Pathfinder Pirates
GTS 799/1-2/9
Scope
The motivation behind building Pathfinder Pirates
The need for a world with a pulse- something that's alive and packed to the brim with action, adventure, and vast and various different cultures and attitudes to explore. Rather than being introspective, this world has a stronger focus on the environment around the main characters.
There was also a need for a world with humor and absurdity, in contrast to another world with a much more serious, sometimes bleak focus.
There was also a need for a world with humor and absurdity, in contrast to another world with a much more serious, sometimes bleak focus.
The goal of the project
This world was created to be played as a tabletop role-playing game. It was created for players as a break from another game that had a tendency towards world-changing consequences and a tone that is far heavier and more serious. Here was a world they could freely play with and create absurd situations- somewhere to get into trouble or watch the results of one's decisions play out while remaining more or less unscathed as a whole. This isn't a story for heroes.
Pathfinder Pirates's Unique Selling point
This is a game in where the universe meets hardship with a strong sense of optimism.
Theme
Genre
A fantasy action/adventure swashbuckler story with quiet undertones of horror and light political intrigue.
Non-scifi technology is basic, but present. Basic electricity (such as for lighting) isn't unheard of, and non-automatic firearms are commonplace, especially revolvers and pistols. More advanced technology (such as modes of transport, though horse-and-carriage is still the most well-known and accepted form of travel) operates in a similar vein to steampunk. Personal enhancements such as prosthetics are somewhat more advanced.
Magic is a specialized, trained skill for those who receive it outside of their bloodlines, though it's fairly abundant. Magic can do fantastic things, but most mages never make it past the mid-tier point. It is usually difficult- and expensive- to find someone who can teleport with ease, let alone bring a soul back from the dead.
Non-scifi technology is basic, but present. Basic electricity (such as for lighting) isn't unheard of, and non-automatic firearms are commonplace, especially revolvers and pistols. More advanced technology (such as modes of transport, though horse-and-carriage is still the most well-known and accepted form of travel) operates in a similar vein to steampunk. Personal enhancements such as prosthetics are somewhat more advanced.
Magic is a specialized, trained skill for those who receive it outside of their bloodlines, though it's fairly abundant. Magic can do fantastic things, but most mages never make it past the mid-tier point. It is usually difficult- and expensive- to find someone who can teleport with ease, let alone bring a soul back from the dead.
Reader Experience
This is a world that has reached its "Age of Enlightenment." Change is arriving on every corner, pushed over the edge by the the malcontent. Revolution, revolt, and war can be found anywhere you look, and piracy is at an all time high. None of this is news- most of the world has already grown accustomed to its chaotic nature. Every day is a new adventure.
Reader Tone
Fast-paced. While strife and toil are prominent, for those who forge their own way (whether it be through grand displays of power, piracy, or revolt), the tone is rarely all bleak and cynical. People have woken up to the fact that even the weakest slave possesses agency, if she only has the mind to take it for herself. It isn't just survival that's possible for those who learn to roll with the punches, but there's places where anyone can thrive, provided they know how to look.
Recurring Themes
freedom and agency
social institutions
"survival of the fittest," perseverance, and adaptability
mortality and transformation
corruption, damnation, and redemption
social institutions
"survival of the fittest," perseverance, and adaptability
mortality and transformation
corruption, damnation, and redemption
Character Agency
The decisions the player characters make will always affect the world around them, but even without their interference, the world keeps spinning. They may be powerful, but they are far from almighty, and their influence isn't necessary for the universe to survive. Still, they are members of it, and their actions affect it at least as much as would any given NPC or creature.
Focus
Drama
Kraken attacks on the open seas.
What were once regarded merely as rumors have come to be accepted as fact by many- that there is a legendary creature called the kraken attacking and destroying ships at sea.
What were once regarded merely as rumors have come to be accepted as fact by many- that there is a legendary creature called the kraken attacking and destroying ships at sea.
The elven nation Liosduin Bhearna is currently engaged in a cold war with another nation. Relations between the two are tense, and a fight could break out any day...
The infamous Serpents of Despair leave a path of destruction everywhere they travel. There is never a living witness to one of their raids.
Something's up with Lonnie Hidelgo. The captain's first mate never seems to leave his side, and almost never interacts with the crew. Is she a lover? A prisoner? Well, one thing is for sure- she's not the human she disguises herself as.
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