Not content with merely being a video game, a series of novels and comic books, a selection of torsowear for the discerning lady and gent, and also a cup, Rare's piratical multiplayer adventure Sea of Thieves will soon be a tabletop RPG, courtesy of Mongoose Publishing. When most video games get adapted to the tabletop they bring acres of fiddly rules with them, so it’s refreshing to see this take on Xbox One and PC game Sea of Thieves ditch the complexity in favour of a light and breezy storytelling game. Once you get playing, however, it’s hard to imagine its appeal extending too far beyond existing fans who are happy to accept some of the setting’s quirkier mechanics. Matthew Sprange, the veteran game designer who helmed the Sea of Thieves RPG, was involved from the get-go: Are you seeking grand adventure, mighty sea battles and the glory of the pirate life? Do you have the strength to battle hordes of skeletons, treacherous rogues, and ancient curses? Then get ready to set sail, roll dice, and make your mark upon the Sea of Thieves!

Before you get too distracted by the three sizeable books at the heart of the game, we'd like to share the story of how Sea of Thieves crossed the divide from desktop to tabletop. It's a journey that begins in the notorious pirate haven (or so we'd like to think) of Swindon, Wiltshire, in the offices of Mongoose Publishing– a company already well-known for roleplaying mainstays like Paranoia and Traveller. Hoarders can open treasure chests. This is far from the only example of having game logic clash with the do anything nature of tabletop roleplaying, but it can be a shade disconcerting if you’ve not already bought into the setting. There’s a pretty solid chance that death won’t be too far away as, while most storytelling games have a fairlylight touch when it comes to killing off Even when the link to the preview worked, it wasn't an especially good preview. Hopefully the notice that the preview is broken may give them an excuse to revisit it.

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characters, Sea of Thieves is positively lethal. Character death can be a consequence for failed tasks and even standard enemies have abilities that can kill multiple party members offoutright. As a general description from a reader of it, the system itself is relatively "rules light". The system only uses a few d6 dice, with the subtle twist that four custom faces are used. (Two of them appear twice/are assigned neighboring numbers when playing with a cheat sheet instead of the customized dice in the physical sets.) It's a possible reason to favor the physical box set over the PDFs if you would prefer playing with the custom face dice directly rather than a lookup process. Legendary Dice: Eighteen Legendary Dice that will mark you out as a Pirate Legend or scurvy landlubber!

Mongoose Publishing reserves the right to alter or amend the specifications and/or prices of the products offered for sale, or withdraw them completely without prior notice.As with all aspects of the Sea of Thieves expanded universe, Mongoose's proposal swiftly found itself before Rare's Head of Brand and Licensing Adam Park, alongside Brand and Licensing Art Director Peter Hentze. Having sampled more than their fair share of tabletop gaming sets at conventions and expos around the world, Peter and Adam were already big fans of Mongoose, and could immediately see the appeal of combining Sea of Thieves' shared-world experience with a roleplaying game centred on a crew adventuring together. Needless to say, it wasn't long before the project was underway.