On the tail of Old School Renaissance has come another movement—the rise of the fanzine. Although the fanzine—a nonprofessional and nonofficial publication produced by fans of a particular cultural phenomenon, got its start in Science Fiction fandom, in the gaming hobby it first started with Chess and Diplomacy fanzines before finding fertile ground in the roleplaying hobby in the 1970s. Here these amateurish publications allowed the hobby a public space for two things. First, they were somewhere that the hobby could voice opinions and ideas that lay outside those of a game’s publisher. Second, in the Golden Age of roleplaying when the Dungeon Masters were expected to create their own settings and adventures, they also provided a rough and ready source of support for the game of your choice. Many also served as vehicles for the fanzine editor’s house campaign and thus they showed another Dungeon Master and group played said game. This would often change over time if a fanzine accepted submissions. Initially, fanzines were primarily dedicated to the big three RPGs of the 1970s—Dungeons & Dragons, RuneQuest, and Traveller—but fanzines have appeared dedicated to other RPGs since, some of which helped keep a game popular in the face of no official support.
Since 2008 with the publication of Fight On #1, the Old School Renaissance has had its own fanzines. The advantage of the Old School Renaissance is that the various Retroclones draw from the same source and thus one Dungeons & Dragons-style RPG is compatible with another. This means that the contents of one fanzine will compatible with the Retroclone that you already run and play even if not specifically written for it. Labyrinth Lord and Lamentations of the Flame Princess Weird Fantasy Roleplay have proved to be popular choices to base fanzines around, as has Swords & Wizardry. Another popular choice of system for fanzines, is Goodman Games’ Dungeon Crawl Classics Roleplaying Game, such as Crawl! and Crawling Under a Broken Moon. Some of these fanzines provide fantasy support for the Dungeon Crawl Classics Roleplaying Game, but others explore other genres for use with Dungeon Crawl Classics Roleplaying Game. One such fanzine is Skull & Crossbones Classics.
Skull & Crossbones Classics #1: A ’zine of high sea adventure was published in March 2020, by Sanctum Media when it set sail with a pirate crew for the Dungeon Crawl Classics Roleplaying Game. It is intended to explore and present the Golden Age of Piracy with a range of new Classes, rules, and other piratically-themed content. In the introduction it sets out aims, gives a nod to its inspirations in the form of other pirate-based roleplaying games and supplements, acknowledges the exaggerated West Country accent that forms the basis of most pirate talk, and suggests ways in which a piratical Dungeon Crawl Classics could be run. This can be as historical game, as per the Golden Age of Piracy; add in elements of the supernatural, including a lot of monsters; or simply as an addition to the Judge’s Dungeon Crawl Classics. These are pointers only, and arguably worthy of article subjects in their own right. What is clear from the editorial is the author is a fan of pirates and that shows throughout the rest of the issue.
It opens with ‘Core Rules – Character Basics’, which addresses the basic elements of Dungeon Crawl Classics and the changes needed to fit a pirate roleplaying game. This include Alignment, Armour Class, Cultural Background, Firearms, Gender, Languages, Sexuality, and Skills. Alignment is shifted to become a pirate’s attitude towards the law and piracy, rather an indication of good versus evil. For Armour Class, unarmoured characters have a bonus equal to a Player Character’s Stamina and Agility bonuses, though any armour worn works as normal. ‘Race as Class’, as found in the Dungeon Crawl Classics roleplaying game, does not appear in Skull & Crossbones Classics, and it is suggested that a player work with the Judge to come up with a period background. Firearms are mentioned, but left for another issue to detail. A range of real-world languages is pointed out as that the fact that different genders and sexualities were accepted aboard some ships. Lastly, it introduces ‘Seamanship’, a new skill that every Player Character has and which covers carpentry, astronomy, navigation, ropework, and more, representing everything that the average pirate would know and do.
In terms of specific rules, ‘Star Signs’ replaces the standard Birth Signs of Dungeon Crawl Classics. It gives these for the Western and Chinese zodiacs as well as the Polynesian zodiac. The latter are simplified to associated spirits for ease of play. All three give two modifiers. ‘Weal’ or a bonus if the Player Character’s Luck is positive, ‘Woe’ if it is negative. For example, the ‘Weal’ for Cancer is a bonus to Reflex Saves, but a penalty to Ranged Damage Rolls if negative. If a Player Character has no Luck modifier, he instead gains both at a one-point modifier! These are all fantastic additions, but whilst the Western and Chinese zodiacs made sense, as both cultures had pirates, it is not made clear whether the Polynesian culture did. This is of course, could be offset by an article about the Polynesian involvement in piracy and some ideas in terms of background and culture as well.
The new Character Class in Skull & Crossbones Classics #1. Inspired by the Biblical character, this is a “Living Bad Luck Charm” who will bring misfortune and woe to himself and any crew he serves with. Alignment determines how the curse befell the Jonah and how he regards it. The Lawful Jonah has committed a transgression, such as killing an albatross or whistly on deck, and knowingly suffers his penance; the Neutral Jonah were cursed through no fault of their own and hopelessly, helplessly bemoan their cruel fate; and the Chaotic Jonah take glee in his misfortune and willingly shares it. The Jonah can replace his Agility or Stamina modifier with his Luck modifier for Armour Class; has worse luck with firearms; with ‘Re-Align the Stars’ can attempt to use another Player Character’s Luck, though if this fails, both the Jonah and the Player Character suffer the consequences; and can spend Luck to reduce the effectiveness of the rolls of others—including negating critical successes and causing ‘natural’ fumbles! Luck spent is recovered daily.
The Jonah is an inventive Class, reworking the Luck mechanics of Dungeon Crawl Classics to primarily target others, both other Player Characters and NPCs. However, it is not an easy Class to play in terms of the setting, since any known Jonah would be thrown off a vessel to avoid both her and her crew from suffering the effects of the Jonah’s bad luck. So, what a player roleplaying a Jonah has to do is roleplay the Class, but keep it hidden what he is, whilst at the same time, the other players have to roleplay not knowing what he is, although mechanically, they are very likely to have a very good idea.
The Luck-theme continues with ‘The Devil’s Own Luck’. This is Luck extra to that which every Player Character has. It is also gained for rolling a fumble or suffering a critical hit in combat, violating the Seven Deadly Sins or the Ten Commandments, succeeding in a reckless action when failure would mean certain death, and so on, but being kind-hearted or pious or entering holy ground for reasons other than pillage, will lose a Player Character his own ‘Devil’s Own Luck’. However, rolling a critical hit will lose everyone their own ‘Devil’s Own Luck’. Whilst a Player Character has ‘The Devil’s Own Luck’, it can be spent as normal Luck, but also on other the Player Characters, and to turn rolls of above twenty into a natural twenty and rolls below one into a natural one. ‘The Devil’s Own Luck’ can also be wagered against a Player Character’s Luck to gain more of the former.
‘Sailing Superstitions’ covers everything from always stepping onto a ship with the right foot rather the left and the weather and whistling, whilst ‘Ill-Fortune’ explores what happens when a Player Character’s Luck runs out, he blasphemes, suffers or causes bad luck, or is cursed. Mechanically, this is to roll on the accompanying table. The results might be as simple as the Player Character dropping whatever is in his hand or the ship’s cook getting angry with him and flinging a cleaver at him, cutting his ear off. Alternatively, the rest of the crew might follow the Player Character into a failed mutiny or the Player Character’s presence attracts man-eating sharks! These require a bit of a set-up and so it is suggested that the exact result not be revealed until the right moment.
In a change from the Luck-theme, ‘Sea Beggar’s Bestiary’ details four aquatic creatures—the Barracuda, the Sea Devil, the Sea Serpent, and the Tiger Shark. These are solid write-ups, the Sea Serpent large to swallow a sailor whole and ram a ship. Rounding out Skull & Crossbones Classics #1 is its own ‘Appendix S’, a solid list of fiction to inspire the potential Judge wanting to run a pirate-themed Dungeon Crawl Classics game.
Physically, Skull & Crossbones Classics #1 is serviceably presented. It is decently written and illustrated with publicly available artwork.
The biggest issue with Skull & Crossbones Classics #1 is that it is the only issue to date and it leaves things such as the promised ‘Maritime Deeds’, ‘Naval Combat’, and ‘Ships, Ships, and More Ships’ articles left for an as yet unpublished issue. These are not the only things left unaddressed by just the one issue, such as how the other Classes work in a ‘Skull & Crossbones Classics’ setting, new magic spells and items, and background information about Chinese and Polynesian pirates only hinted at in the ‘Star Signs’ article. If not Skull & Crossbones Classics #2, then at least a Skull & Crossbones Classics supplement could address those issues—and more. That though, is an ideal outcome, one that might never come to pass. Which would be a pity. In the meantime, Skull & Crossbones Classics #1 is a good start, if very Luck-focused, introducing the possibility of pirates to Dungeon Crawl Classics. Until Skull & Crossbones Classics #2 does appear, there nothing to stop a Judge taking its content and developing it further and adding to it for her own campaign.
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