What Would a Pirate Do?

[S'mon]

Use overwhelming numbers and induce terror to dominate and subdue enemies. Avoid tough fights. Pirates are predators, they have much less invested in victory than do their prey, so they use predatory tactics and threat displays.

Often enemies are worth more alive than dead so they want prisoners, to sell as slaves, recruit into their crew, or loot again later. And even if they're just going to throw captives overboard they'd rather have the enemy ship surrender than fight to the death.

 

[S'mon]

Unlike in the movies, a reputation for never taking prisoners is the death of a pirates career.

True, but as with siegecraft, you don't want the enemy thinking they can fight *nearly* to the death and then just surrender if losing. You want them thinking "We must surrender at once or they'll kill us all!".

Where the pirates are slave takers, like the Barbary Coast pirates* who raided Europe's coasts and shipping until the 19th century, it's possible that some defenders might prefer to fight to the death rather than be taken captive. In these cases the pirates' best bet is to strike so quickly that the defenders are overwhelmed before a defense can be mounted.

*Since they had the sanction of the local rulers I guess they were technically Privateers! Barbary Pirates:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barbary_Pirates

 

[Camelot]

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.

Very true; this is for a theme I'm making, so while there are a bunch of other powers, I need something all-encompassing for the feature power. The Rattling keyword sounds like it would be good to use for some other powers.

 

[TarionzCousin]

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.

You mock, but those dairy farmers kicked serious butt on the Secret Cow Level.

 

[Philosopher]

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.

Make no mistake - those pirates were bad people who did bad things. They certainly benefited from some of the claims they made about themselves. But there are a few points to keep in mind. First, a desire for plunder is not incompatible with patriotic feelings. Second, a rebellion against injustice could very well arise out of self-interest. In fact, historical movements against injustice have rarely, if ever, been concerned with justice for all - they've been reactions to very specific social contexts. My only point was that some (not necessarily all) pirates probably did feel that they were fighting for something. For some, it may have been nothing more than a protest against the incredibly poor living conditions of sailors in the navy.

But I am no expert on the history of piracy, so I won't push the point further (beyond clarifying what I initially meant, as in this post). After all, the OP was probably referring to the standard stereotype of pirates, especially as found in fantasy. This isn't a bad thing, given that these boards are devoted to FRPGs. For that reason, the details of actual history may not matter - I only brought them up to indicate that even the pirates of our fantasy worlds need not be a monolithic group.

 

[Philosopher]

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.

Very true; this is for a theme I'm making, so while there are a bunch of other powers, I need something all-encompassing for the feature power. The Rattling keyword sounds like it would be good to use for some other powers.

The various Freeport Companions by Green Ronin present pirate classes for a variety of game systems, including 4e. They may be worth looking at, even just for ideas.

 

[TheAuldGrump]

The top three are trumps, preferably at least two at a time. Number four... a pirate who relies on luck becomes gallows fruit before too long.

The Auld Grump, we were schooner rigged and rakish, with a long and lithesome hull,
And we flew the pretty colors of the crossbones and the skull....

 

[Olgar Shiverstone]

Don't they flip out and kill people?

 

[Aeolius]

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VRGBzvofpeI"]The Pirate Alphabet[/ame]

 

[Derren]

Pirates would search for unarmed or lightly defended merchants who stand no chance against them to plunder and would run from any serious fight they might loose.
If pressed into a fight it depends on the background of the pirates. Mariners who went rogue would certainly fight differently than criminals who were pressed into service and then did mutiny.

About takeing prisoners, the reputation pirates want is "Surrender immediatly and we will spare you, fight back and you will all die".