Thanks.
Anyway, they are not a transplanted culture - they are a right mixture blended from loads of different piratical traditions imported from the outer world. My memory says that they have no cultural weapons and armour limits - we certainly are not playing with any.
They also have one interesting anomaly - due to weather patterns etc, although they are equatorial in location they have a tropical/sub-tropical climate. The inspiration here seems to be the Carribbean and all the pirate stories that have arisen from it.
Another thing, though not neccesarily a problem is how classic pirates don't really fit in the Hollow World. Pirates, such as featured in the Pirates of the Caribbean or the Treasure Island novel belong somewhere in the 17th C. While I dont have a probablem tweaking such a culture into Outer World Mystara, the general flavor of the Hollow World is much more one of ancient civilizations and leans more towards Pulp Sword & Sorcery than Swashbuckling.
One idea could be to make the pirates more like the pirates from the african coasts who plagued the Roman Empire. Or perhaps like the pirates featured in the Conan stories. What do you think of this alternative interpretation of the "merry" pirates?
Havard
Håvard
Another thing, though not neccesarily a problem is how classic pirates don't really fit in the Hollow World. Pirates, such as featured in the Pirates of the Caribbean or the Treasure Island novel belong somewhere in the 17th C. While I dont have a probablem tweaking such a culture into Outer World Mystara, the general flavor of the Hollow World is much more one of ancient civilizations and leans more towards Pulp Sword & Sorcery than Swashbuckling.
FWIW, the idea of pirates inside a hollow planet may have been a nod to the *original* "Hollow World" of Pellucidar. Burroughs' classic hollow-earth novel series included its own culture of rapacious corsairs, whose pirate ancestors had accidentally sailed into one of the polar openings and wound up in the planet's interior. The Pellucidaran pirates had forgotten most of their own 17th-century technology, IIRC, but they retained their sailing and raiding habits and posed a serious menace to their primitive neighbors: there was very little that was "Merry" about them.
... the Merry Pirates are mainly of Traldar descent and turned to piracy in order to survive in the Hollow World. Korotiku(?) took a liking to them and soon added other cultures(Ostlanders, Thyatian and Halflings) to make up a unique new culture.
Isn't that against Hollow World principles (i.e. that the cultures are "frozen" and cannot evolve)?
And, Havard - I like the idea of the African-like pirates.
Isn't that against Hollow World principles (i.e. that the cultures are "frozen" and cannot evolve)?
I thought so too. i guess you'll have to ask Aaron Allston about that.
that Korotiku, the Immortal patron of the Merry Pirates,
got permission from his allies to bend the rules of
the Spell of Preservation to allow the different
pirates to blend together.
FWIW, the idea of pirates inside a hollow planet may have been a nod to the *original* "Hollow World" of Pellucidar. Burroughs' classic hollow-earth novel series included its own culture of rapacious corsairs, whose pirate ancestors had accidentally sailed into one of the polar openings and wound up in the planet's interior. The Pellucidaran pirates had forgotten most of their own 17th-century technology, IIRC, but they retained their sailing and raiding habits and posed a serious menace to their primitive neighbors: there was very little that was "Merry" about them.
Interesting.
I never got around to reading any of those novels, though it might be interesting for further inspiration on the Hollow World. Perhaps some more cultures from Pellucidar could be added to the HW? Making the pirates more like the Pellucidarian ones might be interesting. I actually don't mind them being merry, but having them be *known as* the merry pirates sort of bugs me. That and mixing a 17th C culture with a lot of real ancient ones. But the name thing is more important. Håvard
It mentions in the DM sourcebook for Hollow World
that Korotiku, the Immortal patron of the Merry Pirates,
got permission from his allies to bend the rules of
the Spell of Preservation to allow the different
pirates to blend together.
Really? Interesting.
On what grounds?
I mean - why are they any different from the others?
to the rule. He probably convinced the other Immortals how cool it sounded.
First of all, I think their name is what they call themselves and how they think of themselves: a bunch of care-not, devil-may-take-me merry pirates. Sort of like "Robin Hood and his Merry Men".
As for why they have an advanced 17th century culture in a world of bronze age technology, might that not be due to Korotiku's divine inspiration? I mean, he threw all these different sailing cultures together. It makes sense he gave them a bit of guidance and knowledge to let them evolve into a united culture, huh?
I suppose we could switch to a more grim, evil African piratical culture but IMO that would be a shame. The Merry Pirates have a distinct flavour that makes any encounter with them truly cinematic and not just another hack n' slash orc evil humanoid encounter. (although I must admit I love the term 'Corsairs' :D )
:-) Jesper
I suppose we could switch to a more grim, evil African piratical culture but IMO that would be a shame. The Merry Pirates have a distinct flavour that makes any encounter with them truly cinematic and not just another hack n' slash orc evil humanoid encounter. (although I must admit I love the term 'Corsairs' :D )
The Merry Men of Robin Hood struck me as a likely paralell also. The thing about 17th C type pirates wasn't really intended as an argument about what was most likely. HW is so saturated with world affecting magic that the "Its magic" explaination must be accepted in alot of cases. What I was getting at was more that perhaps the 17th C culture didnt match very well with the overall flavour of the HW since pretty much every other culture stems fits into an Ancient World type setting. Come to think of it, the Blacklore don't fit that, but they are sort of the real outsiders of the HW anyway, arent they?
In any case, I don't neccesarily have a problem with keeping the Merry Pirates the way they are. I don't even mind them calling themselves the Merry Pirates. I just doubt that others will call them that, especially after being robbed, made walk the plank or whatnot.
Just a thought
Håvard