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Piracy And Other Malfeasance
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<blockquote data-quote="payn" data-source="post: 9295835" data-attributes="member: 90374"><p>I dont do the <em>Pirates of the Caribbean</em> routine with good guy pirates having a jolly good time with a ho hum bottle of rum or whatever. I think that is fine its just not the type of game im interested in. Often, pirates are antagonists or mercenaries and other unpleasant types. This is my fantasy take.</p><p></p><p>There is a Traveller sandbox campaign called<em> Pirates of Drinax </em>which actually is very interesting along the pirate line. The PCs are given a powerful ship (for the region) and tasked with restoring power to a former empire that has fallen into the shadow of two giant empires. The space they live in is a buffer between the two giants. The folks in the middle often suffer from indifferent empires that take and give little, or mega corporations that promise development at the cost of contracts that are essentially indentured slavery. The PCs are tasked with empire building as the campaign goal. </p><p></p><p>Now, how the Travellers decide to proceed is a wide and varied choice you would expect from a sandbox campaign. They are indeed encouraged to pirate and disrupt the trade routes as a primary mode of operation, letter of marque and all. Though, the Travellers can, of course, choose to be diplomats instead building alliances in neutral space to push back on the empires. Or, they can pit the empires against one another in clandestined efforts. There are, also, a few bands of established pirates in the region and the Travellers can choose to rival them for biggest pirate fleet if they choose. </p><p></p><p>I have run this campaign a few times and the players have always leaned more into the diplomat and/or spy route. A few theories I have is that it actually takes a lot of time and effort to become a pirate; well a successful one that lives longer than a handful of prizes. The other is that often the targets are simply merchants trying to make a living. While disrupting trade does give it good to the enemy empires, it also feels bad because ordinary folks are bearing that brunt. Basically, forcing the small fry to screw the small guy. The players often choose a path of revolutionary resistance, as opposed to one of ambitious piracy. </p><p></p><p>That is the rub of piracy. It is often an inherently political situation that can be much too messy for some tables to work through. You need a sort of black and white morality play that can be easy enough enforced by the narrative, but does it feel realistic? Does it need to? That is the the real question players and groups need to answer when it comes to playing pirates.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="payn, post: 9295835, member: 90374"] I dont do the [I]Pirates of the Caribbean[/I] routine with good guy pirates having a jolly good time with a ho hum bottle of rum or whatever. I think that is fine its just not the type of game im interested in. Often, pirates are antagonists or mercenaries and other unpleasant types. This is my fantasy take. There is a Traveller sandbox campaign called[I] Pirates of Drinax [/I]which actually is very interesting along the pirate line. The PCs are given a powerful ship (for the region) and tasked with restoring power to a former empire that has fallen into the shadow of two giant empires. The space they live in is a buffer between the two giants. The folks in the middle often suffer from indifferent empires that take and give little, or mega corporations that promise development at the cost of contracts that are essentially indentured slavery. The PCs are tasked with empire building as the campaign goal. Now, how the Travellers decide to proceed is a wide and varied choice you would expect from a sandbox campaign. They are indeed encouraged to pirate and disrupt the trade routes as a primary mode of operation, letter of marque and all. Though, the Travellers can, of course, choose to be diplomats instead building alliances in neutral space to push back on the empires. Or, they can pit the empires against one another in clandestined efforts. There are, also, a few bands of established pirates in the region and the Travellers can choose to rival them for biggest pirate fleet if they choose. I have run this campaign a few times and the players have always leaned more into the diplomat and/or spy route. A few theories I have is that it actually takes a lot of time and effort to become a pirate; well a successful one that lives longer than a handful of prizes. The other is that often the targets are simply merchants trying to make a living. While disrupting trade does give it good to the enemy empires, it also feels bad because ordinary folks are bearing that brunt. Basically, forcing the small fry to screw the small guy. The players often choose a path of revolutionary resistance, as opposed to one of ambitious piracy. That is the rub of piracy. It is often an inherently political situation that can be much too messy for some tables to work through. You need a sort of black and white morality play that can be easy enough enforced by the narrative, but does it feel realistic? Does it need to? That is the the real question players and groups need to answer when it comes to playing pirates. [/QUOTE]
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