In which a different kind of role playing is considered.
The most important part of the costume (that is, the costume itself) will likely be very slow process as I find the appropriate fabrics and accessories at thrift stores (and teach myself to sew) which leaves me with plenty of time to develop John Baker's personality. As I have a history of tabletop rpgs, I naturally turned to them. The collaborative nature of rpgs should give Baker's adventurous backstory a sense of credibility that they might lack if I just made them up (not being a very good writer) and it would give him a history with other lively and colorful characters.
I did a little research into the rpg systems that have been specifically designed for pirate adventures. The two that turned up were "Pirates of the Spanish Main" and "7 Seas". Judging by the reviews, I favor "Pirates of the Spanish Main" but both are older, out of print games. A quick survey of local gaming shops turned up neither new or used copies. It would be possible to order them online, but I discarded the idea. There is a free pirate rpg system available on the web (http://zapti.free.fr/pirates/) but, while it looks like fun, it doesn't seem to be serious enough for my purposes.
That means that, if I pursue tabletop rpgs as a means of character development, I can either homebrew a complete system (which I have neither the time nor experience to do successfully) or I can modify an existing game that I already own. I have settled on using D&D 4th edition, as I own the core rule books but have never actually played (which is sad, as D&D Next will be coming out soon).
I plan to use the system with little or no changes to the rules but create a world suitable for Captain Baker. Struggles with sea monsters are one thing, but for Captain Baker to be able to tell stories of his daring exploits with a straight face Elves and Orcs just won't due. Ideally, his adventures should easily translate from a world of high fantasy to a more realistic one. To that end, I will create a world map with geography mirroring our own and assign each fantastic race to a nationality that played an important part in the age of piracy.
A few daunting hurdles remain in the way of this cunning plan. First, while I have specific ideas about the world, I will need someone else to take the role of GM if I am to play. I hope that I can arrange a rotating GM responsibility to take care of this. I'll start the first adventure, to introduce everyone to the world, and then all the players can take turns running the game so everyone gets to play. Also, and this is a biggie, I have no regular group to play with. I'll need to find interested players once I'm ready to start the game.
Thursday, December 5, 2013
Wednesday, December 4, 2013
The 4th Captain is Born
In which we discover the early formations of Captain Baker's persona
Now I needed a plan for my pirate costume, something that would make him identifiably buccaneer but set him apart from all the other costumes. It occurred to me that the easiest (and most piratical) thing to do would be to appropriate another costume design, making a crossover captain. I settled on Tom Baker's portrayal of Doctor Who, as it is iconic, a character I liked, and had many appropriate clothing items such as a hat, trousers, scarf, coat, and vest (though the styles of these items would need to change). His costume is detailed here http://dw-cosplay.livejournal.com/138698.html and his famous scarf here http://www.doctorwhoscarf.com/s12.html
Some doodling generated a rough plan of attack. And a post-halloween trip to Jo-Ann's turned up a discounted pattern (Simplicity 4923). Of course, this is not an entirely accurate portrayal of a pirate captain. There is little evidence of pirates wearing long coats and much debate about three-corner hats and pant styles. However, I chose to try and balance historical accuracy with popular depictions. I gave my pirate buckle shoes as opposed to boots, for instance.
I named my character "Captain John Baker" after Tom Baker (obviously) and my brother John Thomas. As it turns out, Tom Baker's father was named John and was a sailors so the name seemed even more appropriate. I even considered trying to adopt a Liverpool accent to reflect Tom Baker's home town. Then I realized that the Liverpool accent developed after the Irish potato famine and, so, wasn't around during the golden age of piracy.
What remains is the real work, making the actual costume, and developing a personality and history for Captain Baker. Are a personality and history really necessary to to get free doughnuts? Of course not. But why not have fun with it?
Now I needed a plan for my pirate costume, something that would make him identifiably buccaneer but set him apart from all the other costumes. It occurred to me that the easiest (and most piratical) thing to do would be to appropriate another costume design, making a crossover captain. I settled on Tom Baker's portrayal of Doctor Who, as it is iconic, a character I liked, and had many appropriate clothing items such as a hat, trousers, scarf, coat, and vest (though the styles of these items would need to change). His costume is detailed here http://dw-cosplay.livejournal.com/138698.html and his famous scarf here http://www.doctorwhoscarf.com/s12.html
Some doodling generated a rough plan of attack. And a post-halloween trip to Jo-Ann's turned up a discounted pattern (Simplicity 4923). Of course, this is not an entirely accurate portrayal of a pirate captain. There is little evidence of pirates wearing long coats and much debate about three-corner hats and pant styles. However, I chose to try and balance historical accuracy with popular depictions. I gave my pirate buckle shoes as opposed to boots, for instance.
I named my character "Captain John Baker" after Tom Baker (obviously) and my brother John Thomas. As it turns out, Tom Baker's father was named John and was a sailors so the name seemed even more appropriate. I even considered trying to adopt a Liverpool accent to reflect Tom Baker's home town. Then I realized that the Liverpool accent developed after the Irish potato famine and, so, wasn't around during the golden age of piracy.
What remains is the real work, making the actual costume, and developing a personality and history for Captain Baker. Are a personality and history really necessary to to get free doughnuts? Of course not. But why not have fun with it?
Of Pirates Past
In which we discuss the events that led up to the conception of the Captain Baker.
As a boy, I never found myself fascinated by pirates. I did have a pirate-themed 6th birthday party (with a grand treasure hunt, orchestrated by my parents) and I did love Muppet Treasure Island (mostly due to the wonderful portrayal of Silver by Tim Curry). But pirates, generally, seemed too violent to admire and too distant (growing up in the desert) to sympathize with.
However, in 2003 my good friend Mr. Shae encouraged me to celebrate "International Talk Like A Pirate Day". It was a fun idea and we spend our lunch break confusing people with our bad pirate jargon but we lacked the confidence to carry our celebration into the classroom. 2004 was much the same. In college, without my first mate, I observed the holiday by talking to myself in a nautical voice but couldn't muster the courage to indoctrinate anyone else.
Fortunately, in 2012, a few new friends pointed out that Krispy Kreme Doughnuts was celebrating "Talk Like a Pirate Day" by giving a free doughnut to anyone who talked like a pirate and a free dozen to anyone who looked like a pirate. A quick trip to the thrift store netted a polo shirt, a pair of shorts, and a vest which, distressed with a belt sander, looked piratical enough. We hit up 2 different doughnut shops, scoring 10 dozen doughnuts that day. I later dropped my share of the booty off at my wife's classroom, convincing all the students that I was, in fact, a real pirate.
In 2013 we gathered again (with some changed to the crew) and hit up 3 Krispy Kreme shops and also 3 Long John Silver's (who offered a free piece of fish to anyone talking like a pirate that year). This was enough to convince me that I really enjoyed the spirit of the holiday (silly costumes, free food, and good times) so I decided that my wife and I should invest the time to make good costumes for halloween 2014 that would also facilitate "Talk Like a Pirate" celebrations for years to come.
As a boy, I never found myself fascinated by pirates. I did have a pirate-themed 6th birthday party (with a grand treasure hunt, orchestrated by my parents) and I did love Muppet Treasure Island (mostly due to the wonderful portrayal of Silver by Tim Curry). But pirates, generally, seemed too violent to admire and too distant (growing up in the desert) to sympathize with.
However, in 2003 my good friend Mr. Shae encouraged me to celebrate "International Talk Like A Pirate Day". It was a fun idea and we spend our lunch break confusing people with our bad pirate jargon but we lacked the confidence to carry our celebration into the classroom. 2004 was much the same. In college, without my first mate, I observed the holiday by talking to myself in a nautical voice but couldn't muster the courage to indoctrinate anyone else.
Fortunately, in 2012, a few new friends pointed out that Krispy Kreme Doughnuts was celebrating "Talk Like a Pirate Day" by giving a free doughnut to anyone who talked like a pirate and a free dozen to anyone who looked like a pirate. A quick trip to the thrift store netted a polo shirt, a pair of shorts, and a vest which, distressed with a belt sander, looked piratical enough. We hit up 2 different doughnut shops, scoring 10 dozen doughnuts that day. I later dropped my share of the booty off at my wife's classroom, convincing all the students that I was, in fact, a real pirate.
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