Pirate D&D and a Question About Ball Bearings

I have been running a pirate game for nearly 6 months now.  We have bounced from system to system, but found nothing that really makes everyone happy.  The announcement of 5e D&D has spurred my group into wanting to switch to this system.  Unfortunately, the system is far from complete and I know much will need to be modified in order to make it work out for us.  Let me give you some examples of what we are working with now.

Given the lack of character classes in the free release of 5e, we were forced to search afield for something we could home-rule together.  We grabbed classes from here, because what else can you do when you have 2 witch doctors, 2 swashbucklers, 4 pirates, and an assassin?  We're also using pieces and parts from A Mighty Fortress, which I have had for years, as well as things from other systems.  This blog will be about the trials and tribulations of trying to run a game with a Pirates of the Caribbean feel.  I will share with you what we have tried and what we thinks works, as well as other thoughts, musings, and occasional pet peeves.

SO here's the first one.  On page 48 of the 5e rules, there is a section that discusses metal ball bearings.  1000 metal ball bearings can be purchased for 1 gp.  What is the use of these obviously technological tidbits that makes them SO common in a fantasy world.  In our world, steel ball bearings did not exist until the late 1800's.  The soft lead balls used for ammo in the 1700's would just crush underfoot, they wouldn't stay round thus no trip hazard.  Serious technology is behind the ball bearing.  Why is it so common in D&D?  Maybe I'm just crazy for wanting a little realism with my fantasy.

Buried Treasure

Here's a little treasure map for you.  I drew this up to celebrate finding this blog again.  It really is like a buried treasure to me.  I had forgotten all about this little blogger blog that I started a few years ago.  I guess I got all caught up in working on Welcome to Mortiston, USA and just got zombie fever.  Maybe the zombies ate my brain, I'm not really sure.  Whatever the case, I have been thinking about all of my old pirate-themed writings, as my friends and I have been enjoying playing a game of Poison'd recently.  I have really wanted to create some generic pirate gaming materials for a while, so this is where I will work on them.

I hope you like what you see.

A Hot August Night in Tampa

Four players new to the game, Judge(Skyler) ,Tequila(James), Mad Dog(my son) and Sam Sei(me) rolled up to the warehouse. It was Thursday night; our usual time. Tequila killed the engine and we all went inside to split the loot.

I opened the bag and count it out; $55,000. A low whistle. Suddenly out come the guns. I'm pointing at Mad Dog and looking at three .45's pointed at me. I'm no wimp. I want my share. I'm not gonna back down.

Zombie Friday Night 7/30/2010

What a great weekend I just had!  Friday night, we had friends over.  We watched Shaun of the Dead and Army of Darkness while playing Zombie Dice , Battle Cards and Forbidden Island.  If that doesn't sound cool to you, then you aren't geek enough to hang with me  ; )