Kintsugi open-table TRPG game? (TIME PIRATES)

So the Galley's Turn forums are starting to get off the ground, with a some freeform rps and some plotted rps and some recruitment threads for session-style trpg campaign games, but there's at least one major niche we're missing: an open table game where people can drop in and out for as they like for sessions without an obligation to commit to the game long-term, but with a group continuity and potential for running plot.

This might be nicer for people who don't have the spoons to commit to a long-term game, and could allow multiple people to gm, and allow new members to the forum to join the game whenever.

I've been playing with a Time Pirates idea that could work for this (with the primary point of continuity being the pirate ship Kintsugi and the various damages and upgrades it accrues across sessions/expeditions) and I've got some relevant homebrew started to back it up. My main GMing and homebrew energy is going towards my campaign right now, but I think I could manage setting this up with a few other people to collaborate with, if anyone's interested.

BRAINSTORMING GOOGLE DOC >HERE<

 

Down to collab, my last homebrew was a casual "ramble around the continent finding adventures" and I have piles of unused encounters.

 

Yay collab! Whatcha got?
D'you want me to just dump what I have?

Also, anyone else who wants to jump in on setting this up should do so.

 

I have a Google doc with a bunch of maps and monster stats, all based in Pathfinder. We should probably figure out a playstyle. PF/D&D/13th/whatever.

(Please be Pathfinder, I want to get my money's worth out of those damn books)

 

Well, what I've got so far for Time Pirates could work for any dnd-type game (Pf, 13th age, sundry retroclones), provided you could plausibly set it on a kinda pulpy, vaguely magic Earth. I was thinking classes mostly along the lines of Zak S's random level-up class variants.

Class ideas: Gunner, Bomber (make grenades and throw em), Wizard, Witch (brew potions for spells), Tomb Raider (specialist/thief), Swashbuckler, Berserker, Carpenter-Surgeon, Holy Man, Scientist, et. cetera



I've also got ideas for a stock fantasy setting kinda thing that would let people bring in pretty much whatever characters from elsewhere.

 

My encounters could work for either. Pirates could be cool, combination of EPIC SEA BATTLES with the boat itself as the map/battleground (Do I have a whole quest chain planned for that already? Why yes I do!) island hopping for monster/bandit hunts, ports-of-call.

Players could be picked up/dropped off by making port

 

If you went with Pathfinder, maybe you could use the Kingdom Building rules from there to maybe make a Pirate City? Ultimate Campaign has both that and Downtime rules, too.

 

There is totally going to be a PIRATE CITY. Probably in the Western Interior Seaway in the Cretaceous, which is a good ways from even the longest arms of Johnny Law.

 

Also idea for time travel: there is a four dimensional Time Rudder in the hull of the ship, which allows you to turn "sideways" onto the Time Stream.

Which is like a literal strip of water floating in an endless vaguely purple time void, with your current spacial location on one side over time, like one of those visual timelines.

Spoiler: kinda like this but you can literally sail up and down that strip of water in the middle

 

Also, any One Peicers around? I feel like it would be appropriate stylistic inspiration given @Vast Derp and @jacktrash and whonot, but I've never seen it.

 

I will totally be a time pirate. I've never seen One Piece but I liked Pirates of the Caribbean and Oceans Unmoving and Pirates of the Dark Water and Roadmarks and I will play the kid with the map. Four dimensional maps are hard to draw but he can do it.

I don't think I'm up for active collaboration on running the game while I'm trying to get Tales of Ages going, but I'll happily call out suggestions from the peanut gallery.

ETA: What's on the other side of the Time Stream?

 

Spoiler: Gunsligner level-up chart draft

Roll twice on this table on every level-up

1-30 You have shot enough stuff to get better at shooting stuff. +1 to attacks
31-45 All the guns in the the world won't help you if you're already dead. +1 to saves
46-50 Trick shot. with a successful attack roll you can do anything a clumsy person could do with their hands with a bullet. If you reroll this, you can do anything you could do with your hands given your current dexterity. If you reroll this again you always automatically hit unattended objects. After that, keep rolling until you get something else.
51-52 Warning shot. once per battle, you can shoot your gun into the air instead of attacking. Every enemy or neutral party of animal intelligence or higher must make a will or equivalent save or run away screaming. If you reroll this, you can do it twice a battle, then 3 times, etc.
53-54 You are wicked fast on the draw. At the start of a fight, you can whip out your gun and take a single shot before anyone else has time to do anything, even if you are surprised. You lose your next turn, though. Unless you reroll this, in which case you don't.
55-56 Lines of sight are for losers. Given a hard surface to ricochet a bullet off of, you can shoot behind walls (or human shields) or around corners. Normal penalties for blind-firing apply. If you reroll this, you no longer take penalties for blind-firing if you know exactly where your target is.
57 SLEUTH DIPLOMACY You can shoot off a rapid-fire volley of ORATORY. With your guns. You can get a +2 bonus to all social rolls (formal debate, peace talks, intimidation, seduction, bluffing...) by whipping out your gun and shooting something.
58-59 You've become quite the sharpshooter. On a successful shot, you can choose to disarm your your target or stop them from casting spells next turn instead of dealing damage. If you reroll this, you get to do that and deal damage.
60 Sniper. For every round you spend doing nothing but aiming and in which you don't take damage, your crit range extends by 1 (to a maximum of critting on a natural 11+). If you reroll this, the first turn you spend aiming increases your crit range by 2 instead, then 3, etc.
61 What the hell are you putting in those shells? You get 1 random wizard spell that a wizard of your level could learn. You can shoot it out of your gun once a day. Reroll this and you get another.
62 AHA! You've finally tracked it down--that thing you wanted? The plasma rifle? Hasselhoffer's Advanced Gunnery Techniques? The Bloody Blunderbuss of Brackenmoor? It's there. 4 sessions worth of adventure away or less. Tell your GM, who then must place it.

You must have a fair shot at it--like any other treasure, but there's no guarantee you will get it. If you don't get it by the fourth session you can keep trying or let it go and roll again on this table. However if you choose to roll again and then you do get the thing somehow anyway, you lose whatever gimmick you rolled. GM think up some clever reason why.
63 Damn if you don't look good blowing the smoke off a gun barrel. +1 cha each time you roll this to maximum of 18, excess goes to int or dex
64 All this gunplay has given you nerves of steel. Also, guts of steel. +1 con each time you roll this to maximum of 18, excess goes to str or wis
65 Can't be a gunslinger without good aim. +1 dex each time you roll this to maximum of 18, excess goes to int or str

... and then like 30-40 other things to round out the d100 chart
Please suggest shit!

also, I think we're gonna want a dog breeds table like this one, and @Void has been giving me the lowdown on various real and hypothetical breeds to include

Spoiler

[9:12:21 PM] Void: Labradors, poodles, and Chesapeake bay retrievers come to mind first, but those are common ones

Spoiler

also, i doubt there are real-world breeds for this
[9:12:42 PM] Wiwaxia foliosa: but what would a pirate boarding dog look like?
[9:12:47 PM] Void: Hmmmm
[9:12:54 PM] Void: Likely a mutt of some sort

You want either a feist or a cur, more likely a feist, as they tend to be more climbing dogs
[9:13:49 PM] Void: (feist is terrier type, curs are like mastiffs)
[9:14:10 PM] Wiwaxia foliosa: 0u0
[9:15:08 PM] Void: Likely a rat terrier mixed with something like a.... shipperkirke maybe? Something small, good with rats, good at swimming and climbing
[9:15:31 PM] Void: I will do some actual looking now lmao
[9:21:43 PM] Void: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portuguese_Water_Dog
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nova_Scotia_Duck_Tolling_Retriever
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Otterhound
Newfoundlands
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wetterhoun
[9:22:04 PM] Void: These are all specifically water dogs, bred for doing work in or around water
[9:23:52 PM] Void: You would get a good pirate feist from a rat terrier and a wetterhoun in my opinion
[9:24:08 PM] Void: Maybe add a bit of Norwegian lundehund
[9:24:20 PM] Void: For extra joint movement
[9:25:08 PM] Void: ... No brain you will not think of the best dogs to make an actual rl pirate feist you don't even do boats or water that much
[9:26:09 PM] Void: You also would want a quiet dog, as barking and howling are not great for limited space on a ship
[9:27:01 PM] Void: I like otterhounds and wetterhouns a lot they're cool
[9:28:08 PM] Void: Something with a short curly coat, less bark, good joint flexibility, longer rudder tail, and is quiet
[9:28:14 PM] Void: Would be a good pirate dog
[9:28:50 PM] Void: ... I listed quiet twice go me
[9:29:01 PM] Void: Webbed feet

Spoiler

[10:22:20 PM]


Void: Rowan T. [Void/Rave] - Today 11:01 PM
> Likely breeds mixed here are rat terrier, wetterhoun, ans retrievers of several types

Rowan T. [Void/Rave] - Today 11:17 PM
> Also personality wise on a pirate feist: likely would be independent, prey driven, and loyal. Fearless little dogs who tend to show little fear in the face of the unknown

Rowan T. [Void/Rave] - Today 11:18 PM
> Probably tend to attach to a specific person than a whole crew. Fast learners

Rowan T. [Void/Rave] - Today 11:22 PM
> Healthwise would be hardy dogs, only issues may be hip displasia or cardiac issues. Likely if well cared for a pirate feist would live between 13-17 years. (actual ship dogs likely live less though. That is absolute best care possible)

Rowan T. [Void/Rave] - Today 11:27 PM
> Wouldnt be good with kids I don't think. Too prey driven and motivated to be a good companion for small children

Rowan T. [Void/Rave] - Today 11:30 PM
> Coat would be slightly greasy to the touch
[10:22:31 PM] Void: Also have a dump about what I think dog would be like
[10:22:47 PM] Wiwaxia foliosa: sweet!
[10:23:00 PM] Wiwaxia foliosa: i'm gonna go crosspost all that to thread
[10:23:09 PM] Void: Heh awesome!
[10:24:14 PM] Void: Also likely are between 19-23 inches at the shoulder, weigh in between 20-33 lbs

@TheSeer you know, I don't know. I was thinking something like an endless waterfall into the time void, with like weird timepeople living on the underside? but I'm not really sold on that

 

How about a shifting archipelago of weird, decaying pieces of alternate timelines? Like, if you change history, the old history isn't instantly gone, it's on the wrong side of time, slowly rotting away (unless someone restores it.) And then, if you go deep enough into the archipelago... well, there could be anything in there.

 

That really puts a different spin on the "wrong side of history," doesn't it?

 

Oooh, this sounds super fun! I don't know the specifics of One Piece, but the general 'sail around, have adventures, build the POWER OF FRIENDSHIP, do very little real piracy' sounds super fun!

 

... I get the feeling all the RP groups are going to overlap a lot. :-)

 

If more dogs are needed please hit me up I am a dog sperg and I love thinking out the traits needed for different jobs a dog can do.

 

... I think you were offering to help develop dog stats for, like, if the party wants dogs instead of henchmen. But at first I thought you were offering to play a dog. And now I want to move to an alternate universe where that was true.

 

Excuse you I will play a talking dog no fucking problem. I am designated talking dog everywhere I rp.

 

Reality transfer: successful!