Pirates of the Dread Sea! Interview with Rich Chappell owner of Dead earth games

  Pirates of the Dread Sea! Interview with
Rich Chappell owner of Dead earth games 

https://www.deadearth.co.uk/
https://www.facebook.com/acrossthedeadearth
https://www.facebook.com/Pirates-of-the-Dread-Sea

Hello, this post is a follow up to my post about  the skirmish game ACROSS THE DEAD EARTH, A QUINTESSENTIALLY BRITISH POST-APOCALYPTIC GAME, after posting the article I had the good fortune to have quick chat with  Rich Chappell about the future of  ACROSS THE DEAD EARTH and Dead earth's games new title,  Pirates of the Dread Sea! based on the rules for Across the dead earth, this quick skirmish games has everything you liked about Across the dead earth, like using event cards to take the other players by surprise, switching loot at a crucial moment or even better, new features such of having a parrot poop in their eye. Pirates of the Dread Sea! is coming soon!!!!, but for now, here's my quick interview with  Rich Chappell  Creative Head of Dead earth's games


Q1 Could you please explain the gameplay style and the game rules for your upcoming new title Pirates of the Dread Sea?

PODS is based on the rules for ATDE - so it's a quick-playing skirmish game using 2D6 for everything. Individual games are about finding the treasure or taking out other Pirates for bounties. Crews are completely customizable with equipment, skills, and traits. Games are best played as campaigns, where players upgrade their crews in between individual games. 


Q2 Is there any plans for a single-player campaign?

We do have plans for a single-player campaign, but it's not written as yet and will need a lot of testing when it is. 

Q3 Where did the idea of  Pirates of the Dread Sea come from?

Originally the idea came from simply discussing what settings ATDE could be adapted to. The pirate setting made a lot of sense to me as ATDE is about getting loot and, of course, the whole point of piracy was to get the treasure. I also just love Pirates and ships. Who doesn't?


Q4 Is this the first game you have worked on since the launch of Across the dead earth?

 We tried to produce another, a larger-scale game in between which didn't work out, so it seems like Skimirsh games are a better fit for a company of our small size.

Q5  Will, you be supplying Beta set rules for Pirates of the Dread Sea pre-release?

The current beta rules are available from www.deadearth.co.uk and from the Beta Testers group on Facebook and we're actively seeking as much playtest feedback as possible.

Q6 What's the best feature of  Pirates of the Dread Sea game in your own personal opinion?

I love the character and crew creation, personally. I like making my own very motley crew of different fantasy races. In-game I like using event cards to take the other players by surprise, switching loot at a crucial moment or having a parrot poop in their eye.

Q8 What scale/size will the miniatures be for the Pirates of the Dread Sea?

They're 35mm from base to top of the head. That's the size for human characters, with dwarves being smaller and elves and orcs bigger. And trolls MUCH bigger.

Q9 Will you be attending any events to promote Pirates of the Dread Sea?

Yes. Once everything is definitely finished and ready we will be out and about as much as possible! So people should definitely have the chance to come and play the game at shows in their FLGS.

Q10 Will, there be any expansion packs of any sort for Pirates of the Dread Sea?

Yes, I have all sorts of ideas. We're currently working on some Trolls, who I will be writing some scenarios or possibly a whole campaign for, then I'd like to do campaigns with specific game mats. There may be expansions around themed crews in the future. All sorts of ideas. We'll see what people like!

The Dread Sea, The story

The Dread Sea lies a long way beyond the safe and cosy underground Jarldoms of the Dwarfs, beyond the furthest borders of the many realms that make up the great empire of Men, beyond the stinking pits of the loathsome and argumentative Goblins and Orcs, and beyond, even, the ancient and mysterious lands of the Elves.

Once, the thousands of islands the make up the Archipelago of the Utterly Damned was occupied by the various races of the world, indeed it appears that the races even lived side by side in harmony with each other. Legend tells of a truly cosmopolitan city, the heart of a thriving multiracial empire long since swallowed up by the waves. Or a giant squid. Or possibly a sea dragon. What’s for sure is that the souls of those who lived there never made it to Valhalla, nor The Great Gold Mountain, nor The Place With Endless Chicken and Beer, or any other of those peoples’ afterlives.

This is known, because they are still there, in the Dread Sea. Some on great hulking, fearsome blackened ships, sailing forever across the Undead seas, sinking any vessel they find and feasting on the flesh of the living, others marching in armies across the sea bed in an endless campaign to invade the prosperous lands of the modern races, many thousands more slowly dragging themselves around the islands of the archipelago, hoping to bump into any living soul foolish enough to have entered this cursed place, to steal their life, their body, to return themselves to life…

…of course, no one would be stupid enough to enter such a place. Would they?

The thing about the Dread Seas is, of course, that the long lost civilization which has left a somewhat problematic infestation of the undead covering every inch of the thousands of square miles the area covers also left behind…everything. Gold. Jewels. Learning. The secret, somewhere perhaps, of their peaceful and harmonious existence. Also Gold.

And where there be Gold … tharr be pirates!


Of course, there are easier pickings sailing along the edges of the Dread Sea as well, and sometimes even through them, if brave captains have been paid a high enough bounty to risk saving time by crossing them, and the Pirates of the Undead Seas occasionally supplement their treasures and adventuring with attacks on the merchant fleets of the races of the world. This is what makes them pirates to their own governments and wanted to a man (/dwarf/elf etc).



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