Pirates of Pugmire is a role playing game supplement published by Pugsteady through Onyx Path Publishing. This is a chronicle book for Pugmire and Monarchies of Mau and can be used with either or both, but isn’t standalone. The supplement is based on the Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition SRD 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 from DriveThruRPG as a PDF for $14.88, as a standard colour hardcover for $34.99, as a premium colour hardcover for $53.99, as PDF and standard colour for $38.74 or as PDF and premium colour for $57.74. It is also available in printed form from sites such as Amazon. The PDF is the version reviewed, although it was purchased at a reduced price during a sale, and has 155 pages with two pages being the front and rear covers, two the front matter, five the Table of Contents and one the Open Game License. There is also a two-page PDF character sheet.
Scuffle in Seaport is a short piece of fiction.
Introduction starts with some details on the invention of the plastic hull which made it possible for cats and dogs to sail on the Acid Sea, which previously disintegrated the hulls of vessels that tried. It then explains that this is a chronicle book usable with either main book, or jointly, and gives a brief overview as to what’s included. The theme, mood and action of Pirates is covered, and pirates seek treasure. How to read this book follows, along with explanations of the types of sidebars and texts, an overview of the different sections and chapters and various inspirations for the game.
Chapter One: The Tale of “Stumpy Sabu” is an in-character narration of events in Waterdog Port that gives some background to the setting.
Chapter Two: Pirate’s Life for Me contains what’s needed to make a new character for Pirates of Pugmire, with new game options that can be used in addition to those from other books for the game. The first options are two new species, lizards and birds; there are three lizard families and three bird nestes – parrots are flightless – each of which has some different benefits.
There are two new backgrounds, marine and sailor, which are pretty self-explanatory. The ability score bonus for the new families and nestes are given. There are also new knacks for the new callings that are described later, new knacks for families and nestes and a new background knack. There are some new weapons, especially firearms, and a description of how Gunpowder Panic works, which can affect certain people.
Six new callings are covered, some especially relevant to sailing the Acid Sea. Each is presented in the same manner as calling sin other books. These are crusader, gundog, torpedo, mystic, alkalist and rimer. Two example characters are given, one a lizard, one a bird, using the new rules.
Chapter Three: Rules of the Open Sea has rules for sailing ships, combat on the sea and the functions of a pirate crew. It starts with the crew, who are bound together by Articles. There are several important roles given for the crew, such as captain, and each role has a signed knack, which is a special skill that a crewmember who is signed to that position gets. The Articles are a collection of three rules that bind the crew together. They can be any three things that the crew agrees to and which determine how they behave and what adventures they seek; sample Articles are given. Plunder is what the ship gains from their adventures, and isn’t tracked, but is expended to make good a ship when it returns to port.
Ship details follow, with the statistics for them. This is artillery, hull, seaworthiness and speed. Ships may be improved and details are given on artillery weapons. Three sample ships are then given stats. Ships that sail the Acid Sea also run the risk of getting lost. Various dangers related to sailing the Acid Sea are given, with some rules on crewing ships. Finally, there are some details on spellcasting at sea and some new spells.
Chapter Four: Ports of Call starts with an overview of the pirate life, and how dogs, cats, birds and lizards behave with regards to this, and the effect of gunpowder. Waterdog Port and Port Matthew are then covered. Each city’s history is covered, along with their government, inhabitants and important locations in each city.
Lurker in the Fog is another short piece of fiction.
Chapter Five: Enemies is the bestiary. It starts with Enhancements, which are optional traits that can be added to existing enemies, including those from other books, to give them altered or additional capabilities, some of which increase their CR; one notable one is the enhancement that makes an existing creature amphibious, allowing the easy creation of more nautical enemies from existing. Next there are some broad details on colossal foes, before giving details on the different creatures, many of which are naturally aquatic in nature. There aren’t a huge number of new creatures, which is where the enhancements will help.
Chapter Six: Treasure explains that these are what are called wonders in Pugmire and Monarchies of Mau, but for pirates the legends attached to treasures are more important than what they do. Owning a treasure grants a pirate Notoriety, which grants advantage on certain Charisma rolls but may also increase the chances of others coming after the pirate, and may even be the source of nicknames and titles. Treasures may cause Conditions, including those from Pugmire and Monarchies, along with four new ones. Twelve new treasures are described, with what they do and their Notoriety.
Chapter Seven: Over the Acid Sea covers a variety of places on the Acid Sea itself. Dalmatian Cove, actually a small archipelago of islands, is covered in the most detail and mapped. There is also a map of the Acid Sea in relation to the Monarchies and Pugmire, showing Dalmatian Cove and other points of interest; these other locations are then covered in less detail. There are a number of story hooks that can be used to create adventures and finally a couple of tables for creating ship and island names, each consisting of two d20 tables to be combined.
X Marks the Spot is the final piece of fiction.
Chapter Eight: Rotten Rats starts by explaining that the final section of the book contains three adventures that together form a chronicle called Going on the Account, intended to raise characters from 1st to 6th level. The adventures are each standalone, or can be combined for the chronicle. There are then brief overviews of the chronicle and the three adventures in it, before moving on to the first adventure, Rotten Rats. This adventure is aimed at 1st or 2nd level characters, and a reason is given for the characters to meet if this is their first adventure. One of the Luminaries of Waterdog Port wants the characters to find a lost treasure, and it also introduces the quest that spans all three adventures.
Chapter Nine: The Race is the second adventure and is for characters of third to fourth level, and involves them gaining a ship, experiencing battles on the Acid Sea and getting introduced to Dalmatian Cove, the most important current location on the sea outside Port Matthew and Waterdog Port.
Chapter Ten: Heart of the Storm is the third and final adventure and is for characters of fifth to sixth level. Their ship is hit by a storm as they are passing the island of Stormheart and they have to land, or be wrecked, and then explore the ruins on the island before they leave.
Pirates of Pugmire in Review
The PDF is bookmarked with major and minor sections linked. The Table of Contents is to a similar level of depth and is hyperlinked. Navigation is decent. The text maintains a two-column format and appeared to be mostly free of errors. There are a variety of custom colour illustrations and maps, up to about half page in size. Presentation is good.
The most important factor to take note of is that isn’t a standalone game; either Pugmire or Monarchies of Mau is needed to use Pirates of Pugmire. This supplement expands the options available in the game, adds new areas of adventure and new types of adventure to have, but one or both of the main supplements is still required and if only one is owned, that means that an entire species, whether cat or dog, can’t be played.
Like the two core books, there are sidebar asides from several characters; Polly of the Seven Blazing Feathers is a new one who explains about adventuring on the Acid Sea and Yoshi Pug and Sabian Sphynx von Angora return to talk about how the new material applies to dogs and cats. Aside from some new parts, the system is basically similar to the already available books, just with new options. It’s still a fairly simple game, though new complexities are added, especially in relation to ships, but you really can’t have a game about pirates and ships without having rules about pirates and ships. Pirates of Pugmire is an interesting addition for the setting and it can be found by clicking here.
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