Table Of ContentFF PP
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bbyy LLiissee BBrreeaakkeeyy aanndd BBrruuccee TThhoommaass
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RREEDDIITTSS
Author Lise Breakey
Halogen System Design Bruce Thomas
Publisher John Nephew
Editing & Project Development Jeff Tidball
Cover Art Terrie Smith
Interior Art Eric Hotz and Terrie Smith
Cartography Eric Hotz and Bruce Thomas
Layout & Graphic Design John Nephew and Jeff Tidball
Ship Designs Bruce Thomas
Playtesting Ailene Bonner, Christopher McAllister,
Lori McAllister, Annette Pschirrer,
Terrie Smith, Curt Werner, and
Susan Woolard
Furry Games Edition Lise Breakey, Christopher McAllister,
s
t Annette Pschirrer, Bruce Thomas,
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d
Susan Woolard, and Glen Wooten
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r
Special Thanks Lee Herholdt
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Atlas Games Would Like to Thank Bob Brynildson, Jerry Corrick, and
Kenneth Hite.
Atlas Games
PO Box 131233
Roseville, MN 55113
Phone: 651-638-0077
Fax: 651-638-0084
E-Mail: [email protected]
Web: www.atlas-games.com
Furry Games
3552 38th Street
San Diego, CA 92105
E-Mail: [email protected]
Web: www.furrygames.com
©1999 Trident, Inc. d/b/a Atlas Games. All rights reserved. Reproduction of this work by any means without written permis-
sion from the publisher, except short excerpts for the purpose of reviews, is expressly prohibited.
DIGITALEDITIONVERSION 1.0 • AUGUST 2002 • Stock No. AG3100PDF
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AABBLLEE OOFF OONNTTEENNTTSS
Introductory Bits . . . . . . . 5 Skills Not Listed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47 Gestalt Combat. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
Welcome to Furry Pirates! . . . . . . . . 5 Recovery. . . . . . . . . . . . 67
2: How to Play the
Roleplaying Games . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Recovery from Stunning Damage . . 67
The Halogen System. . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Game . . . . . . . . . . . . 49 Recovering from Real Damage . . . . 67
Dice. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Getting Help. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
Furry Outlaws?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Ships and Repair. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
A Brief Interlude from the Developer . 6 Basic Mechanics. . . . . . . 49
Success. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49 3: The Pirate Ship. . 69
1: Creating the Player
Failure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
Fumbles. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49 Vessel Statistics . . . . . . . 69
Character . . . . . . . . . . 7
Difficulty Factors . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
Active Defense Scores . . . . . . . . . . 50 The Vessel Stat Sheets . . . 70
Character Development. . . 7 Non-Level Skill Attacks . . . . . . . . . 50
Vessel Equipment . . . . . . 70
Player Characters On Board. . . . . . . 7 Working Together . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
Species. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 Don’t Depend on the Dice . . . . . . 50 The Vessels . . . . . . . . . . 71
A Note on Sex, Reproduction, and Fate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
East Indian. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
Social Consequences. . . . . . . . 11 Sailing Mechanics. . . . . . 51 Warship, First Rate . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
Nationality . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 Wind Direction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51 Warship, Second Rate . . . . . . . . . . 74
Position . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 Vessel Direction Relative to the Wind 51 Warship, Third Rate. . . . . . . . . . . . 75
Profession. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 Sailing Speed. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51 Warship, Fourth Rate. . . . . . . . . . . 76
Character Description . . . . . . . . . . 13 Turning. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51 Brig . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77 T
History: Making the Character Real 13 Tacking. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52 Brigantine. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78 a
Abilities . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 Shortening or Lengthening Sail. . . . 52 Corvette. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79 b
Determining Ability Scores. . . . . . . 14 Rough Weather. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52 Dhow. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80 l
e
Attack Abilities. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 Ship Maintenance . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53 Flute. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
Defense Abilities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 Crew Morale. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53 Frigate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82 o
Descriptive Abilities. . . . . . . . . . . . 15 Combat . . . . . . . . . . . . 53 Galley. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83 f
Overall Level. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 Melee Combat . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53 Junk. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84 C
Primary Attack/Defense Scores. . . . 17 How Badly is the Character Hurt? . 56 Prao. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
o
Choosing Skills . . . . . . . 17 Distance Combat . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58 Schooner . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86
n
Attack Scores . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 Magickal Combat . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59 Sloop. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87 t
Defense Scores . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 Mounted Combat. . . . . . . . . . . . . 59 Xebec. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88 e
Aerial Combat . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60 Lugger . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89 n
The Character’s Equipment 20
Yawl. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90 t
Golden Age Currency . . . . . . . . . . 20 Ship-to-Ship Combat. . . . 62 s
Stuff to Wear (Males). . . . . . . . . . . 20 Initiative. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63 4: Overview of the
Stuff to Wear (Females) . . . . . . . . . 22 Movement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
Armor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 Attacking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64 World . . . . . . . . . . . . 91
Weapon Prices. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 Attack Modifiers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
Magickal Components. . . . . . . . . . 25 Success With Cannon . . . . . . . . . . 64 Europe. . . . . . . . . . . . . 91
Navigation Tools. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 Double and Triple Effect. . . . . . . . 64
Climate. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91
Alchemical Equipment. . . . . . . . . . 25 Beyond Triple Effect . . . . . . . . . . . 64
Organization. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91
Thief’s Tools. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 Failure With Cannon. . . . . . . . . . . 65
Economics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91
Encumbrance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 Roleplaying Artillery Attacks . . . . . 65
Species . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91
Success With Magick. . . . . . . . . . . 66
Sample Character Sheet. . 26 Traditions of Magick. . . . . . . . . . . 94
How Badly Damaged is the Ship?. . 66
History. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94
Character Advancement. . 28
Raising Levels. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28 Important Tables Body Area Table. . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
Acquiring New Skills. . . . . . . . . . . 28 Modifiers by Range . . . . . . . . . . 58
Species Size Chart . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Skill Descriptions. . . . . . 29 Cannon Table . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
Social Table . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Fighting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
Standard Adjust Table. . . . . . . . . 16
Thievery. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 Maps
Primary Stats Table. . . . . . . . . . . 17
Hunting. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
Skill List . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 The New World. . . . . . Inside Front
Alchemy. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
Attack Table. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 The Mediterranean. . . . . . . . . . . 68
Seamanship. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
Defense Table. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 The World. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92-93
Gunnery. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
Weapon Damage/Stunning & Bermuda . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 158
Education. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
Initiative Table. . . . . . . . . . . 24 Santiago del Tortuga . . . . . . . . . 161
Crafts. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
Mana Cost/Die Table. . . . . . . . . 29 The Chapter House. . . . . . . . . . 165
Magick. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
4
(Some Pirate Customs). . . . . . . . . . 94 South Africa . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111 The Avianry. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131
England . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95 Mozambique. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111 The Bourbons. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132
France . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95 Madagascar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111 The Cabbalistic Brotherhood . . . . 133
Dutch Republic. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95 East African City States . . . . . . . . 111 The Ch’ing Dynasty. . . . . . . . . . . 133
Spain . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96 Abyssinia. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111 The Cohong . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133
Portugal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96 Arabia, Persia, and India 112 Colonial Governors. . . . . . . . . . . 134
Austria. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96 Dutch East India Company . . . . . 135
Climate. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112
Russia. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97 Dutch Navy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135
Organization. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112
The Ottoman Empire . . . . . . . . . . 97 English East India Company. . . . . 136
Economics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112
(The Pirates’ Code) . . . . . . . . . . . . 97 English Navy. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137
Species . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112
Others . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98 French Navy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138
Traditions of Magick . . . . . . . . . . 112
The North America Colonies 98 History. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113 Grand Order of the Masonic Lodge. 138
The Hanoverians. . . . . . . . . . . . . 139
Climate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98 Arabia. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113
The Hapsburgs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139
Organization. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98 Oman. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113
The Holy Order of St. Morgan. . . 140
Economics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98 Persia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113
The House of Orange . . . . . . . . . 140
Species. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98 India. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114
The Jacobites. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140
Traditions of Magick. . . . . . . . . . . 99 Ceylon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114
The Koprulus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141
History. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99 Southeast Asia . . . . . . . 115
The Marathas. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141
New France. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99
Climate. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115
The Mathers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141
Newfoundland . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99
Organization. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115
The Moghuls. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 142
Acadia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99
Economics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115
The Mystic Order of the Rosy Cross. 143
New England. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100
Species . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115
Narai I . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143
Iriquois Nation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100
Traditions of Magick . . . . . . . . . . 116
Pirates. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143
New York and New Jersey . . . . . . 100
History. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116
The Romanovs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 148
Pennsylvania . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101
Burma. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116
s Virginia and Maryland . . . . . . . . . 101 The Safavids . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 148
t Siam. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117 The Society of Jesus. . . . . . . . . . . 149
n The Carolinas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101 Viet Nam . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117
Soldiers of the World (Common) . 149
e The Caribbean . . . . . . . 101 Cambodia. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117
Soldiers of the World (Elite). . . . . 150
t
Climate. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101 Malaysia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117
n The Stuarts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151
Organization. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101 Sumatra. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118
o The Temple of Jerusalem . . . . . . . 152
Economics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102 Java118
C The Tokugawas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 152
Species . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103 Borneo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119
The Undead . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153
Traditions of Magick . . . . . . . . . . 103 Sulawesi. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119
f Warriors of the World . . . . . . . . . 154
o History. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103 Lesser Sundas. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119
The Bahamas. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104 Moluccas (Spice Islands). . . . . . . . 119 6: The Island of
e Cuba . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104 The Philippines. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120
l
b Hispaniola and Saint-Domingue . . 104 The Far East . . . . . . . . 120 Santiago del Tortuga 155
Jamaica. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104
a Climate. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120 Background. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155
T Puerto Rico. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105
Organization. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120 Encountering the Adroit: Scenario A . 155
Lesser Antilles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105
Economics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121 Encountering the Adroit: Scenario B . 157
The Spanish Mainland . . 105 Species . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121 Boarding the Adroit. . . . . . . . . . . 157
Climate. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105 Traditions of Magick . . . . . . . . . . 122 Welcome to Bermuda. . . . . . . . . . 158
Organization. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105 History. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122 The Devil’s Island . . . . . . . . . . . . 159
Economics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105 China. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122 The Sorcerer Skulks. . . . . . . . . . . 160
Species . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105 Japan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123 What the Characters Can Do. . . . 160
Traditions of Magick . . . . . . . . . . 105 Korea. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123 Arriving at Santiago del Tortuga . . 161
History. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106 Timeline . . . . . . . . . . . 124 The Graveyard of Ships . . . . . . . . 162
New Spain . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106 Shore Party Follies. . . . . . . . . . . . 163
Guatemala. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106 5: Notes for the Game The Temple. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 164
Panama. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107 The Fort: Scenario A . . . . . . . . . . 164
New Grenada . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107 Master. . . . . . . . . . . 129 The Fort: Scenario B . . . . . . . . . . 164
Venezuela . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107 The Chapter House. . . . . . . . . . . 165
Peru107 If the Characters Fail . . . . . . . . . . 166
Metaphysical Conventions 129
Brazil . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108 Non-Player Characters in Order of
The Astral Plane . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129
Africa . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108 Appearance. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 166
Combat on the Astral . . . . . . . . . 130
Climate. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108 Vessel Stat Sheet: Lorcha. . . . . . . . 169
Initiative. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130
Organization. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108
Attacking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130
Economics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109 Sample Characters. . . . . 170
Magick. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130
Species . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109 Tom “Redcoat” Ursing. . . . . . . . . 170
Impossible Maneuvers . . . . . . . . . 130
Traditions of Magick . . . . . . . . . . 109 Nathaniel Roe . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171
Damage. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131
History. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110 Jack Malleck . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 172
Hazards to Soul and Sanity. . . . . . 131
Morocco. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110 Bonnie McLeod. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 173
The Powers That Be. . . . 131
Guinea . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110
The Congo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110 The Ancient Ring of the Druidic Character Record Sheet . 174
Angola . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111 Tradition. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131
5
Welcome to Furry Pirates!
Welcome to Furry Pirates! Furry animal, just as man in the real world out an armed escort. The Caribbean has
Pirates is a roleplaying game set in the evolved from lower primates. Just as became a pirate lake and the Bahamas, a
Furry version of the Golden Age of there are still primates in the real world, pirate kingdom. In the Mediterranean,
Piracy (1690-1720). The action takes there are still ordinary animals in the wars waged between Islam and
place on the high seas in wooden sailing Furry world. Christendom have given legitimacy to
ships. The ways in which Furry Pirates the activities of Algerian corsairs and
The player characters choose their differs from the time of Louis XIV in the Sicilian freebooters, while in the north,
profession: out-and-out pirates, privateers human world are caused by two factors. wars drawn along economic as well as
attacking the enemies of their native The first is the variety of Furry types, religious lines do the same for English,
land, blockade-runners trying to get des- causing a civilization in which (though Dutch, and French privateers. Around
perately needed goods into harbor dur- to a lesser extent than was true in previ- the coast of Africa, the island of
ing a war, smugglers carrying out illegal ous centuries) species determines one’s Madagascar is ruled by pirates, a base
trade in peacetime, or pirate-hunters try- place in society. The second is that from which their ships sail to loot
ing to put an end to any or all of these Magick works, and wars have been Arabian fleets and galleons belonging to
activities. They may be a mercenary fought over whether or not it should be the Moghul of India. Farther east, local
crew prepared to carry out any of these practiced, and by whom. pirates ravage the spice trade, sometimes
dangerous missions as the occasion war- In other ways, the time of Furry daring to attack the huge and well-armed
rants. They may be motivated by Pirates is quite similar to our own late ships of the East India companies. In
money, power, revenge, patriotism, a seventeenth and early eighteenth centu- the seas of the Far East, a Chinese or
slightly warped sense of justice, econom- ry. Political and economic circum- Japanese pirate admiral might command
ic necessity, or the thrill of adventure. stances send thousands of desperate a fleet of several hundred junks.
The world of Furry Pirates is Furries swooping down on the sea lanes The plunder taken during the
inhabited by intelligent anthropomor- of the world. Pirates plunder shipping Golden Age has never been calculated,
phized animals known as Furries who to the point where the entire economies but it was certainly enough to pay the
possess human characteristics such as of some countries are threatened; they debts of nations. In Furry Pirates,
opposing thumbs, erect posture, use of have raided the coasts of North and you’ll claim your portion of that loot, as I
n
tools, and so forth. Furries in Furry South America to the point that no mer- well as your fair share of intrigue,
t
Pirates evolved from various species of chant vessel can consider itself safe with- romance, swashbuckling, and adventure! r
o
Roleplaying Games d
u
c
t
i
A roleplaying game (also known as framework for what can realistically become anyone or anything he wants to o
an RPG) occurs when a group of other- occur. However, neither the dice nor be (within the definitions provided by n
wise normal human beings sit down the rules can ultimately make the story the GM and the world in which the
together with pencils and paper and dice happen. In many situations, the GM story takes place, of course). Success in
and tell a story together. will fall back on common sense and the an RPG, therefore, is best measured by
There are two sorts of players power, used judiciously, of arbitrary deci- how well a player portrays his or her
involved, really. Game Masters (GMs) sions. The GM’s position can be the character, whether it is a medieval
create the background and situations most rewarding, but it also requires the knight, a space-going brigand, a sophisti-
and take on the roles of the story’s most work. cated British spy, a disreputable 20th
antagonists and minor characters. There A given story can be complete with- century urban magician — or a Furry
is usually only one GM at a time. The in itself, or it can be part of an ongoing pirate.
other players (cleverly called “players”) campaign. In a campaign, the same For the GM, the point of the game
each take on the role of one of the group of player characters moves from is a little different: she must supply the
story’s heroes. one story to the next. As a campaign story’s raw material and invent the chal-
The end result is a tale in which the progresses, characters will gain in experi- lenges that will be offered to the player
player characters (that is, the characters ence and ability. characters. In the course of an adven-
controlled by players) are the protago- Winning is not the point of an ture, the GM describes the situations the
nists, acting on a stage created by the RPG, although there are always some characters are facing, and the players
GM and interacting with supporting objectives within the story that are pro- describe their characters’ reactions.
characters controlled by the GM. As the vided by the GM for the player charac- Taking that into account, the GM
tale progresses, the GM adjudicates the ters to attain, by which a certain amount describes new outcomes, etc., ad infini-
characters’ actions, determing the out- of success can be measured. Although tum. The GM’s most important charge
comes for all involved. an RPG can be played competitively, the is to tell a good story, and to keep the
Dice are used by both players and best results are produced when the play- players involved and excited.
the GM to determine random results ers, through their characters, cooperate But enough of this exposition! The
(“Does my character successfully swing toward a common goal. best way to learn is to jump right in! On
on the rigging across to the enemy ves- The most important object of an with Furry Pirates!
sel, or does he wind up in the drink?”) RPG is roleplaying — the assumption of
and the rules of the game provide a a role. Roleplaying allows the player to
6
The Halogen System Dice
The Halogen system is a system for Because of its basic simplicity, this This section explains how dice are
roleplaying designed for use with any system can used in any roleplaying con- used in Furry Pirates. If you’re famil-
genre of roleplaying campaign. It is text. Appropriate skills may be added iar with roleplaying, you’ve heard all
based on the assumption that any or taken away from one campaign to this before. Move along.
action attempted by a character has another, but the basic framework of To play Furry Pirates, you’ll need
something going for it — an attack Halogen remains the same. The tables six different kinds of dice: four-sided,
score — and something going against it and skill lists provide non-intrusive six-sided, eight-sided, ten-sided, twelve-
— a defense score. Two numbers added backup for the GM, but leave enough sided, and twenty-sided. You might not
together (one associated with attack flexibility for storyline, common sense, use them all very often, but you’ll need
and one with defense) and one die roll and the imagination of GM and players each type from time to time.
determine the outcome of the event. to dictate the outcome of the adven- The best way to learn dice lingo is
Attack and defense scores are deter- ture. As it should be. by example. When the rules ask you to
mined in advance of the game, while If you’re already familiar with roll a “d6,” you’ll roll a single six-sided
creating characters, to avoid the bother Furry Outlaws (see “Furry Outlaws?”, die. If it asks for “3d6,” you’ll roll three
of looking them up or calculating them below) it may not be necessary for you six-sided dice and add the results
during play. A character’s attack and to read all of Chapter Two, which together for a total (so, if you rolled a
defense scores are based on ability describes the mechanics of the system. 1, 3, and 5, you’d have a 9). 2d4 is the
scores and skill levels, which quantify You will want to read the Sailing sum of two four-sided dice, d8 is a sin-
the character’s innate aptitude and the Mechanics and Ship-to-Ship Combat gle eight-sided die, and so on.
ability gained from experience, respec- sections, and note that the section on There are three weird bits. First,
tively. Passive defense scores determine Aerial Combat has been updated. Also the ten-sided die you bought at your
the difficulty of tasks which don’t note that some of the Magick skills in local game store is probably numbered
involve an opponent (such as climbing Chapter One have been modified from 0-9. Read the 0 as a 10. Second, you
n rigging, swinging on a rope, piloting a the Furry Outlaws version to better might occasionally have to roll some-
o ship, or charting a course for suit the Furry Pirates genre. thing bizarre like a d3. Since such geo-
i Madagascar), are determined by the metric monstronsities don’t exist, roll a
t
c GM, and are called difficulty factors. six-sided die and divide by two (round-
u ing up). Rolling a d5 follows the same
d Furry Outlaws? procedure, but with a ten-sided die.
o Third, you’ll come across rules that
r want you to roll d100 (also known as
t
n You’ll find references to a game paws on it) in a small-press format in percentile dice). The procedure for this
I called Furry Outlaws in this book. 1994. It is still available in that format, is easy: roll two ten-sided dice, counting
the first as the tens digit and the sec-
Furry Outlaws is a roleplaying game though not, at this time, from Atlas
ond as the ones digit. A 7 and 9 are 79,
similar to Furry Pirates,but it is set in Games. Atlas Games may someday pub-
a 1 and 5 are 15, a 0 and 5 are simply
the middle ages — the time of Robin lish Furry Outlaws, or other Halogen
5 (a zero really is a zero in percentile
Hood, Richard the Lionheart, Saxon games in the Furry genre. We’ll just all
dice)and 00 is 100 (which is the only
rebels, and the like. Just like Furry have to wait and see what happens.
time a zero is not really a zero in per-
Pirates, it uses the Halogen mechani- In the meantime, if you’re interest-
centile dice). Make sure you designate
cal system. ed in obtaining Furry Outlaws, you
one of the two dice as the tens digit
Furry Outlaws was published should contact Furry Games at
before you roll, or your companions
(much as Furry Pirates was originally www.furrygames.com or 3552 38th
will accuse you of cheating and throw
published, before Atlas Games got its Street, San Diego, CA, 92105.
you overboard.
A Brief Interlude from the Developer
“Are you madmen? A game about ever, the raw potential of the swash- degree departure from Once Upon A
anthromorphic animal pirates?!?” buckling genre for roleplaying and the Time turned out to be a mammoth
They’ve questioned our sanity freedom to step just outside the histor- success, and our dissimilar lines like Ars
before and Iimagine they’ll do it again. ical box (I’m used to working rigorous- Magica, Over the Edge, and
I, too, was skeptical when Atlas Games ly within it on Ars Magica projects, Unknown Armies have all stood the
President John Nephew asked me what where you’ll find no talking flying test of what makes an Atlas game: qual-
I thought about publishing Furry squirrels with opposable thumbs, thank ity and fun.
Pirates. Save a brief bout with Teenage you very much) absolutely enchanted I hope that Furry Pirates exceeds
Mutant Ninja Turtles in junior high me. your expectations the way it exceeded
school, the anthropomorphic genre has Yes, there are those who will think mine.
hardly been a driving passion of mine. we’ve taken leave of our senses with this —Jeff Tidball
As I worked on this project, how- project, but Lunch Money’s 180 March, 1999
7
C O
HAPTER NE
C P C
REATING THE LAYER HARACTER
Character Development
Before players actually create char- There are several subcatagories of only if they are captured by the enemy.
acters, they might want to read saltwater thief, and the players as a Furries of their own nationality can be
this chapter all the way through group should decide before creating expected to give them safe harbor.
and skim Chapter Four to get an idea characters what sort they want to play Privateers are expected to give thirty
of what options are available in regard and what their general mission is to be. percent of their loot to their backers
to skills and cultural background. After A pirate ship is one that will and ten percent to the Crown which
that, take some time to daydream. attack any tempting and/or vulnerable commissioned them.
What do you want to be? Who is your vessel, regardless of its national origin. There’s a fine line between priva-
character? What motivated him to Pirates are criminals in every sense and teering and piracy. Long after the war
become a pirate, and what kind of can expect to hang if they are ever is over, a privateer may go right on raid-
pirate is he? A blank character sheet, caught — but if they aren’t, at least they ing enemy shipping, pretending not to
which may be photocopied for person- can keep all the loot they acquire. have heard the news. Or a privateer
al use, is included at the end of this A privateer is a civilian vessel crew may turn to outright piracy, prey-
book. commissioned by a sovereign govern- ing even on vessels from their own
ment in wartime to harass and prey shores. Crews which have been pirates
The character Maximillian upon the merchant ships of the enemy. right from the beginning often carry
Lazarus is used as an example Privateer crews will be punished, usual- letters of marque, whether real or
player character throughout ly by imprisonment or enslavement, forged, so that they can claim to be pri-
this section. Max’s character
sheet, fully filled out for
demonstration purposes, is on
pages 26-27.
Player
Characters On
Board
The Furry Pirates genre assumes
that the player characters will all be
together on the same vessel and that
they will be more or less cooperating
toward the same, or similar, ends. Since
the player characters are the heroes of
the story, it makes sense that they will
be occupying the most important posi-
tions on the vessel. There is a large, but
not unlimited, number of useful slots to
fill in order to maintain the ship’s func-
tions. For maximum effectiveness as a
crew, the PC group should be diverse in
abilities and skills, but unified in their
agreement of what the ship’s mission is
to be (though cooperation need not be
taken to extremes — inter-character con-
flict and intrigue can really heighten
the dramatic tension).
Furry Pirates — No bull.
8
vateers if they are captured. There are mother country through restrictions on War of the League of
also groups of pirates/privateers who legal trade. Smugglers are considered Augsberg, and would carry let-
lack an officially recognized govern- criminals, since they lack the excuse of ters of marque as such. It was,
ment, but who have a sense of national being at war, and can expect imprison- however, stipulated that any
identity strong enough to allow them to ment or death if they are caught. other vessel not of British ori-
claim their deeds are acts of war, not Finally there are the pirate- gin would be considered fair
piracy. hunters. These may be small warships game if it looked like they
A blockade-runner is a small commissioned to rid the sea lanes of could get away with attacking
cargo vessel which delivers badly need- threats to commerce or merchants fed it.
ed goods at extremely high prices to up with losing money at every voyage
ports which are blockaded by enemy who have sacrificed some of their valu-
Species
ships. There are frequent confronta- able cargo-space to carry artillery. They
tions between blockade-runners and may also be former pirates, such as the
privateers (and regular Navy). This Canine Sir Henry Morgan, on the the- This is one of the first decisions a
causes all sorts of interesting diplomat- ory of setting a thief to catch a thief. player should make about his character:
r ic incidents, as a blockade-runner may There is generally no attempt made to what type of Furry is he? In early and
e well be from a completely neutral coun- restore stolen property to its original medieval Furry society (as in Furry
t
c try which insists on its right to go on owner. The pirate-hunter has to give a Outlaws), status was dependent on
a trading with both sides during the war. substantial cut — sometimes as much as species. Carnivores were the warrior
r Captured blockade-runners can expect seventy-five percent — to the Crown elite, while the peasant class was mostly
a
h any treatment, from being hanged on and his backers, but he is allowed to herbivorous. The ranks in between,
C the spot, to being released with a slap keep the rest as a reward for ridding the especially those requiring intelligence,
on the wrist — plus the confiscation of seas of pirates. education, and adaptability, were filled
ship and cargo of course. by omnivores. These rules don’t quite
r
e A smuggleris a vessel that engages The players in the campaign in hold true in the seventeenth century.
y in illegal trade in peacetime. They are which example character Max It’s no longer important, in an age of
a often colonials who are not engaged in Lazarus was played decided gunpowder and ship-of-the-line tactics,
l
P lawlessness merely for profit, but who that they would officially be to be the largest, strongest, most aggres-
are trying to supply the colonies with English privateers out to raid sive fighter, though it can be important
e necessary products denied them by the French shipping during the
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Furry Sapiens (left to right): Avian, Canine, Chiroptera, Feline, Lapine, Marsupial
9
Species Size Chart
SIZES
FURRY Small Light Average Heavy Extra Large
SPECIES (3-4’ 20-45 lb.) (4-5’ 45-90 lb.) (5-6’ 90-180 lb.) (6-7’ 180-300 lb.) (7’+ 300-500 lb.)
Avian
Canine
Chiroptera
Feline
Lapine
Marsupial
Mustalidae C
Prosimian
h
Reptile
a
Rodentia p
t
Ungulate e
Ursoid r
-6 Strength -3 Strength No +3 Strength +6 Strength O
+6 Agility +3 Agility Modifier -3 Agility -6 Agility
n
e
:
C
to pirates, who still use the older grap- intelligent they may be, they have not Avian
ple-and-board tactics. evolved into tool-users. To save the r
A player character, therefore, can GM headaches in regard to physics, Bird “Furries” have evolved small e
be of any species and still come from Furries are not too large (over 500 hands with two fingers and a thumb on a
t
nearly any walk of life. Racial prejudice pounds) or too small (under 20 the joint of their wings, which can be i
keeps most of the “lower” species in pounds). Finally, there are no primates folded flat inside the feathers during n
their place — for example, you won’t in Furry Pirates, aside from the flight or extended to grasp a light g
find any Rodents in Parliament — but Prosimians of Madagascar (see p. 111). weapon. Avians come in three sizes: t
player characters are designed to be All Furries have the following char- small, light, and average. Only those of h
exceptions to the rule. It only requires acteristics in common: a backbone, small and light build can fly, and the e
that the player come up with a good four limbs, upright posture, stereoscop- small ones are better at it. Avians of P
story as to how his character became an ic vision (eyes facing front), and hands average build are large, flightless birds.
l
exception. with two to three fingers and an oppos- Avians are valuable in military recon- a
Players will also want to choose ing thumb. Furries who evolved from naissance and as messengers. Socially, y
species that would make good pirate hoofed animals have a slightly clumsier they can be of any rank. Predatory e
r
material. The only bad choices from arrangement of fingers. Animals pos- birds often belong to the highest ranks.
this standpoint are the extra-large spec- sessing claws still have them as evolved The common types make up a large C
imens of Reptile, Ungulate, or Ursoid. Furries. Most Furries have better than portion of the urban poor inhabiting h
Though they all make good fighters, human hearing, due to larger, more most major European cities at this time. a
they’re too big to be efficient sailors. flexible ears, but their sense of smell is r
One of the better choices for a pirate no longer much keener than a human’s. a
Canine c
character is a Mustelid type, as they Some species have a digitigrade leg con-
t
pack quite a bit of fighting ability into figuration and walk on the balls of their Canines range from light (small e
a pretty small frame, as do the Felines. feet. Many Furries also have tails dogs and foxes) through average (larger r
However, fighting ability isn’t every- which, added to ear and facial move- dogs) to heavy (really big dogs and
thing. In every group of PCs, there ments, provide a wide range of person- wolves). The various sub-species of
should be one Magick-using character al expression. Canine can interbreed; thus they have a
and several specialists in the arts of sea- Each species in Furry Pirates wide range of mates available.
manship, navigation, and gunnery. breeds true, and there are no hybridized Intelligent, adaptable, and socially
Avians small enough to fly are also very offspring, except among different sub- skilled, Canines can be found in every
useful. See the species size chart above. species of Canine. The twelve types of profession from the highest to the low-
All Furries are vertebrates — that is, Furry Sapiens are described below. All est. Quite a large number of Canines
possessing a backbone. No annelids information is stereotypical and varies go to sea, giving rise to the term
(worms), arthropods (insects), or any- by individual. “seadog” (especially among disparaging
thing without a central spinal cord pro- Felines).
tected by bone is possible. Creatures
that spend a majority of time underwa-
ter are not part of this genre; however
10
Chiroptera Lapines Mustalidae
Bat Furries come in small and light Rabbits and hares come in small, Mustalids (weasels, stoats, otters,
sizes, and possess hands and flying abil- light, and average sizes. These Furries minks, etc.) come in small, light, and
ity similar to those of Avians. Evolved are the backbone of middle manage- average sizes. These Furries are ener-
bat Furries have lost their sonar, no ment and organization in all profes- getic, even hyperactive, and are good
longer requiring it to locate prey. sions, whether capitalist, military, reli- fighters for their size. They tend to be
Chiroptera are shy and reclusive, regard- gious, political, or Magickal. They also of the lower and middle classes, though
ed with suspicion by many other do well as independent shopkeepers there are exceptions. Many of them
Furries, and are not numerous. They and small business owners. They are look for military careers, though they
are often found in professions that intelligent and adaptable, and tend to lack the endurance to be regular
don’t require a lot of social contact, belong to the bourgeoisie. infantry. They also go in for piracy and
such as Magickal, scientific, or theolog- highway robbery, being an adventurous
Marsupials
ical research. and underemployed group.
Feline These range from light (wallabies) Prosimians
r
to heavy (large kangaroos). Marsupials
e
t Like Canines, Felines range from are found on Australia, New Guinea, These strange and beautiful crea-
c light (domestic cats) through average and New Zealand, all of which are tures come in small (shrews, aye-ayes),
a (bobcats, puma, lynx, etc.) to heavy recently discovered and largely unex- light (marmosets), and average (lemurs)
r
a (lions and tigers). Felines hate hard plored. Players will need good back- sizes. They are found only on the
h work, so they are most often found ground stories to explain what island of Madagascar, save for a few
C either at the top of the social ladder, or Marsupial characters are doing outside taken as curiosities or slaves by Arabic
at the very bottom of it. The oldest their native lands. Marsupials are traders. As members of the Malagasy
r noble families, in Europe and several hunters and gatherers or tribal farmers; tribes, they are mostly skilled in hunt-
e other places, are large Felines, but they they also make good fighters or ing, gathering, agriculture, cattle raid-
y
are starting to see a decline in their pres- Magick-users. ing, handicrafts, fighting, and Magick.
a
tige and power as the merchant class As with the Marsupials, players need an
l
P comes into its own. explanation of how they became pirates
to have this species as characters.
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Furry Sapiens (left to right): Mustalid, Prosimian, Reptile, Rodent, Ungulate, Ursoid
