A little excerpt from a side project I have been working on . . .
The 17th century is drawing to an end . . .
The strain of the THIRTY YEARS WAR has left the EMPIRE OF SPAIN, conqueror of the NEW WORLD, weak and vulnerable. Priorities in continental EUROPE have forced the Spanish navy to abandon all but it’s most important islands in the CARIBBEAN and concentrate on protecting it’s treasure flotillas as they voyage across the ATLANTIC.
SPAIN’S enemies are quick to take advantage of her shrinking, run-down and increasingly under-equipped fleets and move to stake their claim to the riches and resources of the AMERICAS . . .
In PORT ROYAL, JAMAICA, the principal ENGLISH PORT in the WEST INDIES, the power-players are making their moves . . . eager to for a share of the gold and glory that are suddenly up for grabs in the CARIBBEAN.
The GOVERNOR looks to bolster his fortune by way of a PRIVATE NAVY, issuing LETTERS OF MARQUE to any ship and crew willing to attack the Spanish. The MERCHANT-BARONS sponsor trade endeavours and the exploration of uncharted lands and waters, the greediest and most ambitious among them secretly bankrolling buccaneers to rob Spanish coastal towns and sack the vessels of their competitors. As for the CHURCH, it’s missionaries have become far less passionate about converting believers than they are about laying claim to priceless relics and artifacts of the NEW WORLD.
A golden age of high-adventure has begun . . . which means plenty of opportunity and pieces-of-eight for an enterprising soul such as yourself.
So look sharp, keep your cutlass at the ready . . . and never trust an old sea dog!
You, sir, have got my attention.
Still polishing things but she’s getting close. It’s going to be pretty sparse rules-wise, similar to The Streets of Mos Eisley, but I plan to share it freely.
I was wondering what happened with The Streets of Mos Eisley…
I thought, on reading the post, ‘Man, that looks like a SW screen crawl…awesome!’
Okay, historian brain makes me ask – what is it about the ‘priceless relics and artifacts’ that the Church wants? The gold? Historic value?
The way I see it, the church is in on the cash grab, plain and simple. Idols of solid gold and talismans of pure silver are currency, and currency is power. Of course, maybe it’s true power they desire. Relics containing ancient supernatural properties, artifacts imbued with strange and sinister powers, that sort of thing, if it suits your fancy. GMs have full creative licence. BTW – there is a magic-wielding class featured, more of a shaman or voodoo witch docter than a wizard . . . But someone who commands sorcery nonetheless.
Cool! The real history of that area (a bit before, but still very useable) is full of heroes and villains in the Church, from, ‘Eh, slavery is good for them, and we like gold’ to ‘Seriously? All y’all are going to Hell for this.’
I’ll admit that I’ll be taking a more historical-fantasy/fiction approach to this than a historically accurate one. Real life Port Roayl is intriguing, but this is more of a Disney/Erol Flynn effort!
Sounds wonderful – looking forward to it!
(I just started reading Crichton’s Pirate Latitudes, which is set in and around Port Royal, at first…)
Great novel!
Sure the Church wants the cash, but given it’s going to get its hands on the relics, there may be elements within the Church that have other uses for them…
Now I need to get watching every season of Black Sails…
oO