Tuesday, February 13, 2018

The Plunder System


After a ship is seized and raided, draw a hand of playing cards. Numbers are quantity of items found, the suit is the type. Usually, 1 "barrel" of plunder allows the crew to take the associated action. (ie 1 barrel of Gunpowder allows the ship to enter combat on that hex, 1 barrel of Provisions must be consumed each day for upkeep to the Crew Morale, etc)

Spades are Gunpowder and Cannonballs (for combat)
Clubs are Wood (for making ship repairs)
Hearts are Food and Provisions (to improve or maintain crew Morale)
Diamonds are Valuables (traded for gold)

Standard poker hands decipher what is earned. Always round down if the number is odd.

  • High card gets the half of the number of provisions of the highest card.
  • Two pair gets you half of the provisions of both cards in the pair.
  • Three of a kind gets you half of the provisions of all three cards.
  • Straight gets you half of the provisions of each card in the straight.
  • Flush gets you half of the provisions of each card in the flush.
  • Full House gets you half of the provisions of all of the cards.
  • Four of a Kind gets gets you the provisions of all four cards.
  • Straight Flush gets you the provisions of all the cards.
  • Royal Flush gets you the provisions of all the cards plus a powerful and unique magic item.

Obviously its not a perfect system, but its a fun way to randomize the loot and give the feel of taking ships being a gamble as it was back in the day. I usually reskin what they get each time too, like barrels of rum for Provisions or tobacco for Valuables, giving infinite combinations of what they can find and loot.

No comments:

Post a Comment