Become the most feared corsairs sailing the seven seas with these piratical games.

8 Pirate TTRPGs For Swashbuckling, Nautical Combat, Looting Booty, And Playing The Villain

Want to make a scurvy scallywag and become scourge of the seven seas? This easy guide will show you how.

How to Create a Character for Pirate Borg

The crew of Mystery Quest create scurvy scallywags in search of legendary treasure in Pirate Borg, a piratical roleplaying game.

Pirate Borg: Buried in the Bahamas

Swashbuckling adventure RPG 7th Sea designer John Wick leads a cast of publisher Chaosium's all stars in this official actual play.

7th Sea All Stars

An all-star cast play a crew trying to save their floating pirate city.

Dimension 20 Presents: Pirates of Leviathan

An enduring genre like this has had plenty of time to accrue some classic tropes: the roguish protagonist or group with an idealistic code of honor and chivalry, who fight for the downtrodden and rescue damsels in distress against villainous aristocracy, criminals, and pirates is about as classic as it gets. Settings like masquerade balls, pirate ships, islands with buried treasure, isolated castles, wilderness hideouts, and boisterous taverns appear frequently, ripe for action like swinging from ropes or chandeliers, disguises and dramatic reveals, and climactic sword duels on parapets or cliffsides. Styles like high boots, feathered hats, knightly tabards, and other flamboyant accoutrements commonly adorn its heroes, alongside elegant rapiers, muskets, sabers, and bucklers (of course)!

What are the tropes of swashbuckling games?

A long tradition of books and folklore and their modern adaptations contribute to the swashbuckling genre, beginning perhaps most famously with Robin Hood, The Three Musketeers, Treasure Island, and Zorro. Carrying on this tradition are movies like The Princess Bride and Pirates of the Caribbean. Video games like the Monkey Island series and Sea of Thieves and television shows like Black Sails, One Piece, and Our Flag Means Death offer swashbuckling action with a modern twist as well.

What are some examples of swashbuckling media?

Wesley and Inigo Montoya from The Princess Bride are two extremely popular examples! Robin Hood, the Three Musketeers, Zorro, Cyrano de Bergerac, and the Scarlet Pimpernel all come from classic stories. Captain Jack Sparrow and Jim Hawkins are two heroes of piratical stories.

What are some examples of swashbuckling heroes?

If you enjoy dramatic stakes, high adventure, and death-defying stunts in your tabletop roleplaying games, swashbuckling is for you! For playing as a crew of pirates on the high seas, a band of renaissance-era heroes fighting for justice, or a crew of outlaws building a legacy as folk heroes, nothing beats high-flying swashbuckling action.

Pirate

The pirate genre refers to stories set or focused on the exploits of seafaring pirates, corsairs, or privateers. Often set in the Renaissance or Golden Age of Piracy, these stories share elements with adventure stories, historical fiction, and romantic literature. Highlighting daring action, swordsmanship, high adventure, and even romance, piratical media is exciting and dangerous. Its heroes are charismatic, capable fighters, often with a crew at their back, relishing a freebooting lifestyle. Buried treasure, dastardly villains, corrupt officials, and climactic battles at sea are some highlights of pirate stories. The swashbuckler genre, including tales of merry bands like the Three Musketeers, Robin Hood, and The Princess Bride, has a great deal of overlap with pirate media, and might be considered its landlubbing counterpart.

Pirate roleplaying games, centering on the larger-than-life personalities of a ship's crew sailing from adventure to adventure, are perfectly suited to the medium! You might play as privateers, taking semi-legal missions from a crown or other authority. You might be wanderers or nautical knights-errants, righting wrongs, seeking your fortune, or fleeing checkered pasts. You might simply be pirates, making your own way on the high seas, stealing cargo, evading capture, and carousing at port!

Browse Pirate TTRPGs Explore one-shots, campaigns, and homebrew adventures run by expert GMs across Roll20, Foundry VTT, Discord & more. Find your perfect game on StartPlayingGames!

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