Vistamorn

[Ibsen's Ghost]

I'm guessing you're already familiar with the 'Pirate Isles' mod by DarkSoul: http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=6886 . Actually, I think he'd been planning to do something a little 'Monkey Island'-ish with his final release but then it was left dead in the water, if you'll pardon the pun.

I don't want to get you over-ambitious because that's how projects end up not getting done but those games are potentially quite a nice source of inspiration and they contain some elements that are missing in Oblivion, like proper puzzles.

[Rodan]

The one thing that anyone does not have to worry about is me being over-ambitious. Each village, town and city in my area has to have a story. Too many areas in Oblivion were a bit vanilla. So fleshing out a tale would make things more interesting.

[Ibsen's Ghost]

Good good! It's when people get too flashy and too detailed and they start seeing stars that you feel people are headed for a disappointment. But a solid storyline that you craft carefully and stick to is a great sign!

[Rodan]

I'm getting the first ship completed (there is probably going to be another, haven't decided on it) as well as working on the exterior walls. Could use a little help in deciding on a name though for the first ship. Something interesting, but not used on Star Trek, Pirates of the Caribbean, or from the History Channel.

[Quentin Fortune]

Originally posted by Rodan
[...] Something interesting, but not used on Star Trek, Pirates of the Caribbean, or from the History Channel.

You're not going to make this easy for us.

Nevertheless, two shots

Aiskhron Kerdos (meaning "shameful gain")

The Prowling Poacher

... and anything else that comes to my mind right now is definitely Star Trek maybe more later ...

Greetings

Quentin

[Rodan]

I like both names so far. Especially the Aiskhron Kerdos.

Possibility of the PC being rudely acquired by the ship for either a treasure hunt, raid on another ship, or something even more sinister. :yes:

[Ibsen's Ghost]

Hello,

I did a little research recently on pirates as background for my work on Anaster that I thought it would be good to share with you even though some of it you will know and may have thought about already. Some of this roughly involves Sandor's line of work so I'll PM him and see what he thinks about some of the following suggestions. Other parts may interest the 'Black Marsh' mod makers so, hopefully, Anaster's story will flow neatly between the two mods. I shall mark these sections as 'FAO Sandor/Black Marsh'. Most of this information comes from an old piece of writing by an actual pirate called Alexander O. Exquemelin who wrote about "the lives of the Buccaneers of the Caribbean." Please view this as a resource that you can dip in and out of for ideas.

#1 - If a pirate got wind of some tasty loot, he would let it be known through their criminal connections that he was looking for a crew and people would converge upon a noted local meeting point. Some pirates for special missions, however, would be head-hunted (i.e. sought out), where they were probably found in bars and engaged in various 'orrible pursuits (but I'm guessing here.
After agreeing on targets, locations, approximate length of being at sea and so on, they would pool their capital (money) into portions. 4-5 portions would go on the ship, 2 for the Captain who owns the ship, 1 for each crewmate and half a portion for younger boys. Although their loot was strictly shared equally, any monetary loot they found was split according to this scheme.
Pirates would also be compensated for losses e.g. for a lost right arm = 600 pieces of eight (p.o.e.) or 6 slaves, lost left arm / right leg = 500 p.o.e. or 5 slaves, left leg = 400 p.o.e. or 2 slaves and eyes/fingers = 100 p.o.e. or 1 slaves, although I find it strange to value eyes so little...

In-game Ideas -

• Finding a contact should be one of the first ports of call, followed by a rather fun recruiting session where you might have to convince the best pirates to join you by doing something unspeakable. Meanwhile, your meeting point is filling up as a growing campsite.
  

• The player could take slightly more responsibility for finances, including agreeing wages, persuading some cantankerous (and possibly violent) characters and maybe even some sort of puzzle whereby you must work out from what a character says what piece of loot they want and then face a series of options as to what you're going to tempt them with.
  

#2 The pirates generally ate meat, meat and more meat which they would salt in order to preserve them during voyages. This would generally consist of pork and turtle. Personally, I would love to see turtles (or something similar) along our coastlines. Exquemelin mentions the fact that the Buccaneers would tend to capture farmers and demand pigs from him or they would hang him. Personally, I think that 'pig rustling' would be a pretty cool night-time activity, too.

In-game Ideas -

• FAO Sandor & Black Marsh - Create an 'ST Turtle' and/or 'ST Pig' - any chance of this, sandor? Also, as regards fauna and flora, I was wondering if any 'Caribbean' airborne fauna such as hummingbirds and dragonflies were possible to implement, particularly for the swamplands of 'Black Marsh'...
  

• Create a few of 'supply and provision' missions before pirating begins including: turtle-hunting and pig rustling.
  

#3 The Buccaneers would regularly employ hunters with hounds to help them find, hunt, kill and salt any additional meat which they would then pile up in the hold on the ballast. Meanwhile, other pirates are employed to do some careening (cleaning the ship on its side) and greasing (for the moving metal parts).
Meanwhile, it mentions taking slaves from captured ships (or even kidnapped from the mainland, particularly turtle fishers) where they might be forced to row, cook, fish, generally labour or even entertain. For the last one, you've got to wonder if these entertainers volunteered because they had that particular skill or whether they just became the butt of everyone's jokes and a source of cruel amusement.

In-game Ideas -

• Hire from a choice of hunters n' hounds. Deploy your men according to which ones you think are fit for the rough stuff (Nords!) and which are better at cleaning (Bretons?) with, if possible, some implications e.g. leave an Orc to repair the hull of the ship and he may get heavy-handed and punch a bloody big hole in it, thus delaying you and costing you more money.
  

• From my own knowledge of Dark Elves in books (I'm not an MW veteran!), ideas of law and justice are more like fashions and less like absolutes. Therefore, due to the decree of King Helseth which banishes slavery, it is this subject alone that could outlaw piracy. Maybe the renowned cunning of pirates is mainly celebrated in MW but more pressure has been put on them since King Helseth did what he did. As in 'Secret of Monkey Island' you might be able to 'woo the sexy female governor' =) , although this makes things tricky for female PCs who are uncomfortable with the idea of homosexuality...
  

• The player could be forced to return to the mainland once resources run low. If possible, you may be restricted as to which ports and coves you are able to reach in time, thus heightening the possibility of a clash with lots of militia if you turn up somewhere strict or where you are infamous.
  

• Comic cruelty against slaves!!!
  

#4 The Buccaneers, for all the fact that they were ruthless, and often amoral and/or sadistic, nonetheless lived according to a code, swearing on the Bible to stick to the loot agreements etc. and resorting to duels in the case of unresolvable conflicts. If anyone broke this pact (that was often written down), then they were executed by a crew member of their own choosing. This includes taking more (or better) food than anyone else in the crew.
When they captured a vessel, they would often enslave the living remnants of the crew whilst killing unwilling characters or making them walk the plank / 'keelhauling' them. Keel-hauling is: by means of a rope, they are dragged them under the bottom of the ship, where they might have an encounter of a nasty kind with the rudder and various sea-dwellers like sharks, before emerging at the other end.

In-game Ideas -

• If disposition, morale or loot intake drops below a certain level, disagreements may break out between members and, depending on whether the PC has done something really stupid, they may even punish the PC themselves. This could include the possibility that the player misses the fact that they themselves have broken the agreement by taking too much food, on which basis they themselves spent time on (with the pact) whilst recruiting.
  

• Lots of juicy opportunities for cruelty and killing!!!
  

#5 Buccaneers would often attack fleets of small fishing and diving ships that were protected by one or more mercenary or military ships. Negro slaves were used to dive for pearls, oysters and other precious marine commodities.

In-game Ideas -

• FAO Black Marsh - Particularly near the coastal borders between Black Marsh and the Southern Marshes of MW, the divers are likely to be Argonian. If these Argonians aren't getting a good deal for their work, they may welcome the intrusion of these pirates and even give them tip-offs as long as they end up with a better return for their work. This might be another area where Anaster has the chance to forge even deeper bonds between his own voodoo-heavy culture and that of the Argonians, which will, in turn, assist the player. Anaster is a voodoo specialist, first and foremost, but is more likely a pirate PC's 'right-hand man' who will stick by him. But he should be difficult to recruit, preferably allowing the player to be drip-fed fragments from Anaster's diary along the way.
  

[Ibsen's Ghost]

A few mods that may interest you and any others who are thinking of contributing here:

Pirate Clothing: http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=14568 & http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=10067

Peg Leg & Hook: http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=16658

The old pilotable Pirate Ship: http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=3575

Cool hideout combining keep and cabin textures: http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=11472

And, bloody hell, cannons! : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BMdbCvJPhyk&NR=1

[Rodan]

Gotten my interest Ibsen! I'll look in on those.