OneDice Abney Park’s Airship Pirates vs Rapscallion
Compare OneDice Abney Park’s Airship Pirates and Rapscallion side by side. See differences in complexity, dice, genre, and more.
| OneDice Abney Park’s Airship Pirates | Rapscallion | |
|---|---|---|
| Genre | Post-Apocalyptic, Sci-Fi | Fantasy |
| Tags | Pirates, Ship-Based, Licensed IP, Skill-Based, Cinematic, Pulp Action, Random Tables | Narrative, Pirates |
| Core Mechanic | Roll 1d6 plus one relevant ability and an applicable skill if any, then meet or beat the Gamekeeper’s target number. Opposed checks compare totals, while Doubloons can secure non-combat success, turn a hit into a miss, or power swashbuckling stunts. | Roll 2d6 + trait (Blood, Vinegar, Polish, or Spitfire). On 10+ you succeed cleanly, 7–9 with a cost, 6– and things go wrong. Players choose from 6 character playbooks and 2 ship playbooks. Luck can be spent to Twist Fate (reroll), and the Ante system tracks escalating combat advantage. The Fates (GM) use worldbuilding moves to create a living fantasy pirate setting with magic rooted in Death, Demons, the Sea, and Books. |
| Dice | d6 | 2d6 |
| Complexity | Medium | Low |
| Availability | Paid | Free quickstart |
| Runnability | 3 of 5 book tools | Book tools not listed |
| License | All Rights Reserved | Proprietary |
| Third-Party Publishing | Not yet researched | Not yet researched |
| Publisher | Cakebread & Walton | Magpie Games |
| Year | 2014 | 2024 |
| Languages | English | English |
| Best For | Groups who want fast, cinematic campaigns about a shared airship crew, with boarding actions and procedurally generated Skyloft destinations. | Groups who want a narrative pirate RPG with dramatic character relationships: where your ship has its own playbook, magic comes from dark pacts, and the dice swing between daring success and messy complication. |
| Highlights | Doubloons refresh each session and turn danger into player choices by averting harm or enabling cinematic stunts. Airship combat uses abstract range bands to structure chases and boarding actions for the whole crew. Random Skyloft tables generate aerial settlements with distinct economies and local customs. | Ship-as-character with its own playbook adds group dynamics, Ante system makes combat escalation feel cinematic, worldbuilding tools (World With Laws vs World Without Laws), Magpie Games pedigree, free quickstart to try before buying |
| Considerations | The Gamekeeper sets target numbers and many situational modifiers, so table consistency depends on shared expectations. Player pirates reduced to zero Health by lethal damage die unless Medicine succeeds within three combat rounds; a Doubloon instead leaves them unconscious. The setting includes authoritarian oppression and slavery. | Only a quickstart: full game not yet released, limited to 6 playbooks, pirate fantasy genre is narrow, requires buy-in from the whole table for PbtA-style play, light on crunch |