Generally, incorporating swashbuckling elements into your game isn’t too difficult, but it does change the challenges your players are likely to face. D&D is generally written for “going into a dungeon, wearing armour, and fighting monsters”. Swashbuckling generally involves a bunch of social interaction, a lot less armour, and fighting people (note: some people are complete monsters, and some monsters can be people). So, let’s look at ways you can change this if you want to incorporate swashbuckling into your game. Firstly, look at setting. Players interested in a swashbuckling campaign are likely to want to be freebooters, mercenaries, or loyal servants to the Crown. So you’ll need appropriate locations, warring kingdoms or forces (the British East India Trading Company vs. free pirates, for example), and places they can go (some of which might have more ‘monstrous’ creatures than normal). Working in civilized areas, the PCs won’t be able to depend on just “Detect Evil” to solve their problems- in all likelihood, they’ll have to deal with some unpleasant characters in order to do their jobs. But evil doesn’t have to mean “EEEEVIL”, as well- a minister who cheats on his wife and steals tax money might be evil, but probably isn’t worth Smiting. Secondly, you need to consider what plot arcs you have. “Track down and fight the monster” can still work (Brotherhood of the Wolf-style), but it’s more likely to involve investigation than just trying to find a beast’s lair. An ongoing villain is much more likely to be pulling strings than a diabolical monster, although that could work, too. Next, protections. Wearing armour should be useful, but swashbuckling generally won’t work with it. Find other ways of giving people protection- diplomatic shielding, working for a powerful lord somewhere in the PCs’ command structure (which could still be “your Captain’s master”), or links to criminal gangs. Bringing in opponents alive (hey, I didn’t say “unwounded”, but that can certainly be a challenge too) can suddenly be a very useful thing, rather than just killing every opponent. Last, if your players are onboard with this, make it fun for them- have dynamic locations which let them jump off staircases, swing from chandeliers or ropes, and storm castles. You’re specifically aiming to hit different tropes than you are for a Conan-style fantasy campaign, so allow your PCs to do fun, swashbuckling stuff. Inspirations: The Musketeers (BBC TV show), the Pirates of the Caribbean movies, pretty much anything with Errol Flynn in it. If you want a bit more Eberron-style flavour, watch the recent Three Musketeers movie, it has airships, clockwork traps, etc. (Originally posted on Game Masters Stash on 21 March 2018) Categories All Comments are closed.
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