Salty Dogs
An Apocalypse World conversion for nautical adventures. Play as a crew of scurvy scallywags, bloodthirsty looters, courageous naval officers, or intrepid explorers.
Salty Dogs has these game principles:
- Explore an interesting world
- Give the players adventure on the high seas
Salty Dogs makes these assumptions about your game world:
- The high seas are where men and women risk everything to make their fortune
- The high seas are where men and women battle to decide the fate of their country
- The high seas hide dark and ineffable beings that lie beneath
- The players have sailed forth together, their fates and the ship's intertwined
While intended for use with a world similar to Earth's Age of Sail, this system could be easily adopted to depict other times and places, such as a Greek trading ship criss-crossing the Aegean, a carrier in the 1940s Pacific, or aliens sailing ion-powered ships across the seas of the Galilean moons.
Stats:
Salt: Seamanship (cool)
Iron: Battle (hard)
Gold: Negotiation (hot)
Glass: Learning (sharp)
Jade: Magic (weird)
Basic Move List:
Salt:
Maneuver
Iron:
Fire!
Swashbuckle
Gold:
Parrrley
Take Stock
Glass:
Consult Knowledge
Take Your Bearings
Jade:
Listen to the Deeps
Crew Loyalty:
Dogpack
Muster
Context-dependant:
Make Sail
Size Them Up
Independant:
Carouse
Any move that refers to "you" can also refer to crew or a ship under your command.
Maneuver
When you try to evade strife or establish a positional advantage, roll +salt.
On a 10+, you have the advantage and take +1 forward.
On a 7-9, the GM will offer you a tough choice.
Fire!
When you aim and fire guns, roll +iron.
On a 10+, it's a direct hit, and you deal full damage. Good show, lads.
On a 7-9, choose one: you must maneuver into harm's way to get the shot, or you take what you can get (-1 damage)
Swashbuckle
When you fight at close range with cutlass and pistol, roll +iron.
10+, you deal damage, and your enemies can't counterattack.
7-9, you deal damage, but they counterattack.
When crews are fighting, add +1 damage for each size category the attacker is larger, and subtract 1 for each size it's smaller.
Parrrley
When you seduce or manipulate someone, roll +gold.
If it's an NPC, on a 10+, your promise is enough. On a 7-9, they want something concrete.
If it's a PC, on a 10+, if they do it, they gain xp, and if they don't, they must maneuver. On a 7-9, choose one of those.
Take Stock
When you examine your ship's hold to check your supplies, roll +gold.
On a 10+, the GM will tell you precisely how much you have; on a 7-9, he tells you an estimate, but no more. On a 6-, tell the GM how much you think you have, and they will secretly decide whether you're right.
Consult Knowledge
When you consult your accumulated knowledge about the order of things, roll +glass.
On a 10+, the GM will tell you something useful and interesting about the subject.
On a 7-9, it's just interesting; it's up to you to make it useful.
Take your Bearings
When examine your situation, roll +glass.
On a 10+, hold 3; on a 7-9, hold 1.
The GM can spend your hold by showing you threats on the horizon, giving you time to react and +1 forward against the threat.
You can spend your hold by asking any of these:
- What is my position, speed, and direction?
- Which enemy is the biggest threat to me?
- What enemy is most vulnerable to me?
- What's the best way in/out/past?
- What happened here recently?
- What is about to happen?
- Who's really in charge here?
- What is not what it appears to be?
When you act on the GM's answers, you get +1 forward.
Listen to the Deeps
When you open your mind to the strange and alien songs of the underdeep, roll +jade.
On a 10+, the GM will tell you something useful and interesting, and may ask you something.
On a 7-9, the GM will tell you an impression, nothing more.
Dogpack
Whenyou order your crew to do something they'd rather not, roll +loyalty.
On a 10+, yarr, they do it.
On a 7-9, they do it, but mark 1.
On a miss, count your marks.
1-2: They do it, but mark 1.
3-6: The GM chooses one:
- They look to someone else to confirm the order
- They grumble and drag their feet
- You owe them
7-10: The GM chooses 2 of the above, or 1 of these:
- They do it, but take -1 to loyalty rolls until the next shore leave.
- They do it, but someone has their backing to challenge you.
- They openly defy your order.
When you give your men liberty, erase all your marks.
Muster
When you muster your crew after liberty, roll +loyalty.
On a 10+, no weaknesses apply.
On a 7-9, one weakness of the GM's choice applies.
On a 6-, all weaknesses apply.
Make Sail
When your ship travels the high seas, assign jobs. Everyone with a job rolls. On a 10+, they get an extra, as noted; on a 7-9, they do their jobs as expected.
The navigator master rolls +salt. 10+, reduce the travel time.
The lookout rolls +glass. 10+, spot any trouble ahead of time.
The quartermaster rolls +gold. Reduce ration/grog use.
Size Them Up
When you size someone up, choose a stat and roll. On a 10+, while you're interacting with them, you can ask that question and one other. On a 7-9, just that question.
Salt: What does your character intend to do?
Iron: How is your character vulnerable?
Gold: How could I get your character to _______?
Glass: Is your character telling the truth?
Jade: What's your character really feeling?
Carouse
When your crew celebrates a triumph, spend 1 grog and roll. Spend extra, 1 for 1, to add +grog spent to the roll. On 10+, choose 3; on 7-9, choose 1. On a miss, you still choose 1, but things get really out of hand.
- Erase 3 marks from your loyalty count
- The crew informs you of an interesting rumor
- The crew gives you useful information
- The crew is not dreadfully hung over
Basic moves look good. Playbooks are next.
Feedback and ideas welcome.