Yar, we be coverin’ all yer RPG Pirate needs today, maties! Read on below!
I love pirates! If you enjoyed Orchid Onerio and her crew from Seven Sealed Spirits, you’ll like this generator; you can whip up quick, memorable crews in the time it takes your PCs to leave drydock, So, without further ado, I present:
The RPG Pirate Generator
d6 Pirate Names
It’s all about the terror your name strikes into merchants!
1 – Burnbeard
2 – Kraken Killer
3 – Big Wreck
4 – The Dread Pirate Roberts
5 – King/Queen Salt
6 – Barnacle Face
d6 Nautical Missions
From daydreams to do-or-die, every pirate captain has a long-term goal. Sure, piracy keeps the lights on and the crew happy, but what’s all that gold for?
1 – Pure hedonism.
2 – Search for a mythical land of wonders, where gold is cheap as copper.
3 – A voyage of discovery. Every strange creature must be catalouged, every coast charted.
4 – Building a fleet to rival nations.
5 – Revenge. Could be on a fellow pirate, an albino whale, or an officer of the law.
6 – Nothing. The pirates avarice leads nowhere, and this haunts their every waking moment.
d12 Exotic Crewmates
A sailor is a natural outsider, and a far-travelled ship is a magnet for the strange.
1 – An eloquent orangutan, fully capable of Common speech.
2 – A water elemental, cursed to sail in human form for forty-four years.
3 – A drowned man. Acts as a Neutral Zombie with 13 Intelligence. He’s seen it all, from wild monsters to buried treasures, if you believe a word he says.
4 – A seven-eyed man. Usually stationed in the crow’s nest. His eyes are evenly spaced around his head; he sees in 360 degrees and can’t be surprised.
5 – Two doppleganger twins. One is sick and can’t control its power; it assumes the form of anyone it makes eye contact with.
6 – A woman made of stone (as earth elemental). Roughly twelve feet tall, she usually sits towards the bow and stares out to sea. Allegedly the captain’s wife.
7 – The one and only Vincenzo Parvega Ignacio Yanza, famed lover, fashion icon, and former duellist. Currently missing a hand and press-ganged into sailing for the captain thanks to ‘a game of chance and a small mistake in anteing strategy.
8 – A merperson who sold their voice for legs.
9 – A secret wereshark.
10 – A warrior, exiled by their liege lord, banned from ever again touching land. They blame the treacherous perjury of their brother.
11 – The youngest crewmate is a secret wild magic sorcerer. The talent is new; only the captain has figured this out.
12 – A golem. Used by the crew to loot shipwrecks.
d6 Strange Ships
1 – Bigger on the inside. Contains a small dungeon, peopled with extradimensional shipworms and the mutated mutinous former crew.
2 – Becomes invisible at night.
3 – Made of dragonscale. Practically indestructible.
4 – Capable of diving beneath the waves. A magical air bubble protects the crew.
5 – Constantly surrounded by a cloud of mist and fog.
6 – The deck is tar-like, magically adhering to enemies of the captain. Acts as difficult terrain.
d6 Pirate Meins
1 – In a killing mood
2 – want your money, not your life
3 – recruiting
4 – carousing
5 – looking to scare you
6 – friendly
If you’re going to use this, don’t stop there! Check out this origami parrot for high-strangeness on the high seas! And take a peek at Seven Sealed Spirits, if you haven’t already!