A Pirates Personal Weapons

During what is commonly referred to as the Golden Age of Piracy, the early 18th century, or "the Pirates of the Caribbean time", pirates were often armed.  This is not surprising as they are criminals who take things by force.  It may be, in fact, silly to think of them without weapons, as their weapons have become a part of their costume, so to speak.  This is a short study of the common personal weapons that pirates most often used.  Please understand that this is not meant to be an exhaustive list. Clearly weapons such as hammers, marlinspikes, whips, flails, and garottes could and I'm sure did come into play.  Yet, those were not the common weapons of pirates, but rather the weapons of convenience.  Knives, swords, axes, and guns were the common weapons of the time.

Knives

The most common weapon was the knife because it was also a tool of both hunters and sailors, which is where Buccaneers came from.  Knives were also commonly used because they're small and easy to carry concealed -or- between your teeth whilst climbing up the side of a ship that you're about to attack.  Quick and quiet, knives made the best weapons for taking a ship in the dead of the night.  Versatile, as they can be thrown, used to puncture or slash, plus lightweight and easy to carry.  It is easy to see how the knife was clearly a pirate favorite.

(More pics of this great knife can be seen at http://www.britishblades.com/forums/showthread.php?38165-A-Pirates-knife-yo-ho)

Cutlasses

Pirates also used swords.  The most common type of sword used by Pirates during the Golden Age of Piracy was the cutlass.  Their short, heavy blades sharpened only on one edge made excellent machetes and shipboard tools, as well as weapons.  The reason for this design was the use of the weapon; dual-edge swords can cut on both the forward swing and the back-swing.  There is much less control on the back-swing and an accident could mean damage to the sails and sheets of the ship.  It was true that some sailors and pirates used rapiers.  This was rare however, because the rapier is primarily a thrusting weapon and it takes great skill to master.  The rapier is the weapon of a duelist, not a murderous thug.

Boarding Axes

One of the most common weapons, or tools, found on ships of this period is the ax.  Most sailors probably thought of the ax as more of a tool, like a fireman's ax, than a weapon.  No matter,  as the ax makes an effective boarding weapon whether you choose to attack your enemy directly or damage their ship. Many of the French buccaneers used a small hand ax, not unlike the tomahawk, as an offhanded weapon.  Additionally, every ship of the period should have AT LEAST 1 ax to cut away storm-damaged pieces of rigging and to cut wood for repair pieces.

Belaying Pins or Clubs

Surprising as this may be to hear, murder is not always the goal when taking a ship.  Sometimes, especially if the crew are just poor merchant sailors, there is no reason for a great deal of bloodshed. If just beating down and frightening the crew will get you what you want, why go further?  Also, it was not uncommon for pirates to recruit new members from the crews of taken ships; it's not real likely that you are gonna get someone to join with you if you just shot one of their friends and ran a sword through another.  So, without further delay, I present to you the belaying pin.

The belaying pin is a piece of hard wood or brass 18" - 24" long in a pin or baton shape that fits into a set of parallel holes, one above the other, in the rails or around the masts.  It is a tool on board a sailing vessel of this period that performs the same duty as the modern cleat; it serves as a place to "make fast" or tie off lines from the running rigging (that's the part of the rigging that moves).  As each sail could have as many as 6 running rigging lines coming from it and each line needs a place to be tied off, you begin to see how there are many pins along the rails on both sides of a ship with 15 or more sails, as most vessels with 3 masts could easily have.

Pistols

From the Fifteenth century and the arrival of the Spanish in the Caribbean, pistols became the premier personal weapon.  They were highly prized by pirates.  In some ship's articles, it was agreed upon by the entire crew that the lookout who spotted a ship that ended up as a prize got the choice of the pistols found aboard. Unfortunately, despite their incredible popularity both in history and in fiction, pistols of this time period are neither accurate, nor reliable.  This is especially the case when mixed with the humidity of the Caribbean region.  Simply put, black powder weapons absolutely require dry powder to fire properly and it is incredibly difficult to keep powder dry in a place where the air is saturated with water.  

Of course as the centuries roll by, black powder becomes more stable and the mechanisms of the pistols become better as well.  Even so, pistol shots at close range still failed nearly a third of the time.  Again, we must consider the pirate and remember his goal is usually thievery.  Pistols, especially a number of them, are intimidating all on their own.  A pirate might be able to convince common people to help him just by intimidation without ever having to threaten them directly.  How comfortable would you be around a terrorist covered in weapons, which is roughly the equivalent of how people of the 18th Century viewed pirates at that time.

Long Rifles

Long rifles, although they are black powder weapons, were much more stable.  Used both by pirates and marines, these were the assault weapons of the period.  When fixed with a bayonet, the barrel of the gun is plugged, but the weapon retains functionality as a boarding pike.  In the period, some of the French buccaneers were renowned hunters and their accuracy with a long rifle, whether killing a boar or a man, was the stuff of legend.

It is interesting to note that although the British and French were known to use long rifles from the rigging (or more accurately from the fighting tops), the Spanish never did -- their Admiralty believed that the risk of fire in the rigging far outweighed the benefits of guns.  Even as late as the 1700's, the Spanish used bows and crossbows in their fighting tops.

Blunderbusses

If the long rifle was the assault weapon of the period, then the blunderbuss is like an AK-47 with undermounted grenade launcher.  This weapon was 100% intimidation; 3 - 5 people standing in its explosive path would become the blood red paint that covered the people behind them.  It was a terror weapon.  It was used both to intimidate and to end boarding actions.  If there were 4 of these side by side, they would clear a deck.  Blunderbuss, when you absolutely want to make it clear that you are in charge and you are not afraid to redecorate in arterial red to prove it.

You can see more of this glorious piece at the following site.  

http://contemporarymakers.blogspot.com/2009/12/brass-barreled-blunderbuss-by-david.html

Pirate D&D and a Question About Ball Bearings

I have been running a pirate game for nearly 6 months now.  We have bounced from system to system, but found nothing that really makes everyone happy.  The announcement of 5e D&D has spurred my group into wanting to switch to this system.  Unfortunately, the system is far from complete and I know much will need to be modified in order to make it work out for us.  Let me give you some examples of what we are working with now.

Given the lack of character classes in the free release of 5e, we were forced to search afield for something we could home-rule together.  We grabbed classes from here, because what else can you do when you have 2 witch doctors, 2 swashbucklers, 4 pirates, and an assassin?  We're also using pieces and parts from A Mighty Fortress, which I have had for years, as well as things from other systems.  This blog will be about the trials and tribulations of trying to run a game with a Pirates of the Caribbean feel.  I will share with you what we have tried and what we thinks works, as well as other thoughts, musings, and occasional pet peeves.

SO here's the first one.  On page 48 of the 5e rules, there is a section that discusses metal ball bearings.  1000 metal ball bearings can be purchased for 1 gp.  What is the use of these obviously technological tidbits that makes them SO common in a fantasy world.  In our world, steel ball bearings did not exist until the late 1800's.  The soft lead balls used for ammo in the 1700's would just crush underfoot, they wouldn't stay round thus no trip hazard.  Serious technology is behind the ball bearing.  Why is it so common in D&D?  Maybe I'm just crazy for wanting a little realism with my fantasy.

A Brief Primer on Ships

A: Capital Ship, B: Barque, C: Brig, D: Schooner, E: Sloop

To be a pirate you must know about ships. Pirates spent their lives on ships. They ate, drank, slept, worked, fought, and often died aboard them. In fact, it's almost impossible to be a pirate without a ship. So in this week's edition of the Pirate's Primer that is exactly what we are going to study. When we're done you'll know the difference between a boat and a ship, some common types of ships seen during the Age of Piracy, and why pirates chose the types of ships that they did. Since you can see how important this lesson is, I know that you'll be paying close attention. If you do nod off, you may wake up kissing the gunner's daughter. Now let's get to it.

The difference between a boat and a ship is a complicated question. A common definition says that a "ship is a square-rigged craft with at least three masts". The problem with this definition is that many ships from the sixteenth to the eighteenth century had only two masts. As for the "square-rigged" part, well that opens another large hole that we'll talk about in just a moment. First, let's get a pair of simple definitions that works for us: A ship can carry a boat. A boat must have a small enough hull to be carried by a ship.

This is a boat.  A ship is in the distance.

Before you can learn to tell the differences among the various types of ships, you're gonna have to climb the ratlines. Yes. It's time to learn about rigging. Rigging is the one of the most difficult things you can try to learn without actually doing it. A completely separate language exists solely to describe it. There are nouns like backstay and pendants, verbs like hoisting and heaving, and adjectives like abaft and athwart. Look up into the rigging and you'll see a maze of ropes and knots. Every one of them has a name and in an emergency a sailor must know what to call each one without hesitation. But don't be scared off. Simple Simon will help you through it. This time it's just up the masts and right back down. Think of it as an initiation. You're no landlubber, right? You're a pirate. Let's go.

Rigging a ship means attaching its sails to its masts, the tall poles that stick straight up out of the deck, so it can catch the wind and propel itself along the water. There are various ways to do this, but for right now we're only going to discuss two: Square Rigging and Fore & Aft Rigging. Both types are commonly seen on the sailing ships of the time. Both types have their own advantages and disadvantages. They were used together on some ships and separately on others. Knowing both types will help you to identify ships when it's your turn in the crow's nest.

Square Rigged

A square rigged ship has square or rectangular sails attached to the yardarms that cross the masts. This way of rigging creates the common image that most people have of sailing ships. The advantage of square rigging a ship is speed. The more large sails that you can hoist, the more wind that you will catch. This is also one of the disadvantages of square rigging, as a strong crosswind could damage the sails or capsize the ship. The second disadvantage to square rigging is the lack of maneuverability. The large square sails are not designed to be moved about to catch the wind from different angles. They are fixed in basically one position. You now see the limitations of square rigging. Head winds (winds coming from the direction you are trying to sail) and bad weather make it necessary to have another method for rigging a ship.

Fore and Aft Rigged

A fore and aft rigged ship has oddly-shaped sails attached along the masts, at the top by a gaff (a swinging pole used to extend the top of a fore and aft sail away from a mast), and at the bottom by a boom (a swinging pole used to extend the bottom of a fore and aft sail away from a mast). This way of rigging creates an image somewhat like modern sail boats. Sail boats today still use a style of fore and aft rigging, but their sails are triangular so they only need a boom. The advantages of this way of rigging are stability and maneuverability. Because the sails are smaller and moveable there is little chance that the wind will damage them and almost no chance that the wind could capsize the vessel. Additionally since the sails can swing to any angle within 180 degrees to catch the wind, the ship is quicker to respond to direction changes. The disadvantage to fore and aft rigging is the lack of speed due to the limited amount of sail that you can put up. Now you can see why both types of rigging were used. By taking note of the way that a vessel is rigged you will be able to identify its purpose.

There are many different kinds of ships. We are not even going to try to learn about them all. Be warned that the information provided herein is a summary and vast simplification of a very complicated topic. We are only going to examine five different types of ships because those five will be enough for our purposes. Being keen-eyed as you are, I'm sure that you have already seen the ships that we are going to talk about. You've probably also seen some differences among them. We are going to examine, in light detail, the Capital Ship, the Barque, the Brig, the Schooner, and the Sloop.

Capital Ship

For our purposes, the Capital Ship is a square-rigged craft with at least three masts. I see that I can't fool you. The problem here is a lack of words. Barques, Brigs, Schooners, and Sloops are all ships. However, when we discuss a capital ship we are referring to a large vessel, ranging from about 300 - 500 tons in weight and 80 - 100 feet in length, usually used to carry cargo, passengers, and/or troops that is square rigged with at least three masts. A galleon is a type of capital ship. So are naval warships and large merchantmen. A capital ship is almost always square rigged. During a storm a Ship will pull down her square sails and put up storm sails or "Trysails". These are a set of three fore and aft sails used for high winds. When the storm is over the capital ship will return to its fuller, square-rigged sails.

A Barque

The Barque or Barquentine is a three masted ship that is square rigged on both the foremast (the forward most mast) and the mainmast (the largest or main mast), but fore and aft rigged on the mizzenmast (the rear most mast). The Barque was more maneuverable than the capital ship and was sometimes seen in a military role, although mostly barques were used as merchant vessels. Barques ranged between 200 - 300 tons in weight and 70 - 80 feet in length. A Dutch fluyte, one of the most common targets of seventeenth century piracy, is a type of barque.

A Pirate Brig

The Brig or Brigantine is a two masted ship that is square rigged on the foremast, but rigged both fore and aft as well as square on the mainmast. The top section of the mainmast is rigged with square sails while the lower section is rigged with a fore and aft sail. The brig was highly maneuverable and faster than larger ships while still having room for cargo and a respectable number of cannons. The brig was sometimes used as a marauding vessel for pirates and privateers, but was most often used as a small warship by the English and French navies. Brigs were generally around 200 tons in weight and 70 - 90 feet in length. It is believed that Henry Morgan's flagship, The Satisfaction, was a brig.

A Schooner

The Schooner is a two masted ship that is rigged fore and aft. The schooner combined the best of all things for most pirates and privateers. It was small enough to hide in remote coves and navigate close to the shoreline, but big enough to carry a crew of 75 men. The schooner was a fast and very maneuverable vessel. It was most often seen as a pirate or privateer vessel. Schooners were generally around 100 tons in weight and 60 - 80 feet in length.

A boat fleeing a burning sloop

The Sloop is a single masted vessel that is rigged both fore and aft as well as square. The entire mast is rigged with square sails while the lower section is rigged with a fore and aft sail as well. Additionally, a jib, a large triangular sail, is often rigged between the mast and the bow. The sloop was the fastest and most maneuverable ship of the period. It was capable of sailing in very shallow water where other ships could not dare go for fear of running aground. Sloops were used by privateers, pirates, and pirate hunters alike. Sloops were small vessels. They weighed 100 tons at most and were 40 - 60 feet in length.

There you have it, swabs. Now you know how to tell the difference between a ship and a boat, you know a little more about the types of ships used in the early age of piracy, and you know what types of ships Pirates chose to use. You also survived your first trip into the rigging. (I promise I won't make you go back up there until much later in the column.) Next time we'll discuss the differences between pirates, privateers, buccaneers, and maroons. Until then, go get some grog, mates. You've earned it.

Copyright 2001, Mark S. Cookman

Buried Treasure

Here's a little treasure map for you.  I drew this up to celebrate finding this blog again.  It really is like a buried treasure to me.  I had forgotten all about this little blogger blog that I started a few years ago.  I guess I got all caught up in working on Welcome to Mortiston, USA and just got zombie fever.  Maybe the zombies ate my brain, I'm not really sure.  Whatever the case, I have been thinking about all of my old pirate-themed writings, as my friends and I have been enjoying playing a game of Poison'd recently.  I have really wanted to create some generic pirate gaming materials for a while, so this is where I will work on them.

I hope you like what you see.