Play at the Table

System Conversions

Mar de Oro is system-agnostic: it is designed to work with different tabletop roleplaying systems. Begin with the System-Agnostic Adaptation chapter to define fictional role, capability, scale, pressure, and consequences. The pages below preserve and organise the published conversion notes for individual systems.

A Note on Choosing

No single rules engine is the official Mar de Oro system. D&D Fifth Edition is currently the most extensively tested implementation because it was the ruleset familiar to the original group. Pathfinder 2e and Blades in the Dark material should be treated as published adaptation notes rather than an equally playtested implementation.

Choosing Your System

Choose the ruleset your group already knows, or the one whose structure best fits the campaign you want to run. Then use the System-Neutral Adaptation chapter to define what each character, faction, vessel, or scene needs to do at the table, and consult the matching system page for practical translation notes.

Start Here

System-Agnostic Adaptation

Define role, capability, scale, pressure, consequences, and mechanical expression before translating Mar de Oro into a named ruleset. Also called system-neutral. Read this before choosing or adapting a system.

Read the framework →
Experimental Conversion Wizard

Conversion Companion

Explore mechanical starting points. Preserve the world. Decide what works at your table.

An experimental aid for adapting Mar de Oro material to different rulesets. It provides editable starting points for Characters and NPCs or Creatures, with Markdown, PDF, and DOCX exports.

Open the Companion →

Mar de Oro for D&D 5e

Most extensively tested

The original Mar de Oro campaign was developed and played using Dungeons & Dragons Fifth Edition because it was the ruleset familiar to the group at the time.

Best suited for
Groups fluent in 5e who want the most extensively playtested Mar de Oro implementation, including archetype starting points, capability translation, Fortera and Overdraw, Bonds and Burdens, extended challenges, and airship procedures.
Important consideration
Optional mechanics are clearly labelled by testing status. Individual mechanics may still require adjustment for party tier and campaign style.

Mar de Oro for Pathfinder 2e

Published adaptation notes

Pathfinder Second Edition provides detailed tactical combat, structured character options, proficiency ranks, hazards, and useful subsystems.

Best suited for
Groups that want structured tactical resolution, proficiency-based Capability translation, and PF2e's native subsystem toolbox.
Important consideration
Unless a mechanic is specifically labelled as tested, treat this material as adaptation guidance requiring calibration by the group.

Mar de Oro for Blades in the Dark

Natural thematic fit · Adaptation guidance

Blades in the Dark is a strong thematic fit for Mar de Oro campaigns centred on crews, privateers, smugglers, deniable agents, faction pressure, difficult bargains, long-term projects, and accumulating consequences.

Best suited for
Crew-centred campaigns, privateers and smugglers, deniable agents, faction pressure, difficult bargains, and consequence-driven play.
Important consideration
It was not the system used during the original campaign. Treat this material as adaptation guidance rather than an extensively tested implementation. D&D 5e remains the most extensively tested Mar de Oro implementation.
System-agnostic table procedures (Hard Calls at the Table and Running the Powered Arts) live in the System-Agnostic Adaptation chapter because they apply across multiple rulesets.