ICRPG - Aether Pirates, inspired by Spelljammer

The Aetherion. The cosmic mumbo-jumbo that connects planetary bodies in a stream of breathable magic. Wizards try and study it. Politicians try and conquer it. Adventurers try and explore it.

And pirates, they try and profit off it.

You are some of those pirates. Perhaps you consider yourselves honorable, perhaps you are scoundrels of the worst variety. Either way, you will sail your vessel through the cosmos, seeking fame and fortune, and maybe - just maybe - helping to stop a cataclysm or two along the way.


This will be an ongoing, likely episodic, campaign set in a world that's not quite Spelljammer, but not not Spelljammer, where the PCs are all pirates and anything goes.

Index Card RPG - ICRPG - is a fairly rules-lite, DIY friendly system similar to D&D, focused on big, fast battles, a somewhat old school 'beer-and-pretzels' vibe, and high adrenaline and danger. This game will run in that system, supplemented with bits and pieces from Pirate Borg and all around, but hopefully evenly mixing conflicts in with more freeform rp. No knowledge of ICRPG, or any rpg, is required.

Touchstones include: Treasure Planet, Spelljammer (obviously), Sword & Planet novels, Nausicaa / Laputa, Starstruck Odyssey. Familiarity with these is not required, but knowing something about Treasure Planet and/or Spelljammer would be ideal.
I want it to feel like an old school fantasy world brought up to speed with space-faring technology, except most technology is weird, magic, or a bit of both. Sailboats in space, suns created in giant forges, weirdly outfitted men on weirdly orange moons, that kind of thing.

Looking for:
* 3-5 players. Ideally 3 good players, but 5 is my absolute maximum.
* A diverse cast of PCs.
* Players who are ready to improvise and collaborate not just on character creation (we'll likely be homebrewing a LOT of stuff in the spirit of Runehammer), but about worldbuilding during play.
* Creativity and imagination - I want to say "you can do anything!" and mean it.
* Openness to communication, especially in ooc channels, pinging anything that makes us uncomfortable, or we don't/do enjoy.
* PCs who can, and likely will, die, but players who aren't too precious about it - go out in a blaze of glory! Do something memorable!
* I've set 3 posts a week, but this is a rough guideline. I'm not necessarily looking for people who expect a post a day, but there are times when I'll be more online than others. I don't mind back-and-forth or double posting outside of conflict scenes so long as everybody understands how to share the spotlight and respond to each other's actions thoughtfully.
* During conflicts, there may be times where we skip over inactive players to keep the game fast. My default is 1 day of inactivity since the last post, and then you'll be slotted in at some point later in the order.

If you're interested, you can post in this thread, or send me a dm. I don't necessarily need full characters right now, in fact, it's best if you keep yourself open and flexible in case it's best to change or edit your initial concepts based on the group cohesion.
You can tell me what touchstones you're most familiar with if any, and if you would like, give me a handful of brief character concepts you might want to play, but you do not have to - it would not necessarily be your final character anyway. I cannot stress enough how much I want brevity in any character pitches you do give me. I am looking specifically for a blend of classic weird fantasy, and pulpy old school sci fi wrapped up in an Age of Sail setting.

If you have any further questions, either about the setting/campaign, mechanics, or anything else, please don't hesitate to ask away!

If I wanted to read some more about the ICRPG, where would I look?

Great question! The quickstart is available for free on drivethrurpg, which has pretty much everything you'd need. As far as mechanics go, it's mostly a roll-d20 to see if you succeed, then roll d4-to-d12 (depending on what you're doing) to see how much 'effort', or 'damage', you do. If we do end up taking from Pirate Borg for ship combat unfortunately that has no free rules specifically, but I will outline them in the forum as needed.

I'd love to cross swords with some scurrilous scallywags! Please count me as interested.

I'd be interested, I picked up the ICRPG ages ago, but have never played it.
Familiar with Treasure Planet, loosely familiar with Spelljammer, Sword & Planet and Laputa.

No idea what to play though, other than... a pirate. Maybe lean into stereotype and be a princess/daughter of noble house fleeing an arranged marriage...

Delighted to see an ICRPG game being run here. I hope to run one myself someday soon. Good luck with it!

Be happy to have the both of you! I do think that leaning into an archetype is the best way to play something like this, haha.
It’s a fun one! I’ve never done it pbp before, so fingers crossed. And thanks!

@mochi05,

Are you familiar with Airship Pirates or the comic Swords of the Swashbucklers?

I have a concept and character I created for a game that virtually went no where. She was inspired by the character Mage, from Legend of the Sword. She's a ship navigator whose origin is from a matriarchal society that practices the old ways. She is part necromancer and a shapeshifter, whose alternate form is a sea raven.

I can't say I am familiar, no! However, that concept does potentially sound pretty cool - a good level of whacky and gonzo in my opinion. If you're interested, that's potentially a 3 player party right there - but I'll leave this thread up a while longer in any case.

I see you've created the game. Will you be sending out invitations?

I'll likely send out invitations later today! I have two other games to get to first, haha. Make sure you check your DMs I suppose.

If you haven't started yet, here is my pitch for a Pc:

A droid mechanic as a a crew member that insists on being paid in cargo pants which it wears all the time but destroys frequently as they get caught in the leg hydraulics. It also really likes things that go boom. Coincidentally, small round projectiles that fit easily in cargo pant pockets.

If you have already started, no worries. This is my first bid to play by post so no worries if you want someone with more experience.

That is a pretty funny idea, I like the energy. As long as you can balance out the goofs with some more earnest/serious PCs. If you’re willing to be a little patient (I’ve got some real life stuff to deal with before I can devote full attention to character creation but I’m trying my best) then I’m sending you a link! 4 players I think, is a good start, in case someone drops.

In my excitement of getting an invitation, I promptly trashed the email and while trying to move it back from trash to my inbox, I managed to permanently delete it! Could I trouble you to resend that invitation? I promise, I not a Luddite!

Thank you! I’m sure I can balance the role play. After raising three kids and being married for over 30 years, I can do patience. Really looking forward to the game.

If you go to the game page, you'll be able to just accept the invite there (Link).