Fantasy The Seas of Legend

[PaleAbyss]

Hiya there! After taking a long break, I've come back to the site with a new idea for a long-term, detailed RP! Details go below.

Essentially, all would be set in a fantasy, Renascence-era world. The great nations of the world have finally advanced beyond the feudal squabbles for lands and titles, now turning their ambitious eyes to the great, alluring unknows of the vast seas. Technology has evolved, introducing primitive yet thunderous weaponry, as well as sea-faring ships capable of sailing great distances and bringing about oceanic hegemony to those who mastered the arts of sailing. A mad fever for exploration spread through the old continents like wildfire once a small fleet came across a small archipelago filled to the brim with gold and other valuable resources. Not a decade passed and a whole new continent was discovered, initiating what is now known as the "Oceanic Age".

However, not all was as perfect as one might imagine. The ambitions of countries often clashed, resulting in brutal skirmishes which escalated into wars between old rivals. Pirates roam the waters intensively, wreaking havoc against authorities and harassing merchants unlucky enough to cross their path. Native tribes and even empires were found, resisting ferociously against the explorers' efforts, even throwing hellish curses at those who dared to venture into their territories. Worse yet, fearsome creatures lurked beneath the deep waters, striking indiscriminately be it night or day. Otherwordly creatures are said to tear apart ships with effortless ease, or simply lure their crews into their gaping maws. Superstitious folks warn of a terrible foe seeking to bring an end to all that is known to man, and keen-eyed sailors hold their breaths as signs of such grow more prominent with each passing day.

In this new world filled with wonders and dangers, who are you? A wide-eyed explorer, seeking adventure in the great unknown? A pirate, raiding ports and robbing anything in your sights? A proud captain of a great empire, vowing to protect it from the threats of this new era? The possibilities are endless: what legacy will you leave behind?

That's it! If anyone's interested, send me a PM or comment down here! Regardless of the suggested idea, I still will play if you have an idea of your own, as long as you tell me about it.

Hope we can roleplay soon~!

 

[Enn Ayy Arr Ayy]

I love your idea! I have two characters that I think will be great for it. I also have an idea for a medieval fantasy role play, if you think we could somehow blend the two.

 

[PaleAbyss]

I love your idea! I have two characters that I think will be great for it. I also have an idea for a medieval fantasy role play, if you think we could somehow blend the two.

Hello there! I believe that a blend would be possible, yes! After all, the idea of knights sailing and fighting with both sword and gun is quite attractive. Could you send me a PM so we can get started?

 

[Mr.Sandstorm]

PaleAbyss

I think it would add a lot of bulk to this story if we could plot out the economical landscape that made it all possible.

In the real world, most historical pirates began their carreers as corsairs. Armed ships underhandily hired by some nation to bully the commerce ships of other nations. They had very loose bindings to laws and regulations, but were mostly freelancers in the sea, only "authorized" to take action against a certain set of nations.

They only turned into fully-grown, dirty-bearded pirates once their praton nations got tired of using corsairs; usualy when diplomatic relationships won over old disputes and wars were terminated. It would be problematic to keep funding raiding parties to someone's cargo ships while also trying to make peace with them, you know.

There's a secondary source for piracy, though, and it arises when certain, very lucrative items of an economy become illegal. People will still try to find a way to buy them, and that's when Black Markets are born.

Pirates cant just exist in a vacuum, they need some place out there where they can safely congregate and acquire supplies, crew and services. They also need somewhere where they can drop their acquisitions from their targets and sell them. Such a place would need to be beyond the (effective) reach of any peacekeeping force, but still close enough to civilization that legal ships can make a short visit to "browse". A place where no one will bother asking you where you found those five boxes of opium.
A black market.

The gist of it is, for piracy to become common in the seas, there has to be either an economy hungry for forbiden items, acid relationships between seafaring nations, or both. Thus, it would add a lot to the setting if we could chart out the economy and geopolitics driving this "Oceanic Age".

I'm gonna take this opportunity to offer you a link to a brilliant blog that feature some very nice ideas on combining worldbuilding with economics:
Dungeonomics