A Bit of History
Pirates and Horror go together like peanut butter and chocolate (or chocolate and hot peppers, yum). Blending these two genres mixes the familiar with the unknown, action with suspense, and good times with great time. Carefully consider the two genres, and you can easily see how they mesh together. One element of horror is isolation, depriving the characters of easy access to help, aid or comfort. Out on the sea is about as isolated as one can get, and also provides a tightly defined space for your story or campaign. Now we have a claustrophobic tension combined with isolation, thus amping up the suspense, and hopefully the horror. Mixing into this is the classic fear of the unknown. If your horror pirates game is set during the Age of Sail, most of the world is still poorly understood by any one group, and though maps and charts exist, they all fade off into that blank spot. Here there be dragons, or whatever scary thing a GM can devise. Adding to this, there is the fear of the other, for the people that live on the far side of the world are not like us, indeed they have different customs, faiths, and interests. Why, even those who live in the next country, or county, or town are suspect, once you get down to it.
Voudoun has its origins as a syncretic faith that developed during the years covered by the Golden Age of Piracy. This religion is often cast as evil in popular fiction and in horror stories, but it need not be so. Like any stereotype, the reality is far different, and Voudoun and its related faiths are simply another religion, equal to the world's most popular religions in depth, richness, and history. After so many year as being cast as the villain, why not cast Voudoun as the good guy in your next pirate themed horror game? What follows are three seeds to start your campaign, one shot, or short series.
Cannibal Cults of the Caribbean
Just as Voudoun has received a lot of bad press, so have the native peoples of the New World. While it is true the practitioners of Voudoun, Santeria, and related religions do not deal in human sacrifice and traffic with evil deities, there has been archaeological and ethnohistorical evidence that most cultures have, at one time or another, made the consumption of human flesh part of their lives. As such, it should be considered fair game to introduce cannibal tribes into your historical horror game. After all, every one of us likely has an ancestor who has partaken of the sweet meat. Its just part of the human experience, and is not used here to denigrate any one culture or class of people.
How do we best use Caribbean cannibal cults? The obvious is to have them attack a group of pirates who are either searching for or burying treasure on some far flung island. This is fine, and can lead to a very satisfying splatter punk style of horror, especially if the mad cannibal cultists are supernaturally strong, quick, agile, or tough. Expanding upon this idea, you also have the makings for a zombie survival horror game, replacing the flesh eating undead with mad cultists who recruit others by forcing them to eat the flesh of the recently slain. This of course drives the poor unfortunates madly into the arms of the cult, and infuses them with the cult's horrible power.
Power is another attractant for you cannibal cult. Consider that the upper classes of society during the Golden Age of Piracy routinely and rather blithely oppressed and exploited other classes and cultures, is it to hard to imagine them eating the flesh of the lower classes, slaves, or even those 'unwashed savages' from the jungle? The eating of human flesh is said in some cultures to give one supernatural powers, to allow one to absorb the energy, vitality, and memories of the victim. Now, consider that one of the leading causes for piracy was the cruelty and oppression honest sailors faced on merchant and naval ships, and you have a story of class warfare. For this approach, place a secret society, perhaps tied to a forerunner of the Hellfire Clubs, in London, Paris, Kingston, and Charlestown. Rich men and glided ladies gather for forbidden rites and horrific feasts, that is until the heroes burst in with pistols smoking and cutlasses falling.
The Star Chamber and the Jesuits
This one is set a little earlier than the Golden Age of Piracy, the action taking place during the Elizabethan period and featuring the English Sea Dogs. Names such as Drake, Hawkins, Raleigh, and Frobisher resound through the ages as adventurers, explorers, and pirates. These men preyed upon the mighty Spanish empire in the name of queen, country, and religion. During this era, intrigue was rife as the Catholic and Protestant courts played one against the other for domination of the hearts, minds, and bodies of Europe and eventually the entire world.
Now, add horror in the form of supernatural evil. Europe is old, and the evils that have long lurked there have largely been laid to rest. However, some things cannot be easily destroyed, or are too costly to eliminate. Other things offer great power to those foolish enough or brave enough to try to use them.
This is where Elizabeth's secret Star Chamber conspiracy and the Catholic Church's Marines of Christ, the Jesuits, come in. Both groups want to rid Europe of its unwanted supernatural refuse, and to sort through these evil things to find something to give their masters an edge in the battle for Europe. Spain and England are at the forefront of this battle, as each seeks to check the other and to exploit the New World and its supernatural mysteries. The PCs come in as operatives for one faction or another, tasked with the endless job of facing the horrors of the night, or of turning said horrors against their foes. The greatest battles take place on the high seas or in far off lands, the better to hide the truth from the common man, as well as limit the collateral damage when a cargo of Anglo-Saxon grave wights breaks loose.
Rivers of Madness
While most pirate themed stories take place on or near the sea, one should not ignore the other bodies of water on Earth, most importantly the many rivers that empty into the aforementioned sea. The journey up a river and into the depths of madness has been told before, most notably in Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad and the film Apocalypse Now by Oliver Stone (Anaconda may also be included if you so desire). These two sources should provide plenty of inspiration, as should the history of piracy and exploration. Rivers attract pirates and conquerors for one reason; wealthy cities and lands are often found alongside them. A journey up a river, especially one whose course is unknown to the protagonists, fulfills many of the key needs of a good horror story, Here you have isolation, the unknown, and the other, wrapped up tight in a little package for the GM to play with. Looking at a map of the world, we see many options for your brave band of buccaneers or conquistadores, from the Amazon and Rio Negro in South America, to the many rivers of Florida and the Mississippi Basin in North America, to the Senegal and other rivers of West Africa. Going father afield, it should be remembered that during the Golden Age of Piracy cutthroats ranged as far as India and China in search of plunder, and thus the more settled, but no less dangerous, rivers of those two great lands should be included in your considerations.
A river journey into madness relies on two things, pacing and suspense. It should be a given that the PCs have no idea what they will find, only vague hints at best. The mysteries and weirdness should increase as you process upriver. At first small things, easily dismissed, occur near the river's mouth. By the time the party is halfway upriver, it should be obvious that things are not what they seem, but what they actually are is still open to conjecture. As they reach their destination, the pace of horror increases, reaching a height of tension like a flooded dam ready to burst, which then falls across them in a wave of terror and confusion.
This month I would like to end by plugging an article of mine that appeared in the September 2010 issue of Pyramid Magazine from Steve Jackson Games. The issue was themed around action adventures, and my contribution was the adventure, "Night of the Megacarp", a fun frolic through a sleepy Indian town under siege by giant mutated Asian carp. Until next time, enjoy October, Halloween, and a few candy coated bits of history.
