In June 2022 we presented the Sea of Thieves Quick Deal featuring the piratical tabletop RPG from Mongoose Publishing based on Sea of Thieves, the 2018 Rare Limited video game for Xbox Game Pass and Windows 10. Set sail from Cannon Cove and the Shores of Plenty for the Ancient Isles, the Devil’s Roar, and the Shroud beyond. Race other pirates to buried treasure — fight Skeleton Captains on tropical islands — tackle Voyages for the Gold Hoarders, Order of Souls, and Merchant Alliance — brave Megalodons and Krakens from the depths. Seek the glory and freedom of the pirate life.
The Sea of Thieves RPG uses a custom rules set, the “Avast System,” designed for immersive roleplaying, quick action, and problem-solving. To create your character, you choose a Personality Card, a couple of Weapon Cards, two Legendary Dice (custom six-siders — ordinary D6s work too), and supply tokens (Bananas, Bullets, and Planks). During play you spend your Personality terms (Alert, Suspicious, Impulsive, Cooperative, etc.) to earn more Legendary Dice. When the Gamemaster faces you with a Problem, you roll up to five dice. Try to get enough Victories in a set number of rolls (the “timer”) to overcome the Difficulty and escape Consequences. Each card has Main and Hidden Personalities; in certain situations you can flip over your PC’s Personality Card to gain a bonus — if you can roleplay your character’s sudden revelation of new depths.
As in the Sea of Thieves video game, there is no level progression, and even death isn’t much of an obstacle. Surrounded by the mysterious barrier called the Devil’s Shroud, the otherworldly Sea of Thieves is a Heaven for pirates. One day you just woke up there, and you can’t leave — not that anyone seems to want to. When you die, the Ferry of the Damned returns you to life at one or another Outpost island in the Sea; if you’re cursed or damned, though, you may reappear as a skeleton pirate. However existential it may sound, the Sea is basically a lightly sketched background for freebooting, dagger-in-the-teeth piratin’ action right out of Pirates of the Caribbean. “In-depth knowledge is not required and could get boring,” the rulebook says. “Even if the GM knows about brigantine rigs, studding-sails, and the effects of scurvy, this is not that sort of game. It is enough to have seen a couple of pirate movies and know that the pointy end of the ship is the bow.”
This Quick Deal presented DRM-free .PDF ebooks of both the complete full-color 291-page Sea of Thieves core rulebook and its 176-page rules expansion, A Tale of Two Captains — a $70 retail value. The physical Sea of Thieves boxed set included custom six-sided Legendary Dice printed with bone, coin, treasure chest, and skull symbols; the game also works fine with ordinary six-siders. Mongoose sells a Legendary Dice Box Set of 20 dice, “more than enough for even the most salty and experienced band of pirates.”
