 March 23, 2012 - 10:55pm | I posted a comment in the SFman submissions for 2012 thread that pirates would be a good theme for upcoming issue. Would like to explore that idea more in depth In the cue is a gaming resource article with a compilation of SF pirates and a real world list of pirates. it also contains a d100 list of pirate names and a d100 list of pirate ship names; stated purpose is to leave referees no excuse for using NPC labels like "pirate #5" Lets brainstorm some other pirate themed articles. 1. KHs scenario is obvious 2. deck plan of a pirate ship is also obvious Thinking through the topical heading these come to mind: Adversaries, Locations (pirate base), Background material, Fiction, history, humor, mini module, Volturnus Planet of Mystery, and puzzles (a pirate treasure map updated for the sci-fi setting) I've been toying with a write up of pirate bases/ hangouts/ places friendly to pirates. I was thinking that 3 pirate bases or haven with a good write up would make a good article The Laco planetary brief slated for 18 touched on a "Mos Eisley" type hive of scum an villainy in the hinter land of Laco. A pirate asteroid base. and one other I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers! |
 March 23, 2012 - 11:53pm | No SF pirate theme would be complete without the Star Devil himself... |
March 24, 2012 - 5:04am | Nice catch shadow, I'll find out what the state of the remaster on "The Volturnus Connection" article is and pair that up for that issue. so tenatively the pirate theme is: 1. gaming resource article 2. a possible Dragon remaster 3. and shadows submission of stats for the Star Devil at 4. and I'm toying with a location article. I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers! |
 March 24, 2012 - 9:26am | Octopus Network using the pirates as Agents or Cut-outs. List of their connection in society. Use the Villainous NPC Master Plan to create a new Top pirate. What "treasure" are pirates after in the frontier and where Is it kept? |
 March 24, 2012 - 9:35am | I was wondering a while back about privateers in SF. These would only work of course if you have conflict between regional (as in regions of space) conflicts. The tread "we didn't all get along" offers a setting for it. But would it work in later settings with hostilities between mega corps? How would an "agent" (privateer) for Streel function in society when they are acting against Pan Gal? What I mean is, how can they be protected from being seen as common pirates from Star Law or other communal legal entities? Is there any way to make privateering practical? |
March 24, 2012 - 10:46am | In corporate controlled systems yes. |
March 24, 2012 - 11:20am | One aspect missing in the default setting is the idea of territories. Each system with the exception of Dramune feels independent. There isn't a large portion of space controlled by a single body. |
March 24, 2012 - 11:21am | But would it work in later settings with hostilities between mega corps? How would an "agent" (privateer) for Streel function in society when they are acting against Pan Gal? What I mean is, how can they be protected from being seen as common pirates from Star Law or other communal legal entities? Is there any way to make privateering practical?
Look no further than the Pirates of Planora portion in the Warriors of White Light module for that one. Those pirates were working for Streel to usurp Clarion's ban that had been enacted upon Streel. If not for a wildcat mining operation stumbling upon their asteroid home, they managed to evade both the Royal marines and Star Law. |
March 24, 2012 - 12:03pm | A list of known pirates in the Frontier would be good. I had forgotten about W.of.WL. |
 March 24, 2012 - 2:28pm | This is complicated but lets get started. Pirates started out as Privateers under Letters of Marque. This would classify them as mercenaries. When the wars ended they kept on going attacking merchant shipping as they found it a profitable way of life. Yes this is a really simplified version but you get the gist. Now from this you should guess that there are several reasons why SF pirates must be vastly different from Yo Ho Ho pirates. 1) Ships---It clearly states in KH that military and civilian ships are built differently. This means you just can't grab a ship and slap bigger guns on it and go a pirating. Of course this is where we got Corvettes from. So who is building and supplying pirate ships? 2) Old time pirates could troll the shipping lanes and find targets. SF pirates need much better intel if they are going to be successful. Spies, informants and electronic devices to alert them to targets must be controlled, maintained and used. The octopus network should be more like a spider web and several adventures could take place with just these items. 3) Yo Ho Ho pirates were able to dock at many different ports for rest and refit. Our space pirates need a space station to do this. WofWL provided one but realistically how many of these things could be out there? When you consider the expense of keeping a space station operational pirating aint gonna cut it. Add in KH ships hull size 4 and up most have one since they can't land on planets and you see the difficulty. 4) Since everything is computer generated these days: monetary systems, mail, information. Why are there not information pirates out there. Swooping in and stealing and hacking and then moving on to the next hack. See what you can do with these suggestions. Sounds like a great job but where did you say we had to go? |
March 24, 2012 - 2:54pm | 1) Ships---It clearly states in KH that military and civilian ships are built differently. This means you just can't grab a ship and slap bigger guns on it and go a pirating. Of course this is where we got Corvettes from. So who is building and supplying pirate ships? There's nothing written in stone saying the space pirates must use a warship. A civilian ship can portray itself in distress and when innocent travellers board to assist --- WHAM!!! Now they have two ships. A frieghter can be outfitted to carry fighter-type craft, HS:1-2 outfitted with pod lasers. A small civilian scout ship can dole out some fair damage with its single LB (while sacraficing an ADF or MR point), especially against an unarmed civilian ship. In my Pirates of Volturnus game --- a reverse play version of the Zebulon trilogy where players portray Star Devil pirate characters --- the Serena Dawn was ransacked by a pair of ships: one gunned scout ship to take out the drives and maneuvering and a second small freighter for the boarding maneuvers. 2) Old time pirates could troll the shipping lanes and find targets. SF pirates need much better intel if they are going to be successful. Spies, informants and electronic devices to alert them to targets must be controlled, maintained and used. The octopus network should be more like a spider web and several adventures could take place with just these items. Organized crime versus random crime. No reason they can't do both ;) Some pirate outfits specialize in one while others specialize in another. You can have factions and freebooters, and they can even clash once in a while too..."this is MY turf!!!" 3) Yo Ho Ho pirates were able to dock at many different ports for rest and refit. Our space pirates need a space station to do this. WofWL provided one but realistically how many of these things could be out there? When you consider the expense of keeping a space station operational pirating aint gonna cut it. Add in KH ships hull size 4 and up most have one since they can't land on planets and you see the difficulty. Depots on airless/lifeless low-grav worlds & moons. Hide the ships in natural or excavated caverns nearby. Recharge your LS units once per year at Outer Reach. Dock at civilian stations with the aforementioned civilian ships for supplies. 4) Since everything is computer generated these days: monetary systems, mail, information. Why are there not information pirates out there. Swooping in and stealing and hacking and then moving on to the next hack. Certainly a new twist worth exploring ;) |
March 24, 2012 - 5:40pm | Its clear that Ourter Reach is a crime haven mascerading as a legitimate government. The reason why is probably a fine political line that the is a can of worms for the UPF to really take serious action over so that as long as Outer Reach does step too far across the line everyone pretends they're legit out of political expediency. Places like Laco are prime for an out of the way "dirt" landing strip criminal friendly base. Devco in the Cas system, due to the nature of its depressed situation (basically being a refugee camp) would allow for pirates to function under the radar without the local population minding too much. And while corporations cannot publically issue letters of mark they could easily have private letters of mark. If a corporate war was on they could outfit privateers with mercenaries that will pass themselves off as legit merchants but specifically target one particular corporation's flagged ships. This would also include a support network of industrial espionage assets to help locate those targets. I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers! |
March 24, 2012 - 5:43pm | Some SF settings use physical mail and credits. Example: Star Frontiers without Subspace Radios Pirates might be after federanium, crystals, precious gas, metals, gold, etc. Frontier pirates have highly skilled crews - some by coercion. These crews can easily use electronics and scanning equipment to find prey. @Shadow, A Pirates of Volturnus writeup would be great for the fanzine. |
 March 24, 2012 - 11:58pm | I saw a discussion before about asteroids use. It was brought up that if a megacorp mined an asteroid there would be an infrastructure left when they were done. The pirates could set up there and slowly build up equipment to build a small base there. Also, I saw somewhere online that someone had an article about pirates in SF. I cannot remember who made it though. |
 March 27, 2012 - 9:25am | I have a slow-burning idea for a station in an asteroid field that is a haven for pirates, criminals, cutthroats and their ilk; sort of a Tortuga-in-space. Maybe I should bring this to the forefront? Long live the Frontier! |
March 27, 2012 - 2:36pm | BRING IT Sounds like a great job but where did you say we had to go? |
March 30, 2012 - 6:09am | Brainstorm: pirates being what they are have occasions to capture/kidnap innocent people. So imagine a secret base on a planet no one but them knows about. They dump their victims here and put them to work (slavery), plus other typical things (rape). A bit of a pirate town springs up. With pirate faction on top and slaves on the bottom. Some of the slaves have been here a long time, perhaps the nucleus of the town is a lost colony expedition discovered and conquered by the pirates. Start characters as capture passenger freshly dumped on Tortuga. Adventure names: Pirates of Tortuga, Escape from Tortuga. Great possibilities for AD &KHs action. I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers! |
March 30, 2012 - 11:09am | As an add on maybe the original colony is where the pirates came from. They started as a colony quickly realized things weren't going to work out so took to pirating to supplement themselves. So you have pirates and their families and their slaves. Bonus you could do this as interracial or where one race is on top. Personally I think Vrusk or Dralasite pirates enslaving the other races while giving their own race a chance to jion the gang. Sounds like a great job but where did you say we had to go? |
