We started a new Freebooters on the Frontier campaign last night, using the playtest rules for Freebooters 2E. The players opted to go random for everything, and as usual, it was an amazing, creative, totally unexpected set-up that looks like it will be a blast to play!
One of the players was in a “pirate” mood, so we decided to have “pirate-era” level technology (printing presses, flintlocks, sailing ships, clocks, etc.) We rolled Frigid as our climate, and after some discussion, decided that the frontier would be a series of large and small islands in the cold northern sea, where various powers were establishing whaling stations and other resource extraction bases. Given the North Atlantic vibe, we opted for Swedish as the base human language. This area had been inhabited by Dwarves before some unknown calamity drove them out, and long before, when the climate was much warmer, it had been home to Lizard-people.
For heritage choices, we decided to go with a mix of the standard choices plus some unique options. After rolling up characters, we ended up with this party:
Aeren, a chaotic Sea Elf thief with dark skin, mismatched eyes, and a whispery voice, who is trying to unload a music box he stole.
Hildrigga, an evil Human fighter with perfect posture and a lantern jaw, who carries around the preserved hand of a thief in a glass jar.
Nongelege, an evil Narhwal-folk cleric of the god of Onskan, the multi-limbed god of Lust, Narcotics, and Submission, who never washes and has flagellant scars on his back and uses a bottle of cheap perfume to mask the smell of rotting fish that hangs about him.
Svotja, a chaotic Dwarf fighter, an addict who covers up his beardless face and crooked teeth with a wooden mask depicting a long, flowing beard.
and Thorfri, a Lawful Mer-folk fighter who fights with a trident, can magically switch between human legs and a fish tail, and who somehow brought a cow north with him…
I don’t see any potential issues there at all 
We used a big sheet of hex paper and Brendan Day’s Game Stamps to create the campaign map. We rolled up a starting fortified keep called Fort Spack at the head of a fjord surrounded by tall mountains, a nearby peak called Haxor Onda Topp, a dark fir forest called the Vild Skog, and a strange site of sacrifice called Eld Sten.
The whole process was super fun as usual, and everybody is excited about the campaign. The random inspirations from Freebooters combined with the cool map stamps were a big hit. I’m looking forward to our first session of actual play next week!
