Pirate

The Pirate

One of the more sinister men of arms O.C.C.s, combining the skills of the Sailor and the Mercenary Warrior O.C.C., is the pirate.

They are commonly found just about anywhere in the Palladium World, plundering the shipping lanes and frequently hiding out around the Floenry Islands. Even though these seafaring rogues and cutthroats make their fortune by plundering merchant vessels, kidnapping, and extortion, they frequently follow their own code, their own laws, and often slip between voyages that are legitimate or illegitimate, depending on where they can make the most money.

Pay is usually a small percentage of the plunder (very small percentage, like half of a percent). A larger percentage (2% to 8%) goes to proven officers and particularly capable, powerful, valuable or deadly individuals. The captain and his first mate get the largest portion, usually 30 to 40% to the captain and 10 to 20% for his right-hand man.

Fringe benefits include meals, a bunk to lay one's head (or hammock, if space is short), travel, adventure and, for pirates, a home. On the evil side of things, piracy allows these criminals to vent their foul side, terrorizing ships and towns by vandalizing, stealing, destroying, torturing, raping, maiming and murdering. Some pirates sign on just for these so-called fringe benefits.

The pirate is a combination thief and warrior. Some are more warrior than thief and vice versa. Consequently, the skills and alignments of a pirate may vary widely. Occasionally, regular thieves and assassins join a pirate's crew, as do practitioners of magic and psychics, but being part of the crew is not the same as being a pirate, and such characters keep their thief, assassin, etc., O.C.C. and may not know a thing about sailing, or even how to swim.

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Alignments: Usually anarchist or evil. While a pirate can not be of a good alignment, they usually have to be team players, so the majority are rarely diabolic. Of course, there are always a few bad apples (rotten to the core) in every group of pirates.

Attribute Minimum Requirements: P.S. 7, P.P. 8.

O.C.C. Bonuses: +1 on initiative and +3 to save vs horror factor.

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O.C.C. Skills

• Seamanship (+15%)
• Rope Works (+10%)
• Castaway/Shipwreck Survival (+10%)
• Climb/Scale Walls (+10%)
• Swim (+5%)
• W.P. Blunt
• W.P. Grappling Hook
• W.P. Two of choice
• Hand to Hand: Expert

Hand to hand: expert can be changed to hand to hand: assassin (if evil) at the cost of one "other" skill or martial arts for the cost of two skills.

O.C.C. Related Skills

Select eight other skills at level one, plus select two additional skills at levels four, eight and twelve. All new skills start at level one proficiency.

• Naval Skills: Any (+5%)
• Communications & Performing Arts: Any, (+5% for any languages)
• Domestic: Any
• Espionage: Any
• Horsemanship: General only
• Medical: First Aid only
• Military: Any
• Physical: Any (Swimming is typical)
• Rogue: Any (+5% each)
• Science: Astronomy & Navigation, or Mathematics: Basic, only
• Scholar & Technical: Any (+5%)
• Weapon Proficiencies: Any
• Wilderness: Any

Secondary Skills

The character also gets to select four secondary skills from the previous list at level one, and one additional skill at levels three, six, nine and eleven. These are additional areas of knowledge that do not get the advantage of the bonus listed in the parentheses. All secondary skills start at the base skill level. Also, skills are limited (any, only, none) as previously indicated.

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Starting Equipment

One suit of clothing, including a good pair of leather boots and a wide leather belt, plus a spare pair of pants, and two spare shirts. Also a large sack, a small sack, a small pouch, a sewing kit (with over-sized needles for repairing sailcloth), and a marlin spike (looks like an ice pick) used for splicing rope (also does 1D6 damage in combat).

Armor

Pirates wear leather armor or none at all. Leather armor provides freedom of movement, light weight, and the wearer can swim (at least until the leather gets waterlogged, which takes a few minutes). Most pirates wear hard leather or studded, the two which afford maximum protection.

Heavy armor is too restrictive and will send its wearer to a watery grave if knocked overboard. Pirates start out with hard leather armor (A.R. 11, 39 S.D.C. typically either provided by their captain/employer, or scavenged as booty from one of their fallen victims. Some will risk wearing a half suit of chain or scale mail, but most don't wear armor heavier than studded leather, unless it is magically lightweight or weightless.

Weapons

The cutlass and scimitar are commonly identified with pirates, but almost any small and medium type weapon can be used. Pirates usually have a wide variety of weapons and armor from vessels they have plundered, but starting characters have either a cutlass or a scimitar, plus one belaying pin and two knives (one for cooking and eating, the other for combat, but both can be used either as throwing weapons or for hand-to-hand combat).

Money

The character starts out with 100 gold in pocket.