Swashbuckling Thought of the Day 2020-03-31

A swashbuckling game ought to be flavorful. It ought to transport one to another time and place, heighten the drama, quicken the pace. It ought to stir the imagination, inspire herioc action, but also provide for romantic interaction (one of the greatest motivations in swashbuckling fiction). Dare I say that swashbuckling, even as a game, ought to aspire to the poetic and not just the name?

Swashbuckling Thought of the Day 2020-02-29

If a swashbuckling game doesn't reward you for accomplishing dangerous deeds, or it actively discourages (or prevents) you from attempting them, then I don't think that game is a worthwhile emulator of the genre. Ideally, a swashbuckling game ought to facilitate and encourage derring-do, and not force players to endure a slog of monotonous activities and extended incompetence.

If ye cannot handle a sword, do not bear one.

Deed Dice and Luck Points on the Horizon

In my search for the perfect role-playing system for swashbuckling, I gravitate toward those of a more freeform nature (Fudge, Sherpa, Risus, Prince Valiant, etc.), but one of the swashbuckliest systems I've seen in terms of specific rules mechanics is Dungeon Crawl Classics RPG. From the Heroic Deeds of the Warrior class to the way Luck functions for the Thief class, many a swashbuckling subgenre could be adapted with little fuss, and I'm tempted to give it a go myself. I know there is a pirate-themed DCC RPG game in the works by a third party publisher, but there are plenty of other swashbuckling settings to tap...

Perhaps a new project for 2020?

The Sea Hawk (1940) Reviewed

Original Review

It is the dawn of the golden age of piracy, when Spain was claiming dominion over the oceans and plundering the wealth of the New World — and England was plundering Spanish treasure ships. The Sea Hawk served a dual purpose in 1940 as both a rollicking, swashbuckling adventure starring the most popular swashbuckler of his time, Errol Flynn (as privateer Geoffrey Thorpe), and as a thoughtful allegory of the most pressing concern of the time, England's resistance to Germany's ambitions of global domination. As a testament to how seriously it was taken, thespian Flora Robson was enlisted to play the part of Queen Elizabeth and reportedly inspired Flynn to unprecedented heights of professional behavior out of his admiration for her (Robson).

The Sea Hawk was a considerable improvement over its nautical forebearer, Captain Blood. The sea battles were more convincing (and made at far greater expense), the plot was more cohesive, the performances had more solidity, and the fight choreography was much more carefully planned. The climactic duel between Errol Flynn's Captain Thorpe and Henry Daniell's Lord Wolfingham (although a stunt double stood in for Daniell) remains a fine example of swordplay in the genre.

It has been claimed that The Sea Hawk was the logical next step in the path that began with Captain Blood and was followed by The Adventures of Robin Hood and The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex in terms of what the public wanted and what the studio had readily available in sets and costumes, but it is more than that. There is far greater unity in the quality of the script, acting, and directing than in its predecessors. Whether it is the result of a convergence of talent tempered by experience, or the greater devotion that was dedicated to the project by virtue of its message, The Sea Hawk is one of the best adventure films of its kind.

Writing: Good
Directing: Great
Acting: Great
Cinematography: Great
Stunts: Good
Swordplay: Great
Panache: Great

Overall Rating: Great
Swashbuckling Rank: Great


[Originally posted in Cuparius.com on 14 April 2010.]

Extended Review

The music of The Sea Hawk was composed by Erich Wolfgang Korngold, and it plays as important a part in the film as the cinematography in conveying the scope and spirit of the story. It is bold without being overbearing, heartfelt without being sentimental, and ultimately patriotic without being nationalistic. It is fittingly iconic of the genre, and as I listen to it, I think hear its influence in some of the best adventure films that followed it decades later.

Written by: Howard Koch and Seton I. Miller
Based on: The Sea Hawk by Rafael Sabatini
Directed by: Michael Curtiz
Performed by: Errol Flynn, Brenda Marshall, Claude Rains, Flora Robson, Alan Hale, Donald Crisp, Henry Daniell, et al.

All for Me Binary Dice

Inspired by the simple odds-and-evens dice pool system of All for Me Grog (usable with any kind of die or coin), I decided to make the system even quicker by purchasing some six-sided binary dice. Faster than tossing coins or separating dice into evens and odds, all you do with binary dice is count those that show 1 instead of 0. There is no quicker dice pool system in the Seven Seas. Arr!

[All for Me Grog is a piratey role-playing game by Ryan Shelton available in PDF and print.]

Calico Jack Rackham's Flag

The flag of "Calico Jack" Rackham. [Edit: Allegedly.]

Captain Blood (1935) Reviewed

Original Review

The first of the great swashbuckling films of the sound era, Captain Blood (1935) provided the first major roles for its two stars, Errol Flynn and Olivia de Havilland. It contains all the right ingredients in mostly the right proportions: gallantry, piracy, duels, sea battles, politics, and romance. Nothing about the film is perfect: the accents are of mixed authenticity, the quality of the acting is variable, and the fight choreography wavers between natural and wooden, but the film's totality outshines its components. Greater swashbuckling films would follow, but Captain Blood carved a wider path for them.

Writing: Good
Directing: Good
Acting: Fair/Good
Cinematography: Good
Stunts: Good
Swordplay: Good
Panache: Good

Overall Rating: Good
Swashbuckling Rank: Good


[Originally posted in Cuparius.com on 27 March 2010.]

Extended Review

Captain Blood, directed by Michael Curtiz and adapted from the novel by Rafael Sabatini, is the story of one Dr. Peter Blood (played by Errol Flynn), an Irish physician in England who is charged with treason for administering medical aid to a rebel. Reviews, in my view, are not the place for spoilers, but suffice it to say that one thing leads to another and the good doctor becomes the eponymous Captain Blood, scourge of the Caribbean.

This is a movie that I appreciate more with each viewing. It's a solid pirate movie that served as the opening salvo of Flynn's career as the quintessential swashbuckler of the talkies. Most Hollywood adaptations of novels are as faithful as their depictions of history, and adaptations of historical novels are doubly damned, but the Hollywood swashbuckling film, judged as a unique genre in its own right, has had an enormous and continuing impact on filmmaking and popular culture. Captain Blood can rightly claim a share of the credit.

Written by: Casey Robinson
Based on: Captain Blood: His Odyssey by Rafael Sabatini
Directed by: Michael Curtiz
Performed by: Errol Flynn, Olivia de Haviland, Basil Rathbone, et al.

Death and Dismemberment in All for Me Grog

Combat in All for Me Grog is largely free-form as befits a cinematic swashbuckling game, but it is missing two ingredients that are fundamental to pirate fiction: the dangers of loss of limb and loss of life. The risk of either makes for high stakes and high adventure, so I've worked up some simple house rules to cover both.

First: Death. The rules do not state the circumstances under which a character expires, so the house rule is this:

A character starts with 9 points of Salt. A character's Salt is only reduced by physical harm. A player may never roll more dice in a Bloode action than his or her character's current Salt. Death occurs when a character's Salt is reduced to 0.

A character also starts with 9 points of Influence. A player may never roll more dice in a Skull or Grog action than his or her character's current Influence. A character's Influence is only reduced by mental or emotional harm. Despondency (or insanity) occurs when a character's Influence is reduced to 0.

Healing occurs as per the published rules, but Bloode wounds only restore Salt; Skull or Grog wounds only restore Influence.

Second: Dismemberment. Complicated rules are contrary to the spirit of All for Me Grog, so this is my solution:

A character may avoid the loss of Salt from an injury by taking loss of limb (or another body part) instead. If the Salt loss to be avoided is only 1 point, the character may lose a finger or ear if the player so chooses. If the Salt loss to be avoided is greater than 1 point, the character may lose an arm, leg, hand, foot, or eye as determined by the player.

Loss of a body part will affect a character in logical ways and may result in penalty dice for actions affected by the disability. It may also result in monetary compensation for pirates injured in the line of duty.

This option is subject to GM approval. Circumstances may restrict a player's options for loss of limb (or body part) or not allow for it at all.

[All for Me Grog is a piratey role-playing game by Ryan Shelton available in PDF and print.]

On Choosing a Captain

Some role-playing games, due to their nature, impose a chain of command on the players. Military games and pirate games are among these. Sometimes, however, the selection of a leader presents certain difficulties. Perhaps more than one player covets the position. Perhaps none of the players crave the responsibility or are uncomfortable expressing such a desire. For those role-playing games lacking guidance on the question of assigning formal leaders, here are a few system neutral ideas (with an emphasis on the piratical).

Election

Ordinarily, pirates elected a captain democratically — One crewman: one vote. This can make for an entertaining game itself as players strive to win votes or conspire with others to force the job on an unwilling mate. This could be conducted by having the players verbally declare their choice in order around the table. Or the referee could count to 3 upon which all players point to their captain of choice simultaneously. Or there could be a secret ballot. Any of these methods will create drama or hilarity (or both).

Let Fate Decide

For groups where either nobody wants the position or everyone wants it, the selection of captain can be left to chance. The simplest (and probably the most historically accurate) method of choosing one person at random to do a deed is by shuffling a deck of cards and having each player draw one. Whoever draws the highest ranked card becomes captain. Drawing straws is another popular method, but cards might be more readily accessible to a seaman. Yet another method is to have each player roll a die and whoever rolls highest becomes captain (with those who tie re-rolling). Personally, I think drawing cards is the most interesting of the random methods.

Rite of Combat

When all else fails, command belongs to the victorious. If one player steps up to assume the captaincy and another challenges the claim, then the outcome is determined by combat. Amongst some crews, formal duelling is the preferred method, whether by sword or pistol. Wrestling or fisticuffs are the preference of some and have the benefit of keeping both parties alive. Then there are those who choose savage violence by the most expedient means and give no quarter. Needless to say, this method is the most adversarial and least conducive to cooperative gaming, but, as they say, pirates will be pirates...

Theorizing the Nature of Swashbuckling in 2016

Theoretical Swashbuckling has been adrift on a calm sea with nary a breeze for lo these many months, but I think I spy in the Year of Our Lord Twenty-Hundred and Sixteen, a strong wind a blowin' to fill her sails. High adventure and rich spoils lie yonder!

Specifically, I have a number of things planned for 2016 of interest to swashbucklers. There will be more duels, there will be session reports of at least one role-playing game (All For Me Grog to be precise), and I will start posting reviews of swashbuckling movies (older reviews from Cuparius.com as well as new reviews). Reviews of other swashbuckling role-playing games in my collection may also appear, possibly as two-part articles. The first part would be an overview of the rules and character creation process; the second part would be an assessment of the game as it is actually played. The latter is a challenge, as I need to work near miracles just to schedule gaming sessions with my friends, but it is a goal of mine to play each of these games at least once and share my findings.

A Happy New Year to every last one of ye!

And do be gamin'.