Piracy

[Darkstar]

Piracy Rules for Birthright

Here are some rules I designed for Piracy in Birthright. They have
mainly
been designed to determine the success of PC's who wish to sponsor
pirates
or go on raids themselves. Below is a new unit of troops and a domain
action to determine the success of a pirate. These rules are only for
use
when attacking merchant trading vessels, not for warships.

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 type of ship.
* The captains experience.
* Any marines or troops on boards.
* The experience of the crew.
* The ships weapons.
* The type of ships to be attacked.

If a pirate with an inexperienced crew in a longship attempts to take on
a
Galleon then he is unlikely to succeed. But an experience pirate with a
good crew and a galleon is virtually unstoppable as he plunders the soft
bellied trading vessels that ply the waters around Cerilia.

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.

* Coaster
* Dhow
* Keelboat

Class B: Raiders

These vessels make the best raiders, or pirate vessels as they are fast
and
able to carry marines and cargo at the same time.

* Caravel
* Drakkar
* Knarr
* Longship

Class C: Traders

These vessels are too slow or otherwise unsuitable for pirates, they do
make good target however.

* Cog
* Dhoura
* Roundship

Class D: Warships

The best pirate vessels as they are fairly fast and can carry large
numbers
of troops and cargo. Every pirate or raider dreams of being rich enough
to
by one of these vessels. They also make good warships for kingdom to buy
to
hunt down pirates.

* Galleon
* Zebec

B: The Crew (New Unit)

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.


Pirate Unit (At Sea)
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


Pirate Unit (On land)
Move: 2 Melee: 4
Defence: 2 Missile: 3
Morale: B
1 HIT: Melee 2, Missile: 1

There are of course plenty of other Marine units in various lands, but
this
one may be mustered in Anuire. This unit also can not be mustered by
kingdom rulers, although they can support privateers who, although they
work for a government are still pirates. They are not that reliable
however
and a pirate might pretend to work for a kingdom just so he can get a
good
Ship and Crew. Then he might leave to go back to his former life as a
pirate.

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.

- --
Ian Hoskins

e-Mail: hoss@box.net.au
ICQ: 2938300
Home Page: http://www.box.net.au/~hoss
Page Updates: http://www.box.net.au/~hoss/update.html

>From the Darkness we came.
And to the Darkness we will return.

[Dustin Evermore]

Paul Lefebvre wrote:
> Does anyone have the supplement for Birthright for ships and naval
>combat?? I have Cities of the Sun (the Khinasi box) and it contains
>scores for Cerilian ships and naval units and naval combat. I don't
>think it has these stats for all the nations of Cerilia....does the
>Naval supplement contain more, or would I basically be getting the same
>thing?
>
>Paul L.

I bought it because it's a concise book (not a part of the Khinasi stuff)
and has listed all the sea power in Anuire (alphabetically). Most
importantly, I wanted more ship cards and counters!