The success of any raiding or piracy depend on several things. I have tried to take all of these into consideration when I designed these rules.
The Domain action below is used to determine the success of a pirate
vessel is sent out by a kingdom. You can also send raiders, which do not
require a domain action, but only generate 1d4-2 GB. If a negative value
is indicated then the ship has taken damage and its value has been reduced
by 1 GB. A kingdom can only have 2 vessels raiding at anyone time, otherwise
the activity will be noticed by other kingdoms.
A: The Ships
I have divided the ships of Cerilia into several class that reflect their size and pirating potential.
Class A: Fishing Boats
These vessels are too small to engage in raiding.
These vessels make the best raiders, or pirate vessels as they are fast and able to carry marines and cargo at the same time.
These vessels are too slow or otherwise unsuitable for pirates, they do make good target however.
The success of a pirate is also determined by his crew. Most pirates
will have a skilled crew of black-hearted sea dogs, and this is often more
important than the type of ship being used. Apart from the crew some ships
can also carry marines, or other troops to defend the vessel from attack
and participate in boarding actions. The skill of both the crew and the
marines can effect the chance of success in piracy. I have taken this into
consideration when working out the success chance below.
I have also included a new unit, pirates. These nasty characters can
only be mustered by a pirate captain, and must be done in a seaport. I
have included two sets of stats, one for pirates at sea and one for when
they are forced to fight on land.
This unit cost 4 GB to muster, and has a maintenance of 1 GB + 50%
of any plunder taken.
| Move: As ship | Melee: 6 |
| Defence: 2 | Missile: 3 |
| Morale: X O | (add 5 counter to ships boarding value) |
| 1 HIT: | Melee: 4, Missile: 1 |
| 2 HITS: | Melee: 2, Missile: 0 |
| Move: 2 | Melee: 4 |
| Defence: 2 | Missile: 3 |
| Morale: B | |
| 1 HIT: | Melee 2, Missile: 1 |
A captain is also important to a pirate ships success. The pirate have a better chance of success if they have an experienced captain. Experience is based on the number of successful raids or attacks the captain has made. Below is a list of the number of attacks or raids a captain must make to be listed under that category.
Inexperienced: Has never made a successful attack
Standard: Has successfully made 1 attack.
Skilled: Has successfully pirated 5 or more vessels, and made
1 raid on a coastal province.
Experienced: Pirated 15 or more vessels and raided 3 cities.
Legendary: Has carried out a raid of such daring that other
pirates still talk about it. An example of a legendary raid is attacking
a ship in the harbour of the Imperial City, or taking on a fleet of warships,
and winning.
C: Piracy Domain Action
Piracy
Success: 10+
Type: Domain
Base Cost: Need ship and crew first.
The success number can not be altered by regency points, it can however be modified by the following things. You can only attack one ship type each time you use this action. These rules can also be used to see if a pirate vessel can successfully raid a province.
Modifiers to Success:
Inexperienced Crew: -2
Inexperienced Captain: -1
Skilled Captain: +1
Experienced Captain: +2
Legendary Captain: +3
Pirate Unit on Board: +2
Marines on Board: +1
No troops on Board: -2
Heavy weapons: +1
Raider is Damaged: -1
Attacking class A ships with raider: +2
Attacking class C ships with raider: +1
Attacking class D ships with raider: -2
Attacking class A ships with warship: +4
Attacking class B ships with warship: +3
Attacking class C ships with warship: +2
Raiding level 1-3 province: +1
Raiding level 4-6 province: -1
Raiding level 7+ province: -3
Troop in province: -1 / Unit
If the roll has been successful then the pirate vessel has made it back
to port safely and has taken plunder. If the roll fails then the value
list the amount of damage taken by the ship. The damage is listed in GB's
so a Caravel can take 6 GB of damage before it is sunk. Damage can be repaired
by paying GB's equal to the damage.
The money taken also represent a total for that month. This is also
altered by the size of the vessel doing the raiding.
Class B ship:
Attacking Class A vessels: 1d2-1 GB
Attacking Class B vessels: 1d3-1 GB
Attacking Class C vessels: 1d4+1 GB
Attacking Class D vessels: 1d6+2 GB
Raiding provinces (1-3): 1d2 GB
Raiding provinces (4-6): 1d4 GB
Raiding provinces (7+): 1d8 GB
Class D ship:
Attacking Class A vessels: 1d3-1 GB
Attacking Class B vessels: 1d4-1 GB
Attacking Class C vessels: 1d8 GB
Attacking Class D vessels: 1d10+3 GB
Raiding provinces (1-3): 1d3 GB
Raiding provinces (4-6): 1d6 GB
Raiding provinces (7+): 1d10 GB
D: Famous Pirates
Kiel the Bold
(MBr; F7; Unblooded)
Kiel is known as the most bloodthirsty of all the pirates that sail
the Straits of Aerele. In his few short years as a pirate he has committed
acts of cruelty so vile that he has even sickened his fellow pirates. Most
merchants live in fear of seeing his banner, and would willingly hand over
their cargo to avoid being put to the sword by Kiel and his crew. He has
recently left the straights for targets further east after kingdom such
as Brosengae and Avanil started sending out more and more vessels to find
him. His current base of operation is unknown.
Kiel is also known as Kiel the smelly by those who have been in his
presence. He is renowned for never washing, despite the fact that he works
and lives at sea. This has given him a fearsome appearance as a dark skinned
warrior with a horrible stench ad long blood spattered hair. He carries
a large cutlass that he uses as his primary weapon and a small crossbow
with poisoned bolts.
His crew is a collection of some of the worst Anuire has to offer,
mainly murderers and deserters from the navies of various kingdoms. The
crew is said to have a massive horde of treasure hidden on one of the islands
off the coast of southern Anuire, perhaps amounting to more than a million
gold pieces.
His ship is a black hulled galleon, known as the Black Dog, and his
banner a pair of crossed, bloody swords. The ship is equipped with several
large catapults and ballista and has a crew thought to number around three
hundred. Although he has only been a pirate for a few years he has yet
to lose a ship and is thought to be a master of boarding tactics. However
most of his prey surrender before any battles take place.
He gained his reputation after he attacked and captured a Galleon from
the Avanil fleet. On boards were several Avanil noble who he ransomed back
to Prince Avan and their families, who he sold into slavery or killed.
A reward of fifty thousand gold is currently placed on his head, dead or
alive, but preferably washed.
Captain Quartez
(MA; F10/T2; Br, minor, 17)
Known as the gentleman's pirate, Quartez is one of the older pirates
to have sailed the straights. He has recently retired and thought to have
bought a noble title with his plunder. It is likely that he has changed
his name so who he now is is unknown.
Captain Quartez was known as the best dressed pirate in all of Cerilia
and he used to spend much of his money on his clothes. He also used to
wear a silver mask to hide his identity when ever he went into battle,
so who he really is or was is not known. Quartez always fought with a magical
silver cutlass that was said to regenerate any damage taken in battle.
He also wore a suit of Elven chain mail, although it is unlikely that he
was an elf, unless his mask also changed his physical appearance. Despite
all this he was still a pirate, and a very good one.
He sailed a galleon, known as the Silver Dolphin, lightly armoured
and crewed to increase its speed. He relied more on magic to win battles
than brute force and always had at least two mages and magicians on board
at any one time. Quartez himself was not a mage however, but he did make
good use of the skills of his crew. His magicians were especially adept
at hiding his ship until it was close to a target, then it was too late
for the other vessel to escape.
He won the respect of the other pirates when his ship raided the Imperial
City itself, attacking at night and using magic to hide his vessel
until it was inside the harbour. Once there he raided two heavy galleons
that had just been loaded with cargo. It is said that he made off with
cargo worth over twelve thousand gold, thought to be the largest horde
ever taken by a pirate vessel. There are few stories of any hordes of treasure
kept by Quartez however, as he is thought to have spent all his plunder
over the years maintaining his image, and finally buying himself a title
in one of the southern kingdoms of Anuire.
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