Post by Simon Gideon on Nov 18, 2007 20:04:43 GMT -5
The Idea: A plot set in the Golden Age of Piracy, with all the appeal for history/pirate buffs. Supernatural elements (ghost ships, walking dead, sea monsters, etc.) to be optional, depending on the general consensus.
Settings Details: The Caribbean, 1660 A.D. Major European countries are all vying for colonies and riches in the new world. Pirating and its legal equivalent (privateering) are very common. Spain has been here the longest, and is the biggest target. The English, French, and Dutch are making colonies in the east of the region and they regularly attack whomever their country is at war with that week. Colonies routinely change hands, people flee into the jungle, lose their money, and pirates caught are hung for all to see.
What do I need to know to play? Precious little, thanks to Wikipedia. If you're curious, they have an entire article on the Age of Sail/Golden Age of Piracy filled with good little gems of knowledge. I don't intend to have the plot look like an excerpt from a Patrick O'Brien novel (Where there's hordes of words I don't even know that are nautical in nature), so if you've seen "Pirates of the Caribbean" or read "Treasure Island" and are willing to Wiki the difference between a frigate and a galley when the moment arises, that's all you need. Landlubbers is welcome.
How do I get started? Make a character. This is freeform, so it's much like the rest of the site in that it's not uber restricting. Instead of dictating what your character should be, I'll illustrate with an example below for my own character. The only thing I ask is for a touch of realism when making a character. If you have Captain Roger Sparrow who's sunk eighty six ships of the line by his twenty third birthday, that's just asking for a beating.
L'example:
-Name: William Edwin Townsend the Second
Nationality: British (Born in Nevis, A. D. 1631)
Status: Freelancer captain
Appearance: Will Townsend is a tall man, lean and brown from his time in the sun and on the water. Long dirty blond hair frames his face, and two blue eyes sparkle with an inner jovial nature, one unconquered by the harshness of life in the Caribbean. When in port he tends to dress his station, in fine clothes, navy blue in collar. While out to see he wears a more practical brown waistcoat and leather boots.
Specialties: Will is a formidable swordsman and has excellent navigational skills.
History: Born to the notable R.N. Captain William Charles Townsend the First and the governor's daughter of Nevis, Will Jr was a spoiled and reckless youth. When his father was away at sea he often sneaked out of the estate and wandered the docks, looking for a sign of his father's ship, the Archangel. Unfortunately, William Sr and most of his crew disappeared en route home, south of the Florida Keys. Will's mother remarried a man of lower nobility from Britain, a monster of a man who drove the lad to leave home early, stowed away on a merchantman bound for Barbados.
-Six years and twelve voyages later, Will Townsend left the mundane, routine life of a merchant sailor and served in the Royal Navy briefly, under the command of Commodore Lord Harold Gates, a friend of Will's late father. Commodore Gates was an honest man for a lord and an officer, and Will quickly learned things not often taught to average captains- things such as naval tactics, history, and French, Spanish and Latin. The highlight of Will's naval career was his part as Lieutenant in the Battle of Nevis, where a flotilla under Gates' command recaptured the city from the French while taking some 13 ships aprize. Will's mother, whom he seldom had contact with, had left the city years before, back to Britain with her husband the ogre. Of course, the rewards were many, but for a sailor money runs like water through your hands.
-That was six years, thirty five days, and fifteen plus voyages ago. Now, Townsend's landbound. He'd run through his last gold coin, and the ragtag remainder of men who had followed him out of the service were dead broke as well. Adventure awaited on the high seas, but where to go? No cargo, no destination...
-However, all that was about to change. Fortune came in the form of a letter from Admiral Lord Gates...
.....................
The Caribbean? Isn't that like islandy places?
Sorta. The whole region looks really, really odd when you look at it for more than a second. For the purpose of having an all-purpose resource map, I'm including that below, along with some hastily-scribed names of ports and major cities in the region at this time:
1- Vera Cruz
2- Villahermosa
3- Campeche
4- Gran Granada
5- Santa Catalina
6- Puerto Bello
7- Panama
8- Nombre de Dios
9- Cartagena
10- Santa Marta
11- Rio de la Hacha
12- Maricaibo
13- Gibraltar
14- Coro
15- Curacao
16- Puerto Cabello
17- Caracas
18- Cumana
19- Margarita
20- Trinidad
21- Barbados
22- Martinique (Note: This is a French port, I put the wrong color in)
23- Guadeloupe
24- Antigua (Note: This is an English port, colored it wrong. Oops)
25- St. Eustatius
26- St. Martin
27- Montserrat
28- (None- oops)
29- Nevis (Southern of the two islands)
30- St. Kitts (Northern of the two islands)
31- San Juan
32- Santo Domingo
33- Petit Goave
34- Leogane
35- Port Royale
36- Santiago
37- Port-de-Paix (Founded in 1665)
38- Tortuga
39- Puerto Principe
40- Havana
41- Florida Keys
42- Nassau
43- Eleuthera
44- Grand Bahama
45- St. Augustine
Also keep in mind the color coded system- Red ports are British, Orange Dutch, Yellow Spanish and Blue French.
I have a question... Just ask. This is only a rough draft for the idea. We can fine-tune it before it launches.
How is this going to go? Can I have an example of the RP? Absolutely. Here's an old RP post I made for my character back when I first made him...
-Port Royale, Jamaica. Hardest place in the Caribbean, notorious for its brothels, the frequent sea traffic, and of course- sea dogs. Whether they were calling themselves pirates, pirvateers, buccaneers, corsairs or 'enterprising sailors', the majority of men in Port Royale were the unsavory type. Fights were common, the Royal garrison actively patrolled the streets by day, and hid in their own taverns at night.
-Here, one could find men and women of all types, all places. Will Townsend thought of this vaguely as he strolled down the sporadically cobbled streets, noticing the Indian on the corner selling fish, a Frenchmen next to him hawking baskets... there was even a Swede selling what had to be homemade compasses. A crooked smile lit up his sea-weathered face, and he elbowed past the thickening crowd, his swagger itself a trait shared by any man who has spent months on a rocking boat. He had agreed to meet his men at the tavern Powder Monkey, a little shithole of a place, looking like flotsam heaved up on the rocks overlooking the pier.
-Breaking from the river of people, Will stepped towards the tavern to notice two red guards on either side of the door. The sign of the tavern, showing a small monkey running from a ship with a packet of gunpowder, was broken and hanging from one chain rusted by the salt of the sea. Will scowled; since the recent tension with France and the usual Spanish fleet in action the governor of Jamaica had upped security to "weed out undesirables". In other words, he'd used the tension as an excuse to place his guards whereever he saw fit.
-"Gentlemen," Will spoke, slightly inclining his head as he approached. He moved towards the door when one of the guards raised his rifle and pushed him back.
-"Who're you?" The guard barked, his eyes yellow. The jungle fever was claiming him, perhaps.
-Probably best that he didn't answer that question directly, Will thought. "Andrew McDarron, sir. Navigator of the ship Sea Hawk." He spoke smoothely, keeping a meek tone. The guards sized him up, perhaps trying to divine the contents of his purse. Thankfully he was wearing his very casual leather vest and breeches, with some old leather boots. They did, however, take notice of his polished silver hilted saber, a weapon of the Royal Navy.
-"Been in the navy, ay?" One said. He nudged Will in the side with his rifle. "You's a navigator for real?" The yellow eyed bastard came in close, and his breath was enough to knock Will out, despite being a seamen for years and being accustomed to strong smells.
-Will blinked his eyes, trying not to lose his light lunch. "Sir, I am too a navigator. I was released from His Majesty's navy some years ago." He decided to be assertive and direct, shoulder past the guard. "Now if you'll excuse me..."
-The guards said nothing, but watched him as he entered the door. He felt a tinge of relief as he went from the breezy outside to the warm, rowdy inside. Despite the two scrawny reds outside playing soldier, the patrons inside were in full swing. A rather large crowd was here today, almost entirely seamen from docked ships. They laughed and shouted and sang lewd songs. Mugs and glasses clanked together, or broke into pieces. An irritated older man was behind the bar, his apron grease stained. He was scrubbing furiously at an imaginary spot.
-Will's face lit up as he approached the barkeep, his blue eyes sparkling. The barkeep, noticing the captain, rolled his eyes and sighed dramatically.
-"William Townsend junior..." He began. "Of all the rotten, no-good, scurvy-ridden poor excuses of a sailor to come through my doors..."
-Will laughed and reached over the bar, clapping him on the shoulder. "Ah, that's the spirit I miss, Johnson. I see your establishment has been rowdy as usual. How's the business, man?" He leaned on the counter, and the barkeep slid a glass of brandy before him.
-"Eh, I manage." Johnson inclined his head, motioning to the door. "His highness has thought it prudent to guard my establishment from its patrons. Bloody stupid, it is." He leaned on the counter with one elbow, lowering his voice so only the captain could hear him. "They say that the governor is gettin' a visitor from back home. Big lord."
-Will's eyes narrowed, he took a gulp of his brandy and felt the fire in his throat. "Big lord, aye?"
-Johnson nodded and poured a bit more into Will's glass, topping it off. "Aye. Count or a duke I wager. His Highness is worried sick. Been roundin' up criminals, debtors, the whole stinkin' lot. Will, you be on your best behavior, unnerstand? Keep that blade o' yours at your side."
-The young captain merely nodded and rolled his eyes as he drank, finishing his glass. Johnson eagerly filled it again. "Hm. Have you seen any of my men, Johnson?" He scanned the room for what had to be the fourth time.
-"No, not yet. Are you planning a little get-together?" The barkeep asked. Over in a corner, a game of bones turned into an argument. Johnson stood up, reaching for the brace of pistols he kept under the counter. "Damn drunks."
-Will laughed at that. "You, sir, are in the wrong profession!" He drained his glass again. "And yes, I am planning a get-together. My men are broke, those who are not behind bars, and I have need of a boat."
-"Ha! Well, you're in the best port in the world for that, son. There's boats galore here." The argument subsided. Obviously, when you're that drunk, it's hard to remember what you're fighting over. Johnson replaced his pistols.
-Will grunted as he took another drink of his brandy. "Indeed." Little did the old man know what he had in mind...
;D
