How to play Pirate Borg. Hi everyone, this is a special how to play episode of Firebreathing Kittens. I’m the game master for an upcoming session using the rules for Pirate Borg. This episode is a summary of what I learned after reading the rule book. Hopefully this will be a handy guide for how to play for my players, will help me organize myself, and will be useful for you listeners, too, who are looking to play your own Pirate Borg game. I’ll organize this how to play guide into sections. Game theme Attacking and defending Zero hit points Abilities Devil’s luck Ash Naval combat Sea shanties How to build a character Pirate Borg is a pirate themed role playing game where you and your friends can pretend to be pirates in the dark Caribbean. Maybe you’re a British imperialist or a French courtesan. Or perhaps you’re a Spanish inquisitor, a merchant from the Yucatan, or a cultist worshiping the sunken one. Whoever you are, the discovery of ash, valuable intoxicating remnants of the undead after they’re destroyed, has forever changed the Caribbean markets as this fabled resource is astronomically expensive. Or will you use it yourself, and risk its mystical, addictive effects? Find where X marks the spot, in Pirate Borg. This game is a melee, ranged, and naval combat simulator where you the player will roll a twenty sided dice, or d20, to attack and defend against undead enemies who have shambled up out of the ocean depths. You can play as a swashbuckler, a voodoo ritualist, a buccaneer, a mermaid, a landlubber, a rapscallion, and more. There are mechanics for singing sea shanties, chugging grog to heal, brewing alchemical potions, testing the devil’s luck, and more. Let’s talk about attacking and defending in Pirate Borg. Enemies don’t roll dice in combat. The players are the ones who roll to attack and defend. Players will be rolling a twenty sided dice, also called a d20, and adding their ability modifier to their roll. For melee attacks, add the strength ability modifier. For ranged attacks, roll the presence ability modifier. Both are tested against a difficulty rating of 12. If you hit, which is if you got a twelve or higher, roll with the weapon’s damage dice to see how much damage you dealt the enemy. The party also rolls for initiative. Initiative is a word that means the turn order, or who goes first and who goes second in a battle. A player rolls a d6 dice to represent everyone. If it’s a 1, 2, or a 3, the enemies go first. If it’s a 4, 5, or 6, the players go first. If you want to play using individual initiatives, players roll a d6 and add their agility modifier to it. For example, Hayden rolls a four on the dice and subtracts 1 agility modifier to get a three overall. Amaya rolls a two on the dice and adds zero agility modifier to get a two overall. Three is greater than two, so Hayden’s turn happens before Amaya’s in combat. Let’s roll an example of melee attack with a cutlass. A chandelier is suspended from the ceiling above the corrupt governor’s ball and you want your character Hayden to cut that rope to cause some mayhem at a party you weren’t invited to. To see if Hayden hits, roll a d20 dice and add your strength modifier. That’s a 10 plus your 2 strength modifier, which meets the difficulty rating of 12. Hayden’s cutlass hits the rope. Now roll for the cutlass’s damage, which is a d6. Hayden dealt four damage to that rope, and the chandelier plunges to the party below. Let’s roll an example of ranged attacking with a flintlock pistol. Your character Amaya sees a kraken’s tentacle rise from the sea and wants to shoot it before it reaches the ship. This weapon has a thirty foot range, nine rounds of remaining ammunition, and takes two actions to reload. To see if the bullet hits the tentacle, roll a d20 dice and add Amaya’s presence modifier. You rolled a 15, minus the negative one modifier, for a 14 overall. You beat the difficulty rating of 12 and hit the target. Now roll for the pistol’s damage, 2 d4 dice. Amaya dealt five damage to the kraken tentacle, and can attack eight more time before needing to spend two actions reloading. Sometimes an enemy you’re attacking will be wearing armor. Tier three armor reduces incoming damage by a d6. Tier two armor reduces incoming damage by a d4. Tier one armor reduces incoming damage by a d2. For example, here’s what would happen if Hayden were swinging that cutlass against a skeleton pirate who was wearing a fancy British coat that has the stats of tier two armor. First Hayden’s player would roll a d20 and add Hayden’s strength modifier. That’s a sixteen plus two for eighteen total. Excellent, that meets or beats a twelve difficulty rating so the cutlass hits the skeleton pirate. Next roll for damage, which with a cutlass is a d6. The dice shows a four. Lastly, roll for armor to absorb some of that damage. The fancy British coat makes Hayden’s ...
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