''Privateers and Gentlemen'' is a
role-playing game by author
Walter Jon Williams
Walter Jon Williams (born October 28, 1953) is an American writer, primarily of science fiction. Previously he wrote nautical adventure fiction under the name Jon Williams, in particular, ''Privateers and Gentlemen'' (1981–1984), a series of hi ...
, published by
Fantasy Games Unlimited
Fantasy Games Unlimited (FGU) is a publishing house for tabletop and role-playing games. The company has no in-house design teams and relies on submitted material from outside talent.
History
Founded in the summer of 1975 in Jericho, New York b ...
in 1983. Williams based this game on his own historical nautical adventure novels set in the late 18th century "Age of Fighting Sail", and he also incorporated his previously published miniatures game ''
Heart of Oak
"Heart of Oak" is the official march of the Royal Navy. It is also the official march of several Commonwealth navies, including the Royal Canadian Navy and the Royal New Zealand Navy. It was also the official march of the Royal Australian Navy ...
'' with a new role-playing system where the
player characters are naval officers. The game received positive reviews in game periodicals including ''
Dragon'', ''
White Dwarf
A white dwarf is a stellar core remnant composed mostly of electron-degenerate matter. A white dwarf is very dense: its mass is comparable to the Sun's, while its volume is comparable to the Earth's. A white dwarf's faint luminosity comes ...
'', and ''
Different Worlds
''Different Worlds'' was an American role-playing games magazine published from 1979 to 1987.
Scope
''Different Worlds'' published support articles, scenarios, and variants for various role-playing games including ''Dungeons & Dragons'', ''Rune ...
''.
Description
''Privateers and Gentlemen'' is a historical naval game system set in the late 18th century during the days of
Admiral Horatio Nelson and
C.S. Forrester's fictional
Captain Horatio Hornblower
''Captain Horatio Hornblower'' (a.k.a. ''Captain Horatio Hornblower R.N.'' in the UK, "R.N." standing for "Royal Navy") is a 1951 British naval swashbuckling war film in Technicolor from Warner Bros., produced by Gerry Mitchell, directed by Rao ...
, sometimes called the "Age of Fighting Sail".
The system describes both a role-playing system where players take the roles of naval officers, and a naval miniatures combat system.
The game components are:
*''
Heart of Oak
"Heart of Oak" is the official march of the Royal Navy. It is also the official march of several Commonwealth navies, including the Royal Canadian Navy and the Royal New Zealand Navy. It was also the official march of the Royal Australian Navy ...
'', a 48-page booklet containing 40 pages of rules for miniatures combat and 8 pages of tables and ship cut-outs (also published as a separate role-playing game by Fantasy Games Unlimited)
*''Promotions and Prizes'', a 32-page booklet about the roleplaying system rules
*''Tradition of Victory'', a 32-page booklet containing historical background for the period
*A 6-page cardstock referee screen with reference charts
*A blank character sheet that could be photocopied
*A box
Publication history
In 1981, noted science fiction/cyberpunk author
Walter Jon Williams
Walter Jon Williams (born October 28, 1953) is an American writer, primarily of science fiction. Previously he wrote nautical adventure fiction under the name Jon Williams, in particular, ''Privateers and Gentlemen'' (1981–1984), a series of hi ...
, under the name "Jon Williams", had published a series of nautical adventure novels known as the "Privateers and Gentlemen" series,
and the following year had created ''Heart of Oak'', a game of naval miniatures combat, for Fantasy Games Unlimited.
In 1983, FGU published ''Privateers and Gentlemen'', also designed by Williams, which incorporated both the previously published miniatures game ''Heart of Oak'', and a new roleplaying system.
In 1986,
RAFM produced a
miniature
A miniature is a small-scale reproduction, or a small version. It may refer to:
* Portrait miniature, a miniature portrait painting
* Miniature art, miniature painting, engraving and sculpture
* Miniature (chess), a masterful chess game or probl ...
specifically for ''Privateers & Gentlemen'' called ''Jack Tar'' (JT01-JT014).
[''Rafm Company, Inc. 1986 Catalogue.'' (Canadian, gold cover)]
Reception
In the December 1983 edition of ''
Dragon'' (Issue #80),
Ken Rolston
Ken Rolston is an American computer game and role-playing game designer best known for his work with West End Games and on the computer game series ''The Elder Scrolls''. In February 2007, he elected to join the staff of computer games company B ...
found the inclusion of both a miniatures combat system and a roleplaying system resulted in a game that lacked focus. Rolston also found the rules "not particularly well-presented or well-organized. Reading them and playing them in the playtest of the miniatures rules was frustrating at times...
ue toambiguities, difficulty of reference and disorganized presentation of procedures." Rolston was also disturbed by the lack of scenarios for either the miniatures game or the roleplaying system, which would force new
gamemasters
A gamemaster (GM; also known as game master, game manager, game moderator, referee, or storyteller) is a person who acts as an organizer, officiant for regarding rules, arbitrator, and moderator for a multiplayer role-playing game. They are m ...
to make up scenarios and adventures themselves. He did believe that "Fans of sailing-ship fiction and those interested in historical role-playing games will be very happy with this game. It sacrifices detail of simulation for action and drama, but the tradeoff still retains a strong atmosphere with an effective mixture of heroic romanticism and grim realism... Since the atmosphere of ''Privateers and Gentlemen'' is a prime virtue, historical gamers will probably overlook the less-than-perfect rules presentation."
In the November 1983 edition of ''
White Dwarf
A white dwarf is a stellar core remnant composed mostly of electron-degenerate matter. A white dwarf is very dense: its mass is comparable to the Sun's, while its volume is comparable to the Earth's. A white dwarf's faint luminosity comes ...
'', Ian Waddelow found that Walter Jon Williams wrote the rulebooks "with humour and authority. He makes rule reading absorbing and informative." However, Waddelow criticized the game for its lack of dice and scenarios, but gave the game an overall rating of 9, saying, "This game is highly recommended, and can be played as pure wargaming, pure role-playing, or a mixture of the two. ''P&G'' is exciting, flexible and full of atmosphere."
In his 1991 historic overview of role-playing games, ''Heroic Worlds: A History and Guide to Role-Playing Games'',
Lawrence Schick
Lawrence Schick is a game designer and writer associated with role-playing games.
Early life and education
Schick attended Kent State University in Ohio.
Career
Schick, as the head of design and development at TSR, brought aboard Tom Moldvay ...
commented, "The game is very strong on historical detail for those sailors who are in the Royal Navy or are English privateers, but weak for other nationalities."
Review
*''
Different Worlds
''Different Worlds'' was an American role-playing games magazine published from 1979 to 1987.
Scope
''Different Worlds'' published support articles, scenarios, and variants for various role-playing games including ''Dungeons & Dragons'', ''Rune ...
'' #8 (June/July, 1980)
* ''
Different Worlds
''Different Worlds'' was an American role-playing games magazine published from 1979 to 1987.
Scope
''Different Worlds'' published support articles, scenarios, and variants for various role-playing games including ''Dungeons & Dragons'', ''Rune ...
'' #33 (March/April, 1984)
References
{{reflist
Fantasy Games Unlimited games
Historical role-playing games
Historical Swashbuckler role-playing games
Role-playing games introduced in 1983