Airship Pirates

“Am I the hero in my own daydream? Am I the villain, are things as they seem? Am I the villain in my own daydream? Am I the hero, are things as they seem?” – Abney Park, My Life

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Character ConceptBefore you can start playing a character in Airship Pirates, you need to create one. There are some ready made characters at the end of this chapter to choose from, but it’s more fun (especially if you’re planning to play a long campaign) to come up with a character of your own, so that you can watch him or her grow and change through a life of adventure.There is one main choice you need to make, from which everything else flows. Which culture do you come from? Are you from one of the Free Peoples – the nomadic Neobedouin or the aerial-living folk of the Skyloft cities? Or have you escaped from the decadence and squalor of one of the Neovictorian Change Cage cities? And if so, are you human, automaton or misbegotten mutant? This first decision will affect what professions were open to you in that life, which in turn affects what skills and talents you have, the friends and enemies you have made, in fact your entire back-story before you became a pirate. Have a look through the different cultures and see what the options are; if a culture takes your fancy, you might want to read more about it in Chapter XX, before settling on the sort of person you want to play. You may like to play a person who’s very similar to yourself in outlook, or someone completely different. It’s up to you.

Crew ConceptOnce each player has come up with some idea of what sort of character he or she wants to play, the group needs to get together and decide what sort of pirates they’re going to be. Are they freedom-loving rogues who fight against injustice, or ruthless cutthroats who rob from everyone and keep all the cash? Will they take a principled stand if necessary, or run away and let others take the fall? The GM may have some ideas about what sort of adventures he or she would like to run, but it’s best to get this settled now – its no good the GM planning a campaign around fighting

to free the Neovictorian cities from the Emperor’s oppression if the players want to spend their time raiding Neobedouin caravans for the loot. The crew also need some sort of Schtick (see p.XX). The crew of the airship Ophelia are not just airship pirates, they’re also the band Abney Park! What do your crew do when they’re not pirating? Are they musicians? Circus performers? Merchants? Mercenaries? Mime artists? If you’re entering a port where piracy is frowned upon, it’s best to have a trade, even if its only a cover story!Also, how did the crew get together in the first place? How do they know each other? Who’s the captain? (This may change through democracy, incompetence, death or mutiny, but someone needs to be in charge to start with!). How did they get hold of their ship?

Putting It All TogetherOnce everyone’s got at least a vague idea of their character and the group as a whole has some idea of the crew, its time to start adding the game mechanics. Players should work through this chapter, (probably with the help of the GM), putting numbers to the ideas. There are bound to be cool things that you come up with as you create your character that weren’t in your original concept, but don’t worry, go with it. Once everyone’s got their character statted and ready to play, the group can revisit their concept for the game and tweak accordingly. By the time you’ve done, you should have a pirate crew who will stick together through thick and thin. There will be rivalries, friendly or otherwise, betrayals, deaths – but the crew should have a reason to stay aboard ship. Think of your PCs as the characters in a long-running TV series – they might argue and fight, have differences of opinion about what they should do next, fall out, make up, refuse to speak to each other or whatever – but they’ll still be together for the next episode...

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Neobedouin“Nomadic tribes of the last of man Pull their caravans across the sand. Gypsy wives hold their children tight As the new superpower howls through the night. Gods watch from above and wonder what went wrong; The entropy of what once was strong. The survivors of man stay up late to pray, That the world will again be theirs one day!” – Abney Park, The End of DaysThe Neobedouin are a nomadic tribal people. They live in huge brightly decorated caravans, often two or three stories tall, pulled by giant diesel semi-cabs, steam-trucks, and massive beasts such as mammoths and indrikki. They also ride home-made off-road vehicles, horses and camelops. They are a freedom-loving people, determined to stay out of the claustrophobic Imperial cities and prepared to face the dangers of the wilderness to do so. Each tribe has a “range” which they consider home, covering thousands of square miles. Groups will often split off from this range and travel across country into the territories of other tribes, for trade, and to keep the social links between the different tribes from dying. Though each tribe has its own customs, they have certain things in common; a love of fire, music, dance and story-telling; strong family bonds; a martial art known as Beast Dancing; and an intense dislike of the Emperor Victor III and his repressive regime. They are masters of wilderness lore and consummate hunters, in tune with the land through which they wander. Many have contacts with the sky cities, trading with each other for things they each need – often food and natural resources from the Neobedouin are traded with finished technological goods and medicines from the Skyloft. A few Neobedouin risk remaining in one place in hidden settlements – these may be involved in logging, farming, drilling for oil, or engaged in other trades that are useful to their people but not possible

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Airship Pirates character creation

Neovictorian“I fear what they’d do if they find I’ve escaped. I fear what they’d say if they find I play, I get scraped. They want you to think it’s possible to live a life without their chains, But if you, if you go too far, you’ll find they’re pulling on your reins.” – Abney Park, Fight or FlightNeovictorians live in the squalid, overcrowded Change Cage cities ruled by the Emperor Victor III. This oppressive environment is all they have ever known, and they are taught from birth that beyond the city walls lies an implacably hostile wilderness,

where survival for a human being can be measured in days at best due to the ferocious man-eating beasts which prowl outside. There are three major Neovictorian cities in North America – Old Borealis in the cold north of the continent, Desolation in the south-western deserts, and Everglade in the sub-tropical south-eastern swamps (see pp.XX-XX for more details on these cities). In Neovictorian society, conformity is everything. Any new idea disapproved of by the government, or any person showing signs of rebelling against the status quo, is thrown into the Change Cage, a massive towering edifice at the center of the city, from which escape is said to be impossible. The lower classes are expected to return to their home “block” at night, and the streets are patrolled by the automaton “Peelers”, ruthless mechanical policemen on the lookout for anyone breaking the curfew.How a person lives in such a city will very much depend on their class.

ClassThere are three classes in Neovictorian society – the lower class, the servant class and the upper class.

Lower ClassIf you are unfortunate enough to be born into the lower class (and the vast majority are), your lot will be to live in the squalid, overcrowded slums, toil long hours in a bleak factory, and maybe spend your meager earnings on gin to lighten your thankless, futile life.

MotivationWhy would a lower class Neovictorian become an airship pirate? Why wouldn’t you? There’s really not much joy to be had in the slums. How you would get out is a different matter – but the ultimate punishment for many deeds (not including “change crimes”) is to

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Skyfolk“This world is filled with islands, little specks of sand, Mountain peaks in a cloudy sky Each one’s a different world, and so my sails unfurled, And I will raise my sails high.When I am feeling stagnant, my lungs are full of mud, I dream of Beijing and Molokai. When I am feeling down, get myself off the ground, And throw my head back to the sky,And fly! And fly!” – Abney Park, Wanderlust

In the sky above North America, and built around remote mountaintops, are the cities collectively known as the Skyloft. Most are suspended beneath great clusters of helium gasbags, some floating freely, others tethered to mountain peaks but able to cut themselves loose in an emergency; others have extended down from their sky-living ways to colonize the tops of mountains, high above the dangerous beasts of the lowlands. The Skyfolk are as varied as the cities in which they live, for no two cities have the same form of government, the same ideals, the same beliefs. Some sky cities are capitalist, some communist, some socialist; there are matriarchies, slave cities and cities of escaped slaves; democracies, autocracies and technocracies; cities that worship God, Allah, or the Sky Mother; atheist cities that burn believers at the stake. Yet whatever their religious and political beliefs, they share a common interest in technological progress – many Skyfolk are knowledgeable on scientific subjects, and children are encouraged to tinker, build, and innovate from an early age. Strange

gadgets and unlikely-looking flying machines are a feature of the sky cities. The various sky cities also have an alliance against the Emperor Victor III, who would destroy them if he could. The Skyfolk grow up in the high air, immune to vertigo, at home in airships and flying machines from an early age. Whatever their beliefs, and no matter how much they disapprove of the beliefs of other sky cities, they tend to respect their differences and save their enmity for the Empire, which would have all live in Neovictorian squalor. The sky cities trade with each other and with their ground-bound allies, the Neobedouin.

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there. Perhaps you revel in the freedom of the air, or perhaps you were cast out of your tribe for some misdemeanor and long to return to Mother Earth.Skills: Dodge, Firearms, Hide & Sneak, Perception, Riding, Archery, Survival, Tracking

Inventor“Test-tubes and Tesla coils, Clockwork brain ‘n’ glowing oils...” – Abney Park, The Secret Life of Doctor CalgoriNeovictorian (any), SkyfolkYou have always enjoyed designing new gadgets, whether it be as small as a clockwork cigar-trimmer, or as large as an intelligent automaton air-frigate. If you grew up in the Skyloft, your talents would have been encouraged, but as a Neovictorian, you would have had to be secretive, or you would end up in the Change Cage. As as pirate, your inventions are useful to your fellow crewmates, but why are you not living a life of fame and adulation with workshops and technicians at your command? Maybe your rivals put you out of business, one of your devices went wrong and caused a major accident – or perhaps your inventions are not as good as you think they are.Skills: Ad Hoc Repair, Craft (any two), Engineer (any two), Research

Marine CommanderNeovictorian (Upper Class males only), SkyfolkYou were once in charge of a regiment of air marines and perhaps had hundreds of men under your command. You were shown respect and lived a life of relative luxury when in your home port. If you were an officer in the Imperial Air Marines, you were a member of the upper class. Though the marines are not as glamorous as the Navy, you have the respect of your peers, and your men respected your fist. Now you

are aboard a pirate ship. Maybe you were demoted or cast out of the service for some infraction, maybe you hated the orders you were given and rebelled. Now your previous background could be an asset or a liability – it’s up to you.Skills: Etiquette, Firearms, Fisticuffs, Intimidation, Leadership, Swordplay, Tactics

MercenarySkyfolkWhether you fight in the Skyloft’s intermittent skirmishes with each other and the Imperial Air Navy, guard merchant vessels, or work as city militia,

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