Pirates in RPGs
Adventure and Patron Play on the high seas
Who doesn't love pirates? Pirates, like ninjas and cowboys, are among the most beloved and misunderstood warriors of history and we have a lot of pop culture that celebrates them. Or at least…we had a lot of pop culture that celebrated them. These days, pirate media is in short supply and this has been the status quo for roughly 30 years. See, despite our collective love for pirates, they've been relegated to kitsch these days. I hate to say it, but we're in a pirate slump. Nowhere is that slump greater than in RPGs. There have been a few good ones over the years, Savage Worlds’ 50 Fathoms being a fine example of the genre, but still…something's missing. Pirates need something substantial. They need something…Grand. That's right, a Grand Campaign with pirates. An ocean-sized sandbox with patrons, treasure, monsters and factions.
First, we need to explain what a pirate is, or rather what pirates were in the golden age of piracy. Originally, pirates were mercenaries. All major colonial powers, namely the British, the French, the Dutch and the Spanish, all at various points hired privateers to cause trouble for each other in the New World. Many of these pirates were men of action. The British pirates were largely holdouts from Cromwell's army trying to get away from a country that hated them. Others were just adventures, soldiers and sailors trying to get wealthy off the bounties they collected. Privateering was a means of upward mobility and The New World was a chance for a new start. You could become wealthy, earn status, and live a life of luxury.
At least, you could at one point. See, privateering quickly became piracy by the turn of the 18th century and what was once a form of upward mobility became criminal. Still, there was both money and freedom in it. Maybe you couldn't be Knighted like Francis Drake and Henry Morgan, but you could live like a king somewhere like Barbados or Carolina or Port Royal. You could be the admiral of your own fleet. This is the feeling that pirate RPGs should seek to capture.
The setup is all there. Decide whether pirates are mercenaries or outlaws in your world and let your players go nuts. They'll start as a small crew of a small ship (a sloop) in someone else's fleet and they'll work their way up. Eventually they'll have their own flagship, their own fleet and even their own island. They'll capture ships, explore islands, fight sea monsters, and rule the ocean. Your sandbox will be bigger in scale. Preferably a chain of islands like the Caribbean. Honestly, it's a perfect fit for RPGs. Well, except for one thing…
The major complication for pirate RPGs is naval combat. Naval wargaming is not tied to RPGs the way that land-based wargaming is. Still, adapting it for large-scale battles is possible. There's no getting around the necessity of naval combat though, so figuring out how to simulate it is essential. This is, in all likelihood, the reason why RPGs rarely venture into the pirate waters. That will be the biggest obstacle to overcome when attempting this venture.
All in all, it's a shame that few have taken a stab at this genre, especially in the BrOSR grand campaign fashion. Still, it's a worthy pursuit. One of these days I'll give it a try and I encourage anyone who likes this style of play to try it before me. There may even be a product or two in this idea. Maybe once Nighthaven is published I'll work on this.