Let's Play Pirate Borg! Part 2: The Eerie Dog
Ahoy, me hearties! Let’s continue our adventure in this scurvy-ridden game.
Byrd, Tim, and Nick received a job request from Don Archer, an arms smuggler and old acquaintance of Nick. He wants them to raid a small Spanish port warehouse on a nearby island, but must make it look like it was done by the British. Tipping the conflict between the factions will make Don richer.
Our trio is definitely going to need a ship for that mission, and what is the best way for a pirate to acquire one? Bartering? Trading? Borrowing? Asking politely?
Stealing, of course.
There are several vessels in the game, with different sizes, stats, and min/max crew sizes to handle it. The party is looking for a small one, easy enough to commandeer and navigate. I think a sloop would be perfect.
I’ll start by asking some Oracle questions (Solitary Plunder).
How busy is the port? D20: 8
Let’s say the port is mostly empty. Should we do this during the day or night? At night, most people are drunk, I guess, but everyone is more wary and watchful. During the day, they would be more alert, but their guards are down by a false sense of security provided by sunlight.
Say it’s night. I’m not going to roll to find a sloop because I want one. In my opinion, we shouldn’t roll for obvious decisions that move the adventure forward or when we don’t want a negative result that would just incentivize rerolling.
So there is a sloop anchored in the docks.
Are there people around?
Oracle (Solitary Plunder): YesIs it a single person wandering the docks?
Oracle: Random Event
Ok, I wasn’t expecting this so soon. For Random Events, I’ll be using the Events table and the Sparks table from Captain and Crew.
D6 Events table: 4, NPC Action
D66 Sparks table: 34, Tighten/Life/Foul
Water slapped against the rotted wood of the docks. A few paces away, the sloop they found rocked gently. Nick kept his only eye fixed on it like it was already his.
Byrd, dressed like royalty, led the way, oblivious to anything else. She hardly ever focused on more than zero things at the same time. One single goal required considerable effort, taking most of her tiny mind space.
Tim the Devil followed her close, always checking the dim-lit surroundings, calloused, huge hands gripping the Negotiator, his trusty brass anchor, ready to start bargaining quite violently.
Most of the town was either drinking or shitfaced at that time, so the way was pretty much clear for them.
It was with that conviction that water rippled and a splashing sound took them by surprise. Something gripped the edge of the deck. With a loud rattle, it hauled itself onto the planks.
Bits of seaweed clung to its ribs. A strip of torn, dirty cloth curled around its bony leg, a remnant of what one day were trousers.
The trio stopped and stared at the skeleton.
The skeleton tilted its skull and stared back at them.
2d6 Reaction: 9, almost friendly
Another curveball. I was ready to get into my first combat, but why should a skeleton fella be aggressive? Let’s bone, I mean, flesh them out a bit:
What kind of skeleton is it?
D8 (reroll on 8s): 1, lookout
D20 NPC Motivation: 15, leisure
“Well, this is awkward,” the skeleton said. It raised its hands when it noticed Nick’s musket trained on its skull, and Tim’s Negotiator poised to strike. A musket was slung across its back, but it never reached for it.
Byrd stepped toward it. “What are you doing?”
“Um, running away. You?”
“Stealing a ship.”
“Fuck me,” Nick said, “use the brain cell you have to think a little sometimes.
“Don’t mind if I do,” she replied, smirking at him. Nick realized she ignored everything after his expletive.
“Listen,” the skeleton started, “I’m dead tired of undead crews. There are certain expectations attached to it, you know. I can’t stand any more pillaging, burning, raiding, desecrating, and general marauding. I can help you with the ship if you agree to smuggle me out of this island. I’m a damn good lookout, pardon the pun.”
“What pun?” Byrd asked.
“I thought there was one. Anyway, I can help you guys keep an eye on the ship, and I’m not making fun of the handsome bucko there, it’s just a manner of speaking, aye? As long as I can mind me own business on the ship and you don’t expect anything else of me, this might work beautifully.”
Tim rested the anchor on his broad shoulder. “And that’s all you want, a safe passage away from here?”
“I wouldn’t complain about the occasional booty thrown me way.”
“Hoarding some treasure, then.”
“Who said anything about treasure?”
Tim squinted. “You’re a skeleton, for fuck’s sake. This is embarrassing.”
“Fine, excuse a dead heartie for wanting some action. Pardon the pun.”
Alright, this is already pretty damn fun. I interpreted the Tighten/Life/Foul + the leisure rolls as a skeleton looking for a different, lighter way of life. What if it joined the crew? That would be so cool. Let’s use the core rulebook for a few tables:
D12 Name generator: 11, Jean
Nickname: Blue, Fish
I’m going with Blue Jean.
“I’m Blue Jean, by the way.”
“Why Blue, Jean?” Byrd asked.
She shrugged, making her look like a bony marionette. “Some nicknames are like the clap. You have no idea how you caught it.”
Nick shook his head. “Yeah, I don’t buy it. But I’m in for the skeleton lookout. I mean, don’t count on me for doing that. She won’t be needing any sleep. It’s kind of perfect.”
“I don’t know about this,” Tim scratched his chin. “I don’t really trust her. Then again, I don’t really trust you either.”
“Like you’re some saint, you lumbering mongrel.”
“Yeah, better than a crippled, lazy cun--”
As they bickered, Byrd approached Blue Jean and whispered, “As long as you understand that the good-looking chap is mine, you are welcome. Otherwise,” a green flame sprung in the palm of her hand, “it’s a coin in your mouth and down to Davy Jones’ Locker with ya.”
“Oh, madame, I don’t shit where I eat. Not that I shit or eat anymore, but you get my meaning. Crewmates are off-limits. Plenty of booty in the Dark Caribbean.”
She smiled. “Welcome to the party, Blue Jean.”
The women, both the living and the dead, continued toward the sloop. When he noticed, Tim grunted and chased them, leaving Nick talking to himself.
Awesome! I’m so excited about this. Should I create a sheet for Blue Jean? I’m going to hold off on it for now, but maybe later.
They get to the sloop and check the name inscribed on it.
Ship Name Generator (Solitary Plunder)
D100 Adjective: 28, The Eerie
D100 Name: 24, DogCan they see anyone on board?
YesHow many (Crowd Size table)?
D20: 5Maybe just one lookout. Are they awake?
Yes
We’ll need some stealth action here. Everyone is terrible at Agility. Nicolas has some rope, so he’ll board the ship from behind the lookout. I think we’ll need a diversion to make it easier.
As Nick got into position, Tim said to Blue Jean, “Since that pretty wretch is not very good at this, he’ll need some help.”
“Aye, that would be jolly good,” Jean replied.
“I thought of something.”
His tone and the look on his face made Jean stand very still. If skeletons could gulp, she would have.
A few seconds later, the lookout jumped as a kind of attractive skeleton dropped on the deck of The Eerie Dog as if falling from the sky.
“So much for leisure,” he heard it say.
As the bewildered lookout struggles to understand what’s going on, Nick moves to get the drop on him. That was a pretty heavy distraction, so the DR will be 8. Nick’s Agility is -1.
2d20(-1): 17, 4 = weak hit
Nick gets the lookout, but accidentally knocks him unconscious. Now they can’t interrogate him about the crew or the ship. Not great, but could be worse.
Everyone boards the sloop.
Can they hear anyone below deck?
Random EventWtf, again?
Event: Plot Twist
Spark: Discover / Spirit / Bright
As they climbed aboard, Byrd noticed something strange. A shadow slid from the lookout and seemed to disappear into the cargo hold. “That’s weird,” she mumbled.
Tim frowned at her. “What’s that?”
“Did you see that?”
“See what?”
Was she the only one who saw it? Byrd turned the unconscious lookout over, then pressed a hand to his forehead. A sorcerer like her.
He was more than a lookout. The man was keeping a spirit in check, and knocking him out set it free.
A collection of wails pierced through the ship. They all heard it.
Ghosts flew out from the cargo hold into the night air, their light-blue ectoplasm flickering. The trio froze at their sight. Blue Jean, however, looked despondent rather than afraid. “I hope they’re not recruiting. Ahoy, captain!” She greeted as one of the ghostly denizens, sporting a tricorn hat and a long overcoat, stopped in front of Nick, ignoring her.
“The dead do not owe the living,” it said, then pressed an immaterial finger into his chest, leaving a bright magical mark.
The ghost captain brandished a glowing cutlass and slashed the lookout’s throat. It turned its head toward the town. “Now leave this place with this vessel and its cargo. Tonight, we hunt our captors.”
So much cool stuff is happening! Nick was marked by the ghost captain, and is now favored by ghosts. They won’t attack him on sight, and I can roll with advantage to check their reaction whenever Nick is around.
As fire, steel, and screams rage throughout the city, the crew sets sail on The Eerie Dog toward their objective.
Aaand that’s a wrap for this session! But before we go, how about a level up?
I can’t remember where I saw this, but I think it was in one of the developers’ gameplay tips videos. They say to not be precious with leveling since characters can die so fast.
And leveling is fun, so why postpone it like you don’t deserve more fun and power and cool things when playing?
By the way, I really recommend Limithron’s Youtube videos on Pirate Borg if you are interested in the game. They have a lot of useful tips. The naval tutorial one is a must-watch.
So how does leveling work? In Pirate Borg, there aren’t levels per se. Instead, it’s called Gaining Experience.
First, we roll a d6 against every Attribute. If we roll over them, they increase, otherwise they decrease.
I got REALLY lucky with these rolls. Everyone’s attributes increased! Not that impressive since they were pretty shit to begin with, but whatever.
Now we increase max HP by d6, but the current HP stays the same until rest.
Byrd: +6!
Tim: +2
Nick: +5
Awesome! That 6 went to the perfect character. Now her HP is 7.
Next, we roll a d6 for a new class feature. If we get a repeated one, it gets stronger.
Byrd (Sorcerer): 1, Dead Head
You can see the Tiers of this feature at the bottom line. That’s how it gets stronger if we roll for it again during a level up. By the way, ‘disapates’ should be ‘dissipates.’
Tim (Brute): 2, Boomstick
I have no idea how to deal with ammo for this. One shot only? Or is it like ammo for guns (10 + Presence)? Yeah, I’ll go with that.
Nick (Buccaneer): 2, Crack Shot
Ooooh, that’s good!
And finally, the weirdest part of Gaining Experience. Among The Dead You Find assumes you always level up by killing something, right? I guess we could interpret it to the surroundings and current situation whenever it happens. In this case, I’m going to search the dead lookout before throwing him overboard.
D6: 3, a weapon
D10 weapon: 8, Finely crafted rapier [d8 damage]
Cool! Byrd could hold it just to go with her fancy clothes and make her even more royalty-like. Tim has his anchor, and Nick is a shooter. Blue Jean also has a musket, but I guess she could use a rapier as well?
Let’s leave it with Byrd for now.
Next session we inspect The Eerie Dog and find out what’s the cargo and whatever else is in the ship.
Pirate Borg and its additional contents are available on DTRPG and the Limithron website.
If you want to use those character sheets, get it on Google Sheets (File > Make a copy).