So this is the idea for the first supplement of Newsies & Bootblacks: a group of thousand islands somewhere in the southern seas of the Pacific Ocean. The archipielago’s sovereignity is disputed by seven powers: Prussia, France, The British Empire, Russia, the USA, Sweden and Japan; though none mantain more than a few outposts and a handful of gunboats and cutters. In practice it is the independent settlers and natives who run their own affairs, wherever they can resist pirates and criminals of every sort.
A few elements to spice it:
(just a few random ideas)
- Some ultra-expensive spice or rare materials -
- Ancient ruins of former civilizations
- Storms that make communications difficult with the outside world
- Runaway convicts and felons
- Explorers
- Missioners(?)
- Pirates
- Treasure Island(s)
- Exiled Chinese Warlord(s)?
- Sharks, Giant Squids, Monsters
- Undersea civilizations(?)
- Inventions
- An original native culture(s)?
- Tyrants
Our heroes
In Newsies & Bootblacks our heroes were children forced to live on their own assets. On Brave Islands, the age range for heroes will remain the same, but they would no longer required to be orphans or the like. Instead it would suffice that they are free to partake adventure. Yes, they could be orphans or runaways or native kids, or powder monkeys in some rusty gunboat, or the children of a research expedition, or even castaways on a desolate island or… Anything goes as long as the player can come up with a plausible story regarding the independence of his character.