Delving Wolf

The following is part 12 of my solo Pirate Borg campaign. It focuses mainly around the character I created in this post , which was so interesting to me that it prompted me to set up a whole solo campaign . You can start with episode 1 here . Let's dive right in! They weren't kidding, in those days Sam had to work harder than he ever did while in the Navy. It felt different, though, because on his previous ship there was a strict hierarchical order and it was difficult to get along with your superiors, while on The Shriek everyone, captain included, was always willing to have a word with him or share a joke...as long as the Rules were followed. The voyage to Havana was mostly uneventful, save for one instance. One morning, shortly after dawn, Brother Bilge, who was on the crow's nest (he was surprisingly agile for his age), told Bones, who was at the helm at that time,  Watch out, there's a field of flotsam ahead of us, turn to port! The rest of the crew immediately wen...

The following is part 11 of my solo Pirate Borg campaign. It focuses mainly around the character I created in this post , which was so interesting to me that it prompted me to set up a whole solo campaign . You can start with episode 1 here . Let's dive right in! Brother Bilge then turned to Sam and burst into a surprisingly loud laugh for a man his size.  You should see your face, mate! Le me explain: this is something we do every time   someone joins the crew; we bet about their reaction when they first see The Shriek, and the winners get to do only half work on the ship for a week at the expense of the losers. It's fun! You'll try it next time. -When did you even have time to do the bets?  Sam asked, dumbfounded. We were together the whole time! Bilge chuckled.  Oh, most of the crew already did when we were first talking. I added mine while you were talking to White. Sam turned to the robed man: What did you bet? -Oh, I never take part in this activity , replie...

The following is part 10 of my solo Pirate Borg campaign. It focuses mainly around the character I created in this post , which was so interesting to me that it prompted me to set up a whole solo campaign . You can start with episode 1 here . Let's dive right in! White closed his eyes and muttered what sounded like a prayer before replying  May she rest in peace. Did you have a chance to visit her village before ending up here? -I did, yes , replied Sam.  We went there a couple of days after the attack. I got there just in time to see her body before they burned her and the rest of the victims to make sure they won't come back as undead. White nodded gravely.  It's sad we are forced to do this, but at least it lets our beloved to be free from this world. -...or so they say,  Sam muttered   whille making eye contact with Catherine's dark eyes; he then immediately continued to prevent questions . Anyway, once I got there I asked my captain to help me find those wh...

The following is part 9 of my solo Pirate Borg campaign. It focuses mainly around the character I created in this post , which was so interesting to me that it prompted me to set up a whole solo campaign . You can start with episode 1 here . Let's dive right in! -You're a religious man, then?  Sam asked the robed man.  Despite everything the Dark Caribbean has to offer? -Yes, I am , he replied.  In fact, I am...or rather, I used to be a pastor, back in the Netherlands. -You're not anymore? -Sadly not, but it wasn't my decision. As you've seen earlier, I possess an...unusual connection with the Lord. I am capable of asking him questions and receiving proper answers, even though sometimes they are a bit...cryptic. -Wow, that's incredible! Though not unusual, on this side of the Ocean. -Exactly. Back in my homeland, though, it was almost unheard of, and that led to me losing my position and having to escape to these lands to avoid a...fiery demise. Long story short...

The following is part 8 of my solo Pirate Borg campaign. It focuses mainly around the character I created in this post , which was so interesting to me that it prompted me to set up a whole solo campaign . You can start with episode 1 here . Let's dive right in! Ramirez almost growled as she spat on the ground.  Let's bring it back to the ship. Pedro will have a lot of explaining to do. No one dared to reply to that. Sea Whale grabbed the chest with both hands, lifted it as if it weighed nothing and everyone began the walk back following the Captain; Ophelia, whose mind had not returned home yet, had her hand taken by Bilge and started meekly following him. Sam had the feeling this was a recurring task for the old man. During the walk back to the ship the tension was so heavy they were all hunched over, barely speaking to each other. The jungle was still eerily silent, although now it felt more as if it was matching their mood. After a few minutes Ophelia seemed to return from ...

The following is part 7 of my solo Pirate Borg campaign. It focuses mainly around the character I created in this post , which was so interesting to me that it prompted me to set up a whole solo campaign . You can start with episode 1 here . Let's dive right in! -Not yet a man covered in tattoos replied without stopping. - Did any of the skeletons turn to ASH?  asked the woman with the eye patch, raising her head to look out of the hole. -I didn't tell you to stop digging said the Captain with a sigh.  We'll take a look around, and if we find any you can have a dose when you find the treasure . - Thank you Captain!  She resumed her digging with renewed vigor, humming a song to give herself and the others the rhythm. Now that he was looking at her more carefully, Sam could notice the signs, sunken eye sockets and darkened lips. That woman was addicted to ASH, the powdered remains of the undead. Sam had seen many people having the time of their life with it, but even more...

A while ago I had an idea for a gambling game to add to my TTRPG games: Dice Roulette. Initially I was thinking of using 3d6 to roll it, but I almost immediately switched to d66 to have 36 possible results. So far I've used it in a Pirate Borg campaign I'm running (because modern roulettes have been around since early 1700s in France, I checked, so it would make sense for pirates in the Dark Caribbean to know them), but there's nothing stopping you from using it in any game, fantasy or not. Anyway, enough with the preamble, let's get to the game!   You're going to take two d6 of different colors, one for the tens and the other for the last digit, and ask the players to place their bets before rolling. There are 3 times of bets that can be placed: 1.  High or Low : guessing which of die color will be higher (winning their bet x 3); 2.  Even or Odd : guessing whether the last digit will be...well, even or odd (winning their bet x 2); 3.  Exact Number : guessing the to...

This week I'll continue my character creation series, continuing the series of Borg-like games characters made for a future project of mine. These will be alternating with other kinds of posts, like my solo campaigns recaps and some gameable content coming from my Duet Pirate Borg home game. This time we're going with a new Pirate Borg character (since the first one I created, Samuel Robert Thomas , is already busy in his own adventure ), but to give it a twist it'll be a character from one of the optional classes, Tall Tale! These can range from a Merfolk (with a fish-like lower half), an Aquatic Mutant ("an abominable union between man and the sea") or a Sentient Animal (which is self-explanatory). Without further ado, let's begin!  1. Let's start with finding our  CLASS , d6: 6,  Sentient Animal , so we have another roll to determine which animal we are, d6: 1,  Foul Fowl : a demonic chicken with the ability of one random relic and one random ritua...

The following is part 6 of my solo Pirate Borg campaign. It focuses mainly around the character I created in this post , which was so interesting to me that it prompted me to set up a whole solo campaign . You can start with episode 1 here . Let's dive right in! There wasn't much of a choice, therefore Sam grabbed his boarding axe and stepped forward; in that moment Catherine, whom he had forgotten about for a bit, reappeared right beside the skeleton he was about to attack. He panicked and swung his axe around as if to swat away a fly, eventually hitting the skull; he barely made a denti into it, though. The skeleton tried to swing its knife towards Sam, but he was ready: a quick sidestep and he immediately saw an opening to strike back...only for the axe to get stuck between the ribs! The situation looked dire, but he somehow managed to free his weapon and take a step back. [This last bit is me rolling a nat 20 on defense, giving me a free attack, where I rolled a nat 1, imme...

A few weeks ago I wrote a post detailing how I generated a Treasure Map for the Pirate Borg Duet campaign I run for my wife. Three weeks ago I continued that by describing how I created the island that map leads to and the pirate captain that's shipwrecked on it. Now it's time to bring the special coin that'll be the main thing to find in the treasure (which will then lead to more adventures) to life. To do that, I'll use the Coin generator included in Down Among the Dead , the newest Pirate Borg book to come to life.     1. First of all, we roll for the  MATERIAL , 2d6: 7,  Silver  (worth 1s); 2. We then roll for the  ORIGIN  of this coin, 2d6: 3, Deep One ; 3. Next we find out the  CONDITION  of the coin, d6: 6,  Mint ; 4. Now we roll for its  VALUE , d6: 4,  Normal ; 5. This is where we roll for the  TWIST , d20, but in this case I've already picked 4,  Treasure Map , for our purpose; this prompts another roll to...

The following is part 5 of my solo Pirate Borg campaign. It focuses mainly around the character I created in this post , which was so interesting to me that it prompted me to set up a whole solo campaign . You can start with episode 1 here . Let's dive right in! -You see, Sam,  Bilge continued,  the Captain is a honorable pirate, who treats us very nicely, much better than other crews I've been in before. The only thing is that she has some Rules she wants us to follow, and if we don't her mean side shows up. They're not many, don't worry, and nothing difficult, but be careful to follow them, otherwise...oh boy! -Otherwise?   asked Sam. -You don't wanna know the otherwise. -That's insane! How can you be okay with being treated like this? -Oh come on, don't be silly! We all have our little quirks. And the Captain is brave and strong enough to afford a bit more quirkiness, that's it. Besides, are you telling me the high ranks of the Royal Navy are all ...

A few weeks ago I wrote a post detailing how I generated a Treasure Map for the Pirate Borg Duet campaign I run for my wife; this week I continue that by reporting how I generated the island that map leads to and the captain of the other crew that is already there, with the help of the Uncharted Islands and Pirate generators in the Pirate Borg rulebook.  1.  For the  ISLAND , we rolled: -  Size , d6: 1, Tiny ; -  Terrain , 2d6: 6, Mostly flat ; -  Vegetation , 2d6: 7, Fertile grasslands; -  Prominent natural feature , 2d6: 4,  Numerous sea stacks ; -  Notable animal inhabitants , 2d6: 8,  Pigs and boars (large) ; -  Inhabitants , 2d6: 10,  Farming settlers ; -  Best place in the island to hide treasure? , 2d6: 10,  A sink hole ; -  Anything here worth a fortune? , 2d6: 5,  Buried treasure...somewhere  [Well, duh! But appropriate]; -  Natural Hazards , 2d6: 6,  Coral reefs ; -  Current co...

The following is part 4 of my solo Pirate Borg campaign. It focuses mainly around the character I created in this post , which was so interesting to me that it prompted me to set up a whole solo campaign . You can start with episode 1 here . Let's dive right in! -Anyway, why are you on this island? And where are we going now?  asked Sam. -Oh, this is a good one! We're here to loot a treasure! And not just any treasure, no sir: we're about to find the one and only treasure of Captain Morel, who he hid 15 years ago. -Captain Morel? I thought that was just a myth. -Oh no, Sam!  He definitely existed. Captain Morel was among the first Europeans to reach these shores; he was present when the dead started coming back, and shortly after he left the Spanish Armada and became one of the first pirates. Eventually the Spanish got him and executed him, but they never managed to find his treasure. It was thought that it got lost to the sea when Morel was captured, but it turns out he hi...

In my Duet Pirate Borg game my wife's character recently found a treasure map, so I headed to the Pirate Borg rulebook, specifically to the Treasure Map generator, to work on it. 1. Let's start with the TYPE OF MAP  (d4): 3, Scavenger Hunt . Ok, so it'll be a multi-part hunt; I like it; 2. Next we roll for the MATERIAL  the map is made of (d12): 8, Whittled into a bone or skull . This sounds very cool, but the PC already has the map, so it's better to keep it for the second piece of this scavenger hunt; for the starting map I'll go with 1, Parchment; 3. Now we need to establish the GEOGRAPHY  of where our treasure is hidden (d8): 8, Inland . A land adventure, nice; 4. I'm not sure I'll actually use this part, but it was in the process, so I rolled it for fun: THE INVISIBLE INK IS REVEALED  (d10): 5, If soaked in alcohol . Good to know; 5. It's time to roll for the COMPLICATION  that will spice things up (d8): 8, There is so much treas...

I recently started a Duet Pirate Borg campaign for my wife (it started as a one-shot, but then we decided to continue it), and during the Christmas holidays we found ourselves in a hotel for a few days, and I wanted to have a session while we were there. We were flying there, so we couldn't bring many things with us: a minimalist approach was needed. Once we were there, we found out we didn't even have a table in the room, so we adapted to play on the bed. My setup was just a set of dice, a printed character sheet + rules reference sheet, a pencil and eraser, and the Pirate Borg rulebook PDF on my phone (I was running the Curse of Skeleton Point sandbox from that book). That's it. Of course this setup would not necessarily work for  any  TTRPG, but Pirate Borg (or any of the Borg games, for that matter) work wonderfully in this scenario: the GM might roll dice for encounters or other things during the exploration or dungeon crawling phases, but not in combat, when it's ...

The following is part 3 of my solo Pirate Borg campaign. It focuses mainly around the character I created in this post , which was so interesting to me that it prompted me to set up a whole solo campaign . You can start with episode 1 here . Let's dive right in!   One member of the crew, a woman with a patch over her right eye, erupted in a howl. That seemed to break the tension, and one moment later Sam, the Captain and the rest of the crew were laughing at the sudden outburst. Captain Ramirez turned to a short man with a hook instead of his left hand beside her:  I entrust you with the newbie, Brother Bilge. Make sure he knows how to behave and that he pulls his weight . Aye aye, Captain  replied the man, who then turned to Sam with a smile:  Walk with me, mister. I'll show you the ropes as we follow the captain . Where are we going?  asked Sam  And how ccan you trust me already? I wouldn't, if I were you . Brother Bilge chuckled.  Ah, don't ...

The following is part 2 of my solo Pirate Borg campaign. It focuses mainly around the character I created in this post , which was so interesting to me that it prompted me to set up a whole solo campaign . You can find episode 1 here . Let's dive right in! He closed his eyes and started running, not caring where he was going or about any danger he could meet. Nothing could be worse than that. He ran and screamed, screamed and ran, trying to suppress any thought his brain might have; his thoughts seemed to have a different voice, but it didn't matter. Not in that moment. All of a sudden he ran into what felt like a massive stone wall, hitting it so hard he bounced and rolled backwards, ending face down on the ground. He tried to open his eyes, but everything was still black. He was definitevely alive, though; he was in too much pain to be dead. He was vaguely aware of voices around him, but it was hard to determine whether they were coming from outside or inside his ...

The following is part 1 of my solo Pirate Borg campaign. It focuses mainly around the character I created in this post , which was so interesting to me that it prompted me to set up a whole solo campaign . Let's dive right in! Samuel Robert Thomas screamed as he kicked a seashell into the sea. After ten years, ten long and painfully obedient years serving in the Royal Navy, all he had to show was a dirty uniform and a fishing rod, which had been given to him as a favor by Captain Ellis. To give you a chance to survive , he said. How the hell was he supposed to survive alone on a desert island? And even if by some miracle he managed to get back to civilization, he was also a wanted man with a bounty on his head! Sure, it wasn't a big one, but still! And, last but not least, they shaved his head! Ok, maybe it was the least important thing among those listed, but it still bothered him; he'd never forget the faces of those he considered his comrades in arms laughing while two m...

As I mentioned in last week's post , I have been eyeing Pirate Borg for a while, but I never pulled the trigger on it. Now that I have, though, I'm very happy that I did! It reignited my passion for TTRPGs like no other game before, so much so that not only I immediately made a character for it, but I also started to set up a solo campaign for it! I also hope to play in or run games with other people if possible, obviously, both in person and online (and for that I already joined their Discord server), but in the meantime, and to get a feeling for the game, a solo campaign is a good place to start. I've already run a few sessions of solo gaming before, namely in Basic Fantasy and Labyrinth Lord  (I still have a couple of sessions of that to post, they'll come in the near future), but I wanted to try my hand at something bigger in scope. I have started a journaling game of Apothecaria , which is for now being preceded by Creation Myths  to flesh out my character for it,...

This week, to add to my series of character creation posts (which started a few weeks ago with a Cairn 2e character ), I'll make a Pirate Borg  character. This game is one of the countless Borg games that sprouted from Mork Borg, and recently had a wildly successful Kickstarter  for its expansion Down Among the Dead and its Starter Set. I've wanted it for a while, and finally got it last weekend at the release event of its Italian version. Other than the character sheet, it has a very useful guided PC creation sheet that shows the various steps in a single A4 sheet. Let's create a pirate!  1. First we roll for our starting  GEAR : - d6 for the  container : 5, a large sea chest (can contain 20 items); - d12 for  cheap gear : 2, d4 (2) candles (1 hours each); - d12 for  fancy gear : 3, fishing rod. 2. Next we roll for our  ABILITY SCORES . We roll 3d6 in order for the 5 abilities, but then we convert the total into a modifier between -3 and +3: -...