Player Organization Sheets
Terrorsquids Crew - rush99999 - Christopher Bowes
The Merry Madmen - Flooby Badoop - Norman Caspian Crediton II
The Cult of the Siren - OppositionJ - Mariana Maquinilla Escarabajo
Golden Buccaneers - King Solterra - Captain Clives





Hello and welcome to Dark Ocean Piracy, a Nation roleplay set in the early age of Piracy and the start of the colonial era of the New World. This game is using a custom map with custom events and settings. While some historical events will occur, and some European countries will exist, but the point of your characters (the leaders of your pirate groups) is to explore the land, see what new wonders may lie in secret, set up camps, take over colonial forts or towns, fend off or raid colonial escorts or transports, and amass a fleet large enough to protect your gains, or build a mighty ship of myth and legend to protect your secret bounty. However, there may come a time that you may need to set your differences aside, and band together, against a common enemy. Or make a grand court to create trade and diplomacy so your neighbors don't see you immediately as an enemy and allow you to move on to more worthy foes. But the Colonial Elites do exist, and they do have their great navies. Upset them too much, and they may send more than just privateers.

At this very moment, do not take everything as the final project and set in stone. I want to make this compatible with everyones playstyle and have some custom ability to play with. At this time there will be Character sheets so you can get your basics in and some Background presets that you are allowed to choose from. Think of them as starter kits into the game. I welcome new Background ideas from players, and you will be able to change your sheet until we begin the game. So even with your sheet "approved" it's not locked in until we start. Soon after, I will present to you your Organization Sheets (or Nation Sheets), where you can more describe your band of pirates. Finally, thanks for taking an interest in this roleplay, and I hope everyone has a fun time while I try to tell a custom story.

• Ex-Privateer - You once sailed as a hired captain with one of the Colonial Elites. Maybe you took on the appearance of their Navy and uniforms to seem trustworthy and professional, or kept your piratey looks. You start with a Frigate, with a full crew. Enough gold to sate yours and your crews thirst and bellies, and some settlement supplies should you wish to start up a Camp.
• Ex-Slave - You were once a slave, being transported by ship to a new land where you would be living your life in servitude, but you and a couple others were able to get free of your bindings and free the others. Slaves are sometimes kept like sardines to transport heaps of them, which gave you the advantage of manpower. You start with a slightly damaged Schooner, very little gold, and the only supplies you have is enough food for a voyage to the new lands. You should find some place to hide out of sight and repair your ship, but with the amount of men you have, you could over run a small colonial village, or gather enough supplies from the new mainland for a very fast camp.
• Mythical Pirate - You were once a famous pirate, known throughout the seven seas, but you pissed off the Colonial Elite, and they hunted you down. However large your fleet was, it is now decimated. You are exceptionally wanted by the Colonial Elite, and your name stretches far enough that almost no one will trust you. Better yet, they'd do well by taking your bounty. You start with a Galleon, bare minimum crew, and very little gold. But be careful, your crew may start a mutiny if their wages haven't been satisfied and their bellies are filled. Even though you were a famous pirate, that didn't mean your crew became rich.
• Fresh Start - Whether you're new to the pirate scene and looking to start your journey, a young pirate still trying to get their name out there, or maybe even just a freelancer, or explorer, looking to find your riches. Whether that would be from helping colonial villages, raiding them, or exploring the land and selling the charts away. You start with a Sloop, no gold, and an average amount of crew, with room to spare. Your crew is fed and paid, so don't worry, just make sure you can pay them or feed them tomorrow! But keeping their trust, and doing less illegal things, may make them more inspired to trust you and follow by example.
• Ex-Trader - Maybe you're out looking for that new resource in the new lands, or you're a wealthy merchant looking to become ruler of their own town, or more. You were once a Trader that transported goods to all of the colonial elites and in between, making a fat purse of gold for yourself and your crew. You start with a Carrack, full crew, and gold to last awhile paying your crew and yourself. You enough enough supplies to make a small wooden fort or a large village. You also command a fleet of one(1) sloop, but it has no cannons. The Sloop has your trusted Officer commanding it, and the crew is also paid. But be careful, while the Colonial Elites have a lot of trust in you, they know how much you can be a threat. At any moment they could label you as an enemy if they don't like what you're doing, so you should pay your respects as often as you can.
• Colonial Aristocrat - Wealthy, and very well known to the Colonial Elite you hail from, although you are not one for combat at all, or maybe only a little, being raised in a proper family. Perhaps the life of simple Nobility is not enough you, and you want to be bigger, better. You want to be your own King. Or... just become filthy rich and have other people rule for you, like a parliament. You start with a Carrack and Sloop with no Cannons, but one Sloop with Cannons. Your men are sworn to your loyalty, but should the Colonial Elite you hail from demands their patronage, they would abandon you. Gold isn't a requirement, but feeding their bellies is. Gold doesn't hurt, though. You have enough supplies to make a colonial Town. Colonial Elites require a much cheaper pay to protect you.

Sloop: The smallest ship you can find. They are prized by merchants for their sheer speed and ability to sail in shallow waters to avoid larger ships. ~6 Cannons. Often used to patrol the coast. Usually features 1-2 sails.

Cutter: A development of the Sloop, the cutter is a small fast ship and is the smallest type of ship commissioned by navies to counter piracy. 6-10 Cannons. Usually features 2-3 Sails

Schooner: A light, smallish, agile ship that can sail coastal waters. It is often the favorite of many merchants and fishers... and other less legal professions like slavers, blockade runners, smugglers, and privateers. While it is unlikely to really put up much of a fight to frigates and galleons, it still packs some firepower to intimidate merchant ships. 10-12 Cannons. Usually has ~3 sails.

Frigate: A properly rated ship of the line in many navies, the Frigate is a small warship. Big enough to act independently in navies, but small enough to operate in shallower waters compared to massive galleons. However, many frigates were built to be larger ships as well. Thus, some frigates could carry 20 cannons while other Great Frigates were seen with 80 cannons. However, these Great Frigates were a later invention. Regardless, as time passed, ships were often made bigger.

Galleon: A large hulking ship used to transport things in mass... or carry around a lot of cannons and is relatively new during the period. In fact, the largest galleon and capital ship of the Portugese navy around this time was said to carry 366 guns. However, depending on the ship, there were smaller galleons that only featured 80 cannons all the way up to the massive capital ships that featured hundreds of ships.

Carrack: An old design of "great ships". The Carrack has been used for centuries to explore the New World. However, with the emergence of firearms and gunpowder weapon, Carracks began to fall out of favor for the Galleon by many navies. Regardless, Carracks were still used to help ferry cargo and still were armed with numerous cannons. One major feature of the Carrack is the raised/tall aft and forecastle on the ships, which were designed to help prevent boarding actions. This made Carracks easy target for cannons, but it made it extremely difficult to board and capture.


We will make this as simple as possible, and of course I welcome suggestions. This will be as cut and dry as possible, no matter the edits or suggestions.

Manpower - For physically fighting with bodies and not ships, Manpower is equivalent to the size of your establishment (Camp, Village, Town, etc). During ship-to-ship combat, if you begin to board an enemy ship, your entire crew is your manpower. And every boarding attempt you will lose manpower (unless you are a Galleon attacking a Sloop, it's just overwhelming).

Crew - Your crew will have three stages; minimum, average, and maximum. Average could bring your Frigates Manpower down equal to a Cutters Maximum crew, and be an even fight. A Cutter with Minimum Crew and a Damaged ship will lose to a Sloop, due to inoperable cannons, crew distracted by flooding, and lesser crew available to fend off the enemy. Keep your ships repaired, and your ships crewed. Assigning your crew to anti-flooding techniques is quick and fast, they will patch your ship up as best they can, because no one wants to sink in the middle of the ocean. Full repairs require the ship docked or anchored off the mainland, and depending on the size, it may take awhile (You will be advised through events).

Damage - It is damaged, or it isn't. Your fort, village/camp/etc, or ship, is damaged, or it isn't. There won't be levels to this. Stone forts fall and require exceedingly longer times to construct rather than wooden forts. Wooden forts burn down. Everything has their weakness, and if that weakness is exposed, it's an advantage.



Ships
Minimum - The ship is barely effective at its duties
Average - The ship doesn't require anymore crew to be effective at its duties
Maximum - The ship has more than enough crew to keep working under attack, and enough defenders to deflect boarders
-- Ships can be left adrift with no one manning them. But that explains itself; there is no manpower aboard the ship.

Establishments
Camp - +5% population
Large Camp - +15% population
Village - +20% population
Town - +35% population
City - +50% population
Small Fort - +10% population
Fort - +25% population
-- Forts can be added to Villages, Towns, and Cities to increase population, but can not be added to other forts.

Add-ons
Trade Hub - +10% population (Requires discovering a good trading resource)
Small Dock - +5% population (Allows you to dock Sloops, Cutters, and Schooners)
Large Dock - +10% population (Allows you to dock Sloops, Cutters, Schooners, Frigates and Carracks)
City Docks - +20% population (Allows you to dock every ship, including Galleons)
Barracks - +5% population
Blacksmith - +10% population (Allows you to build cannons and put them on your ships)
Naval Yard - +20% population (Allows you to construct any ship, each taking different amounts of time. Congratulations, having this you are seen as an established community in the new world)
Stone Quarry - +5% population (Allows constructing of Stone fortifications and Buildings)
Court - +5% population (Automatically collects taxes and tariffs for you)
-- All Establishments made out of, or converted to, stone add +5% population. Events will alert you to whether your desired location has enough stone for whatever you want to build or convert.)



Gold - Gold is not a resource in this game, but it will have an effect through events. Such as crews causing mutiny without being paid, settlers abandoning establishments, Colonial Elites requiring tax or tribute, etc. While you don't need to worry about gold, it's not bad to have some in your pocket should things turn awry.

"How much Gold do I have?"
Ask your Officer or Advisor. It's easier to find out if something costs Gold, and to ask your Advsior if you can afford doing whatever needs Gold.

Resources - Can be anything from Stone, to Gold, to Wool, anything. Everything is done through events. You will send messages to Officers (Ship crew) or Advisors (Establishment Personnel) to search for Resources on a Province. Resources can be found in the water, but some found in the water can't be found on land, and some on land can't be found in the water. Warning: Having a very expensive, or very popular, resource will piss off the Colonial Elites, but also may help you or make you rich.


Open the map in a new tab so you can zoom, if needed

Each Province can hold a single Establishment.
Orange Provinces are Deserts, only Forts can function here. Building other Establishments causes severe Event Problems, and failing to rectify them will cause the settlers to abandon the Establishment.
Resources can be found in the Desert.
Resources can only be found when you have a minimum of a Camp on the Province.
There is no "ownership," or "territory." Players may make their own maps and chart territory as they wish and to know where enemies are, but will not be supported on this thread. Colonial Elite territory markers will be made to the map, however.
There is no "starting point," however, after choosing your first location to scout or explore, you will be revealed on the map to anyone close enough to see you.
No teleporting. If you want to move somewhere, it will be done through events. Send messages to your Officers and Advisors. If all goes well, you will just need to wait through posting until you arrive at your destination. The farther the destination the further you wait. You are not "locked in" when setting a destination, and may stop at any time without sending a message to your Advisor or Officer. This is made so if you cross paths with another player, an event may occur.
If you are set on a course, whether traveling by land or sea, you can continue posting. You can send a lifeboat out to land to scout so when you come back you already have another province explored (this is just an example, you are free to do whatever you want).
How you travel matters. By land - very slow, by sea - very fast. Close or far from the shoreline. In a large ship or in a small ship. It all matters.
The length of time something may take is established through events. Send a message to your Advisors or Officers.



One Fort has an Officer, one Ship has an Officer.
One Establishment (Other than Forts) has an Advisor.
Barracks add one Officer, Courts add one Advisor.

Sending a message to your Advisor or Officer should be simple. You do what you personally want to do as your character in your post, and then send a message to your Advisors or Officers to complete the post. This can be in a Spoiler or in Public View, it doesn't matter. Unfortunately, events can't be done instantaneously, but as I will be OOC acting as your Advisors and Officers, I will do my best to be fast with responses. There aren't really any calculations, just see me as a story teller. You ask me "hey how long will it take to search this province for Resources?" And I'll respond with, "It'll take maybe a day, Captain," in a well posted letter back to you, in the roleplay. This, I definitely have time for.


Everything is in public, there is no private messaging the GM or Players. If you want a private discussion Captain to Captain, you will have it in the thread. Should a player Metagame ANY information, they will be banned. No exceptions. It's not hard to exclude information from a decision when you are roleplaying. This is to keep the roleplay going without pitstops. If it is found you are PMing roleplay discussions, you will be banned. OOC chatter is fine, but don't use OOC chatter to influence decisions. Just roleplay.

Combat is not a focus of this roleplay, so everything is handled like rock, paper, scissors. If they have more manpower, better equipped ship, they win. Take your time, build ships, gain manpower, then attack. Need help? Open up diplomatic discussions with another pirate group, or even a Colonial Elite for protection or mutual protection. Two ships is better than one.

No OOC aggression. Playful banter is fine, until you go back and forth belittling the other. I used to be at fault for such, and I will no longer do it. Anyone breaks this rule is banned. Even me.



Ask or Suggest to your hearts content

Looking at this, I think my niche would ultimately be to see what others have in mind and then approach with the least exploited angle.

@ArenaSnow

Exploited angle?

Name: Norman Caspian Crediton II

Alias/Nickname: Captain Flooby Badoop

Group Name: The Merry Madmen

Culture: English

Flag/Symbol:

Personal Ship: The Drunken Donkey, Carrack

Reputation: An absolute hedonist, irrational decisions, more concerned with having fun antics or jokes than the value of human life, sees the new world as his personal playground, his own men are terrified of upsetting his capricious nature.

Wealth: Uncountable, though most of it lies in a cave not even he knows the location of.

Background Type: Colonial Aristocrat

Background:

Born of ample means from a well-to-do family of Cornwall barons, the young man was clearly an oddity from birth. He would ride the hunting hounds as a child, then hunt them instead of foxes while they were out. 'It was more fun, since they didn't see it coming,' he would say.

This sort of behavior continued well into adolescence, where he gained a reputation in his schooling as impossible to control by teachers. His peers were equally fascinated and annoyed by his constant antics, which often bridged over into outright acts of cruelty. His parents had given up - there was no disciplining the boy. If the teachers were to employ the rod, he would grab it from them, and smack himself twice as hard.

At last, he was expelled. Instead of returning home, he ended up on the next carriage to London, on a whim. After an escapade involving a procession of goats, and the winning cheese in a farmer's competition, a ship from the Royal Navy was taken for a joy ride. The rest was history.

Organization Name: The Merry Madmen

Reputation: Capricious sociopaths, hedonists, and pranksters.

Initial Contact Behavior: Aggressive

Typical Alignment: Escaped convicts, lunatic drunkards, navy deserters, and a parrot that's been taught to swear like a sailor.

Backstory: First Mate Jim "Jimminy Cricket' was a slave trader who raided a territory under the protection of the royal navy. Only a chance encounter during a stormy night on an ocean was he able to be rescued. He's a sneaky, conniving fiend, but the voice of reason to Captain Badoop's craziness.

Fleet: The Drunken Donkey, an able carrack crewed by fifty men and a parrot.
The John B., a sloop crewed by a dozen men, armed with cannons
The Mad Lady, another sloop crewed by a dozen men, without cannons


Controlled Establishments:
Fort Frolic, a town with a small fort on the easternmost coast

@ArenaSnow

Exploited angle?

Whichever background is least represented, while still at least moderately appealing.

At this rate, though, I may just have to gun it and pick whatever.

@Flooby Badoop

Hey floobs, for me your sheet looks good, except the Personal Ship. I suppose that is something I need to clarify on. Your personal ship consists of one of the ships from the Background setting. So as the Colonial Aristocrat, you'd take the Carrack or one of the Sloops as your personal ship. The Organization sheet will allow you to customize these ships later on.

@ArenaSnow

Alrighty, if you have any suggestions just let me know.

@Heyitsjiwon

You still in this? Take a look at Floobs sheet, if you will

@Flooby Badoop

Hey floobs, for me your sheet looks good, except the Personal Ship. I suppose that is something I need to clarify on. Your personal ship consists of one of the ships from the Background setting. So as the Colonial Aristocrat, you'd take the Carrack or one of the Sloops as your personal ship. The Organization sheet will allow you to customize these ships later on.

@ArenaSnow

Alrighty, if you have any suggestions just let me know.

@Heyitsjiwon

You still in this? Take a look at Floobs sheet, if you will

Edited.

I must say, I'm largely waiting for the organization sheet. It does not strike me as prudent to half bake the concept with merely a character sheet without note of the organization, particularly when no direct inspiration comes to mind that isn't ripping one of my existing characters from elsewhere, which I feel defeats the point somewhat.

@ArenaSnow

It'll be up tonight, it seems I'm alone on this one and Jiwon is MIA. It's no problem, I was just hoping for more community feedback towards things. Give me a few hours from now and the Org sheet will be up.

As far as feedback, I don't have anything particularly unique to say that would be likely to change stuff, but I'll just give preliminary thoughts since nobody else has.

The game hit a rock with me, pun intended, with the particulars of the structure. They are legitimate particulars in general, and probably necessary to some extent given the public setting (which is why I didn't bring it up, as I make no claim to stand for a majority and was willing to simply attempt to pass it), but nonetheless in my opinion somewhat stifling to creativity and structure. On one hand, they do help to omit BS constructs that are designed to win or feel speshil for no good reason. On the other, the following caught in my mind;
- The 'backgrounds' section looks a lot like an RPG as compared to a proper RP, which is the main warning bell for me, because I consider the style of RPG simply too restrictive for me to thrive given my preference for a more freeform RP structure. Put simply, the premises put a limit on background diversity. While it helps eliminate some cases of BS, the blatant ones should be relatively easily taken out by GM observation and action long before the game begins.
- Current ship section is good for reference, little problem with that.
- Manpower is interesting, though a bit static for my tastes. My real issue and question, something which I would have eventually brought up were this to show more activity in general, is something I'll bring up soon in relation to this. The other two bits don't elicit reactions one way or another.
- What I don't get is the population focus, especially how things like a blacksmith, a stone quarry, a court, whatnot have to do with it. It seems like there are stats and mechanics applied to things that could be conveyed/set up through roleplay proper, and those numbers and static choices make me go 'eeeh' most of all. This is the main bone. Is population defined in the nation sheet? Even if it is, the percentile effects make me very skeptical. It's the sort of layout I'd expect for a video game, not a roleplay. If I wanted slim building options where everything follows those archtypes in the span of nation building, I'd have invested in Total War. Still, I was willing to go 'eh, maybe I'll just gun it'. But for the sake of providing feedback of a sort, I must say, my original interest was much diminished. Not that it's hard to do that, and again, appealing to me is not how you get a large, solid audience.
- 'other information' strikes me as both logical and reasonable.
- Adivsors/Officers are another 'meh' zone. I know it's not supposed to come across as a mechanics gimmick/stat grinder, but at a basic level, I feel that's just the overlay for a stat and mechanical centric experience. I often like to actually portray day to day functions from the perspectives of people at those levels, instead of just the top face. I did that a good bit the last time I seriously invested in a nation roleplay here. Granted, that was years ago, but in any case, I do think the mechanic is somewhat stifling to diversity in portrayal, which I consider to be unique in the NRP section by how varied the presentations can be while still completely functional as compared to a standard roleplay where you are the character engaging in the GM's world.
- Rules are solid.

Above is a word mash and in part incomplete thoughts, so take it as much or as little as you wish, as much as makes sense. I know I have trouble on that latter piece rather often.

@ArenaSnow

Thanks for the comments.

- As for the first part, it's exactly the reason for taking out 'freeform' and putting in 'backgrounds.' If I allowed freeform, I'd have to slap everyone I felt that were trying to be too powerful, or encourage people who were being too weak. Even still, we would have needed some sort of "background" similar idea, or everyone would either not know how much gold they could start with, or assume they could have whatever they want, and start the game with the spanish armada equivalent

In other words; Don't look at "backgrounds" as restricting, look at them as starting points. A way to dip your toes into the water. They are meant to get you started, how you roleplay and what you gain after is really what matters. This just limits abuse, the door is still open to impove.

- Current ship listing is just current ships that will be sailing in the New World, just for general information. You will be able to customize your ships later and turn a Sloop into a War Sloop, Slave Transport, whatever you want. Even put a big cannon on the front.

- The manpower system was just something simple. I wish I had more time to spread out the rules and make a more indepth game rather than rock paper scissors, but then we'd also run into the problem of being a dice roll. Unfortunately, work with the Fire Department and my mother take majority of my time. Also, an apology for being late to this tonight.

- The reasoning as to why a blacksmith or a court would increase population is that more peasants/common folk would actually want to move to a modernized and civilized society. No blacksmith? No nails. No nails? Improper housing. They, otherwise, serve other purposes than just population. As of this moment I have no plans to make population effect your Nation/Org sheet. The Nation Sheet is simply for your own use and not for number crunching.

This is the problem with making multiplayer roleplays, especially with Nation Roleplays. Ever play Dungeon & Dragons, or Pathfinder? While focused on an individual character, there are structures for nation roleplaying or building. They all have numbers. In a general roleplay scene, with versus, maybe one of those old heroes versus villains games.... it's either you agree to play fun and fair and maybe choose to let someone land a hit, or dodge. But then you get those players who want to win everything. I'd rather make a story without numbers, but everyone wants to be competitive if they can, especially when they can take land and grow.

- You are the character engaging the world I have created, but you don't know the story I've written out or the events that will unfold. The system I've made allows you to explore options, options that you don't know about from a glance but which I can give you should you seek the answer. It's like being a leader of a nation and having an advisor. You don't go to the barracks, and see soldiers training, you don't go to the factory and see the guns being made, and even if you did, would you understand everything going on? It is the job of the advisor to have the information you need ready and available at your fingertips. It's my way of also progressing the story for players.

@rush99999

I approve

Organization sheets are now available.

Organization Sheets: Something you can edit willy nilly and generally fill out however you want. There is no number crunching and it pertains to your character and crews accomplishments and attitude. It's not really something supposed to be approved, it's something for you to customize.

Name: Jean-François du Calae "Jean"
Alias/Nickname: The Blue Baron
Group Name: N/A
Culture: France
Flag/Symbol: N/A
Personal Ship: The Sea Lily
Reputation: Jean is a respected former Captain of the French Navy, turned Privateer who is known to offer mercy to those who do not cause trouble, but is swift and decisive against those who he considers his enemies. He had retired from service after a successful campaign and a desire to make his own mark in the New World for himself.
Wealth: Moderate
Background Type: Ex-Privateer
Background: Jean was a former Captain of the French Navy and of minor nobility in the Kingdom of France. While he originally joined the French Navy to bolster the prestige of his family name, he took up privateering and received a letter of marque from the King of France to wage economic war against the enemies of the French Crown and people. It proved to be a very profitable and beneficial venture as Jean hired professional sailors and marines to capture numerous merchant and treasure ships in the name of the King of France. With this success and a name established for himself, Jean left the service of the French Navy to work for himself in the New World.

Organization Name: The Golden Hind
Reputation: The Golden Hind is the name of the private military contracting company that Jean established before he left France. Thus far, they have been known to be respectful, committed, and professional to their employers, friends, and allies
Initial Contact Behavior: Cautious
Typical Alignment: Lawful Neutral
Backstory: The Golden Hind was established as a legal way for Jean to continue using his skills as a naval officer. Using his personal wealth, Jean purchased the Sea Lily, and hired a crew of former sailors and marines of the French Navy and allies of France. Their first few jobs were simple escort missions near the Barbary Coasts where they fended off pirates attacking the merchant ship convoys that crew was escorting. This is where the crew gained much needed experience and reputation.
Fleet:
The Sea Lily - Frigate

Controlled Establishments:
Camp Fearless

@Heyitsjiwon @ArenaSnow @rush99999 @Flooby Badoop

So I'm still here, I was hoping for another character sheet, but if you guys want to start it up still, make your Org sheets too and I'll get the IC up

@King Solterra

I've added my org sheet to my previous post.

I'm afraid my interest went on a steady downward spiral. I hate it when I do that, but perhaps it's best to get that out of the way now before I start and proceed to pop.

@rush99999

Nice, thanks for that. You are missing the "Organization Name" field in your Organization template, however

@rush99999

You are missing the "Organization Name" field in your Organization template, however

The organization doesn't have a name, so I left that field out.