Green Ronin Designer Spotlight

Black Sails Over Freeport, the biggest Freeport adventure ever and the first mega-adventure for the 3.5 rules, will be upon us very soon now. We thought Freeport fans might be interested to get the authors' perspective on the book. Brian E. Kirby, Robert Lawson, William Simoni, and Robert J. Toth were kind enough to answer some questions about their baby--their big, big baby!

Q: Why should anyone buy this book?

A: Not anyone! GMs only!

Seriously, we hope that there will be something for everyone in here. Our playtesters were a varied bunch; from seasoned old (!) players to fresh-faced 3rd-Edition newbies - and everyone had a lot of fun.

Q: Does this adventure take place only in and around Freeport or do the characters journey elsewhere?

A: And how. The main action takes place on the Islands of the Damned--a mythical archipelago that appears every century and a half and hides a god's ransom in treasure. (Sort of a cross between Atlantis and Brigadoon, with a little Bermuda Triangle thrown in just because.) Each island is controlled by a different villain, and each holds a different piece of the puzzle the players will need to unlock the treasure hoard.

We made sure to give each island a distinct mood, cast of characters and set of challenges. In essence, every island is its own mini-module, as different from the rest as, say, "Expedition to the Barrier Peaks" is different from "Tomb of Horrors."

That means all sorts of possibilities for the players. They'll face classic dungeon crawls, beat-the-clock races to safety, armies of undead, giant apes, flying skulls--a great mix of hack-and-slash, problem-solving and role-playing. And, of course, at the end of it all is a huge stash of treasure. You can't spend it when you're dead!

There's also plenty in the module for diehard Freeport fans. If the Islands are the centerpiece of the adventure, Freeport is the framework--it's where you start, and where you finish (in the biggest free-for-all the city has ever seen). The adventure introduces an unlikely new contender for the Sea Lord's throne and takes the players into unexplored sections of the city, from the prison Hulks to the Temple of the Pirate God. It also creates a detailed mythology for Freeport's patron deity--and the cosmic villain who wants to shower unholy love on the City of Adventure.

Q: How did you get the idea for the book? What were your influences in writing it?

A: We had a couple of very firm goals going in. We're all fans of the "Power Behind the Throne" campaign for Warhammer, and we wanted to take a crack at writing something with the same scope and wickedness for D&D. Along with that, we wanted to do something centered on pirates: It seemed like a natural fit for Freeport, and it hadn't been done on a large scale yet.

When the dust cleared, we ended up with a cosmic swashbuckling treasure hunt that alluded to everything from "Dawn of the Dead" to "Zardoz" to "Zelda." Don't ask how.

Q: Will people need to know about Freeport in order to play the adventure?

A: No. At the start of the module, we have two possible entry points for the party. One is designed for players that already call the city of adventure their home. The other is designed for players fresh off the boat experiencing the wretched hive of scum and villainy for the first time. This concept is carried on throughout the module, allowing players with contacts in the city to use them while also providing first timers with a path to follow. In addition, ownership of the Freeport: City of Adventure source book is not required to run this module. That said, the beginning and end of the module take place in and around Freeport, so groups that have knowledge of the city and some history there will certainly enjoy the module that much more.

In the spirit of the Freeport product line, it is also possible for a game master to tailor this adventure to her own campaign world. The movers and shakers in the story are not part of the established Freeport history and they can be replaced with a little effort by groups or NPC's specific to your campaign world. And since the main part of the module takes place in a faraway archipelago of strange islands, setting up the module in your campaign world should be a snap.

Q: Why did you guys write this module?

A: The simplest answer of course is that we got paid to do it, but if that were true we would have some serious problems. The idea of working together on a project kind of grew out of our friendship and love of gaming. The four of us have known each other since our college days. We game together on a regular basis and we often attend gaming conventions together. Some of us have written things for Green Ronin in the past and we were anxious to get another project going. Chris told us he was looking for a mega-module for the Freeport line so we jumped in. Each of us has different strengths that we brought to the project and our collaborative effort made this module a lot of fun to design and, we think, a hell of a good adventure.

Q: Are there any new monsters in the book? If so, can you give us an idea about what they might be without giving too much away?

A: There are some new monsters, yes, as well as a whole lot of ravenous, shambling, brain-hungry old favorites--hopefully with a new twist or two! Plus, we threw some pirates in there for good measure.

But despite what you may have heard on the Internet, there are no vegepygmies! (OGC???)

Q: What are the ideal levels for the player characters?

A: The module is designed to begin with a well-balanced party of 4-6 players. Their average party level should be around 6 to 7. Based on play testing results, we anticipate that by the end of the module, the characters could very well reach 14th-16th level!

Q: You noted in the GR forums that the book doesn't deal with Freeport's succession crisis. Why wasn't that addressed?

A: Well, originally it was in the book. As the story started to take shape we began cutting down the threads about the succession in order to make room for the rest of the plot. Eventually we decided that dropping it altogether would be preferable to trying to shoehorn it into what was already a pretty complicated story. It is something we’d love to resolve (or see resolved, if other designers end up doing it), but we’ll have to see.

However, we do include an optional bit in the latter section of the book that will allow you to shape the succession in a manner of your choosing. And there is the small manner of that rather unique addition to the line of Sea Lord contenders...

Q: How long should it take my gaming group to play this adventure?

A: That will depend somewhat on how often you play and for how long. If you have a group of around 4 players who play for about 4 hours a week, we’d estimate that it should take you anywhere between 4-6 months.

Of course, your mileage will vary.

Q: How would you describe this adventure? Is it role-playing, dungeon crawling, or problem-solving?

A: We touched upon this previously, but the book is quite a bit of all three of those elements, actually. We’ve tried very hard to create NPCs with some depth--nowhere in the book will the NPCs simply help the players just because they’re asked. We’ve given the NPCs motivations as to what they want, why they want it, and what it might take to convince them otherwise.

Interacting with NPCs is a significant part of the adventure’s problem-solving aspect. Many of them will have information (or items) that the players will need in order to move the adventure forward. Then again, once your players have gotten what they think they need, they’ll have a bunch of other problems to deal with.

Black Sails also comes with dungeons aplenty--small dungeons, big dungeons, flying dungeons, you name it. And if you’re looking for something other than underground combat, there are riots, chases through city streets, and battles on the open seas thrown in for good measure. If your players still want more when they’re finished--well, maybe they should get some help.

Q: Thanks for your time, fellas. I bet you're relieved the book is finally going to come out!

A: You can say that again. It's been a long road but we are very pleased with the results. We hope people have as much fun running it as we had writing it.