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YARR Preview
YARR Preview
YARR!
Rules Light Pirate RPG
By Bill De Franza
© BD Games 2013
Yarr! Was Designed Using The Dagger Trademark License, and inspired by
countless other Role Playing Games.
www.playBDGames.com
INTRODUCTION
Avast ye! YARR! be yer chance t’ introduce yer kiddies t’ role-
playin’ games and t’ give ye experienced players a rules light game
fer pick-up games o’ piratey good fun. These rules be not all-
encompassin’, an’ assume that t’ Referee already be knowin’
classic or O GL fantasy role-playin’. T’ Referee, bein’ a hearty lad
or beauty, will rule on any aspect o’ play not covered herein. Ye
aught t’ feel free t’ use yer own rulin’s, or rules from other
Arrrr.P.G’s. This be expected and encouraged, me hearties!
THAT IS TO SAY
YARR! is designed as an easy to learn game for beginners and
children or as a fun rules-light pickup game for veteran players.
YARR! assumes the Referee is familiar with common RPGs and
will be able to make rulings for any situation not covered in this
booklet. You are encouraged to do so, in fact. If a rule or situation
isn’t covered in this booklet, the Referee should make it up and
move on, keeping the action flowing. They could also use rules
from another Role Playing Game and move on, keeping the action
flowing. That said, you shouldn’t have any trouble picking up
YARR! and playing right away.
Get some friends together and start playing! All you need is one or
more six-sided dice, one or more 20-sided dice, and a crew of
treasure-huntin’ pirates by yer side. YARR!
SPECIAL THANKS
To Anonymous for the character sheets, cover, feedback, and tons
and tons of help. To Jordan Hinze for proofreading and feedback.
To John Adams for Brave Halfling Publishing.
TABLE O’
O’ CONTENTS
Part I. Character Creation 1
Class descriptions 1
Table 1: Pirate Deformity 3
Captain Feats 5
Atlantean Spells 7
II Game Play & Combat
Part II. 11
Saving Throws 11
Table 2: To-Hit Progression 11
Hazards: Falling/Poison/Curses 12
Healing 13
Sneak Attack & Repel the Unholy 13
Table 3: Character Advancement 14
Table 4: Melee Weapons 15
Table 5: Ranged Weapons 16
Part III. Pirate Treasure and Money 18
Table 6: Coinage 19
Tables 7 & 8: Gold Conversions 19
Part IV. Pirate Ship Combat 20
Ships & Ship Attributes 20
Boats & Guns 21
O ptional Ship Combat Rules 23
Ship Combat Summary 24
Part V. Bestiary 25
Gigantic Sea Monsters 31
Special NPCs 33
Black Magic / Evil Voodoo Spells 35
Invisible O pponents 37
Part VI. Pirate Talk 38
Part VII. Extraordinary Booty 41
Part VIII. Advanced Options : Skills 45
Skill List 45
Skill Checks & Bonus Abilities 46
Part IX. Character Sheets 47
MARINE
These elite warriors are the best fighters to sail the seas. Their
skill at arms makes these fearsome opponents the hardest
characters to defeat. They are the ship’s first line of attack, both
in melee combat and during ship to ship battles. Marines are also
the crew’s best defense.
Special Ability: In combat, marines make 2 attacks every round.
Starting Equipment: “Leather neck” protective collar, leather
vest, cutlass, musket.
Armor Class: 17 Starting Hit Points: 12
RASCAL
Rascals are sneaky scoundrel pirates, usually fighting dirty, and
hard to find when sneaking around. They are scrappy but fight
poorly overall. They make up for this with their other skills, and
trusty ones can be valuable members of the crew.
Special Abilities: O n a roll of 1-3 on d6, a Rascal can hide and
move silently. When spying on people or monsters, they can hear
through doors or wooden walls on 1-3 on d6. They can pick
pockets or pick locks on a roll of 1-2 on d6.
Starting Equipment: Vest with hidden pockets, short sword or
hand pistol, 1d3 daggers, small sack (to fill with treasure all
sneaky-like).
Armor Class: 13 Starting Hit Points: 6
SAILOR
The Sailor is the most common pirate, forming the bulk of any
crew. They are second only to Marines in combat ability and crave
the freedom, adventure, and potential riches of a life at sea. They
often seek the chance for a better life that they would have no
hope to achieve in a more conventional life ashore.
Special Abilities: Sailors can climb, run and leap through the
‘rat lines’, the rigging of any ship with ease. They require no dice
roll to do so safely unless under duress, such as during combat
or harsh weather. When searching, the greedy sailor will find any
secret door or hidden treasure nearby (i.e. less than 20' away) on
a roll of 1-4 on d6.
Starting Equipment: club, cutlass or gaff (roll 1d3), cup o’ grog,
sack (to fill with treasure).
Armor Class: 16 Starting Hit Points: 9
All Feats and Spells fit into one of the following five Ranges, listed
as “R” below: Self (can only affect the Cap’n or Atlantean); Touch
(self or anyone you can reach and touch); Close, which is
anywhere up to 60’ (20); M edium, up to 120’ (40); and Far up to
240’ (80) . The Duration of the effects is listed as “D”.
CAP’N FEATS
Level 1
Deadeye Shot R Close at character levels 1 – 3, Med at levels 4 –
5, D instant: The Cap’n takes careful aim with any pistol and
strikes unerringly any target in range. Regardless of the pistol
used, the range is dictated by this feat, not the weapon.
Regardless of the pistol used, the damage is as follows: at
character levels 1 & 2, 2d6+ 2; at levels 3 & 4, 2d6+ 4; at level 5,
3d6+4.
Slippery T arget R Self, D two rounds per level: Add 1+Level to
AC. Cap’n can continue to act normally except they cannot use
other feats during the duration of Slippery Target. They can stop
Slippery Target early if they choose to.
Level 2
Find T reasure or T reasure Map R Self, D 20 minutes: Cap’n can
find buried treasures, hidden maps or secret doors, even traps, at
a distance up to 20 feet. The cap’n succeeds on 1-4 on d6.
Pyro R Close, D Referee’s Discretion: By use of this skill, the
cap’n can manipulate fires in one of several ways. They may light
a small flame such as a candle or lantern wick; snuff out a small
fire or make it emit thick smoke or scorching sparks; cause it to
burn brighter or hotter; or stoke it to grow and spread. At
referee’s discretion, the Cap’n may need materials to manipulate
the fires, such as rum, gun powder, wet leaves, some sort of
poker, etc. The Referee may require the cap’n to throw things into
Level 2
Speak w ith Fish & Animals R Close, D 1 hour: The caster can
speak with animals and sea creatures within range. There is a
chance the animals will assist the caster, and they will not attack
the caster or their party (unless abused or provoked).
T angle Barrier R Close, D 8 hours: Tangling, grasping kelp, sea
weed, dune grass, or sticky webs (depending on where the spell is
cast) fill an area up to 10 x 10 x 20 feet. It is extremely difficult to
get through the Barrier – it takes 10 minutes if a torch or sword is
used, and creatures larger than a horse can break through in 20
minutes. Humans take 30 to 40 minutes at the referee’s
discretion.
Level 3
Control Winds R Med, D 2 rounds / level: The caster conjures up
a wind to propel the ship they are riding. In ship to ship combat,
add +2 SP to the caster’s ship. At 5th level, the caster may choose
to hamper an opposing ship within range 18, giving them a -2 SP
penalty. O n land, this spell creates a gust of wind 20 feet wide
and 80 feet long. Creatures in the area of effect must succeed a
saving throw or they are blown 10 x (1d6+caster’s level) feet
backwards and suffer 3d6 hit points damage.
Yarr! First Printing © 2013 BD Games SAMPLE
Scorching Bolt R Far, D instant: This 60 foot long bolt of steam
and boiling water causes 1d6 damage per caster level to everyone
within its area of effect, with a saving throw halving damage. This
spell may be cast underwater or on land.
…
Curses
The sea and the pirate’s life are
full of danger, superstition and
creepy supernatural things best
left alone. All too often, a
character may suffer a Curse
(see Inflict Curse page 36).
Special Actions
When any player character
catches a person or humanoid
creature unawares and
successfully sneaks up behind
them, the player can make a
Sneak Attack.
Table 6: Coinage
1 Doubloon = 2 Escudo = 4 Pieces of Eight = 32 Reales
1 Escudo = 2 Pieces of Eight = 16 Reales
1 Piece of Eight = 8 Reales. .
½ Piece of Eight = 4 Reales
¼ Piece of Eight = 2 Reales .
Doubloons are gold coins, Escudo are heavy silver coins, Pieces of
Ei ght are thinner silver coins, and Reales are copper coins.
To use equipment lists from other RPGs, convert values using one
of the tables below, assuming 100 cp = 10 sp = 1 gp.
Albatross: HD 1+2, AC 14, Atk peck 1d3, Move 24 (8) fly, Special:
In lean times, pirates may capture sea birds as food. However,
pirates usually will not harm an albatross. Many believe each
albatross is the soul of a lost sailor, so to kill one will bring on
bad luck. O ne albatross can feed 2 pirates for 1 day.
Zombie, Voodoo:
Ahoy! – "Hello!"
Arrr! – Not to be confused with
"arrrrgh!" an exclamation of distress.
"Arrr!" can mean almost anything the
speaker needs it to. Synonyms include
Yarr and Harr.
Avast! – derived from "hold fast". Stop
and give attention, listen up! O r used
to express surprise.
Aye! – "Yes!"
Aye aye! – Used to acknowledge orders
from a higher ranking pirate or officer.
"I understand and I’ll do it smartly.”
Booty – Treasure, food, medicine,
weapons, textiles, rope, sails, or
anything of value pirates can plunder.
Hardtack – Hard crackers made from
flour and water. Hardtack keeps for
years if dry, but at sea it would usually
get wet and grow mold or attract worms. When the hardtack
started to go bad, sailors would eat it in the dark to avoid
seeing anything amiss. Also called: ship's biscuit, tooth
dullers, and worm castles.
Have the Davies: To “have the Davies” is to be frightened.
Lime in the Coconut: Drink it up, you heal 1d6 hit points….
Mojo: A mojo is a small magical pouch tied shut with thin braids
of human hair. Most offer protection, or other benevolent magic….
Parrot W hat T alks Better ‘n Ye: These talkin’ Parrots are fluent
in 1d3+1 languages and if treated well, can be reliable
translators. They can use the Pidgin part of the Cap’n Feat
Reading/Pidgin….
The title page and or copyright page of your product must contain the following
te xt: “Dagger rpg is copyright 2013, by Brave Halfling Publishing. The Dagger
trade mark is use d under the Dagger Trade mark Lice nse .”
You may not use “Dagge r” as part of the title of your product.
Your product must not contain any mate rial inappropriate for gaming with young
childre n.
Designation of Open Content: Subje ct to the Product Ide ntity de signation above ,
all te xt in this docume nt is Ope n Game Conte nt. If any te xt is so use d, it should
be ar the COPYRIGHT NOTICE: “YARR! Rule s Light Pirate RPG” is Product Ide ntity
of BD Game s © 2013. Ope n game conte nt may only be use d under and in the
te rms of the Ope n Game Lice nse .
COPYRIGHT NOT ICE
Ope n Game Lice nse v 1.0 Copyright 2000, Wizards of the Coast, Inc.
System Rule s Docume nt Copyright 2000 Wizards of the Coast, Inc.; Authors
Jonathan Twe e t, Monte Cook, Skip Williams, base d on original material by E.
Gary Gygax and Dave Arne son.
De lving De e per RPG is copyright 2012 by Cameron Dubeers and Simon J. Bull.
Labyrinth Lord TM Copyright 2007-2009, Danie l Proctor. Author Danie l Proctor.
Swords & Wizardry White Box Rule s by Marv Bre ig, copyright 2008-2011 Matthew
J. Finch.
Dagge r: Supple me ntal Rule s for Classic Role -playing with Kids is copyright © 2013
Brave Halfling Publis hing.
YARR! Rule s Light Pirate RPG is copyright © 2013, Bill De Franza / BD Game s.
END OF LI CENSE