Best “Age of Sail” RPG? Circa 1500-1700

Trond · April 17, 2022, 06:09:29 PM

Quote from: Daddy Warpig on April 15, 2022, 08:09:12 PM
The name I remember from the 90's was "Run Out The Guns", I think, which was the order for a ship to open the cannon portals and extend them, preparatory to a barrage.

Pirate game set in the Caribbean, IIRC.

Was that based on Rolemaster, like most things from Iron Crown?

soundchaser · April 17, 2022, 06:33:17 PM

Pirates & Plunder was meh.

I'd go with 7th Sea 1st edition. As the 2nd, it was ... mechanically broken. And the setting was oddly watered down compared to 1e (no pun intended... call it 'okay' but 1e was far better).

Simon W · April 18, 2022, 05:42:01 AM

I always liked Privateers & Gentlemen (FGU) but whether it was "the best" is another matter. Flashing Blades (which is great) has a High Seas supplement, which is also very good. Both are still available from FGU.

Omega · April 18, 2022, 06:52:29 AM

There was also one called Privateers & Plunder from I think FJGames? early 2000s? Was a d10/percentile based system so perked interest. But never had a chance to get a good look at.

soundchaser · April 18, 2022, 12:23:14 PM

I think the FJGaming book is Privateers & Pirates.

rkhigdon · April 18, 2022, 01:12:05 PM

Quote from: Simon W on April 18, 2022, 05:42:01 AM
I always liked Privateers & Gentlemen (FGU) but whether it was "the best" is another matter. Flashing Blades (which is great) has a High Seas supplement, which is also very good. Both are still available from FGU.

Wasn't there another FGU game called "Skull & Crossbones" or "Skull & Bones" or some such? I remember looking through it when I was younger, but am fuzzy on the details.

Omega · April 18, 2022, 02:28:12 PM

Quote from: soundchaser on April 18, 2022, 12:23:14 PM
I think the FJGaming book is Privateers & Pirates.

You are likely right there. Its been nearly 20 years since saw it in the shelves.

Daddy Warpig · April 18, 2022, 02:33:30 PM

Quote from: Trond on April 17, 2022, 06:09:29 PM
Quote from: Daddy Warpig on April 15, 2022, 08:09:12 PM
The name I remember from the 90's was "Run Out The Guns", I think, which was the order for a ship to open the cannon portals and extend them, preparatory to a barrage.

Pirate game set in the Caribbean, IIRC.

Was that based on Rolemaster, like most things from Iron Crown?

I would love to be able to tell you, but that amount of information was at the outer limits of my recall.

finarvyn · April 18, 2022, 03:19:31 PM

Quote from: soundchaser on April 17, 2022, 06:33:17 PMI'd go with 7th Sea 1st edition. As the 2nd, it was ... mechanically broken. And the setting was oddly watered down compared to 1e (no pun intended... call it 'okay' but 1e was far better).

7th Sea 1E was really cinematic and had this great "roll and keep" system whereby all sorts of cool stuff could happen in combat at any moment, very much like PotC or other pirate movies. 2E just seemed to try too hard to be narrative and just missed the mark somehow.

I second the motion of going with 1E 7th Sea.

Trond · April 18, 2022, 11:55:31 PM

Quote from: Daddy Warpig on April 18, 2022, 02:33:30 PM
I would love to be able to tell you, but that amount of information was at the outer limits of my recall.

I did some digging, and it looks like the answer is "yes" it's based on Rolemaster. So I guess it must include attack tables for muskets and such.
One thing reviewers mention is that it's full of historical info on the Caribbean, and some very decent maps. Sounds interesting actually.

David Johansen · April 19, 2022, 08:54:28 AM

Quote from: Daddy Warpig on April 15, 2022, 08:09:12 PM
The name I remember from the 90's was "Run Out The Guns", I think, which was the order for a ship to open the cannon portals and extend them, preparatory to a barrage.

Pirate game set in the Caribbean, IIRC.

Also, well, GURPS had Napoleonic Sourcebook. Not a GURPS man, but 3e covered EVERYTHING.

I ran a campaign for a couple months back in 2018. Run Out the Guns is awesome but it's also got a lot of problems. One is that the combat system is awfully hard on anyone with a low Quickness score. At AT 1 you'll very likely be dead or at least out of combat before you get your first turn. Another is that nowhere in the boxed set is there a list of prices for trade goods. All these rules about trade and commerce and no base list of prices for say, a bale of cotton.

There's tons of good material in there about the period and the crew positions and ships and the map of the Caribbean is gorgeous. It's also super out of print. And, if you don't like Rolemaster, it might not be for you.

Trond · April 19, 2022, 10:34:59 AM

Quote from: David Johansen on April 19, 2022, 08:54:28 AM
Quote from: Daddy Warpig on April 15, 2022, 08:09:12 PM
The name I remember from the 90's was "Run Out The Guns", I think, which was the order for a ship to open the cannon portals and extend them, preparatory to a barrage.

Pirate game set in the Caribbean, IIRC.

Also, well, GURPS had Napoleonic Sourcebook. Not a GURPS man, but 3e covered EVERYTHING.

I ran a campaign for a couple months back in 2018. Run Out the Guns is awesome but it's also got a lot of problems. One is that the combat system is awfully hard on anyone with a low Quickness score. At AT 1 you'll very likely be dead or at least out of combat before you get your first turn. Another is that nowhere in the boxed set is there a list of prices for trade goods. All these rules about trade and commerce and no base list of prices for say, a bale of cotton.

There's tons of good material in there about the period and the crew positions and ships and the map of the Caribbean is gorgeous. It's also super out of print. And, if you don't like Rolemaster, it might not be for you.

Thanks!
I'm just curious; is the art in the books any good? I have found ICE to vary from horrendous to decent in this regard.

Omega · April 19, 2022, 11:14:42 AM

Did not Gygax and co back in the early or mid 70s do an age of sail game? Dont Give up the Ship? If I recall right it was a wargame though? But how viable would it be to plug into another system and go?

Speaking of.

Spelljammer could be adapted into an age of sail system as it was already fairly 2 dimensional.

brettmb · April 19, 2022, 11:47:22 AM

Quote from: I on April 17, 2022, 05:40:08 PM
Does anybody else remember an RPG from Yaquinto called "Pirates and Plunder"? I owned it, but it disappeared years ago. The stupid thing was, the first set of rules for it had no rules whatsoever for running ships, ship to ship combat, piracy or anything like it. It strictly covered character generation and man-to-man combat. That aside, I liked it. It was just unfinished, and they never published any other rules for it. It had a really good adventure included with it, but it was extremely railroady.

I actually like it. Apparently, the ship rules were supposed to be in a companion book. I tried to acquire the rights to it like I did for Man, Myth & Magic, but I can't locate the author (who is co-owner), if he's even still around.

I · April 19, 2022, 05:04:43 PM

Quote from: brettmb on April 19, 2022, 11:47:22 AM

I actually like it. Apparently, the ship rules were supposed to be in a companion book. I tried to acquire the rights to it like I did for Man, Myth & Magic, but I can't locate the author (who is co-owner), if he's even still around.

I wish you had succeeded. I was looking forward to seeing the ship rules. I had several players ready with their characters already rolled up, and a scurvier, more degenerate crew of rascals ne'er sailed the Spanish Main -- one of them a surly Scottish lout, another a huge freed black slave so strong he could pick up an anvil and throw it -- I forget the rest. And I do mean they NE'ER sailed the Spanish Main because the rules for such weren't available.