Avast me hearties and listen to what I say! Some mangy cur has talked and let fly our secrets to a bunch of landlubbers. Time for a keel-hauling, ahar!
Ok, I don't know what I just said, but I do have RQ
irates and very good it is, too.
There's a pretty picture on the front, for those who like that sort of thing, of a battle on a ship. The internal artwork is good, too, mostly pencil drawings and a few maps, and I love maps.
What's inside it? I hear you ask. Well, quite a lot, actually.
The making of a Pirate is character generation with Previous Experience, 10 new skills, 30 professions, and a silly random starting equipment list (18 - one left shoe, 47 - Women's dress, fine - "I don't care what she looks like, she has to fit this dress, ahar!!") . All very simple, easy to use and has the feel of pirate generation.
Reputation, Legendary Abilities and Vices is brilliant and could be used in other games, not just for Pirates. There are rules on Reputation, after all everyone knows about Captain Tom, so how hard is it for him to dress as a woman to escape from prison? Legendary Abilities include "Always Something to Swing From" which allows the pirate to swing from anything around and Devil's Luck, which is two-sided. Vices are evry well done indeed, for what is a pirate without vices? Each vice has a description and an Indulged By and Tempted By section that shows when the vice is called into play. So, Bravado is Indulged By witty quips, dramatic entrances and Tempted By showing off to the crowd when fleeing where subtelty would be preferable. These have the potential for having many more Vices added as Houserules. They are so easy to useand are very modular.
Chattels, Blades and Gunshot describes weapons, clothing and equipment and could have been longer, but you could use the RQM equipment lists as well, so these are pirate-focussed and fine.
Crews and Sworn Companions gives rules on crews, electing captains and so on. It looks good but would probably need tweaking during play. There are rules on crew morale, how a crew affects sailing and battles and so on.
Ships of the Sea gives examples and statistics of ships. Sailing ships have a Speed Modifier, showing how much faster than the winds they can travel, which is useful. Rowing ships have absolute speeds. All measurements are Imperial for flavour as it points out that a pirate wouldn't say "Avast, ye dogs, and fire the 16 kilo cannons". There are also examples of Ship Qualities that can affect how the ship behaves. There are rules for rowing, for sailing, for ship speeds under sail in different conditions, for weapons and for customising ships, with 11 modifiers that can be used, again crying out for more as houserules. There are rules for ship repairs, damage, disease and so on. Everything you need for a naval campaign. This is an excellent section.
Piracy and Plunder has rules on what you can get from a typical ship. If you like tables you'll love this chapter. There are tables for weather, encounters at sea, vessel types, events on board shikp, strangeness on shore, crew quality, plunder and rare cargo for many types of vessel. values are in reales, but it doesn't give the value of a reale, or at least I couldn't find one. But, this is a very rich chapter, if used sparingly. Although I can see a group of pirate gamers becoming excited at the treasure roll for a looted ship, which is exactly as it should be for a pirate crew.
Combat on the High Seas covers duels, crew combat, morale, heroic actions, special tactics, ship-to-ship combat, manouvering, broadsides, sinking ships and so on. A tactician's dream.
Ports, Trade and the Law covers types of port, entering a port, selling off ill-gotten gains, trade, the law and captured pirates. The Law has three short paragraphs and a table, which is how it should be.
Campaign Ideas has a short timeline, from Columbus discovering America in 1492 to Bartholomew Roberts being killed in 1722, so 230 years of pirate fun. These are pirates in the traditional sense, rather than pirates in other eras. Thhere are sections on Histropical Piracy, Buccaneers and Privateers, The Golden Age of Piracy, Cinematic Piracy, Supernatural Piracy and Otherworldly Piracy that cover Piracy in various ways. Finally, it ends with a Scurvy Dogs and Other Rogues section that is a list of NPC pirates, naval officers and other such folk. These are almost beyond stereotypes, there is a Scurvy Dog Pirate, Devilish Cut-Throat Pirate, Governor's Daughter and Officer of the Royal Navy.
All in all, this is an excellent book. It is simple, focussed and easy to use. It doesn't go into loads of detail, but is detailed enough for the setting. It is highly modular and uses Legendary Abilities, Vices and ship customisation very, very well. In fact, I can't think of a bad thing to say about it.
So, I'd give this an A+ - Excellent - and a Buy it 98%. Well done, Mongoose, and especially well done Gareth Hanrahan, who even has a piratey-sounding name.
:lol:
