What Would a Pirate Do?

[Dausuul]

Move around a lot to avoid attacks, until they find an opportunity to work together with their crewmates to get an unfair advantage over their enemies.

 

[Camelot]

Would you oppose to this 4e power being the poster power of pirates? (Say that 10 times fast.) Ignore the lame/lack of fluff for now.

Pirate Strike - Pirate Feature
Encounter * Martial, Weapon
Standard Action - Melee or Ranged weapon
Target: One creature
Attack: Ability score vs. AC
Hit: 1[W] + ability modifier damage. Roll a d6 to determine the attack's additional benefit.
- 1-2: You shift 4 squares.
- 3-4: You gain combat advantage against the target until the end of your next turn.
- 5-6: The next creature to attack the target before the start of your next turn gains a +2 bonus to the damage roll.

Should the pirate be able to choose the additional effect? Or should the attack do something else entirely?

 

[Celebrim]

It depends on the pirates. What are the circumstances that led them to piracy? Are they outlaws, deserters, privateers?

We are going to have to be careful here to define what we are talking about then. When I read 'pirates' I admit that I made the assumption that we were speaking of 'outlaw pirates' operating outside the blessings of any nation state. If we are speaking of privateers, then we are speaking of a range of groups that can range to outlaws operating under a convenient pretence of being patriots to the actual navy of a country operating under the convienent pretence of being independent.

But, ok, broadening 'pirate' to include a naval vessel more or less outfitted by the state and crewed accordingly, operating with a Letter of Marque and the blessing of the crown, we can't say much anything in particular about the tactics of 'pirates' generally because we've used so general of a definition to include any sort of commerce raiding on the high seas. They'll try to strike by surprise, take the offensive when their opponents are weak, and evade and retreat when their opponents are superior. But this is true of pretty much all warfare and naval warfare particularly.

I would presume that Sir Walter Raleigh's tactics as a 'pirate' more or less were indentical to those he used fighting the Spainish Armada in England's defense. He took advantage of his better built more seaworthy vessels and bigger guns to out duel the Spanish with long range cannon fire. The Spanish galleons were more or less purpose built for defending against and assisting boarding actions (big castles on the ends of the ship and lots of small anti-personnel guns), so turning it into a boarding action would not have been in his advantage.

Not always true. Again, during the Golden Age of Piracy, some (certainly not all) pirates saw themselves as patriots, rebelling against injustice.

I would tend to feel that Jacobite pirates existed primarily through mutual oppurtunism than high feelings of patriotism. It was politically convienent to claim that you were committing robbery out of an excess of high minded feeling, and it was politically convenient to recruit bloodthirsty mercenaries to be a thorn in the side of your political enemies. The view of them as rebels against injustice strikes me more as the same sort of romantic revisionism that you find plaguing later accounts of piracy generally. I don't really want to use Walter Scott as my primary source on the Jacobite pirates.

A more idealistic group might be the band that founded the Pirate Republic on Madasgascar, but of them, I think that my assessment of their tactics holds more true than it would for Sir Walter Raleigh. If you know of some accounts of pirates regularly using tactics other than surprise, overwhelming numbers, and closing to close quarters, I'd love to hear them. I'm a sucker for Great Age of Sail stories.

 

[Man in the Funny Hat]

Other.

Scare everyone crapless so that they give you whatever you want without resisting. If they resist kill them as swiftly and brutally as possible to get them to surrender... and then take whatever you want. If they won't surrender, turn tail and run... and then come back with twice the crew you had the first time and start over from the top.

Piracy is first and always about easy pickings. If it requires strategy or tactics to get it you're probably doing it wrong.

 

[Umbran]

Should the pirate be able to choose the additional effect? Or should the attack do something else entirely?

I'd be more likely to say that a pirate-style shouldn't be wrapped up in a single power, but instead be an entire class, or at least a build option of a class. Probably a martial striker, variant of a rogue.

 

[Relique du Madde]

Intimidation.. lots of it because Pirates RARELY used their cannons against another ship unless it's to defend themselves (against privateers or a navy vessel) or to terrorize their prey because a scuttled ship is worthless compared to a fully manned ship laden with cargo.

 

[Rel]

Regardless, them's more guidelines than actual rules.

 

[TarionzCousin]

 

[Orius]

Don't forget shoot the ninjas.

 

[MortalPlague]

Well, a pirate would open with a good insult. Like "You fight like a dairy farmer!"

It's razor sharp wit like that that keeps them guessing and off balance.