The Pirate Code and some other things

[KierlanVass]

So I have been watching a wee bit too much of the old swashbuckling recently; I have some pirate ideas and a bit of a code / charter for pirate crews to consider. I don't think that there is an overriding code that governs all pirates... although it would be fun. Anyhoo!

Sample Pirate Code
i. Every pirate shall agree to obey the commands of the Captain upon signing onto the crew. The Captain shall have two shares in all confiscated money and prizes; the senior crew shall one and a half parts of the share.

ii. Any crewman found not keeping his arms clean, fit for an engagement shall be cut off from his Share, and suffer such other Punishment as the Captain and the crew shall think fit. Likewise any crewman not able to perform his/her duties shall suffer a similar fate.

iii. He / She that shall be found guilty of cowardice in the time of engagements, shall suffer what Punishment the Captain and the Majority of the crew shall think fit.

iv. Any crewmember suffering permanent and disabling injuries in the line of combat shall be issued an appropriate sum in compensation and released from service.

v. No crewmember shall raise a weapon to a fellow without going through proper procedures. Failure to do so will result in serious penalties.


It also occurred to me that pirate crews may be lacking boarding transportation. Elizabeth Moon presents an interesting image in her book Command Decision of incoming boarders coming up to the hull in spacesuits and cutting out chunks of the hull as a method of boarding before wading through and clearing each deck.

I recently had a little Pirates of the Caribbean session (which has sparked some of this) in which pirates took to ship to ship boarding by vining from one ship to another. Might be interesting to see boarders flying between airlocks of opposing ships, some tussling in the middle, others falling into deep space and the lucky few making it to the other side.

So here is a house rule for another item, a piece of tech really. Call it a personal grappling gun. A boarder leaps from his own ship and flies through space towards the enemy ship. At a preset range he pulls out his grappling gun and uses it to attach a line to the enemy ship then pulls himself towards the target. Once there he can rappel or group up with other boarders to get to a weak spot, torch through and start taking over the ship.

[hisham]

Believe it or not, there exists a Pirate Code in SW canon published in one of the Star Wars Adventure Journals. I don't have it on hand to reproduce, but here's the issue on Wookieepedia.
_________________
The Enteague Sector | Cracken's Collection of Crackpots
In D6, of course.

[ifurin]

i found this along my travels through the net. a sample of actual ship's articles. this is the pirates code, the ships articles, and each ship had a different set.

http://blindkat.hegewisch.net/pirates/articles_new.html

[KierlanVass]

Thanks for that... I based the articles above on some pirate code from two 17th Century Pirates that is similar.