Ideas needed for upcoming pirate series -- I could use some brainstorming help

[Robert Lai]

Are you looking for a single adventure, a multi-episode arc, or a campaign?

Are the adventures set in present-day, a historical holodeck scenario, or other combination of past/present?

One possibility of past/present would be to find historical records and/or evidence that leads the characters on a larger adventure ... a blend of the stronger elements of 'Time's Arrow' and 'The Search', possibly.

Another possibility, though perhaps a bit stock, is to have a Q transplant crewmembers from a starship to a sailing ship. Ultimately, they're not doing anything differently, though they seem to be - it is only that Q has put things, '... into terms your human minds can comprehend.'

A first contact mission could become a pirate-era setting if that's where the culture happens to be. Your characters could be tasked to find the advance team, but is unable to locate them by communicator, etc. A survey of the post reveals that it's been blasted apart by what appears to be cannon fire. So the only way to find the advance team and rescue them ... is to become pirates yourselves.

Bob

[Paul]

Your characters options will vary according to what the story will be, as Robert pointed out above.

If you're going to run a Priate scenario as a single adventure, then you won't need to do more than have your existing PCs go under cover with the blessing of Starfleet Command - maybe even being monitored by Starfleet Intelligence.

If, however, you're looking to make a full-length campaign out of Pirating (or Privateering), then you'll ideally need to have the Raiders, Renegades and Rogues sourcebook - there's lots of good information and ideas in there.

For character ideas for a full-length series: you can go to many sources for concepts and starting points. There are plenty of ideas in the Star Wars movies (Han, Lando come to mind immediately), Bladerunner (Deckard would be a good pirate or privateer), Alien Resurrection (our 'crew' of heroes is a good example of a pirate group)...just look around, and you'll find good character types almost anywhere.

Pirates are less fussy about who they take onboard than Starfleet - and Privateers are basically pirates that are sanctioned by a government.

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"...and more controversial than Oolon Colluphid's trilogy of philosophical blockbusters Where God went Wrong, Some More of God's Greatest Mistakes, and Who is this God Person Anyway?"
- The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Douglas Adams (dec.)

[Kaiddin]

I had my Movie era players encounter two types of pirates.
1) Captain Blood Type - The episode was a break in tension, concentration on action. The players caught on to what was going on fairly rapidly and we had a lot of fun. They were ordered by Starfleet to help some fringe worlds solve a little problem. Turns out the 'pirates' were the heroes fighting against some corrupt governors.
2) Scum o' the Galaxy - Again I used sail age pirates as the example but taking all the negative traits. Amazing how player will become insensed by pillaging and murder when their the good guys. The players tried doing the Starfleet thing but did end up destroying the pirates ship.
Of the two, the Captain Blood was the better or atleast the one where we had more fun. If I were to run a pirate campaign it would have to be this style.
I used a lot of ideas from ICE's Pirates book. And of course watched Captain Blood.

[Flamestrike]

Some interesting things about pirating:

Pirates, or at least the smart, organized ones, routinely made all prisoners taken sign "letters of piracy" which made the prisoners part of the crew in the eyes of the law, and thus punishable by immediate execution in the event of defeat. The exception were the ships' carpenters, who were too valuable to kill at sea. The prisoners thus had to fight alongside their captors or die.

Thus if the Crew is captured by Romulan pirates in the Neutral Zone they may have to become grudging allies when the Praetor's fleet comes knocking...

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Even in this age of technological wonders, the human mind is still the most powerful weapon in the universe.

[J.Ramirez]

My group wants to change the pace of things and wants to try some pirating -- or privateering.

I know there have been threads on this before, but what I'm asking for are some character ideas -- because I know there'll be those saying "I don't know what type of character to make" -- as well as some adventure seeds. I've got a few, but the idea fountain has regrettably run dry.

So, friends and fellow narrators, a little boost please??

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"Now then, pendejo, let's see what kind of swordsman you've become." -- Juan Sanchez Villalobos Ramirez

[Dan Gurden]

Also remember for extra Pathos.

All the well known Pirates with pseudo-fictional personnas. They may well have been highly publicised, but such attention drew entire fleets upon them, and without exception, all the 'known' pirates were hunted down and killed (either at sea or by noose), or took the 'Kings Shilling' during any of the many wars of the era...

Remember, these guys were actually failures.

They didn't get away with it.

The successes were the pirates who remained unknown, raided shipping to their fortune and found a small corner of the world to retire, can you name them?

No. Thats what made them successful.

So remember. If they leave witnesses and survivors, they will gain notoriety, which I am sure your players will enjoy, but remember to keep increasing the power of the vessels going after them, perhaps a Sworn Enemy as a Ships Captain.

Of course a REALLY sneaky crew might try to remain unkown and leave clues that their Rival pirate crew committed the atrocities...

Also remember that a ship and its cargo is a prize, so disabling and boarding are the order of the day, not destruction. The crew is another matter. Passengers are like cargo, you dont know how valuable it is until you inspect it!

Just a few ideas.

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Dan.

Spock; "That unit, is a woman."
Nomad; "A mass of conflicting Impulses."
http://www.theventure.freeserve.co.uk

[Dan Gurden]

<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by Flamestrike:
Some interesting things about pirating:

</font>

Bear in mind though, that life at sea at this time was hard, and that the majority of any ships crew were press-ganged, and thus serving their government against their will.

Flogging, Running the Gaunlett and Execution, were common punishments, all for 'The Kings Shilling'. Often service on
a pirate vessel offered fairer treatment and an equal share in the loot, thus was far more tempting than service on a government vessel.

Also it is interesting that Pirates usually operated a true democracy, the Captain may have been in command, but he knew that his crew was part of the ship too.

Pirates also operated equal rights, often freeing slaves that appeared strong and capable, while selling the rest. It is interesting to note that there are documented accounts of many black pirate captains, in an age where the western world viewed those of African descent as Savages and Slaves...

Lastly, Pirates also developed the worlds first welfare state, increasing a pirates share if an injury was recieved, they put a price on body parts, starting with the right hand being the most expensive. And the loss of the limb (a common occurance with cannon fire) would result in an increase in the pirates share by the limbs value.

So endeth the lesson.


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Dan.

Spock; "That unit, is a woman."
Nomad; "A mass of conflicting Impulses."
http://www.theventure.freeserve.co.uk

[spyone]

As noted above, real Pirates tended to run a real democracy. The "Captain" was in fact merely the commander in battle, and non-combat decisions were made by a vote of the crew. "Do we sail to Madagascar, or Jamaica?"
Plunder was divided into equal shares, but most everyone in the crew got more than one share. That is, a crew of 30 might divide the spoils into 50 shares. Then award 1 to each man, 5 to the captain, 3 to each officer, 1 to the men who ran the guns, 1 to any man who engaged the enemy with swords, and the balance to be awarded to men who displayed heroism in battle, awarded by vote of the crew.
Pirate crews were remarkable tolerant of other cultures and religions. Often the men of a crew came from nations that were at war with each other. The basic reasoning was that a Pirate was a Pirate first, so that man is your brother crewman first, and a heretic enemy of your homeland second.
Thus, a Klingon turned Pirate could easilly serve with Romulans. Yes, he is an untrustworthy Romulan cur, but he is my shipmate first. Neither of us would be welcomed in our other home, and so we have set aside petty differences in favor of embracing our major similarity; we are Pirates, and other people are not.

I have envisioned starting a "pirate" campaign. My chosen premise is that some of the crew, and the owner(s) of the ship, are undercover Federation intelligence, and the ship's mission is to explore places the Federation cannot go in person for political reasons. "These suckers are willing to rent us a ship for cheap, and what they want in return is copies of our logs and our charts? Done!"

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You're a Starfleet Officer. "Weird" is part of the job.

[This message has been edited by spyone (edited 06-27-2001).]

[J.Ramirez]

<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by Robert Lai:

Are you looking for a single adventure, a multi-episode arc, or a campaign?

Are the adventures set in present-day, a historical holodeck scenario, or other combination of past/present?

One possibility of past/present would be to find historical records and/or evidence that leads the characters on a larger adventure ... a blend of the stronger elements of 'Time's Arrow' and 'The Search', possibly.

Another possibility, though perhaps a bit stock, is to have a Q transplant crewmembers from a starship to a sailing ship. Ultimately, they're not doing anything differently, though they seem to be - it is only that Q has put things, '... into terms your human minds can comprehend.'

A first contact mission could become a pirate-era setting if that's where the culture happens to be. Your characters could be tasked to find the advance team, but is unable to locate them by communicator, etc. A survey of the post reveals that it's been blasted apart by what appears to be cannon fire. So the only way to find the advance team and rescue them ... is to become pirates yourselves.

Bob</font>

I should have made it a bit clearer. . . we're looking at a "Raiders, Renegades, and Rogues" series.

Or, as one of my players put it, "We don' need no steenkin' Prime Directive!"

[tonyg]

Character will aslo depend on just how "good" the players want to be. They could be noble renegades who just didn't cut in in starfleet, or they could be dispicable killers who knife someone for a slip of latinum.

[John Raynor]

Pirates need supplies, and their ships need
repairs (particularly if they tangle with
"real warships" often). Finding somebody
willing to provide these services is going
to be critical for long-term survival, but
there will *always* be strings attached.
Unless a group of pirates is *very* careful,
they *will* end up working (not always
willingly) for *somebody* -- a particularly
sleazy batch of Ferengi, the Orions, a
Klingon feudal lordling with political
aspirations, the Obsidian Order, one of the
Romulan intelligence services, the Maquis...
And once a group of pirates finds its
"patron," backing out of the deal should be
very, very difficult... (somebody aboard the
ship is really an agent of the Obsidian
Order, keeping an eye on thing -- but who?)

[Robert Lai]

<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by J.Ramirez:
I should have made it a bit clearer. . . we're looking at a "Raiders, Renegades, and Rogues" series.

Or, as one of my players put it, "We don' need no steenkin' Prime Directive!"</font>

In that case ...

The characters are either ex-Starfleet, or officers tasked with a deep-cover mission. However, if you're doing straight Renegades, they don't even have to have had Starfleet experience at all, though it would offer an interesting skill mix.

Maquis, archaeological plunderers, crusaders against injustice, the wrongfully accused heroes ... all are viable options.

I'd recommend having the 'crew' assembled at the start of the first adventure. It's usually difficult to play the 'band together' scenario unless it's almost a non-choice.

The ship will likely be owned by one of the characters, bestowed by an unknown benefactor (who may have reasons that will later be at odds with the players), won in a game of chance, or flat-out stolen.

The ship, unless provided covertly by Starfleet, will probably lack the ability to face-off with the larger, capital ships of the major powers. Local militia, however, are another thing entirely.

If the ship is part of a covert mission, then the question is why, and what does Starfleet/SIS hope to achieve? Is there a raider or organization that poses a significant risk/threat to the Federation? This can be as simple as an effective commerce blockade, or something where the objective must be taken by stealth/subterfuge rather than direct force.

One of the more challenging items on the roleplaying side is to NOT presume knowledge of Starfleet tactics and/or policies, unless they have had an encounter to discover this. (A character with a disenfranchised-Starfleet background can alleviate this, but their information may be erroneous, outdated, or colored by their own experiences.)

Bob

[Paul]

<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by spyone:
I have envisioned starting a "pirate" campaign. My chosen premise is that some of the crew, and the owner(s) of the ship, are undercover Federation intelligence, and the ship's mission is to explore places the Federation cannot go in person for political reasons. "These suckers are willing to rent us a ship for cheap, and what they want in return is copies of our logs and our charts? Done!"</font>

Interesting idea, there, spyone. I might consider doing something similar for my players. Currently, they're in their 4th Year at Starfleet Academy, after which time they will be posted to Starfleet Intel for their first Tour...doing something like this might be quite intriguing...

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"...and more controversial than Oolon Colluphid's trilogy of philosophical blockbusters Where God went Wrong, Some More of God's Greatest Mistakes, and Who is this God Person Anyway?"
- The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Douglas Adams (dec.)

[J.Ramirez]

These are some great ideas, folks! My thanks to you -- keep 'em coming!