At some point, you will need to acquire more crew. You may do so at any port or settlement, or upon the successful capture of another ship, by making a DC 20 Bluff (to trick sailors on board), Diplomacy (to convince people to join the crew), or Intimidate (to press-gang new crew) check. Each such check takes 1 full day, and a successful check results in 1d4+2 new crew members for your ship. Depending on where you recruit, you will get crew with slightly different job titles and builds, although that doesn't make any difference when it comes down to fighting or managing the crew (but it makes it a bit more fun for me). There might be Shipmates, Sailors, Pirates, Buccaneers, etc. Roll on the following tables.
For every 10 points of Infamy, you get a +1 bonus to ONE of the following crew selection rolls.
| Recruiting in a city or metropolis - roll 2d4 for each recruit. | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | Unique Character | Varies | Varies |
| 3 | Deck Hand | Commoner2 | Some experience of ships. |
| 4 | Sailor | Expert2 | Sailing |
| 5 | shipmate | Warrior1/Expert1 | Profession / Craft |
| 6 | Pirate | Warrior2 | |
| 7 | Galley Rower | Commoner2 | some experience of ships, General skills |
| 8 | Buccaneer | Fighter 2 | Siege engines |
| Recruiting in a town - roll d6 for each recruit. | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Galley Rower | Commoner2 | some experience of ships, General skills |
| 2 | Deck Hand | Commoner2 | Some experience of ships. |
| 3 | Fisher | Commoner-2 | Prof Fishing |
| 4 | Sailor | Expert2 | Sailing |
| 5 | shipmate | Warrior1/Expert1 | Profession / Craft |
| 6 | Pirate | Warrior2 | |
| Recruiting in a village - roll d4 for each recruit. | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Land Lubber | Commoner1 | No sailing / sea experience. No craft or profession. |
| 2 | Galley Rower | Commoner2 | some experience of ships, General skills |
| 3 | Fisher | Commoner2 | Prof Fishing |
| 4 | Deck Hand | Commoner2 | Some experience of ships. |
Unlike many other NPC hirelings, pirate crews do not have a daily wage. Instead, they are paid shares of the ship’s plunder taken in acts of piracy, when that plunder is sold. Rather than try to recreate the complexity of share amounts for historical pirate crews, the PCs must deduct the appropriate amount each time they sell Plunder. This represents the shares of the plunder paid out to the crew, regardless of the actual amount of gold received for its sale. This Adventure Path assumes that the PCs follow these guidelines to keep their crew happy and well paid. It is left to the GM to decide how a crew reacts if the PCs do not pay them plunder on a regular basis.
Note: Crew does not include officers. Officers get the rest to spend between them. If you appoint an NPC as an officer, they expect at least 1x Plunder each time you sell.
| Crew Shares Table | |
|---|---|
| Crew Number | Plunder Share |
| <25 | 1 Plunder |
| 26-35 | 1.5 Plunder |
| 36-45 | 2 Plunder |
| 46-55 | 2.5 Plunder |
You appoint Petty Officers to manage your ship & crew on a daily basis, and normal sailing tasks are handled by these NPCs on your behalf. When there is a storm brewing, you are in pursuit of another vessel, or there is some other dangerous situation - you should be on hand to assist with, or take over, crew management duties.
When you storm a vessel or settlement - your crew fight in the background, under the leadership of their petty officers. The PCs take on the officers, leaders etc …