Your character in Piracy! represents the nominal captain of a ship. You have the opportunity to start as either a naval, merchant or pirate captain. The type of captain you are will determine the nature of the ship & crew you start the game with. It makes no difference whether your captain is male or female, or what nation they represent. Your nation will impact on the type of ship you have and your crew, and how you will be interacting with the world ingeneral. In some parts of the rules where different forms of captains (deck captain, gun captain etc) are mentioned, the captain may be further clarified in the text by being called ship's captain. For the purposes of these rules, the captains of galleons in the Spanish Treasure fleet are treated as naval captains. Voodoo Priest captains and officers are treated as merchant captains, and are discussed under the Voodoo section. Ghost ship captains and officers are discussed under the Ghost Ships section.
What follows is the basic format to create your captain. The same format will be used to create your senior officers as well. Your general crew will be created under the ship & crew section. For this game I am using a skill rank system to denote advancing skills. The links for each skill will show you how to determine the skill and what's its effects are.
| What be ye name matey-O? | |
| Are you a naval, merchant or pirate captain? | |
| What nation are you from? Spain, England, France, Holland, America or non aligned? Note: There are no Dutch or American naval captains | |
| Are you male or female? | |
| What is your primary skill as a captain? | |
| What are your secondary skills as a captain? | |
| What is your primary purpose in the Caribbean? plunder, hunt pirates, trade etc | |
| What is your ship board leadership skill? | |
| What is your combat leadership skill? | |
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What is your reputation skill?
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| What is your cannon skill? Base Skill Rank 1 | |
| What is your musket skill? Base Rank 1 | |
| What is your duelling skill? Base Rank 1 (merchants may choose 1rank, or add 1 rank to trading skill) | |
| What is your sword skill? Base Rank 1 | |
| What is your navigation skill? Base Rank 1 | |
| What is your charisma skill? Base Rank 1 | |
| What is your recruiting skill? Base Rank 1 | |
| What is your gambling skill? Base Rank 1 | |
| What is your wenching skill? Base Rank 1 | |
| What is your drinking skill? Base Rank 1 | |
| What is your trading skill? Merchant Base Rank 2, all others Base Rank 1 | |
| What is your luck skill? Base Rank 1 | |
| What is your personal attack bonus skill? Base Rank 1 | |
| What is your personal defence bonus skill? Base Rank 1 | |
| What is your naval tactics skill? Ship to ship combat | |
| What is your boarding tactics skill? Man to man combat | |
| What is your combat tactics skill? Men vs Men combat |
Skills: pistol (duelling), musket, sword play, ship to ship combat (cannons), navigation, trading, influence, gambling, drinking, wenching,
Your nation of choice. This will determine where you will start the game. A French pirate captain will start at Martinique, New Providence in the Bahamas for English & American pirates, Spanish pirates in either Cuba, Puerto Rico & St Augustine. All nations pirates can also start in the Virgin Islands. English merchant or naval captains will start at Port Royal or St Kitts. French naval or merchant captains at
Determining ship board leadership & ship vs ship leadership
Determining man to man combat leadership
Determine your reputation score
Determine you cannon score
Determine your musket score
Determine your sword score
Determine your navigation skill
Determine your charisma score
Determine your recruiting score
Determine your gambling score
Determine your drinking score
Determine your wenching score
Determine your trading score
Determine your luck score
Determine your personal attack bonus
Determine your personal defence bonus