So I suppose I should give you all a spoiler alert. It didn’t occur to me to do that with the Deepfall Breach replays from Dragonbane, but I think that’s because there wasn’t really a way to spoil anything–you’re given all the waypoint information at the beginning of each mission and so much else is random.
But “Trapped in the Tropics” is a set adventure, at least in parts as far as I can tell. So your opening is going to be the same one as below. Just fair warning.
So “Trapped in the Tropics” starts with your characters, mine are named Bart and Felicity, a zombie buccaneer and a rapscallion medic, in the employ of a Spanish conquistador named Beltran de Ordaz and his partner, an inquisition nun named Mother Iris. They have employed you to help them find the wreck of the Silent Angel on or around Eel Island. The ship was carrying a precious item called the Tongue of Toth. Or, at least, Beltran and Mother Iris believe so. And they want it. Bad.
The adventure starts in media res, as the guidebook is quick to point out. Your group of players, plus the conquistador and the nun, appear at full sprint out of a jungle and onto a beach, a map of which is included in the starter set. You don’t know what they are running from.
But you do know what they run into, and that’s a column of redcoats advancing up the beach. The guidebook actually tells you where to put the parties on the map. Battle begins, which PIRATE BORG calls “violence”.
So, a word about in media res. It’s not always advisable to begin a story this way, because it’s easy to confuse the reader. Here, I made a mistake. Because in the adventure module, zombies appear on the same page as the redcoats, but after them, and I just assumed that I fight the redcoats and then the zombies. Which is what I did. And I’m trying not to ruin everything because I’m playing solo, so I’m just scanning things.
But what was supposed to happen, was that the zombies appear out of the jungle after your first round of combat with the redcoats, and then immediately start attacking the redcoats. That would have made this a lot easier of a battle. And it would have made more sense. It was the zombies you were running from.
Anyway, that’s not how I played it though. I fought the redcoats first and then fought the zombies.
You were supposed to have nine redcoats. I used seven. There are three different types: gunners, soldiers, and officers.
I don’t know that play-by-play reportage of fights is all that compelling, but in this case, I’m going to do it because it might be your first introduction to “violence” in PIRATE BORG and it will give you a better feel for how the game works.
So the guidebook says that you have the initiative, although usually enemies have the initiative in PIRATE BORG. You don’t roll for it unless the situation requires it for some reason. So Bart, my buccaneer, went first. His only weapon is a musket, which deals 2D6 damage.
Every character in your party makes the same DR12 (difficulty rating) roll for melee combat, ranged combat, and defense, just applying their own individual modifiers to strength, presence, and agility respectively.
Bart fires with his musket, and because at character creation his class “feature” was two (rolled a D6), he is a “crack shot”, which means the DR for ranged combat is actually 10, not 12. He hits. Rolls 2D6 for damage and comes up with 9 total. Redcoat soldier is defeated.
Then Beltran moves into position (everyone’s movement is thirty feet per turn) in order to fire with his flintlock pistol. Rolls a 16. Hits. Does 4HP damage. A redcoat gunner is defeated. I just used Bart’s ability modifiers for him. Basic stats for him are given in the guidebook but not ability modifiers.
Felicity only has a cutlas, so she moves towards the redcoat column but takes cover behind a rock because she can’t reach them.
Mother Iris uses an attack called Divine Wrath, which is sort of a spell. Using Bart’s stats again. She misses.
Now it’s the redcoats’ turn. Both remaining soldiers can reach Beltran. First one hits (Beltran failed the defense agility test). Rolls for 4 damage, but Beltran has a Conquistador Plate (armor) which offers 1D6 protection. He rolls a 5, so no damage.
Second redcoat soldier misses with his cutlass.
The redcoat gunners shoot. First fires at Beltran with his musket. Hits. 2D6 damage. Rolls 9 total, reduced by Beltran’s armor to 4HP damage.
Second gunner misses Bart.
Officer moves up around the rock to get a clear shot at Felicity with his flintlock, but she dodges.
PCs turn.
I will mention at this point that I’m grateful again for the little touches this starter set provides. The weapon’s information page is the middle page in the staple bound book, which means it flips open right to all the weapon’s information, which you use a lot in battle. It’s a nice quality of life touch.
Anyway, because Bart is a buccaneer, he only has to wait one round of combat to reload his musket instead of two rounds, which I took to mean he is reloading this round and not that he gets to go every round.
Felicity moves in to attack a redcoat soldier, but she misses.
Beltran hits with his second weapon, a finely crafted rapier, for 1D8 damage. Rolls a 6. The redcoat is defeated.
Mother Iris tries Divine Wrath again and rolls a twenty, a critical roll. She absolutely flattens a redcoat soldier and does 1D4 damage to the officer standing next to him. Which turned out only to be 1.
The redcoat soldiers are all defeated, and the redcoat gunners take two turns to reload, so only the redcoat officer can go this round. He moves in to attack Felicity with his Officer’s Cutlass. He hits for six damage. She has 1HP left.
Bart rolls a 16 on his attack roll, so he hits for 2D6 damage against the officer, which turns out to be 9, but it’s reduced by 1 because of the Officer’s Doublet. He has 1HP left.
Felicity rolls a 14, reduced to 13 by her -1 strength modifier, but that still hits. Officer is dead.
Beltran moves up to first redcoat gunner. Hits for 4 damage. Gunner is dead.
Mother Iris calls for Divine Wrath and misses.
I just had the final redcoat gunner flee into the jungle at this point.
But victory is short lived, because five zombies appear out of the jungle.
PCs have the initiative.
Felicity moves off because she only has 1HP left.
Beltran attacks the nearest Deck Ghoul Zombie with his finely crafted rapier. Hits for 8 damage. Zombie is even deader.
Bart has to reload.
Mother Iris calls down Divine Wrath on a Deck Ghoul Zombie for 4HP damage.
Zombies’ turn. First one attacks Beltran with his Claw attack. Beltran dodges with a critical roll, which means he gets an immediate free attack. But he misses!
Second one hits him but his conquistador plate blocks it out.
The Grog Barrel Zombie moves up to Mother Iris and hits her with his Slam attack for 6HP damage.
PCs’s turn. Bart has to move to get a clear shot around the rock at a Deck Ghoul Zombie. Hits, but only for 4HP damage.
Beltran misses with rapier.
Mother Iris uses her Cross and Rosary melee attack which does D12 damage against the undead, and hits. She rolls a 12. So Grog Barrel Zombie only has 8HP left.
Zombies’ turn. First Deck Ghoul Zombie attacks Beltran with his Bite. Does only 1HP damage after its reduced by the armor. But Beltran isn’t out of the woods: he has to pass a TOUGHNESS check of DR8 or else become infected with zombieitis. He passes.
But the other zombie bites him also!
He passes again!
Grog Zombie tries to slam Mother Iris again but misses.
Beltran attacks now, and misses!
Mother Iris attacks with her cross and rosary, and misses!
Bart reloads.
All three remaining zombies miss their next attacks.
Bart fires at beginning of next round. Kills one of the Deck Ghoul Zombies.
Beltran hits remaining Deck Ghoul for 1HP damage. Zombie has 2HP left
Mother Iris tries her cross and rosary melee attack again. Does 7HP damage. Grog Barrel Zombie only has 1HP left.
Felicity takes this as her opportunity to reenter the fray and attack the Grog Barrel Zombie. But she misses!
Deck Ghoul Zombie goes back to Claw attack against Beltran, does 6 damage reduced to 3 by his armor.
Grog Barrell Zombie tries to Slam Felicity…and misses!
Beltran misses the remaining Deck Ghoul Zombie, but Mother Iris hits and kills the Grog Barrel Zombie with cross and rosary.
Remaining Deck Ghoul Zombie flees.
Victory!
Phew. That was a long fight. Wasn’t supposed to be that way, but I’m glad I got through it. Learned a lot about how combat works in PIRATE BORG.
I also took the opportunity to level up Bart and Felicity afterwards, which I think they deserved. You do this by rolling a D6 against their ability modifiers. If you outroll them, you increase the modifier by one. Every roll beat their modifiers, except for one, Felicity’s agility score. If you lose, you reduce it by one. So she lost one agility level to her modifier. But all in all, the rolls couldn’t have been much better, and Felicity is actually a much more balanced character now.
My first impressions of PIRATE BORG combat is mostly positive. I don’t know if I will tire of its simplicity, but I like how fast it moves and how intuitive it is. It’s simple and effective, as opposed to, say, 5e’s combat which can slow to a crawl.
I like the assets included in the starter set. The map is well made, the monster and player tokens are well illustrated, and the adventure booklet is well put together.
I will say that this booklet seems like quite the adventure. It took me over an hour to get through this battle (that’s with taking notes), and I barely dented the adventure. I can see this going on for several gaming sessions, which is a pleasant surprise. I’m not sure why I’m surprised, but there’s definitely a lot to do on Eel Island from the looks of it.
I look forward to chronicling it here on this site. I just have to figure out how to do that without spoiling the whole adventure for whoever reads it.
Take care!