The Summer of Plunder campaign is running full tilt, well into the 4th week, and we have a little update for the “unaligned” players. The campaign encourages players to team up by nation and work together, but the Unaligned and Minor Power factions are a little different. Players who play the Minor Powers factions in Blood & Plunder (and Port Royal) can “ally” with a major nation which basically grants that nation their points and attack and defense points on the campaign map. Check the Complete Rules post for more details.
While this works well, it leaves the Unaligned players without some of the fun elements of the campaign, including special objectives, community building, and private communication channel in the SoP Discord server.
Starting now (6/29), we have a quick update to make the campaign a little more fun for those players who want to represent the Minor Powers/Unaligned factions for the campaign. This update will work within the overall campaign system, but will add some extra spice.
Unaligned Update Summary
Here’s what we’re adding:
- Unaligned Commanders
- Unaligned Private Discord Channel
- Unaligned Objectives to work towards
- $100 worth of prizes for Unaligned players!
Unaligned Commander
Josiah Huss (RhiBranyHud on Discord) has stepped up to help as Commander for the Unaligned players. He’ll be coordinating objectives, awarding prizes, answering questions and helping Unaligned players have a good time. We may have a second in command on board soon as well.
Unaligned “Mercenaries”
Unaligned players can be “commissioned” by Commanders of other primary nations to apply their games to an attack or defense and help their nation accomplish their goals for the week. This isn’t always necessarily helpful (depending on their level of team organization), so some commanders may choose not to take on mercenary services, but it can be a good collaboration if planned well.
If not coordinating with a commander of a major nation, Unaligned players should not simply mess with other nation’s plans by logging a high number of points for a single nation. Commanders and teams are working hard to coordinate efforts and Unaligned can be part of that but should not intentionally throw a monkey wrench in their plans.
Unaligned Objectives
Commander Josiah has come up with a number of objectives for the Unaligned players to works towards.
- Play at least 5 games for the same Nation
- Play at least 1 game for 5 different Nations
- Play at least 8 games as an Unaligned Faction
- Create and Play 2 games with your own homebrewed Faction
- Play a game and post a picture of an Unaligned Faction’s Flag in the game
- Submit 3 games to a target location assigned to you by the Unaligned Commander
The timing of the prizes will be up to the discretion of Josiah, the Unaligned Commander. Watch the Player & Commander updates for details and timing.
Unaligned Prizes
With objectives, we need prizes! There is a new prize list devoted to players playing as “mercenaries.”
- Port Royal Customizable Character Sprue
- Drummer Boy Character
- Sharp-Eyed Lookout Character
- Pirate d10’s from Baron of Dice
- Pirate d8’s for Oak & Iron from Baron of Dice
- Oak & Iron Galleon
- 4x Deluxe Coin Fortune Tokens
What this does NOT mean
The Unaligned/Minor Powers still cannot “win” the campaign, as they are not a single power like the other national teams. But this update can give players who want to play the fringe factions some extra goals, incentives and prizes.
Any player already signed up with a nation can still play these minor power factions and log them as allied with their chosen nation (same as before). This update is really for the players who enjoy the “free agent” feel and don’t want to sign up with a major power.
Unaligned and Minor Powers Factions
The factions that count as Unaligned for the Summer of Plunder this year include:
- Black Caribs
- Brandenburg Privateers
- Brazilian Portuguese Armadillas
- Brazilian Portuguese GArrison
- Danish Militia
- Maroons
- Miskito Zambo
- Portuguese Bandeirantes
- Portuguese Brazilian Tercios & Militia
- Scottish Militia
- Swedish Militia
- Port Royal Maroons
- Misc unpublished fan-made or playtest factions
Players who are participating in the “Unaligned” channel and objectives may play any faction they want (and that’s part of the fun!), but they can log those directly for that major power.
How to Join the Unaligned Team
In the 2025 Summer of Plunder Discord, navigate to the “ask for a nation” channel, and request the “unaligned” role, and one of the admins will give you that role within the server.
Final Thoughts
The Unaligned factions have always been a bit of a trick to incorporate in the Summer of Plunder campaign, but we hope this will be enjoyable and add some interest during the campaign.
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