Spending It (Wisely)

"Most of it went on Wine, Women and Song….the rest I just Squandered" A Sporting Hero

These are the necessary expenses usually paid in the set up phase before the game proper starts, (unless the action is a Port based scenario, when they might be integrated).

Repairs
Ships can be repaired in ports. A ship restores up to 6 points of damage for every € spent. Shipwrights, carpenters, chandlers etc. require payment in advance, before the dice are rolled.

Optionally, if a ship was being repaired in between adventures, then it is delayed in port at the beginning of a new adventure for d6 turns.

Supplies
Prices vary so are determined randomly. This is the best offer in that Port for this adventure, if it's too steep you must try elsewhere.

Provender (includes Rum and Water, livestock) for up to 12 figures. A ship or stronghold should be thus resupplied once per adventure either at set up, or as part of the scenario. If not, Captains risk mutiny as per the Water! Water! chance card.	€2d6
Powder and Balls for up to 6 Fire Armed figures or fixed Swivel Guns. The cost includes flints, matches etc. general repairs and replacement weapons. If a Crew has not been resupplied with small arms powder and balls for this adventure the crew must suffer from Damp Powder and a Shortage of Ammunition, in which case each figure with a firearm shoots as half a figure and fixed Swivel Guns as one figure.	€1d6
For half a dozen Grenades which can be carried by any figure so depicted.	€1d6
A Light Cannon.	€2d6
A Medium Cannon.	€3d6
Powder and Balls for up to 6 Cannon, this includes Grape and Chainshot. If the Captain has neglected to provide the necessary, then Cannon are subject to Damp Powder and a shortage of Ammunition, and each can only be fired if a d6:4..6 is rolled after a firing action is declared.	€2d6
Chandlers Supplies – Each purchase Allows 1 Running Repairs to be made as per the card, includes spare anchors.	€1d6
Extra Rum, for morale purposes.	€d6/2

Recruitment
"No man will be a sailor who has contrivance enough to get himself into a jail; for being in a ship is being in a jail, with the chance of being drowned... a man in a jail has more room, better food, and commonly better company." Sam Johnson

Generally, Crew will expect at least a distribution of treasure once per adventure in order to retain their services. At the beginning of each adventure in the setup phase a Captain should either make a distribution of treasure from the previous adventure or pay €s from the purse or their stash.

This can act as a simple "points" system for creating and balancing individual crews.

A Captain might find themselves in need of extra hands.

The usual way of recruitment was to point out the relative merits of the life of a sea-rover as opposed to..say…a brief swim with the sharks (1). Possibly with the offer of a free tattoo thrown in.

As as alternative to taking prisoners, rescuing prisoners was a good option. Those who have fallen on misfortune are often eager for the chance to improve their lot, especially if said lot is to appear as the main attraction in "A Dire Warning to Pyrates", to be performed on the local docks.

However, should a Captain feel the need for new hands and the opportunity for persuading prisoners not present itself, a Captain with capital could always repair to a notorious dockside dive and hint that they might be prepared to consider applicants of the appropriate calibre…

To reflect this, if a port is available a Captain in that port, or a trusted representative, can recruit in the following manners:

• The enticement: New crew members step smartly aboard for the appropriate fee, this is usually the only way to recruit officers and specialists.
  

• The bait: a Captain without the readies to hand can recruit 2d6 ordinary mariners if they can persuade them with promises of treasures to come. For this a Captain will have to have a Treasure Map (which they keep) or a convincing facsimile of one - a Cunning Plan (which they play).
  

• The "persuasion": not as common with pyrates as it is with the official navy. This is the one where you "persuade" the unwilling that the sea air will do them the power of good. You generally have to ply them with strong liquor first, (this costs €1), and then carry them aboard. 1d6 worth of ordinary recruits are suitable, (the others object overmuch and may even be prepared to swim ashore in the morning). Take a Mutinous Dogs point.

Special Characters
Some specialist characters require a little more inducement to join or remain in the crew. The € figures reflect their enrolment fee and basic "share" when more detailed articles have not been drafted. The plus sign for marksmen/women and flashing blades reflects the fact that these are characteristics that a specialist might have in addition to their own status. For instance a medical man might be a Crack Shot, and the Captain might be a Flashing Blade, (and both may be musicians, but that's another story).

Players should feel free to add their own characters by mutual agreement.

Captain	Note that this is their "share" they are not recruited as such.	€4
Officer	Officers are frequently promoted in the field. This is the share they will expect thereafter to retain them.	€3
Master Gunner	If this figure "mans" a gun then any cannon fire actions on this ship ignore any penalties for ship turning and can re-roll an extra dice at long range.	€2.
Navigator/ Master Mariner	While this figure is amongst the minimum sailing crew you can re-roll the dice if you are caught in irons when crossing the wind, and there is generally a 1MA bonus.	€2.
Slave Driver	The Oar master/mistress, so called even if the rowers aren't slaves. With a Slave Driver rowers can be enthused to row within 2MA of Max Speed without risking a fatigue roll (see fatigue in the oared galley section below).	€2.
Carpenter "Chips"	Pyrate Captains were always eager to persuade carpenters aboard, as a carpenter can make 1d6 of repairs to the ships damage per turn, if undisturbed. The ship must be at anchor or beached for these structural repairs. Carpenters can also perform like a Running Repairs card, jerry-rigging masts and steering gear. Carpenters also kept sharp saws, useful if the surgeon needed a hand.	€2.
Sharpshooter, Crack Shot	Can shoot, (lob a brick etc.), at their target of choice. Up to 16" away with a musket, or 12" with a pistol or bow, or 6" with a thrown weapon. Must have LoS. Throws 3 dice and can re-roll up to 3 dice. Figures in the rigging are in LoS, below decks are not unless the shooter is too. A figure without a ranged weapon could still be classed as a "dead eye dick" – a dab hand at the thrown dagger.	+€1.
Cook	Good food is a morale essential. A crew with a cook can re-roll a morale failure and a Captain facing mutiny can re-roll – unless the cook is chosen as ringleading mutineer, possibly one-legged.	€2
Barber-Surgeon/ Physician	This figure is a "trained" Medical Officer. (Most ships relied on the ships cook or carpenter, a sharp knife or saw and the antiseptic & anaesthetic qualities of Rum). Once per turn, if the surgeon is brought into base to base contact with a figure knocked down previously then on a d6 roll of 3..6 then they are brought back from the brink, (just wounded). Roll a 1 or 2 and it's "kiss me Hardy" time. Surgeons rarely joined in the fighting, and were generally excused the gallows if captured.	€2
Flashing Blade	This figure must be armed with a sword. Gets +1MQ in Mêlée	+€1
Musician	Good for Morale. Musicians often signed special get out of jail free clauses where they forwent extra shares of the loot in return for an affidavit that they weren't real pyrates. So a Musician might be worth €1 if they are just there for morale purposes, or €2 if they are fully committed Pyrates as well.	€1 / €2.

Example Supplying:
Captain Bartholomew Bradshaw of "The Laughing Cavalier" has a Crew of 20 figures, including two officers, and both experienced Navigator and Gunner. He has distributed the meagre spoils from the last adventure and is preparing to set out to sea again. He has €32 in the Purse and €8 of his own hard won loot.

With twenty figures he has to roll twice for provisions and that comes to €18. Fourteen of his crew have small arms but luckily the three dice only total €5. He already has six medium cannon in good repair, and supplying them with powder and shot comes in at another €5. Chandlers supplies are cheap here at €1, no doubt due to the active ship breakers, so he restocks with €2 worth of ropes, blocks, sailcloth, timber, a spare anchor, and the thousand and one other small essentials. This leaves €2 in the Purse. The Captain decides to recruit a Surgeon, (of which this busy little port has no shortage), though he'll probably have to set an extra watch on the Rum.

(1) Generally, this is not considered as much fun as swimming with dolphins, 'though 'tis just as certain a cure for melancholy.

© Baggins Wood Ltd. 2009