Episode Details

How to play Pirate Borg. Hi everyone, this is a special how to play episode of Firebreathing Kittens. I’m the game master for an upcoming session using the rules for Pirate Borg. This episode is a summary of what I learned after reading the rule book. Hopefully this will be a handy guide for how to play for my players, will help me organize myself, and will be useful for you listeners, too, who are looking to play your own Pirate Borg game.

I’ll organize this how to play guide into sections.

1. Game theme

2. Attacking and defending

3. Zero hit points

4. Abilities

5. Devil’s luck

6. Ash

7. Naval combat

8. Sea shanties

9. How to build a character

Pirate Borg is a pirate themed role playing game where you and your friends can pretend to be pirates in the dark Caribbean. Maybe you’re a British imperialist or a French courtesan. Or perhaps you’re a Spanish inquisitor, a merchant from the Yucatan, or a cultist worshiping the sunken one. Whoever you are, the discovery of ash, valuable intoxicating remnants of the undead after they’re destroyed, has forever changed the Caribbean markets as this fabled resource is astronomically expensive. Or will you use it yourself, and risk its mystical, addictive effects? Find where X marks the spot, in Pirate Borg. This game is a melee, ranged, and naval combat simulator where you the player will roll a twenty sided dice, or d20, to attack and defend against undead enemies who have shambled up out of the ocean depths. You can play as a swashbuckler, a voodoo ritualist, a buccaneer, a mermaid, a landlubber, a rapscallion, and more. There are mechanics for singing sea shanties, chugging grog to heal, brewing alchemical potions, testing the devil’s luck, and more.

Let’s talk about attacking and defending in Pirate Borg. Enemies don’t roll dice in combat. The players are the ones who roll to attack and defend. Players will be rolling a twenty sided dice, also called a d20, and adding their ability modifier to their roll. For melee attacks, add the strength ability modifier. For ranged attacks, roll the presence ability modifier. Both are tested against a difficulty rating of 12. If you hit, which is if you got a twelve or higher, roll with the weapon’s damage dice to see how much damage you dealt the enemy.

The party also rolls for initiative. Initiative is a word that means the turn order, or who goes first and who goes second