A Review of the Role Playing Game Supplement Monstrous Lair #75: Pirate Ship

Monstrous Lair #75: Pirate Ship by Robert Mason is a role playing game supplement published by Raging Swan Press. The supplement is stated to be system neutral, but also compatible with any version of Dungeons & Dragons, and is therefore covered by the Open Game License with some parts considered to be Open Game Content as a result.

The supplement is available as an 8-page PDF for $1.65 from DriveThruRPG but was purchased at a reduced price thanks to a special offer. The supplement comes in two versions, a plaintext file and a PDF. Two pages of the PDF are the front and rear covers, two pages are ads, about half a page the front matter and Contents and one page the Open Game License.

Using this Monstrous Lair is a standard piece of text for the series and explains what the tables are and that the supplement makes two assumptions; the GM has a map of the lair and stats for monsters and details of any treasure.

The opening paragraph has some details on pirate ships, before moving on to the d10 tables.

1: Outside the Lair has things that can be found near the pirate ship.

2: What’s Going On? are things the pirates might be doing.

3: Major Lair Features are major features of the ship.

4: Minor Lair Features are similar but minor.

5: Pirate’s Appearance has ten descriptions for pirates.

6: Treasure are items of value, though no values are given.

7: Trinkets & Trash are generally worthless or low-value items.

Monstrous Lair #75: Pirate Ship in Review

The PDF is bookmarked with major and minor sections linked. The Contents are to a similar level of depth and is hyperlinked. The text maintains a two-column format and appeared to be free of errors. There is a single piece of black and white stock art. Presentation is okay.

The first major thought is that this supplement reads a little odd. Ships move and are not lairs, and it feels like changes should have been made to account for this. “Major Ship Features” would sound better than “Major Lair Features” for instance. In addition, there’s a general feeling that the ship has been portrayed only at rest, in an attempt to get around this, which leads to a feeling that this is like the Pirates’ Cove, just floating. It’s not bad, but the oddities make it feel a little off. Monstrous Lair #75: Pirate Ship can be found by clicking here.