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Sounds like some berserkers are manning the Blitz. I like that equipment/specialist bonus, you could use it on a regular firepot spec., or use it on something a bit more destructive like Exploding Shot.
Hello, y’all. It’s late, so Ima get straight to the point.
More Spanish! Yay!Relevant Keyword:
Man-O’-War: Once per turn, before you give this ship a shoot action, roll a d6. On a result of an odd number, her cannons become 2-rank for this turn. On a result of an even number, she eliminates two masts with each hit.
14. Aguas Revueltas
Points: 14
Masts: 3
Cannons: 4L, 2S, 4L
Cargo: 5
Base Move: L
Ability: Schooner. This ship gets +1 to her boarding rolls.Flavor: The Riptide, though not a large ship, is excellent at raiding enemy ships and making off with a fuller cargo hold than she started with.
15. La Rosa Pálida
Points: 23
Masts: 5
Cannons: 3S, 4L, 4L, 4L, 3S
Cargo: 4
Base Move: L
Ability: Man-O’-War. After this ship sinks an enemy ship, she gets +1 to her cannon rolls against other ships of the same nationality as the target/sunk shipFlavor: The Pale Rose is another warship built to defend Spain from the thieves and murderers that sail under the Jolly Roger.
The Spanish are coming to a gradual close. And once they’re finished, we move on to the second-to-last faction in Seas of Doom!
As always leave comments, suggestions, concerns, declarations of war, and questions below, and I’ll get back to you as soon as I can.
Until next post,
-J. W. DarkhurstWhich set do these Spaniards belong to? I know you’re working on like, 3, so which set are these guys from?
That aside, the Aguas looks rather ‘dull’. Nice cargo, but mediocre base move and a boring ability. Given her flavor I’d maybe shoot for a combo of ‘This ship cannot be pinned’ and ‘ If this ship wins a boarding party, she may take as much treasure from the other ship as she can carry.’ That would make it more interesting to me, though would probably warrant a change in point cost.
@Xerecs: While I am working on numerous sets, I do mention at the end, that after the next couple of Spanish posts, I’ll move on to the next faction in Seas of Doom. Also, I may be weird, but I’m not gonna randomly stop in the middle of Seas of Doom to begin one of the last factions (because Spain is usually one of the last ones I make) of another set. However, if it helps make my future posts less confusing, I can reiterate the set name before I go into the pieces.
I’ll consider making the Aguas a little faster, but not every ship needs to be really good. mediocrity isn’t necessarily a bad thing. I could potentially give her the gold stealing ability (the one you described, I don’t know its short-hand) but I’m not sure what that would do to her point cost.
Honestly, I’d thought that the Rosa Pálida would cause more of a conversation than the Aguas.
-Darkhurst
I’ll consider making the Aguas a little faster, but not every ship needs to be really good. mediocrity isn’t necessarily a bad thing. I could potentially give her the gold stealing ability (the one you described, I don’t know its short-hand) but I’m not sure what that would do to her point cost.
Exactly. The ship is alright, and decent enough to consider usage. She’s a little expensive compared to other 3 masters for less points and the same cargo, which is why I think you could add another ability and keep the cost the same. Maybe not Hoard (at least not without increasing the cost to 15-16), but Filching Gold could be added without increasing the cost. Alternatively, some other stealing type augmentation like Secret Hold, increasing the bonus to +2 to boarding rolls, etc. I like the unique cannon arrangement.
Extra Powder
Type: Equipment
Rarity: C
Point Value: 1
Ability: You may reveal this equipment to double the ranges of this ship’s cannons for this turn. Then remove Extra Powder from the game.Powder Kegs
Type: Equipment
Rarity: U
Point Value: 8
Ability: Extended Range. This ship cannot carry gold/resources.So much cargo is required to provide large amounts of extra firepower that ships cannot afford to carry anything other than huge stores of gunpowder.
Toying around with these somewhat obvious equipment ideas. I like both, but Powder Kegs may be OP on 10 masters for example. I may try to make it scale in cost to the ship’s mast/cannon count. (perhaps 2 points per mast) I’d rather not do “this ship’s cannons can shoot twice this turn”, since that implies an excellent gun crew more than what they’re actually putting in the cannons.
Historical Custom of the Day #361
Matthew Flinders
English
Crew
4 points
Ability: Helmsman. Explorer. Once per turn this ship may look at one face down cargo on any island within L of her.
Link: HMS Investigator, HMS Reliance, Norfolk, George Bass, BungareeYou can find my custom sets here: Pirates of the Age of Sail and Pirates of the Epic Seas
You could attach a severe negative ability to the Powder kegs. Like, ‘If this ship rolls a 1 on a cannon roll, remove powder kegs from the game, and remove up to three masts from this ship’. That might be too extreme, but it would simulate a powder magazine or several kegs exploding. Conversely, you could make it like this: If an enemy ship hits this ship with a cannon roll of 6, remove powder kegs and up to three masts from this ship.
Honestly, I’d thought that the Rosa Pálida would cause more of a conversation than the Aguas.
I only commented on the Aguas because it seemed a little dull to me. The Rosa is interesting, but the main ability seems difficult to keep track of, and seems tailor made for campaigns, and I think it can be worded a little better at the end. Loose the Target/Sunk ship and just use sunk ship. Given her cost you’d be hard pressed to use her in anything but a campaign, and not everyone builds faction pure fleets for the smaller high point games. In short, she seems like she’d be an okay gunship, but also seems to be situational and gimmicky.
However, if it helps make my future posts less confusing, I can reiterate the set name before I go into the pieces.
It might, but if only for me, since I’ve got insider knowledge about your othe stuff. I forgot which set these customs were coming from.
Since these are SoD, does that mean you’ve posted all the pieces for Dark Tides, and will you make a public spreadsheet/google doc for all to see?
@Ben: So, I’m thinking I’ll add one of these: Filching Gold, or “This ship gets +1 to cannon rolls. She gets +2 if she initiates the board attempt”
@Xerecs: I’m pretty sure all of Dark Tides (PoDT) has been posted, but I don’t use spreadsheets… ??
I’m not sure about sharing a Google Doc, seeing as the original draft for PoDT got randomly deleted that one time.-Darkhurst
You could attach a severe negative ability to the Powder kegs. Like, ‘If this ship rolls a 1 on a cannon roll, remove powder kegs from the game, and remove up to three masts from this ship’. That might be too extreme, but it would simulate a powder magazine or several kegs exploding. Conversely, you could make it like this: If an enemy ship hits this ship with a cannon roll of 6, remove powder kegs and up to three masts from this ship.
Great idea! That is pretty extreme though, but I definitely see your point. I’ve already got a decent negative ability, but it would get bypassed easily when used on pure gunships – which is what the kegs would probably be used on anyway. Since I don’t want something so negative that it would make the equipment cheap (and rolling 1’s is VERY common…), I might try “this ship sinks when her last mast is eliminated”, signaling that the ship blows up once a fire or damage quantity reaches the powder room. Still thinking about it though… for now I might add that and decrease the cost to 6. Playtesting should be fun. XD
@Ben: So, I’m thinking I’ll add one of these: Filching Gold, or “This ship gets +1 to cannon rolls. She gets +2 if she initiates the board attempt”
Both are cool, I assume the second one is about boarding and not cannons.
I’m pretty sure all of Dark Tides (PoDT) has been posted, but I don’t use spreadsheets…
Pros of using a Google Spreadsheet: updated instantly (no need to redo file uploads to BGG/elsewhere when a simple change is made), people can view changes in real time, very easy to share, very searchable/sortable (you can sort columns by mast count, filter out a specific faction, find every instance of an ability very quickly, etc), other people don’t need to download anything, you can download the spreadsheet in various file formats including .xlsx whenever you want. (I download a copy whenever I add 10+ pieces to either of my sets in one session, so even if google drive implodes or becomes unavailable/etc I’ll still have a copy on my computer, then you can also periodically reupload that file to a file storage site for extra backup) Either way though I’d use a personal google account rather than a school/company one so there’s no weird oversight issues if they somehow have access to what you create.
Oriental Devil
Type: Ship
Faction Affiliation: Cursed
Rarity: SE
Point Value: 22
Number of Masts: 6
Cargo Space: 6
Base Move: S
Cannons: 2S-2S-3L-3L-2L-2L
Ability: Junk. This ship ignores terrain when she is given a move action (islands are not terrain). This ship cannot be pinned.
Link: Gorgon ConfuciusFlavor text: Unable to convince more than a few dozen of his loyal Jade Rebellion followers to join his side, Gorgon Confucius took his vessel and turned it into a Cursed flagship. Beyond the ship’s capability for bombardment and housing many hundreds of dangerous foes, the Oriental Devil is surprisingly difficult to corner and capture despite her slow speed.
Gorgon Confucius
Type: Crew
Faction Affiliation: Cursed
Rarity: SE
Point Value: 10
Ability: Eternal. This ship gets +1 to her boarding rolls for every crew assigned to her. Generic Jade Rebellion crew can use their abilities on this ship.
Link: Oriental Devil, all Cursed 10 mastersFlavor text: A former monk in the Jade Rebellion, Gorgon Confucius had an awakening. Changing his name and his style, he joined the Cursed. His bizarre and demonic teachings have inspired thousands of evil beings. They now join him in chanting, overwhelming any ship that dares to threaten Gorgon Confucius.
For Gorgon Confucius, I generally put Eternal at 3, the boarding ability at 5, and the JR ability at barely 1, but I wanted to keep him expensive due to the links and how perfectly he would fit on 10 masters.
Historical Custom of the Day #362
Thomas Jamison
English
Crew
5 points
Ability: Doctor. Ship treasure trading. This crew can use his abilities in forts.
Link: HMS Sirius, George BassYou can find my custom sets here: Pirates of the Age of Sail and Pirates of the Epic Seas
Wreck of the Ancients
Type: Ship
Faction Affiliation: Cursed
Rarity: LE
Point Value: 24
Number of Masts: 10
Cargo Space: 7
Base Move: S
Cannons: 4S-4S-3S-3S-3S-2S-2S-4S-5S-5S
Ability: Junk. One hit eliminate two masts from this ship. This ship is immune to reef damage.
Link: Dhorkolov BespisFlavor text: A treasure ship of Zheng He’s fleet wrecked long ago, this monstrous vessel was raised and “reanimated” by Xenthalos himself. Although slow and run-down, she prowls familiar coral reef areas looking for prey to drive onto the shoals.
Dhorkolov Bespis
Type: Crew
Faction Affiliation: Cursed
Rarity: LE
Point Value: 7
Ability: Captain. Shipwright. If this ship is docked at your home island, she may repair two masts in one repair action. This crew can only use his abilities on his linked ship.
Link: Wreck of the AncientsFlavor text: Dhorkolov was chosen by the Demon King to helm the ancient shipwreck he now calls home. With a passion for fixing things, he has dramatically improved the ship’s capabilities. Her wood is still rotten and weak, so he’s now working on a solution that will make the ship as strong as the Guichuan.
Historical Custom of the Day #363
HMS Investigator
Type: Ship
Faction Affiliation: English
Rarity: C
Point Value: 11
Number of Masts: 2
Cargo Space: 5
Base Move: S+S
Cannons: 4S-4S
Ability: Eternal. This ship sinks when her last mast is eliminated.
Link: Matthew FlindersThis is a good example of a ship conundrum. Seems that at one point she had 3 masts, but spent more time as a 2 masted brig than as a 3 master. The bizarre combination of abilities is due to her being seemingly fragile, but surviving for nearly 80 years despite people remarking her as unseaworthy multiple times.
You can find my custom sets here: Pirates of the Age of Sail and Pirates of the Epic Seas
Before I begin this super late post: Yes, Ben, the ability from my last post about the Aguas Revueltas was about boarding ??
I was just being a bit of a derp at the time of typing/posting ???
Now onto the topic of tonight!Hello, all! For tonight, I’ve got a couple of Spanish crew from Seas of Doom.
Relevant Keywords:
Reroll: Once per turn, you may reroll any die roll you make for this ship; you must use the second die roll result
World-Hater: This ship gets plus one to her cannon rolls against any ship of a different nationality.
EA: Once per turn, roll a d6. On a 5-6, give this ship an extra action.
16. Isabél Santana
Points: 7
Ability: Reroll. World-Hater.
Link: Andres SantanaFlavor: One of Roberto Santana’s grandchildren, Isabél is a brilliant military tactician. Much to her immense displeasure, only her brother seems to appreciate her skills and intellect.
17. Ándres Santana
Points: 8
Ability: Captain. EA.
Link: Isabel SantanaFlavor: Grandson to Roberto Santana, and the older brother of Isabél Santana, Ándres has received countless accolades and endless recognition for victories he insists wouldn’t have been possible without his uncredited younger sister.
I have been considering swapping Ándres Santana’s EA with SAT(Once per turn, before you give this ship an action, roll a d6. On a 5-6, this ship may be given the Same Action Twice). On this I ask your opinions. If I make the change, I will also drop his point cost to 6 instead of 8. Let me know what you think of this idea and of the two crew as they are. Leave comments, questions, and concerns, and I’ll get back to you as soon as I can.
Until next post,
-J. W. DarkhurstI have been considering swapping Ándres Santana’s EA with SAT(Once per turn, before you give this ship an action, roll a d6. On a 5-6, this ship may be given the Same Action Twice). On this I ask your opinions.
Definitely don’t; SAT is generally better than EA simply because it’s cheaper but achieves nearly the same effect. (and he would mostly be used on gunships) In general combining Captain with EA or SAT and nothing else should be avoided because it just further increases the number of extremely powerful crew in the game.
Fecal Explosion
Type: Flotilla
Faction Affiliation: Cursed
Rarity: R
Point Value: 6
Number of Masts: 1
Cargo Space: 0
Base Move: T
Cannons: 4S-4S-4S-4S
Ability: Flotilla. This ship only shoots stinkpots and cannot shoot regular shots.Flavor text: The “toilet at sea” is a tool the Cursed use to clear areas of civilians. When the feces start flying, sailors start splitting.
Historical Custom of the Day #364
Edward Jordan
Pirate
Crew
5 points
Ability: Massacre. [If this ship succeeds at a boarding party, she can eliminate all of the other ship’s crew.]You can find my custom sets here: Pirates of the Age of Sail and Pirates of the Epic Seas
@JW, I think if you want to distinguish Andes, then I think you could give him a third ability in addition to captain and EA. But nothing too good, if you catch my meaning. Captain, EA, and doctor or something along the like. Not crew protection, as that’d be too good, but a third ability could distinguish him somewhat.
@Ben, So leave him as-is for now then? Or go with Xerecs’s idea about him?
@Xerecs, Maybe something like “When this ship hits another ship you chose what mast is eliminated”?Hello everyone!
We have reached the last post of Spanish from the Seas of Doom!Relevant Keywords:
Reverse Captain: After completing a shoot action, this ship may move as a free action.
Repeating Guns: When this ship is given a shoot action, you may declare that she is using repeating guns. If all cannons hit during that shoot action, each cannon may shoot again. (This action does not count towards the two action limit) For each cannon that misses on its second shot, eliminate one mast or cargo from this ship.
Armed Merchant: Once per turn, as a free action, one of this ship’s canons may shoot at one enemy target in range. This shot cannot have its range or rank increased. (A captain crew is not needed for this action)
+1 Gold Bonus: One of this ship’s treasures is worth +1 gold when she docks at your home island.
18. La Luz de la Luna
Points: 16
Masts: 4
Cannons: 3S, 4L, 4L, 3S
Cargo: 4
Base Move: S+S
Ability: Schooner. Armed Merchant. +1 Gold Bonus.Flavor: Sister ship to the Luz Del Sol, the Luna is a larger and often more successful merchant vessel, always bringing back exceptionally valuable goods.
19. La Corona Dorada
Points: 19
Masts: 4
Cannons: 3L, 3S, 3S, 3L
Cargo: 2
Base Move: S+S
Ability: Repeating Guns.
Link: Capitán Daniel de la VegaFlavor: Commanded by Capitán de la Vega, La Corona Dorada is a heavily armed gunship, requiring a small, yet expertly trained crew to make her a fearsome foe.
20. Capitán Daniel de la Vega
Points: 7
Ability: Loyal: Spain. Captain. Reverse Captain
Link: La Corona DoradaFlavor: Ever since his rise to command, Daniel de la Vega has been questioned about his name, and whether he is a descendant of the master blacksmith, Joaquin Vega. He has neither denied nor affirmed these questions, preferring to let his actions create his own legacy.
And that finishes the Spanish from Seas of Doom! I will likely take a brief-ish hiatus, as classes have started up for me again, and I still need to create Flavor text for both the French, Mercenaries, and other previous pieces. I expect that my next post will likely consist of a combination of re-worded and/or otherwise variatingly retconned pieces, including added Flavor Text. I honestly don’t know when I will post again, but I can only hope it will be sooner rather than later.
As always, leave your thoughts, comments, questions and concerns below, and I will get to them as soon as I can.
Until next post,
J. W. DarkhurstCaptain, EA, and doctor or something along the like. Not crew protection, as that’d be too good, but a third ability could distinguish him somewhat.
Why do you still think Crew Protect is so much better than Doctor? They accomplish the same thing, and I don’t think there are many loopholes that make Crew Protect better. Neither protects against capture or removal from the game, and Doctor has the added benefit of being able to use it in the niche situation with the recruiters.
@Ben, So leave him as-is for now then? Or go with Xerecs’s idea about him?
Almost anything is better than Captain + EA and nothing else, simply because it’s pretty much OP by default. Any faction that gets a crew like that, automatically has their best crew or one of their best crew ever in a lot of instances. Either ability mentioned above would increase the cost to 12, which would deter most usage in small games and make him somewhat prohibitively expensive/impractical in some large gunship setups. The “choose which mast” would increase it to 10. If you want to take the flavor text to another level, make the EA contingent on having his sister aboard the same ship.
Another reason that he feels unnecessary is because he’s a direct clone of de Alva from F&S. With the amount of custom abilities and existing ability combos out there (Captain + AA for example) that Wizkids didn’t make, having a clone just feels kinda boring. (I’m sure I have some too, but I just think it’s best to limit making things that Wizkids already did, especially in the case of OP stuff)
@JW: Sorry if this was cleared up anywhere else, but with Repeating Guns, do you HAVE to shoot each cannon again? I still think the drawback outweighs the effectiveness and I’d be inclined to hedge my bets with that ability, perhaps only shooting with a ship’s very accurate cannons on the second go-round even if I had plenty still in range.
I think Vega would be fine at 5. Reverse Captain is worse than Captain and really only worth 2 points.
Grand Diamond
Type: Ship
Faction Affiliation: Jade Rebellion
Rarity: R
Point Value: 24
Number of Masts: 6
Cargo Space: 5
Base Move: L
Cannons: 4S-4S-3S-3S-4S-4S
Ability: Junk. Secret Hold. Two hits from the same shoot action are required to eliminate one of this ship’s masts.
Link: Hainesh DengFlavor text: Diamonds are embedded at the base of this ship’s masts, and new diamonds are used to decorate the ornate stern as they become available through funds from the ship’s trading voyages.
Hainesh Deng
Type: Crew
Faction Affiliation: Jade Rebellion
Rarity: U
Point Value: 5
Ability: Captain. UT Hoard. [Once per turn, if this ship is touching another ship, reveal all face-down treasure aboard the other ship. This ship can take as much unique treasure from the other ship as she can carry.]
Link: Grand DiamondFlavor text: Deng is a brutal commander whose vile habits have been kept in check by his superiors. Time will tell if his evil habits ever lead to a “crime of passion”.
Huzzah! I have reached HCustom #365, which means this is the one year anniversary of me posting a historical custom every single day!! 😀
Historical Custom of the Day #365
HMS Reliance
Type: Ship
Faction Affiliation: English
Rarity: C
Point Value: 8
Number of Masts: 2
Cargo Space: 4
Base Move: S+S
Cannons: 5S-5S
Ability: This ship’s combined cost of crew may exceed this ship’s point limit.
Link: Henry Waterhouse, Matthew Flinders, George Bass, John Hunter, BennelongNot sure if all of those crew will be made in time….
You can find my custom sets here: Pirates of the Age of Sail and Pirates of the Epic Seas
Clouds of Strelbair
Type: Ship
Faction Affiliation: Barbary Corsair
Rarity: C
Point Value: 16
Number of Masts: 3
Cargo Space: 4
Base Move: S+L
Cannons: 3S-4L-3L
Ability: Galley. Eternal. Hidden Gold.Flavor text: A mysterious vessel, it is not usually known whether the Clouds of Strelbair is carrying corsairs, gold, both, or neither. She has fallen out of association with the rest of the Barbary fleet, making her a conundrum to approach.
Historical Custom of the Day #366
Bungaree
English
Crew
4 points
Ability: Explorer. Crew of any nationality may use their abilities on this ship.
Link: Matthew FlindersYou can find my custom sets here: Pirates of the Age of Sail and Pirates of the Epic Seas
Nice ship, I quite like the Clouds of Strelbair. Also nice to see Hidden Gold on another ship. I think that I kind of dropped the keyword actually, since it’s only been on one of my Customs, and after reviewing it I think you and GM recommended that it become a written out ability.
Anywho, Hidden Gold is fun, but it has LIMIT built into it. I might change that so that only the Carnage has LIMIT, but its important to remember when making a fleet, or using in a campaign.
Full keyword breakdown would look like:
Hidden Gold: This ship has 2 extra cargo spaces that may only be taken by TREASURE. This ship is considered to have the Limit keyword.
I think you and GM recommended that it become a written out ability.
I think we probably said that because of the Limit inclusion. Generally keywords should not be within other keywords. It’s confusing, easy to forget, and leads to looking up chains of abilities just to see what “one” ability does.
I should have mentioned this when I posted the Tesoro – I am using a custom version of your Hidden Gold ability without the Limit keyword. I’m sorry if that’s against your intent with the keyword, but I think it remains a fair ability (not super OP even at a relatively low cost of perhaps 3) and becomes both less confusing and easier to use than it is with Limit attached. Similar to what Woelf has said, I maintain my stance that adding Limit to things is not a good way to reduce their cost or make them less OP. I really like the keyword so I hope you don’t have a problem with me using a modified version of it.
I think we probably said that because of the Limit inclusion. Generally keywords should not be within other keywords. It’s confusing, easy to forget, and leads to looking up chains of abilities just to see what “one” ability does.
I should have mentioned this when I posted the Tesoro – I am using a custom version of your Hidden Gold ability without the Limit keyword. I’m sorry if that’s against your intent with the keyword, but I think it remains a fair ability (not super OP even at a relatively low cost of perhaps 3) and becomes both less confusing and easier to use than it is with Limit attached. Similar to what Woelf has said, I maintain my stance that adding Limit to things is not a good way to reduce their cost or make them less OP. I really like the keyword so I hope you don’t have a problem with me using a modified version of it.
Before you used it, it only appeared on ONE ship, which had a cannon bonus and was Eternal if a captain was present on the ship. I think I included Limit as pat of it because of some discussion in the original custom ships thread, between me, you, and Cazador; and at the time I think I thought that it was a powerful ability. As I mentioned above, I’ll probably re-instate the keyword, and eliminate the Limit part (as you suggested/have already done). I don’t think that will affect the Point Cost of the Carnage much, but I’ll post her for some discussion.
Carnage
Points: 20
Masts: 4
Cagro: 4
Cannons: 3S-2L-2L-3S
Movement: S+S
Ability: Hidden Gold (without Limit ver). If this ship has a captain crew, she gets +1 to her cannon and boarding rolls, and is considered Eternal.
Link: One-Handed John.Like I said, I don’t think removing Limit would affect her cost but I’d like opinions.
Anywho, back to the Keyword. I’m fine with leaving Limit out of it, and go ahead and use it (or any of my other Custom Keywords for that matter) as much or as little as you’d like.
Anywho, back to the Keyword. I’m fine with leaving Limit out of it, and go ahead and use it (or any of my other Custom Keywords for that matter) as much or as little as you’d like.
Great, thanks!
Carnage might be OK at 20, just don’t go any lower. 🙂
@Ben
Just looked a bit through your customs sheet and discovered your three planned lighthouses. I’m excited to see what ideas you have for them. The Pillar of Eternity is a great addition already. Its ability (I won’t spoil your announcement of it since it has yet to be revealed) fits right into preexisting Pirates abilities so it doesn’t seem so foreign as many of my lighthouses do. Plus love the flavor text!
Also is there a planned “Published Custom” thread or how would you like us to present all our finalized customs?
@ Everyone
On a side note, should this forum be broken up into pages? From personal experience it takes forever to slide through all the posts on my phone…. what do you all think?@Ben
Just looked a bit through your customs sheet and discovered your three planned lighthouses. I’m excited to see what ideas you have for them. The Pillar of Eternity is a great addition already. Its ability (I won’t spoil your announcement of it since it has yet to be revealed) fits right into preexisting Pirates abilities so it doesn’t seem so foreign as many of my lighthouses do. Plus love the flavor text!
Thanks! 😀 I haven’t quite completed a full custom lighthouse of my own yet, but between some fantasy ideas and some historical precedents, I couldn’t resist your idea. 🙂 As said elsewhere, the Age of Sail sheet is much messier and random than Epic Seas, because a lot of times I just dump links to stuff I’ll make later so I don’t forget.
Also is there a planned “Published Custom” thread or how would you like us to present all our finalized customs?
I’m a big believer in data storage and backup. I think each person having a Google Spreadsheet like mine for each set or all of their sets/customs is the way to go for various reasons. I suppose it’s partly just because I don’t want people to be mad at me if they lose stuff they’ve submitted here (if the hosting company screwed up, or I accidentally “broke” the forum temporarily while editing the site), but I think it’s best for each person to store their customs somewhere other than where they publicly might release them.
As I said a few days ago:
Pros of using a Google Spreadsheet: updated instantly (no need to redo file uploads to BGG/elsewhere when a simple change is made), people can view changes in real time, very easy to share, very searchable/sortable (you can sort columns by mast count, filter out a specific faction, find every instance of an ability very quickly, etc), other people don’t need to download anything, you can download the spreadsheet in various file formats including .xlsx whenever you want. (I download a copy whenever I add 10+ pieces to either of my sets in one session, so even if google drive implodes or becomes unavailable/etc I’ll still have a copy on my computer, then you can also periodically reupload that file to a file storage site for extra backup)
I think a shared online spreadsheet works best for the above reasons. I’d prefer to not have another Organized Version thread, because even that requires editing and people’s posts become out of date. In terms of showing which customs in an online spreadsheet are to be used or not, simple things can be implemented. For example, a “finalized” sheet and an “under construction” sheet in the same document. Or as I do it, leave a stat blank, and obviously the custom is not to be used. I prefer to just put a question mark after a point cost or whatever to mark that something isn’t finalized and isn’t ready for playtesting.
I really like that a shared spreadsheet can have changes seen in real time (I just made the Pillar of Eternity for example!) and doesn’t require uploading a new spreadsheet document to the web for every little change (of which there can be many, as seen in the custom review podcast episodes). It’s also easier to share, since links to the shared sheet can be posted on pretty much any website, but file sharing is less ubiquitous and usually requires the viewer to download a file to their computer (which could already be out of date by the time they download it). I may try to let users upload files to this site someday, but there are other things to do first….
On a side note, should this forum be broken up into pages? From personal experience it takes forever to slide through all the posts on my phone…. what do you all think?
Yes. That is something I hope to work on very soon, especially for this thread. This thread loads a bit slow for me nowadays and I understand that compromises how much people will post. I’d prefer more than the 15 posts per thread page at MT (since it makes searching with ctrl+f far easier), but this one has ballooned and should be broken up.
I actually have forum pagination enabled, but for some reason it just doesn’t work. (based on my settings, it should already work as you want it to, so I’ll have to figure out why it’s not)
Sam Grunis
Type: Crew
Faction Affiliation: American
Rarity: U
Point Value: 7
Ability: Loyal: America. Captain. Reroll. Place this crew face up during setup. Reduce the cost of all other crew placed on this ship by 1.Flavor text: Although just 25, Sam Grunis has proved a very capable captain for the U.S. Navy. He has thrived in every situation thus far in his career, and is exceptional at providing care and motivation for every member of his crew.
Historical Custom of the Day #367
HMS Sirius
Type: Ship
Faction Affiliation: English
Rarity: C
Point Value: 7
Number of Masts: 2
Cargo Space: 4
Base Move: S+S
Cannons: 4S-4L
Ability: This ship gets -1 to her reef rolls.
Link: Thomas Jamison, John Hunter, Arthur Phillip, Robert Ross, Daniel Southwell, Jacob NagleYou can find my custom sets here: Pirates of the Age of Sail and Pirates of the Epic Seas
White Cannon
Type: Ship
Faction Affiliation: French
Rarity: R
Point Value: 6
Number of Masts: 1
Cargo Space: 2
Base Move: S+S
Cannons: 3S
Ability: Galley. Parley.Flavor text: This ship was built solely to transport the beautiful, valuable, and useless cannon made of marble and ivory. The gun and carriage are so heavy that the ship needs full oar power to move at a reasonable pace. Merely a status symbol for the King of France, opponents usually ignore the small galley when they learn of the cargo she carries. More intrigued opponents are paid off using the King’s stores of gold permanently kept aboard.
Historical Custom of the Day #368
Arthur Phillip
English
Crew
7 points
Ability: Captain. This crew can use his abilities on Portuguese ships. This ship gets +1 to her cannon rolls against Spanish ships. Once per turn, this ship may look at one face-down cargo on any ship. This ship gets +1 to her boarding rolls against sea creatures.
Link: HMS Buckingham, HMS Stirling Castle, HMS Egmont, HMS Europa, HMS Sirius, Atlantic, BennelongYou can find my custom sets here: Pirates of the Age of Sail and Pirates of the Epic Seas
Ocean’s Bounty
Type: Ship
Faction Affiliation: Mercenary
Rarity: LE
Point Value: 30
Number of Masts: 10
Cargo Space: 5
Base Move: L
Cannons: 3S-3S-4L-4L-4L-3L-3L-4L-4S-4S
Ability: Mercenary. Junk. Reroll. Hidden Gold. All crew on this ship have the Ransom keyword. Pirate and Cursed crew can use their abilities on this ship.
Link: Cartavius HawkingReroll: Once per turn, you can reroll any die roll you make for this ship; you must use the second die roll result.
Hidden Gold (by Xerecs): This ship has 2 extra cargo spaces that may only be assigned treasure.Flavor text: This scourge of the law attracts criminals from around the world. There a price on the head of every single sailor who steps foot on the Ocean’s Bounty. Her captain has been deemed a war criminal by nearly every seafaring nation, but that doesn’t stop disgruntled convicts from signing up to participate in the chaos and revelry.
Cartavius Hawking
Type: Crew
Faction Affiliation: Mercenary
Rarity: LE
Point Value: 5
Ability: Captain. Helmsman. Place this crew face up during setup. Reduce the cost of all other crew placed on this ship by 1. This crew can only use his abilities on his linked ship.
Link: Ocean’s BountyFlavor text: After one missed payment, Hawking decided to go rogue. Stealing a massive ship from Hong Kong, he quickly assembled a crew of former mercenaries who felt wronged by the warmongers of Europe. Now he accepts even lesser scum and villainy, which only serves to increase his amusement when they anger his former employers. Despite his “most wanted” status, he has been able to work his way out of difficult situations thus far. With a smirk and a shot to the head, Hawking has no love left for civility or legality.
I know Hawking is underpriced. I think it is justified because he can only serve on his ship, and Reducer is more worth 1 point than 2.
Historical Custom of the Day #369
John Hunter
English
Crew
4 points
Ability: Helmsman. This ship ignores terrain when she is given a move action.
Link: All English Ships, John JervisI was going to have him link to the ships he served on because that’s how I like to do it, but it starts to become redundant after 5+. And Hunter got around in his long career – I think there were at least a dozen ships listed that he served on! He is yet another crew that could be a Politician in things like the Caribbean game.
This latest string of English explorers of Australia has opened up a ton of new customs, so the Hcustoms will probably be English for a while. Planning to stick mostly with crew though.
You can find my custom sets here: Pirates of the Age of Sail and Pirates of the Epic Seas
Interesting combo there. I’ve wondered what HG would look like on a ten, and here it is! 😀 The bounty only has 7 total cargo (5+2 from HG) and a base move of L, so she’d be a slow hybrid type of thing. Then again, at 30 points, the Mercs have some crazy stuff in their ranks, so it could quickly become some kind of dreadnought.
Given his last name, is Cartavius related to Jack Hawkins in some way? I think I’d like to see a version of that ability that is not limited to functioning only on its linked ship. If that stipulation is removed, I’d think a crew with those abilities would be around 6-7 points, depending on how you want to value abilities.
Then again, at 30 points, the Mercs have some crazy stuff in their ranks, so it could quickly become some kind of dreadnought.
And the Pirates and Cursed make it even crazier. If not for the “all crew have Ransom” negative ability, I’d put this at 35 points, and possibly more like 40.
Given his last name, is Cartavius related to Jack Hawkins in some way?
… perhaps that’s something that the in-game characters will have to figure out….
I think I’d like to see a version of that ability that is not limited to functioning only on its linked ship.
The Reducer ability? Vinicio Castillo from RtSS has it with other abilities. Basically Wizkids priced the ability at 2, it’s really only worth 1, and I’m giving it to Hawkins for free as of now due to his limitation and because keeping his cost low helps to fit even more crew on the ship, tying into the flavor text of both and the Ocean’s Bounty crew ability.
Ardiendo en Infierno
Type: Ship
Faction Affiliation: Spanish
Rarity: R
Point Value: 15
Number of Masts: 5
Cargo Space: 3
Base Move: S+L
Cannons: 4L-3S-3S-3S-4L
Ability: Crew Killing. [Once per turn when this ship hits an enemy ship, also eliminate one crew from that ship.]
Link: Sultana MarcónFlavor text: “Burning in Hell” is an apt description of the Sultana’s former enemies. Her vessel makes up for old cannons with surprising speed. Additional firepower is occasionally provided through her passionate crew complement.
Sultana Marcón
Type: Crew
Faction Affiliation: Spanish
Rarity: U
Point Value: 8
Ability: Captain. Fear. Once per turn you may eliminate one mast from a friendly ship within S of this ship to give this ship +1 to her cannon rolls this turn.
Link: Ardiendo en InfiernoFlavor text: A fierce female commander, “the Sultana” may have African origins. Her ferocious fighting style and aggressiveness have earned respect from friend and foe alike.
Historical Custom of the Day #370
Robert Ross
English
Crew
2 points
Ability: Marine. Each turn, one of this ship’s crew cannot use their abilities. You may make a different choice each turn.
Link: HMS Sirius, Scarborough, HMS GorgonI know this is kinda bizarre, but you’ll understand his negative ability if you read up on him. Might be worth 3 since you could just “cancel” your own oarsman/shipwright/etc until you needed them, but I’m very tempted to just start pricing Marine at 4 rather than 5 (Wizkids’ 6 is ridiculous), in which case I think the negative is worth maybe -2. Definitely the type of crew you’d want on a high cargo gunship with crew to spare. He’d probably just be dumped on an island to avoid the negative, but he would quarrel with people on the way there. XD
You can find my custom sets here: Pirates of the Age of Sail and Pirates of the Epic Seas
Normally I try to avoid remakes of Wizkids game pieces, but in the case of one of my favorites, I couldn’t resist. 😀
Draconum
Type: Ship
Faction Affiliation: Pirate
Rarity: R
Point Value: 19
Number of Masts: 3
Cargo Space: 3
Base Move: S+S
Cannons: 2S-2S-2S
Ability: Bombardier. Once per turn you may give a Pirate ship within S of this ship +1 to her cannon rolls this turn against non-Pirate game pieces.
Link: Lord Henry McLeanFlavor text: With a copper bottom and more experienced gunners, Mission has transformed the Draconum from a laughingstock to one of the most feared bombardiers ever seen. Some say he has become a bit too fancy, preferring to let other ships in his fleet do his dirty work.
Lord Henry McLean
Type: Crew
Faction Affiliation: Pirate
Rarity: R
Point Value: 10
Ability: AA. [Once at the beginning of each of your turns, roll a d6. On a result of 6, any ship in your fleet may be given two actions that turn.] World Hater. [This ship gets +1 to her cannon rolls against any [non-faction] ship.]
Link: DraconumFlavor text: The venerable Captain Mission has returned to his roots, now preferring to be called by his real name for the first time in years. He has also returned to commanding some of the largest Pirate fleets ever seen in the Indian Ocean. As his reputation has grown over time, so too have his skills, following, and the reward for his severed head.
Historical Custom of the Day #371
Daniel Southwell
English
Crew
3 points
Ability: Helmsman. Once per turn you may look at one face down cargo within L of this crew [this ability can be used anywhere].
Link: HMS Sirius, HMS Ocean, HMS MonkeyYou can find my custom sets here: Pirates of the Age of Sail and Pirates of the Epic Seas
Interesting remake. I assume the Bombardier cannon is 3S, since I don’t see it listed with the other cannons? I think this is a much improved version of the Draconum, almost too good. Her cargo I think holds her back from being exceptional, which I think is good, otherwise no one would use the original. 😀
I also like her linked crew. I assume then, that you’d be unable to use him with the other versions of Mission/Myssion? Flavor implications aside, I like the combination of WH and fleet admiral, as it allows for a fleet admiral to be on the front lines of a battle, as long as you take steps to prevent his demise….
Interesting remake. I assume the Bombardier cannon is 3S, since I don’t see it listed with the other cannons? I think this is a much improved version of the Draconum, almost too good. Her cargo I think holds her back from being exceptional, which I think is good, otherwise no one would use the original.
Yes, I forgot to list the Bombardier cannon but I plan to keep them at 3S for all my custom Bombardiers. I felt like Mission’s power could grow and he could use some of his “kingdom” wealth to improve one of his ships.
Yes, this is the exact same Captain Mission/Mysion. I guess I have just made it even more confusing by following in Wizkids’ footsteps and giving a recurring character yet another alternate name. XD But I thought it was fitting based on his prior versions, and since in F&S his portrait is rather not piratey, he now prefers a fancy name to his old moniker. XD Based on his very impressive Wizkids flavor text that I like a lot, I felt it was time for him to “graduate” to being one of the top Pirate named crew in terms of cost and ability power. (obviously his MI and RotF versions are quite good, but I wanted more of an admiral/lord type crew idea) Hopefully he’s not too tailor-made for 10 masters; I might restrict the WH ability to only his linked ships. Thanks for commenting on my customs, it’s fun to keep a dialogue going. I think the next month or two of releases will be worth talking about as well. XD
Skipping the Vikings to get to the Mercenaries. Given how much stuff there is to “release” from this set, and given some potential life changes this year, I plan to only accelerate the pace at which I release the expensive and powerful/interesting stuff, so as to get that stuff out as soon as possible. The chaos will keep coming. XD
Starfire
Type: Ship
Faction Affiliation: Mercenary
Rarity: U
Point Value: 23
Number of Masts: 4
Cargo Space: 3
Base Move: L
Cannons: 2S-3L-3L-2S
Ability: Mercenary. Each time this ship hits an enemy ship, replace masts with fire masts instead of eliminating them. Each time this ship hits an enemy ship with a 6, replace 2 masts with fire masts instead of eliminating a mast.
Link: HarrionFlavor text: The ultimate pyro displays that the Starfire sets off on a near-nightly basis has some in the Philippines calling for her captain’s arrest.
Harrion
Type: Crew
Faction Affiliation: Mercenary
Rarity: C
Point Value: 7
Ability: Captain. Reroll. [Once per turn, you can reroll any die roll you make for this ship; you must use the second die roll result.] Grapple Shot Specialist. [Once per turn when this ship is given a shoot action, one of her cannons can shoot a grapple shot. Declare which cannon will shoot the grapple shot before rolling the d6. If it hits, do not eliminate a mast; instead this ship can initiate a boarding party against the target.]
Link: StarfireFlavor text: Known as a high-flying adventurer in the South Pacific, Harrion’s legend grows with each passing month. He is both a warmonger for hire and a scholarly gentleman. His favorite occupation involves using grappling techniques to surprise enemies with the quickness of his physical attacks. When not in command of his fiery flagship the Starfire, he can often be found ambushing would-be friends from Stormguard Fortress.
Stormguard
Type: Fort
Faction Affiliation: Mercenary
Rarity: C
Gold Cost: 4
Cannons: 2S-2S-2L-2L
Ability: This fort ignores the first hit she takes each turn as long as she has all of her flags. Harrion can use his abilities in this fort. This fort is immune to storm terrain.Flavor text: A well constructed and well armed fortress, Harrion’s personal hideaway has all the amenities that lifelong international criminals could want at their disposal.
In a “regular” Pirates set Harrion is the type of character that would be Rare or Uncommon, but in Epic Seas, he is relegated to Common due to the sheer number of powerful and influential figures “ahead” of him. In general I like the idea of Harrion grappling opponents with Stormguard’s cannons; the fort could have a boarding base of her remaining flags and as usual either a crew would be eliminated or gold taken. That requires more house ruling than I’d like to bother putting into ability text form, but I hope it’s a simple enough concept.
LOTS more cool stuff coming! 😀
Historical Custom of the Day #372
Jacob Nagle
English
Crew
8 points?
Ability: If this ship returns a captured derelict to your home island, you may eliminate that ship and all her cargo from the game to place 5 gold on your home island. This crew can use his abilities on American ships.
Link: HMS Sirius, HMS HectorDefinitely looking for feedback on this one. Trying to come up with an ability for the “prize master” position, especially since I didn’t find much evidence of his other exploits. (could add/substitute basic stuff like Musketeer or Marine given the soldier description, but I think there will be enough named crew like that…) I think I’m getting into a can of worms, but I don’t want the capture to be fully redeemable for gold (ex: an 18 point ship turns into 18 gold) even if it gets fully repaired, and I don’t want to give +1 gold automatically for every mast eliminated since it doesn’t really reflect what he did…. A very experimental crew that I can always just nerf into a basic Marine or Helmsman/Musketeer/etc.
You can find my custom sets here: Pirates of the Age of Sail and Pirates of the Epic Seas
I usually don’t comment on the Historical customs (since I’m usually not well read on them), but Nagle looks awesome! I agree he could be very powerful in a game, and combining him with Commander Temple could get messy in games with a point limit (basically anything not a campaign). I think the way you’ve worded the ability is fine, and 5 gold I think is fine, I mean Barbary Banner is essentially a 5 coin to any non-corsairs.
Those mercs are very interesting. I like the Starfire, I experimented with that on a few pieces from SpMg. Her base move and cargo are nothing special, but that’s good, since her main ability is devestating, not even a high point cost could keep it from being OP or broken. This is one ship you’d HAVE to get the first shot on, or have a canceller handy.
Harrion is cool, I like the combination of Captain and re-roll, and the grapple shot makes him quite intriguing. With that you could put him on a sniping ship and go nuts, or combine him with WK Nemo for even more fun.
Stormguard sounds like it came out of a fantasy novel, I love that name! Anywho, nice little fort. A decent defensive ability for a fort, and allowing Harrion to use his abilities IN the fort is interesting and cool.
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