So, when making a Pirate Borg character, you’ve got one of two options: letting fate decide everything for you, aka rolling on each table and letting the dice decide, or when asked to either roll or choose, read every option and pick what fits best! There’s no wrong way to do it, but one is definitely more loosey-goosey than the other. 

Regardless of what you choose, the necessary steps are the same. You have to determine what your container holding your items is and what cheap and fancy gear you have. What your ability scores are. What class are you going to be playing, and what are all of the things that go into setting the class up. How much starting Devil Luck (DL) you have. What your background is. Any distinctive flaws you have, physical trademarks, idiosyncrasies, unfortunate incidents and conditions, and finally, things of importance.  Oh, and of course, a name which you can figure out at any point. 

Containers & Gear

Meet Colin “The Wrath” Law. I decided to let fate determine who I was playing, so to start things off in creating them, I rolled a d6 and two d12 to determine their container (a backpack that can hold 10 items), their cheap gear (mess kit), and their fancy gear (blanket and pillow). 

Modifiers

To figure out your modifiers, which determine the bonuses and penalties you get for each of the five skills (Strength, Agility, Presence, Toughness, Spirit), typically you’ll roll 3d6, add the numbers together, and consult the Modifier section. If you're playing a landlubber, PCs with no class, you roll 4d6, drop the lowest, and then consult the Modifier section. I didn’t roll super great for Colin. I got an 8(-1), 13 (+1), 10(+0), 6(-1), and10(+0).  

Classes & Options

Instead of reading through all 6-8 classes (Brute, Rapscallion, Buccaneer, Swashbuckler, Zealot, Sorcerer, Haunted Soul, Tall Tale), and because the last two are optional classes, I rolled a d6 to determine what I was going to be playing, ignoring the optional rules and got Swashbuckler, a brash fighter with bravado and swagger.

While the layout for each class differs, they each have some things in common. You’ll roll a die determined by the class for your HP and add your Toughness. You’ll get pre-assigned bonuses and penalties to your ability modifiers. You’ll determine the abilities you have from the class. And you’ll have to roll for your weapon, clothing, and hat.

Since the Swashbuckler gets +1 to Strength and Agility and -1 to Presence and Spirit I went with the following ability breakdown:

+2 in Strength since the modifiers when you start only go up to +3. I’m a pretty solid character; I’m great when it comes to crushing, lifting, striking, and grappling creatures. 

+1 in Agility. If a fight broke out, I’d be decent at defending myself, as well as keeping balance, fleeing from the fight, or just swimming in general.

+0 in Toughness, so when it comes to drinking grog, holding my breath, or a bonus to my hit points, I’m not really sporting anything fancy, but I also don’t have any detriments.

-2 in Presence. Colin is not the smartest, is pretty bad a noticing things, doesn’t do well when trying to charm folk and is damn near useless when using anything they have to aim and fire from. 

-3 in Spirit. Since -3 is the lowest modifier, my man Colin is so easily influenced regardless of the relationship he has with someone, and you definitely DO NOT want them handling relics (items that can be used to access ancient magical powers) or trying to cast any magical rituals. 

I think not great is going to be Colin’s trademark because while rolling for my HP (toughness +d10), I rolled a 2, and since I have a 0 in Toughness, I’ve only got 2 HP. I faired better with Devil’s Luck (d2), getting the max I could have. DL points are used to activate 1 of 5 abilities;

  • Deal max damage with one attack
  • Lower damage dealt to you by 1d6
  • Reroll any die roll
  • Neutralize a crit or fumble
  • Lower one Test’s DR by -4

The Swashbuckler has 6 fighting styles I can choose at character creation and 6 I can potentially gain as I level up. Leaving it to fate again, I got Scurvy Scallywag, which means I like to fight dirty, and it's easier for me to attack enemies that have already been hit during a turn. When rolling for my weapons using a d10, I got a Rapier (#8). When figuring out what weapon you get, don’t get confused when 7 appears before 4, 5, and 6; that’s just the layout of the book. 

Clothing and Armor

The clothing section includes normal clothes and armor, and keeping up with my not-great luck, I got an old uniform, which does nothing for me as a tier 0 item except allow me to use relics, something Colin should NEVER be doing. I also didn’t roll well enough to get a hat. Are you even a pirate if you don’t have a hat?

The Home Stretch

Alright, we’re in the home stretch. Backgrounds (d100), Distinctive Flaws (d20), Physical Trademark (d20), Idiosyncrasies (d20), Unfortunate Incidents & Conditions (d20), and Important Things (d100) are all set up as tables for you to either roll off of or choose from. 

Backgrounds give you your starting funds and an additional thing, which can be tangible (books) or intangible (the respect of a crew). I got Graver Robber so I start with 2d6 x 10 silver and something from a corpse.

I got Ostentatious for my Distinctive Flaw. This section doesn’t explain what each flaw means, some are self-evident like coward, stupid, and cocky while you might have to look up others. 

Physical Trademarks are pretty much what they sound like: a distinctive feature, whether it's a scar or a constantly twitching finger, that is associated with your character. Colin has been cursed, so he’s visibly part skeleton/ghost/ water or flames. 

Idiosyncrasies are behaviors you were born with or developed and will have with you probably the entire time your character exists. You might be a compulsive thief. Or be annoyingly religious. There’s not a moment that goes by that Colin isn’t either smoking or coughing. 

Unfortunate Incidents & Conditions are a mix of your own actions and things that are out of your control. You could be constantly possessed by a ghost. Or you could be an infamous pirate who is destined for the gallows if caught. Colin tried to lead a mutiny. Key word tried

With a name like Thing of Importance, you would think everything on this list would be clearly important, but that’s not really the case. Some stuff is obvious, like a stone tablet inscribed with ancient pictographs or hieroglyphs, while others are more confusing why they’re important. Colin got 6 feet of iron chains. I’ve decided it's important because he was wrapped up in them and that’s why he looks partly made of coral. For some of these items, you’ll need to create the importance.

And that’s all, matey. Come on over to Start Playing Pirate Borg to start your adventures on the accursed seas!

V.J. Harris (they/he/something funny) is a professional TTRPG designer and full-time game master.Play with V.J. here.

Posted 
May 1, 2025
 in 
Playing the Game
 category