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The Plot Point books are pre-fab
campaign settings that include a long-term story arc for GMs to
weave into their sessions. You can and should have plenty of
adventures not related directly to the campaign storyline, but the
Plot Point adventures allow the players to eventually be involved in
an epic tale spanning the length of your game campaign. (Another
Savage Plot Point sourcebook reviewed previously is
Sundered
Skies, if you prefer your sailing to be
airborne…)
The campaign takes place in the Age of Sail, circa the 17th
or 18th century. PCs can be sailors, buccaneers, English
Navy men, Dutch traders, Chinese smugglers, whatever they’d like
from the time period. However, sneaky GMs may enjoy pulling a
bait-n-switch with this sourcebook, lulling their players into the
assumption that they’re about to play a campaign of Pirates of
the Spanish Main. The catch is, 50 Fathoms isn’t set in
the real world, but rather the land of Caribdus, in an alternate
universe. See, periodically, an unlucky ship from our world sails
into a massive fog bank, and gets pulled through the dimensions to
Caribdus, via some magical hanky-panky. And while Caribdus used to
be a standard planet with continents, cities, cultured kingdoms,
reefs and seas, it suffered a cataclysmic planetary disaster 13
years ago. Now it’s drowned under 50 fathoms of cursed floodwater,
so that only the highest mountain peaks form short chains of
inhabitable land. And in the middle of these chains is the Flotsam
Sea, a churning morass of shattered ship hulls, seaweed, the bloated
dead, and detritus from submerged civilizations. Here live the Sea
Hags, and with a name like that, you know they’re up to no good.
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The short players’ section of the book consists of simple rules
additions or tweaks to the core Savage Worlds rules that
apply to the campaign, such as new Edges and Hindrances (such as
“Natural Swimmer”, “Rope Monkey”, and “Advanced Doggie Paddle”.)
There’s a full chapter on native Caribdus races that players may opt
to try out. These include the winged Atani, the massive and powerful
but slow Grael, the aquatic Doreen, and the most prominent natives
of Caribdus, the Masaquani, who vaguely resemble humans but with
wildly differing skin coloration. There are other, more freaky
species to play as well, if you’re into being a crab or an ogre-kin.
Each race is given good detail which describes basic attitudes,
outlook, mannerisms, and society, so players have a solid
springboard to play an alien race in a strange world without having
to completely wing it. PCs will also quickly become acquainted with
some of the nastier inhabitants of the seas, such as the hostile and
torture-loving Kehana who live beneath the waves, and the slimy and
vicious Octopons, who began appearing after the flood to kidnap,
terrorize, and eat the local landlubbers. Do not invite these
guys to your fish fry.
The equipment section is unsurprisingly heavy with sailing and
marine supplies, which is obviously helpful. Almost a dozen basic
ship types from dinghies to man o’ wars are statted for quick use,
and there are chapters not only on naval combat and boarding, but
also on shipping, trading, smuggling, piracy, and exploring, with
accompanying useful tables for the values of commodities commonly
moved around the seas of Caribdus. A gazetteer chapter follows the
equipment, giving brief but flavorful notes about the many, many
islands, empires, seas, and other interesting areas of the setting.
The notes help the players to understand the landscape (so to speak)
of the setting without being over inundated with details.
The last half of the book is the GM’s section, and it delves more
deeply into the background story of Caribdus, the flood, and what’s
what in the Drowned World. The key movers and shakers are presented,
more detailed info about the islands and lands of the world are
explored, and of course, the Plot Point adventures are written up.
PCs who pursue the Plot Point campaign in 50 Fathoms are
expected to uncover the mysterious cause of the catastrophe that
wiped out the lands of Caribdus, discover what the campaign villains
are up to and how they plan to achieve their nefarious ends, what’s
up with that fog bank that traps Earthly ships in this amazing and
soggy world, where did these hideous man-eating octopons come from,
and who the hell is that chick in the fog who lures captains to
their demise? Oh, and, um, does that waterline on the levee look
like it’s getting higher to anybody else?...
I like 50 Fathoms. It combines the swashbuckling of a solid
pirate game with a dash of fantasy elements. The background is rich,
and the plot point campaign looks like it flows smoothly and will
blend nicely with whatever other adventures the group partakes in.
And even if the fantasy setting doesn’t fan your flames, you can
certainly use the presented material for your own Age of Sail
historical era campaigns. There’s enough info on ships, naval
combat, equipment, skills, exotic islands, Edges and Hindrances in
this sourcebook to use 50 Fathoms as a cheaper alternative to
the Pirates of the Spanish Main core book, or just to add
some sea salt to any other campaign you design.
So batten the mizzenmast and swab the poopdeck, matey! Thar’s a fog
bank up ahead, and th' sea be growin’ rough…
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(4 out of 5 Dice) 
