirate crews. They'd have to give up their armor, but would be master swordsmen, probably the best swordsman (or woman) on the ship.
V. Clerics are very rare in my 17th Century setting, in that the clergy mainly consists of Experts, and the Church does not recognize the Pathfinder Cleric class. But a few priests might be Clerics. Clerics would be more likely to be Voodoo priests and priestesses.
In a fantasy setting, a pirate crew might be likely to employ a Cleric of the God of Oceans, or the God of Thieves, or other deity whose favor the captain wants to have.
VI. Druids would be very rare in Europe, but likely to exist as shamans in America. They would not be likely to join a crew of a ship, but there could be the rare exception, who is mainly motivated by curiosity and a desire to understand the great ocean. Such a character would probably be the only Druid who is part of the crew of an ocean-going ship.
VII. Cavaliers would probably not be found on as a member of a ship's crew, although they would be common on the shore, and very well might be on a ship for a trip across the ocean. If you want to get fantastical, it is possible that there could be an aquatic archetype, using dolphins or sharks as steeds.
VIII. I've come up with four orders of Monks for my 17th Century campaign, although in a Fantasy setting there could easily be an order of pirate monks. Monks would do great on the ocean.
a) I figure that if the Pathfinder rules really described reality, a number of Jesuit priests could be Monks. A Jesuit priest would probably not join the crew of a pirate ship, but could be on a crew of a ship that hunts pirates, or could likely be encountered on the shore. Jesuits had a habit of annoying colonial authorities by organizing the natives to resist tyranny.
b) The most likely Monk member of a pirate crew would be a Pugalist, a guy (or gal) who practices a strict regimen to keep himself in peak physical condition for unarmed combat. If a member of a pirate crew, he'd probably specialize in grappling techniques.
c) The two fictitious orders I made up, Theclanae and Vertidiger, are unlikely to be on a pirate crew because of alignment, since they are both lawful good orders. They could be encountered as opponents or fellow travellers, since they both focus on quests to further their goals. The Theclanae focus on fighting monsters, while the Vertidiger focus on protecting Protestants.
IX. For Rangers, I've decided to use a non-spellcasting variant. Whether they cast spells or not, Rangers could easily be found on a pirate ship. Pirates are also likely to find themselves being hunted by Rangers.
X. Gunslingers would be common if you have a setting where there are guns.
XI. Paladins are not likely to be found on pirate ships, but might be hunting pirates. In the 17th Century, heirs to the Knights Templar could still be trying to do good deeds. In another of my settings, based on Norse mythology, paladins devoted to Njord often patrolled the coastlines protecting people from pirates and other miscreants. A paladin might also go monster-hunting, which might temporarily align her goals with that of the ship's captain.
XII. Sorcerers would fit in well in a pirate crew, if they could find one. In the Iron Kingdoms, the background for my first PC in that setting was that she had been captured by pirates and ended up working on their crew for a while -- they treated her well because of her magical talents.
XIII. Antipaladins would fit in in a pirate crew, being nasty and liking to cause mayhem and such. They would be likely to try to work their way up the command chain by any means possible.
XIV. This space reserved for philosophers.
XV. Rogues would of course make very good pirates.
XVI. Alchemists could be a valuable addition to a pirate crew, treated like Wizards and Sorcerers for their ability to make things go boom. She may even have her own quarters to make sure that her alchemical experiments are not disturbed.
XVII. What pirate crew would not want a Bard? Orpheus even joined a pirate crew back in the second millenium BCE. While traditional Bards fit in well on a pirate crew, the class also supports concepts like the Dervish and the Witchdoctor, who could be found as unusual and unique members.
XVIII. With class abilities tailored to knocking the <insert interjection here> out of people while wearing light armor, a Barbarian would fit in well on a pirate ship. A lot of pirates were described as barbarians and a lot of people described as barbarians were pirates for at least part of their career. A Barbarian does not have to come from remote, uncivilized areas -- a Brutal Pugalist or a Drunken Brute could easily come from an uncouth neighborhood of a port city. A Barbarian would probably be considered to be a great person to have on your side in a fight, although maybe not the person you want in charge of the operation.
Of course, it is also easy to describe how a person who does come from an uncivilized area ends up as part of the crew of a pirate ship.
XIX. I'm not sure if I like the Summoner class, but can see how one could fit aboard a pirate ship, using his summoning abilities to help his crew.
XX. An Inquisitor is more likely to be hunting pirates than to be a pirate, but nothing says an Inquisitor has to be opposed to piracy. An Inquisitor could use membership on a pirate ship as a cover to move from port to port, seeking out enemies. Or he could be motivated by keeping the pirate crew itself in line, especially if the setting has a God of Piracy. A pirate captain might want to employ an Inquisitor devoted to the God of the Oceans in order to make sure that the crew does not do anything to annoy that deity.
The Classes ive been able to Find that fit into a pirate campaign, so far, are:
Dread Pirate, Pirate, Swashbuckler, Duelist, Rogue, Legendary Captain, Brad, and the Classes in Stormwrack.
Any other suggestions?
@ SimianChaos: I have actually thought about that already, and my plan is to have all of the Players play Light-Medium armor classes.The only way im going to allow a heavy armor character on the ship is if they can Back story the hell out of it.
Most of the crew of a pirate ship would be Warriors. The captain would probably be a Ranger or a Ranger/Rogue. Perhaps an average of about 25% of a pirate's ship crew would consist of members of a PC class, mostly Fighters, Barbarians, Rangers and Rogues. There probably would be one or more special characters like a Wizard or a Cleric.
There was a good supplement on Pirates for Rolemaster/Fantasy Hero (which I own and quite enjoy). It's got lots of stuff on historical pirates and a couple of settings (The Caribbean and the Indian Ocean). Not sure whether you'd be able to find it anywhere. I imagine there's a GURPS supplement out there on Pirates as well. Those tend to be very good for background and flavor.
One thing you are going to want to decide:
1. Are you going to put your campaign in an historical era noted for pirate?
2. Are you going to make a setting like 7th Sea that closely resembles an historical era, but is your own setting to do with as you please?
3. Are you going to use a published setting like Golaron or Greyhawk, basing the campaign in an area known for having pirates?
4. Are you going to make your own setting based of your own inspirations, and put pirates in it?
Which direction you go will determine what you need. If you are using options 1. and 2., you'll want to hit the history books. The 7th Sea setting is a very good example of a fictitious setting based on 17th-18th Century Europe, so you could use that for ideas if you are going option 2.
If you are using option 3, further directions will be determined by which settings you use. A Ravenloft pirate campaign could be very intriguing, with adventures steeped in gothic horror -- the basic theme should entail punishments and chances for redemption. You could do a Rokugan campaign with oriental-style pirates fighting samurai of the Mantis and other clans. I'm sure you can get a lot of advice here about how to do a pirate campaign in Golaron.
Option 4 could be interesting. You could add all sorts of other interesting options. A pirate campaign set on a ringworld could be an interesting change of pace. You could do a pirate campaign on a world in which dinosaurs still live. (Put ninjas in this world and you get the coolness trifecta...) Or could just draw up a map, and sprinkle it with pirates, and go.
I would strongly recommend the Green Ronin supplement Skull & Bones.
Also, as another poster mentioned, there was a similar thread a couple months ago here. You should try to search for it.