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Ask the Readers: Do you know of any gaming supplements where Puerto Rico is mentioned?

This is a purely personal question, but I figure with the worldly and well read audience of this blog (flattery goes a long way, I know), you out there may know of other instances where my native island of Puerto Rico is mentioned in game materials and/or supplements. This comes from a conversation I was having with a friend who asserted Puerto Rico is not mentioned in ANY game and I could positively tell him it is. Also I have this weird notion that gamers in Puerto Rico need to create content specific to our history, culture and folklore, sort of get Puerto Rico out there in the gaming sense… But I get ahead of myself!

I write this from memory as I am currently away from home and don’t have access to my collection, so I apologize for any mistakes.

I know Puerto Rico is mentioned in an old TOP SECET S.I. supplement, Commando (there is a blurb about halfway down this page) and recall thinking how much the information in it was off or simply wrong, The source the author consulted might not have been the best.

There was a pirate themed D20 book for adventuring in the corsair infested Caribbean published by Green Ronin, Skull & Bones. I don’t remember if Puerto Rico was mentioned in the text, I do recall there were maps including it.

I remember paging through Pirates of the Spanish Main (midway through on this page), a supplement for Savage Worlds, in GenCon 2007 and picking up on some detail I knew was historically inaccurate and telling the people at the booth.

And of course there is the German board game Puerto Rico. The name pretty much says it all! I have NOT played the game, I don’t even own it, but the Wikipedia page says it takes place in Puerto Rico and it Wikipedia says it is so then it must be right!

That is all I can come up with. Not bad really… I know some local entrepreneurs have created board games with a local flavor, but I can’t find information on them right now. So I ask gentle reader for your help, do you know if any instance in a game where Puerto Rico is mentioned or referenced? I realize some of you may be hearing about my little corner of tropical paradise for the first time (although I have posted about it before) and I’m not asking you to go back and check your collection. Just keep an eye out for any future reference. This inquiring mind wants to know!

PS – Those of you living in big cities (NY, LA, London, Seattle, etc.) get supplements and games written about your home all the time. What about those living in other out of the way places, has your home ever been mentioned on a game?
Sunglar

Welcome, reader; thanks for taking the time to discover who I am! My name is Roberto, although I usually go by Sunglar online. I am a longtime tabletop RPG player, primarily a GM for the better part of that time; some will say that’s because of my love of telling a good story, others because I’m a control freak, but that’s debatable. I was born and raised in Puerto Rico, an island in the Caribbean with a small but active gaming community. I’ve played RPGs for almost 40 years, and for most of that time, I played D&D in all its permutations, including Pathfinder and D&D 5th edition. Other games our regular gaming group plays include Mutants & Masterminds, Castles & Crusades, Savage Worlds, Stars Without Number, Alien, and more. I have played many games through the years and plan to play many more. I am a compulsive homebrewer and rarely play a campaign I have not created myself. You can follow me on social media as Sunglar, and I’m regularly active on Facebook where you can find me posting regularly in the Puerto Rico Role Players group. I am looking forward to hearing from you!

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9 comments

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Peter

Not only is there a euro-boardgame called Puerto Rico; it is even considered one of the best boardgames ever, currently ranked #2 by the all-knowing people at BoardGameGeek
(http://boardgamegeek.com/browse/boardgame)
So, as Puerte Rican (how do you spell that) you should definitely find a copy and try it!

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Endroren

The Shadowrun supplement Cyberpirates talks about Puerto Rico quite a bit.

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Walker

The fact that your friend does not know of the existence of the board game Puerto Rico, arguably one of the most famous modern board games since Catan, is grounds for revoking his gamer card.

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Greywulf

The venerable James Bond Basic Game from Victory Games talks about Casinos in Puerto Rico and details the gambling laws and house rules that apply. Pretty sweet write-up.
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Markus

I don’t live in any big city myself, but I was born in Aachen, Germany. The city is pretty famous in the country nowadays because of its excellent university, but it was also Charlemagne’s seat of power during his reign over most of Europe in the 9th century. This was probably one of the reasons why the old German translator and publisher of the oWoD, Feder & Schwert, created a supplement for the Dark Ages game line called “Reichsgold: Aachen bei Nacht”. I have never read the book myself, but after I heard of its existence and that it was an “official” setting for a White Wolf product, I felt a sudden rush of warmth in my gamer heart… ;D

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Todd Gardiner

It’s interesting that you list Seattle as a “big city”. It is actually the 23rd most populous city in the USA (and my home). Houston, El Paso, Jacksonville, and Memphis are all more populous, but there is another factor at work here.

Seattle is interesting. As an early tech hub and set discretely away from other major cities, it has a very distinctive mood and location.

While the biggest cities in the USA have been settings (White Wolf was keen on making US city settings), many of the populous cities in the South have been completely skipped. Likely because most game-writers write about places they know, and most game-writers come from the West Coast and the Midwest.
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Frank

Somewhere in Shadowrun there’ has to be a mention of Puerto Rico. Apparetnly the supplements Aztlan, and Cyberpirates mention it as part of the Carribbean League.

See also http://denver.wikidot.com/info:the-caribbean-league
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Anonymous

Thanks for all the input everybody…
A good friend told me over Twitter that in the Aberrant book the timeline includes Puerto Rico becoming a Sate of the US. So that gets added to the list of references.

@Frank and @Endoren thanks for that, so there is Shadowrun…

@Greywulf, thanks for the info and the link! I actually own the game but did not remember reading that, but it was a long time ago.

@Peter, Puerto Rican is the way to spell it, thanks. I’ll have to follow your, and @Walker’s advice and try the game.

@Todd, population aside, Seattle gets so much attention, in games and other media, that in my mind it’s one of the “big” cities in terms of setting for games and such. (Wow, only 23rd? I had no idea!)

Keep‘em coming…

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