A pirate RPG where the crew has its own opinion
You took the ship from a captain who deserved it, and the crew have not yet decided whether that makes you one of them or the next problem. The treasure you are all chasing has drowned everyone who has ever found it.
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No account, no card, nothing to install. The world's lore is already built, so it starts in seconds.
A mutiny needs somebody keeping score
The crew, the rival captains and what each of them wants exist before your first turn and persist between them, so loyalty is something you spend and can lose rather than a mood the narrator sets fresh each scene.
The world
On the pirate haven of Tortuga's Echo, a torn half-map promises the Drowned King's hoard—and a curse that has sent a dozen captains to the deep. The Black Maris sets sail anyway.
The Saltreach is a sea of fog-shrouded isles, naval frigates, and free pirate ports where reputation is law. Old gods sleep beneath the waves, and the deepest treasures are guarded by curses that the greedy always think they can outrun.
Who is in it
- The Crimson Fleet
- a confederation of pirate captains bound by a brutal accord.
- Royal Navy of Carrick
- the crown's hunters, dedicated to clearing the Saltreach.
- Cult of the Drowned King
- worshippers who guard the cursed hoard's location.
Where you go
- Tortuga's Echo
- a lawless pirate port carved into a volcanic crag.
- The Maw
- a whirlpool-ringed isle where the Drowned King's hoard is said to lie.
- Carrick Harbor
- the navy's fortified home port and gallows.
What already happened
- The Mutiny on the Black Maris
- the night the crew chose plunder over their drowned captain.
- The Sinking of the Tide's Mercy
- the last ship to find the hoard, lost with all hands.
Who you can play
-
Quartermaster Isabel Vane Mutineer captain
A sharp, ambitious captain balancing on the knife-edge of her crew's loyalty.
At the start: newly risen to captain over a wary, divided crew.
-
Old Barnaby Cursed navigator
A salt-crusted old navigator who has already seen the treasure—and what it costs.
At the start: haunted, half-drowned in dreams of the King beneath the waves.
Or write your own character — the setup form takes a name, a background and what you are good at, and the game master works from that instead.
How a turn works
- You say what your character does, in your own words.
- What you attempted is weighed against your character sheet and the state of the scene — and the outcome is settled before the scene is written, so the part telling the story does not get to decide that you succeeded.
- The game master narrates what happened, grounded in the world's own characters, factions and places, and remembers it for the rest of the run.
Start playing The Salt-Cursed Sea →