Anthony Jackson wrote:
Onno Meyer wrote:
Any comments? Additions? Corrections?
Pirate ships must be cheap compared to possible cargoes. In real-world
piracy, it's generally possible to pay for the pirate ship with the
profits from a _single_ successful raid.
This depends on many factors which affect the risks of the pirate
business, on trade routes as well as on the volume of operational
space available.
In a large frontier area the size of a dwarf galaxy (millions of
solar systems, vast majority of which are unused), it is very
much possible for the same pirate crew to keep on practicing their
'job' for a long time and eventually get very good at it. Ship they
will be using would propably be the best one they can afford at the
moment (with the x0.05 or so effective cost modifier for a stolen
and 'hot' ship, maintained with stolen spare parts) - At first just
a relatively low cost civilian transport/yacht or a tramp freighter,
later on a bigger customized freighter and perhaps after a decade or
more of plundering they might be able to use the equivalent of a small
warship like a destroyer or even a cruiser. Targets the pirates choose
would slowly get bigger and more ambitious along with their skills and
ships.
In my setting, the value of the pirate ship goes up almost hand in
hand with their experience/skill level - The very best known space
viking group of the SagDEG Alpha Sector is flying around on a very
fast FTL carrier the size of a battlecruiser known by the name 'Death
Incarnate'. Although they are not exactly fishing for the small
fishes of the pond (sometimes even having to fight off frigate or
destroyer escort ships to get at the really good stuff nobody else
can take), they do not need to earn the equivalent of their
battlecruiser (about six billion credits or so) every month, let alone
on every operation. The very famous reputation of the ship makes
it a very easy (and often used) solution for an interdicted merchant
convoy just to surrender without a fight - In addition to their
reputation for elite fighting skills and firepower, the 'Death
Incarnate' group is widely known for making sure that any and all
surrendered or captured personnel are delivered safely back to
civilization with all of their personal belongings. (This group is not
after trinkets, they go in for valuable ships of megacorporations and
starfleets as well as high value cargoes).
Of course, most pirate groups never reach such an elite level of skill
or ship class (but acquiring and maintaining a reputation for good
treatment and safe returning of captives can help a lot with long-term
viability of any pirate outfit). For every surviving old elite
space-dog, there are large numbers of overconfident young wannabe
newbies who are almost always destined to get blasted or imprisoned
at some point of their careers, propably while trying to take a much
larger bite than they can chew.
-Pauli
--
"Our ship is made out of darkness, she mocks the laws of nature.
With cables, ropes, tackle and sails, she moves on the waves
of the void. On her decks a red crew, dark as if painted with
blood. From among the hooded cloaks of crimson, eyes of
silver gleam darkly.. Oldest of all is Hiram of Malta, the Red
Commander. He knows the secrets of Schwarzchild Radii, of Neutron
Stars and Cepheids. His hidden paths we follow, like ghosts from
space we strike deep, only to disappear again soon, sometimes even
the fear itself is afraid of us.."
-CMX, Punainen Komentaja
(Translated from the Finnish song 'Red Commander' by CMX)
_______________________________________________
GurpsNet-L mailing list <[email protected]>
http://mail.sjgames.com/mailman/listinfo/gurpsnet-l
