The Lady Blackbird
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a piratical misadventure in the age of sail The Lady Blackbird is on the run from an arranged marriage to Count CarloweCarlowe. She hired a smuggling vessel, The Owl , to Captured and cast take her from London to the far reaches of the adrift by the bilge Caribbean so she could be with her once secret lover, rat, Rick ‘oreso’ Lacy, from John the pirate king Uriah FlintFlint. Harper’s game of the same name to However — Just before reaching Bermuda, The Owl service the many was pursued and captured by the Royal Navy dubious needs of frigate, The Vengeance , under charges of flying a the Pompey Crew. false flag. Now made available for the questionable Even now, the LLadyady BlackbirdBlackbird, her bodyguard, and enjoyment of all. the crew of The Owl are detained in the brig, while For fullest effect, accompany with the commander of the frigate, Captain HollasHollas, plentiful rum and checks the registry. It’s only a matter of time before sea shanties. they discover the outstanding warrants and learn For the faint of that The Owl is owned by none other than the heart, the original may yet be found infamous ex-privateer Cyrus VanceVance. by surfing yonder: www. onesevendesign. com/ How will the Lady Blackbird and the Others ladyblackbird escape The Vengeance ? And the morbidly What Dangers lie in their path? curious may find the Pompey Crew Will they be able to find the Secret Lair of the sailing round: www. Pirate King? If they do, will Uriah Flint accept UKRoleplayers. the Lady Blackbird as his Bride? By the time they com/forum/ get there, will she want him to? + The Bountiful Caribbean + a paradise amongst the wild blue waves The Open Waves The Old World Islands are charted, but not yet fully explored While Europe is embroiled in wars, her or exploited. Rumours of savage civilisations, colonies struggle with each other using lost colonies, devilish creatures from the deep mercenaries and pirates. Britain, Spain, and cursed treasure abound. The sovereignty France and the Netherlands vie for land and of the colonial powers is much in name only. trade routes for sugar, slaves and tobacco. But all this is changing. Bermuda To Fight at Sea A crowded city fiercely loyal to the British Hold the weather gage, upwind of your foe. Empire, and once the best small-ship builders Line your broadside against her bow or stern in the world. Now owned by the Somers Isle for raking fire while she cannot reply. If you Company who have forbidden all ship building, have the advantage of arms, board her. instead forcing farming for their own profit. Otherwise, target her rigging and flee. Tortuga Names In Saint-Domingue. Home of the pirate Male: Bartholomew, Christopher, Cornelius, Brethren. But also home to 1,650 imported Eduardo, Emanuel, Henry, John, Jean, Juan, whores, ‘wild ’ African ex-slaves and brawling Michiel, Morgan, Pierre, Richard, William English and French colonists. And lots of rum. Female: Anne, Charlotte, Elaine, Elizabeth, Port Royal Joan, Mary, Rachel, Rose, Scarlet, Vesta In Jamaica. Captured by Britain from Spain, and home to many pirates and privateers paid Surnames: Booth, Condon, Flynn, Gibbs, by the crown to attack shipping en route to the Halsey, Jones, Maintenon, Morris, Paine, Spanish Main. Also boasts five forts and a Pardel, Rakham, Roberts, Rogers, Sharp, tavern for every ten residents. But anti-pirate Swan, Teach, Vauquelin, Wright, Wynn sentiment is growing as the town grows richer. + The Owl + an old sloop, outfitted for smuggling Flag (Unregistered) Comparison of Size The Southampton The Owl Bermuda Sloop (refit tedtedted ))) Composition , Capabilities and Appearance A small single-masted Burmuda sloop is very Single masted, with ‘Bermuda’ rigging demanding to crew. The tall sails, minimal With tampered sails, increased both in ballast and light hull mean swamping and height and length, with boom lengthened to capsizing are always threats in inclement match and secured with more running lines weather. To make matters worse, Karl has modified her with even taller sails and a longer Hulled in Three inches of Bermuda Cedar boom which makes handling her challenging Fifty-One long tons in Burthen at the best of times. Forty-Three feet in Length However, these properties also grant the Owl her greatest assets. The sheer amount of Ten feet and Eight inches in Beam adjustable triangular sail on such a light vessel enables her to make extremely good speed, Four feet and Two inches in Depth of Hold even when laden with cargo. And unlike larger Armed in a single Twelve pound carronade square-rigged vessels, the Owl is able to sail much closer to a headwind without foundering. Three in Crew Complement So while lines may snap and whip around Up to Four in Passengers Berthed before being wrestled under control, and while Up to Eight in long tons of Cargo stowed. timbers creak and crack alarmingly under Of which, up to Three may be Stowed in stress, Karl is sure she’ll sail safe and true. Secret from Casual Inspection. + Conditions + + Conditions + Up to Fifteen knots in Speed in Ideal Winds Needs Repair Slowed Up to Eight Close Hauled to a Headwind Needs Supplies Crippled Marked in the Bow with Owl’s Eyes + The Lady Blackbird + a noble, disguised, fleeing an arranged marriage so that she may be with her lover + Traits and Tags + + Keys and Secrets + Noble The buyoff condition is shown in [brackets]. Key of the Paragon Etiquette, Dance, Education, History, Science, Demonstrate your superiority and use your noble traits Wealth, Connections, House Blackbird to overcome problems. [Disown your noble heritage.] Scientific Key of the Mission Alchemy, Explosives, Mechanics, Deduction, Invention Rendezvous with your once secret lover from years ago, the Pirate King Uriah Flint. [Give up on your mission.] Key of the Impostor Athletic Fool someone with your disguise, passing yourself off as Run, Fencing, Rapier, Duels, Shooting a commoner. [Reveal yourself to someone you fooled.] Key of Charming Charisma, Presence, Command, Nobles, Servants Key of Cunning Deception, Misdirection, Disguise, Codes Secret of Secret of Alchemy As long as you have materials, you have the Scientific + Conditions + trait and the Alchemy tag. Injured Tired Lost Secret of Hidden Vials Once per session, you can re-roll a failure when using Dead? Angry Trapped chemicals by using a secret ingredient you have. + Rules + Rolling the Dice Keys Take a die from the big pile in the middle. If you When you hit a Key do one of these: have a trait that can help, add another die. If that • Take an XP chip. trait has helpful tags, or you have an especially useful • Add a die to your pool (max 10). item, plan or advantage, add a die for each of them. Finally, add any number of dice from your personal If you go into danger or sacrifice something for a pool (which starts at seven dice). Key, take 2 XP chips or 2 pool dice. Roll all those dice, each 4 or more is a hithit. Mostly, You can spend 5 XP on an advance at any time, based tasks require 3 hits to succeed, but sometimes more, on what you’ve done or learned or revealed to: especially when a Condition would be hindrance. • Add a new trait. • Add a new tag to an existing trait. If you succeed, all the dice go in the big pile. Show • Add a new unique Key (max 5). everyone what you did and how. • Change or remove an existing Key (if its Buyoff condition applies). If you fail, you get your personal pool dice back, plus • Learn a Secret (if you have the means). an extra one. The GM will escalate the situation, and perhaps enforce a Condition. Refresh Be with another character for a scene and don’t do Helping important stuff. Or, describe the important stuff you If you can help, give them a die from your pool and once did together in a flashback. This is for roleplay say what you’re doing. If their roll still fails, you get and talking about each other. Either remove a Key (if your die back. If it passes, you lose it to the big pile. the buyoff applies), or refresh your pool to 7 dice. + Macaya Pardel + a former pit-fighter and slave, bodyguard to the Lady Blackbird + Traits and Tags + + Keys and Se crets + Warrior The buyoff condition is shown in [brackets]. Key of the Guardian Tested, Brutal, Fast, Hardened, Living Weapon Be influenced by Lady Blackbird and protect her from harm. [Sever your relationship with Lady Blackbird.] Bodyguard Key of Vengeance Awareness, Threats, Defend, Disarm, Restrain, Carry, Make the Colonial powers pay for your time as a slave and pit-fighter. [Forgive them for what they did.] Delay Key of the Warrior Ex-Slave Fight with equally skilled or superior foes, or when Sneak, Hide, Run, Tough, Endure, Scrounge, Nobles greatly out-numbered. [Avoid a fight.] Key of Keen Insightful, Aware, Coiled, Liars, Traps Key of Secret of Secret of Destruction You can break things with your bare hands like you + Conditions + were swinging a hammer. Scary. Injured Tired Lost Secret of the Bodyguard Once per session, you can re-roll a failure when Dead? Angry Trapped protecting someone from harm. + Rules + Rolling the Dice Keys Take a die from the big pile in the middle. If you When you hit a Key do one of these: have a trait that can help, add another die. If that • Take an XP chip. trait has helpful tags, or you have an especially useful • Add a die to your pool (max 10).