Pirates: The Discussion

[Endless_Helix]

This setting looks like someone dropped a plate of awesomeness into a pot of boiling xtreme. When I saw Pirates had a second Voyage, I just about had a heart attack.

Some Ideas
-If you want to disregard the Vancian system, I would suggest using some variant of pact magic (Tome of Magic for a d20 system and a place to start). If you want to avoid d20 all together, I'd ask someone else :P I don't think any of the systems I know would be suitable for this setting. Flavor-wise, I'd look at some of Crowley's Golden Dawn stuff.

-I would actually avoid cannibal halflings, if only because "wild" haliflings are kind of cliched right now (Dark Sun, Eberron), and primarily because I've always seen them as a more civilized sort of character, a trickter more than a hunter or a barbarian. I would suggest Mindflayers as a suitable replacement, and for a bit more a frightning prescence. The natives really will eat your brains right out of your skulls (although, they're not unreasonable; they probably won't eat your eyes).

-It would be kind of interesting to have a halfling empire, in the far east, perhaps have them begin to be exploring outward, as a China/Japan/India equivlent. You could do some very, very nasty stuff with Just level 2 halfling fighters if you're using d20. This suggestion is primarily because I have always wanted an excuse to field my fully statted halfling pirate ship :P

-The Dwarves are awesome. This needed to be said.

-Since youre shying away from a high mortal magic setting, perhaps you could look at the bring in the more aquatic fey (which are always, always, always underused in my opinion. Also perhaps some of the Greek monsters of myth would be appropriate. Echidna (Or some adaption there of) would make a great devil figure.

[Seraph]

I hate to jump on the bandwagon, but YAY!  This is very delayed, but Pirates is awesome.  I like it.  I personally do not have a problem with cannibal halflings, but all races should be fleshed out.  I would like to see updates to the awesomeness.

Now that I think of it, my own setting Avayevnon is supposed to include Piracy, though I haven't spent much time on that aspect as of yet.  That's something I need to do.

[Gwaihir Windlord]

Thanks for the information - that's a huge help! Question - what would be faster, a sloop or a brig?

Sorry I've been gone for so long.

Sloops are both faster and more maneuverable than a brig, usually.  A brig can put out more canvas, so with the wind astern of the two ships, and both at full sail the brig will have a higher top speed, but the cruising speed of the sloop is respectably faster than that of the brig.

[Seraph]

Ok, I've glanced over a bit more, and I would like to see Religion and the Seas Beyond the Edge.  "The Seas Beyond the Edge" sound very intriguing to me.  Are they a sort of pirate's afterlife?  Are there calm seas that are sort of like heaven and turbulent seas full of sharp craggy rock to serve as hell?  Would Davy Jones happen to be this world's psychopomp? :-p
But this is something I would very much like to see.