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Pirate

2021-11-12T17:29:46Z

2406:3400:20F:FFC0:F062:7070:B9C0:9588: /* Famous Real Life Pirates */

{{Topquote|Yar har, fiddle di dee, Being a pirate is all right with me, Do what you want 'cause a pirate is free, You are a pirate!|LazyTown}}
{{Topquote|Oi! You'z lot! You'z part of my crew now. Any problemz with dat, you talk to da complaintz department. Dat'z me gun, by da way.|[[Bluddflagg|Kaptain Bluddflag]]}}
[[File:Pirate.png|300px|thumb|right|A pirate captain. The lack of limbs and eye just shows how hardcore he is.]]
'''Pirates''' are scavenging sea bandits that raid and loot anyone on their sight. Despite being the seaborn equivalent of muggers and car-jackers, they are a far more glamorous cultural icon. They were known to be pretty cool for having a ship with black skeleton flag, as well as being badass as fuck for fighting heavily armed navy on daily basis (or so the legend goes; while there were a number of impressive battles, pirates preferred easier marks like unprotected merchant convoys). Sadly, it isn't a profession with the best long-term benefits since they would most likely be hanged by the navy or died of scurvy. But if they did succeed, like hell they will be famous and feared by everyone as soon as anybody saw their pirate flag and run the fuck away.

Pirates, despite being a band of misfits, were quite varied. In real life they were cutthroats and bandits with ships or boats, while during later ages in fiction they were romanticized as something of a concept of freedom despite their infamy. In all cases, pirates are well known thanks to modern pop-culture depictions as anarchistic and anti-governmental. They opposed the oftentimes brutal authoritarian life in the navy and wanted to live out their own lives without anyone bugging in. The reasons were many and this resulted in pirates to be (ironically) closer to the modern establishment. While in Europe kings and queens ruled through an absolutist system of rule, pirates had something akin to modern democracy (the crew choose a new captain from among themselves by voting). While slavery was normal and nations fought each-other, pirates did not care about racism since a pirate crew could be multi-national and include slaves among their ranks. In fact, equality was common among pirates and slaves saw this as one of the few ways to feel free and equal. Some crews did not discriminate if you could do the job. They took in everyone who wanted to join. One particularly famous example was the Brethren of the Coast, a coalition of pirates and privateers who operated in the Caribbean. However, remember what they are; pirates would also force people to join their crew at times, had brutal punishments for those who broke their rules and some were known to trade slaves if the money was good enough.

This kind of lifestyle is what attracted writers who presented pirates in a romanticized way, as misfits who seek out a life of freedom. On the other hand they were portrayed in a more favorable light as anti-heroes. This has some basis in truth, as some pirates began their careers as legitimate privateers in the service of their king until political winds changed. Others were genuine legends whose stories impress readers to this day.

TL;DR piracy is fucking awesome... unless you actually encounter pirates - usually in places like Burma, Nigeria, and Somalia.

==Famous Real Life Pirates==
*'''Edward Teach''' - Better known as '''Blackbeard''', one of the original Golden Age pirates known for his [[Night Lords|intimidation tactics which including exaggerating and weaponizing his fearsome reputation]]. His ''nom de guerre'' came from the fact that he had black hair and put gunpowder in his beard and set it off to give himself a terrifying appearance (it helped that he was over six feet tall when most men of the time were about five and a half). Also because how often he let his victims live to talk about it. He was also quite smart, as he once raided a town (as in, blockaded the entirety of Charleston and held its sailors hostage) for medicine because [[Nurgle|most of his crew was riddled with diseases]] - [[Slaanesh|sexually transmitted ones]], then when some of the crew he sent to negotiate got drunk he marooned them in disgust. Another claim to fame was his flagship, a captured frigate he renamed ''Queen Anne's Revenge''; as an actual warship, this gave him another advantage over other pirates, who mostly used captured merchant ships, slave ships or schooners. He died in battle, [[awesome|fighting despite five gunshot wounds and 20 sword slashes before being attacked from behind and having his throat cut, not before severing three of his killer's fingers and breaking his sword]].

*'''Henry Avery''' - The most successful (and mysterious) pirate in history. How successful? He was named the king of pirates after looting the Mughal Emperor's treasure fleet, which was worth £52 million today. Shortly after, though, he vanished. Neither he nor his treasure was seen again. Some vidya speculate that he went on to found the pirate utopia of [[wikipedia:Libertatia|Libertalia]] in Madagascar.

*'''Anne Bonny and Mary Read''' - Two of the most famous female pirates. Here they get one entry as they have fairly similar life stories and worked together for a time: born in destitution, were disguised as boys early on in their lives, moved to the Caribbean where they took up piracy, and both became the lovers of Calico Jack plus renowned pirates in their own right. When Anne and Mary first met, both were disguised as men and Anne was attracted to Mary, so Anne confessed she was a woman, leading Mary to do the same [[PROMOTIONS|with rumors that they became lovers anyway with Calico Jack's approval]]. Despite their eventual capture, they only avoided execution because both were pregnant (although [[Grimdark|Mary died of a fever while in prison]] while Anne's fate is unknown except that she wasn't executed, with her either being released after giving birth to her child or also dying in prison), though that didn't stop them from [[awesome|fighting off their captors virtually alone, telling off Calico Jack for being a cowardly drunk]] and even [[Commissar|shooting a few of their crewwmates for being too drunk to fight in the battle that led to their capture]].

*'''Edward "Davies" Davis''' - An English pirate active in the late 1600's who made a career of raiding Spanish silver shipments. Noteworthy for his opposition to slavery; Davies and his crew hit a number of slave ships, liberating their prisoners and recruiting some into his crew. Eventually paid off the British crown for a pardon and retired; part of his haul went into founding the ''College of William & Mary'' in Virginia, the second oldest university in the Americas after Harvard. Probably discovered Rapa Nui (Easter Island) although the records are disputed since he wasn't the first to actually report it to anyone.

*'''Walter Raleigh''' - One of the first English pirates; a minor lord who decided to try multiclassing as an Adventurer-Politician. Founded Virginia and a few other less successful colonies, and was obsessed with finding the mythical golden city of El Dorado. He'd rob Spanish treasure ships as needed to fund his antics, and then brag about it in front of the Spanish ambassador in Elizabeth's royal court. Even plundered the Queen's bedchamber, marrying one of Elizabeth's ladies in waiting. Eventually went from looting ships to looting Spanish settlements. The Spanish responded by telling King James that if he didn't have Raleigh executed, they would treat his attack as a sanctioned act of war.

*'''Sir Francis Drake''' - The best illustration that the line between regular merchant, pirate, privateer and genuine military officer could be very tenuous at times. A full account of his long career can be found elsewhere, but let us just say that he started his career as a regular merchant occasionally getting rowdy with the Portuguese and the Spanish, then realized looting them for silver and gold was profitable and he became a full-fledged (and endorsed) raider. He was so good at liberating riches from them that he was awarded a knighthood by Queen Elizabeth, then later offered the post of vice-Admiral of the Navy when the Spaniards became fed up with the Anglos raiding them and spectacularly failed at trying to get even. Also something about circumnavigating the Earth (Magellan would've been first had he survived the trip) but who cares, it's not piratey enough.

* '''William Adams''' - Served under Drake for long enough to get the title. More famous for going to [[Japan]] and becoming one of the few foreign-born [[Samurai]]. How's that for [[Multiclassing]]?

*'''Abduwali Muse''' - A well known modern pirate. Isn't as charming and heroic as the above but gets a mention due to his youth and his actions were adapted with the film "Captain Phillips"; the film named for the captain of the ship he tried to take. Abduwali Muse was the leader of a small gang of teenage pirates from Somalia (Muse himself was 16-19 at the time, and the oldest among them) who hijacked Maersk Alabama, an unarmed container ship from the Port of Salalah in Oman, with orders to sail through the Guardafui Channel to Mombasa, Kenya. Like almost every Somali pirate, he didn't have a good childhood due to living in extreme poverty, with food and work being scarce and poor quality; he turned to piracy to pay off a local warlord. When navy ships got involved, the gang took Phillips hostage, resulting in Phillips' rescue and the deaths of every pirate save Abduwali himself, who got a 33+ year prison sentence in the U.S. Despite having no achievements that compare with historical pirates, his story did help create a film and a meme. (Look at him. He's the captain now.)

*'''Ching Shih/Cheng I Sao''' - Chinese Pirate Queen who not only led one of the biggest pirate fleets but also managed to successfully retire. She got her fleet through marrying a pirate, who gave her half his fleet. And when he died she got all of it by way of political maneuvering with her husband's family. The Chinese government tried to take her down, but she was so good that she stole their ships until they were forced to use fishing boats. She even created a set of pirating laws, including one that made rape of female captives punishable by beheading. She eventually beat the empire so hard that the Chinese Government had to sue for peace. She negotiated for amnesty for herself and any of her pirates that wanted to quit the life, so she retired from piracy to set up a gambling den and brothel.

[[File:Serapis_Flag.png|250px|thumb|right|Totally legit, no pirates here.]]

*'''John Paul Jones''' - An angry Scotsman who sided with the colonists in the American Revolution so he could go on a big piracy spree up and down the English coast. At one point he showed up in the Netherlands and his ship was so badly shot up the flag was gone and the Dutch were like "you need a flag or we have to arrest you as a pirate" ''(also it wasn't his ship; HIS ship SANK in the battle where he captured the one the Dutch were now hassling him about)''. But they didn't like the English either so they looked the other way while Jones found someone to quickly sew a new flag ''([[Counts as|that looks nothing like an American flag and suspiciously like a Dutch flag cut into ribbons and sewn back together]])'' and he was free to go. He kicked so much ass and was so popular that one of the places that he raided actually gave him an official pardon in 1999.

*'''Gertrude Walton''' - A real life ghost pirate! The RIAA claimed that she uploaded pirated copies of over 700 songs despite her ''being dead''. Immortalized in a Weird Al song.

*'''Stede Bonnet''' - The "Gentleman Pirate," Steve was a former plantation owner from Barbados who got fed up with always being in debt and his nagging wife, so he decided to become a pirate. Bonnet is supposedly one of the pirates who originated "Walking the Plank." [[Noobs|Despite his gross inexperience]], he was able to attract a crew by promising a guaranteed wage as opposed to a share of plunder. Things went relatively well until he got bamboozled by Blackbeard (yes THAT Blackbeard) into giving up command of his ship and effectively became a hostage. He was later bamboozled again by Blackbeard and swore revenge, in which he surprisingly became a more competent pirate. But he was captured before he had the chance. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vrGf4nJWVOU Dramatic Reenactment now included!]

*'''Felix von Luckner''' - Nicknamed "The Sea Devil", he is the best example of a Lawful pirate (okay, privateer) in RPG terms. Commissioned as an officer in the Kaizerlische Marine during WWI, he was given command of a three-master (at a time where most boats had switched to steam) with orders to do some commerce raiding and make himself a pain in the hindquartes of the Allies. And he did so. Beautifully. In less than one year, Luckner captured and sank no less than fifteen ships through guile and superior seamanship. And the best part? he did so barely ever firing a shot. Over his entire career, he and his crew killed only a single enemy soldier (a poor soul unlucky enough to be right next to a steam line that ruptured when Luckner ordered the enemy's radio shot). For the rest, he made sure everyone was safe and sound before sending his prizes to the bottom. And when he just became overburdened with prisoners, he ordered the latest his prizes to throw the cargo overboard and bring all his prisoners to a neutral country, and then they'd all be free. A pirate and and gentleman indeed!

==Famous Fictional Pirates==

(For the sake of keeping things brief, we'll ignore Vidya pirates, and try keep it to Movie and Book pirates that your parents or nephews/nieces are likely to have heard of, depending on your age.)

*'''Long John Silver''', from ''Treasure Island''.
*'''Captain Hook''', from ''Peter Pan''.
*'''Jack Sparrow''' and '''Hector Barbarossa''' from ''Pirates of the Caribbean''
** For that matter, the ride Pirates are of interest.
*'''Captain Blood''', from the book series and movie of the same name.
*'''Captain Harlock''', space pirate.
*''One Piece'' has a quite a few. We'll not list them, as it would take ''forever'', just like the manga.
*'''Captain Nemo''', from ''Twenty Thousand Leagues Under The Sea''.
*'''One-Eyed Willy''', from ''The Goonies''.
*'''Pirate Jenny''', from the song of the same name.
*'''The Dread Pirate Roberts''', from ''[[The Princess Bride]]''.
*Many, many advertising pirates.

== Types of Pirate ==
[[File:Piratepainting.jpg|300px|thumb|right|Why do we bury our treasure? Why don't we spend it? On nice things? Or things we like?]]

'''Buccaneers''' - The classic, the archetype, the most iconic of all pirates that feature in almost in every media. From 1650 to 1720, empires like France and England wanted to develop their own colonial empires in the Caribbean. Problem was, the Spanish got there first, and at the time they had the most powerful navy. However, they also had massive treasure fleets, so the English began paying privateers to raid the Spanish whenever they were at war; but as soon as the war ended, there was a surplus of heavily armed ships that decided to turn pirate to stay in business. And with the ever-growing sea trade, piracy was the norm, especially when some colonial governors encouraged this behavior with an unofficial policy of "no peace past the line." Piracy was so lucrative that most of Nassau's population were pirates. The archetypal pirate captain is known for wearing eye patches, owning a pet parrot, and having a hook for an arm and a peg leg, which shows that this guy is a badass when he lost most of his limbs yet is still able to fight. They are also known for having a black skeleton flag, named the Jolly Roger (see above) while sailing a ship with a fuck load of cannons (if they are rich enough). In regards to the popular legend of successful pirates burying their treasure; this was largely a myth perpetuated by Treasure Island. Pirates ended up taking most of their ill-gotten goods in the form of trade goods which had to be sold or bartered off, and the average pirate hand would piss away most of their gold on boozing and whoring. Pirate captains who could accumulate large amounts of solid metal currency ''would'' bury treasure in very specific circumstance. It wasn't done out of some odd ritual or anything grand, but for for insurance (and even then, only did it sparingly): in the event that they were captured, they'd use their hidden loot as a bargaining chip to prevent them from proverbially (and sometimes literally) walking the plank. This didn't work all the time, as the captors either couldn't be bribed or didn't buy the story. Still, the mystique of a lost and forgotten treasure trove just waiting to be discovered made for great stories in taverns full of adventurers, so legends about buried treasure persisted throughout the centuries in fictional writing.

'''Privateers''' - Not pirates per se, but many pirates started out as privateers. These were privately owned Armed Mechantmen who were employed by their home country to raid enemy supply lines (or in rare cases, rival nations that are not at war). Typically a privateer carried "Letters of Marque and Reprisal" to show the legality of their actions; it was only if they stepped outside the bounds of the letter or otherwise lost it that they'd become pirates. Some were even captained by commissioned officers of their host nation and provided access to naval facilities and supplies as defacto navy vessels. But even so, enemy nations would sometimes ignore the letters of marque (not without justification, since letters would often be rendered invalid or else forged easily enough to fool the illiterate) and hang captured crews as pirates instead of kept as prisoners of war. Nevertheless, there was rarely a shortage of eager sailors for privateering, as the potential pay for taking a ship as a prize was very lucrative. Of course the opposite was also true; under King George's Act of Grace, former pirates who renounced their ways would be pardoned and hired as privateers to raid the Spanish.

'''[[Vikings]]''' - Scandinavian pirates with badass beards. Despite common depictions, their helmets did not have horns. Existed long before the Caribbean pirates, and they sure made themselves famous all over medieval Europe. They are also responsible for being the ancestors of 90% of the Caucasians thanks to their continent wide rape-demic.

'''Corsairs''' - Also known as Barbary pirates. They mainly came from North Africa and most of their attacks were focused on capturing slaves rather than stealing loot. They operated primarily in the Mediterranean sea, but were known to sail as far north as Iceland. Nations could avoid having their ships attacked if they paid a steep tribute to the Barbary states; it wasn't until the early 19th century that Western nations decided to fuck that noise and steamrolled them (This steamrolling is the source of "The Shores of Tripoli" in the US Marines' Hymn). Though the term usually refers to pirates in service to specific nations.

'''Modern Pirates''' - [[Grimdark|Mostly just poor 3rd world uneducated people who are survivors of various wars and regimes.]] They are not exactly primitive uneducated however, since some of them were former fishermen who had knowledge about the sea, war veterans who specialize in weaponry, as well as technical experts who operates on electronic devices like GPS devices, [[Freebooterz|but they are still too green]] when compare to the [[Imperial Navy|actual navy]]. Not to mention the days when any wannabe pirate could find a merchant ship, arm her with some cannons and then go toe-to-toe with a genuine military ship have ''long'' since past. They are armed with many modern-day weapons from assault rifles to rocket launchers that were salvaged from the conflict. They raid the Gulf of Aden, the Gulf of Guinea, the Straits of Malacca, and Indian Ocean using just skiffs and can travel hundreds of miles from home. Their targets tend to be two varieties: either slow commercial ships held hostage for steep ransoms, or oil tankers that they siphon raw petroleum to sell on the black market. They tend to be on the skinny side due to the lack of food and health care, and they are not fun and games because of that, since most of them just want to survive and they had to turn to piracy when they have no choice due to the terrible living condition in a typical post-war country. So in short, they what Buccaneers were mostly like once you strip away the Romanticism. Modern Piracy is still popular in places like Africa and Asia, and actually costs the companies anywhere from hundreds of millions to billions in losses. Due to this, its not uncommon to see heavily armed mercenaries aboard civilian freighters in high-risk shipping lanes to deter pirates from boarding and there are permanent international task forces deployed in areas with chronic problems. The modus operandi ranges from firing warning shots to force a surrender to straight up perforating the boat with CIWS fire. Cargo ships in turn have Private Military Contractors with sometimes better than military issue gear, water cannons and other deterrence factors. Occasionally a navy logistics ship gets mistaken for a cargo ship by pirates, leading to hilarity.

'''Internet Pirates''' - Hackers who "illegally" download foreign internet goods like manga scan, anime, books or newly released video games for free (though sometimes they do hack, acquire and release data that shady corporations want to hide or make certain douches pay for their crimes like Anonymous does from time to time). As technology advanced and the invention of 3D printer came along, the "pirate" is able to download miniature blue prints for 3D printers.

===The "Pirate Accent"===
We all know and love pirate-speak, what with all its "YAAAAR!"s and "YO-HO-HO!"s and all, but something to keep in mind, at least as far as historical pirates are concerned; most scholars agree that there is no universal "pirate accent," and that most of today's perceptions of it stems from the 1950 Disney film ''Treasure Island'', and the Dorset accent of Robert Newton's Long John Silver. While the West Country of England certainly has a long maritime history, keep in mind that pirates came from just about any sea-faring society, so you're more likely to see a blend of accents and even languages around busy trade routes and other piracy hotspots, such as the Caribbean or the East Indies.

== Fictional Pirates ==
'''Swashbucklers''' - The Noblebright side of the Fantasy pirate coin. Swashbucklers actually overlap with genres outside of pirate fiction, such as with the Three Musketeers or Zorro, but their are plenty of pirate examples too. These guys are basically buccaneers who seek adventure and right wrongs. They may be exiled princes or other political fugitives forced into a life of outlawry. They are also masters of swordplay and trickery; so basically they're more akin to musketeers or Zorro, but with ships of their own. Think of Dread Pirate Roberts from the Princess Bride or Captain Blood.

'''Dread Pirates''' - The [[Grimdark]] side of the Fantasy Pirate coin. Not to be confused with the legend that Dread Pirate Roberts cooked up for himself; these guys are the real deal. Take a buccaneer and mix in the supernatural or even eldritch. This type of Pirate frequently appears as the antagonist in the Pirates of the Carribean movies. See Ghost Pirates for a specific subset below.

'''Space Pirates''' - You know pirates, BUT IN SPACE! A seemly possible concept. After all, the golden age of piracy happened because the naval powers in those day struggled to maintain power on the edges of their empire (new world) and the vast wealth they were extracting, which meant pirates had a reason to exist. Eventually, the great powers managed to extend control across the fullness of their empires and pirates ran out of room for safe harbors, ports and so on. In space however, it is is infinite enough to run around from any Space Navy, and if there are enough valuables goods trades between planets, one could have an reason to do so. On paper piracy in space does seem possible, contingent of course on the idea of there being FTL drive of some sort, else our pirates have to be in stasis 99% of the time. Since space has no oxygen, pirates had to wear concealed power armor to board ships in order to loot and plunder. In some indie games like FTL, the crew can use teleportation device to board enemy ship without space suit, the same goes to the lighting strike ability in battlefleet gothic armada. And instead of making you walk the plank, they'll just throw you out the airlock. Another common convention is hidden bases on remote asteroids or space stations that don't orbit anything (which Star Wars dubs a "shadowport"). Despite rumors of this happening already, the only recorded crimes committed in space is a white collar crime involving somebody illegally accessing their spouse's bank records during a divorce dispute.

'''Ghost Pirates''' - it is said if some pirates are too badass to die, they become ghost and continue to terrorize ships for fun. Some said it was the caused of some voodoo curses, other thinks they are just too tough to stay in hell. These dead pirate sail in literal ghost ships that are seemly broken pirate ships crawling with moses and maggots while being seemly impervious to cannon fire. [[Vampire Counts|SPOOOOOKYYY]].

'''[[Airship|Airship Pirates]]''' - [[AWESOME|Piracy in the sky with steampunk technology]]. They'll still say "Yarr!" and "Avast!" but their clothing is decidedly more Victorian instead of Baroque, with lots of goggles and brass thrown in. [[Kharadron Overlords|Let's not forget the short legged version]] for [[Age of Sigmar]]. There is exactly ONE example of [[airship]] piracy in history: when the German Zeppelin L23 captured a Norwegian schooner during the first world war. An instance of an airship ''privateer'' '''may''' have existed with the U.S. World War II blimp Resolute, which was reported in 1946 to have been the last use of the United State's power to issue a letter of marque, as part of a legal wrangling to put a civilian vessel into the chain of command rather than intending it loot anything, but no record of this mark being issued exists.

'''Warhammer Fantasy Pirates''' - A lot of pirates tend to operate either in the seas near Tilea or around Lustria, where there's always opportunities for gold-hungry adventurers (though death is also a high probability due to disease or dismemberment by dinosaurs). There's several different varieties:

* Most famously are the [[Warriors of Chaos|Norscans]] being the fantasy equivalent of Vikings, in that they like to wreck the Empire's shit by raiding their border and would also took the opportunity to explore the new world for plunder and destruction in the name of their gods. The Norscan are nature born sea faring adventurer that back in the old day, a Norscan by the name Losteriksson being also the first old world to settle in the new world Lustria. There he became famous after plundered the shit out of it and founded a coast settlement named after his daughter that was born on this land: Skeggi, then encourage even more Norscan to have a piece at the place despite its seemly high mortality rate from jungle disease, wild cold ones and Lizardmen. The Skaeling tribe in particular is famed for their seafaring. [[Wulfrik the Wanderer]] uses a magic longship to teleport anywhere whenever he wants or needs (because chaos gods) to go wreck some fools.

*[[Dark Elf]] Corsairs using Black Arks (which are city-sized FLYING ships) in their raids and like to take captives hostage to be sold into slavery. [[Lokhir Fellhart]] is a famous example, who likes to wear Cthulhu-looking mask that he likely looted from Lizardmen.

*The [[Zombie Pirates]] were a White Dwarf army list under the leadership of [[Luthor Harkon]], who formerly worked for [[Abhorash]] before striking out on his own for Lustria and establishing his own goddamn kingdom called the Vampire Coast. And with all the dead bodies of unfortunate sailors, he's got plenty of recruiting opportunities. Another undead admiral operating in the area is Captain Noctlis of the [[Dreadfleet]], a Von Carstein vampire who teleported his entire freaking castle into the Galleon Graveyard, and thanks to the mighty technosorceries of vydiagaems they are a fully fledged faction in the Total Warhammer.

*There are also the Sartosan Pirates of the Principality of Sartosa (aka: AN ENTIRE NATION OF PIRATES) that lies south of Tilea. One of the most famous Sartosan pirates is the sea mutant [[Aranessa Saltspite]], rumored to be the daughter of the sea god himself.

'''[[Warhammer 40K]] Pirates''' - Ranging from [[Red Corsairs|chaos worshiper]], [[Dark Eldar|sadistic spiky ear slave trader]], [[Eldar Corsairs|cunning spiky ear glass cannon]] and the fucking [[Freebooterz|orks]], they are all badasses. [[Rogue Traders]] probably count as pirates too (corsairs would be the most accurate term), but they are first and foremost explorers of the Imperium (otherwise is [[HERESY]] and would probably be anally raped by inquisitions ship's nova cannon, or an [[exterminatus|cyclonic torpedo]]) but of course, unless they were pillage and plunder a xeno ship, is fine lol. For /tg/ brewed 40K pirates, see [[Black Locks]] who are both pirates and [[Space Marines]]. There is also at least [[Space Sharks|one known loyalist chapter]] that does piratey things like abducting the entire population of a loyalist planet to bolster the ranks of their recruits and chapter serfs, but they work far from the Imperium, and don't really have the opportunity for easily recruited manpower. Desperate times...

'''[[Manga|One Piece]]''' - As the pirate king, Gold Roger, was executed, he told everyone that he hid his treasure at the ass-end of the world, kickstarting a golden age of piracy! Some are using this chance to amass riches or oppress the weak, others just want to be free from the dictatorial World Government. The world is vast and uncharted, people get anime superpowers by eating cursed fruit or training really hard, and there exist sea monsters that are bigger than your ship. [[Fun|Have fun]]!

'''[[Samus|Space Pirates from the Metroid Series]]''' - while not being human and lacking the Caribbean pirate stereotype, [[Rak'gol|they are aliens that like to raid and destroy vessels while trying to be the biggest of dicks to every other species, especially the Federation]]. They are led by Mother Brain with Ridley, a species of cyborg/gargoyle/dragon alien being their military commander. They all got shit on by [[Samus]] unfortunately...non-stop.

==Worldbuilding And Moral Considerations==

===Morality===
How evil a Pirate in a given setting defaults to has a few inputs that are worth considering:

* [[Slavery]] is a big one. If the people they're raiding practice slavery and the pirates don't, that's a very serious point in the favor of the Pirate (in fact, it was exactly this moral ambiguity that gave the Buccaneers what good press they had) especially if they free slaves. If it's the other way around (slave raiders on free peoples), the resulting pirates are probably evil villains, full stop.
**Keep in mind that many people adore Jack Sparrow for simply saying "People aren't cargo mate", which was Jack Sparrows entire descent into piracy to begin with.
* How badly they treat captured crews. If they let them go once they've robbed the cargo holds, they probably are considered more "moral" than if they kill or enslave anybody who sees them. (Hostage taking may or may not count for this purpose; if it's purely for ransom, it's in a gray area, with the shade depending on how well the hostage is treated.)
** Enforced enrollment in the pirate crew is on the evil side, and also somewhat on the stupid side--having a bunch of people who don't want to be there as crew on a ship is usually a bad idea when mutiny is a problem, but even proper navys were known to occasionally Impress/conscript the unwilling. Hell the war of 1812 began in part over the British doing just this.
* How badly non-pirate sailors are treated by their captains: when the Navy press-gangs and keelhauls their crew, a pirate ship is easily seen as a bastion of freedom in contrast.
* [https://youtu.be/XaWU1CmrJNc Pirates who don't do anything] are a thing in media. As they don't do the pirate thing, they usually don't count as pirates.
* How prone they are to mutiny is also a consideration; although any pirate crew is liable to mutiny, the causes of said mutiny can be important in determining morality. If you're sailing under Bill the Bastard has random crewmen flogged and branded for looking at him funny, stealing his hat while he's wearing it and original sin while never giving out a fair cut of the pay and hogging all the Grog from himself, mutiny is an extreme if understandable response.
* What do they spend their plunder on. Most pirates spend their booty on upkeep of their ship, cannons, guns, swords, booze, food, fancy things and, well, Booty. But some will also spend it on their families while others decide to give some of it to an orphanage or school or something in their home port.
* Privateers, mentioned above, are usually considered more "moral" than their freelancing counterparts. ''Usually''.

Note that multiple kinds of Pirates can exist in a given setting, each with their own niche in the Alignment Chart (Even Lawful Good, Neutral Good and Lawful Neutral depending on where you draw the line between lawful navy executing 'commerce raiding' and piracy), although given the nature of Piracy, only a few Privateers will be Lawful of any kind.

===Worldbuilding Considerations===

The big one: Pirates need a safe port of some kind to operate (ships require a lot of maintenance that can only be done when at rest, and the pirates need to be able to sell or trade their captured goods). This has many subtle implications, with a few possibilities:

* The Pirates are effectively sponsored by some port. This implies either full state sponsorship of some kind, or a state that effectively doesn't care about their raiding, usually because the Pirates in question only target the enemies of whoever owns the port. French Tortuga and Dutch Curacao were like this, being effectively surrounded by a target rich environment full of Spanish and ruled by governors who simply did not give a flip about what happened at sea. In particular, Curaco's natural harbor with a tight channel overlooked by a fort on a ridge made it practically impossible to raid from sea, so the Dutch DID NOT care how angry the Spanish got with them over piracy because nothing short of an invasion would dislodge them.
* The Pirates are disguising where their goods are coming from. This is harder then it sounds, as ships are usually easily identified, and any port that cares about contraband will almost certainly be interested in the origins of whatever goods are coming into it.
* The Pirates are operating on a frontier. Small colonies and settlements are usually much less concerned about the legitimacy of cargo if its something they can use. They may not be able to pay very much for it, but they often can pay in other ways such as provisions and repairs.
* Pirates who figure they can operate their own port are usually faced with the fact that most of the people who engage in piracy are not exactly reliable sorts, which is what is desperately needed in order to have a functioning port.

Further, you need to have cargo worth capturing. A lot of stuff that gets shipped is very hard to sell, not just because it is the proverbial "hot goods", but because it is effectively worth money only to the right buyer (who is usually in one of those ports that care about contraband). You need something that is both valuable, and a commodity. Historically, sugar qualified, as did tobacco and other luxury goods; of particular interest here is exotic pets, such as monkeys and, yes, parrots (really any large feathered birds, since feather quills were used as pens). Whale oil (used in lamps) was another hot item, with whaling ships often making easy targets returning from hunts. But whatever the cargo, there is a fine line of intersecting interests, between the risks of accepting stolen goods, the risks of stealing them in the first place, and the potential profit. Of course, there's always robbing payroll ships, but if they were easy to hit everyone would do it.

For a nation whose government is fairly loose and rudimentary, the distinction between "Pirate", "Honest Trader" and "Navy" is sometimes difficult to make. Many pirates would prefer to go after foreign prey rather than people from their home ports. A down on his luck merchant captain might try to steal the stuff from a rival ship from a rival country if the choice is "make a profit, pay the crew, eliminate some of the competition and live to sail another day" or "starve to death/have a mutiny for unpaid wages/have the ship founder for disrepair/go bankrupt". Privateer work was common in times of war when said actions got sanctioned and sometimes a merchantman could have a few extra guns put on her and be made into a ghetto warship.

To complicate matters even further, even powerful and well-organized nations like France and England had 'prize money' laws in place that made capturing enemy vessels and their cargo a very attractive prospect: any ship captured at sea and its cargo became ''de jure'' property of the crown, but the king would generously compensate the crews with money/valuables once the prize was brought in. On top of that it wasn't uncommon at all for the winner of a naval engagement to quietly enroll any surviving sailor to replace losses and/or keep manning their now captured ship (the defeated sailors were generally down with this since the alternative was usually sitting in the hold in chains), no matter their nationality; so even a 'national' crew from an 'official' Navy ship could sound like a weird mix of freebooters hauling their capture in when coming into port.

If you get enough pirates in an area, they might come together and found a town. It starts off in some place with a natural harbor to shelter in storms and repair their ships between fights. Then crews begin swapping stuff if one of them has a surplus of gunpowder and the other has a surplus of food and similar. A couple of guys are left behind from each crew (as well as captives) to collect timber, first when it's expected that there will be some damage taken in the near future and latter more regularly around a growing logging camp. A couple of docks go up to make things go more smoothly, as does a forge or two and a couple of vegetable gardens. If there are native peoples in the area they start showing up to trade, or occasionally raid necessitating some basic defenses.

Then some enterprising pirate cobbles together a pub, selling plundered Beer, Grog and Rum to passing pirates and shore-side workers at first and soon enough is brewing there own, especially when a few full fledged farms get going to provide produce. Soon enough the Pub has some prostitutes and by extension some bastards. Tents and lean-tos are replaced by small cottages and shanties and after that houses. Workshops gradually come together and more and more of the population becomes permanent.

Soon you get a thriving and lively if disorderly and dangerous new settlement, which attracts the attention of whatever state power claims control over the area. A governor and garrison will be dispatched who start keeping out the roughest sorts, and things settle down into a more quiet and businesslike place much to the chagrin of old timers who miss the gold old days of loose women, hearty songs, exciting brawls and the odd knifings which made things dangerous and interesting.

==[[Pathfinder Second Edition]]==
{{dnd-stub}}
An archetype where you master the ins and outs of fighting on ships. It was originally a rather limited archetype that appeared on the 2018 playtest before vanishing. It would show up again in the Advanced Player's Guide, looking just as small when compared to other archetypes. This is likely because it's already relying on two other skills with feats that would otherwise overlap with it: Athletics (which helps with rope climbing) and Intimidation.

The prerequisites for entry pretty much boil down to "look scary" (read: trained in Intimidation) and in exchange, you can walk on boats without issue, learn lore about sailing and gain a special action that pretty much lets you go [[Errol Flynn]] and swing your sword while swinging on a rope.

{{Pathfinder-2nd-Edition-Archetypes}}

==Mordheim Pirate Warbands==
One of the more popular "semi-official" [[Mordheim]] warbands, pirate warbands are based on the simple facts that a) there have always been pirates in the Empire, b) the Empire relies heavily on river-conducted trade, and c) this meant the titular city was a big port before the [[warpstone]] meteor hit. So now you have plenty of bold and/or crazy pirates sailing up to the ruined dock and daring to launch raids into the city.

As a warband, Pirates of Mordheim have the special rules ''Ship-Based'' (if you hire both [[elf]] and [[dwarf]] Hired Swords simultaneously, increase their upkeep by '''+20 gold pieces''', as the tight confines of the ship exacerbate their racial animosity) and '''Shanghai'''. This is their mainstay special rule, and what it means is that pirates can actually swell their own ranks by recruiting captured enemies or even the random survivors of Mordheim. Because there are several situations where a pirate crew can successfully shanghai a person, this rule gets complicated...
* Firstly: a Pirate Captain can only attempt to shanghai '''normal human''' warband members; nonhumans refuse to obey or are too dangerous even for pirates to keep, whilst Hired Swords and Special Characters have no interest in the pirate life.
* When an enemy Hero is Captured, instead of exchanging/ransoming them or selling them, the Pirate Captain can attempt to convince them to join the crew. Roll 2d6 and add the Leadership of the Captain, then do the same for the captured Hero, adding +1 to he roll of whichever side won the fight. If the Captain wins, then the Hero defects and joins his crew, becoming a normal Crewman - this includes resetting his ability scores and skills if necessary and swapping all his gear for stuff from the Pirate Equipment list. If the Hero wins, then the Captain simply pressgangs him; the Hero retains his original skills and stats, but loses all his gear for stuff from the Swabbie list and can be deployed as a Swabbie in subsequent battles. Presumably, if the Pirates Rout against a shanghaied Hero-turned-Swabbie's former warband, he rejoins them.
* When the Pirates win a battle against an enemy warband, roll a d6 for each enemy Henchman that was killed (1-2 on their post-game roll after being taken Out of Action); on a 4+, they actually weren't killed, but were instead dragged back to the pirate ship and patched up. The Pirate Captain can attempt to shanghai them in the same manner as a captured hero, as described above.
* If the Pirates discover a Straggler when exploring Mordheim, the Pirate Captain can attempt to shanghai the half-crazed survivor instead of the other options. This requires making a simple Leadership check for the Captain; if he passes, then you gain a free Swabbie (the Straggler is too bonkers to make it as a crewman).
* Similarly, if the pirates discover Survivors when exploring Mordheim, the Pirate Captain can attempt to recruit them. Roll a d3 to see how many survivors there are, then make a Leadership check for the Captain for each Survivor. If successful, the survivor eagerly joins and becomes a Crewman; they can either start a new unit as a basic Crewman, or be added to an existing unit, whereupon their Exp and Stats match their brethren. If the check fails, however, the Suvivor is reluctantly pressganged, and so becomes a Swabbie.

Like all Mordheim warbands, you start with 500 gold pieces to outfit your Pirate Crew, which can be no larger than 15 models.

A Pirate Warband's leader is, of course, the '''Pirate Captain''' - you must start with one of these guys! They start with 20 EXP and can gain special skills from all of the standard skill tables (Combat, Shooting, Academic, Strength, Speed) as well as the ''Pirate Skills'' table. They cost 60 gold, have the ''Leader'' rule, and start with M4, WS4, BS3, S3, T3, W1, I3, A1 and LD8.

'''Ship's Mates''' are your standard secondary hero; you can have 0-2 of these in your crew. Ship's Mates cost 35 gold to hire and start with 8 experience as well as M4, WS4, BS3, S3, T3, W1, I2, A1 and LD7. They have the ''Inheritor'' special rule; if your Captain gets killed, then one of the Mates will take over the warband, just like how the standard Mercenary warband uses Champions to take over. They can learn Combat, Shooting, Strength and Pirate skills.

'''Cabin Boys''' are the obligatory "bare-faced recruit" type hero. 0-2 of these guys, who cost 15 gold to hire and start with 0 EXP and M4, WS2, BS2, S3, T3, W1, I3, A1 and LD6. They can learn Combat, Shooting, Speed and Pirate skills.

Now, for Henchman... your standard henchmen are, of course, the humble '''Crew''' or "Crewmen". 25 gold to hire, and statted up with M4, WS3, BS3, S3, T3, W1, I2, A1 and LD7. You can have any number of crewmen you like.

'''Gunners''' are the ship's cannoneers and marksmen; you can only have 0-2 of these guys, and they have the same stats and cost as the Crew, but they get access to some more firearms - blunderbusses, handguns and swivel guns (aka miniature cannons), specifically, alongside the pistol and duelist pistols that regular crewmen and Heroes ca take. They technically have a special rule in "Swivel Guns is Dangerous, Matey!" but that's more a rule about the Swivel Gun - namely, you can only take 1 Swivel Gun in your warband, and the bearer splits off to form an independent unit, because nobody's stupid enough to stand too close to somebody carrying a miniature cannon that could go off like a bomb at any moment.

'''Boatswains''' are the ship's riggers, and make excellent scouts in Mordheim. They cost 32 gold, have the same stats as a Crewman, and you can only take 0-5 of them. They start play with a Rope & Hook and will never, ''ever'' part with it. They also have the special rule ''Expert Riggers'', which lets them reroll failed Initiative tests made to climb a rope, leap a gap, jump down, or perform a diving charge.

Finally, there are the '''Swabbies'''. You can have 0-5 of these, and you can only recruit them via the aforementioned Shanghai rule, though in a one-off game you get 2 Swabbies for free. Statwise, they have M4, WS2, BS2, S3, T3, W1, I3, A1 and LD6. They also have the largest amount of special rules of any model in the warband:
* ''Not Hired:'' You don't pay for Swabbies, you Shanghai them.
* ''Never Gain Experience''
* ''Rabble:'' You can give a unit of Swabbies any mixture of weapons that you like. Swabbies gained by capturing heroes do not benefit from spellcasting ablities or skills they had before.
* ''"Blimey, they got away!":'' If the Pirates Rout, all Swabbies who had left the table on previous turns successfully escape; remove them from the warband roster.
* ''"Don't mind them mates, they ain't true pirates!":'' Swabbies who run or get taken out of action don't count for the purposes of taking a Rout test.

The Pirate skill table consists of:
#: '''Sea Shanty Singer:''' At the start of Close Combat, the Hero can burst into song, forcing one opponent in base contact to pass an LD test or lose 1 attack for the turn. Doesn't work on non-living targets.
#: '''Sea Legs:''' If the Hero Falls, roll a d3; on a 4+, ignore all hits caused by falling. Additionally, if the hero is knocked down or stunned when within 1" of a precipice, they can reroll their Initiate test to avoid falling.
#: '''Cutlass Master:''' If the Hero is both equipped with a sword and in closed quarters (in cover, in a building, within 2" of a terrain feature, etc), then the Hero can Parry by rolling equal to the To Hit roll, as well as by rolling higher.
#: '''Booming Voice:''' Only Captains can have this skill; reroll for other characters. Once per turn, if on his feet and not engaged in close combat, the Captain can target a single pirate within 8" who has either faileds their test to see if they will flee combat or who failed their test to stop fleeing. The targeted pirate can immediately reroll their test.
#: '''Hardy Constitution:''' When the Hero takes a Critical Hit, roll a d6; on a 5+, the Critical Hit is downgraded to just a normal hit.
#: '''Swashbuckler:''' At the end of any Hand-to-Hand phase in which he is in base contact with an enemy model, his own or the opponent's, the Hero can make an LD test. If successful, the Hero can immediately make a normal movement away from the enemy without taking any hits.

==Gallery==
<gallery>
Image:Capt phip abud.gif| Abduwali Muse, a modern somali pirate portray by Somali-American actor Barkhad Abdi. Also a meme, apparently.
Image:Abduwali Muse.jpg| The actual Abduwali Muse. Sentenced to over 33 years in U.S. federal prison.
</gallery>

==See Also==
*[[Dreadfleet]]
*[[Man O' War]]
*[[Poison'd]]
[[Category:History]]

Pirate

2021-11-12T17:14:10Z

2406:3400:20F:FFC0:F062:7070:B9C0:9588: /* Famous Real Life Pirates */

{{Topquote|Yar har, fiddle di dee, Being a pirate is all right with me, Do what you want 'cause a pirate is free, You are a pirate!|LazyTown}}
{{Topquote|Oi! You'z lot! You'z part of my crew now. Any problemz with dat, you talk to da complaintz department. Dat'z me gun, by da way.|[[Bluddflagg|Kaptain Bluddflag]]}}
[[File:Pirate.png|300px|thumb|right|A pirate captain. The lack of limbs and eye just shows how hardcore he is.]]
'''Pirates''' are scavenging sea bandits that raid and loot anyone on their sight. Despite being the seaborn equivalent of muggers and car-jackers, they are a far more glamorous cultural icon. They were known to be pretty cool for having a ship with black skeleton flag, as well as being badass as fuck for fighting heavily armed navy on daily basis (or so the legend goes; while there were a number of impressive battles, pirates preferred easier marks like unprotected merchant convoys). Sadly, it isn't a profession with the best long-term benefits since they would most likely be hanged by the navy or died of scurvy. But if they did succeed, like hell they will be famous and feared by everyone as soon as anybody saw their pirate flag and run the fuck away.

Pirates, despite being a band of misfits, were quite varied. In real life they were cutthroats and bandits with ships or boats, while during later ages in fiction they were romanticized as something of a concept of freedom despite their infamy. In all cases, pirates are well known thanks to modern pop-culture depictions as anarchistic and anti-governmental. They opposed the oftentimes brutal authoritarian life in the navy and wanted to live out their own lives without anyone bugging in. The reasons were many and this resulted in pirates to be (ironically) closer to the modern establishment. While in Europe kings and queens ruled through an absolutist system of rule, pirates had something akin to modern democracy (the crew choose a new captain from among themselves by voting). While slavery was normal and nations fought each-other, pirates did not care about racism since a pirate crew could be multi-national and include slaves among their ranks. In fact, equality was common among pirates and slaves saw this as one of the few ways to feel free and equal. Some crews did not discriminate if you could do the job. They took in everyone who wanted to join. One particularly famous example was the Brethren of the Coast, a coalition of pirates and privateers who operated in the Caribbean. However, remember what they are; pirates would also force people to join their crew at times, had brutal punishments for those who broke their rules and some were known to trade slaves if the money was good enough.

This kind of lifestyle is what attracted writers who presented pirates in a romanticized way, as misfits who seek out a life of freedom. On the other hand they were portrayed in a more favorable light as anti-heroes. This has some basis in truth, as some pirates began their careers as legitimate privateers in the service of their king until political winds changed. Others were genuine legends whose stories impress readers to this day.

TL;DR piracy is fucking awesome... unless you actually encounter pirates - usually in places like Burma, Nigeria, and Somalia.

==Famous Real Life Pirates==
*'''Edward Teach''' - Better known as '''Blackbeard''', one of the original Golden Age pirates known for his [[Night Lords|intimidation tactics which including exaggerating and weaponizing his fearsome reputation]]. His ''nom de guerre'' came from the fact that he had black hair and put gunpowder in his beard and set it off to give himself a terrifying appearance (it helped that he was over six feet tall when most men of the time were about five and a half). Also because how often he let his victims live to talk about it. He was also quite smart, as he once raided a town (as in, blockaded the entirety of Charleston and held its sailors hostage) for medicine because [[Nurgle|most of his crew was riddled with diseases]] - [[Slaanesh|sexually transmitted ones]], then when some of the crew he sent to negotiate got drunk he marooned them in disgust. Another claim to fame was his flagship, a captured frigate he renamed ''Queen Anne's Revenge''; as an actual warship, this gave him another advantage over other pirates, who mostly used captured merchant ships, slave ships or schooners. He died in battle, [[awesome|being shot at least twice and slashed around 20 times before being run through and having his throat slit, not before severing three of his killer's fingers]].

*'''Henry Avery''' - The most successful (and mysterious) pirate in history. How successful? He was named the king of pirates after looting the Mughal Emperor's treasure fleet, which was worth £52 million today. Shortly after, though, he vanished. Neither he nor his treasure was seen again. Some vidya speculate that he went on to found the pirate utopia of [[wikipedia:Libertatia|Libertalia]] in Madagascar.

*'''Anne Bonny and Mary Read''' - Two of the most famous female pirates. Here they get one entry as they have fairly similar life stories and worked together for a time: born in destitution, were disguised as boys early on in their lives, moved to the Caribbean where they took up piracy, and both became the lovers of Calico Jack plus renowned pirates in their own right. When Anne and Mary first met, both were disguised as men and Anne was attracted to Mary, so Anne confessed she was a woman, leading Mary to do the same [[PROMOTIONS|with rumors that they became lovers anyway with Calico Jack's approval]]. Despite their eventual capture, they only avoided execution because both were pregnant (although [[Grimdark|Mary died of a fever while in prison]] while Anne's fate is unknown except that she wasn't executed, with her either being released after giving birth to her child or also dying in prison), though that didn't stop them from [[awesome|fighting off their captors virtually alone, telling off Calico Jack for being a cowardly drunk]] and even [[Commissar|shooting a few of their crewwmates for being too drunk to fight in the battle that led to their capture]].

*'''Edward "Davies" Davis''' - An English pirate active in the late 1600's who made a career of raiding Spanish silver shipments. Noteworthy for his opposition to slavery; Davies and his crew hit a number of slave ships, liberating their prisoners and recruiting some into his crew. Eventually paid off the British crown for a pardon and retired; part of his haul went into founding the ''College of William & Mary'' in Virginia, the second oldest university in the Americas after Harvard. Probably discovered Rapa Nui (Easter Island) although the records are disputed since he wasn't the first to actually report it to anyone.

*'''Walter Raleigh''' - One of the first English pirates; a minor lord who decided to try multiclassing as an Adventurer-Politician. Founded Virginia and a few other less successful colonies, and was obsessed with finding the mythical golden city of El Dorado. He'd rob Spanish treasure ships as needed to fund his antics, and then brag about it in front of the Spanish ambassador in Elizabeth's royal court. Even plundered the Queen's bedchamber, marrying one of Elizabeth's ladies in waiting. Eventually went from looting ships to looting Spanish settlements. The Spanish responded by telling King James that if he didn't have Raleigh executed, they would treat his attack as a sanctioned act of war.

*'''Sir Francis Drake''' - The best illustration that the line between regular merchant, pirate, privateer and genuine military officer could be very tenuous at times. A full account of his long career can be found elsewhere, but let us just say that he started his career as a regular merchant occasionally getting rowdy with the Portuguese and the Spanish, then realized looting them for silver and gold was profitable and he became a full-fledged (and endorsed) raider. He was so good at liberating riches from them that he was awarded a knighthood by Queen Elizabeth, then later offered the post of vice-Admiral of the Navy when the Spaniards became fed up with the Anglos raiding them and spectacularly failed at trying to get even. Also something about circumnavigating the Earth (Magellan would've been first had he survived the trip) but who cares, it's not piratey enough.

* '''William Adams''' - Served under Drake for long enough to get the title. More famous for going to [[Japan]] and becoming one of the few foreign-born [[Samurai]]. How's that for [[Multiclassing]]?

*'''Abduwali Muse''' - A well known modern pirate. Isn't as charming and heroic as the above but gets a mention due to his youth and his actions were adapted with the film "Captain Phillips"; the film named for the captain of the ship he tried to take. Abduwali Muse was the leader of a small gang of teenage pirates from Somalia (Muse himself was 16-19 at the time, and the oldest among them) who hijacked Maersk Alabama, an unarmed container ship from the Port of Salalah in Oman, with orders to sail through the Guardafui Channel to Mombasa, Kenya. Like almost every Somali pirate, he didn't have a good childhood due to living in extreme poverty, with food and work being scarce and poor quality; he turned to piracy to pay off a local warlord. When navy ships got involved, the gang took Phillips hostage, resulting in Phillips' rescue and the deaths of every pirate save Abduwali himself, who got a 33+ year prison sentence in the U.S. Despite having no achievements that compare with historical pirates, his story did help create a film and a meme. (Look at him. He's the captain now.)

*'''Ching Shih/Cheng I Sao''' - Chinese Pirate Queen who not only led one of the biggest pirate fleets but also managed to successfully retire. She got her fleet through marrying a pirate, who gave her half his fleet. And when he died she got all of it by way of political maneuvering with her husband's family. The Chinese government tried to take her down, but she was so good that she stole their ships until they were forced to use fishing boats. She even created a set of pirating laws, including one that made rape of female captives punishable by beheading. She eventually beat the empire so hard that the Chinese Government had to sue for peace. She negotiated for amnesty for herself and any of her pirates that wanted to quit the life, so she retired from piracy to set up a gambling den and brothel.

[[File:Serapis_Flag.png|250px|thumb|right|Totally legit, no pirates here.]]

*'''John Paul Jones''' - An angry Scotsman who sided with the colonists in the American Revolution so he could go on a big piracy spree up and down the English coast. At one point he showed up in the Netherlands and his ship was so badly shot up the flag was gone and the Dutch were like "you need a flag or we have to arrest you as a pirate" ''(also it wasn't his ship; HIS ship SANK in the battle where he captured the one the Dutch were now hassling him about)''. But they didn't like the English either so they looked the other way while Jones found someone to quickly sew a new flag ''([[Counts as|that looks nothing like an American flag and suspiciously like a Dutch flag cut into ribbons and sewn back together]])'' and he was free to go. He kicked so much ass and was so popular that one of the places that he raided actually gave him an official pardon in 1999.

*'''Gertrude Walton''' - A real life ghost pirate! The RIAA claimed that she uploaded pirated copies of over 700 songs despite her ''being dead''. Immortalized in a Weird Al song.

*'''Stede Bonnet''' - The "Gentleman Pirate," Steve was a former plantation owner from Barbados who got fed up with always being in debt and his nagging wife, so he decided to become a pirate. Bonnet is supposedly one of the pirates who originated "Walking the Plank." [[Noobs|Despite his gross inexperience]], he was able to attract a crew by promising a guaranteed wage as opposed to a share of plunder. Things went relatively well until he got bamboozled by Blackbeard (yes THAT Blackbeard) into giving up command of his ship and effectively became a hostage. He was later bamboozled again by Blackbeard and swore revenge, in which he surprisingly became a more competent pirate. But he was captured before he had the chance. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vrGf4nJWVOU Dramatic Reenactment now included!]

*'''Felix von Luckner''' - Nicknamed "The Sea Devil", he is the best example of a Lawful pirate (okay, privateer) in RPG terms. Commissioned as an officer in the Kaizerlische Marine during WWI, he was given command of a three-master (at a time where most boats had switched to steam) with orders to do some commerce raiding and make himself a pain in the hindquartes of the Allies. And he did so. Beautifully. In less than one year, Luckner captured and sank no less than fifteen ships through guile and superior seamanship. And the best part? he did so barely ever firing a shot. Over his entire career, he and his crew killed only a single enemy soldier (a poor soul unlucky enough to be right next to a steam line that ruptured when Luckner ordered the enemy's radio shot). For the rest, he made sure everyone was safe and sound before sending his prizes to the bottom. And when he just became overburdened with prisoners, he ordered the latest his prizes to throw the cargo overboard and bring all his prisoners to a neutral country, and then they'd all be free. A pirate and and gentleman indeed!

==Famous Fictional Pirates==

(For the sake of keeping things brief, we'll ignore Vidya pirates, and try keep it to Movie and Book pirates that your parents or nephews/nieces are likely to have heard of, depending on your age.)

*'''Long John Silver''', from ''Treasure Island''.
*'''Captain Hook''', from ''Peter Pan''.
*'''Jack Sparrow''' and '''Hector Barbarossa''' from ''Pirates of the Caribbean''
** For that matter, the ride Pirates are of interest.
*'''Captain Blood''', from the book series and movie of the same name.
*'''Captain Harlock''', space pirate.
*''One Piece'' has a quite a few. We'll not list them, as it would take ''forever'', just like the manga.
*'''Captain Nemo''', from ''Twenty Thousand Leagues Under The Sea''.
*'''One-Eyed Willy''', from ''The Goonies''.
*'''Pirate Jenny''', from the song of the same name.
*'''The Dread Pirate Roberts''', from ''[[The Princess Bride]]''.
*Many, many advertising pirates.

== Types of Pirate ==
[[File:Piratepainting.jpg|300px|thumb|right|Why do we bury our treasure? Why don't we spend it? On nice things? Or things we like?]]

'''Buccaneers''' - The classic, the archetype, the most iconic of all pirates that feature in almost in every media. From 1650 to 1720, empires like France and England wanted to develop their own colonial empires in the Caribbean. Problem was, the Spanish got there first, and at the time they had the most powerful navy. However, they also had massive treasure fleets, so the English began paying privateers to raid the Spanish whenever they were at war; but as soon as the war ended, there was a surplus of heavily armed ships that decided to turn pirate to stay in business. And with the ever-growing sea trade, piracy was the norm, especially when some colonial governors encouraged this behavior with an unofficial policy of "no peace past the line." Piracy was so lucrative that most of Nassau's population were pirates. The archetypal pirate captain is known for wearing eye patches, owning a pet parrot, and having a hook for an arm and a peg leg, which shows that this guy is a badass when he lost most of his limbs yet is still able to fight. They are also known for having a black skeleton flag, named the Jolly Roger (see above) while sailing a ship with a fuck load of cannons (if they are rich enough). In regards to the popular legend of successful pirates burying their treasure; this was largely a myth perpetuated by Treasure Island. Pirates ended up taking most of their ill-gotten goods in the form of trade goods which had to be sold or bartered off, and the average pirate hand would piss away most of their gold on boozing and whoring. Pirate captains who could accumulate large amounts of solid metal currency ''would'' bury treasure in very specific circumstance. It wasn't done out of some odd ritual or anything grand, but for for insurance (and even then, only did it sparingly): in the event that they were captured, they'd use their hidden loot as a bargaining chip to prevent them from proverbially (and sometimes literally) walking the plank. This didn't work all the time, as the captors either couldn't be bribed or didn't buy the story. Still, the mystique of a lost and forgotten treasure trove just waiting to be discovered made for great stories in taverns full of adventurers, so legends about buried treasure persisted throughout the centuries in fictional writing.

'''Privateers''' - Not pirates per se, but many pirates started out as privateers. These were privately owned Armed Mechantmen who were employed by their home country to raid enemy supply lines (or in rare cases, rival nations that are not at war). Typically a privateer carried "Letters of Marque and Reprisal" to show the legality of their actions; it was only if they stepped outside the bounds of the letter or otherwise lost it that they'd become pirates. Some were even captained by commissioned officers of their host nation and provided access to naval facilities and supplies as defacto navy vessels. But even so, enemy nations would sometimes ignore the letters of marque (not without justification, since letters would often be rendered invalid or else forged easily enough to fool the illiterate) and hang captured crews as pirates instead of kept as prisoners of war. Nevertheless, there was rarely a shortage of eager sailors for privateering, as the potential pay for taking a ship as a prize was very lucrative. Of course the opposite was also true; under King George's Act of Grace, former pirates who renounced their ways would be pardoned and hired as privateers to raid the Spanish.

'''[[Vikings]]''' - Scandinavian pirates with badass beards. Despite common depictions, their helmets did not have horns. Existed long before the Caribbean pirates, and they sure made themselves famous all over medieval Europe. They are also responsible for being the ancestors of 90% of the Caucasians thanks to their continent wide rape-demic.

'''Corsairs''' - Also known as Barbary pirates. They mainly came from North Africa and most of their attacks were focused on capturing slaves rather than stealing loot. They operated primarily in the Mediterranean sea, but were known to sail as far north as Iceland. Nations could avoid having their ships attacked if they paid a steep tribute to the Barbary states; it wasn't until the early 19th century that Western nations decided to fuck that noise and steamrolled them (This steamrolling is the source of "The Shores of Tripoli" in the US Marines' Hymn). Though the term usually refers to pirates in service to specific nations.

'''Modern Pirates''' - [[Grimdark|Mostly just poor 3rd world uneducated people who are survivors of various wars and regimes.]] They are not exactly primitive uneducated however, since some of them were former fishermen who had knowledge about the sea, war veterans who specialize in weaponry, as well as technical experts who operates on electronic devices like GPS devices, [[Freebooterz|but they are still too green]] when compare to the [[Imperial Navy|actual navy]]. Not to mention the days when any wannabe pirate could find a merchant ship, arm her with some cannons and then go toe-to-toe with a genuine military ship have ''long'' since past. They are armed with many modern-day weapons from assault rifles to rocket launchers that were salvaged from the conflict. They raid the Gulf of Aden, the Gulf of Guinea, the Straits of Malacca, and Indian Ocean using just skiffs and can travel hundreds of miles from home. Their targets tend to be two varieties: either slow commercial ships held hostage for steep ransoms, or oil tankers that they siphon raw petroleum to sell on the black market. They tend to be on the skinny side due to the lack of food and health care, and they are not fun and games because of that, since most of them just want to survive and they had to turn to piracy when they have no choice due to the terrible living condition in a typical post-war country. So in short, they what Buccaneers were mostly like once you strip away the Romanticism. Modern Piracy is still popular in places like Africa and Asia, and actually costs the companies anywhere from hundreds of millions to billions in losses. Due to this, its not uncommon to see heavily armed mercenaries aboard civilian freighters in high-risk shipping lanes to deter pirates from boarding and there are permanent international task forces deployed in areas with chronic problems. The modus operandi ranges from firing warning shots to force a surrender to straight up perforating the boat with CIWS fire. Cargo ships in turn have Private Military Contractors with sometimes better than military issue gear, water cannons and other deterrence factors. Occasionally a navy logistics ship gets mistaken for a cargo ship by pirates, leading to hilarity.

'''Internet Pirates''' - Hackers who "illegally" download foreign internet goods like manga scan, anime, books or newly released video games for free (though sometimes they do hack, acquire and release data that shady corporations want to hide or make certain douches pay for their crimes like Anonymous does from time to time). As technology advanced and the invention of 3D printer came along, the "pirate" is able to download miniature blue prints for 3D printers.

===The "Pirate Accent"===
We all know and love pirate-speak, what with all its "YAAAAR!"s and "YO-HO-HO!"s and all, but something to keep in mind, at least as far as historical pirates are concerned; most scholars agree that there is no universal "pirate accent," and that most of today's perceptions of it stems from the 1950 Disney film ''Treasure Island'', and the Dorset accent of Robert Newton's Long John Silver. While the West Country of England certainly has a long maritime history, keep in mind that pirates came from just about any sea-faring society, so you're more likely to see a blend of accents and even languages around busy trade routes and other piracy hotspots, such as the Caribbean or the East Indies.

== Fictional Pirates ==
'''Swashbucklers''' - The Noblebright side of the Fantasy pirate coin. Swashbucklers actually overlap with genres outside of pirate fiction, such as with the Three Musketeers or Zorro, but their are plenty of pirate examples too. These guys are basically buccaneers who seek adventure and right wrongs. They may be exiled princes or other political fugitives forced into a life of outlawry. They are also masters of swordplay and trickery; so basically they're more akin to musketeers or Zorro, but with ships of their own. Think of Dread Pirate Roberts from the Princess Bride or Captain Blood.

'''Dread Pirates''' - The [[Grimdark]] side of the Fantasy Pirate coin. Not to be confused with the legend that Dread Pirate Roberts cooked up for himself; these guys are the real deal. Take a buccaneer and mix in the supernatural or even eldritch. This type of Pirate frequently appears as the antagonist in the Pirates of the Carribean movies. See Ghost Pirates for a specific subset below.

'''Space Pirates''' - You know pirates, BUT IN SPACE! A seemly possible concept. After all, the golden age of piracy happened because the naval powers in those day struggled to maintain power on the edges of their empire (new world) and the vast wealth they were extracting, which meant pirates had a reason to exist. Eventually, the great powers managed to extend control across the fullness of their empires and pirates ran out of room for safe harbors, ports and so on. In space however, it is is infinite enough to run around from any Space Navy, and if there are enough valuables goods trades between planets, one could have an reason to do so. On paper piracy in space does seem possible, contingent of course on the idea of there being FTL drive of some sort, else our pirates have to be in stasis 99% of the time. Since space has no oxygen, pirates had to wear concealed power armor to board ships in order to loot and plunder. In some indie games like FTL, the crew can use teleportation device to board enemy ship without space suit, the same goes to the lighting strike ability in battlefleet gothic armada. And instead of making you walk the plank, they'll just throw you out the airlock. Another common convention is hidden bases on remote asteroids or space stations that don't orbit anything (which Star Wars dubs a "shadowport"). Despite rumors of this happening already, the only recorded crimes committed in space is a white collar crime involving somebody illegally accessing their spouse's bank records during a divorce dispute.

'''Ghost Pirates''' - it is said if some pirates are too badass to die, they become ghost and continue to terrorize ships for fun. Some said it was the caused of some voodoo curses, other thinks they are just too tough to stay in hell. These dead pirate sail in literal ghost ships that are seemly broken pirate ships crawling with moses and maggots while being seemly impervious to cannon fire. [[Vampire Counts|SPOOOOOKYYY]].

'''[[Airship|Airship Pirates]]''' - [[AWESOME|Piracy in the sky with steampunk technology]]. They'll still say "Yarr!" and "Avast!" but their clothing is decidedly more Victorian instead of Baroque, with lots of goggles and brass thrown in. [[Kharadron Overlords|Let's not forget the short legged version]] for [[Age of Sigmar]]. There is exactly ONE example of [[airship]] piracy in history: when the German Zeppelin L23 captured a Norwegian schooner during the first world war. An instance of an airship ''privateer'' '''may''' have existed with the U.S. World War II blimp Resolute, which was reported in 1946 to have been the last use of the United State's power to issue a letter of marque, as part of a legal wrangling to put a civilian vessel into the chain of command rather than intending it loot anything, but no record of this mark being issued exists.

'''Warhammer Fantasy Pirates''' - A lot of pirates tend to operate either in the seas near Tilea or around Lustria, where there's always opportunities for gold-hungry adventurers (though death is also a high probability due to disease or dismemberment by dinosaurs). There's several different varieties:

* Most famously are the [[Warriors of Chaos|Norscans]] being the fantasy equivalent of Vikings, in that they like to wreck the Empire's shit by raiding their border and would also took the opportunity to explore the new world for plunder and destruction in the name of their gods. The Norscan are nature born sea faring adventurer that back in the old day, a Norscan by the name Losteriksson being also the first old world to settle in the new world Lustria. There he became famous after plundered the shit out of it and founded a coast settlement named after his daughter that was born on this land: Skeggi, then encourage even more Norscan to have a piece at the place despite its seemly high mortality rate from jungle disease, wild cold ones and Lizardmen. The Skaeling tribe in particular is famed for their seafaring. [[Wulfrik the Wanderer]] uses a magic longship to teleport anywhere whenever he wants or needs (because chaos gods) to go wreck some fools.

*[[Dark Elf]] Corsairs using Black Arks (which are city-sized FLYING ships) in their raids and like to take captives hostage to be sold into slavery. [[Lokhir Fellhart]] is a famous example, who likes to wear Cthulhu-looking mask that he likely looted from Lizardmen.

*The [[Zombie Pirates]] were a White Dwarf army list under the leadership of [[Luthor Harkon]], who formerly worked for [[Abhorash]] before striking out on his own for Lustria and establishing his own goddamn kingdom called the Vampire Coast. And with all the dead bodies of unfortunate sailors, he's got plenty of recruiting opportunities. Another undead admiral operating in the area is Captain Noctlis of the [[Dreadfleet]], a Von Carstein vampire who teleported his entire freaking castle into the Galleon Graveyard, and thanks to the mighty technosorceries of vydiagaems they are a fully fledged faction in the Total Warhammer.

*There are also the Sartosan Pirates of the Principality of Sartosa (aka: AN ENTIRE NATION OF PIRATES) that lies south of Tilea. One of the most famous Sartosan pirates is the sea mutant [[Aranessa Saltspite]], rumored to be the daughter of the sea god himself.

'''[[Warhammer 40K]] Pirates''' - Ranging from [[Red Corsairs|chaos worshiper]], [[Dark Eldar|sadistic spiky ear slave trader]], [[Eldar Corsairs|cunning spiky ear glass cannon]] and the fucking [[Freebooterz|orks]], they are all badasses. [[Rogue Traders]] probably count as pirates too (corsairs would be the most accurate term), but they are first and foremost explorers of the Imperium (otherwise is [[HERESY]] and would probably be anally raped by inquisitions ship's nova cannon, or an [[exterminatus|cyclonic torpedo]]) but of course, unless they were pillage and plunder a xeno ship, is fine lol. For /tg/ brewed 40K pirates, see [[Black Locks]] who are both pirates and [[Space Marines]]. There is also at least [[Space Sharks|one known loyalist chapter]] that does piratey things like abducting the entire population of a loyalist planet to bolster the ranks of their recruits and chapter serfs, but they work far from the Imperium, and don't really have the opportunity for easily recruited manpower. Desperate times...

'''[[Manga|One Piece]]''' - As the pirate king, Gold Roger, was executed, he told everyone that he hid his treasure at the ass-end of the world, kickstarting a golden age of piracy! Some are using this chance to amass riches or oppress the weak, others just want to be free from the dictatorial World Government. The world is vast and uncharted, people get anime superpowers by eating cursed fruit or training really hard, and there exist sea monsters that are bigger than your ship. [[Fun|Have fun]]!

'''[[Samus|Space Pirates from the Metroid Series]]''' - while not being human and lacking the Caribbean pirate stereotype, [[Rak'gol|they are aliens that like to raid and destroy vessels while trying to be the biggest of dicks to every other species, especially the Federation]]. They are led by Mother Brain with Ridley, a species of cyborg/gargoyle/dragon alien being their military commander. They all got shit on by [[Samus]] unfortunately...non-stop.

==Worldbuilding And Moral Considerations==

===Morality===
How evil a Pirate in a given setting defaults to has a few inputs that are worth considering:

* [[Slavery]] is a big one. If the people they're raiding practice slavery and the pirates don't, that's a very serious point in the favor of the Pirate (in fact, it was exactly this moral ambiguity that gave the Buccaneers what good press they had) especially if they free slaves. If it's the other way around (slave raiders on free peoples), the resulting pirates are probably evil villains, full stop.
**Keep in mind that many people adore Jack Sparrow for simply saying "People aren't cargo mate", which was Jack Sparrows entire descent into piracy to begin with.
* How badly they treat captured crews. If they let them go once they've robbed the cargo holds, they probably are considered more "moral" than if they kill or enslave anybody who sees them. (Hostage taking may or may not count for this purpose; if it's purely for ransom, it's in a gray area, with the shade depending on how well the hostage is treated.)
** Enforced enrollment in the pirate crew is on the evil side, and also somewhat on the stupid side--having a bunch of people who don't want to be there as crew on a ship is usually a bad idea when mutiny is a problem, but even proper navys were known to occasionally Impress/conscript the unwilling. Hell the war of 1812 began in part over the British doing just this.
* How badly non-pirate sailors are treated by their captains: when the Navy press-gangs and keelhauls their crew, a pirate ship is easily seen as a bastion of freedom in contrast.
* [https://youtu.be/XaWU1CmrJNc Pirates who don't do anything] are a thing in media. As they don't do the pirate thing, they usually don't count as pirates.
* How prone they are to mutiny is also a consideration; although any pirate crew is liable to mutiny, the causes of said mutiny can be important in determining morality. If you're sailing under Bill the Bastard has random crewmen flogged and branded for looking at him funny, stealing his hat while he's wearing it and original sin while never giving out a fair cut of the pay and hogging all the Grog from himself, mutiny is an extreme if understandable response.
* What do they spend their plunder on. Most pirates spend their booty on upkeep of their ship, cannons, guns, swords, booze, food, fancy things and, well, Booty. But some will also spend it on their families while others decide to give some of it to an orphanage or school or something in their home port.
* Privateers, mentioned above, are usually considered more "moral" than their freelancing counterparts. ''Usually''.

Note that multiple kinds of Pirates can exist in a given setting, each with their own niche in the Alignment Chart (Even Lawful Good, Neutral Good and Lawful Neutral depending on where you draw the line between lawful navy executing 'commerce raiding' and piracy), although given the nature of Piracy, only a few Privateers will be Lawful of any kind.

===Worldbuilding Considerations===

The big one: Pirates need a safe port of some kind to operate (ships require a lot of maintenance that can only be done when at rest, and the pirates need to be able to sell or trade their captured goods). This has many subtle implications, with a few possibilities:

* The Pirates are effectively sponsored by some port. This implies either full state sponsorship of some kind, or a state that effectively doesn't care about their raiding, usually because the Pirates in question only target the enemies of whoever owns the port. French Tortuga and Dutch Curacao were like this, being effectively surrounded by a target rich environment full of Spanish and ruled by governors who simply did not give a flip about what happened at sea. In particular, Curaco's natural harbor with a tight channel overlooked by a fort on a ridge made it practically impossible to raid from sea, so the Dutch DID NOT care how angry the Spanish got with them over piracy because nothing short of an invasion would dislodge them.
* The Pirates are disguising where their goods are coming from. This is harder then it sounds, as ships are usually easily identified, and any port that cares about contraband will almost certainly be interested in the origins of whatever goods are coming into it.
* The Pirates are operating on a frontier. Small colonies and settlements are usually much less concerned about the legitimacy of cargo if its something they can use. They may not be able to pay very much for it, but they often can pay in other ways such as provisions and repairs.
* Pirates who figure they can operate their own port are usually faced with the fact that most of the people who engage in piracy are not exactly reliable sorts, which is what is desperately needed in order to have a functioning port.

Further, you need to have cargo worth capturing. A lot of stuff that gets shipped is very hard to sell, not just because it is the proverbial "hot goods", but because it is effectively worth money only to the right buyer (who is usually in one of those ports that care about contraband). You need something that is both valuable, and a commodity. Historically, sugar qualified, as did tobacco and other luxury goods; of particular interest here is exotic pets, such as monkeys and, yes, parrots (really any large feathered birds, since feather quills were used as pens). Whale oil (used in lamps) was another hot item, with whaling ships often making easy targets returning from hunts. But whatever the cargo, there is a fine line of intersecting interests, between the risks of accepting stolen goods, the risks of stealing them in the first place, and the potential profit. Of course, there's always robbing payroll ships, but if they were easy to hit everyone would do it.

For a nation whose government is fairly loose and rudimentary, the distinction between "Pirate", "Honest Trader" and "Navy" is sometimes difficult to make. Many pirates would prefer to go after foreign prey rather than people from their home ports. A down on his luck merchant captain might try to steal the stuff from a rival ship from a rival country if the choice is "make a profit, pay the crew, eliminate some of the competition and live to sail another day" or "starve to death/have a mutiny for unpaid wages/have the ship founder for disrepair/go bankrupt". Privateer work was common in times of war when said actions got sanctioned and sometimes a merchantman could have a few extra guns put on her and be made into a ghetto warship.

To complicate matters even further, even powerful and well-organized nations like France and England had 'prize money' laws in place that made capturing enemy vessels and their cargo a very attractive prospect: any ship captured at sea and its cargo became ''de jure'' property of the crown, but the king would generously compensate the crews with money/valuables once the prize was brought in. On top of that it wasn't uncommon at all for the winner of a naval engagement to quietly enroll any surviving sailor to replace losses and/or keep manning their now captured ship (the defeated sailors were generally down with this since the alternative was usually sitting in the hold in chains), no matter their nationality; so even a 'national' crew from an 'official' Navy ship could sound like a weird mix of freebooters hauling their capture in when coming into port.

If you get enough pirates in an area, they might come together and found a town. It starts off in some place with a natural harbor to shelter in storms and repair their ships between fights. Then crews begin swapping stuff if one of them has a surplus of gunpowder and the other has a surplus of food and similar. A couple of guys are left behind from each crew (as well as captives) to collect timber, first when it's expected that there will be some damage taken in the near future and latter more regularly around a growing logging camp. A couple of docks go up to make things go more smoothly, as does a forge or two and a couple of vegetable gardens. If there are native peoples in the area they start showing up to trade, or occasionally raid necessitating some basic defenses.

Then some enterprising pirate cobbles together a pub, selling plundered Beer, Grog and Rum to passing pirates and shore-side workers at first and soon enough is brewing there own, especially when a few full fledged farms get going to provide produce. Soon enough the Pub has some prostitutes and by extension some bastards. Tents and lean-tos are replaced by small cottages and shanties and after that houses. Workshops gradually come together and more and more of the population becomes permanent.

Soon you get a thriving and lively if disorderly and dangerous new settlement, which attracts the attention of whatever state power claims control over the area. A governor and garrison will be dispatched who start keeping out the roughest sorts, and things settle down into a more quiet and businesslike place much to the chagrin of old timers who miss the gold old days of loose women, hearty songs, exciting brawls and the odd knifings which made things dangerous and interesting.

==[[Pathfinder Second Edition]]==
{{dnd-stub}}
An archetype where you master the ins and outs of fighting on ships. It was originally a rather limited archetype that appeared on the 2018 playtest before vanishing. It would show up again in the Advanced Player's Guide, looking just as small when compared to other archetypes. This is likely because it's already relying on two other skills with feats that would otherwise overlap with it: Athletics (which helps with rope climbing) and Intimidation.

The prerequisites for entry pretty much boil down to "look scary" (read: trained in Intimidation) and in exchange, you can walk on boats without issue, learn lore about sailing and gain a special action that pretty much lets you go [[Errol Flynn]] and swing your sword while swinging on a rope.

{{Pathfinder-2nd-Edition-Archetypes}}

==Mordheim Pirate Warbands==
One of the more popular "semi-official" [[Mordheim]] warbands, pirate warbands are based on the simple facts that a) there have always been pirates in the Empire, b) the Empire relies heavily on river-conducted trade, and c) this meant the titular city was a big port before the [[warpstone]] meteor hit. So now you have plenty of bold and/or crazy pirates sailing up to the ruined dock and daring to launch raids into the city.

As a warband, Pirates of Mordheim have the special rules ''Ship-Based'' (if you hire both [[elf]] and [[dwarf]] Hired Swords simultaneously, increase their upkeep by '''+20 gold pieces''', as the tight confines of the ship exacerbate their racial animosity) and '''Shanghai'''. This is their mainstay special rule, and what it means is that pirates can actually swell their own ranks by recruiting captured enemies or even the random survivors of Mordheim. Because there are several situations where a pirate crew can successfully shanghai a person, this rule gets complicated...
* Firstly: a Pirate Captain can only attempt to shanghai '''normal human''' warband members; nonhumans refuse to obey or are too dangerous even for pirates to keep, whilst Hired Swords and Special Characters have no interest in the pirate life.
* When an enemy Hero is Captured, instead of exchanging/ransoming them or selling them, the Pirate Captain can attempt to convince them to join the crew. Roll 2d6 and add the Leadership of the Captain, then do the same for the captured Hero, adding +1 to he roll of whichever side won the fight. If the Captain wins, then the Hero defects and joins his crew, becoming a normal Crewman - this includes resetting his ability scores and skills if necessary and swapping all his gear for stuff from the Pirate Equipment list. If the Hero wins, then the Captain simply pressgangs him; the Hero retains his original skills and stats, but loses all his gear for stuff from the Swabbie list and can be deployed as a Swabbie in subsequent battles. Presumably, if the Pirates Rout against a shanghaied Hero-turned-Swabbie's former warband, he rejoins them.
* When the Pirates win a battle against an enemy warband, roll a d6 for each enemy Henchman that was killed (1-2 on their post-game roll after being taken Out of Action); on a 4+, they actually weren't killed, but were instead dragged back to the pirate ship and patched up. The Pirate Captain can attempt to shanghai them in the same manner as a captured hero, as described above.
* If the Pirates discover a Straggler when exploring Mordheim, the Pirate Captain can attempt to shanghai the half-crazed survivor instead of the other options. This requires making a simple Leadership check for the Captain; if he passes, then you gain a free Swabbie (the Straggler is too bonkers to make it as a crewman).
* Similarly, if the pirates discover Survivors when exploring Mordheim, the Pirate Captain can attempt to recruit them. Roll a d3 to see how many survivors there are, then make a Leadership check for the Captain for each Survivor. If successful, the survivor eagerly joins and becomes a Crewman; they can either start a new unit as a basic Crewman, or be added to an existing unit, whereupon their Exp and Stats match their brethren. If the check fails, however, the Suvivor is reluctantly pressganged, and so becomes a Swabbie.

Like all Mordheim warbands, you start with 500 gold pieces to outfit your Pirate Crew, which can be no larger than 15 models.

A Pirate Warband's leader is, of course, the '''Pirate Captain''' - you must start with one of these guys! They start with 20 EXP and can gain special skills from all of the standard skill tables (Combat, Shooting, Academic, Strength, Speed) as well as the ''Pirate Skills'' table. They cost 60 gold, have the ''Leader'' rule, and start with M4, WS4, BS3, S3, T3, W1, I3, A1 and LD8.

'''Ship's Mates''' are your standard secondary hero; you can have 0-2 of these in your crew. Ship's Mates cost 35 gold to hire and start with 8 experience as well as M4, WS4, BS3, S3, T3, W1, I2, A1 and LD7. They have the ''Inheritor'' special rule; if your Captain gets killed, then one of the Mates will take over the warband, just like how the standard Mercenary warband uses Champions to take over. They can learn Combat, Shooting, Strength and Pirate skills.

'''Cabin Boys''' are the obligatory "bare-faced recruit" type hero. 0-2 of these guys, who cost 15 gold to hire and start with 0 EXP and M4, WS2, BS2, S3, T3, W1, I3, A1 and LD6. They can learn Combat, Shooting, Speed and Pirate skills.

Now, for Henchman... your standard henchmen are, of course, the humble '''Crew''' or "Crewmen". 25 gold to hire, and statted up with M4, WS3, BS3, S3, T3, W1, I2, A1 and LD7. You can have any number of crewmen you like.

'''Gunners''' are the ship's cannoneers and marksmen; you can only have 0-2 of these guys, and they have the same stats and cost as the Crew, but they get access to some more firearms - blunderbusses, handguns and swivel guns (aka miniature cannons), specifically, alongside the pistol and duelist pistols that regular crewmen and Heroes ca take. They technically have a special rule in "Swivel Guns is Dangerous, Matey!" but that's more a rule about the Swivel Gun - namely, you can only take 1 Swivel Gun in your warband, and the bearer splits off to form an independent unit, because nobody's stupid enough to stand too close to somebody carrying a miniature cannon that could go off like a bomb at any moment.

'''Boatswains''' are the ship's riggers, and make excellent scouts in Mordheim. They cost 32 gold, have the same stats as a Crewman, and you can only take 0-5 of them. They start play with a Rope & Hook and will never, ''ever'' part with it. They also have the special rule ''Expert Riggers'', which lets them reroll failed Initiative tests made to climb a rope, leap a gap, jump down, or perform a diving charge.

Finally, there are the '''Swabbies'''. You can have 0-5 of these, and you can only recruit them via the aforementioned Shanghai rule, though in a one-off game you get 2 Swabbies for free. Statwise, they have M4, WS2, BS2, S3, T3, W1, I3, A1 and LD6. They also have the largest amount of special rules of any model in the warband:
* ''Not Hired:'' You don't pay for Swabbies, you Shanghai them.
* ''Never Gain Experience''
* ''Rabble:'' You can give a unit of Swabbies any mixture of weapons that you like. Swabbies gained by capturing heroes do not benefit from spellcasting ablities or skills they had before.
* ''"Blimey, they got away!":'' If the Pirates Rout, all Swabbies who had left the table on previous turns successfully escape; remove them from the warband roster.
* ''"Don't mind them mates, they ain't true pirates!":'' Swabbies who run or get taken out of action don't count for the purposes of taking a Rout test.

The Pirate skill table consists of:
#: '''Sea Shanty Singer:''' At the start of Close Combat, the Hero can burst into song, forcing one opponent in base contact to pass an LD test or lose 1 attack for the turn. Doesn't work on non-living targets.
#: '''Sea Legs:''' If the Hero Falls, roll a d3; on a 4+, ignore all hits caused by falling. Additionally, if the hero is knocked down or stunned when within 1" of a precipice, they can reroll their Initiate test to avoid falling.
#: '''Cutlass Master:''' If the Hero is both equipped with a sword and in closed quarters (in cover, in a building, within 2" of a terrain feature, etc), then the Hero can Parry by rolling equal to the To Hit roll, as well as by rolling higher.
#: '''Booming Voice:''' Only Captains can have this skill; reroll for other characters. Once per turn, if on his feet and not engaged in close combat, the Captain can target a single pirate within 8" who has either faileds their test to see if they will flee combat or who failed their test to stop fleeing. The targeted pirate can immediately reroll their test.
#: '''Hardy Constitution:''' When the Hero takes a Critical Hit, roll a d6; on a 5+, the Critical Hit is downgraded to just a normal hit.
#: '''Swashbuckler:''' At the end of any Hand-to-Hand phase in which he is in base contact with an enemy model, his own or the opponent's, the Hero can make an LD test. If successful, the Hero can immediately make a normal movement away from the enemy without taking any hits.

==Gallery==
<gallery>
Image:Capt phip abud.gif| Abduwali Muse, a modern somali pirate portray by Somali-American actor Barkhad Abdi. Also a meme, apparently.
Image:Abduwali Muse.jpg| The actual Abduwali Muse. Sentenced to over 33 years in U.S. federal prison.
</gallery>

==See Also==
*[[Dreadfleet]]
*[[Man O' War]]
*[[Poison'd]]
[[Category:History]]

Pirate

2021-11-12T16:57:33Z

2406:3400:20F:FFC0:F062:7070:B9C0:9588: /* Famous Real Life Pirates */

{{Topquote|Yar har, fiddle di dee, Being a pirate is all right with me, Do what you want 'cause a pirate is free, You are a pirate!|LazyTown}}
{{Topquote|Oi! You'z lot! You'z part of my crew now. Any problemz with dat, you talk to da complaintz department. Dat'z me gun, by da way.|[[Bluddflagg|Kaptain Bluddflag]]}}
[[File:Pirate.png|300px|thumb|right|A pirate captain. The lack of limbs and eye just shows how hardcore he is.]]
'''Pirates''' are scavenging sea bandits that raid and loot anyone on their sight. Despite being the seaborn equivalent of muggers and car-jackers, they are a far more glamorous cultural icon. They were known to be pretty cool for having a ship with black skeleton flag, as well as being badass as fuck for fighting heavily armed navy on daily basis (or so the legend goes; while there were a number of impressive battles, pirates preferred easier marks like unprotected merchant convoys). Sadly, it isn't a profession with the best long-term benefits since they would most likely be hanged by the navy or died of scurvy. But if they did succeed, like hell they will be famous and feared by everyone as soon as anybody saw their pirate flag and run the fuck away.

Pirates, despite being a band of misfits, were quite varied. In real life they were cutthroats and bandits with ships or boats, while during later ages in fiction they were romanticized as something of a concept of freedom despite their infamy. In all cases, pirates are well known thanks to modern pop-culture depictions as anarchistic and anti-governmental. They opposed the oftentimes brutal authoritarian life in the navy and wanted to live out their own lives without anyone bugging in. The reasons were many and this resulted in pirates to be (ironically) closer to the modern establishment. While in Europe kings and queens ruled through an absolutist system of rule, pirates had something akin to modern democracy (the crew choose a new captain from among themselves by voting). While slavery was normal and nations fought each-other, pirates did not care about racism since a pirate crew could be multi-national and include slaves among their ranks. In fact, equality was common among pirates and slaves saw this as one of the few ways to feel free and equal. Some crews did not discriminate if you could do the job. They took in everyone who wanted to join. One particularly famous example was the Brethren of the Coast, a coalition of pirates and privateers who operated in the Caribbean. However, remember what they are; pirates would also force people to join their crew at times, had brutal punishments for those who broke their rules and some were known to trade slaves if the money was good enough.

This kind of lifestyle is what attracted writers who presented pirates in a romanticized way, as misfits who seek out a life of freedom. On the other hand they were portrayed in a more favorable light as anti-heroes. This has some basis in truth, as some pirates began their careers as legitimate privateers in the service of their king until political winds changed. Others were genuine legends whose stories impress readers to this day.

TL;DR piracy is fucking awesome... unless you actually encounter pirates - usually in places like Burma, Nigeria, and Somalia.

==Famous Real Life Pirates==
*'''Edward Teach''' - Better known as '''Blackbeard''', one of the original Golden Age pirates known for his [[Night Lords|intimidation tactics which including exaggerating and weaponizing his fearsome reputation]]. His ''nom de guerre'' came from the fact that he had black hair and put gunpowder in his beard and set it off to give himself a terrifying appearance (it helped that he was over six feet tall when most men of the time were about five and a half). Also because how often he let his victims live to talk about it. He was also quite smart, as he once raided a town (as in, blockaded the entirety of Charleston and held its sailors hostage) for medicine because [[Nurgle|most of his crew was riddled with diseases]] - [[Slaanesh|sexually transmitted ones]], then when some of the crew he sent to negotiate got drunk he marooned them in disgust. Another claim to fame was his flagship, a captured frigate he renamed ''Queen Anne's Revenge''; as an actual warship, this gave him another advantage over other pirates, who mostly used captured merchant ships, slave ships or schooners. He died in battle, [[awesome|being shot at least twice and slashed around 20 times before being run through and having his throat slit, not before severing three of his killer's fingers]].

*'''Henry Avery''' - The most successful (and mysterious) pirate in history. How successful? He was named the king of pirates after looting the Mughal Emperor's treasure fleet, which was worth £52 million today. Shortly after, though, he vanished. Neither he nor his treasure was seen again. Some vidya speculate that he went on to found the pirate utopia of [[wikipedia:Libertatia|Libertalia]] in Madagascar.

*'''Anne Bonny and Mary Read''' - Two of the most famous female pirates. Here they get one entry as they have fairly similar life stories and worked together for a time: born in destitution, were disguised as boys early on in their lives, moved to the Carribean where they took up piracy, and both became the lovers of Calico Jack plus renowned pirates in their own right. In fact, when Anne and Mary first met, [[PROMOTIONS|Anne was feeling horny and Mary was disguised as a man, so Anne put the moves on Mary before finding out the truth]]. Despite their eventual capture, they only avoided execution because both were pregnant (although [[Grimdark|Mary died of a fever while in prison]] while Anne's fate is now unknown, with her either being released after giving birth to her child or also dying in prison), though that didn't stop them from [[awesome|fighting off their captors alone and then telling off Calico Jack for being a cowardly drunk]]; they even [[Commissar|shot a few of their crewwmates for being too drunk to fight in the battle that led to their capture]].

*'''Edward "Davies" Davis''' - An English pirate active in the late 1600's who made a career of raiding Spanish silver shipments. Noteworthy for his opposition to slavery; Davies and his crew hit a number of slave ships, liberating their prisoners and recruiting some into his crew. Eventually paid off the British crown for a pardon and retired; part of his haul went into founding the ''College of William & Mary'' in Virginia, the second oldest university in the Americas after Harvard. Probably discovered Rapa Nui (Easter Island) although the records are disputed since he wasn't the first to actually report it to anyone.

*'''Walter Raleigh''' - One of the first English pirates; a minor lord who decided to try multiclassing as an Adventurer-Politician. Founded Virginia and a few other less successful colonies, and was obsessed with finding the mythical golden city of El Dorado. He'd rob Spanish treasure ships as needed to fund his antics, and then brag about it in front of the Spanish ambassador in Elizabeth's royal court. Even plundered the Queen's bedchamber, marrying one of Elizabeth's ladies in waiting. Eventually went from looting ships to looting Spanish settlements. The Spanish responded by telling King James that if he didn't have Raleigh executed, they would treat his attack as a sanctioned act of war.

*'''Sir Francis Drake''' - The best illustration that the line between regular merchant, pirate, privateer and genuine military officer could be very tenuous at times. A full account of his long career can be found elsewhere, but let us just say that he started his career as a regular merchant occasionally getting rowdy with the Portuguese and the Spanish, then realized looting them for silver and gold was profitable and he became a full-fledged (and endorsed) raider. He was so good at liberating riches from them that he was awarded a knighthood by Queen Elizabeth, then later offered the post of vice-Admiral of the Navy when the Spaniards became fed up with the Anglos raiding them and spectacularly failed at trying to get even. Also something about circumnavigating the Earth (Magellan would've been first had he survived the trip) but who cares, it's not piratey enough.

* '''William Adams''' - Served under Drake for long enough to get the title. More famous for going to [[Japan]] and becoming one of the few foreign-born [[Samurai]]. How's that for [[Multiclassing]]?

*'''Abduwali Muse''' - A well known modern pirate. Isn't as charming and heroic as the above but gets a mention due to his youth and his actions were adapted with the film "Captain Phillips"; the film named for the captain of the ship he tried to take. Abduwali Muse was the leader of a small gang of teenage pirates from Somalia (Muse himself was 16-19 at the time, and the oldest among them) who hijacked Maersk Alabama, an unarmed container ship from the Port of Salalah in Oman, with orders to sail through the Guardafui Channel to Mombasa, Kenya. Like almost every Somali pirate, he didn't have a good childhood due to living in extreme poverty, with food and work being scarce and poor quality; he turned to piracy to pay off a local warlord. When navy ships got involved, the gang took Phillips hostage, resulting in Phillips' rescue and the deaths of every pirate save Abduwali himself, who got a 33+ year prison sentence in the U.S. Despite having no achievements that compare with historical pirates, his story did help create a film and a meme. (Look at him. He's the captain now.)

*'''Ching Shih/Cheng I Sao''' - Chinese Pirate Queen who not only led one of the biggest pirate fleets but also managed to successfully retire. She got her fleet through marrying a pirate, who gave her half his fleet. And when he died she got all of it by way of political maneuvering with her husband's family. The Chinese government tried to take her down, but she was so good that she stole their ships until they were forced to use fishing boats. She even created a set of pirating laws, including one that made rape of female captives punishable by beheading. She eventually beat the empire so hard that the Chinese Government had to sue for peace. She negotiated for amnesty for herself and any of her pirates that wanted to quit the life, so she retired from piracy to set up a gambling den and brothel.

[[File:Serapis_Flag.png|250px|thumb|right|Totally legit, no pirates here.]]

*'''John Paul Jones''' - An angry Scotsman who sided with the colonists in the American Revolution so he could go on a big piracy spree up and down the English coast. At one point he showed up in the Netherlands and his ship was so badly shot up the flag was gone and the Dutch were like "you need a flag or we have to arrest you as a pirate" ''(also it wasn't his ship; HIS ship SANK in the battle where he captured the one the Dutch were now hassling him about)''. But they didn't like the English either so they looked the other way while Jones found someone to quickly sew a new flag ''([[Counts as|that looks nothing like an American flag and suspiciously like a Dutch flag cut into ribbons and sewn back together]])'' and he was free to go. He kicked so much ass and was so popular that one of the places that he raided actually gave him an official pardon in 1999.

*'''Gertrude Walton''' - A real life ghost pirate! The RIAA claimed that she uploaded pirated copies of over 700 songs despite her ''being dead''. Immortalized in a Weird Al song.

*'''Stede Bonnet''' - The "Gentleman Pirate," Steve was a former plantation owner from Barbados who got fed up with always being in debt and his nagging wife, so he decided to become a pirate. Bonnet is supposedly one of the pirates who originated "Walking the Plank." [[Noobs|Despite his gross inexperience]], he was able to attract a crew by promising a guaranteed wage as opposed to a share of plunder. Things went relatively well until he got bamboozled by Blackbeard (yes THAT Blackbeard) into giving up command of his ship and effectively became a hostage. He was later bamboozled again by Blackbeard and swore revenge, in which he surprisingly became a more competent pirate. But he was captured before he had the chance. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vrGf4nJWVOU Dramatic Reenactment now included!]

*'''Felix von Luckner''' - Nicknamed "The Sea Devil", he is the best example of a Lawful pirate (okay, privateer) in RPG terms. Commissioned as an officer in the Kaizerlische Marine during WWI, he was given command of a three-master (at a time where most boats had switched to steam) with orders to do some commerce raiding and make himself a pain in the hindquartes of the Allies. And he did so. Beautifully. In less than one year, Luckner captured and sank no less than fifteen ships through guile and superior seamanship. And the best part? he did so barely ever firing a shot. Over his entire career, he and his crew killed only a single enemy soldier (a poor soul unlucky enough to be right next to a steam line that ruptured when Luckner ordered the enemy's radio shot). For the rest, he made sure everyone was safe and sound before sending his prizes to the bottom. And when he just became overburdened with prisoners, he ordered the latest his prizes to throw the cargo overboard and bring all his prisoners to a neutral country, and then they'd all be free. A pirate and and gentleman indeed!

==Famous Fictional Pirates==

(For the sake of keeping things brief, we'll ignore Vidya pirates, and try keep it to Movie and Book pirates that your parents or nephews/nieces are likely to have heard of, depending on your age.)

*'''Long John Silver''', from ''Treasure Island''.
*'''Captain Hook''', from ''Peter Pan''.
*'''Jack Sparrow''' and '''Hector Barbarossa''' from ''Pirates of the Caribbean''
** For that matter, the ride Pirates are of interest.
*'''Captain Blood''', from the book series and movie of the same name.
*'''Captain Harlock''', space pirate.
*''One Piece'' has a quite a few. We'll not list them, as it would take ''forever'', just like the manga.
*'''Captain Nemo''', from ''Twenty Thousand Leagues Under The Sea''.
*'''One-Eyed Willy''', from ''The Goonies''.
*'''Pirate Jenny''', from the song of the same name.
*'''The Dread Pirate Roberts''', from ''[[The Princess Bride]]''.
*Many, many advertising pirates.

== Types of Pirate ==
[[File:Piratepainting.jpg|300px|thumb|right|Why do we bury our treasure? Why don't we spend it? On nice things? Or things we like?]]

'''Buccaneers''' - The classic, the archetype, the most iconic of all pirates that feature in almost in every media. From 1650 to 1720, empires like France and England wanted to develop their own colonial empires in the Caribbean. Problem was, the Spanish got there first, and at the time they had the most powerful navy. However, they also had massive treasure fleets, so the English began paying privateers to raid the Spanish whenever they were at war; but as soon as the war ended, there was a surplus of heavily armed ships that decided to turn pirate to stay in business. And with the ever-growing sea trade, piracy was the norm, especially when some colonial governors encouraged this behavior with an unofficial policy of "no peace past the line." Piracy was so lucrative that most of Nassau's population were pirates. The archetypal pirate captain is known for wearing eye patches, owning a pet parrot, and having a hook for an arm and a peg leg, which shows that this guy is a badass when he lost most of his limbs yet is still able to fight. They are also known for having a black skeleton flag, named the Jolly Roger (see above) while sailing a ship with a fuck load of cannons (if they are rich enough). In regards to the popular legend of successful pirates burying their treasure; this was largely a myth perpetuated by Treasure Island. Pirates ended up taking most of their ill-gotten goods in the form of trade goods which had to be sold or bartered off, and the average pirate hand would piss away most of their gold on boozing and whoring. Pirate captains who could accumulate large amounts of solid metal currency ''would'' bury treasure in very specific circumstance. It wasn't done out of some odd ritual or anything grand, but for for insurance (and even then, only did it sparingly): in the event that they were captured, they'd use their hidden loot as a bargaining chip to prevent them from proverbially (and sometimes literally) walking the plank. This didn't work all the time, as the captors either couldn't be bribed or didn't buy the story. Still, the mystique of a lost and forgotten treasure trove just waiting to be discovered made for great stories in taverns full of adventurers, so legends about buried treasure persisted throughout the centuries in fictional writing.

'''Privateers''' - Not pirates per se, but many pirates started out as privateers. These were privately owned Armed Mechantmen who were employed by their home country to raid enemy supply lines (or in rare cases, rival nations that are not at war). Typically a privateer carried "Letters of Marque and Reprisal" to show the legality of their actions; it was only if they stepped outside the bounds of the letter or otherwise lost it that they'd become pirates. Some were even captained by commissioned officers of their host nation and provided access to naval facilities and supplies as defacto navy vessels. But even so, enemy nations would sometimes ignore the letters of marque (not without justification, since letters would often be rendered invalid or else forged easily enough to fool the illiterate) and hang captured crews as pirates instead of kept as prisoners of war. Nevertheless, there was rarely a shortage of eager sailors for privateering, as the potential pay for taking a ship as a prize was very lucrative. Of course the opposite was also true; under King George's Act of Grace, former pirates who renounced their ways would be pardoned and hired as privateers to raid the Spanish.

'''[[Vikings]]''' - Scandinavian pirates with badass beards. Despite common depictions, their helmets did not have horns. Existed long before the Caribbean pirates, and they sure made themselves famous all over medieval Europe. They are also responsible for being the ancestors of 90% of the Caucasians thanks to their continent wide rape-demic.

'''Corsairs''' - Also known as Barbary pirates. They mainly came from North Africa and most of their attacks were focused on capturing slaves rather than stealing loot. They operated primarily in the Mediterranean sea, but were known to sail as far north as Iceland. Nations could avoid having their ships attacked if they paid a steep tribute to the Barbary states; it wasn't until the early 19th century that Western nations decided to fuck that noise and steamrolled them (This steamrolling is the source of "The Shores of Tripoli" in the US Marines' Hymn). Though the term usually refers to pirates in service to specific nations.

'''Modern Pirates''' - [[Grimdark|Mostly just poor 3rd world uneducated people who are survivors of various wars and regimes.]] They are not exactly primitive uneducated however, since some of them were former fishermen who had knowledge about the sea, war veterans who specialize in weaponry, as well as technical experts who operates on electronic devices like GPS devices, [[Freebooterz|but they are still too green]] when compare to the [[Imperial Navy|actual navy]]. Not to mention the days when any wannabe pirate could find a merchant ship, arm her with some cannons and then go toe-to-toe with a genuine military ship have ''long'' since past. They are armed with many modern-day weapons from assault rifles to rocket launchers that were salvaged from the conflict. They raid the Gulf of Aden, the Gulf of Guinea, the Straits of Malacca, and Indian Ocean using just skiffs and can travel hundreds of miles from home. Their targets tend to be two varieties: either slow commercial ships held hostage for steep ransoms, or oil tankers that they siphon raw petroleum to sell on the black market. They tend to be on the skinny side due to the lack of food and health care, and they are not fun and games because of that, since most of them just want to survive and they had to turn to piracy when they have no choice due to the terrible living condition in a typical post-war country. So in short, they what Buccaneers were mostly like once you strip away the Romanticism. Modern Piracy is still popular in places like Africa and Asia, and actually costs the companies anywhere from hundreds of millions to billions in losses. Due to this, its not uncommon to see heavily armed mercenaries aboard civilian freighters in high-risk shipping lanes to deter pirates from boarding and there are permanent international task forces deployed in areas with chronic problems. The modus operandi ranges from firing warning shots to force a surrender to straight up perforating the boat with CIWS fire. Cargo ships in turn have Private Military Contractors with sometimes better than military issue gear, water cannons and other deterrence factors. Occasionally a navy logistics ship gets mistaken for a cargo ship by pirates, leading to hilarity.

'''Internet Pirates''' - Hackers who "illegally" download foreign internet goods like manga scan, anime, books or newly released video games for free (though sometimes they do hack, acquire and release data that shady corporations want to hide or make certain douches pay for their crimes like Anonymous does from time to time). As technology advanced and the invention of 3D printer came along, the "pirate" is able to download miniature blue prints for 3D printers.

===The "Pirate Accent"===
We all know and love pirate-speak, what with all its "YAAAAR!"s and "YO-HO-HO!"s and all, but something to keep in mind, at least as far as historical pirates are concerned; most scholars agree that there is no universal "pirate accent," and that most of today's perceptions of it stems from the 1950 Disney film ''Treasure Island'', and the Dorset accent of Robert Newton's Long John Silver. While the West Country of England certainly has a long maritime history, keep in mind that pirates came from just about any sea-faring society, so you're more likely to see a blend of accents and even languages around busy trade routes and other piracy hotspots, such as the Caribbean or the East Indies.

== Fictional Pirates ==
'''Swashbucklers''' - The Noblebright side of the Fantasy pirate coin. Swashbucklers actually overlap with genres outside of pirate fiction, such as with the Three Musketeers or Zorro, but their are plenty of pirate examples too. These guys are basically buccaneers who seek adventure and right wrongs. They may be exiled princes or other political fugitives forced into a life of outlawry. They are also masters of swordplay and trickery; so basically they're more akin to musketeers or Zorro, but with ships of their own. Think of Dread Pirate Roberts from the Princess Bride or Captain Blood.

'''Dread Pirates''' - The [[Grimdark]] side of the Fantasy Pirate coin. Not to be confused with the legend that Dread Pirate Roberts cooked up for himself; these guys are the real deal. Take a buccaneer and mix in the supernatural or even eldritch. This type of Pirate frequently appears as the antagonist in the Pirates of the Carribean movies. See Ghost Pirates for a specific subset below.

'''Space Pirates''' - You know pirates, BUT IN SPACE! A seemly possible concept. After all, the golden age of piracy happened because the naval powers in those day struggled to maintain power on the edges of their empire (new world) and the vast wealth they were extracting, which meant pirates had a reason to exist. Eventually, the great powers managed to extend control across the fullness of their empires and pirates ran out of room for safe harbors, ports and so on. In space however, it is is infinite enough to run around from any Space Navy, and if there are enough valuables goods trades between planets, one could have an reason to do so. On paper piracy in space does seem possible, contingent of course on the idea of there being FTL drive of some sort, else our pirates have to be in stasis 99% of the time. Since space has no oxygen, pirates had to wear concealed power armor to board ships in order to loot and plunder. In some indie games like FTL, the crew can use teleportation device to board enemy ship without space suit, the same goes to the lighting strike ability in battlefleet gothic armada. And instead of making you walk the plank, they'll just throw you out the airlock. Another common convention is hidden bases on remote asteroids or space stations that don't orbit anything (which Star Wars dubs a "shadowport"). Despite rumors of this happening already, the only recorded crimes committed in space is a white collar crime involving somebody illegally accessing their spouse's bank records during a divorce dispute.

'''Ghost Pirates''' - it is said if some pirates are too badass to die, they become ghost and continue to terrorize ships for fun. Some said it was the caused of some voodoo curses, other thinks they are just too tough to stay in hell. These dead pirate sail in literal ghost ships that are seemly broken pirate ships crawling with moses and maggots while being seemly impervious to cannon fire. [[Vampire Counts|SPOOOOOKYYY]].

'''[[Airship|Airship Pirates]]''' - [[AWESOME|Piracy in the sky with steampunk technology]]. They'll still say "Yarr!" and "Avast!" but their clothing is decidedly more Victorian instead of Baroque, with lots of goggles and brass thrown in. [[Kharadron Overlords|Let's not forget the short legged version]] for [[Age of Sigmar]]. There is exactly ONE example of [[airship]] piracy in history: when the German Zeppelin L23 captured a Norwegian schooner during the first world war. An instance of an airship ''privateer'' '''may''' have existed with the U.S. World War II blimp Resolute, which was reported in 1946 to have been the last use of the United State's power to issue a letter of marque, as part of a legal wrangling to put a civilian vessel into the chain of command rather than intending it loot anything, but no record of this mark being issued exists.

'''Warhammer Fantasy Pirates''' - A lot of pirates tend to operate either in the seas near Tilea or around Lustria, where there's always opportunities for gold-hungry adventurers (though death is also a high probability due to disease or dismemberment by dinosaurs). There's several different varieties:

* Most famously are the [[Warriors of Chaos|Norscans]] being the fantasy equivalent of Vikings, in that they like to wreck the Empire's shit by raiding their border and would also took the opportunity to explore the new world for plunder and destruction in the name of their gods. The Norscan are nature born sea faring adventurer that back in the old day, a Norscan by the name Losteriksson being also the first old world to settle in the new world Lustria. There he became famous after plundered the shit out of it and founded a coast settlement named after his daughter that was born on this land: Skeggi, then encourage even more Norscan to have a piece at the place despite its seemly high mortality rate from jungle disease, wild cold ones and Lizardmen. The Skaeling tribe in particular is famed for their seafaring. [[Wulfrik the Wanderer]] uses a magic longship to teleport anywhere whenever he wants or needs (because chaos gods) to go wreck some fools.

*[[Dark Elf]] Corsairs using Black Arks (which are city-sized FLYING ships) in their raids and like to take captives hostage to be sold into slavery. [[Lokhir Fellhart]] is a famous example, who likes to wear Cthulhu-looking mask that he likely looted from Lizardmen.

*The [[Zombie Pirates]] were a White Dwarf army list under the leadership of [[Luthor Harkon]], who formerly worked for [[Abhorash]] before striking out on his own for Lustria and establishing his own goddamn kingdom called the Vampire Coast. And with all the dead bodies of unfortunate sailors, he's got plenty of recruiting opportunities. Another undead admiral operating in the area is Captain Noctlis of the [[Dreadfleet]], a Von Carstein vampire who teleported his entire freaking castle into the Galleon Graveyard, and thanks to the mighty technosorceries of vydiagaems they are a fully fledged faction in the Total Warhammer.

*There are also the Sartosan Pirates of the Principality of Sartosa (aka: AN ENTIRE NATION OF PIRATES) that lies south of Tilea. One of the most famous Sartosan pirates is the sea mutant [[Aranessa Saltspite]], rumored to be the daughter of the sea god himself.

'''[[Warhammer 40K]] Pirates''' - Ranging from [[Red Corsairs|chaos worshiper]], [[Dark Eldar|sadistic spiky ear slave trader]], [[Eldar Corsairs|cunning spiky ear glass cannon]] and the fucking [[Freebooterz|orks]], they are all badasses. [[Rogue Traders]] probably count as pirates too (corsairs would be the most accurate term), but they are first and foremost explorers of the Imperium (otherwise is [[HERESY]] and would probably be anally raped by inquisitions ship's nova cannon, or an [[exterminatus|cyclonic torpedo]]) but of course, unless they were pillage and plunder a xeno ship, is fine lol. For /tg/ brewed 40K pirates, see [[Black Locks]] who are both pirates and [[Space Marines]]. There is also at least [[Space Sharks|one known loyalist chapter]] that does piratey things like abducting the entire population of a loyalist planet to bolster the ranks of their recruits and chapter serfs, but they work far from the Imperium, and don't really have the opportunity for easily recruited manpower. Desperate times...

'''[[Manga|One Piece]]''' - As the pirate king, Gold Roger, was executed, he told everyone that he hid his treasure at the ass-end of the world, kickstarting a golden age of piracy! Some are using this chance to amass riches or oppress the weak, others just want to be free from the dictatorial World Government. The world is vast and uncharted, people get anime superpowers by eating cursed fruit or training really hard, and there exist sea monsters that are bigger than your ship. [[Fun|Have fun]]!

'''[[Samus|Space Pirates from the Metroid Series]]''' - while not being human and lacking the Caribbean pirate stereotype, [[Rak'gol|they are aliens that like to raid and destroy vessels while trying to be the biggest of dicks to every other species, especially the Federation]]. They are led by Mother Brain with Ridley, a species of cyborg/gargoyle/dragon alien being their military commander. They all got shit on by [[Samus]] unfortunately...non-stop.

==Worldbuilding And Moral Considerations==

===Morality===
How evil a Pirate in a given setting defaults to has a few inputs that are worth considering:

* [[Slavery]] is a big one. If the people they're raiding practice slavery and the pirates don't, that's a very serious point in the favor of the Pirate (in fact, it was exactly this moral ambiguity that gave the Buccaneers what good press they had) especially if they free slaves. If it's the other way around (slave raiders on free peoples), the resulting pirates are probably evil villains, full stop.
**Keep in mind that many people adore Jack Sparrow for simply saying "People aren't cargo mate", which was Jack Sparrows entire descent into piracy to begin with.
* How badly they treat captured crews. If they let them go once they've robbed the cargo holds, they probably are considered more "moral" than if they kill or enslave anybody who sees them. (Hostage taking may or may not count for this purpose; if it's purely for ransom, it's in a gray area, with the shade depending on how well the hostage is treated.)
** Enforced enrollment in the pirate crew is on the evil side, and also somewhat on the stupid side--having a bunch of people who don't want to be there as crew on a ship is usually a bad idea when mutiny is a problem, but even proper navys were known to occasionally Impress/conscript the unwilling. Hell the war of 1812 began in part over the British doing just this.
* How badly non-pirate sailors are treated by their captains: when the Navy press-gangs and keelhauls their crew, a pirate ship is easily seen as a bastion of freedom in contrast.
* [https://youtu.be/XaWU1CmrJNc Pirates who don't do anything] are a thing in media. As they don't do the pirate thing, they usually don't count as pirates.
* How prone they are to mutiny is also a consideration; although any pirate crew is liable to mutiny, the causes of said mutiny can be important in determining morality. If you're sailing under Bill the Bastard has random crewmen flogged and branded for looking at him funny, stealing his hat while he's wearing it and original sin while never giving out a fair cut of the pay and hogging all the Grog from himself, mutiny is an extreme if understandable response.
* What do they spend their plunder on. Most pirates spend their booty on upkeep of their ship, cannons, guns, swords, booze, food, fancy things and, well, Booty. But some will also spend it on their families while others decide to give some of it to an orphanage or school or something in their home port.
* Privateers, mentioned above, are usually considered more "moral" than their freelancing counterparts. ''Usually''.

Note that multiple kinds of Pirates can exist in a given setting, each with their own niche in the Alignment Chart (Even Lawful Good, Neutral Good and Lawful Neutral depending on where you draw the line between lawful navy executing 'commerce raiding' and piracy), although given the nature of Piracy, only a few Privateers will be Lawful of any kind.

===Worldbuilding Considerations===

The big one: Pirates need a safe port of some kind to operate (ships require a lot of maintenance that can only be done when at rest, and the pirates need to be able to sell or trade their captured goods). This has many subtle implications, with a few possibilities:

* The Pirates are effectively sponsored by some port. This implies either full state sponsorship of some kind, or a state that effectively doesn't care about their raiding, usually because the Pirates in question only target the enemies of whoever owns the port. French Tortuga and Dutch Curacao were like this, being effectively surrounded by a target rich environment full of Spanish and ruled by governors who simply did not give a flip about what happened at sea. In particular, Curaco's natural harbor with a tight channel overlooked by a fort on a ridge made it practically impossible to raid from sea, so the Dutch DID NOT care how angry the Spanish got with them over piracy because nothing short of an invasion would dislodge them.
* The Pirates are disguising where their goods are coming from. This is harder then it sounds, as ships are usually easily identified, and any port that cares about contraband will almost certainly be interested in the origins of whatever goods are coming into it.
* The Pirates are operating on a frontier. Small colonies and settlements are usually much less concerned about the legitimacy of cargo if its something they can use. They may not be able to pay very much for it, but they often can pay in other ways such as provisions and repairs.
* Pirates who figure they can operate their own port are usually faced with the fact that most of the people who engage in piracy are not exactly reliable sorts, which is what is desperately needed in order to have a functioning port.

Further, you need to have cargo worth capturing. A lot of stuff that gets shipped is very hard to sell, not just because it is the proverbial "hot goods", but because it is effectively worth money only to the right buyer (who is usually in one of those ports that care about contraband). You need something that is both valuable, and a commodity. Historically, sugar qualified, as did tobacco and other luxury goods; of particular interest here is exotic pets, such as monkeys and, yes, parrots (really any large feathered birds, since feather quills were used as pens). Whale oil (used in lamps) was another hot item, with whaling ships often making easy targets returning from hunts. But whatever the cargo, there is a fine line of intersecting interests, between the risks of accepting stolen goods, the risks of stealing them in the first place, and the potential profit. Of course, there's always robbing payroll ships, but if they were easy to hit everyone would do it.

For a nation whose government is fairly loose and rudimentary, the distinction between "Pirate", "Honest Trader" and "Navy" is sometimes difficult to make. Many pirates would prefer to go after foreign prey rather than people from their home ports. A down on his luck merchant captain might try to steal the stuff from a rival ship from a rival country if the choice is "make a profit, pay the crew, eliminate some of the competition and live to sail another day" or "starve to death/have a mutiny for unpaid wages/have the ship founder for disrepair/go bankrupt". Privateer work was common in times of war when said actions got sanctioned and sometimes a merchantman could have a few extra guns put on her and be made into a ghetto warship.

To complicate matters even further, even powerful and well-organized nations like France and England had 'prize money' laws in place that made capturing enemy vessels and their cargo a very attractive prospect: any ship captured at sea and its cargo became ''de jure'' property of the crown, but the king would generously compensate the crews with money/valuables once the prize was brought in. On top of that it wasn't uncommon at all for the winner of a naval engagement to quietly enroll any surviving sailor to replace losses and/or keep manning their now captured ship (the defeated sailors were generally down with this since the alternative was usually sitting in the hold in chains), no matter their nationality; so even a 'national' crew from an 'official' Navy ship could sound like a weird mix of freebooters hauling their capture in when coming into port.

If you get enough pirates in an area, they might come together and found a town. It starts off in some place with a natural harbor to shelter in storms and repair their ships between fights. Then crews begin swapping stuff if one of them has a surplus of gunpowder and the other has a surplus of food and similar. A couple of guys are left behind from each crew (as well as captives) to collect timber, first when it's expected that there will be some damage taken in the near future and latter more regularly around a growing logging camp. A couple of docks go up to make things go more smoothly, as does a forge or two and a couple of vegetable gardens. If there are native peoples in the area they start showing up to trade, or occasionally raid necessitating some basic defenses.

Then some enterprising pirate cobbles together a pub, selling plundered Beer, Grog and Rum to passing pirates and shore-side workers at first and soon enough is brewing there own, especially when a few full fledged farms get going to provide produce. Soon enough the Pub has some prostitutes and by extension some bastards. Tents and lean-tos are replaced by small cottages and shanties and after that houses. Workshops gradually come together and more and more of the population becomes permanent.

Soon you get a thriving and lively if disorderly and dangerous new settlement, which attracts the attention of whatever state power claims control over the area. A governor and garrison will be dispatched who start keeping out the roughest sorts, and things settle down into a more quiet and businesslike place much to the chagrin of old timers who miss the gold old days of loose women, hearty songs, exciting brawls and the odd knifings which made things dangerous and interesting.

==[[Pathfinder Second Edition]]==
{{dnd-stub}}
An archetype where you master the ins and outs of fighting on ships. It was originally a rather limited archetype that appeared on the 2018 playtest before vanishing. It would show up again in the Advanced Player's Guide, looking just as small when compared to other archetypes. This is likely because it's already relying on two other skills with feats that would otherwise overlap with it: Athletics (which helps with rope climbing) and Intimidation.

The prerequisites for entry pretty much boil down to "look scary" (read: trained in Intimidation) and in exchange, you can walk on boats without issue, learn lore about sailing and gain a special action that pretty much lets you go [[Errol Flynn]] and swing your sword while swinging on a rope.

{{Pathfinder-2nd-Edition-Archetypes}}

==Mordheim Pirate Warbands==
One of the more popular "semi-official" [[Mordheim]] warbands, pirate warbands are based on the simple facts that a) there have always been pirates in the Empire, b) the Empire relies heavily on river-conducted trade, and c) this meant the titular city was a big port before the [[warpstone]] meteor hit. So now you have plenty of bold and/or crazy pirates sailing up to the ruined dock and daring to launch raids into the city.

As a warband, Pirates of Mordheim have the special rules ''Ship-Based'' (if you hire both [[elf]] and [[dwarf]] Hired Swords simultaneously, increase their upkeep by '''+20 gold pieces''', as the tight confines of the ship exacerbate their racial animosity) and '''Shanghai'''. This is their mainstay special rule, and what it means is that pirates can actually swell their own ranks by recruiting captured enemies or even the random survivors of Mordheim. Because there are several situations where a pirate crew can successfully shanghai a person, this rule gets complicated...
* Firstly: a Pirate Captain can only attempt to shanghai '''normal human''' warband members; nonhumans refuse to obey or are too dangerous even for pirates to keep, whilst Hired Swords and Special Characters have no interest in the pirate life.
* When an enemy Hero is Captured, instead of exchanging/ransoming them or selling them, the Pirate Captain can attempt to convince them to join the crew. Roll 2d6 and add the Leadership of the Captain, then do the same for the captured Hero, adding +1 to he roll of whichever side won the fight. If the Captain wins, then the Hero defects and joins his crew, becoming a normal Crewman - this includes resetting his ability scores and skills if necessary and swapping all his gear for stuff from the Pirate Equipment list. If the Hero wins, then the Captain simply pressgangs him; the Hero retains his original skills and stats, but loses all his gear for stuff from the Swabbie list and can be deployed as a Swabbie in subsequent battles. Presumably, if the Pirates Rout against a shanghaied Hero-turned-Swabbie's former warband, he rejoins them.
* When the Pirates win a battle against an enemy warband, roll a d6 for each enemy Henchman that was killed (1-2 on their post-game roll after being taken Out of Action); on a 4+, they actually weren't killed, but were instead dragged back to the pirate ship and patched up. The Pirate Captain can attempt to shanghai them in the same manner as a captured hero, as described above.
* If the Pirates discover a Straggler when exploring Mordheim, the Pirate Captain can attempt to shanghai the half-crazed survivor instead of the other options. This requires making a simple Leadership check for the Captain; if he passes, then you gain a free Swabbie (the Straggler is too bonkers to make it as a crewman).
* Similarly, if the pirates discover Survivors when exploring Mordheim, the Pirate Captain can attempt to recruit them. Roll a d3 to see how many survivors there are, then make a Leadership check for the Captain for each Survivor. If successful, the survivor eagerly joins and becomes a Crewman; they can either start a new unit as a basic Crewman, or be added to an existing unit, whereupon their Exp and Stats match their brethren. If the check fails, however, the Suvivor is reluctantly pressganged, and so becomes a Swabbie.

Like all Mordheim warbands, you start with 500 gold pieces to outfit your Pirate Crew, which can be no larger than 15 models.

A Pirate Warband's leader is, of course, the '''Pirate Captain''' - you must start with one of these guys! They start with 20 EXP and can gain special skills from all of the standard skill tables (Combat, Shooting, Academic, Strength, Speed) as well as the ''Pirate Skills'' table. They cost 60 gold, have the ''Leader'' rule, and start with M4, WS4, BS3, S3, T3, W1, I3, A1 and LD8.

'''Ship's Mates''' are your standard secondary hero; you can have 0-2 of these in your crew. Ship's Mates cost 35 gold to hire and start with 8 experience as well as M4, WS4, BS3, S3, T3, W1, I2, A1 and LD7. They have the ''Inheritor'' special rule; if your Captain gets killed, then one of the Mates will take over the warband, just like how the standard Mercenary warband uses Champions to take over. They can learn Combat, Shooting, Strength and Pirate skills.

'''Cabin Boys''' are the obligatory "bare-faced recruit" type hero. 0-2 of these guys, who cost 15 gold to hire and start with 0 EXP and M4, WS2, BS2, S3, T3, W1, I3, A1 and LD6. They can learn Combat, Shooting, Speed and Pirate skills.

Now, for Henchman... your standard henchmen are, of course, the humble '''Crew''' or "Crewmen". 25 gold to hire, and statted up with M4, WS3, BS3, S3, T3, W1, I2, A1 and LD7. You can have any number of crewmen you like.

'''Gunners''' are the ship's cannoneers and marksmen; you can only have 0-2 of these guys, and they have the same stats and cost as the Crew, but they get access to some more firearms - blunderbusses, handguns and swivel guns (aka miniature cannons), specifically, alongside the pistol and duelist pistols that regular crewmen and Heroes ca take. They technically have a special rule in "Swivel Guns is Dangerous, Matey!" but that's more a rule about the Swivel Gun - namely, you can only take 1 Swivel Gun in your warband, and the bearer splits off to form an independent unit, because nobody's stupid enough to stand too close to somebody carrying a miniature cannon that could go off like a bomb at any moment.

'''Boatswains''' are the ship's riggers, and make excellent scouts in Mordheim. They cost 32 gold, have the same stats as a Crewman, and you can only take 0-5 of them. They start play with a Rope & Hook and will never, ''ever'' part with it. They also have the special rule ''Expert Riggers'', which lets them reroll failed Initiative tests made to climb a rope, leap a gap, jump down, or perform a diving charge.

Finally, there are the '''Swabbies'''. You can have 0-5 of these, and you can only recruit them via the aforementioned Shanghai rule, though in a one-off game you get 2 Swabbies for free. Statwise, they have M4, WS2, BS2, S3, T3, W1, I3, A1 and LD6. They also have the largest amount of special rules of any model in the warband:
* ''Not Hired:'' You don't pay for Swabbies, you Shanghai them.
* ''Never Gain Experience''
* ''Rabble:'' You can give a unit of Swabbies any mixture of weapons that you like. Swabbies gained by capturing heroes do not benefit from spellcasting ablities or skills they had before.
* ''"Blimey, they got away!":'' If the Pirates Rout, all Swabbies who had left the table on previous turns successfully escape; remove them from the warband roster.
* ''"Don't mind them mates, they ain't true pirates!":'' Swabbies who run or get taken out of action don't count for the purposes of taking a Rout test.

The Pirate skill table consists of:
#: '''Sea Shanty Singer:''' At the start of Close Combat, the Hero can burst into song, forcing one opponent in base contact to pass an LD test or lose 1 attack for the turn. Doesn't work on non-living targets.
#: '''Sea Legs:''' If the Hero Falls, roll a d3; on a 4+, ignore all hits caused by falling. Additionally, if the hero is knocked down or stunned when within 1" of a precipice, they can reroll their Initiate test to avoid falling.
#: '''Cutlass Master:''' If the Hero is both equipped with a sword and in closed quarters (in cover, in a building, within 2" of a terrain feature, etc), then the Hero can Parry by rolling equal to the To Hit roll, as well as by rolling higher.
#: '''Booming Voice:''' Only Captains can have this skill; reroll for other characters. Once per turn, if on his feet and not engaged in close combat, the Captain can target a single pirate within 8" who has either faileds their test to see if they will flee combat or who failed their test to stop fleeing. The targeted pirate can immediately reroll their test.
#: '''Hardy Constitution:''' When the Hero takes a Critical Hit, roll a d6; on a 5+, the Critical Hit is downgraded to just a normal hit.
#: '''Swashbuckler:''' At the end of any Hand-to-Hand phase in which he is in base contact with an enemy model, his own or the opponent's, the Hero can make an LD test. If successful, the Hero can immediately make a normal movement away from the enemy without taking any hits.

==Gallery==
<gallery>
Image:Capt phip abud.gif| Abduwali Muse, a modern somali pirate portray by Somali-American actor Barkhad Abdi. Also a meme, apparently.
Image:Abduwali Muse.jpg| The actual Abduwali Muse. Sentenced to over 33 years in U.S. federal prison.
</gallery>

==See Also==
*[[Dreadfleet]]
*[[Man O' War]]
*[[Poison'd]]
[[Category:History]]

Pirate

2021-11-12T16:21:15Z

2406:3400:20F:FFC0:F062:7070:B9C0:9588:

{{Topquote|Yar har, fiddle di dee, Being a pirate is all right with me, Do what you want 'cause a pirate is free, You are a pirate!|LazyTown}}
{{Topquote|Oi! You'z lot! You'z part of my crew now. Any problemz with dat, you talk to da complaintz department. Dat'z me gun, by da way.|[[Bluddflagg|Kaptain Bluddflag]]}}
[[File:Pirate.png|300px|thumb|right|A pirate captain. The lack of limbs and eye just shows how hardcore he is.]]
'''Pirates''' are scavenging sea bandits that raid and loot anyone on their sight. Despite being the seaborn equivalent of muggers and car-jackers, they are a far more glamorous cultural icon. They were known to be pretty cool for having a ship with black skeleton flag, as well as being badass as fuck for fighting heavily armed navy on daily basis (or so the legend goes; while there were a number of impressive battles, pirates preferred easier marks like unprotected merchant convoys). Sadly, it isn't a profession with the best long-term benefits since they would most likely be hanged by the navy or died of scurvy. But if they did succeed, like hell they will be famous and feared by everyone as soon as anybody saw their pirate flag and run the fuck away.

Pirates, despite being a band of misfits, were quite varied. In real life they were cutthroats and bandits with ships or boats, while during later ages in fiction they were romanticized as something of a concept of freedom despite their infamy. In all cases, pirates are well known thanks to modern pop-culture depictions as anarchistic and anti-governmental. They opposed the oftentimes brutal authoritarian life in the navy and wanted to live out their own lives without anyone bugging in. The reasons were many and this resulted in pirates to be (ironically) closer to the modern establishment. While in Europe kings and queens ruled through an absolutist system of rule, pirates had something akin to modern democracy (the crew choose a new captain from among themselves by voting). While slavery was normal and nations fought each-other, pirates did not care about racism since a pirate crew could be multi-national and include slaves among their ranks. In fact, equality was common among pirates and slaves saw this as one of the few ways to feel free and equal. Some crews did not discriminate if you could do the job. They took in everyone who wanted to join. One particularly famous example was the Brethren of the Coast, a coalition of pirates and privateers who operated in the Caribbean. However, remember what they are; pirates would also force people to join their crew at times, had brutal punishments for those who broke their rules and some were known to trade slaves if the money was good enough.

This kind of lifestyle is what attracted writers who presented pirates in a romanticized way, as misfits who seek out a life of freedom. On the other hand they were portrayed in a more favorable light as anti-heroes. This has some basis in truth, as some pirates began their careers as legitimate privateers in the service of their king until political winds changed. Others were genuine legends whose stories impress readers to this day.

TL;DR piracy is fucking awesome... unless you actually encounter pirates - usually in places like Burma, Nigeria, and Somalia.

==Famous Real Life Pirates==
*'''Edward Teach''' - Better known as '''Blackbeard''', one of the original Golden Age pirates known for his [[Night Lords|intimidation tactics which including exaggerating and weaponizing his fearsome reputation]]. His ''nom de guerre'' came from the fact that he used to put gunpowder in his beard and set it off to give himself a terrifying appearance (it helped that he was over six feet tall when most men of the time were about five and a half). Also because how often he let his victims live to talk about it. He was also quite smart, as he once raided a town (as in, blockaded the entirety of Charleston and held its sailors hostage) for medicine because [[Nurgle|most of his crew was riddled with diseases]] - [[Slaanesh|sexually transmitted ones]], then when some of the crew he sent to negotiate got drunk he marooned them in disgust. He died in battle, [[awesome|being shot at least twice and slashed around 20 times before being run through and having his throat slit, not before severing three of his killer's fingers]].

*'''Henry Avery''' - The most successful (and mysterious) pirate in history. How successful? He was named the king of pirates after looting the Mughal Emperor's treasure fleet, which was worth £52 million today. Shortly after, though, he vanished. Neither he nor his treasure was seen again. Some vidya speculate that he went on to found the pirate utopia of [[wikipedia:Libertatia|Libertalia]] in Madagascar.

*'''Anne Bonny and Mary Read''' - Two of the most famous female pirates. Here they get one entry as they have fairly similar life stories and worked together for a time: born in destitution, were disguised as boys early on in their lives, moved to the Carribean where they took up piracy, and both became the lovers of Calico Jack plus renowned pirates in their own right. In fact, when Anne and Mary first met, [[PROMOTIONS|Anne was feeling horny and Mary was disguised as a man, so Anne put the moves on Mary before finding out the truth]]. Despite their eventual capture, they only avoided execution because both were pregnant (although [[Grimdark|Mary died of a fever while in prison]] while Anne's fate is now unknown, with her either being released after giving birth to her child or also dying in prison), though that didn't stop them from [[awesome|fighting off their captors alone and then telling off Calico Jack for being a cowardly drunk]]; they even [[Commissar|shot a few of their crewwmates for being too drunk to fight in the battle that led to their capture]].

*'''Edward "Davies" Davis''' - An English pirate active in the late 1600's who made a career of raiding Spanish silver shipments. Noteworthy for his opposition to slavery; Davies and his crew hit a number of slave ships, liberating their prisoners and recruiting some into his crew. Eventually paid off the British crown for a pardon and retired; part of his haul went into founding the ''College of William & Mary'' in Virginia, the second oldest university in the Americas after Harvard. Probably discovered Rapa Nui (Easter Island) although the records are disputed since he wasn't the first to actually report it to anyone.

*'''Walter Raleigh''' - One of the first English pirates; a minor lord who decided to try multiclassing as an Adventurer-Politician. Founded Virginia and a few other less successful colonies, and was obsessed with finding the mythical golden city of El Dorado. He'd rob Spanish treasure ships as needed to fund his antics, and then brag about it in front of the Spanish ambassador in Elizabeth's royal court. Even plundered the Queen's bedchamber, marrying one of Elizabeth's ladies in waiting. Eventually went from looting ships to looting Spanish settlements. The Spanish responded by telling King James that if he didn't have Raleigh executed, they would treat his attack as a sanctioned act of war.

*'''Sir Francis Drake''' - The best illustration that the line between regular merchant, pirate, privateer and genuine military officer could be very tenuous at times. A full account of his long career can be found elsewhere, but let us just say that he started his career as a regular merchant occasionally getting rowdy with the Portuguese and the Spanish, then realized looting them for silver and gold was profitable and he became a full-fledged (and endorsed) raider. He was so good at liberating riches from them that he was awarded a knighthood by Queen Elizabeth, then later offered the post of vice-Admiral of the Navy when the Spaniards became fed up with the Anglos raiding them and spectacularly failed at trying to get even. Also something about circumnavigating the Earth (Magellan would've been first had he survived the trip) but who cares, it's not piratey enough.

* '''William Adams''' - Served under Drake for long enough to get the title. More famous for going to [[Japan]] and becoming one of the few foreign-born [[Samurai]]. How's that for [[Multiclassing]]?

*'''Abduwali Muse''' - A well known modern pirate. Isn't as charming and heroic as the above but gets a mentioned just because he was featured in "Captain Phillips", a film based on a true story about Somali pirates who hijacked Maersk Alabama, an unarmed container ship from the Port of Salalah in Oman, with orders to sail through the Guardafui Channel to Mombasa, Kenya. Like almost every Somali pirate, he didn't have a good childhood due to living in extreme poverty without any food or clothes and had to survive by working for jack shit. Despite having no achievements that compare with historical pirates, his story did help create a film and a meme. (Look at him. He's the captain now.)

*'''Ching Shih/Cheng I Sao''' - Chinese Pirate Queen who not only led one of the biggest pirate fleets but also managed to successfully retire. She got her fleet through marrying a pirate, who gave her half his fleet. And when he died she got all of it by way of political maneuvering with her husband's family. The Chinese government tried to take her down, but she was so good that she stole their ships until they were forced to use fishing boats. She even created a set of pirating laws, including one that made rape of female captives punishable by beheading. She eventually beat the empire so hard that the Chinese Government had to sue for peace. She negotiated for amnesty for herself and any of her pirates that wanted to quit the life, so she retired from piracy to set up a gambling den and brothel.

[[File:Serapis_Flag.png|250px|thumb|right|Totally legit, no pirates here.]]

*'''John Paul Jones''' - An angry Scotsman who sided with the colonists in the American Revolution so he could go on a big piracy spree up and down the English coast. At one point he showed up in the Netherlands and his ship was so badly shot up the flag was gone and the Dutch were like "you need a flag or we have to arrest you as a pirate" ''(also it wasn't his ship; HIS ship SANK in the battle where he captured the one the Dutch were now hassling him about)''. But they didn't like the English either so they looked the other way while Jones found someone to quickly sew a new flag ''([[Counts as|that looks nothing like an American flag and suspiciously like a Dutch flag cut into ribbons and sewn back together]])'' and he was free to go. He kicked so much ass and was so popular that one of the places that he raided actually gave him an official pardon in 1999.

*'''Gertrude Walton''' - A real life ghost pirate! The RIAA claimed that she uploaded pirated copies of over 700 songs despite her ''being dead''. Immortalized in a Weird Al song.

*'''Stede Bonnet''' - The "Gentleman Pirate," Steve was a former plantation owner from Barbados who got fed up with always being in debt and his nagging wife, so he decided to become a pirate. Bonnet is supposedly one of the pirates who originated "Walking the Plank." [[Noobs|Despite his gross inexperience]], he was able to attract a crew by promising a guaranteed wage as opposed to a share of plunder. Things went relatively well until he got bamboozled by Blackbeard (yes THAT Blackbeard) into giving up command of his ship and effectively became a hostage. He was later bamboozled again by Blackbeard and swore revenge, in which he surprisingly became a more competent pirate. But he was captured before he had the chance. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vrGf4nJWVOU Dramatic Reenactment now included!]

*'''Felix von Luckner''' - Nicknamed "The Sea Devil", he is the best example of a Lawful pirate (okay, privateer) in RPG terms. Commissioned as an officer in the Kaizerlische Marine during WWI, he was given command of a three-master (at a time where most boats had switched to steam) with orders to do some commerce raiding and make himself a pain in the hindquartes of the Allies. And he did so. Beautifully. In less than one year, Luckner captured and sank no less than fifteen ships through guile and superior seamanship. And the best part? he did so barely ever firing a shot. Over his entire career, he and his crew killed only a single enemy soldier (a poor soul unlucky enough to be right next to a steam line that ruptured when Luckner ordered the enemy's radio shot). For the rest, he made sure everyone was safe and sound before sending his prizes to the bottom. And when he just became overburdened with prisoners, he ordered the latest his prizes to throw the cargo overboard and bring all his prisoners to a neutral country, and then they'd all be free. A pirate and and gentleman indeed!

==Famous Fictional Pirates==

(For the sake of keeping things brief, we'll ignore Vidya pirates, and try keep it to Movie and Book pirates that your parents or nephews/nieces are likely to have heard of, depending on your age.)

*'''Long John Silver''', from ''Treasure Island''.
*'''Captain Hook''', from ''Peter Pan''.
*'''Jack Sparrow''' and '''Hector Barbarossa''' from ''Pirates of the Caribbean''
** For that matter, the ride Pirates are of interest.
*'''Captain Blood''', from the book series and movie of the same name.
*'''Captain Harlock''', space pirate.
*''One Piece'' has a quite a few. We'll not list them, as it would take ''forever'', just like the manga.
*'''Captain Nemo''', from ''Twenty Thousand Leagues Under The Sea''.
*'''One-Eyed Willy''', from ''The Goonies''.
*'''Pirate Jenny''', from the song of the same name.
*'''The Dread Pirate Roberts''', from ''[[The Princess Bride]]''.
*Many, many advertising pirates.

== Types of Pirate ==
[[File:Piratepainting.jpg|300px|thumb|right|Why do we bury our treasure? Why don't we spend it? On nice things? Or things we like?]]

'''Buccaneers''' - The classic, the archetype, the most iconic of all pirates that feature in almost in every media. From 1650 to 1720, empires like France and England wanted to develop their own colonial empires in the Caribbean. Problem was, the Spanish got there first, and at the time they had the most powerful navy. However, they also had massive treasure fleets, so the English began paying privateers to raid the Spanish whenever they were at war; but as soon as the war ended, there was a surplus of heavily armed ships that decided to turn pirate to stay in business. And with the ever-growing sea trade, piracy was the norm, especially when some colonial governors encouraged this behavior with an unofficial policy of "no peace past the line." Piracy was so lucrative that most of Nassau's population were pirates. The archetypal pirate captain is known for wearing eye patches, owning a pet parrot, and having a hook for an arm and a peg leg, which shows that this guy is a badass when he lost most of his limbs yet is still able to fight. They are also known for having a black skeleton flag, named the Jolly Roger (see above) while sailing a ship with a fuck load of cannons (if they are rich enough). In regards to the popular legend of successful pirates burying their treasure; this was largely a myth perpetuated by Treasure Island. Pirates ended up taking most of their ill-gotten goods in the form of trade goods which had to be sold or bartered off, and the average pirate hand would piss away most of their gold on boozing and whoring. Pirate captains who could accumulate large amounts of solid metal currency ''would'' bury treasure in very specific circumstance. It wasn't done out of some odd ritual or anything grand, but for for insurance (and even then, only did it sparingly): in the event that they were captured, they'd use their hidden loot as a bargaining chip to prevent them from proverbially (and sometimes literally) walking the plank. This didn't work all the time, as the captors either couldn't be bribed or didn't buy the story. Still, the mystique of a lost and forgotten treasure trove just waiting to be discovered made for great stories in taverns full of adventurers, so legends about buried treasure persisted throughout the centuries in fictional writing.

'''Privateers''' - Not pirates per se, but many pirates started out as privateers. These were privately owned Armed Mechantmen who were employed by their home country to raid enemy supply lines (or in rare cases, rival nations that are not at war). Typically a privateer carried "Letters of Marque and Reprisal" to show the legality of their actions; it was only if they stepped outside the bounds of the letter or otherwise lost it that they'd become pirates. Some were even captained by commissioned officers of their host nation and provided access to naval facilities and supplies as defacto navy vessels. But even so, enemy nations would sometimes ignore the letters of marque (not without justification, since letters would often be rendered invalid or else forged easily enough to fool the illiterate) and hang captured crews as pirates instead of kept as prisoners of war. Nevertheless, there was rarely a shortage of eager sailors for privateering, as the potential pay for taking a ship as a prize was very lucrative. Of course the opposite was also true; under King George's Act of Grace, former pirates who renounced their ways would be pardoned and hired as privateers to raid the Spanish.

'''[[Vikings]]''' - Scandinavian pirates with badass beards. Despite common depictions, their helmets did not have horns. Existed long before the Caribbean pirates, and they sure made themselves famous all over medieval Europe. They are also responsible for being the ancestors of 90% of the Caucasians thanks to their continent wide rape-demic.

'''Corsairs''' - Also known as Barbary pirates. They mainly came from North Africa and most of their attacks were focused on capturing slaves rather than stealing loot. They operated primarily in the Mediterranean sea, but were known to sail as far north as Iceland. Nations could avoid having their ships attacked if they paid a steep tribute to the Barbary states; it wasn't until the early 19th century that Western nations decided to fuck that noise and steamrolled them (This steamrolling is the source of "The Shores of Tripoli" in the US Marines' Hymn). Though the term usually refers to pirates in service to specific nations.

'''Modern Pirates''' - [[Grimdark|Mostly just poor 3rd world uneducated people who are survivors of various wars and regimes.]] They are not exactly primitive uneducated however, since some of them were former fishermen who had knowledge about the sea, war veterans who specialize in weaponry, as well as technical experts who operates on electronic devices like GPS devices, [[Freebooterz|but they are still too green]] when compare to the [[Imperial Navy|actual navy]]. Not to mention the days when any wannabe pirate could find a merchant ship, arm her with some cannons and then go toe-to-toe with a genuine military ship have ''long'' since past. They are armed with many modern-day weapons from assault rifles to rocket launchers that were salvaged from the conflict. They raid the Gulf of Aden, the Gulf of Guinea, the Straits of Malacca, and Indian Ocean using just skiffs and can travel hundreds of miles from home. Their targets tend to be two varieties: either slow commercial ships held hostage for steep ransoms, or oil tankers that they siphon raw petroleum to sell on the black market. They tend to be on the skinny side due to the lack of food and health care, and they are not fun and games because of that, since most of them just want to survive and they had to turn to piracy when they have no choice due to the terrible living condition in a typical post-war country. So in short, they what Buccaneers were mostly like once you strip away the Romanticism. Modern Piracy is still popular in places like Africa and Asia, and actually costs the companies anywhere from hundreds of millions to billions in losses. Due to this, its not uncommon to see heavily armed mercenaries aboard civilian freighters in high-risk shipping lanes to deter pirates from boarding and there are permanent international task forces deployed in areas with chronic problems. The modus operandi ranges from firing warning shots to force a surrender to straight up perforating the boat with CIWS fire. Cargo ships in turn have Private Military Contractors with sometimes better than military issue gear, water cannons and other deterrence factors. Occasionally a navy logistics ship gets mistaken for a cargo ship by pirates, leading to hilarity.

'''Internet Pirates''' - Hackers who "illegally" download foreign internet goods like manga scan, anime, books or newly released video games for free (though sometimes they do hack, acquire and release data that shady corporations want to hide or make certain douches pay for their crimes like Anonymous does from time to time). As technology advanced and the invention of 3D printer came along, the "pirate" is able to download miniature blue prints for 3D printers.

===The "Pirate Accent"===
We all know and love pirate-speak, what with all its "YAAAAR!"s and "YO-HO-HO!"s and all, but something to keep in mind, at least as far as historical pirates are concerned; most scholars agree that there is no universal "pirate accent," and that most of today's perceptions of it stems from the 1950 Disney film ''Treasure Island'', and the Dorset accent of Robert Newton's Long John Silver. While the West Country of England certainly has a long maritime history, keep in mind that pirates came from just about any sea-faring society, so you're more likely to see a blend of accents and even languages around busy trade routes and other piracy hotspots, such as the Caribbean or the East Indies.

== Fictional Pirates ==
'''Swashbucklers''' - The Noblebright side of the Fantasy pirate coin. Swashbucklers actually overlap with genres outside of pirate fiction, such as with the Three Musketeers or Zorro, but their are plenty of pirate examples too. These guys are basically buccaneers who seek adventure and right wrongs. They may be exiled princes or other political fugitives forced into a life of outlawry. They are also masters of swordplay and trickery; so basically they're more akin to musketeers or Zorro, but with ships of their own. Think of Dread Pirate Roberts from the Princess Bride or Captain Blood.

'''Dread Pirates''' - The [[Grimdark]] side of the Fantasy Pirate coin. Not to be confused with the legend that Dread Pirate Roberts cooked up for himself; these guys are the real deal. Take a buccaneer and mix in the supernatural or even eldritch. This type of Pirate frequently appears as the antagonist in the Pirates of the Carribean movies. See Ghost Pirates for a specific subset below.

'''Space Pirates''' - You know pirates, BUT IN SPACE! A seemly possible concept. After all, the golden age of piracy happened because the naval powers in those day struggled to maintain power on the edges of their empire (new world) and the vast wealth they were extracting, which meant pirates had a reason to exist. Eventually, the great powers managed to extend control across the fullness of their empires and pirates ran out of room for safe harbors, ports and so on. In space however, it is is infinite enough to run around from any Space Navy, and if there are enough valuables goods trades between planets, one could have an reason to do so. On paper piracy in space does seem possible, contingent of course on the idea of there being FTL drive of some sort, else our pirates have to be in stasis 99% of the time. Since space has no oxygen, pirates had to wear concealed power armor to board ships in order to loot and plunder. In some indie games like FTL, the crew can use teleportation device to board enemy ship without space suit, the same goes to the lighting strike ability in battlefleet gothic armada. And instead of making you walk the plank, they'll just throw you out the airlock. Another common convention is hidden bases on remote asteroids or space stations that don't orbit anything (which Star Wars dubs a "shadowport"). Despite rumors of this happening already, the only recorded crimes committed in space is a white collar crime involving somebody illegally accessing their spouse's bank records during a divorce dispute.

'''Ghost Pirates''' - it is said if some pirates are too badass to die, they become ghost and continue to terrorize ships for fun. Some said it was the caused of some voodoo curses, other thinks they are just too tough to stay in hell. These dead pirate sail in literal ghost ships that are seemly broken pirate ships crawling with moses and maggots while being seemly impervious to cannon fire. [[Vampire Counts|SPOOOOOKYYY]].

'''[[Airship|Airship Pirates]]''' - [[AWESOME|Piracy in the sky with steampunk technology]]. They'll still say "Yarr!" and "Avast!" but their clothing is decidedly more Victorian instead of Baroque, with lots of goggles and brass thrown in. [[Kharadron Overlords|Let's not forget the short legged version]] for [[Age of Sigmar]]. There is exactly ONE example of [[airship]] piracy in history: when the German Zeppelin L23 captured a Norwegian schooner during the first world war. An instance of an airship ''privateer'' '''may''' have existed with the U.S. World War II blimp Resolute, which was reported in 1946 to have been the last use of the United State's power to issue a letter of marque, as part of a legal wrangling to put a civilian vessel into the chain of command rather than intending it loot anything, but no record of this mark being issued exists.

'''Warhammer Fantasy Pirates''' - A lot of pirates tend to operate either in the seas near Tilea or around Lustria, where there's always opportunities for gold-hungry adventurers (though death is also a high probability due to disease or dismemberment by dinosaurs). There's several different varieties:

* Most famously are the [[Warriors of Chaos|Norscans]] being the fantasy equivalent of Vikings, in that they like to wreck the Empire's shit by raiding their border and would also took the opportunity to explore the new world for plunder and destruction in the name of their gods. The Norscan are nature born sea faring adventurer that back in the old day, a Norscan by the name Losteriksson being also the first old world to settle in the new world Lustria. There he became famous after plundered the shit out of it and founded a coast settlement named after his daughter that was born on this land: Skeggi, then encourage even more Norscan to have a piece at the place despite its seemly high mortality rate from jungle disease, wild cold ones and Lizardmen. The Skaeling tribe in particular is famed for their seafaring. [[Wulfrik the Wanderer]] uses a magic longship to teleport anywhere whenever he wants or needs (because chaos gods) to go wreck some fools.

*[[Dark Elf]] Corsairs using Black Arks (which are city-sized FLYING ships) in their raids and like to take captives hostage to be sold into slavery. [[Lokhir Fellhart]] is a famous example, who likes to wear Cthulhu-looking mask that he likely looted from Lizardmen.

*The [[Zombie Pirates]] were a White Dwarf army list under the leadership of [[Luthor Harkon]], who formerly worked for [[Abhorash]] before striking out on his own for Lustria and establishing his own goddamn kingdom called the Vampire Coast. And with all the dead bodies of unfortunate sailors, he's got plenty of recruiting opportunities. Another undead admiral operating in the area is Captain Noctlis of the [[Dreadfleet]], a Von Carstein vampire who teleported his entire freaking castle into the Galleon Graveyard, and thanks to the mighty technosorceries of vydiagaems they are a fully fledged faction in the Total Warhammer.

*There are also the Sartosan Pirates of the Principality of Sartosa (aka: AN ENTIRE NATION OF PIRATES) that lies south of Tilea. One of the most famous Sartosan pirates is the sea mutant [[Aranessa Saltspite]], rumored to be the daughter of the sea god himself.

'''[[Warhammer 40K]] Pirates''' - Ranging from [[Red Corsairs|chaos worshiper]], [[Dark Eldar|sadistic spiky ear slave trader]], [[Eldar Corsairs|cunning spiky ear glass cannon]] and the fucking [[Freebooterz|orks]], they are all badasses. [[Rogue Traders]] probably count as pirates too (corsairs would be the most accurate term), but they are first and foremost explorers of the Imperium (otherwise is [[HERESY]] and would probably be anally raped by inquisitions ship's nova cannon, or an [[exterminatus|cyclonic torpedo]]) but of course, unless they were pillage and plunder a xeno ship, is fine lol. For /tg/ brewed 40K pirates, see [[Black Locks]] who are both pirates and [[Space Marines]]. There is also at least [[Space Sharks|one known loyalist chapter]] that does piratey things like abducting the entire population of a loyalist planet to bolster the ranks of their recruits and chapter serfs, but they work far from the Imperium, and don't really have the opportunity for easily recruited manpower. Desperate times...

'''[[Manga|One Piece]]''' - As the pirate king, Gold Roger, was executed, he told everyone that he hid his treasure at the ass-end of the world, kickstarting a golden age of piracy! Some are using this chance to amass riches or oppress the weak, others just want to be free from the dictatorial World Government. The world is vast and uncharted, people get anime superpowers by eating cursed fruit or training really hard, and there exist sea monsters that are bigger than your ship. [[Fun|Have fun]]!

'''[[Samus|Space Pirates from the Metroid Series]]''' - while not being human and lacking the Caribbean pirate stereotype, [[Rak'gol|they are aliens that like to raid and destroy vessels while trying to be the biggest of dicks to every other species, especially the Federation]]. They are led by Mother Brain with Ridley, a species of cyborg/gargoyle/dragon alien being their military commander. They all got shit on by [[Samus]] unfortunately...non-stop.

==Worldbuilding And Moral Considerations==

===Morality===
How evil a Pirate in a given setting defaults to has a few inputs that are worth considering:

* [[Slavery]] is a big one. If the people they're raiding practice slavery and the pirates don't, that's a very serious point in the favor of the Pirate (in fact, it was exactly this moral ambiguity that gave the Buccaneers what good press they had) especially if they free slaves. If it's the other way around (slave raiders on free peoples), the resulting pirates are probably evil villains, full stop.
**Keep in mind that many people adore Jack Sparrow for simply saying "People aren't cargo mate", which was Jack Sparrows entire descent into piracy to begin with.
* How badly they treat captured crews. If they let them go once they've robbed the cargo holds, they probably are considered more "moral" than if they kill or enslave anybody who sees them. (Hostage taking may or may not count for this purpose; if it's purely for ransom, it's in a gray area, with the shade depending on how well the hostage is treated.)
** Enforced enrollment in the pirate crew is on the evil side, and also somewhat on the stupid side--having a bunch of people who don't want to be there as crew on a ship is usually a bad idea when mutiny is a problem, but even proper navys were known to occasionally Impress/conscript the unwilling. Hell the war of 1812 began in part over the British doing just this.
* How badly non-pirate sailors are treated by their captains: when the Navy press-gangs and keelhauls their crew, a pirate ship is easily seen as a bastion of freedom in contrast.
* [https://youtu.be/XaWU1CmrJNc Pirates who don't do anything] are a thing in media. As they don't do the pirate thing, they usually don't count as pirates.
* How prone they are to mutiny is also a consideration; although any pirate crew is liable to mutiny, the causes of said mutiny can be important in determining morality. If you're sailing under Bill the Bastard has random crewmen flogged and branded for looking at him funny, stealing his hat while he's wearing it and original sin while never giving out a fair cut of the pay and hogging all the Grog from himself, mutiny is an extreme if understandable response.
* What do they spend their plunder on. Most pirates spend their booty on upkeep of their ship, cannons, guns, swords, booze, food, fancy things and, well, Booty. But some will also spend it on their families while others decide to give some of it to an orphanage or school or something in their home port.
* Privateers, mentioned above, are usually considered more "moral" than their freelancing counterparts. ''Usually''.

Note that multiple kinds of Pirates can exist in a given setting, each with their own niche in the Alignment Chart (Even Lawful Good, Neutral Good and Lawful Neutral depending on where you draw the line between lawful navy executing 'commerce raiding' and piracy), although given the nature of Piracy, only a few Privateers will be Lawful of any kind.

===Worldbuilding Considerations===

The big one: Pirates need a safe port of some kind to operate (ships require a lot of maintenance that can only be done when at rest, and the pirates need to be able to sell or trade their captured goods). This has many subtle implications, with a few possibilities:

* The Pirates are effectively sponsored by some port. This implies either full state sponsorship of some kind, or a state that effectively doesn't care about their raiding, usually because the Pirates in question only target the enemies of whoever owns the port. French Tortuga and Dutch Curacao were like this, being effectively surrounded by a target rich environment full of Spanish and ruled by governors who simply did not give a flip about what happened at sea. In particular, Curaco's natural harbor with a tight channel overlooked by a fort on a ridge made it practically impossible to raid from sea, so the Dutch DID NOT care how angry the Spanish got with them over piracy because nothing short of an invasion would dislodge them.
* The Pirates are disguising where their goods are coming from. This is harder then it sounds, as ships are usually easily identified, and any port that cares about contraband will almost certainly be interested in the origins of whatever goods are coming into it.
* The Pirates are operating on a frontier. Small colonies and settlements are usually much less concerned about the legitimacy of cargo if its something they can use. They may not be able to pay very much for it, but they often can pay in other ways such as provisions and repairs.
* Pirates who figure they can operate their own port are usually faced with the fact that most of the people who engage in piracy are not exactly reliable sorts, which is what is desperately needed in order to have a functioning port.

Further, you need to have cargo worth capturing. A lot of stuff that gets shipped is very hard to sell, not just because it is the proverbial "hot goods", but because it is effectively worth money only to the right buyer (who is usually in one of those ports that care about contraband). You need something that is both valuable, and a commodity. Historically, sugar qualified, as did tobacco and other luxury goods; of particular interest here is exotic pets, such as monkeys and, yes, parrots (really any large feathered birds, since feather quills were used as pens). Whale oil (used in lamps) was another hot item, with whaling ships often making easy targets returning from hunts. But whatever the cargo, there is a fine line of intersecting interests, between the risks of accepting stolen goods, the risks of stealing them in the first place, and the potential profit. Of course, there's always robbing payroll ships, but if they were easy to hit everyone would do it.

For a nation whose government is fairly loose and rudimentary, the distinction between "Pirate", "Honest Trader" and "Navy" is sometimes difficult to make. Many pirates would prefer to go after foreign prey rather than people from their home ports. A down on his luck merchant captain might try to steal the stuff from a rival ship from a rival country if the choice is "make a profit, pay the crew, eliminate some of the competition and live to sail another day" or "starve to death/have a mutiny for unpaid wages/have the ship founder for disrepair/go bankrupt". Privateer work was common in times of war when said actions got sanctioned and sometimes a merchantman could have a few extra guns put on her and be made into a ghetto warship.

To complicate matters even further, even powerful and well-organized nations like France and England had 'prize money' laws in place that made capturing enemy vessels and their cargo a very attractive prospect: any ship captured at sea and its cargo became ''de jure'' property of the crown, but the king would generously compensate the crews with money/valuables once the prize was brought in. On top of that it wasn't uncommon at all for the winner of a naval engagement to quietly enroll any surviving sailor to replace losses and/or keep manning their now captured ship (the defeated sailors were generally down with this since the alternative was usually sitting in the hold in chains), no matter their nationality; so even a 'national' crew from an 'official' Navy ship could sound like a weird mix of freebooters hauling their capture in when coming into port.

If you get enough pirates in an area, they might come together and found a town. It starts off in some place with a natural harbor to shelter in storms and repair their ships between fights. Then crews begin swapping stuff if one of them has a surplus of gunpowder and the other has a surplus of food and similar. A couple of guys are left behind from each crew (as well as captives) to collect timber, first when it's expected that there will be some damage taken in the near future and latter more regularly around a growing logging camp. A couple of docks go up to make things go more smoothly, as does a forge or two and a couple of vegetable gardens. If there are native peoples in the area they start showing up to trade, or occasionally raid necessitating some basic defenses.

Then some enterprising pirate cobbles together a pub, selling plundered Beer, Grog and Rum to passing pirates and shore-side workers at first and soon enough is brewing there own, especially when a few full fledged farms get going to provide produce. Soon enough the Pub has some prostitutes and by extension some bastards. Tents and lean-tos are replaced by small cottages and shanties and after that houses. Workshops gradually come together and more and more of the population becomes permanent.

Soon you get a thriving and lively if disorderly and dangerous new settlement, which attracts the attention of whatever state power claims control over the area. A governor and garrison will be dispatched who start keeping out the roughest sorts, and things settle down into a more quiet and businesslike place much to the chagrin of old timers who miss the gold old days of loose women, hearty songs, exciting brawls and the odd knifings which made things dangerous and interesting.

==[[Pathfinder Second Edition]]==
{{dnd-stub}}
An archetype where you master the ins and outs of fighting on ships. It was originally a rather limited archetype that appeared on the 2018 playtest before vanishing. It would show up again in the Advanced Player's Guide, looking just as small when compared to other archetypes. This is likely because it's already relying on two other skills with feats that would otherwise overlap with it: Athletics (which helps with rope climbing) and Intimidation.

The prerequisites for entry pretty much boil down to "look scary" (read: trained in Intimidation) and in exchange, you can walk on boats without issue, learn lore about sailing and gain a special action that pretty much lets you go [[Errol Flynn]] and swing your sword while swinging on a rope.

{{Pathfinder-2nd-Edition-Archetypes}}

==Mordheim Pirate Warbands==
One of the more popular "semi-official" [[Mordheim]] warbands, pirate warbands are based on the simple facts that a) there have always been pirates in the Empire, b) the Empire relies heavily on river-conducted trade, and c) this meant the titular city was a big port before the [[warpstone]] meteor hit. So now you have plenty of bold and/or crazy pirates sailing up to the ruined dock and daring to launch raids into the city.

As a warband, Pirates of Mordheim have the special rules ''Ship-Based'' (if you hire both [[elf]] and [[dwarf]] Hired Swords simultaneously, increase their upkeep by '''+20 gold pieces''', as the tight confines of the ship exacerbate their racial animosity) and '''Shanghai'''. This is their mainstay special rule, and what it means is that pirates can actually swell their own ranks by recruiting captured enemies or even the random survivors of Mordheim. Because there are several situations where a pirate crew can successfully shanghai a person, this rule gets complicated...
* Firstly: a Pirate Captain can only attempt to shanghai '''normal human''' warband members; nonhumans refuse to obey or are too dangerous even for pirates to keep, whilst Hired Swords and Special Characters have no interest in the pirate life.
* When an enemy Hero is Captured, instead of exchanging/ransoming them or selling them, the Pirate Captain can attempt to convince them to join the crew. Roll 2d6 and add the Leadership of the Captain, then do the same for the captured Hero, adding +1 to he roll of whichever side won the fight. If the Captain wins, then the Hero defects and joins his crew, becoming a normal Crewman - this includes resetting his ability scores and skills if necessary and swapping all his gear for stuff from the Pirate Equipment list. If the Hero wins, then the Captain simply pressgangs him; the Hero retains his original skills and stats, but loses all his gear for stuff from the Swabbie list and can be deployed as a Swabbie in subsequent battles. Presumably, if the Pirates Rout against a shanghaied Hero-turned-Swabbie's former warband, he rejoins them.
* When the Pirates win a battle against an enemy warband, roll a d6 for each enemy Henchman that was killed (1-2 on their post-game roll after being taken Out of Action); on a 4+, they actually weren't killed, but were instead dragged back to the pirate ship and patched up. The Pirate Captain can attempt to shanghai them in the same manner as a captured hero, as described above.
* If the Pirates discover a Straggler when exploring Mordheim, the Pirate Captain can attempt to shanghai the half-crazed survivor instead of the other options. This requires making a simple Leadership check for the Captain; if he passes, then you gain a free Swabbie (the Straggler is too bonkers to make it as a crewman).
* Similarly, if the pirates discover Survivors when exploring Mordheim, the Pirate Captain can attempt to recruit them. Roll a d3 to see how many survivors there are, then make a Leadership check for the Captain for each Survivor. If successful, the survivor eagerly joins and becomes a Crewman; they can either start a new unit as a basic Crewman, or be added to an existing unit, whereupon their Exp and Stats match their brethren. If the check fails, however, the Suvivor is reluctantly pressganged, and so becomes a Swabbie.

Like all Mordheim warbands, you start with 500 gold pieces to outfit your Pirate Crew, which can be no larger than 15 models.

A Pirate Warband's leader is, of course, the '''Pirate Captain''' - you must start with one of these guys! They start with 20 EXP and can gain special skills from all of the standard skill tables (Combat, Shooting, Academic, Strength, Speed) as well as the ''Pirate Skills'' table. They cost 60 gold, have the ''Leader'' rule, and start with M4, WS4, BS3, S3, T3, W1, I3, A1 and LD8.

'''Ship's Mates''' are your standard secondary hero; you can have 0-2 of these in your crew. Ship's Mates cost 35 gold to hire and start with 8 experience as well as M4, WS4, BS3, S3, T3, W1, I2, A1 and LD7. They have the ''Inheritor'' special rule; if your Captain gets killed, then one of the Mates will take over the warband, just like how the standard Mercenary warband uses Champions to take over. They can learn Combat, Shooting, Strength and Pirate skills.

'''Cabin Boys''' are the obligatory "bare-faced recruit" type hero. 0-2 of these guys, who cost 15 gold to hire and start with 0 EXP and M4, WS2, BS2, S3, T3, W1, I3, A1 and LD6. They can learn Combat, Shooting, Speed and Pirate skills.

Now, for Henchman... your standard henchmen are, of course, the humble '''Crew''' or "Crewmen". 25 gold to hire, and statted up with M4, WS3, BS3, S3, T3, W1, I2, A1 and LD7. You can have any number of crewmen you like.

'''Gunners''' are the ship's cannoneers and marksmen; you can only have 0-2 of these guys, and they have the same stats and cost as the Crew, but they get access to some more firearms - blunderbusses, handguns and swivel guns (aka miniature cannons), specifically, alongside the pistol and duelist pistols that regular crewmen and Heroes ca take. They technically have a special rule in "Swivel Guns is Dangerous, Matey!" but that's more a rule about the Swivel Gun - namely, you can only take 1 Swivel Gun in your warband, and the bearer splits off to form an independent unit, because nobody's stupid enough to stand too close to somebody carrying a miniature cannon that could go off like a bomb at any moment.

'''Boatswains''' are the ship's riggers, and make excellent scouts in Mordheim. They cost 32 gold, have the same stats as a Crewman, and you can only take 0-5 of them. They start play with a Rope & Hook and will never, ''ever'' part with it. They also have the special rule ''Expert Riggers'', which lets them reroll failed Initiative tests made to climb a rope, leap a gap, jump down, or perform a diving charge.

Finally, there are the '''Swabbies'''. You can have 0-5 of these, and you can only recruit them via the aforementioned Shanghai rule, though in a one-off game you get 2 Swabbies for free. Statwise, they have M4, WS2, BS2, S3, T3, W1, I3, A1 and LD6. They also have the largest amount of special rules of any model in the warband:
* ''Not Hired:'' You don't pay for Swabbies, you Shanghai them.
* ''Never Gain Experience''
* ''Rabble:'' You can give a unit of Swabbies any mixture of weapons that you like. Swabbies gained by capturing heroes do not benefit from spellcasting ablities or skills they had before.
* ''"Blimey, they got away!":'' If the Pirates Rout, all Swabbies who had left the table on previous turns successfully escape; remove them from the warband roster.
* ''"Don't mind them mates, they ain't true pirates!":'' Swabbies who run or get taken out of action don't count for the purposes of taking a Rout test.

The Pirate skill table consists of:
#: '''Sea Shanty Singer:''' At the start of Close Combat, the Hero can burst into song, forcing one opponent in base contact to pass an LD test or lose 1 attack for the turn. Doesn't work on non-living targets.
#: '''Sea Legs:''' If the Hero Falls, roll a d3; on a 4+, ignore all hits caused by falling. Additionally, if the hero is knocked down or stunned when within 1" of a precipice, they can reroll their Initiate test to avoid falling.
#: '''Cutlass Master:''' If the Hero is both equipped with a sword and in closed quarters (in cover, in a building, within 2" of a terrain feature, etc), then the Hero can Parry by rolling equal to the To Hit roll, as well as by rolling higher.
#: '''Booming Voice:''' Only Captains can have this skill; reroll for other characters. Once per turn, if on his feet and not engaged in close combat, the Captain can target a single pirate within 8" who has either faileds their test to see if they will flee combat or who failed their test to stop fleeing. The targeted pirate can immediately reroll their test.
#: '''Hardy Constitution:''' When the Hero takes a Critical Hit, roll a d6; on a 5+, the Critical Hit is downgraded to just a normal hit.
#: '''Swashbuckler:''' At the end of any Hand-to-Hand phase in which he is in base contact with an enemy model, his own or the opponent's, the Hero can make an LD test. If successful, the Hero can immediately make a normal movement away from the enemy without taking any hits.

==Gallery==
<gallery>
Image:Capt phip abud.gif| Abduwali Muse, a modern somali pirate portray by Somali-American actor Barkhad Abdi. Also a meme, apparently.
Image:Abduwali Muse.jpg| The actual Abduwali Muse. Sentenced to over 33 years in U.S. federal prison.
</gallery>

==See Also==
*[[Dreadfleet]]
*[[Man O' War]]
*[[Poison'd]]
[[Category:History]]

Bluddflagg

2021-11-12T16:20:47Z

2406:3400:20F:FFC0:F062:7070:B9C0:9588: /* Retribution FOR DA KROOZA! */

[[File:Kaptin_Bluddflagg.jpg|thumb|right|GARROSH 'ELLSCREAM 'AS NOTHIN' ON ME!]]
'''KAPTIN BLUDDFLAGG''' leads a crew of [[Freebooterz]] based out in sub-sector Aurelia, where he passes the time plunderin', doing mercenary work and rocking his crazy accent. He gets (sort of) unwillingly mixed up in the coming [[Dawn_of_War_II#Retribution|shitstorm]], but Bluddflagg isn't one to turn down a good scrap, and swiftly proceeds to get his stompin' on. If the first thing you picked in Retribution's campaign screen wasn't the ork in the pirate hat, an incredible number of boyz agree that you are a [[elf|panzee]] git, thus making it true. Possibly Patrick Seitz' most balls-out role ever.

== Retribution FOR DA KROOZA! ==
Bluddflagg wakes up on Typhon as a sad, mad, planetlocked Kaptin, as his krooza has been shot to (even more) pieces. He and first mate Mr. Nailbrain quickly decide that those [[Eldar|pointy-eared gitz]] are to blame, as the Eldar immediately jump out and attack them. After giving the downed [[kommando]] Spookums a good wake-up kick, they proceed to krump Autarch Kayleth with no real difficulty. Bluddflagg is then approached by Inquisitor [[Adrastia]], who informs him of the incoming [[Exterminatus]], and the obliteration of both his business, his boyz and himself. She proposes a deal: Kill [[Azariah Kyras]], and the [[Inquisition]] will pay him by sponsoring a fight with three Imperial regiments of cannon fodder. However, the deal goes sour when Adrastia refuses to give him her fancy Inquisitor hat. Before teleporting out, she reveals that it was she who shot down his krooza, fueling Bluddflagg with untold amounts of [[RAGE|raeg]]. This makes Adrastia feel randy as hell.

Now determined to stomp Kyras and avenge his krooza a second time with that promised fight with Adrastia, Bluddflagg and his crew embarks on a goddamn hilarious rampage through the war-zone Aurelia has become. Eventually they find Kyras on Typhon, who seriously bursts into laughter at the sight of the orks that are supposed to stop him. One Exterminatus later, the Freebootaz have bailed out on a tellyporta, ending up on the [[Space Hulk]], Judgement of Carrion. Despite the fact that it's infested with [[Tyranids|Nids]], Bluddflagg immediately declares it his new flagship and wants to take off. Sadly, repairs would take about a year, and Exterminatus is coming in a couple of weeks. Demonstrating a shocking grip on maths, Bluddflagg realizes that if they want their Spacey Hulk, they have to stomp Kyras and halt the 'sterminatus first.

After krumpin' some boyz led by the motherfucking Mad Mek ("Dat's just sad, dat is...") Bluddflagg shows some real kunnin' in realizing Kyras would be hiding out on the dead world, Cyrene, the one place that the fleet wouldn't waste good dakka krumpin'. (This might not sound impressive at first, but keep in mind that he figured it out on his own, as opposed to [[Neroth|calling Daemons from the Warp to tell him]].) Da orkz invade the demon-filled, lava-roiling, least-hospitable-place-ever, witnessing [[Gabriel Angelos]]'s death by "a proppa smakk" from the ascended Kyras. The fact that he is now a Daemon Prince five times their height (and that's only his upper body) with a metric shit-ton of health doesn't deter the boyz, who proceed to layeth the krumpin' down and pulverize his head with a Rok.

After saving the entire sub-sector, Bluddflagg somehow manages to ambush Adrastia (who weaseled out of that fight) and steal her hat before ditching town with his absolutely bitchin' new Spacey Hulk (which is probably still filled with Tyranids so they got things to kill while they travel).

== About Bluddflagg ==
The good Kaptin is slightly better company than the average [[Warboss]], since he is slightly more motivated by lootin' than he is fightin', meaning he can be reasoned with. Though Emprah help you if you shoot down his krooza. Apart from that, he has common orky values like krumpin' gitz and smashin', preferrably doing so in the most direct and brutal way possible. He has a particular hate for the Eldar, who are all cowardly gitz who keep running away from good scraps. As part of this, he considers fighting Eldar to be like a light warm-up session. Bluddflagg's accent is fucking crazy, and the only way to describe it is "like a pirate, but even more [[Awesome|piratey]]". He also enjoys collecting fancy [[Team Fortress 2|hats]].

Bluddflagg is surprisingly intelligent for an ork, transcending the realm of mere kunnin'. He can read, write and do basic maths in his head. He's also more knowledgeable about humans than most, immediately recognizing Adrastia as "one o' dem Inquisitive type fingys". While he turns down Adrastia when she wouldn't add her hat to the deal, he later says that there's no way he could ever trust anyone from the Inquisition, anyway. He also applies basic logic to deduce Kyras's location after the Exterminatus begins, which leaves his entire crew stunned. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u0vDQWMJNbE Seriously, this needs to be seen to be believed.]

He must be an ex-[[Ork Kommando|Kommando]] or something, because in his ending, he sneaks up on Adrastia in the middle of a ''really'' open forest just to mug her for her hat. Though why she was walking all alone in the woods in the first place is anyone's guess.

Since Bluddflagg is [[fun]] in corporeal form, he is the first boss in the Eldar campaign, where he's killed by the no-fun-allowed panzeez.

<s>Most likely Bluddflagg is dead since it seems panzeez' campaign in Retribution is canonical one, judging by DoW III. Or on the rights of ex-Kommando he just pretends to be dead...</s> The "Canon" ending is a mix of the Space Marine and Eldar endings, with Gabriel surviving, becoming chaptermaster, Diomedes purging the shit out of the surviving Blood Ravens, and Ronahn getting his sister's soul stone. Given how Space Marines are infinitely more important than Eldar, it's safe to assume that the "canon" opening mission would have been the Space Marine one, meaning Eliphas got smashed again, but Bluddflagg is still out there, somewhere in the Grim Darkness of the far, far future, Krumpin' some humies for Gork an' Mork.

== Kwotze ==
"HAHA! Dese gits just made da classic blunder. Attackin' an ork who hadn't found 'em already! Now we's can stomp 'em fasta!"

"Dem Inquisishun humies can't be trusted any further dan dey can be thrown. Which in dat one's case might be a bad example."

"Oi! You'z lot! You'z part of my crew now. Any problemz with dat, you talk to da complaintz department. Dat'z me gun, by da way." (Further proof that Bluddflag's a pretty decent boss, as most don't offer a complaints department at all.)

"I don't know what a "Finity Serkut" is but I's bet it'z shiny."

"Ya gotz gutz skinny, I'll give ya dat, an dere gettin' all over da place, eeugh."

"Maybe we's get lucky and it'll be an ambush or somefing."

"Poncy Eldar, eh? Well, I guess dis might count as an ambush. Limber up at least, boys. Don't strain yer'selves."

"Hit 'em 'ard enough and Eldar turn ta paste!"

"Blah Blah Blah urry up an die twiggy!"

== Gallery ==

<gallery>
Image:Kaptin_Bluddflagg_4075.jpg|Bluddflagg's in-game portrait.
Image:Bludd_Flagg_Stomp.jpg
Image:Bludd_Flagg_Shout.jpg
</gallery>

[[Category: Warhammer 40,000]]

[[Category: Dawn of War]]

[[Category: Xenos]]

[[Category: Orks]]

{{Ork-Gitz}}

Pirate

2021-11-12T16:15:53Z

2406:3400:20F:FFC0:F062:7070:B9C0:9588:

{{Topquote|Yar har, fiddle di dee, Being a pirate is all right with me, Do what you want 'cause a pirate is free, You are a pirate!|LazyTown}}
{{Topquote|Oi! You'z lot! You'z part of my crew now. Any problemz with dat, you talk to da complaintz department. Dat'z me gun, by da way.|[[Bluddflagg|Kaptain Bluddflag]]}}
[[File:Pirate.png|300px|thumb|right|A pirate captain. The lack of limbs and eye just shows how hardcore he is.]]
'''Pirates''' are scavenging sea bandits that raid and loot anyone on their sight. Despite being the seaborn equivalent of muggers and car-jackers, they are a far more glamorous cultural icon. They were known to be pretty cool for having a ship with black skeleton flag, as well as being badass as fuck for fighting heavily armed navy on daily basis (or so the legend goes; while there were a number of impressive battles, pirates preferred easier marks like unprotected merchant convoys). Sadly, it isn't a profession with the best long-term benefits since they would most likely be hanged by the navy or died of scurvy. But if they did succeed, like hell they will be famous and feared by everyone as soon as anybody saw their pirate flag and run the fuck away.

Pirates, despite being a band of misfits, were quite varied. In real life they were cutthroats and bandits with ships or boats, while during later ages in fiction they were romanticized as something of a concept of freedom despite their infamy. In all cases, pirates are well known thanks to modern pop-culture depictions as anarchistic and anti-governmental. They opposed the oftentimes brutal authoritarian life in the navy and wanted to live out their own lives without anyone bugging in. The reasons were many and this resulted in pirates to be (ironically) closer to the modern establishment. While in Europe kings and queens ruled through an absolutist system of rule, pirates had something akin to modern democracy (the crew choose a new captain from among themselves by voting). While slavery was normal and nations fought each-other, pirates did not care about racism since a pirate crew could be multi-national and include slaves among their ranks. In fact, equality was common among pirates and slaves saw this as one of the few ways to feel free and equal. Some crews did not discriminate if you could do the job. They took in everyone who wanted to join. One particularly famous example was the Brethren of the Coast, a coalition of pirates and privateers who operated in the Caribbean. However, remember what they are; pirates would also force people to join their crew at times, had brutal punishments for those who broke their rules and some were known to trade slaves if the money was good enough.

This kind of lifestyle is what attracted writers who presented pirates in a romanticized way, as misfits who seek out a life of freedom. On the other hand they were portrayed in a more favorable light as anti-heroes. This has some basis in truth, as some pirates began their careers as legitimate privateers in the service of their king until political winds changed. Others were genuine legends whose stories impress readers to this day.

TL;DR piracy is fucking awesome... unless you actually encounter pirates in places like Burma, Nigeria, and Somalia.

==Famous Real Life Pirates==
*'''Edward Teach''' - Better known as '''Blackbeard''', one of the original Golden Age pirates known for his [[Night Lords|intimidation tactics which including exaggerating and weaponizing his fearsome reputation]]. His ''nom de guerre'' came from the fact that he used to put gunpowder in his beard and set it off to give himself a terrifying appearance (it helped that he was over six feet tall when most men of the time were about five and a half). Also because how often he let his victims live to talk about it. He was also quite smart, as he once raided a town (as in, blockaded the entirety of Charleston and held its sailors hostage) for medicine because [[Nurgle|most of his crew was riddled with diseases]] - [[Slaanesh|sexually transmitted ones]], then when some of the crew he sent to negotiate got drunk he marooned them in disgust. He died in battle, [[awesome|being shot at least twice and slashed around 20 times before being run through and having his throat slit, not before severing three of his killer's fingers]].

*'''Henry Avery''' - The most successful (and mysterious) pirate in history. How successful? He was named the king of pirates after looting the Mughal Emperor's treasure fleet, which was worth £52 million today. Shortly after, though, he vanished. Neither he nor his treasure was seen again. Some vidya speculate that he went on to found the pirate utopia of [[wikipedia:Libertatia|Libertalia]] in Madagascar.

*'''Anne Bonny and Mary Read''' - Two of the most famous female pirates. Here they get one entry as they have fairly similar life stories and worked together for a time: born in destitution, were disguised as boys early on in their lives, moved to the Carribean where they took up piracy, and both became the lovers of Calico Jack plus renowned pirates in their own right. In fact, when Anne and Mary first met, [[PROMOTIONS|Anne was feeling horny and Mary was disguised as a man, so Anne put the moves on Mary before finding out the truth]]. Despite their eventual capture, they only avoided execution because both were pregnant (although [[Grimdark|Mary died of a fever while in prison]] while Anne's fate is now unknown, with her either being released after giving birth to her child or also dying in prison), though that didn't stop them from [[awesome|fighting off their captors alone and then telling off Calico Jack for being a cowardly drunk]]; they even [[Commissar|shot a few of their crewwmates for being too drunk to fight in the battle that led to their capture]].

*'''Edward "Davies" Davis''' - An English pirate active in the late 1600's who made a career of raiding Spanish silver shipments. Noteworthy for his opposition to slavery; Davies and his crew hit a number of slave ships, liberating their prisoners and recruiting some into his crew. Eventually paid off the British crown for a pardon and retired; part of his haul went into founding the ''College of William & Mary'' in Virginia, the second oldest university in the Americas after Harvard. Probably discovered Rapa Nui (Easter Island) although the records are disputed since he wasn't the first to actually report it to anyone.

*'''Walter Raleigh''' - One of the first English pirates; a minor lord who decided to try multiclassing as an Adventurer-Politician. Founded Virginia and a few other less successful colonies, and was obsessed with finding the mythical golden city of El Dorado. He'd rob Spanish treasure ships as needed to fund his antics, and then brag about it in front of the Spanish ambassador in Elizabeth's royal court. Even plundered the Queen's bedchamber, marrying one of Elizabeth's ladies in waiting. Eventually went from looting ships to looting Spanish settlements. The Spanish responded by telling King James that if he didn't have Raleigh executed, they would treat his attack as a sanctioned act of war.

*'''Sir Francis Drake''' - The best illustration that the line between regular merchant, pirate, privateer and genuine military officer could be very tenuous at times. A full account of his long career can be found elsewhere, but let us just say that he started his career as a regular merchant occasionally getting rowdy with the Portuguese and the Spanish, then realized looting them for silver and gold was profitable and he became a full-fledged (and endorsed) raider. He was so good at liberating riches from them that he was awarded a knighthood by Queen Elizabeth, then later offered the post of vice-Admiral of the Navy when the Spaniards became fed up with the Anglos raiding them and spectacularly failed at trying to get even. Also something about circumnavigating the Earth (Magellan would've been first had he survived the trip) but who cares, it's not piratey enough.

* '''William Adams''' - Served under Drake for long enough to get the title. More famous for going to [[Japan]] and becoming one of the few foreign-born [[Samurai]]. How's that for [[Multiclassing]]?

*'''Abduwali Muse''' - A well known modern pirate. Isn't as charming and heroic as the above but gets a mentioned just because he was featured in "Captain Phillips", a film based on a true story about Somali pirates who hijacked Maersk Alabama, an unarmed container ship from the Port of Salalah in Oman, with orders to sail through the Guardafui Channel to Mombasa, Kenya. Like almost every Somali pirate, he didn't have a good childhood due to living in extreme poverty without any food or clothes and had to survive by working for jack shit. Despite having no achievements that compare with historical pirates, his story did help create a film and a meme. (Look at him. He's the captain now.)

*'''Ching Shih/Cheng I Sao''' - Chinese Pirate Queen who not only led one of the biggest pirate fleets but also managed to successfully retire. She got her fleet through marrying a pirate, who gave her half his fleet. And when he died she got all of it by way of political maneuvering with her husband's family. The Chinese government tried to take her down, but she was so good that she stole their ships until they were forced to use fishing boats. She even created a set of pirating laws, including one that made rape of female captives punishable by beheading. She eventually beat the empire so hard that the Chinese Government had to sue for peace. She negotiated for amnesty for herself and any of her pirates that wanted to quit the life, so she retired from piracy to set up a gambling den and brothel.

[[File:Serapis_Flag.png|250px|thumb|right|Totally legit, no pirates here.]]

*'''John Paul Jones''' - An angry Scotsman who sided with the colonists in the American Revolution so he could go on a big piracy spree up and down the English coast. At one point he showed up in the Netherlands and his ship was so badly shot up the flag was gone and the Dutch were like "you need a flag or we have to arrest you as a pirate" ''(also it wasn't his ship; HIS ship SANK in the battle where he captured the one the Dutch were now hassling him about)''. But they didn't like the English either so they looked the other way while Jones found someone to quickly sew a new flag ''([[Counts as|that looks nothing like an American flag and suspiciously like a Dutch flag cut into ribbons and sewn back together]])'' and he was free to go. He kicked so much ass and was so popular that one of the places that he raided actually gave him an official pardon in 1999.

*'''Gertrude Walton''' - A real life ghost pirate! The RIAA claimed that she uploaded pirated copies of over 700 songs despite her ''being dead''. Immortalized in a Weird Al song.

*'''Stede Bonnet''' - The "Gentleman Pirate," Steve was a former plantation owner from Barbados who got fed up with always being in debt and his nagging wife, so he decided to become a pirate. Bonnet is supposedly one of the pirates who originated "Walking the Plank." [[Noobs|Despite his gross inexperience]], he was able to attract a crew by promising a guaranteed wage as opposed to a share of plunder. Things went relatively well until he got bamboozled by Blackbeard (yes THAT Blackbeard) into giving up command of his ship and effectively became a hostage. He was later bamboozled again by Blackbeard and swore revenge, in which he surprisingly became a more competent pirate. But he was captured before he had the chance. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vrGf4nJWVOU Dramatic Reenactment now included!]

*'''Felix von Luckner''' - Nicknamed "The Sea Devil", he is the best example of a Lawful pirate (okay, privateer) in RPG terms. Commissioned as an officer in the Kaizerlische Marine during WWI, he was given command of a three-master (at a time where most boats had switched to steam) with orders to do some commerce raiding and make himself a pain in the hindquartes of the Allies. And he did so. Beautifully. In less than one year, Luckner captured and sank no less than fifteen ships through guile and superior seamanship. And the best part? he did so barely ever firing a shot. Over his entire career, he and his crew killed only a single enemy soldier (a poor soul unlucky enough to be right next to a steam line that ruptured when Luckner ordered the enemy's radio shot). For the rest, he made sure everyone was safe and sound before sending his prizes to the bottom. And when he just became overburdened with prisoners, he ordered the latest his prizes to throw the cargo overboard and bring all his prisoners to a neutral country, and then they'd all be free. A pirate and and gentleman indeed!

==Famous Fictional Pirates==

(For the sake of keeping things brief, we'll ignore Vidya pirates, and try keep it to Movie and Book pirates that your parents or nephews/nieces are likely to have heard of, depending on your age.)

*'''Long John Silver''', from ''Treasure Island''.
*'''Captain Hook''', from ''Peter Pan''.
*'''Jack Sparrow''' and '''Hector Barbarossa''' from ''Pirates of the Caribbean''
** For that matter, the ride Pirates are of interest.
*'''Captain Blood''', from the book series and movie of the same name.
*'''Captain Harlock''', space pirate.
*''One Piece'' has a quite a few. We'll not list them, as it would take ''forever'', just like the manga.
*'''Captain Nemo''', from ''Twenty Thousand Leagues Under The Sea''.
*'''One-Eyed Willy''', from ''The Goonies''.
*'''Pirate Jenny''', from the song of the same name.
*'''The Dread Pirate Roberts''', from ''[[The Princess Bride]]''.
*Many, many advertising pirates.

== Types of Pirate ==
[[File:Piratepainting.jpg|300px|thumb|right|Why do we bury our treasure? Why don't we spend it? On nice things? Or things we like?]]

'''Buccaneers''' - The classic, the archetype, the most iconic of all pirates that feature in almost in every media. From 1650 to 1720, empires like France and England wanted to develop their own colonial empires in the Caribbean. Problem was, the Spanish got there first, and at the time they had the most powerful navy. However, they also had massive treasure fleets, so the English began paying privateers to raid the Spanish whenever they were at war; but as soon as the war ended, there was a surplus of heavily armed ships that decided to turn pirate to stay in business. And with the ever-growing sea trade, piracy was the norm, especially when some colonial governors encouraged this behavior with an unofficial policy of "no peace past the line." Piracy was so lucrative that most of Nassau's population were pirates. The archetypal pirate captain is known for wearing eye patches, owning a pet parrot, and having a hook for an arm and a peg leg, which shows that this guy is a badass when he lost most of his limbs yet is still able to fight. They are also known for having a black skeleton flag, named the Jolly Roger (see above) while sailing a ship with a fuck load of cannons (if they are rich enough). In regards to the popular legend of successful pirates burying their treasure; this was largely a myth perpetuated by Treasure Island. Pirates ended up taking most of their ill-gotten goods in the form of trade goods which had to be sold or bartered off, and the average pirate hand would piss away most of their gold on boozing and whoring. Pirate captains who could accumulate large amounts of solid metal currency ''would'' bury treasure in very specific circumstance. It wasn't done out of some odd ritual or anything grand, but for for insurance (and even then, only did it sparingly): in the event that they were captured, they'd use their hidden loot as a bargaining chip to prevent them from proverbially (and sometimes literally) walking the plank. This didn't work all the time, as the captors either couldn't be bribed or didn't buy the story. Still, the mystique of a lost and forgotten treasure trove just waiting to be discovered made for great stories in taverns full of adventurers, so legends about buried treasure persisted throughout the centuries in fictional writing.

'''Privateers''' - Not pirates per se, but many pirates started out as privateers. These were privately owned Armed Mechantmen who were employed by their home country to raid enemy supply lines (or in rare cases, rival nations that are not at war). Typically a privateer carried "Letters of Marque and Reprisal" to show the legality of their actions; it was only if they stepped outside the bounds of the letter or otherwise lost it that they'd become pirates. Some were even captained by commissioned officers of their host nation and provided access to naval facilities and supplies as defacto navy vessels. But even so, enemy nations would sometimes ignore the letters of marque (not without justification, since letters would often be rendered invalid or else forged easily enough to fool the illiterate) and hang captured crews as pirates instead of kept as prisoners of war. Nevertheless, there was rarely a shortage of eager sailors for privateering, as the potential pay for taking a ship as a prize was very lucrative. Of course the opposite was also true; under King George's Act of Grace, former pirates who renounced their ways would be pardoned and hired as privateers to raid the Spanish.

'''[[Vikings]]''' - Scandinavian pirates with badass beards. Despite common depictions, their helmets did not have horns. Existed long before the Caribbean pirates, and they sure made themselves famous all over medieval Europe. They are also responsible for being the ancestors of 90% of the Caucasians thanks to their continent wide rape-demic.

'''Corsairs''' - Also known as Barbary pirates. They mainly came from North Africa and most of their attacks were focused on capturing slaves rather than stealing loot. They operated primarily in the Mediterranean sea, but were known to sail as far north as Iceland. Nations could avoid having their ships attacked if they paid a steep tribute to the Barbary states; it wasn't until the early 19th century that Western nations decided to fuck that noise and steamrolled them (This steamrolling is the source of "The Shores of Tripoli" in the US Marines' Hymn). Though the term usually refers to pirates in service to specific nations.

'''Modern Pirates''' - [[Grimdark|Mostly just poor 3rd world uneducated people who are survivors of various wars and regimes.]] They are not exactly primitive uneducated however, since some of them were former fishermen who had knowledge about the sea, war veterans who specialize in weaponry, as well as technical experts who operates on electronic devices like GPS devices, [[Freebooterz|but they are still too green]] when compare to the [[Imperial Navy|actual navy]]. Not to mention the days when any wannabe pirate could find a merchant ship, arm her with some cannons and then go toe-to-toe with a genuine military ship have ''long'' since past. They are armed with many modern-day weapons from assault rifles to rocket launchers that were salvaged from the conflict. They raid the Gulf of Aden, the Gulf of Guinea, the Straits of Malacca, and Indian Ocean using just skiffs and can travel hundreds of miles from home. Their targets tend to be two varieties: either slow commercial ships held hostage for steep ransoms, or oil tankers that they siphon raw petroleum to sell on the black market. They tend to be on the skinny side due to the lack of food and health care, and they are not fun and games because of that, since most of them just want to survive and they had to turn to piracy when they have no choice due to the terrible living condition in a typical post-war country. So in short, they what Buccaneers were mostly like once you strip away the Romanticism. Modern Piracy is still popular in places like Africa and Asia, and actually costs the companies anywhere from hundreds of millions to billions in losses. Due to this, its not uncommon to see heavily armed mercenaries aboard civilian freighters in high-risk shipping lanes to deter pirates from boarding and there are permanent international task forces deployed in areas with chronic problems. The modus operandi ranges from firing warning shots to force a surrender to straight up perforating the boat with CIWS fire. Cargo ships in turn have Private Military Contractors with sometimes better than military issue gear, water cannons and other deterrence factors. Occasionally a navy logistics ship gets mistaken for a cargo ship by pirates, leading to hilarity.

'''Internet Pirates''' - Hackers who "illegally" download foreign internet goods like manga scan, anime, books or newly released video games for free (though sometimes they do hack, acquire and release data that shady corporations want to hide or make certain douches pay for their crimes like Anonymous does from time to time). As technology advanced and the invention of 3D printer came along, the "pirate" is able to download miniature blue prints for 3D printers.

===The "Pirate Accent"===
We all know and love pirate-speak, what with all its "YAAAAR!"s and "YO-HO-HO!"s and all, but something to keep in mind, at least as far as historical pirates are concerned; most scholars agree that there is no universal "pirate accent," and that most of today's perceptions of it stems from the 1950 Disney film ''Treasure Island'', and the Dorset accent of Robert Newton's Long John Silver. While the West Country of England certainly has a long maritime history, keep in mind that pirates came from just about any sea-faring society, so you're more likely to see a blend of accents and even languages around busy trade routes and other piracy hotspots, such as the Caribbean or the East Indies.

== Fictional Pirates ==
'''Swashbucklers''' - The Noblebright side of the Fantasy pirate coin. Swashbucklers actually overlap with genres outside of pirate fiction, such as with the Three Musketeers or Zorro, but their are plenty of pirate examples too. These guys are basically buccaneers who seek adventure and right wrongs. They may be exiled princes or other political fugitives forced into a life of outlawry. They are also masters of swordplay and trickery; so basically they're more akin to musketeers or Zorro, but with ships of their own. Think of Dread Pirate Roberts from the Princess Bride or Captain Blood.

'''Dread Pirates''' - The [[Grimdark]] side of the Fantasy Pirate coin. Not to be confused with the legend that Dread Pirate Roberts cooked up for himself; these guys are the real deal. Take a buccaneer and mix in the supernatural or even eldritch. This type of Pirate frequently appears as the antagonist in the Pirates of the Carribean movies. See Ghost Pirates for a specific subset below.

'''Space Pirates''' - You know pirates, BUT IN SPACE! A seemly possible concept. After all, the golden age of piracy happened because the naval powers in those day struggled to maintain power on the edges of their empire (new world) and the vast wealth they were extracting, which meant pirates had a reason to exist. Eventually, the great powers managed to extend control across the fullness of their empires and pirates ran out of room for safe harbors, ports and so on. In space however, it is is infinite enough to run around from any Space Navy, and if there are enough valuables goods trades between planets, one could have an reason to do so. On paper piracy in space does seem possible, contingent of course on the idea of there being FTL drive of some sort, else our pirates have to be in stasis 99% of the time. Since space has no oxygen, pirates had to wear concealed power armor to board ships in order to loot and plunder. In some indie games like FTL, the crew can use teleportation device to board enemy ship without space suit, the same goes to the lighting strike ability in battlefleet gothic armada. And instead of making you walk the plank, they'll just throw you out the airlock. Another common convention is hidden bases on remote asteroids or space stations that don't orbit anything (which Star Wars dubs a "shadowport"). Despite rumors of this happening already, the only recorded crimes committed in space is a white collar crime involving somebody illegally accessing their spouse's bank records during a divorce dispute.

'''Ghost Pirates''' - it is said if some pirates are too badass to die, they become ghost and continue to terrorize ships for fun. Some said it was the caused of some voodoo curses, other thinks they are just too tough to stay in hell. These dead pirate sail in literal ghost ships that are seemly broken pirate ships crawling with moses and maggots while being seemly impervious to cannon fire. [[Vampire Counts|SPOOOOOKYYY]].

'''[[Airship|Airship Pirates]]''' - [[AWESOME|Piracy in the sky with steampunk technology]]. They'll still say "Yarr!" and "Avast!" but their clothing is decidedly more Victorian instead of Baroque, with lots of goggles and brass thrown in. [[Kharadron Overlords|Let's not forget the short legged version]] for [[Age of Sigmar]]. There is exactly ONE example of [[airship]] piracy in history: when the German Zeppelin L23 captured a Norwegian schooner during the first world war. An instance of an airship ''privateer'' '''may''' have existed with the U.S. World War II blimp Resolute, which was reported in 1946 to have been the last use of the United State's power to issue a letter of marque, as part of a legal wrangling to put a civilian vessel into the chain of command rather than intending it loot anything, but no record of this mark being issued exists.

'''Warhammer Fantasy Pirates''' - A lot of pirates tend to operate either in the seas near Tilea or around Lustria, where there's always opportunities for gold-hungry adventurers (though death is also a high probability due to disease or dismemberment by dinosaurs). There's several different varieties:

* Most famously are the [[Warriors of Chaos|Norscans]] being the fantasy equivalent of Vikings, in that they like to wreck the Empire's shit by raiding their border and would also took the opportunity to explore the new world for plunder and destruction in the name of their gods. The Norscan are nature born sea faring adventurer that back in the old day, a Norscan by the name Losteriksson being also the first old world to settle in the new world Lustria. There he became famous after plundered the shit out of it and founded a coast settlement named after his daughter that was born on this land: Skeggi, then encourage even more Norscan to have a piece at the place despite its seemly high mortality rate from jungle disease, wild cold ones and Lizardmen. The Skaeling tribe in particular is famed for their seafaring. [[Wulfrik the Wanderer]] uses a magic longship to teleport anywhere whenever he wants or needs (because chaos gods) to go wreck some fools.

*[[Dark Elf]] Corsairs using Black Arks (which are city-sized FLYING ships) in their raids and like to take captives hostage to be sold into slavery. [[Lokhir Fellhart]] is a famous example, who likes to wear Cthulhu-looking mask that he likely looted from Lizardmen.

*The [[Zombie Pirates]] were a White Dwarf army list under the leadership of [[Luthor Harkon]], who formerly worked for [[Abhorash]] before striking out on his own for Lustria and establishing his own goddamn kingdom called the Vampire Coast. And with all the dead bodies of unfortunate sailors, he's got plenty of recruiting opportunities. Another undead admiral operating in the area is Captain Noctlis of the [[Dreadfleet]], a Von Carstein vampire who teleported his entire freaking castle into the Galleon Graveyard, and thanks to the mighty technosorceries of vydiagaems they are a fully fledged faction in the Total Warhammer.

*There are also the Sartosan Pirates of the Principality of Sartosa (aka: AN ENTIRE NATION OF PIRATES) that lies south of Tilea. One of the most famous Sartosan pirates is the sea mutant [[Aranessa Saltspite]], rumored to be the daughter of the sea god himself.

'''[[Warhammer 40K]] Pirates''' - Ranging from [[Red Corsairs|chaos worshiper]], [[Dark Eldar|sadistic spiky ear slave trader]], [[Eldar Corsairs|cunning spiky ear glass cannon]] and the fucking [[Freebooterz|orks]], they are all badasses. [[Rogue Traders]] probably count as pirates too (corsairs would be the most accurate term), but they are first and foremost explorers of the Imperium (otherwise is [[HERESY]] and would probably be anally raped by inquisitions ship's nova cannon, or an [[exterminatus|cyclonic torpedo]]) but of course, unless they were pillage and plunder a xeno ship, is fine lol. For /tg/ brewed 40K pirates, see [[Black Locks]] who are both pirates and [[Space Marines]]. There is also at least [[Space Sharks|one known loyalist chapter]] that does piratey things like abducting the entire population of a loyalist planet to bolster the ranks of their recruits and chapter serfs, but they work far from the Imperium, and don't really have the opportunity for easily recruited manpower. Desperate times...

'''[[Manga|One Piece]]''' - As the pirate king, Gold Roger, was executed, he told everyone that he hid his treasure at the ass-end of the world, kickstarting a golden age of piracy! Some are using this chance to amass riches or oppress the weak, others just want to be free from the dictatorial World Government. The world is vast and uncharted, people get anime superpowers by eating cursed fruit or training really hard, and there exist sea monsters that are bigger than your ship. [[Fun|Have fun]]!

'''[[Samus|Space Pirates from the Metroid Series]]''' - while not being human and lacking the Caribbean pirate stereotype, [[Rak'gol|they are aliens that like to raid and destroy vessels while trying to be the biggest of dicks to every other species, especially the Federation]]. They are led by Mother Brain with Ridley, a species of cyborg/gargoyle/dragon alien being their military commander. They all got shit on by [[Samus]] unfortunately...non-stop.

==Worldbuilding And Moral Considerations==

===Morality===
How evil a Pirate in a given setting defaults to has a few inputs that are worth considering:

* [[Slavery]] is a big one. If the people they're raiding practice slavery and the pirates don't, that's a very serious point in the favor of the Pirate (in fact, it was exactly this moral ambiguity that gave the Buccaneers what good press they had) especially if they free slaves. If it's the other way around (slave raiders on free peoples), the resulting pirates are probably evil villains, full stop.
**Keep in mind that many people adore Jack Sparrow for simply saying "People aren't cargo mate", which was Jack Sparrows entire descent into piracy to begin with.
* How badly they treat captured crews. If they let them go once they've robbed the cargo holds, they probably are considered more "moral" than if they kill or enslave anybody who sees them. (Hostage taking may or may not count for this purpose; if it's purely for ransom, it's in a gray area, with the shade depending on how well the hostage is treated.)
** Enforced enrollment in the pirate crew is on the evil side, and also somewhat on the stupid side--having a bunch of people who don't want to be there as crew on a ship is usually a bad idea when mutiny is a problem, but even proper navys were known to occasionally Impress/conscript the unwilling. Hell the war of 1812 began in part over the British doing just this.
* How badly non-pirate sailors are treated by their captains: when the Navy press-gangs and keelhauls their crew, a pirate ship is easily seen as a bastion of freedom in contrast.
* [https://youtu.be/XaWU1CmrJNc Pirates who don't do anything] are a thing in media. As they don't do the pirate thing, they usually don't count as pirates.
* How prone they are to mutiny is also a consideration; although any pirate crew is liable to mutiny, the causes of said mutiny can be important in determining morality. If you're sailing under Bill the Bastard has random crewmen flogged and branded for looking at him funny, stealing his hat while he's wearing it and original sin while never giving out a fair cut of the pay and hogging all the Grog from himself, mutiny is an extreme if understandable response.
* What do they spend their plunder on. Most pirates spend their booty on upkeep of their ship, cannons, guns, swords, booze, food, fancy things and, well, Booty. But some will also spend it on their families while others decide to give some of it to an orphanage or school or something in their home port.
* Privateers, mentioned above, are usually considered more "moral" than their freelancing counterparts. ''Usually''.

Note that multiple kinds of Pirates can exist in a given setting, each with their own niche in the Alignment Chart (Even Lawful Good, Neutral Good and Lawful Neutral depending on where you draw the line between lawful navy executing 'commerce raiding' and piracy), although given the nature of Piracy, only a few Privateers will be Lawful of any kind.

===Worldbuilding Considerations===

The big one: Pirates need a safe port of some kind to operate (ships require a lot of maintenance that can only be done when at rest, and the pirates need to be able to sell or trade their captured goods). This has many subtle implications, with a few possibilities:

* The Pirates are effectively sponsored by some port. This implies either full state sponsorship of some kind, or a state that effectively doesn't care about their raiding, usually because the Pirates in question only target the enemies of whoever owns the port. French Tortuga and Dutch Curacao were like this, being effectively surrounded by a target rich environment full of Spanish and ruled by governors who simply did not give a flip about what happened at sea. In particular, Curaco's natural harbor with a tight channel overlooked by a fort on a ridge made it practically impossible to raid from sea, so the Dutch DID NOT care how angry the Spanish got with them over piracy because nothing short of an invasion would dislodge them.
* The Pirates are disguising where their goods are coming from. This is harder then it sounds, as ships are usually easily identified, and any port that cares about contraband will almost certainly be interested in the origins of whatever goods are coming into it.
* The Pirates are operating on a frontier. Small colonies and settlements are usually much less concerned about the legitimacy of cargo if its something they can use. They may not be able to pay very much for it, but they often can pay in other ways such as provisions and repairs.
* Pirates who figure they can operate their own port are usually faced with the fact that most of the people who engage in piracy are not exactly reliable sorts, which is what is desperately needed in order to have a functioning port.

Further, you need to have cargo worth capturing. A lot of stuff that gets shipped is very hard to sell, not just because it is the proverbial "hot goods", but because it is effectively worth money only to the right buyer (who is usually in one of those ports that care about contraband). You need something that is both valuable, and a commodity. Historically, sugar qualified, as did tobacco and other luxury goods; of particular interest here is exotic pets, such as monkeys and, yes, parrots (really any large feathered birds, since feather quills were used as pens). Whale oil (used in lamps) was another hot item, with whaling ships often making easy targets returning from hunts. But whatever the cargo, there is a fine line of intersecting interests, between the risks of accepting stolen goods, the risks of stealing them in the first place, and the potential profit. Of course, there's always robbing payroll ships, but if they were easy to hit everyone would do it.

For a nation whose government is fairly loose and rudimentary, the distinction between "Pirate", "Honest Trader" and "Navy" is sometimes difficult to make. Many pirates would prefer to go after foreign prey rather than people from their home ports. A down on his luck merchant captain might try to steal the stuff from a rival ship from a rival country if the choice is "make a profit, pay the crew, eliminate some of the competition and live to sail another day" or "starve to death/have a mutiny for unpaid wages/have the ship founder for disrepair/go bankrupt". Privateer work was common in times of war when said actions got sanctioned and sometimes a merchantman could have a few extra guns put on her and be made into a ghetto warship.

To complicate matters even further, even powerful and well-organized nations like France and England had 'prize money' laws in place that made capturing enemy vessels and their cargo a very attractive prospect: any ship captured at sea and its cargo became ''de jure'' property of the crown, but the king would generously compensate the crews with money/valuables once the prize was brought in. On top of that it wasn't uncommon at all for the winner of a naval engagement to quietly enroll any surviving sailor to replace losses and/or keep manning their now captured ship (the defeated sailors were generally down with this since the alternative was usually sitting in the hold in chains), no matter their nationality; so even a 'national' crew from an 'official' Navy ship could sound like a weird mix of freebooters hauling their capture in when coming into port.

If you get enough pirates in an area, they might come together and found a town. It starts off in some place with a natural harbor to shelter in storms and repair their ships between fights. Then crews begin swapping stuff if one of them has a surplus of gunpowder and the other has a surplus of food and similar. A couple of guys are left behind from each crew (as well as captives) to collect timber, first when it's expected that there will be some damage taken in the near future and latter more regularly around a growing logging camp. A couple of docks go up to make things go more smoothly, as does a forge or two and a couple of vegetable gardens. If there are native peoples in the area they start showing up to trade, or occasionally raid necessitating some basic defenses.

Then some enterprising pirate cobbles together a pub, selling plundered Beer, Grog and Rum to passing pirates and shore-side workers at first and soon enough is brewing there own, especially when a few full fledged farms get going to provide produce. Soon enough the Pub has some prostitutes and by extension some bastards. Tents and lean-tos are replaced by small cottages and shanties and after that houses. Workshops gradually come together and more and more of the population becomes permanent.

Soon you get a thriving and lively if disorderly and dangerous new settlement, which attracts the attention of whatever state power claims control over the area. A governor and garrison will be dispatched who start keeping out the roughest sorts, and things settle down into a more quiet and businesslike place much to the chagrin of old timers who miss the gold old days of loose women, hearty songs, exciting brawls and the odd knifings which made things dangerous and interesting.

==[[Pathfinder Second Edition]]==
{{dnd-stub}}
An archetype where you master the ins and outs of fighting on ships. It was originally a rather limited archetype that appeared on the 2018 playtest before vanishing. It would show up again in the Advanced Player's Guide, looking just as small when compared to other archetypes. This is likely because it's already relying on two other skills with feats that would otherwise overlap with it: Athletics (which helps with rope climbing) and Intimidation.

The prerequisites for entry pretty much boil down to "look scary" (read: trained in Intimidation) and in exchange, you can walk on boats without issue, learn lore about sailing and gain a special action that pretty much lets you go [[Errol Flynn]] and swing your sword while swinging on a rope.

{{Pathfinder-2nd-Edition-Archetypes}}

==Mordheim Pirate Warbands==
One of the more popular "semi-official" [[Mordheim]] warbands, pirate warbands are based on the simple facts that a) there have always been pirates in the Empire, b) the Empire relies heavily on river-conducted trade, and c) this meant the titular city was a big port before the [[warpstone]] meteor hit. So now you have plenty of bold and/or crazy pirates sailing up to the ruined dock and daring to launch raids into the city.

As a warband, Pirates of Mordheim have the special rules ''Ship-Based'' (if you hire both [[elf]] and [[dwarf]] Hired Swords simultaneously, increase their upkeep by '''+20 gold pieces''', as the tight confines of the ship exacerbate their racial animosity) and '''Shanghai'''. This is their mainstay special rule, and what it means is that pirates can actually swell their own ranks by recruiting captured enemies or even the random survivors of Mordheim. Because there are several situations where a pirate crew can successfully shanghai a person, this rule gets complicated...
* Firstly: a Pirate Captain can only attempt to shanghai '''normal human''' warband members; nonhumans refuse to obey or are too dangerous even for pirates to keep, whilst Hired Swords and Special Characters have no interest in the pirate life.
* When an enemy Hero is Captured, instead of exchanging/ransoming them or selling them, the Pirate Captain can attempt to convince them to join the crew. Roll 2d6 and add the Leadership of the Captain, then do the same for the captured Hero, adding +1 to he roll of whichever side won the fight. If the Captain wins, then the Hero defects and joins his crew, becoming a normal Crewman - this includes resetting his ability scores and skills if necessary and swapping all his gear for stuff from the Pirate Equipment list. If the Hero wins, then the Captain simply pressgangs him; the Hero retains his original skills and stats, but loses all his gear for stuff from the Swabbie list and can be deployed as a Swabbie in subsequent battles. Presumably, if the Pirates Rout against a shanghaied Hero-turned-Swabbie's former warband, he rejoins them.
* When the Pirates win a battle against an enemy warband, roll a d6 for each enemy Henchman that was killed (1-2 on their post-game roll after being taken Out of Action); on a 4+, they actually weren't killed, but were instead dragged back to the pirate ship and patched up. The Pirate Captain can attempt to shanghai them in the same manner as a captured hero, as described above.
* If the Pirates discover a Straggler when exploring Mordheim, the Pirate Captain can attempt to shanghai the half-crazed survivor instead of the other options. This requires making a simple Leadership check for the Captain; if he passes, then you gain a free Swabbie (the Straggler is too bonkers to make it as a crewman).
* Similarly, if the pirates discover Survivors when exploring Mordheim, the Pirate Captain can attempt to recruit them. Roll a d3 to see how many survivors there are, then make a Leadership check for the Captain for each Survivor. If successful, the survivor eagerly joins and becomes a Crewman; they can either start a new unit as a basic Crewman, or be added to an existing unit, whereupon their Exp and Stats match their brethren. If the check fails, however, the Suvivor is reluctantly pressganged, and so becomes a Swabbie.

Like all Mordheim warbands, you start with 500 gold pieces to outfit your Pirate Crew, which can be no larger than 15 models.

A Pirate Warband's leader is, of course, the '''Pirate Captain''' - you must start with one of these guys! They start with 20 EXP and can gain special skills from all of the standard skill tables (Combat, Shooting, Academic, Strength, Speed) as well as the ''Pirate Skills'' table. They cost 60 gold, have the ''Leader'' rule, and start with M4, WS4, BS3, S3, T3, W1, I3, A1 and LD8.

'''Ship's Mates''' are your standard secondary hero; you can have 0-2 of these in your crew. Ship's Mates cost 35 gold to hire and start with 8 experience as well as M4, WS4, BS3, S3, T3, W1, I2, A1 and LD7. They have the ''Inheritor'' special rule; if your Captain gets killed, then one of the Mates will take over the warband, just like how the standard Mercenary warband uses Champions to take over. They can learn Combat, Shooting, Strength and Pirate skills.

'''Cabin Boys''' are the obligatory "bare-faced recruit" type hero. 0-2 of these guys, who cost 15 gold to hire and start with 0 EXP and M4, WS2, BS2, S3, T3, W1, I3, A1 and LD6. They can learn Combat, Shooting, Speed and Pirate skills.

Now, for Henchman... your standard henchmen are, of course, the humble '''Crew''' or "Crewmen". 25 gold to hire, and statted up with M4, WS3, BS3, S3, T3, W1, I2, A1 and LD7. You can have any number of crewmen you like.

'''Gunners''' are the ship's cannoneers and marksmen; you can only have 0-2 of these guys, and they have the same stats and cost as the Crew, but they get access to some more firearms - blunderbusses, handguns and swivel guns (aka miniature cannons), specifically, alongside the pistol and duelist pistols that regular crewmen and Heroes ca take. They technically have a special rule in "Swivel Guns is Dangerous, Matey!" but that's more a rule about the Swivel Gun - namely, you can only take 1 Swivel Gun in your warband, and the bearer splits off to form an independent unit, because nobody's stupid enough to stand too close to somebody carrying a miniature cannon that could go off like a bomb at any moment.

'''Boatswains''' are the ship's riggers, and make excellent scouts in Mordheim. They cost 32 gold, have the same stats as a Crewman, and you can only take 0-5 of them. They start play with a Rope & Hook and will never, ''ever'' part with it. They also have the special rule ''Expert Riggers'', which lets them reroll failed Initiative tests made to climb a rope, leap a gap, jump down, or perform a diving charge.

Finally, there are the '''Swabbies'''. You can have 0-5 of these, and you can only recruit them via the aforementioned Shanghai rule, though in a one-off game you get 2 Swabbies for free. Statwise, they have M4, WS2, BS2, S3, T3, W1, I3, A1 and LD6. They also have the largest amount of special rules of any model in the warband:
* ''Not Hired:'' You don't pay for Swabbies, you Shanghai them.
* ''Never Gain Experience''
* ''Rabble:'' You can give a unit of Swabbies any mixture of weapons that you like. Swabbies gained by capturing heroes do not benefit from spellcasting ablities or skills they had before.
* ''"Blimey, they got away!":'' If the Pirates Rout, all Swabbies who had left the table on previous turns successfully escape; remove them from the warband roster.
* ''"Don't mind them mates, they ain't true pirates!":'' Swabbies who run or get taken out of action don't count for the purposes of taking a Rout test.

The Pirate skill table consists of:
#: '''Sea Shanty Singer:''' At the start of Close Combat, the Hero can burst into song, forcing one opponent in base contact to pass an LD test or lose 1 attack for the turn. Doesn't work on non-living targets.
#: '''Sea Legs:''' If the Hero Falls, roll a d3; on a 4+, ignore all hits caused by falling. Additionally, if the hero is knocked down or stunned when within 1" of a precipice, they can reroll their Initiate test to avoid falling.
#: '''Cutlass Master:''' If the Hero is both equipped with a sword and in closed quarters (in cover, in a building, within 2" of a terrain feature, etc), then the Hero can Parry by rolling equal to the To Hit roll, as well as by rolling higher.
#: '''Booming Voice:''' Only Captains can have this skill; reroll for other characters. Once per turn, if on his feet and not engaged in close combat, the Captain can target a single pirate within 8" who has either faileds their test to see if they will flee combat or who failed their test to stop fleeing. The targeted pirate can immediately reroll their test.
#: '''Hardy Constitution:''' When the Hero takes a Critical Hit, roll a d6; on a 5+, the Critical Hit is downgraded to just a normal hit.
#: '''Swashbuckler:''' At the end of any Hand-to-Hand phase in which he is in base contact with an enemy model, his own or the opponent's, the Hero can make an LD test. If successful, the Hero can immediately make a normal movement away from the enemy without taking any hits.

==Gallery==
<gallery>
Image:Capt phip abud.gif| Abduwali Muse, a modern somali pirate portray by Somali-American actor Barkhad Abdi. Also a meme, apparently.
Image:Abduwali Muse.jpg| The actual Abduwali Muse. Sentenced to over 33 years in U.S. federal prison.
</gallery>

==See Also==
*[[Dreadfleet]]
*[[Man O' War]]
*[[Poison'd]]
[[Category:History]]

Vikings

2021-11-12T16:05:45Z

2406:3400:20F:FFC0:F062:7070:B9C0:9588: /* Viking Longships */

{{Topquote|It was not as if we'd stayed home and wasted our lives drinking wine with pretty girls.|A recurring motif in the Lay of Kraka}}
[[Image:VikingShip.jpg|500px|thumb|right|A Viking Longship, A thirty meter long can o' [[rape]] (literally) back in the day.]]
'''Vikings''' were Scandinavian people from the 8th to 11th century, a period in which societies based in Denmark, Norway and Sweden, making use of their long-ships set forth to trade and colonize areas including Northern France, the British Isles, Russia, Iceland, Greenland and even reached North America (though the settlements they set up there did not last). They also made a habit of bathing and washing their hands frequently, which at the time was unheard of among the peoples of Europe. Probably because they had to have about two dozen dudes on a small boat for a long time, so you would regularly bathe if you didn't want to be [[That Guy]]. They only stopped when France, of all countries, rolled a nat 20 on Diplomacy by offering Normandy (deriving its name from the French word for Vikings, meaning Northmen), the northern part of France to duke Rollo. One of his descendents by the name of William (the Conqueror) ended up with a claim to the throne of a place populated with Anglo-Saxons named Anglo-land (later known as England), and ultimately became its king. So in other words, in an attempt to stop Viking raids, France ended up creating what became their arch-enemy for 800 years, making it one of the biggest cases of [[not as planned]] in history.

[[file:Movie_game_viking_vs_historical_viking.png|400px|thumb|right|Only equalled by the [[Ninja]] in this regard]]
Unlike popular belief, they did not wear horned helmets. This is for the practical reason that a big horned helmet might catch a sword unintentionally, which is all sorts of bad for the wearer; horned helmets were used on occasion, but only for ceremony. The ol' "horn-headed people eater" image was popularized during the 1800s. In general actually, historical Vikings don't have much in common with their pop-culture image aside from longships and fondness for raiding, as the pop-culture image tends to be that of a barbaric dirty warrior carrying unwieldy weapons and wearing stinky fur and leather clothes when in reality, Vikings appreciated hygiene as mentioned above, groomed their beards and had clean clothes, making them in many ways more civilized than rest of Europe at the time. Their weapons consisted mostly of simple spears, bearded axes and dane axes and of course the trusty round shield. While most Vikings had helmets, few had swords or armor as they were very expensive at the time. The pop-culture image of dirty barbarians derives mostly from the fact that history comes mostly from the writings of the Anglo-Saxons and the French, as in, those who were raided by the Vikings so naturally they didn't have particularly good or unbiased image of them.

As a final note "Viking" is not a noun, but a verb. Proper usage would be something like "Hey Olaf, I'm bored and need some spending money, want to go viking?" (The noun form would be ''víkingr'', a person who goes ''viking''). The people who went Viking were known as Norse.

==Culture==
Vikings believed that when they died in battle (preferably in a totally fuck-awesome way) they would go to a place called Valhalla to become one of the Einherjar (Chosen Slain) or to Fólkvangr (the realm controlled by Freyja, the Nordic goddess of love, prosperity, spring and being foxy as hell; also a death goddess and war goddess, which is why she gets half the chosen warriors in the first place), where they would chug booze, [[List of /tg/ Cuisine|eat all the meat and cheese they wanted]], and (if that actually managed to get dull) participate in massive murderfests only to be fully healed the next day and ready to do it all over again. On the other hand, if they died in bed or in a totally lame way (such as AIDs or cancer or... actually anywhere but battle is lame) they would instead go to a totally boring place called Hel where NOTHING FUCKING HAPPENED! '''EVER!''' (As you might imagine, this became problematic for many of their folk heroes who were just that fucking hard to kill). And if ''that'' weren't bad enough, people who committed what the vikings saw as the unforgivable sins, like oathbreaking, went to a prison overseen by the goddess of the dead. The ceiling is made from the bones of serpents, which drip burning venom, the halls are waist-deep in cold, slimy blood, and there is nothing to drink but goats piss and nothing to eat but rotten food (basically a Minnesota Vikings game, but one that never ends and the weather's always bad). The exception is if you died while giving birth, then you got go to Valhalla; the vikings were surprisingly fair for their day in their attitudes towards the sexes.

That said, there was the ''third'' way to die. Dying at sea was totally cool for the Vikings, for while the Battle-junkies went to Valhalla and Freya, and the lame ones went to Hel, the Sea-Bears went to the Halls of Aegir, god of the sea, where they got their own Watery Valhalla.

Vikings aren't known for being peaceful or nice, [https://historycollection.com/16-facts-about-the-brutality-of-viking-life/ there's good reasons Vikings have a reputation for brutality]. In short, showing one's strength and fighting were valued parts of the society and their beliefs included animal and human sacrifices to the gods (even Thor, considered a bro-tier member of the Norse pantheon, was given such sacrifices). Plus standard procedure during raids was to enslave, rape and/or kill the non-Viking people they encountered. Afterwards, the Vikings would [[Blood_Ravens#Bloody_Magpies|steal ''everything'' they could carry.]] If it couldn't be carried, they'd ''burn'' it. If they couldn't burn it they'd ''''SMASH'''' it! And remember, [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turgesius they weren't above attacking people or places that couldn't defend themselves, sometimes choosing their targets ''because'' they were vulnerable].

They continued doing this until they inadvertently stole Christianity and equipped it without reading the effect text, whereupon Viking warlords started to conquer shit rather than rape, pillage and kill everything in their sight. For quite a long time a large chunk of France and Italy, and the entirety of England and Russia were ruled by Vikings or their descendants, although they all got quickly assimilated into the nations they've conquered, to the point when they started to think of themselves as French/Russians in just a two or three generations after settling in. The Vikings also had a level of prestige in the Byzantine Empire, as they were the preferred recruits for the Emperor's bodyguard, the Varangian Guard.

=== [[Mythology#Norse Mythology|Norse Mythology]] ===
Like Greek mythology, the Norse have their own version of creation, different sets of gods, and heroic stories of manly feats. [[Mythology|Here are some of them]].

Note that, much like Celtic mythology, Norse mythology was spread through oral tradition and only written down long after Scandanavia had become Christian, so there remains a massive amount of missing stories [[Skub|assuming they survived unchanged before committing the mythology to text]] (for example, while the war between the Vanir and the Aesir is mentioned, we don't actually have the full description of it, even though at one time it probably existed). Even much of what has survived should probably be taken with a grain of salt since whoever wrote it probably didn't hear about it first-hand or wanted to be syncretistic about it to help make it palpable for a Christian audience.

==In Modern Fiction==
Vikings and the honorable Neanderthals are some of the closest that the real world has ever had to [[dwarves]], but they should not be confused as such. While they had a penchant for [[axe]]s and could use anything, [[Dwarf Fortress|including body parts and broken furniture]], as a weapon, Vikings were just unspeakably awesome humans (they couldn't handle as much booze as a dwarf, though only just). Vikings that [[Toothless Dragon|rode Dragons]] even more so. Vikings are not to be confused with [[barbarian]]s either, despite any combination with the former resulting in awesome. [[Warriors of Chaos|Vikings are also notable for pledging themselves to Chaos]] and becoming [[Space Wolves|werewolf supersoldiers]].

The Vikings have also finally gotten their own TV show starring Vladimir Kullich. It is about the saga of Ragnar Lothbrok and his sons; Bjorn Ironside, Ivar the Boneless, Sigurd Snake-eye, Halfdan, Hvitserk, and Ubbe, as well as the tales of Duke Rollo of Normandy, King Harald Fairhair, and Alfred the Great of Wessex.

On a side note, most stories and documentaries about real-life Vikings demonize either the Norse/Paganism or the Saxons/Christianity (the aforementioned TV show zig-zags between them); which side gets demonized '''will''' depend on how the writers feel about the aforementioned groups.

==Viking Longships==

The thing that put the Vikings on the map were their Longships (or LongBOAT if you're not [[skub|American]]). Basically these were large canoes made from planks with a mast to catch the wind. They could, however handle rough northern seas very well, and allowed some Vikings to reach such exotic locales as Newfoundland centuries before other Europeans. One thing that helped to make the Longships such a gamechanger was that the vikings worked out that properly curing and drying out timbers it made it stronger and more resistant to being eaten at sea by nematodes and similar grody things. Another thing is that the ship didn't go much under water, which allowed it to be used in almost any river. This led to things such as a fleet of 120 ships and 5000 men suddenly appearing in the middle of Paris in 845. It was also possible to bring the mast down for increased aerodynamics and decreased risk of detection when the ship was moved by rowing.

Sometimes to save travel time, the Vikings would pull their Longships overland for kilometers. No joking, no hyperbole. A few tricks (like log rollers) helped, though. One of them (Oleg, the prince of Kievan Russ) even mounted his longships on wheels to quickly move them into Constantinople harbor, bypassing the defensive chain pulled across the path (which possibly inspired the Ottoman sultan Mehmed II when he used a similar trick to help him capture Constantinople).

Their Longships also had an [[derp|early warning system]] so that people could tell whether they were going to fuck them up or not. It's to do with the shields:
If the Shields were on the outside of their Longships, then they were coming to trade goods.
If the Shields were not on the outside of their Longships, then they were going to use them in battle, and you should prepare to fight or run for the hills (if you get that far...)

==Viking Berserkers==
There's lot of bullshit about these guys on the internet and in general beliefs. Hell, the word itself had became the synonym of uncontrollable rage in many languages. The truth, however, is quite boring - berserkers (which comes from the Old Norse for "bear hide", as it was their signature piece of clothes they wore above armor, or sometimes instead of it) were equivalents of champions in the Norse culture with a pitch of warrior-priest flavor added - i.e. the guys who fought in duels on behalf of the tribe or some wealthy noble. And Norse culture had a fuckton of things settled with duels. As best of the best professional warriors among already brutally strong vikings they kicked all kinds of asses, and were rightfully feared for their skill and bravery. As you may guess, they where quite rare, so no "hordes" or even "squads" of berserkers for you - at best you'd have two or three per raid, and most often only one. As for uncontrollable rage... well, sagas mention a total of ZERO berserkers going into what we now call "[[Khorne|berserker]] rage" - there are mentions of jarls and ordinary warriors going to battle biting shields, foaming with mad anger and killing friend and foe alike, but never berserkers. WRONG:

{{topquote|-And as the foemen's ships drew near, The dreadful din you well might hear Savage berserks roaring mad, And champions fierce in wolf-skins clad, Howling like wolves; and clanking jar.|Harald Fairhair Saga ch 19.}}
Mushroom brew painkiller that allow to fight despite heavy or even fatal wounds likewise weren't their exclusive, although proper brew (that wouldn't ruin your liver, therefore sentencing you to a lame death in your bed if you survive the battle) was quite expensive, and berserkers, as pretty much second-in-command of jarls were among those wealthy enough to afford it.

==D&D==
{{dnd-stub}}

==Pathfinder==
===1e===
Viking is a [[Fighter]] archetype from ''People of the North'', that was reprinted with small changes that buff it in ''Ultimate Wilderness''. In exchange for heavy armor, and weapon training it gives the ability to rage like a [[Barbarian]] and take rage powers in place of feats. It also replaces armor training with some bonuses to using a shield. It's not a ''terrible'' archetype, but suffers from the fact that rage+shield lacks synergy as a fighting style, weapon training being the source of most fighter support, and the question of "why don't you just play a Barbarian when you've given up everything that makes Fighter competitive with Barbarian?" having few good answers, so it winds up a suboptimal archetype.

===2e===
{{dnd-stub}}
An archetype that any class can take if you want to be a melee guy that knows some things about sailing and moving through water. You learn how to best use a shield, not be slow by wet terrain, in addition, to throw things while Running. Works well as an early investment in a sailing campaign where your often fighting in the ocean surf or in a swamp, while also dipping into additional weapon proficencys and shields usage in the same tree.

{{Pathfinder-2nd-Edition-Archetypes}}

==Gallery==
<center><gallery>
Image:Elspeth_and_Vikings.png|When [[Elspeth Tirel]] needs backup, these are the people she calls.
Image:WarbandViking.jpg| JEG SKALL DRIKKE FRA HODESKALLEN DIN!!!.
Image:Lego_Viking_ship.jpg|Pillaging colorful brick villages since 576 A.D.
</gallery></center>

==See Also==
* [[Pirate]]
*[[The Poetic Edda]]
[[Category:History]]

Vikings

2021-11-12T16:03:32Z

2406:3400:20F:FFC0:F062:7070:B9C0:9588: /* In Modern Fiction */

{{Topquote|It was not as if we'd stayed home and wasted our lives drinking wine with pretty girls.|A recurring motif in the Lay of Kraka}}
[[Image:VikingShip.jpg|500px|thumb|right|A Viking Longship, A thirty meter long can o' [[rape]] (literally) back in the day.]]
'''Vikings''' were Scandinavian people from the 8th to 11th century, a period in which societies based in Denmark, Norway and Sweden, making use of their long-ships set forth to trade and colonize areas including Northern France, the British Isles, Russia, Iceland, Greenland and even reached North America (though the settlements they set up there did not last). They also made a habit of bathing and washing their hands frequently, which at the time was unheard of among the peoples of Europe. Probably because they had to have about two dozen dudes on a small boat for a long time, so you would regularly bathe if you didn't want to be [[That Guy]]. They only stopped when France, of all countries, rolled a nat 20 on Diplomacy by offering Normandy (deriving its name from the French word for Vikings, meaning Northmen), the northern part of France to duke Rollo. One of his descendents by the name of William (the Conqueror) ended up with a claim to the throne of a place populated with Anglo-Saxons named Anglo-land (later known as England), and ultimately became its king. So in other words, in an attempt to stop Viking raids, France ended up creating what became their arch-enemy for 800 years, making it one of the biggest cases of [[not as planned]] in history.

[[file:Movie_game_viking_vs_historical_viking.png|400px|thumb|right|Only equalled by the [[Ninja]] in this regard]]
Unlike popular belief, they did not wear horned helmets. This is for the practical reason that a big horned helmet might catch a sword unintentionally, which is all sorts of bad for the wearer; horned helmets were used on occasion, but only for ceremony. The ol' "horn-headed people eater" image was popularized during the 1800s. In general actually, historical Vikings don't have much in common with their pop-culture image aside from longships and fondness for raiding, as the pop-culture image tends to be that of a barbaric dirty warrior carrying unwieldy weapons and wearing stinky fur and leather clothes when in reality, Vikings appreciated hygiene as mentioned above, groomed their beards and had clean clothes, making them in many ways more civilized than rest of Europe at the time. Their weapons consisted mostly of simple spears, bearded axes and dane axes and of course the trusty round shield. While most Vikings had helmets, few had swords or armor as they were very expensive at the time. The pop-culture image of dirty barbarians derives mostly from the fact that history comes mostly from the writings of the Anglo-Saxons and the French, as in, those who were raided by the Vikings so naturally they didn't have particularly good or unbiased image of them.

As a final note "Viking" is not a noun, but a verb. Proper usage would be something like "Hey Olaf, I'm bored and need some spending money, want to go viking?" (The noun form would be ''víkingr'', a person who goes ''viking''). The people who went Viking were known as Norse.

==Culture==
Vikings believed that when they died in battle (preferably in a totally fuck-awesome way) they would go to a place called Valhalla to become one of the Einherjar (Chosen Slain) or to Fólkvangr (the realm controlled by Freyja, the Nordic goddess of love, prosperity, spring and being foxy as hell; also a death goddess and war goddess, which is why she gets half the chosen warriors in the first place), where they would chug booze, [[List of /tg/ Cuisine|eat all the meat and cheese they wanted]], and (if that actually managed to get dull) participate in massive murderfests only to be fully healed the next day and ready to do it all over again. On the other hand, if they died in bed or in a totally lame way (such as AIDs or cancer or... actually anywhere but battle is lame) they would instead go to a totally boring place called Hel where NOTHING FUCKING HAPPENED! '''EVER!''' (As you might imagine, this became problematic for many of their folk heroes who were just that fucking hard to kill). And if ''that'' weren't bad enough, people who committed what the vikings saw as the unforgivable sins, like oathbreaking, went to a prison overseen by the goddess of the dead. The ceiling is made from the bones of serpents, which drip burning venom, the halls are waist-deep in cold, slimy blood, and there is nothing to drink but goats piss and nothing to eat but rotten food (basically a Minnesota Vikings game, but one that never ends and the weather's always bad). The exception is if you died while giving birth, then you got go to Valhalla; the vikings were surprisingly fair for their day in their attitudes towards the sexes.

That said, there was the ''third'' way to die. Dying at sea was totally cool for the Vikings, for while the Battle-junkies went to Valhalla and Freya, and the lame ones went to Hel, the Sea-Bears went to the Halls of Aegir, god of the sea, where they got their own Watery Valhalla.

Vikings aren't known for being peaceful or nice, [https://historycollection.com/16-facts-about-the-brutality-of-viking-life/ there's good reasons Vikings have a reputation for brutality]. In short, showing one's strength and fighting were valued parts of the society and their beliefs included animal and human sacrifices to the gods (even Thor, considered a bro-tier member of the Norse pantheon, was given such sacrifices). Plus standard procedure during raids was to enslave, rape and/or kill the non-Viking people they encountered. Afterwards, the Vikings would [[Blood_Ravens#Bloody_Magpies|steal ''everything'' they could carry.]] If it couldn't be carried, they'd ''burn'' it. If they couldn't burn it they'd ''''SMASH'''' it! And remember, [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turgesius they weren't above attacking people or places that couldn't defend themselves, sometimes choosing their targets ''because'' they were vulnerable].

They continued doing this until they inadvertently stole Christianity and equipped it without reading the effect text, whereupon Viking warlords started to conquer shit rather than rape, pillage and kill everything in their sight. For quite a long time a large chunk of France and Italy, and the entirety of England and Russia were ruled by Vikings or their descendants, although they all got quickly assimilated into the nations they've conquered, to the point when they started to think of themselves as French/Russians in just a two or three generations after settling in. The Vikings also had a level of prestige in the Byzantine Empire, as they were the preferred recruits for the Emperor's bodyguard, the Varangian Guard.

=== [[Mythology#Norse Mythology|Norse Mythology]] ===
Like Greek mythology, the Norse have their own version of creation, different sets of gods, and heroic stories of manly feats. [[Mythology|Here are some of them]].

Note that, much like Celtic mythology, Norse mythology was spread through oral tradition and only written down long after Scandanavia had become Christian, so there remains a massive amount of missing stories [[Skub|assuming they survived unchanged before committing the mythology to text]] (for example, while the war between the Vanir and the Aesir is mentioned, we don't actually have the full description of it, even though at one time it probably existed). Even much of what has survived should probably be taken with a grain of salt since whoever wrote it probably didn't hear about it first-hand or wanted to be syncretistic about it to help make it palpable for a Christian audience.

==In Modern Fiction==
Vikings and the honorable Neanderthals are some of the closest that the real world has ever had to [[dwarves]], but they should not be confused as such. While they had a penchant for [[axe]]s and could use anything, [[Dwarf Fortress|including body parts and broken furniture]], as a weapon, Vikings were just unspeakably awesome humans (they couldn't handle as much booze as a dwarf, though only just). Vikings that [[Toothless Dragon|rode Dragons]] even more so. Vikings are not to be confused with [[barbarian]]s either, despite any combination with the former resulting in awesome. [[Warriors of Chaos|Vikings are also notable for pledging themselves to Chaos]] and becoming [[Space Wolves|werewolf supersoldiers]].

The Vikings have also finally gotten their own TV show starring Vladimir Kullich. It is about the saga of Ragnar Lothbrok and his sons; Bjorn Ironside, Ivar the Boneless, Sigurd Snake-eye, Halfdan, Hvitserk, and Ubbe, as well as the tales of Duke Rollo of Normandy, King Harald Fairhair, and Alfred the Great of Wessex.

On a side note, most stories and documentaries about real-life Vikings demonize either the Norse/Paganism or the Saxons/Christianity (the aforementioned TV show zig-zags between them); which side gets demonized '''will''' depend on how the writers feel about the aforementioned groups.

==Viking Longships==

The thing that put the Vikings on the map were their Longships (or LongBOAT if you're not [[skub|American]]). Basically these were large canoes made from planks with a mast to catch the wind. They could, however handle rough northern seas very well, and allowed some Vikings to reach such exotic locales as Newfoundland centuries before other Europeans. One thing that helped to make the Longships such a gamechanger was that the vikings worked out that properly curing and drying out timbers it made it stronger and more resistant to being eaten at sea by nematodes and similar grody things. Another thing is that the ship didn't go much under water, which allowed it to be used in almost any river. This led to things such as a fleet of 120 ships and 5000 men suddenly appearing in the middle of Paris in 845. It was also possible to bring the mast down for increased aerodynamics and decreased risk of detection when the ship was moved by rowing.

Sometimes to save travel time, the Vikings would pull their Longships overland for kilometers. No joking, no hyperbole. A few tricks (like log rollers) helped, though. One of them (Oleg, the prince of Kievan Russ) even mounted his longships on wheels to quickly move them into Constantinople harbor, bypassing the defensive chain pulled across the path (which possibly inspired the Ottoman sultan Mehmed II when he used a similar trick to help him capture Constantinople).

Their Longships also had an [[derp|early warning system]] so that people could tell wether they were going to fuck them up or not. It's to do with the shields:
If the Shields were on the outside of their Longships, then they were coming to trade goods.
If the Shields were not on the outside of their Longships, then they were going to use them in battle, and you should run for the hills (if you get that far...)

==Viking Berserkers==
There's lot of bullshit about these guys on the internet and in general beliefs. Hell, the word itself had became the synonym of uncontrollable rage in many languages. The truth, however, is quite boring - berserkers (which comes from the Old Norse for "bear hide", as it was their signature piece of clothes they wore above armor, or sometimes instead of it) were equivalents of champions in the Norse culture with a pitch of warrior-priest flavor added - i.e. the guys who fought in duels on behalf of the tribe or some wealthy noble. And Norse culture had a fuckton of things settled with duels. As best of the best professional warriors among already brutally strong vikings they kicked all kinds of asses, and were rightfully feared for their skill and bravery. As you may guess, they where quite rare, so no "hordes" or even "squads" of berserkers for you - at best you'd have two or three per raid, and most often only one. As for uncontrollable rage... well, sagas mention a total of ZERO berserkers going into what we now call "[[Khorne|berserker]] rage" - there are mentions of jarls and ordinary warriors going to battle biting shields, foaming with mad anger and killing friend and foe alike, but never berserkers. WRONG:

{{topquote|-And as the foemen's ships drew near, The dreadful din you well might hear Savage berserks roaring mad, And champions fierce in wolf-skins clad, Howling like wolves; and clanking jar.|Harald Fairhair Saga ch 19.}}
Mushroom brew painkiller that allow to fight despite heavy or even fatal wounds likewise weren't their exclusive, although proper brew (that wouldn't ruin your liver, therefore sentencing you to a lame death in your bed if you survive the battle) was quite expensive, and berserkers, as pretty much second-in-command of jarls were among those wealthy enough to afford it.

==D&D==
{{dnd-stub}}

==Pathfinder==
===1e===
Viking is a [[Fighter]] archetype from ''People of the North'', that was reprinted with small changes that buff it in ''Ultimate Wilderness''. In exchange for heavy armor, and weapon training it gives the ability to rage like a [[Barbarian]] and take rage powers in place of feats. It also replaces armor training with some bonuses to using a shield. It's not a ''terrible'' archetype, but suffers from the fact that rage+shield lacks synergy as a fighting style, weapon training being the source of most fighter support, and the question of "why don't you just play a Barbarian when you've given up everything that makes Fighter competitive with Barbarian?" having few good answers, so it winds up a suboptimal archetype.

===2e===
{{dnd-stub}}
An archetype that any class can take if you want to be a melee guy that knows some things about sailing and moving through water. You learn how to best use a shield, not be slow by wet terrain, in addition, to throw things while Running. Works well as an early investment in a sailing campaign where your often fighting in the ocean surf or in a swamp, while also dipping into additional weapon proficencys and shields usage in the same tree.

{{Pathfinder-2nd-Edition-Archetypes}}

==Gallery==
<center><gallery>
Image:Elspeth_and_Vikings.png|When [[Elspeth Tirel]] needs backup, these are the people she calls.
Image:WarbandViking.jpg| JEG SKALL DRIKKE FRA HODESKALLEN DIN!!!.
Image:Lego_Viking_ship.jpg|Pillaging colorful brick villages since 576 A.D.
</gallery></center>

==See Also==
* [[Pirate]]
*[[The Poetic Edda]]
[[Category:History]]

Vikings

2021-11-12T16:03:12Z

2406:3400:20F:FFC0:F062:7070:B9C0:9588: /* In Modern Fiction */

{{Topquote|It was not as if we'd stayed home and wasted our lives drinking wine with pretty girls.|A recurring motif in the Lay of Kraka}}
[[Image:VikingShip.jpg|500px|thumb|right|A Viking Longship, A thirty meter long can o' [[rape]] (literally) back in the day.]]
'''Vikings''' were Scandinavian people from the 8th to 11th century, a period in which societies based in Denmark, Norway and Sweden, making use of their long-ships set forth to trade and colonize areas including Northern France, the British Isles, Russia, Iceland, Greenland and even reached North America (though the settlements they set up there did not last). They also made a habit of bathing and washing their hands frequently, which at the time was unheard of among the peoples of Europe. Probably because they had to have about two dozen dudes on a small boat for a long time, so you would regularly bathe if you didn't want to be [[That Guy]]. They only stopped when France, of all countries, rolled a nat 20 on Diplomacy by offering Normandy (deriving its name from the French word for Vikings, meaning Northmen), the northern part of France to duke Rollo. One of his descendents by the name of William (the Conqueror) ended up with a claim to the throne of a place populated with Anglo-Saxons named Anglo-land (later known as England), and ultimately became its king. So in other words, in an attempt to stop Viking raids, France ended up creating what became their arch-enemy for 800 years, making it one of the biggest cases of [[not as planned]] in history.

[[file:Movie_game_viking_vs_historical_viking.png|400px|thumb|right|Only equalled by the [[Ninja]] in this regard]]
Unlike popular belief, they did not wear horned helmets. This is for the practical reason that a big horned helmet might catch a sword unintentionally, which is all sorts of bad for the wearer; horned helmets were used on occasion, but only for ceremony. The ol' "horn-headed people eater" image was popularized during the 1800s. In general actually, historical Vikings don't have much in common with their pop-culture image aside from longships and fondness for raiding, as the pop-culture image tends to be that of a barbaric dirty warrior carrying unwieldy weapons and wearing stinky fur and leather clothes when in reality, Vikings appreciated hygiene as mentioned above, groomed their beards and had clean clothes, making them in many ways more civilized than rest of Europe at the time. Their weapons consisted mostly of simple spears, bearded axes and dane axes and of course the trusty round shield. While most Vikings had helmets, few had swords or armor as they were very expensive at the time. The pop-culture image of dirty barbarians derives mostly from the fact that history comes mostly from the writings of the Anglo-Saxons and the French, as in, those who were raided by the Vikings so naturally they didn't have particularly good or unbiased image of them.

As a final note "Viking" is not a noun, but a verb. Proper usage would be something like "Hey Olaf, I'm bored and need some spending money, want to go viking?" (The noun form would be ''víkingr'', a person who goes ''viking''). The people who went Viking were known as Norse.

==Culture==
Vikings believed that when they died in battle (preferably in a totally fuck-awesome way) they would go to a place called Valhalla to become one of the Einherjar (Chosen Slain) or to Fólkvangr (the realm controlled by Freyja, the Nordic goddess of love, prosperity, spring and being foxy as hell; also a death goddess and war goddess, which is why she gets half the chosen warriors in the first place), where they would chug booze, [[List of /tg/ Cuisine|eat all the meat and cheese they wanted]], and (if that actually managed to get dull) participate in massive murderfests only to be fully healed the next day and ready to do it all over again. On the other hand, if they died in bed or in a totally lame way (such as AIDs or cancer or... actually anywhere but battle is lame) they would instead go to a totally boring place called Hel where NOTHING FUCKING HAPPENED! '''EVER!''' (As you might imagine, this became problematic for many of their folk heroes who were just that fucking hard to kill). And if ''that'' weren't bad enough, people who committed what the vikings saw as the unforgivable sins, like oathbreaking, went to a prison overseen by the goddess of the dead. The ceiling is made from the bones of serpents, which drip burning venom, the halls are waist-deep in cold, slimy blood, and there is nothing to drink but goats piss and nothing to eat but rotten food (basically a Minnesota Vikings game, but one that never ends and the weather's always bad). The exception is if you died while giving birth, then you got go to Valhalla; the vikings were surprisingly fair for their day in their attitudes towards the sexes.

That said, there was the ''third'' way to die. Dying at sea was totally cool for the Vikings, for while the Battle-junkies went to Valhalla and Freya, and the lame ones went to Hel, the Sea-Bears went to the Halls of Aegir, god of the sea, where they got their own Watery Valhalla.

Vikings aren't known for being peaceful or nice, [https://historycollection.com/16-facts-about-the-brutality-of-viking-life/ there's good reasons Vikings have a reputation for brutality]. In short, showing one's strength and fighting were valued parts of the society and their beliefs included animal and human sacrifices to the gods (even Thor, considered a bro-tier member of the Norse pantheon, was given such sacrifices). Plus standard procedure during raids was to enslave, rape and/or kill the non-Viking people they encountered. Afterwards, the Vikings would [[Blood_Ravens#Bloody_Magpies|steal ''everything'' they could carry.]] If it couldn't be carried, they'd ''burn'' it. If they couldn't burn it they'd ''''SMASH'''' it! And remember, [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turgesius they weren't above attacking people or places that couldn't defend themselves, sometimes choosing their targets ''because'' they were vulnerable].

They continued doing this until they inadvertently stole Christianity and equipped it without reading the effect text, whereupon Viking warlords started to conquer shit rather than rape, pillage and kill everything in their sight. For quite a long time a large chunk of France and Italy, and the entirety of England and Russia were ruled by Vikings or their descendants, although they all got quickly assimilated into the nations they've conquered, to the point when they started to think of themselves as French/Russians in just a two or three generations after settling in. The Vikings also had a level of prestige in the Byzantine Empire, as they were the preferred recruits for the Emperor's bodyguard, the Varangian Guard.

=== [[Mythology#Norse Mythology|Norse Mythology]] ===
Like Greek mythology, the Norse have their own version of creation, different sets of gods, and heroic stories of manly feats. [[Mythology|Here are some of them]].

Note that, much like Celtic mythology, Norse mythology was spread through oral tradition and only written down long after Scandanavia had become Christian, so there remains a massive amount of missing stories [[Skub|assuming they survived unchanged before committing the mythology to text]] (for example, while the war between the Vanir and the Aesir is mentioned, we don't actually have the full description of it, even though at one time it probably existed). Even much of what has survived should probably be taken with a grain of salt since whoever wrote it probably didn't hear about it first-hand or wanted to be syncretistic about it to help make it palpable for a Christian audience.

==In Modern Fiction==
Vikings and the honorable Neanderthals are some of the closest that the real world has ever had to [[dwarves]], but they should not be confused as such. While they had a penchant for [[axe]]s and could use anything, [[Dwarf Fortress|including body parts and broken furniture]], as a weapon, Vikings were just unspeakably awesome humans (they couldn't handle as much booze as a dwarf, though only just). Vikings that [[Toothless Dragon|rode Dragons]] even more so. Vikings are not to be confused with [[barbarian]]s either, despite any combination with the former resulting in awesome. [[Warriors of Chaos|Vikings are also notable for pledging themselves to Chaos]] and becoming [[Space Wolves|werewolf supersoldiers]].

The Vikings have also finally gotten their own TV show starring Vladimir Kullich. It is about the saga of Ragnar Lothbrok and his sons; Bjorn Ironside, Ivar the Boneless, Sigurd Snake-eye, Halfdan, Hvitserk, and Ubbe, as well as the tales of Duke Rollo of Normandy, King Harald Fairhair, and Alfred the Great of Wessex.

On a side note, most stories and documentaries about real-life Vikings demonize either the Norse/Paganism or the Saxons/Christianity (the aforementioned TV show zig-zags between them); which side gets demonized '''will''' depend on how the writers feel about the Saxons or Christianity.

==Viking Longships==

The thing that put the Vikings on the map were their Longships (or LongBOAT if you're not [[skub|American]]). Basically these were large canoes made from planks with a mast to catch the wind. They could, however handle rough northern seas very well, and allowed some Vikings to reach such exotic locales as Newfoundland centuries before other Europeans. One thing that helped to make the Longships such a gamechanger was that the vikings worked out that properly curing and drying out timbers it made it stronger and more resistant to being eaten at sea by nematodes and similar grody things. Another thing is that the ship didn't go much under water, which allowed it to be used in almost any river. This led to things such as a fleet of 120 ships and 5000 men suddenly appearing in the middle of Paris in 845. It was also possible to bring the mast down for increased aerodynamics and decreased risk of detection when the ship was moved by rowing.

Sometimes to save travel time, the Vikings would pull their Longships overland for kilometers. No joking, no hyperbole. A few tricks (like log rollers) helped, though. One of them (Oleg, the prince of Kievan Russ) even mounted his longships on wheels to quickly move them into Constantinople harbor, bypassing the defensive chain pulled across the path (which possibly inspired the Ottoman sultan Mehmed II when he used a similar trick to help him capture Constantinople).

Their Longships also had an [[derp|early warning system]] so that people could tell wether they were going to fuck them up or not. It's to do with the shields:
If the Shields were on the outside of their Longships, then they were coming to trade goods.
If the Shields were not on the outside of their Longships, then they were going to use them in battle, and you should run for the hills (if you get that far...)

==Viking Berserkers==
There's lot of bullshit about these guys on the internet and in general beliefs. Hell, the word itself had became the synonym of uncontrollable rage in many languages. The truth, however, is quite boring - berserkers (which comes from the Old Norse for "bear hide", as it was their signature piece of clothes they wore above armor, or sometimes instead of it) were equivalents of champions in the Norse culture with a pitch of warrior-priest flavor added - i.e. the guys who fought in duels on behalf of the tribe or some wealthy noble. And Norse culture had a fuckton of things settled with duels. As best of the best professional warriors among already brutally strong vikings they kicked all kinds of asses, and were rightfully feared for their skill and bravery. As you may guess, they where quite rare, so no "hordes" or even "squads" of berserkers for you - at best you'd have two or three per raid, and most often only one. As for uncontrollable rage... well, sagas mention a total of ZERO berserkers going into what we now call "[[Khorne|berserker]] rage" - there are mentions of jarls and ordinary warriors going to battle biting shields, foaming with mad anger and killing friend and foe alike, but never berserkers. WRONG:

{{topquote|-And as the foemen's ships drew near, The dreadful din you well might hear Savage berserks roaring mad, And champions fierce in wolf-skins clad, Howling like wolves; and clanking jar.|Harald Fairhair Saga ch 19.}}
Mushroom brew painkiller that allow to fight despite heavy or even fatal wounds likewise weren't their exclusive, although proper brew (that wouldn't ruin your liver, therefore sentencing you to a lame death in your bed if you survive the battle) was quite expensive, and berserkers, as pretty much second-in-command of jarls were among those wealthy enough to afford it.

==D&D==
{{dnd-stub}}

==Pathfinder==
===1e===
Viking is a [[Fighter]] archetype from ''People of the North'', that was reprinted with small changes that buff it in ''Ultimate Wilderness''. In exchange for heavy armor, and weapon training it gives the ability to rage like a [[Barbarian]] and take rage powers in place of feats. It also replaces armor training with some bonuses to using a shield. It's not a ''terrible'' archetype, but suffers from the fact that rage+shield lacks synergy as a fighting style, weapon training being the source of most fighter support, and the question of "why don't you just play a Barbarian when you've given up everything that makes Fighter competitive with Barbarian?" having few good answers, so it winds up a suboptimal archetype.

===2e===
{{dnd-stub}}
An archetype that any class can take if you want to be a melee guy that knows some things about sailing and moving through water. You learn how to best use a shield, not be slow by wet terrain, in addition, to throw things while Running. Works well as an early investment in a sailing campaign where your often fighting in the ocean surf or in a swamp, while also dipping into additional weapon proficencys and shields usage in the same tree.

{{Pathfinder-2nd-Edition-Archetypes}}

==Gallery==
<center><gallery>
Image:Elspeth_and_Vikings.png|When [[Elspeth Tirel]] needs backup, these are the people she calls.
Image:WarbandViking.jpg| JEG SKALL DRIKKE FRA HODESKALLEN DIN!!!.
Image:Lego_Viking_ship.jpg|Pillaging colorful brick villages since 576 A.D.
</gallery></center>

==See Also==
* [[Pirate]]
*[[The Poetic Edda]]
[[Category:History]]

Vikings

2021-11-12T16:01:28Z

2406:3400:20F:FFC0:F062:7070:B9C0:9588: /* Culture */

{{Topquote|It was not as if we'd stayed home and wasted our lives drinking wine with pretty girls.|A recurring motif in the Lay of Kraka}}
[[Image:VikingShip.jpg|500px|thumb|right|A Viking Longship, A thirty meter long can o' [[rape]] (literally) back in the day.]]
'''Vikings''' were Scandinavian people from the 8th to 11th century, a period in which societies based in Denmark, Norway and Sweden, making use of their long-ships set forth to trade and colonize areas including Northern France, the British Isles, Russia, Iceland, Greenland and even reached North America (though the settlements they set up there did not last). They also made a habit of bathing and washing their hands frequently, which at the time was unheard of among the peoples of Europe. Probably because they had to have about two dozen dudes on a small boat for a long time, so you would regularly bathe if you didn't want to be [[That Guy]]. They only stopped when France, of all countries, rolled a nat 20 on Diplomacy by offering Normandy (deriving its name from the French word for Vikings, meaning Northmen), the northern part of France to duke Rollo. One of his descendents by the name of William (the Conqueror) ended up with a claim to the throne of a place populated with Anglo-Saxons named Anglo-land (later known as England), and ultimately became its king. So in other words, in an attempt to stop Viking raids, France ended up creating what became their arch-enemy for 800 years, making it one of the biggest cases of [[not as planned]] in history.

[[file:Movie_game_viking_vs_historical_viking.png|400px|thumb|right|Only equalled by the [[Ninja]] in this regard]]
Unlike popular belief, they did not wear horned helmets. This is for the practical reason that a big horned helmet might catch a sword unintentionally, which is all sorts of bad for the wearer; horned helmets were used on occasion, but only for ceremony. The ol' "horn-headed people eater" image was popularized during the 1800s. In general actually, historical Vikings don't have much in common with their pop-culture image aside from longships and fondness for raiding, as the pop-culture image tends to be that of a barbaric dirty warrior carrying unwieldy weapons and wearing stinky fur and leather clothes when in reality, Vikings appreciated hygiene as mentioned above, groomed their beards and had clean clothes, making them in many ways more civilized than rest of Europe at the time. Their weapons consisted mostly of simple spears, bearded axes and dane axes and of course the trusty round shield. While most Vikings had helmets, few had swords or armor as they were very expensive at the time. The pop-culture image of dirty barbarians derives mostly from the fact that history comes mostly from the writings of the Anglo-Saxons and the French, as in, those who were raided by the Vikings so naturally they didn't have particularly good or unbiased image of them.

As a final note "Viking" is not a noun, but a verb. Proper usage would be something like "Hey Olaf, I'm bored and need some spending money, want to go viking?" (The noun form would be ''víkingr'', a person who goes ''viking''). The people who went Viking were known as Norse.

==Culture==
Vikings believed that when they died in battle (preferably in a totally fuck-awesome way) they would go to a place called Valhalla to become one of the Einherjar (Chosen Slain) or to Fólkvangr (the realm controlled by Freyja, the Nordic goddess of love, prosperity, spring and being foxy as hell; also a death goddess and war goddess, which is why she gets half the chosen warriors in the first place), where they would chug booze, [[List of /tg/ Cuisine|eat all the meat and cheese they wanted]], and (if that actually managed to get dull) participate in massive murderfests only to be fully healed the next day and ready to do it all over again. On the other hand, if they died in bed or in a totally lame way (such as AIDs or cancer or... actually anywhere but battle is lame) they would instead go to a totally boring place called Hel where NOTHING FUCKING HAPPENED! '''EVER!''' (As you might imagine, this became problematic for many of their folk heroes who were just that fucking hard to kill). And if ''that'' weren't bad enough, people who committed what the vikings saw as the unforgivable sins, like oathbreaking, went to a prison overseen by the goddess of the dead. The ceiling is made from the bones of serpents, which drip burning venom, the halls are waist-deep in cold, slimy blood, and there is nothing to drink but goats piss and nothing to eat but rotten food (basically a Minnesota Vikings game, but one that never ends and the weather's always bad). The exception is if you died while giving birth, then you got go to Valhalla; the vikings were surprisingly fair for their day in their attitudes towards the sexes.

That said, there was the ''third'' way to die. Dying at sea was totally cool for the Vikings, for while the Battle-junkies went to Valhalla and Freya, and the lame ones went to Hel, the Sea-Bears went to the Halls of Aegir, god of the sea, where they got their own Watery Valhalla.

Vikings aren't known for being peaceful or nice, [https://historycollection.com/16-facts-about-the-brutality-of-viking-life/ there's good reasons Vikings have a reputation for brutality]. In short, showing one's strength and fighting were valued parts of the society and their beliefs included animal and human sacrifices to the gods (even Thor, considered a bro-tier member of the Norse pantheon, was given such sacrifices). Plus standard procedure during raids was to enslave, rape and/or kill the non-Viking people they encountered. Afterwards, the Vikings would [[Blood_Ravens#Bloody_Magpies|steal ''everything'' they could carry.]] If it couldn't be carried, they'd ''burn'' it. If they couldn't burn it they'd ''''SMASH'''' it! And remember, [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turgesius they weren't above attacking people or places that couldn't defend themselves, sometimes choosing their targets ''because'' they were vulnerable].

They continued doing this until they inadvertently stole Christianity and equipped it without reading the effect text, whereupon Viking warlords started to conquer shit rather than rape, pillage and kill everything in their sight. For quite a long time a large chunk of France and Italy, and the entirety of England and Russia were ruled by Vikings or their descendants, although they all got quickly assimilated into the nations they've conquered, to the point when they started to think of themselves as French/Russians in just a two or three generations after settling in. The Vikings also had a level of prestige in the Byzantine Empire, as they were the preferred recruits for the Emperor's bodyguard, the Varangian Guard.

=== [[Mythology#Norse Mythology|Norse Mythology]] ===
Like Greek mythology, the Norse have their own version of creation, different sets of gods, and heroic stories of manly feats. [[Mythology|Here are some of them]].

Note that, much like Celtic mythology, Norse mythology was spread through oral tradition and only written down long after Scandanavia had become Christian, so there remains a massive amount of missing stories [[Skub|assuming they survived unchanged before committing the mythology to text]] (for example, while the war between the Vanir and the Aesir is mentioned, we don't actually have the full description of it, even though at one time it probably existed). Even much of what has survived should probably be taken with a grain of salt since whoever wrote it probably didn't hear about it first-hand or wanted to be syncretistic about it to help make it palpable for a Christian audience.

==In Modern Fiction==
Vikings and the honorable Neanderthals are some of the closest that the real world has ever had to [[dwarves]], but they should not be confused as such. While they had a penchant for [[axe]]s and could use anything, [[Dwarf Fortress|including body parts and broken furniture]], as a weapon, Vikings were just unspeakably awesome humans (they couldn't handle as much booze as a dwarf, though only just). Vikings that [[Toothless Dragon|rode Dragons]] even more so. Vikings are not to be confused with [[barbarian]]s either, despite any combination with the former resulting in awesome. [[Warriors of Chaos|Vikings are also notable for pledging themselves to Chaos]] and becoming [[Space Wolves|werewolf supersoldiers]].

The Vikings have also finally gotten their own TV show starring Vladimir Kullich. It is about the saga of Ragnar Lothbrok and his sons; Bjorn Ironside, Ivar the Boneless, Sigurd Snake-eye, Halfdan, Hvitserk, and Ubbe, as well as the tales of Duke Rollo of Normandy, King Harald Fairhair, and Alfred the Great of Wessex.

On a side note, most stories and documentaries about real-life Vikings demonize either the Norse or the Saxons at the very least (the aforementioned TV show zig-zags between them); which side gets demonized '''will''' depend on how the writers feel about the Saxons or Christianity.

==Viking Longships==

The thing that put the Vikings on the map were their Longships (or LongBOAT if you're not [[skub|American]]). Basically these were large canoes made from planks with a mast to catch the wind. They could, however handle rough northern seas very well, and allowed some Vikings to reach such exotic locales as Newfoundland centuries before other Europeans. One thing that helped to make the Longships such a gamechanger was that the vikings worked out that properly curing and drying out timbers it made it stronger and more resistant to being eaten at sea by nematodes and similar grody things. Another thing is that the ship didn't go much under water, which allowed it to be used in almost any river. This led to things such as a fleet of 120 ships and 5000 men suddenly appearing in the middle of Paris in 845. It was also possible to bring the mast down for increased aerodynamics and decreased risk of detection when the ship was moved by rowing.

Sometimes to save travel time, the Vikings would pull their Longships overland for kilometers. No joking, no hyperbole. A few tricks (like log rollers) helped, though. One of them (Oleg, the prince of Kievan Russ) even mounted his longships on wheels to quickly move them into Constantinople harbor, bypassing the defensive chain pulled across the path (which possibly inspired the Ottoman sultan Mehmed II when he used a similar trick to help him capture Constantinople).

Their Longships also had an [[derp|early warning system]] so that people could tell wether they were going to fuck them up or not. It's to do with the shields:
If the Shields were on the outside of their Longships, then they were coming to trade goods.
If the Shields were not on the outside of their Longships, then they were going to use them in battle, and you should run for the hills (if you get that far...)

==Viking Berserkers==
There's lot of bullshit about these guys on the internet and in general beliefs. Hell, the word itself had became the synonym of uncontrollable rage in many languages. The truth, however, is quite boring - berserkers (which comes from the Old Norse for "bear hide", as it was their signature piece of clothes they wore above armor, or sometimes instead of it) were equivalents of champions in the Norse culture with a pitch of warrior-priest flavor added - i.e. the guys who fought in duels on behalf of the tribe or some wealthy noble. And Norse culture had a fuckton of things settled with duels. As best of the best professional warriors among already brutally strong vikings they kicked all kinds of asses, and were rightfully feared for their skill and bravery. As you may guess, they where quite rare, so no "hordes" or even "squads" of berserkers for you - at best you'd have two or three per raid, and most often only one. As for uncontrollable rage... well, sagas mention a total of ZERO berserkers going into what we now call "[[Khorne|berserker]] rage" - there are mentions of jarls and ordinary warriors going to battle biting shields, foaming with mad anger and killing friend and foe alike, but never berserkers. WRONG:

{{topquote|-And as the foemen's ships drew near, The dreadful din you well might hear Savage berserks roaring mad, And champions fierce in wolf-skins clad, Howling like wolves; and clanking jar.|Harald Fairhair Saga ch 19.}}
Mushroom brew painkiller that allow to fight despite heavy or even fatal wounds likewise weren't their exclusive, although proper brew (that wouldn't ruin your liver, therefore sentencing you to a lame death in your bed if you survive the battle) was quite expensive, and berserkers, as pretty much second-in-command of jarls were among those wealthy enough to afford it.

==D&D==
{{dnd-stub}}

==Pathfinder==
===1e===
Viking is a [[Fighter]] archetype from ''People of the North'', that was reprinted with small changes that buff it in ''Ultimate Wilderness''. In exchange for heavy armor, and weapon training it gives the ability to rage like a [[Barbarian]] and take rage powers in place of feats. It also replaces armor training with some bonuses to using a shield. It's not a ''terrible'' archetype, but suffers from the fact that rage+shield lacks synergy as a fighting style, weapon training being the source of most fighter support, and the question of "why don't you just play a Barbarian when you've given up everything that makes Fighter competitive with Barbarian?" having few good answers, so it winds up a suboptimal archetype.

===2e===
{{dnd-stub}}
An archetype that any class can take if you want to be a melee guy that knows some things about sailing and moving through water. You learn how to best use a shield, not be slow by wet terrain, in addition, to throw things while Running. Works well as an early investment in a sailing campaign where your often fighting in the ocean surf or in a swamp, while also dipping into additional weapon proficencys and shields usage in the same tree.

{{Pathfinder-2nd-Edition-Archetypes}}

==Gallery==
<center><gallery>
Image:Elspeth_and_Vikings.png|When [[Elspeth Tirel]] needs backup, these are the people she calls.
Image:WarbandViking.jpg| JEG SKALL DRIKKE FRA HODESKALLEN DIN!!!.
Image:Lego_Viking_ship.jpg|Pillaging colorful brick villages since 576 A.D.
</gallery></center>

==See Also==
* [[Pirate]]
*[[The Poetic Edda]]
[[Category:History]]

Age of Sigmar/Tactics/Order/Idoneth Deepkin

2021-11-12T15:59:18Z

2406:3400:20F:FFC0:F062:7070:B9C0:9588: /* Rulebooks */

{{Age of Sigmar Faction|Faction=Idoneth Deepkin|Logo=Fucking_Idoneth.jpeg|Alliance=Order|Motto=Soul-Hunting Pirates riding Sea Monsters.}}

The [[Idoneth Deepkin]] are a faction which sees [[GW]] re-envision sea elves for the [[Age of Sigmar]] setting. Tragically lacking souls (so they've come to steal yours), the Idoneth are an army that rewards careful placement of models, a variety of units that provide rapid mobility and negative modifier shenanigans and some of the best allegiance abilities in the game.

==Why play Idoneth Deepkin?==

They are elves unique to AoS, and a rare example of sea elves with fleshed out lore and playstyle.

For more points:

'''Pros'''
* They are [[Awesome|Soul-Hunting Pirates riding Sea Monsters]].
* Because you want to play with [[Dark Eldar]] in a fantasy setting. Or you like the [[Dark Eldar]] playstyle but want a group that aren't [[Asdrubael Vect|huge]] [[Haemonculi|assholes]].
* They are [[Awesome|Soul-Hunting Pirates riding Sea Monsters]].
* Because you want to copy 40K's system of character protection (one of which is the, here ironically named, [[Fish of Fury]]).
* They are [[Awesome|Soul-Hunting Pirates riding Sea Monsters]].
* Because you love sea life!
* They are [[Awesome|Soul-Hunting Pirates riding Sea Monsters]].
* Because you love an army built around speed, speed and '''MOAR SPEED'''! An all-cavalry army not only benefits those who like all-cavalry armies, but every unit has the fly special rule. Combine this with the right Enclave and you'll outrun everybody but [[Nighthaunt]].
* They are [[Awesome|Soul-Hunting Pirates riding Sea Monsters]].
* Because you wanted more Dark Souls in your Age of Sigmar.
* They are [[Awesome|Soul-Hunting Pirates riding Sea Monsters]].
* Nearly all of your melee units hit like a runaway freight train.
* They are [[Awesome|Soul-Hunting Pirates riding Sea Monsters]].
* Because [[Teclis]] wasn't a big enough [[Eldrad| dick]] already.
* Did I mention they are [[Awesome|Soul-Hunting Pirates riding Sea Monsters?]]
* You saw the 2018 Aquaman movie and like how the Atlanteans' armies look in battle.
* Uh, [[Awesome|Soul-Hunting Pirates riding Sea Monsters!]]

'''Cons'''
* You're the only army with a Battletome from AoS FIRST EDITION (the other is getting a new battletome next), so... two editions behind at the moment, and with 3E shaking up things AND some of the original warscrolls outdated on the Battletome... yikes.
* Namarti units are quite fragile.
* Their bravery is mediocre, and they mostly lack the high wounds count or saves to take the lumps and keep going unlike their equivalents in other armies.
* Mediocre spellcasting unless you shell out the points (and a lot of money) for an expensive Eidolon of the Sea.
* Your army is mostly monobuild; you will not have a competitive list without the eel riders.

==Rulebooks==
{{AOSRulebooks|tome=Idoneth Deepkin|points=Generals Handbook 2020}}

The Idoneth Deepkin Battletome was released in April of 2018, and as such, this is the second-oldest active Battletome and thus overdue for an update. That said, it was also the last new battletome released before AOS 2.0, so they very likely had the upcoming game changes in mind when designing this book. It's gotten to the point that the third edition of AOS came out and they ''still'' haven't gotten a new battletome.

==Allegiance Abilities==

===Battle Traits===

*'''Forgotten Nightmares:''' Your '''Idoneth Deepkin''' units can only be targeted with Missile Weapons if they are the closest visible target. Keeps your Heroes safe from shooting, though not from magic. Also note that you can use allies to shield your Deepkin with this as the rule stated that the Deepkin unit must be the closest unit. If there are no Deepkin units in range, then the attack must hit the non-Deepkin unit.

*'''Tides of Death:''' Each round, you get a different ability. After the fourth, it cycles back to 1.
*#'''Low Tide:''' Your units count as being in cover. Helps you advance without making you scramble to terrain.
*#'''Flood Tide:''' After running, your units can either shoot or charge (but not both).
*#'''High Tide:''' Units with this trait fight <s>before everyone else in melee</s> At the start of the combat phase now. Get Shipwrecked, Gristlegore. Also, there's a bunch of abilities that activate during this turn.
*#'''Ebb Tide:''' After falling back, your units can either shoot or charge (but not both).
**It's worth noting here that there are two alternate army list choices that can be made to alter this sequence's order (including taking both together for a third option):
***reversed order (via Tidecaster as General)
***Ebb replaced with Flood Tides (via the Fuethán enclave)
***both options (meeting both conditions)

*'''The Ethersea:''' You get to place up to two Etheric Vortex terrain pieces. Currently, the only existing Etheric Vortex terrain piece is the Gloomtide Shipwreck, which you can either split into two or buy and place two full ships of. The shipwrecks give your units a 6+ Save-after-the-save and have a chance to deal damage to enemies, so they are fairly useful, though less so in a pure Akhelian army. Errata'd so that the shipwreck must be placed more than 6" away from objectives or any other shipwreck.

===Command and Mount Traits===
==== Command Traits ====
#'''Merciless Raider:''' Can reroll run and charge rolls. Interesting for Steed of Tides shenanigans.
#'''Hunter of Souls:''' Reroll 1s To Wound. Shame this doesn't work on a mount's attacks, but still nice.
#'''Unstoppable Fury:''' During High Tide, your General adds +2 to his attacks. Again, shame this doesn't work on mounts, but it still makes an Akhelian King terrifying.
#'''Born From Agony:''' Your general has 2 more Wounds. Always nice to shrug off an additional Arcane Bolt.
#'''Nightmare Legacy:''' Enemy units within 12" take -1 Bravery. Not a strong effect, but in a fairly large bubble, so it evens out.
#'''Lord of Storm and Sea:''' +2 Bravery for Idoneth Deep in units wholly within 12". Since your units aren't exactly blessed with great Bravery, this is pretty nice.

==== Mount Traits: Deepmare ====
With Broken Realms, we got Mount Traits for Deepmares. Yes, Volturnos' mount Uasall can take one. One Deepmare may take one trait, for every battalion one additional Deepmare may take a different trait, so no trait twice and nobody gets two traits.
#'''Swift-finned Impaler:''' If the roll on the Deepmare Horn ability is 6, you do D6 instead of D3 Mortal Wounds.
#'''Savage Ferocity:''' Both Deepmare attack profiles get 1 extra attack.
#'''Voidchill Darkness:''' We got a winner lads, as every enemy model within 3" get to subtract 1 from their hit rolls.

==== Mount Traits: Leviadon ====
Also from Broken Realms, one Leviadon may take one trait, for every battalion one additional Leviadon may take a different trait, so no trait twice and nobody gets two traits.
#'''Ancient:''' You ignore rend of -1, but not -2 or more. This makes the Leviadons shiny new shell even harder to crack.
#'''Denizen of the Darkest Depths:''' One extra free Mortal Wound for the impact damage. Specifically states that you still do this extra Mortal Wound if you failed the roll to trigger Crushing Charge.
#'''Reverberating Carapace.''' Increase the Void Drum's range from 12" to 15".

===Artefacts===
'''Akhelian Artefacts''' 
Can be given to an Akhelian Hero (so far only the Akhelian King, because Volturnos can't get one):
#'''Sanguine Pearl:''' Gives a 5+ save after the save in melee
#'''Potion of Hateful Frenzy:''' Once per game active in the hero phase to get + 1 to hit and +1 to wound for a round. Then they take 1 mortal wound in the following hero phase. Your personal super sayajin mode. Combine with ''Unstoppable Fury'' to make your King utterly terrifying for one turn. And don't forget to draw your Falchion to make the most out of it.
#'''Ankusha Spur:''' +3" to movement and the mount rerolls 1s <s>to hit</s> To Wound after the Errata because someone realized that the King's aura already gives him the 1s To Hit thing regardless
#'''Armour of the Cythai:''' Enemy gets -1 to hit if they target the bearer in melee. You're probably better off with the pearl.
#'''Bioshock Shell:''' Once per battle at the start of the combat phase you can inflict D3 mortal wounds on each enemy unit within 3". You have so few ways of dealing Mortal Wounds that this is interesting. That said, is it really worth running this on a 230 point King?
#'''Abyssal Blade:''' You can improve the rend characteristic of 1 weapon carried by the bearer. Also increase the damage of that weapon by 1 if targetting SLAANESH. Too situational, but interesting.

'''Idoneth Artefacts''' 
Can be given to any Idoneth Deepkin Hero:
#'''Rune of the Surging Tide:''' Use at the start of hero phase once per battle. It has 2 modes: adds 1" movement to all friendly deepkin or takes 1" from all enemies until your next hero phase. Neither a big buff nor a big debuff. Kinda like a mini Chronomatic Cogs.
#'''Black Pearl:''' It is the fastest ship with Johnny Depp usually as the captain. Oops, wrong universe. I mean it gives a 6+ save after the save.
#'''Lliandra's Last Lament:''' Once per battle you can have all friendly deepkin completely within 18" skip their battleshock test. Very interesting, especially when running a big unit of Allopexes.
#'''Terrornight Venom:''' Pick a weapon. You can reroll wound rolls of 1 for that weapon. Also gives a permanent -1 to bravery to things wounded by that weapon. Not many weapons worth using it on.
#'''Cloud of Midnight:''' Once per battle at the start of any phase the bearer cannot be targetted for attacks, spells or abilities for that phase. They also cannot use attacks, spells or abilities that phase either. Due to a new FAQ when you activate this artifact the bearer is not counted for the Forgotten Nightmare rule.
#'''Whorlshell:''' Once per battle at the start of your hero phase you can pick an enemy HERO within 9" and roll 2d6. If you beat their bravery they get -1 to all hit rolls for the rest of the game. Since most Heroes you'd want to do that to have high Bravery... just take Brain Barnacles instead.

'''Isharann Artefacts''' 
Can be given to any Isharann Hero:
#'''Steelshell Pearl:''' Gives a 5+ save after the save against missile weapons. Interesting if you want a cheap sacrifice to soak up fire thanks to ''Forgotten Nightmares'', but other than that, it's useless precisely because of ''Forgotten Nightmares''.
#'''Mind Flare:''' Once per battle at the start of combat pick an enemy unit within 3". They get -1 to hit for that phase. Meh.
#'''Dritchleech:''' All Wizards except Idoneth Deepkin get -1 to casts while within 18". Interesting, but remember that this will affect allied Wizards as well.
#'''Auric Lantern:''' At the start of your shooting phase pick an enemy within 18" in cover. They dont get cover until your next shooting phase. Not too great, since your shooting isn't exactly stellar. Except the debuff is not limited to ranged attacks; it is just applied in the shooting phase!
#'''Disharmony Stones:''' Once per battle at the start of your hero phase you pick up to 2 enemy heroes within 12" and then the opposing player must make a choice. 1) they roll a dice for each hero picked on a 3+ they take a mortal wound. 2) They roll a dice for each hero picked and on a 5+ they take d3 mortal wounds. 3) Each hero picked takes d3 mortal wounds. Then roll a dice, on a 4+ the bearer of this artifact takes d3. Be very careful with these, as they might end up doing nothing or doing something and hurting you as well. Also worthless against armies without many Heroes.
#'''Brain Barnacles:''' Once per battle at the start of your hero phase pick an enemy hero within 12" and roll 2d6. [[Awesome|If the roll is equal or greater than the distance between them then that Hero gets -1 to hit and spell cast for the rest of the game]].

'''Arcane Artefacts''' 
Can be given to any Idoneth Deepkin Hero who's also a Wizard, so Tidecaster and Aspect of the Sea only:
#'''Arcane Pearl:''' Gives a 5+ save after the save against mortal wounds. Combines nicely with both the Aspect of the Sea's inherent toughness and the Tidecaster's Spirit Guardians. If you dont need another realm, pick Aqshy and get the 4+ mortal wound save item from there (Malign Sorcery Realm Artefacts are no longer valid in competitive play though).
#'''Sands of Infinity:''' Once per battle you can make a spell last for 2 rounds instead of one. You must use this before the cast and unbind roll. Very nice.
#'''Coral Ring:''' Gives 1 reroll for casting and 1 reroll for unbinding for the game. More reliability is never a bad thing.
#'''Bauble of Buoyancy:''' Gives fly and doubles their run roll. Just in case you want a Tidecaster to keep up with an Akhelian army. Consider picking up the Thermalrider Cloak from Aqshy instead (again, Malign Sorcery Realm Artefacts no longer valid).
#'''Kraken Tooth:''' Once per battle in your shooting phase pick an enemy unit within 12" and visible. Roll a dice and: 1: bearer suffers d3 mortal wounds, 2-5: enemy suffers D3 mortal wounds, 6: Pick 1 enemy model in the unit. If the wound characteristic is less than 10 they are slain. If it is 10+ they take 2d6 mortal wounds. The kraken does not mess around.
#'''Augury Shells:''' Once per battle at the start of the hero phase you can roll 2d6. You can choose to use that result for your casting roll or your enemies unbinding roll on spells cast by the bearer during that phase. You must choose to substitute the roll before rolling for the spell/unbind. Very nice. A terrible roll you can give to the opponent and a good one you keep to yourself. Again, more reliability.

===Lore of the Deep===

#'''Steed of Tides:''' Casting Value 5. Pick a friendly hero that is not a monster within 6". Remove them from the table and set them up within 24" of their original spot and outside of 9" of enemies. This counts as their movement in the movement phase. The Hero does not need to be an Idoneth Deepkin.
#'''Abyssal Darkness:''' Casting Value 5. Friendly deepkin are treated as being within cover while wholly within 9" of the caster until your next hero phase. Entirely worthless on your first turn <s>and worthless on any other turn if you have a Leviadon</s> This is no longer true. In fact, imagine Ishlaen Guard with a Leviadon plus this spell. Damn near impregnable.
#'''Vorpal Maelstrom:''' Casting Value 6. Pick a spot within 18" of the caster that they can see. Roll for each enemy unit within 3" of that spot, if the dice is less than or equal to the number of models in that unit they take d3 mortal wounds.
#'''Pressure of the Deeps:''' Casting Value 7. Pick an enemy they can see within 12" and roll a dice. If you beat their wound stat they are slain. Interestingly you pick a ''model'' with this, not a unit. So just point at that icon bearer in the Pink Horror unit to seriously piss your opponent off.
#'''Tide of Fear:''' Casting Value 6. Pick an enemy the caster can see within 12". Until your next hero phase that unit gets -1 to hit and to bravery. Nice, but remember that your Aspect of the Sea can do that to D6 units. Better yet, combine the two to make sure one enemy unit in particular is utterly screwed.
#'''Arcane Corrosion:''' Casting Value 6. This auto targets the closest enemy. Measure the distance between the caster and that unit. If the distance is: 12" or less: 1 mortal wound. 13-24": 2 mortal wounds. 25-36": 3 mortal wounds. 37-48" 4 mortal wounds. Such a weird spell. Interesting in that it is a damage spell that can be used turn 1, as most damage spells have too short a range for that to work, but ''Arcane Corrosion'' can't just be used turn 1, it's practically guaranteed to do quite a bit of damage then.

===Isharann Rituals===
Deepkin can cast 1 ritual a turn. At the start of your hero phase you declare which ritual you wish to cast, pick an ISHARANN HERO that is more than 9" away from an enemy and roll 2d6. On a 10+ the ritual succeeds and if not then nothing happens. You get +1 if the caster is within 1" of a Gloomtide Shipwreck, +1 if the caster is a PRIEST (i.e. a Soulscryer), +1 for each non priest Isharann heroes within 3", and +2 for each priest Ishaaran hero within 3". This is not a spell and cannot be unbound. They have no range, they simply affect the game. Be aware that mathematical your have to [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g-4-gLlF0uw fish] for at least a +3 for a better then 50/50 chance. So if your planning on needing a ritual to go off try and get at least two priests and keep them close to keep a [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g-4-gLlF0uw floating] +3 to cast them that can be further increased by more heroes or a Shipwreck if you desire.

The 3 Rituals are:

#'''Ritual of Erosion:''' Until your next hero phase your enemy does not get a cover bonus. Your go-to if you don't have an Eidolon around. No cover does horrible things to bulwark armies like Eternal Guard-Wanderers and Freeguild.
#'''Ritual of Rousing:''' Heal 1 Wound on each EIDOLON and they can reroll all failed hit and casting rolls until your next hero phase. In case you didn't realize, this is horrifying on an Aspect of the Sea with his two spells per turn.
#'''Ritual of Tempest:''' Until your next hero phase enemy models cannot fly. Unless the table is littered with terrain, this really only helps against Kharadron,gloomspite (squigs) and Nighthaunts, but it can be very good against. Although, shutting down your opponents ability to fly over your units means that they are going to have to fight through the rest of your army.

==Warscrolls==
===Named Characters===
*'''[https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/Downloads//ENG_Volturnos.pdf Volturnos, High King of the Deep]:''' [270 pts.] An Akhelian King +1. For a measly 40 points more, Volturnos gets another swing with his weapons and far better buffs, such as the reroll-aura being extended to 18" and all Deepkin within that bubble also getting +1 to Bravery. But the real kicker is his shield: Whenever he's affected by any spell, you can choose to roll a D6 and on a 3+ that spell doesn't affect him (but works normally on everything else). Not only does that keep him relatively safe from enemy debuffs and damage spells, it also means you can drop ''Vorpal Maelstrom'' on top of him when he's surrounded by enemies. After Broken Realms: Morathi, he now gets potential access to a Deepmare Mount Trait, finally balancing out some of the downsides to having to take a named character as your general for his superior High Tide Command Ability.

*'''[https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/Downloads//ENG_Lotann.pdf Lotann, Warden of the Soulledgers]:''' [70 pts.] Aka Octobro. With a fairly standard Hero statline but slightly above-average damage output thanks to the Ochtar, he's not too shabby on his own. Especially his 5+ Save-after-the-save is appreciated since he can't take Artefacts. But what you really take him for is his buff, giving Deepkin in general +1 Bravery and Namarti in particular the ability to reroll 1s To Hit in a <del>massive</del> completely within 12" bubble. Note that his bubble doesn't specify melee, so feel free to use it to boost those Reavers' shots. That said, if you play mostly Akhelians, then the Akhelian King does the buffing better.

===Heroes===
*'''[https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/Downloads//ENG_Akhelian_King.pdf Akhelian King]:''' [230 pts.] As mentioned above, the generic Akhelian King pales in comparison to Volturnos, but that doesn't mean he's bad. He's worse at everything, but can take Traits and Artefacts, which can combine to make him either tougher or killier or supportier than Volturnos, though never all three (there is also nothing stopping you from taking one alongside Volturnos if you really want to). Whatever you pick, the Akhelian King is always a fast, reasonably tough and extremely killy Hero who provides good support to your Akhelians. His main weapon is either a Greatsword or a Bladed Polearm; the latter is better provided you can keep charging (perfect time to take advantage of Ebb Tide): 2", -2 Rend, and trades one attack for dishing out 3 damage instead D3 when he charges. If you can't reliably charge each time, the Sword and Spear actually mathhammer out to very similar damage (we are talking fractions here). One other thing he has over Volty is that you can stow the Shield and Draw the Falchion. This lowers his Save to a 4+, but gives you 3, 3+/4+/-/1 Attacks when when you really want to make sure something is dead.
**(Note: Realm Artefacts from Malign Sorcery are now invalid)... Make Volturnos jealous of your prowess by giving your Akhelian King the Incandescent Rageblade from Aqshy. Having 1 of the bearers melee weapons scores 2 hits instead of 1 PLUS an extra attack profile that can be buffed by either the King's own Command Ability and/or the Unstoppable Fury command trait (in High Tide only) will please you.

*'''[https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/Downloads//ENG_Isharann_Tidecaster.pdf Isharann Tidecaster]:''' [100 pts.] A fairly survivable support caster with access to a number of very interesting spells. All in all, you only pick the lass for two reasons: One, you want a Wizard but don't have enough points for an Aspect of the Sea. Two, you take her as your general, because she can reverse Tides of Death. Combined with the Fuethán turning ''Ebb Tide'' into ''Flow Tide'', this will give you a very fast, very aggressive army.
**Another use, that pairs well if your going to have her sit out of combat and only included because of her ability to flip the tide, is to give the Arcane Corrosion spell, and use her as a little impromptu artillery piece. Putting her in the back corner and spamming the spell makes her an effective choice for throwing some MW downrange.

*'''[https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/Downloads//ENG_Isharann_Soulscryer.pdf Isharann Soulscryer]:''' [130 pts.] Count von Count here is a support character through and through. Fragile, with only milquetoast attacks, but blessed with a combo of bonus effects in that he can outflank along with 2 other Deepkin units (3 if you choose the Briomdar enclave) and on top of that the ability to add 3 to Deepkin charge rolls so long as they charge the one unit he points at. Also allows for some targetting shenanigans with ''Forgotten Nightmares'', as you can force your opponent's backfield fire support to shoot your nigh-invulnerable Ishlaen Guard. Be aware that his special rule, seeker of souls, makes it so that Idoneth units within 12” have to charge the unit marked with this ability if they are going to charge anything this turn. You cannot opt out of this bonus, as every unit within 12 of the target must add 3 inches to their charge.

*'''[https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/Downloads//ENG_Isharann_Soulrender.pdf Isharann Soulrender]:''' [80 pts.] The Soulrender wants to be a hybrid Hero killer/buffer. The latter role he pulls off remarkably well, reviving D3 plus however many models his Hook killed that turn Namarti models at the end of your battleshock phase. The former role... eh. His two hook attacks are fairly decent, with a rule that makes it better against Heroes, but it will take some prior damage for him to take down any Hero with 2 damage 2 attacks, even with the fish pitching in.

===Eidolon of Mathlann===
*'''[https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/Downloads//ENG_Eidolon_of_Mathlann_Storm.pdf Aspect of the Storm]:''' [330 pts.] With Broken Realms the Eidolons were finally revamped and since GW doesn't like updating the warscrolls on their site, that one is now out of date. The Aspect of the Storm remains the melee fighter he already was and his tricks are essentially the same. With 12 Wounds and a 3+ save he is happy to get stuck in there and with his two weapons in hand he is sure to bring the hurt. On the charge he is allowed to heal D3 Wounds, gains a fifth attack and one extra damage on his Spear and for the kicks he gets to retreat and charge again. His Stormshoal fish keep their attack, but now also provide him with a 5+ shrug. Pulling an enemy hero into the deeps no longer makes that hero worse at hitting and instead allows the Eidolon to hit on 2s with his own weapons and the Stormshoal on 3's. Why make the return of the enemy worse, if you can finally kill him outright? Lastly, his Drenched with Hate ability allows to add 1 to all wound rolls for friendly Idoneth wholly within 18". At 330 points, this Eidolon is finally playable, blends lesser units and Heros with 8 or less wounds will fold before his awesome power.
*'''[https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/Downloads//ENG_Eidolon_of_Mathlann_Sea.pdf Aspect of the Sea]:''' [355 pts.] You guessed it, this warscroll is now also out of date. Like his more murderous brother he got blessed with a 5+ shrug. He retains his vital +3 Bravery bubble, now as wholly within 18". Still very important to keep those Namarti where they are ought to be. The new Dormant Energies rule finally allows rerolls for all his magic rolls instead of only one, and if you don't use any of these rerolls in your hero phase, he gets D3 wounds back. Nice. His Weapons remain untouched, so while he wont kill as hard as the Aspect of the Storm, he still makes a good account of himself. As a Wizard, he casts and unbinds twice and boasts two spells. One either puts D3 Mortal Wounds on an enemy heals a Idoneth unit for D3 wounds, not bringing anyone back from the dead though. The other punishes D6 enemy units with a -1 to hit and Bravery until your next hero phase. He'd also dropped down to 330 points, but was pumped up a bit to 355. He too is finally playable, his biggest weakness being the short range of his spells.

===Troops===
*'''[https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/Downloads//ENG_Namarti_Thralls.pdf Namarti Thralls]:''' (Battleline, NAMARTI, 120, Min:10). Namarti Thralls are the quintessential aelven infantry: Extremely fragile and insanely killy. Seriously. Wildwood Rangers wish they were this scary. They attack with the standard elite infantry profile of 2 attacks 3+/3+/-1/1, but with the bonus of adding another attack against 1 Wound models and adding 1 to the damage against models with 4 or more Wounds. However, they also run around with 1 Wound, a 5+ Save and a paltry Bravery of 6. They also have Icon Bearers who gain one more attack and lets them reroll battleshock. Updated FAQ states that you can have 1 Icon bearer per every 10 models. The only thing that holds them back is that their weapons only have 1" of range, so you need to be careful with how to place them.

*'''[https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/Downloads//ENG_Namarti_Reavers.pdf Namarti Reavers]:''' (Battleline with an Isharann Hero as general, NAMARTI, 115, Min:10). Namarti Reavers are fast (8" and rerolls run) and equipped with really weird bows. At 18", they get one shot at 4+/4+/-/1, which isn't exactly stellar. At 9", they instead get three shots at the same profile. Still not incredible, but that sure is a lot of shots. And if they get into melee? Each of them has a Sword-Liberator's worth of attack. So these are Archers that are only effective at extremely short ranges. Think of them as less versatile but more killy Shadow Warriors and you're not far off.

*'''[https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/Downloads//ENG_Akhelian_Ishlaen_Guard.pdf Akhelian Ishlaen Guard]:''' (Battleline with an Akhelian Hero as general, AKHELIAN, 155, Min:3) . Defendy cavalry. Huh. Ishlaen Guard is fast and has decent damage output, but their true strength lies in their shields. [[Awesome|They ignore Rend]] and gain +1 to their saves when they charge, which they will since they move 14" and reroll charges thanks to their musician. So the opponent has to throw Mortal Wounds at them just to reliably get past their saves and even then each of the buggers has 4 Wounds.

*'''[https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/Downloads//ENG_Akhelian_Morrsarr_Guard.pdf Akhelian Morrsarr Guard]:''' (Battleline with an Akhelian Hero as general, AKHELIAN, 195, Min:3) Same basic profile as the Ishlaen, but with 1 less attack on the weapons and no ability to ignore Rend. This seems lacking, especially considering they cost thirty points more. But then you notice that their spears gain Damage 2 and -2 Rend on the charge and that they can, once per game, drop 0.83 Mortal Wounds per rider on whatever pisses you off and you realize that they are wall breakers instead of walls. That said, just because they're missing the defensive abilities of the Ishlaen, that doesn't mean they're frail, as they still rock 4 Wounds with a 4+ Save. Got jacked up to 170 points in GHB 2019, not enough to make a massive difference.

*'''[https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/Downloads//ENG_Akhelian_Allopexes.pdf Akhelian Allopex]:''' (AKHELIAN, 110, Min:1, Max:3, Website Warscroll no longer up to date.) DUUNNN DUNNN… DUUUUNNNN DUUN… DUNDUNDUNDUNDUNDUN... Chariots in all but name. 14" flying, 8 wounds, 4+ save and no longer a Monster, so let's get to cover. Each has two riders, one who swings a sword and one of which mans the gun. One option is the Razorshell Harpoon, blasting away four shots 3+/3+/-1/1 Damage. The other is the Retarius Net Launcher, who slings out 1 shot 3+/3+/-/1. While that damage is worse than the Harpoon, you only need to hit your target for the prize - your fancy new rule "Entangled" triggers and the hit unit cannot pile in this turn. This means you get to take a nice old bite out of their flank with basically no return. Nice. The ranged options can be mixed within one unit now. In Melee the Crew stabs and prods the enemywith 6 attacks, hitting and wounding on 3s bcause you are aelves, but no rend. The shark itself doesn't have fins anymore and the bite changed a lot. It is now 3 attacks, 3+/3+/-2/2 Damage. If any enemy unit within 3" has suffered wounds or lost models this turn you get an extra bite, so let the crew swing first if you failed your shooting. Very nice with a Soulscryer. Finally, they can be taken in units of up to 3, which is very risky due to Bravery 6, but with a potentially huge payoff. In exchange, units of them make for an incredible target for the Akhelian King's Command. It'd be wasted on a single Allopex but on a unit of three? Oh dear. Just make sure you use Inspiring Presence on them until ''High Tide'' rolls around. Now at 110 points, so you can consider this living cruise missile.

===Behemoths===
*'''[https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/Downloads//ENG_Akhelian_Leviadon.pdf Akhelian Leviadon]:''' [340 pts.] Sea turtles, mate! Blessed be Morathi's treacherous ways, because finally the Leviadon has a warscroll that wasn't left in some half-baked beta state! The warscroll on the Website is currently not up to date. A fixed 10" flying move, a massive 16 wounds and a initial save of 2+ make this a tough shell to break. "Initial save?" you ask? Why yes, for as long as he only suffers 8 wounds this turtle now has a 2+ save, after which it starts to degrade increasingly fast to a 3+, when he has suffered 12 wounds it's a 4+ and on it's last fin it's save is a sad 5+, but at this point he is dead anyway. The weapons that this beast can bring to bear however will make damn sure that whoever breaks it's carapace will pay dearly for it. Its Razorshell Harpoon Launchers buffed to 8 Attacks 3+/3+/-1/1, delivering Dakka from 24". Its crew rather inconsequentially poke six times with no rend, and the real hurt comes from the turtle itself. Its fins cleave four times with 2" 2+/3+/-1/ starting at four damage a swing, that's sixteen wounds you can punch in somewhere. Its bite decided that it's old swingy ways are for losers, so it got two attacks, hitting on 2s, degrading as the Monster takes damage, wounds on a fixed 2+, -2 rend and three damage. No more sadness with a D6 roll for the damage done. In addition if you roll an unmodified hit roll of 6, you do 3 Mortal wounds now, or 6 if the target is a fellow Monster. And the Attack sequence actually ends now! Amazing! After you make a charge move you already do damage. Like the Deepmare of your Kings, you roll a D6, on a 2+ the charged unit suffers D3 Mortal Wounds or D6 if the unit's models only have 1 wound. This butchers small models, so Clanrats beware. We are not done yet. The old useless cover of the Void Drum is gone, now instead IDK units with 8 wounds or less and wholly within 12" just get +1 to their save. This is better than cover and stacks with it. If your Ishlaen Guard are here Turn 1, they have a 2+ unrendable save. Close by Namarti benefit even more, gaining +1 to hit in the Void Drums bubble, which is clearly intended to make them more of a viable choice. 340 points, Monster and a Behemoth.

==Battalions==
Due to how Battalions are now universal, expect see the whole lot of this on the trash bin outside of narrative games. Bonus rules, traits and doodads are going to be likely added to the faction rules as default.
===From Battletome Idoneth Deepkin===
*'''Royal Council:''' (610pt. min.) [Battalion: 140pt.]
''Requires an Akhelian King (Or Volturnos), a Tidecaster, and a Soulscryer. ''

Adds a new Command Ability, if the Akhelian King is the general. You can add 3" move until next hero phase for 3 friendly Idoneth Deepkin within 12" of the Akhelian King. The Soulscryer and the Tidecaster have to be within 3" of the Akhelian King to use this. Effectively nerfs the Soulscryer's ability to outflank because he needs to be within 3" of the King to use the Ability of this Battalion (unless you take an extra Soulscryer via the Ionrach enclave). Either way, taking the King as general means you can't reverse the tides with the Tidecaster.

*'''Akhelian Corps:''' (830pt. min.) [Battalion: 100pt.]
''Requires a Akhelian Leviadon, 2-4 units of Akhelian guards and 1-2 units of Akhelian Allopexes''

You can reroll a hit, a wound, a save, a run or a charge roll for one unit of this battalion wholly within 12" of the big turtle per phase.

*'''Namarti Corps:''' (660pt. min.) [Battalion: 100pt.]
''Requires a Isharann Soulrender, 2-6 units of Namarti Thralls and 2-4 units of Namarti Reavers''

The Soulrender resurrects 3 models instead of D3 with his Lurelight ability.

*'''Alliance of Wood and Sea:''' (1410pt. min.) [Battalion: 140pt.]
''Requires (deep breath....) a Isharann Tidecaster, 2 units of Akhelian guards, a unit of Akhelian Allopexes, a unit of Namarti Thralls, a unit of Namarti Reavers, and some Sylvaneth - a branchwych, 2 units of Dryads and a Treelord Ancient''

The Sylvaneth in the Battalion benefit from Emissary of the Deep Places regardless of your chosen Enclave.

Essentially a full Start collecting box of Sylvaneth, plus 4 more dyads. Also smart to buy one Awakened Wyldwood since the Treelord Ancient's ability Silent Communion gives you one per battle despite your Sylvaneth otherwise not having access to tree generation. Ideal for an existing Sylvaneth players wanting to ''branch'' out to something new (pun intended). But does it work as an useful army?

Other useful considerations would be that the two Sylvaneth Wizards in the Battalion don't have access to non-Warscroll spells, and especially considering that the one spell on the Treelord Ancient's scroll depends on Awakened Wildwoods to be useful, it's probably wise to take at least one Sylvaneth Endless Spell (or generic one for that matter) to give them something to do. Furthermore, Dryads are one of those units that doesn't perform well at their MSU size of 10 (getting a +1 to Save for 10+ models), so you should go ahead and plan on at least two units of 20 models (if not 30). Additionally, the added artefact you'll be getting from this Battalion will be wasted if you don't take at least one additional Idoneth Hero (since these Sylvaneth still count as Allies for the purposes of doling out artefacts). Finally, since the Allied Dryads don't actually count as Battleline (despite what Azyr says), you'll either need another unit of Namarti (if you take the Tidecaster as your general), or one of the Akhelian Kings (to make the Eels Battleline). Essentially, the Battalion is more for flavor, as it's super limiting of what you can actually end of taking in a 2000 pt army, but it could still be fun (especially if they update the Sylvaneth scrolls).

You could add two units of Kurnoth Hunters as allies (given anyone playing this will most likely have some lying around), but they wouldn't get the Tides Of Death (unless you went Ionrach).

===From Battleforce Boxes===
*'''Deepsurge Raiding Party''' (660pt. min.) (not legal in matched play)
''Requires an Isharann Tidecaster, 1 unit of Akhelian Allopexes, 1 Unit of Akhelian Morrsarr Guard or 1 unit of Akhelian Ishlaen Guard, 1 unit of Namarti Thralls, 1 unit of Namarti Reavers ''

This gives the Tidecaster the ability to negate the first wound allocation to a model from the battalion instead of itself.

===From Broken Realms: Morathi===
*'''The Bloodsurf Hunt''' (570pt. min.)
''Requires an Akhelian King, 1-2 units of Akhelian Allopexes, and locks you into the Ionrach Enclave''

Kind of an interesting battalion choice, if you've ever looked at your sharks and wanted them to be meat shields for your glorious King. The Akhelian King model becomes a named character, Nemmetar, and gains the Lord of Storm and Sea command trait. Nice. BUT ALSO add 1 to hit rolls for your sharks' Barbed Hooks and Blades while wholly within 12" of Nemmetar. In addition, on a 2+ you can swap wounds from Nemmetar to Allopex units from the same battalion while they're within 3" of him. It may seem counter-intuitive to have your super killy sharks taking wounds for your Akhelian King, but if you're using Nemmetar as an anvil and Allopexes as a hammer with maybe a Leviadon backing them both up for +1 to saving throws...well, suffice it to say that you will have Nagash himself weeping that you got a First Cohort battalion that can actually be used.

==Super-Battalions==
===From Battletome Idoneth Deepkin===
*'''Phalanx:''' (3710pt. min.) (30810pt. max.)!!! [Battalion: 120pt.]
''1 Royal Council, 2-4 Akhelian Corps, 2-4 Namarti Corps''

The big one. Once per battle you get an additional High Tide.

==The Enclaves==
They are akin to the Daughters of Khaine Temples. Each has unique special rules for your army and allows you to upgrade one of your Warscroll Battalions
*'''Ionrach:''' The enclave of magic and allies. +1 to cast and unbind rolls for your Wizards, which, as you know, is invaluable. However, your Command Trait is locked into the Ionrach-exclusive ''Emissary of the Deep Places'', which provides your allies access to the ''Tides of Death'' rules. Great if you have allies (or mercenaries), worthless if you don't. On the flip side, seeing as Volturnos' main drawback as a named general is that he can't take a command trait, if you're already not bringing allies, this is the perfect time to bring him along and minimize that drawback. Doesn't really fit the lore so well, but it is what it is... Also your ''Royal Council'' can have up to 2 Soulscryers and Tidecasters. Also note that with Ionrach, your allies DO NOT gain the benefit of forgotten nightmares (they still screen your Idoneth units however).

*'''Dhom-Hain:''' The enclave of more elite, monster-killing soldiers. Akhelians and Namarti reroll 1s To Hit on the charge. <s>Relatively meaningless as Lotann and the Akhelian King respectively do the same whether you charged or not, but nice if you find yourself outside the relevant bubbles.</s> Lotann and the Akhelian King only do it for units that are WHOLLY within 12 inches of them, and this rule applies to anything not an Isharann or an Eidolon. So if you want to keep your entire, very mobile, army inside a 12 inch bubble, this rule is meaningless, otherwise it's very good. Your Akhelians also reroll Wound rolls against Monsters (not just in melee, so feel free to reroll those wounds on your Allopex and Leviadon's shooting attacks when firing at a monster). Interesting against some armies, worthless against others. Also your ''Akhelian Corps'' can have up to 6 units of Akhelian Guard. Dhom-hain is notable as one of the Enclaves that have no restrictions whatsoever.

*'''Fuethán:''' The most aggressive enclave (including the mounts). You reroll 1s To Wound with your mounts. Also, during ''Flood Tide'' all your units reroll 1s To Hit and ''Ebb Tide'' turns into another ''Flood Tide''. You'll really miss that fall back + charge on turn 4, but in exchange, a Tidecaster can make you super fast by giving you ''Flood Tide'' on turn 1 and ''High Tide'' on turn 2. The Tidecaster has to be the general for that, which locks you out of Akhelians being battleline and lets you not use the command abilities of the Akhelian Kings. Also, your ''Phalanx'' can contain up to 6 ''Akhelian Corps''. Not that you will ever use a ''Phalanx''.

*'''Mor'Phann:''' The death enclave. Your Soulrenders raise an additional 3 models. This is huge and out-Death's Death armies. However, your Tidecasters can't take Lore spells and instead get ''Freezing Mists'', which drastically lowers an enemy unit's Pile In move. Also, your ''Namarti Corps'' can have 6 units of Reavers (errata'ed due to redundancy with 2-6 Thralls already being the base amount for the Battalion).

*'''Nautilar:''' The most defensive enclave. Your units reroll all failed Hit rolls if they were charged that turn. Not that your opponent needed more discouragement from charging your Namarti. Their Tidecasters lose access to lore spells and instead get ''Protective Barrier'', which targets a friendly unit and lower the Rend of any enemy attacking them. Also your ''Akhelian Corps'' can have up to 2 Leviadons.

*'''Briomdar:''' The enclave with the most mobility. Your Soulscryers can take up to 3 units along and place them 18" away instead of 12. Also, your units can move over terrain (but not enemy units) as if they were flying. Not too great since most of your army already flies. Also your ''Namarti Corps'' can take up to 6 units of Reavers. Again, it is notable that the Briomdar have no restrictions to their name.

==Allies==
Note that with an Ionarch army all allies benefit from the ''Tides of Death'' rule, which benefits many allied units in various ways.

*'''Cities of Sigmar''': They offer the widest variety out of all the allies, particularly the aelven forces. Here's a more comprehensive description of what works with Idoneth:
** Word of Pain from a Sorceress helps with -1 to Hit spam in a mage heavy list. (Just remember that they're susceptible to being sniped out).
** Order Serpentis provide expendable cavalry with good saves to soak up fire for your Akhelians. A Black Dragon or War Hydra with Ionrach are good choices for fast heavy hitters and/or shooting.
** While Scourge Privateers would be great thematically, only the Scourgerunner Chariot is really worth considering from this group (and there's a lot of bad blood between the two factions lorewise).
** Shadow Warriors can deepstrike, and (if in cover) outshoot Reavers from afar (though they're less mobile once on the field).
** Wanderers also offer several benefits (though most of the following description is outdated). A unit of 20 Glade Guard in your army provides you with a highly reliable "remove lynchpin" button that will likely enrage your opponents. Sisters of the Thorn are an awesome addition to a Cavalry army and provide a very nice spell to boot. Eternal Guards re-roll saves of 1 and 2 if they are in cover, are as fast as Namarti Thralls and cost 70 points (currently 130) per 10 models (with a super discount at max size). A Waywatcher has the invisible hunter rule, which gives shooting units that target him -1 to hit, and can be given to other Wanderer units within 18" for 1 command point (combine with Tides of Death to make shooty armies cry).
** Battlemages are excellent support units that can be tailored to your needs, and the Battlemage on Griffon packs a punch too.
** Phoenix Temple are amazing. Phoenix guard can eat enemy fire with minimal losses given their 4+ save and a 4+ save-after-the-save. Throw in a Phoenix Guard Anointed and they not only become fearless but the Anointed gives you an extra dispel. The Flamespyre Phoenix is also a great unit, trading the dispel for dropping MW on enemies and a one-use chance to come back from death on a 4+.
** Ironweld Arsenal Gyrobombers are a good and cheap choice for dropping MW on enemy units with their bombs, but Gyrocopters with Steam Guns are both much faster (better able to keep up with IDK flying units) and have a MUCH more potent close-range, anti-horde missile attack.
*'''Daughters of Khaine''': The best option by a long shot. What they bring are cheap and expendable units of 90 points per 5 Harpies that can Deep Strike in, and help block shots for the rest of your army via ''Forgotten Nightmares''. 2 Units of Javelin Harpies, or one unit of Sword Harpies is pretty likely to one shot a 5 wound hero to boot. Doomfire Warlocks are also solid allies for a Cavalry army and easily able to keep up as well as providing good shooting and a source of mortal Wounds. Your best bet here is probably a unit of Khinerai, seeing as how they can deepstrike independently from any other unit, and offer a decently strong enough attack to help shift an chaff unit off a back field objective. It doesn't hurt that they are cheap points wise too. The new Khanite shadowstalkers are quite good as allies, being able to teleport wherever they want. For a hundred points they are an interesting 9 man objective grabber, because sometimes your eels can't quite do it alone.
**'''Alternate Opinion:''' While Daughters of Khaine are indeed an extremely powerful force on their own, they don't make very good allies for a number of reasons. They excel at being an extremely aggressive force when you pile on their faction bonuses (escalating table, 6+FNP, Temple abilities, extra prayers, their NUTS spell lore, not to mention any number of internally consistent abilities and rules) on their own without those they tend towards being overpriced or fragile. While you might get some mileage out of a unit of Khinerai or Doomfire Warlocks, you'd probably be better off with some more Idoneth.
*'''Stormcast Eternals''': For a Namarti-heavy army, Liberators or Sequitors make fantastic cannon fodder when combined with a Lord-Castellant and ''Forgotten Nightmares''. Other than that, Vanguard-Raptors make for some nice budget shooting. Fulminators are a nasty addition to any Cavalry heavy army, and combined with ''Tides of Death'', will get your opponent to flip the table fast. A Knight Azyros can give your units a reroll 1 to Hit for enemies in 10". Also, a Knight Vexillor might use his redeploy ability to make your Stormcasts keep up with your Idoneths. A Celestant-Prime waiting in the heavens to boost his Attacks characteristic and then dropping in on turn 3 in High Tide (if Ionrach) can do all kinds of work. Turn 2's not bad either so that you can take advantage of another Cometstrike.
*'''Sylvaneth''': The only things worth considering here are Kurnoth Hunters for some additional shooting and Tree Revenants for Warmachine hunting without investing hundreds of points into a Soulscryer and an escort. Additionally, you might want to consider their Outcasts Battalion (3 units of Spite-Revenants), which at 280pt for the minimum-sized battalion, will likely remain the cheapest way to squeeze an extra battalion in. That said, it's currently impossible to field this in a Deepkin list in Vanguard and meet all of the faction-units-per-allies-units requirements, so save this for your Battlehost-and-larger games.
*'''Gotrek:''' Despite costing 520pts, Gotrek can be brought as an ally in any Order faction even if that's more than the usual allies allowance. It's worth mentioning for the Ionrach enclave because he'll get the benefit of the Tides. Gotrek's an absolute beast in melee but is let down by his low movement and the fact he can never be teleported/ambushed onto the board etc; however, he would love to be able to run and charge, and retreat and charge, and Ionrach lets him do that.
*'''Bundo Whalebiter''': A Kraken-eater Mega-Gargant mercenary available to all Order factions. Taking him uses up your entire ally points allowance and he ignores any Behemoth or Hero limitations. A big terrifying centerpiece who can kick objectives around and instantly kill models by shoving them into his net. You can choose at the start of the Combat phase for him to fight at the end of the phase, in exchange for re-rolling failed hit rolls. If you want a big monster that isn’t the Turtle, then this is your pick.

===Lethisian Defenders===
From the Forbidden Power expansion, this odd army coalition of Idoneth, Stormcast, Kharadron, Fyreslayers, and a random Excelsior Warpriest (w/Gryph-Hound) offers you new Allegiance Ability synergies on a level somewhere between those of the regular faction-only perks and the super basic list for Grand Alliances. By choosing this allegiance, all of your units gain the keyword LETHISIAN DEFENDER and gain access to a couple unique Battle Traits, a Command Ability, 3 Command Traits, 3 Artefacts of Power, and 3 Prayers (arguably the focal point of the Allegiance). Unlike simply taking allies in an otherwise Idoneth list, which is limited by the 1:4 unit ratio rule and (in Pitched Battles) the ≤ 20% pts rule, this allegiance allows you to take basically whatever you want from the four armies (two of which you previously had no access to without pulling back to basic Grand Alliance: Order), with the following exceptions:

*no Hammers of Sigmar (most Stormcast named heroes) [notable exception being the Celestant-Prime]
*no Vostarg units (Fyreslayers) [but Kharadron named characters are legal]
*not Volturnos [though you can take Lotann]
*Battleline is restricted to the armies' vanilla offerings (Arkanaut Company, Liberators, Vulkite Berzerkers, and Thralls) since you can't take the other options without allegiance to the specific factions). One notable exception here that might (but hopefully won't) be errata'ed is that Kharadron Endrinmasters (w/Dirigible Suits) as your general can currently grant you access to Skywardens and Endrinriggers as Battleline w/o KO allegiance, allowing you the potential to make an all-flying army with balloon-boiz and your Akhelains/Eidolons (plus whatever scattered Stormcast units you like).

Otherwise, all other units from the four armies are legal, though of course it makes sense to lean in on priests since all priests in your army gain a free prayer that, like most prayers in the game, goes off on a 3+ and can't be unbound. Also, one of the Command Abilities makes your non-priest general a priest as well, or gives a priest-general access to another prayer. Currently, in addition to the Excelsior Warpriest (a fantastically efficient option with a solid prayer of his own and able to unbind one spell per enemy hero phase), the four armies offer us access to the following priests:

*Stormcast: Lord-Relictor, Lord-Veritant (the superior option by far, super anti-Wizard)
*Fyreslayers: Auric Runemaster, Auric Runesmiter (able to deepstrike 1 Fyreslayers unit), Auric Runesmither on Magamadroth
*Idoneth: Isharann Soulscryer (notably lacking a prayer of his own)
*Kharadron: unfortunately no priests (though an Aetheric Navigator really should be)

The Battle Traits for the Army are as follows:
*all units can re-roll Battleshock tests (sadly mostly redundant for all Idoneth squads except Allopexes)
*all Human and Duardin units get +1 to-Hit in melee against enemies that charged them (on that turn)
*all Akhelian units get +1" Move and +1 on charge rolls, but sadly doesn't help non-Akhelians
*Command Ability: only works for Liberators wholly within 12" of a Stormcast Hero (gives them +1 Save in exchange for not being able to pile-in) [meh]

Drawbacks:
*you no longer benefit from any of the army's Allegiance-specific synergies (most-notably here, Tides of Death and Forgotten Nightmares), but you get to have fun allying with Duardin, more Stormcast, and have some Priestly fun!
*there's no specific lore to the army (besides the prayers), but if you want Wizards, you can always take Endless Spells or use the one Realm Spell from GHB20 (same goes for one extra artefact)
*unfortunately, there's no fix if you don't like the 3 Command Traits
*no new Warscroll Battalions, but you're allowed to use any of the existing ones

Ultimately, though most-likely not powerful enough to be competitive, I hope that GW will make more coalition allegiances like this, as it not only mixes things up, but it creates opportunities for you to collect and learn other armies, and it's super fluffy lore-wise. Plus, the Grand Alliances really don't have enough going for them, so this kinda makes up for that, meeting halfway between.

==Army Building==
There aren't a ton of options for building diverse armies since the Idoneth model line consists of 8 Leaders, 5 units with only one unconditional battleline and a behemoth. However with the addition of Enclaves your army will perform a bit differently and allows for a small but not insignificant level of specialization.

===What to start with?===
* As the name suggest, the Start Collecting! kit is a great way to start your collection, giving you 10 Thralls, 3 Eels and one Soulrender.

* Battleforce box being released for Holidays 2018. $170 (USD) will net you a Tidecaster, 10 Namarti Thralls, 10 Namarti Reavers, 3 Eel guard riders of your choice, and 2 Allopexes. Not a bad variety to start with, and is over a hundred dollars in savings, if you can somehow get your hands on it.

*Grab an Akhelian King kit and build either Volturnos or the stock King model. Both are fine, though Volturnos outperforms his nameless counterpart before taking Artefacts and Command Traits into consideration. Either model is a fine addition to your army. Better yet, pick up the Broken Realms: Morathi Battalion Box for the Bloodsurf Hunt, which includes not only the Akhelian King kit, but also two Allopexes, all useable in a new Battalion that's actually solid (especially if FAQ'd out of being subfaction-locked to Ionrach).

{{Age_of_Sigmar_Tactics}}

Age of Sigmar/Tactics/Chaos/Maggotkin of Nurgle

2021-11-12T15:57:11Z

2406:3400:20F:FFC0:F062:7070:B9C0:9588: /* Rulebooks */

{{Age of Sigmar Faction|Faction=Maggotkin of Nurgle|Logo=Nurgle.jpg|Alliance=Chaos|Lore=Nurgle|Icon=220px-Nurgle_Symbol.png|Motto=Buboes, phlegm, blood and guts! Boils, bogeys, rot, and pus! Blisters, fevers, weeping sores! From your wounds the fester pours.}}

==Why Play Maggotkin?==

New battletome incoming.

'''Pros'''
* Tough and survivable: if it doesn't have Disgustingly Resilient, it's usually gonna have a high wound count.
* Incredible variety in models and playstyles: the Maggotkin are essentially six armies in one (Nurgle Daemons, Rotbringers, Slaves to Darkness, Skaven Pestilens, Tamurkhan's Horde{however these have now been moved to legends}, Beasts of Chaos (with the required battalion)).
* You have the most named characters out of any army.
* Surprisingly fast with the right synergies and unit imports.
* They are 乇乂ㄒ尺卂ㄒ卄丨匚匚
'''Cons'''
* Most units are slow and rely on support buffs to get across the board.
* Low rend and damage on most units: you can take a hit, but you can't exactly dish it out.
* With so many -1 to hit debuffs around, and no way to give +1 to your forces, your damage output can get severely hampered, but now fixed by binding some abilities to unmodified rolls
* Weird stuff happens in mirror matches, due to several effects (most notably the Cycle of Corruption) being based on '''NURGLE''' keywords as opposed to being allied or enemy units.

==Rulebooks==
{{AOSRulebooks|tome=Maggotkin of Nurgle|points=[https://www.warhammer-community.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/Me1LXNauhfuTbvd5.pdf Maggotkin of Nurgle Errata]}}

The Maggotkin of Nurgle Battletome was released in January of 2018, and as such was '''the''' oldest active Battletome to the point that the third edition of AOS came out before they got a new battletome. It was really jarring, but the wait is nearly over, as the new Maggotkin of Nurgle battletome has been announced. Interstingly, the front cover shows the Lumineth getting worfed.

==Allegiance Abilities==
If your army consists fully of units with the '''NURGLE''' keyword, it can choose to take the Nurgle allegiance, opening all the below battle traits, command traits, spells, artifacts, and spells.

===Battle Traits===
All Nurgle allegiance armies benefit from the following rules:

'''Legions of Chaos:''' The errata saw GW cribbing notes from the Cities of Sigmar, now you (and the other god-aligned armies) can take two {{AOSKeyword|Slaves of Darkness}} units out of every four so long as you give them the mark of {{AOSKeyword|NURGLE}} and one of every four units can be from {{AOSKeyword|Beasts of Chaos}}, granting them the keyword as well. In addition coalition units do not count towards the number of battleline in your army, but do count towards everything else (behemoth, leader, artillery, etc). Also cannot be army general. Predictably, Wizards and units bearing the marks of other gods are not allowed.
*Congratulations, your army selection has effectively doubled between all the StD stuff that's now much easier to access and the beastmen. Unfortunately, Tamurkhan's Horde is not included in this conglomeration, with the plague toads ending up in some weird middle-ground due to their keywords and placement.

'''Cycle of Corruption:''' Nurgle is life, Nurgle is love, and Nurgle loves to share all his gifts. At the start of the battle - after deployment but before the first turn - the Nurgle player rolls a die to decide where the Cycle of Corruption begins. There are seven Stages of Corruption; the 7th stage being locked from the initial throw (which is good, as it is a healing one you most likely won't need yet).

Each stage will provide you with a buff for your {{AOSKeyword|NURGLE}} units or debuff to your opponent's non- {{AOSKeyword|NURGLE}} units. At the start of each subsequent battle round the Cycle will progress by one step. For example: if your initial roll is a 3, then you will benefit from ''The Burgeoning'' during the first battle round, ''Plague of Misery'' during the second battle round, and so on. You can either let the Cycle progress or try to change it with spells or abilities. Either way, try to plan ahead because you know which benefits you will get in the following battle rounds.

#'''Unnatural Vitality''': The first stage adds 2" to the Move characteristic of all {{AOSKeyword|NURGLE}} units. A really good one to offset your slower units (looking at you, ''Blightkings'') and getting them into battle quicker.
#'''Fecund Vigour''': The second stage adds 1 to the wound rolls of all {{AOSKeyword|NURGLE}} units during the combat phase.
#'''The Burgeoning''': The third stage is one that affects all units (yours and your opponents) as each unit within 1" of a terrain feature the start of your hero phase will suffer 1 mortal wound - or heal 1 if they're '''NURGLE''' - on a 5+.
#'''Plague of Misery''': The fourth stage forces re-rolls of 1 for battleshock tests for your opponent, {{AOSKeyword|NURGLE}} excluded of course.
#'''Nauseous Revulsion''': The fifth stage forces enemy units to re-roll wound rolls of 6 during the combat phase. Enemy {{AOSKeyword|NURGLE}} units are, once again, excluded.
#'''Rampant Disease''': The sixth stage allows you to pick D3 different enemy units at the start of your hero phase (guess which units you can skip) that are within 12" of each other. Each unit will then suffer D3 mortal wounds.
#'''Corrupted Regrowth''': The seventh and final stage will allow all {{AOSKeyword|NURGLE}} units to heal D3 wounds at the start of their hero phase. Note that this does include your opponent's units, even if they don't field a Nurgle army.

'''The Garden of Nurgle:''' Mimicking the Sylvaneth, the forces of Nurgle can now plant their own terrain pieces. After setting up terrain but before choosing a territory, each Nurgle army can place one Feculant Gnarlmaw anywhere more than 1" from any other terrain feature. Since they allow all '''NURGLE''' units within 7" to both run and charge in the same turn be sure to drop it off where you would benefit from this, but as mentioned above be careful in mirror matches.

'''Summon Daemons of Nurgle:''' Gone are the days of any {{AOSKeyword|CHAOS WIZARD}} summoning hordes of {{AOSKeyword|NURGLE DAEMONS}} to join their ranks and instead there is a new system: collecting and spending contagion points as a Nurgle army.

In each of your hero phases a {{AOSKeyword|NURGLE}} army collects contagion points in the following ways:
* Any friendly {{AOSKeyword|NURGLE}} models in your own territory nets you 3 points a turn.
* Any friendly {{AOSKeyword|NURGLE}} models in your opponent's territory nets you an additional 3 points a turn.
* Being free of enemy models in a territory nets you an addition 1 point for that territory.
* Each Feculant Gnarlmaw nets you an additional D3 points if there are no enemy models within 3" of it.

Right off the bat, you will most likely be earning 3 or 4 +D3 contagion points for having no enemies in your territory - you are buying that Gnarlmaw, aren't you? (although if the enemy takes the first turn there's a fair chance they will be in your territory, depending on mission map). Coming as no surprise, different abilities will allow you to earn more contagion points during a turn. Some heroes (such as the Lord of Plagues or Epidemius) have been reworked to play into this.

To summon the daemons, all you have to do is look it up in the list and deduct its cost from your total points; unlike Khorne's Blood Tithe, you will be able to keep what you don't spend. There's no cast roll required, just place the summoned unit within 12" of a Gnarlmaw or '''NURGLE HERO''' and more than 9" from any enemies. Note that this list contains units in different sizes (Plaguebearers come in 5, 10, or 20), includes nearly all of Nurgle's daemons from Nurglings to a Great Unclean One (sadly no Soulgrinder, boo), and includes new Gnarlmaws (at the cost of Nurgle's favorite number).

<s>Lastly, don't forget that placing new units will cost reinforcement points in Matched Play, though you'll be happy to know the Gnarlmaws only cost contagion points (because you didn't already buy/converted 7, did you?).</s> Yeah, forget that. Age of Sigmar Second Edition baby! No more reinforcement points needed for summoning. This makes contagion points (and Gnarlmaws) much more important.

Contagion points can be used to summon Daemons of Nurgle From The List Below:
#'''1 Great Unclean One ''': 28 Contagion points
#'''1 Horticulous Slimux ''': 21 Contagion points
#'''3 Plague Drones ''': 21 Contagion points
#'''20 Plaguebearers ''': 21 Contagion points
#'''1 Poxbringer, Herald of Nurgle ''': 14 Contagion points
#'''1 Sloppity Bilepiper, Herald of Nurgle ''': 14 Contagion points
#'''1 Spoilpox Scrivener, Herald of Nurgle ''': 14 Contagion points
#'''10 Plaguebearers ''': 14 Contagion points
#'''1 Beast of Nurgle''': 14 Contagion points
#'''3 Nurgling bases ''': 14 Contagion points
#'''5 Plaguebearers ''': 7 Contagion points
#'''1 Nurgling base ''': 7 Contagion points
#'''1 Feculent Gnarlmaw ''': 7 Contagion points

'''‘LEGIONS OF CHAOS:''' 3rd edition trait that's a buff to using beastmen but a nerf for Slaves to Darkness and Clans Pestilens Nurgle lists. Non-maggotkin units can be included in a Maggotkin of Nurgle army as coalition units. 2 in every 4 units in the army can be Slaves
to Darkness with a mark of Nurgle, 1 in 4 can be non-Tzeentch Beasts of Chaos units that gain the Nurgle keyword, and 1 in 4 can be Clans Pestilens.

===Subfactions===
Added in the Wrath of the Everchosen book, you can now choose a subfaction for your smelly boys. Two for daemons and two mortals (and whatever Tarmurkhan is doing.)

<tabs>
<tab name="The Munificent Wanderers">
''Turn Nurgle Daemons wall into a poison spike wall''
*'''Battle Traits:''' '''Locus of Corruption:''' Enemy units within 3" of a {{AOSKeyword|Munificent Wanderers Daemon}} unit reduce the rend of their weapon by 1 (minimum -). Nurgle enemies unaffected
**Nurgle units, especially Plaguebeares, are already fairly durable so adding more resilience really counts. And then you remember that units like Pusgoyles and Lord of Afflictions have the Daemon keyword, and would trigger off this ability as well...
*'''Command Ability - Infested with Wonders:''' Pick 1 {{AOSKeyword|Munificent Wanderers Daemon}} unit within 14" of a {{AOSKeyword|Munificent Wanderers Daemon hero}}. Until your next hero phase any enemies which charge that unit suffer D3 wounds. Situational. Possibly good with a big unit of Plaguebearers screening out the front of your army.
*'''Command Trait - One Last Gift:''' Any hit rolls of '6' on a {{AOSKeyword|Munificent Wanderers Daemon}} unit with 12" of the General generate a mortal wound on the attacking unit after all attacks have been resolved. This is huge. Nurgle generally doesn't have a great mortal wound output and against the right opponent, this could generate a ton. Imagine 30 Plaguebearers getting attacked by a mob of Mortek Guard, with the -1 to hit from Flies and spitting mortal wound back against their bucket of dice.
*'''Artifact - Mucktalon:''' 1 weapon adds 1 to hit if it targets a hero. Pretty much total rubbish. The one weak point of the subfaction really.
</tab>
<tab name="The Droning Guard">
''Air force: Fly Wall. First turn.''
*'''Battle Traits - Locus of Corruption:''' Enemy units within 3" of a {{AOSKeyword|Droning Guard Daemon}} unit reduce the rend of their weapon by 1 (to a minimum of -). “Nurgle” units remain unaffected.
*'''Command AbilIty - Twice Blessed Rotspawn:''' During combat, pick a {{AOSKeyword|Droning Guard Plague Drone}} unit wholly within 12" of a Daemon Hero, +1 to disgustingly resilient rolls.
*'''Command Trait - Rotwing Commander:''' Before the first battle round all {{AOSKeyword|Droning Guard Plague Drones}} can move 4". With a Gnarlmaw, you can go 12" + D6" + 2D6" first turn.
*'''Artifact - Cloud of flies:''' -1 melee hits rolls against the bearer.
</tab>
<tab name="The Blessed Sons">
''Rotbringers charge forth to spoil all''
*'''Battle Traits: Nurgle's Embrace:''' Each time a {{AOSKeyword|Blessed Sons Rotbringer}} model is slain in the combat phase, on a 2+, its attacker takes 1 MW, but if they’re {{AOSKeyword|Nurgle}} they Heal +1.
*'''Command Trait - Foul Conqueror:''' May use ''At The Double'' CA once per turn on a {{AOSKeyword|Blessed Sons Rotbringer}} unit for free.
*'''Command Ability - Disregard and Defiled:''' Pick a {{AOSKeyword|Blessed Sons Rotbringer}} unit wholly with 12" of Rotbringer hero, the end of fight phase, pick an enemy unit, your unit deals total wounds/MW greater than their bravery, deal 3 MW.
*'''Artifact - Blackshell Bileplate:''' Reroll failed saves.
</tab>
<tab name="The Drowned Men">
''Air force: Blightlords Hammer''
*'''Battle Traits: Nurgle's Embrace:''' Each time a {{AOSKeyword|Drowned Men Rotbringer}} model is slain in the combat phase, on a 2+, the attacker takes 1 MW, but if they’re {{AOSKeyword|Nurgle}} they heal +1.
*'''Command Trait - Bloated Raider:''' Reroll charge rolls for {{AOSKeyword|Drowned Men Pusgoyle Blightlords}} wholly within 14"
*'''Command Ability - Kneel Before The Plague:''' At start of the combat phase, choose a {{AOSKeyword|Drowned Men Pusgoyle Blightlords}} unit wholly within 12" of a {{AOSKeyword|Rotbringer}} hero, and if they roll a 6 to wound, add -1 rend to that attack. Unless FAQ'ed, powerful with how many attacks Pusgoyles could gerate.
*'''Artifact - Rot-kraken Hide:''' +1 Wound.
</tab>
</tabs>

===Command Traits===

Maggotkin Generals can choose their Command Trait from three different tables depending on their Keywords ('''ROTBRINGER''', '''DAEMON''' or '''MORTAL'''). The first three traits in every table are the same.

<tabs>
<tab name="Universal">
#'''Grandfather’s Blessing''': Once per battle, at the start of your Hero phase, you can move the Cycle of Corruption one stage forward or backward if your general has not been slain.
#'''Living Plague''': At the start of your Hero phase, roll a dice for each enemy unit within 1" of your general. On a 4+ the unit being rolled for suffers 1 Mortal Wound, and you receive 1 Contagion point.
#'''Hulking Physique''': Add 1 to wound rolls for your general.
</tab>
<tab name="Rotbringers">
#'''Bloated with Corruption''': On a 4+ after your general suffers an unsaved wound the attacking unit suffers 1 mortal wound. Combines wonderfully with the ''Bileheart'' below, making it all but pointless to attack your General.
#'''Avalanche of Rotten Flesh''': Add 2 to run and charge rolls for your general.
#'''Resilient''': Whenever you allocate a wound or mortal wound to your general, roll a dice. On a 6+ it is negated.
</tab>
<tab name="Daemons">
#'''Tainted Corruptor''': At the start of your hero phase, a terrain model within 3 inches gains the Sickness Blossoms rule from Feculent Gnarlmaw warscroll along with any other rules. Interesting in theory.
#'''Nurgling Infestation''': Once per battle at the start of a combat phase you inflict d3 mortal wounds on an enemy unit within 3 inches.
#'''Pestilent Breath''': At the start of your shooting phase, pick an enemy unit withing 6 inches of your general. Roll a dice for each model within 6 inches of your general. The unit suffers a mortal wound for each roll of 5+. You know who can get this? A Harbinger of Decay, with his massive footprint and fast (for Nurgle) movement speed. You know who else can get this? A Verminlord Corruptor, who has an even larger footprint and moves even faster!
</tab>
<tab name="Mortals">
#'''Hideous Visage''': Subtract 2 from the bravery of enemy units within 3 inches of your general. Combine this with ''The Carrion Dirge'' below for a massive -4 to enemies foolish enough to enter combat with your general.
#'''Overpowering Stench''': Re-roll hit rolls of 6+ for attacks that target your general in the combat phase.
#'''Virulent Contagion''': Improve your generals rend characteristics by 1 for attacks in the combat phase.
</tab>
</tabs>

===Artefacts===
<tabs>
<tab name="Artefacts of Contagion">
Any '''ROTBRINGER HERO''' can be given one of these artifacts.

#'''The Splithorn Helm''': Roll a dice each time a wound or mortal wound is allocated to the bearer, on a 6+ it is negated. Nice enough on a Lord of Plagues or Lord of Blights but pretty much wasted on Harbingers of Decay and Lords of Affliction.
#'''Muttergrub''': The bearer can cast one additional spell if they are a wizard or cast Foul Regenesis every hero phase (but no unbinding) if they are not. Great if you need more casts asap but can't afford another Sorcerer.
#'''Rustfang''': At the start of each combat phase, pick one unit within 3 inches of the bearer. Subtract 1 from the armor save for the rest of the battle. You can only do this once on a unit. Phenomenal, as it negates one of your Blightkings' biggest weaknesses.
#'''Flesh Pealer''': Roll a dice each hero phase for each unit within 6 inches of the bearer. On a 5+ the unit suffers d3 mortal wounds. Meh. Might be okay on a Lord of Affliction, giving him YET another damaging aura.
#'''The Bileheart''': Roll a dice each time you allocate a wound or mortal wound in the combat phase and it is not negated. On a 4+ the unit suffers 1 mortal wound after all its attacks are made. Can turn a Lord of Affliction into a mini-Jabberslythe.
#'''The Fecund Flask''': You can use this once per battle at the start of your hero phase. If done, roll a dice, on a 2+ all suffered wounds are healed. On a 1 the bearer is slain. When slain, you replace the model with a Beast of Nurgle within 1 inch of the models current position. Using this when your Hero only has one Wound left can only lead to positive outcomes. But then, how many times will a Hero survive to the start of a friendly Hero Phase with exactly one wound?
</tab>
<tab name="Daemonic Boons">
Any '''Nurgle Daemonic Hero''' (including the Lord of Afflictions, the Harbinger of Decay and marked Lords of Chaos on Daemonic Mount) can be given one of the following.

#'''Noxious Nexus''': Roll a dice for each enemy unit within 7 inches of the bearer at the start of the hero phase. If the roll is equal to or less that the battle round (such as a 1,2, or 3 on the 3rd round) the unit suffers 1 mortal wounds.
#'''Nurgle's Nail''': Pick one of the bearers melee weapons to be the nail. Roll a 2d6 for each enemy model that was allocated wounds by this weapon but not slain. If the result is 7 exactly, the model is slain. Any other result does nothing.
#'''The Bountiful Swarm''': At the start of your hero phase, pick a enemy model within 3 inches of the bearer and roll a dice. If the roll is greater than the models wound characteristic the model is slain. If the model slain has a wound characteristic of 4+ then add a Beast of Nurgle to your army within 1 inch of the model slain. This allows you to snipe models out of units, like, say, that icon bearer from a Pink Horror unit. Go for reliable kills instead of betting on the Beast of Nurgle.
#'''The Witherstave''': Re-roll hit rolls of 6 for enemy units within 12 inches of the bearer. This is filthy. Put this on a Great Unclean One or a Harbringer of Decay to negate a lot of exploding 6s. Works especially well with the Lord of Blight's command ability, Plaguebearers' Cloud of Flies, or both if you want show your opponent what a tar pit looks like - a unit of 20 or more Plaguebearers would be -4/-2 to hit for shooting/melee, rerolling sixes, which occur before modifiers are applied.
#'''Tome of the Thousand Poxes''': Add 1 to casting rolls (for Lore of Nurgle spells only - note that this does NOT include the Foul Regenesis spell) if the target is a wizard, or the bearer can cast Sumptuous Pestilence each hero phase (but no unbinding) if they are not. Putting this on a Great Unclean One with Bileblade is pretty much the most obvious thing in the world. Or is it? The Great Unclean One doesn't exactly have a phenomenal spell lore to choose from. Making a Daemon Prince cast Sumptuous Pestilence might be worth it though.
#'''The Endless Gift''': At the start of the battleshock phase roll a dice for each non-nigated wound allocated this turn. On a 4+ the wound is healed. Utterly filthy on a Great Unclean One as it forces your opponent to pump unreasonable amounts of damage into it to finally stop the regeneration.
</tab>
<tab name="Plagueridden Gifts">
Any '''Nurgle Mortal Hero''' can be given one of the following. This includes Rotbringer heroes but also marked Slaves to Darkness heroes.

#'''The Virulent Blade''': Pick one of the bearers melee weapons to be the blade. Add 1 to the damage characteristic if the wound roll is a 5+. Would be way better if it were just a flat +1 but if you need more damage, it's not too shabby.
#'''The Foetid Shroud''': Re-roll hits rolls of 6+ for attacks against the bearer in the combat phase. Great for getting rid of exploding 6s but not that effective.
#'''Sublucus' Stenchplate''': Enemy units within 3 inches of the bearer at the end of their movement phase suffer d3 mortal wounds. Pretty much forces any Hero to fall back or take a significant portion of damage. Small elite units aren't going to like it either. Doesn't help against getting swarmed by hordes though.
#'''The Eye of Nurgle''': Once per battle you can roll 2d6 at the start of the hero phase if there are any models within 12 inches of the bearer. If the result is a 7, the nearest enemy model is slain. 1-in-6 chance of killing anything. Interesting as a hail mary, but even better as a psychological tool. "Are you ''sure'' you want to keep your centerpiece this close to me?"
#'''The Carrion Dirge''': Subtract 2 from enemy units bravery within 12 inches of the bearer. This can lead to some pretty insane anti-Bravery stacking. And a 12" bubble is pretty large as well. Put on a Lord of Chaos on Daemonic Mount and have him escort some Chaos Knights for a -3 to enemy Battleshock.
#'''The Shield of Growths''': You can re-roll save rolls if the roll is equal to or less than the number of wounds currently allocated to the model. Risky but potentially pretty useful, especially since a lot of your Heroes have some form of regeneration.
</tab>
</tabs>

===The Lore of Nurgle===

First off, all your '''Nurgle''' Wizards get this gem:

*'''Foul Regenesis:''' Relatively high casting value of 7 (go figure) but it allows you to instantly switch to the Stage of Corruption you want. A great way of using it is picking ''Nauseous Revulsion''. You might be tempted to pick ''Rampant Disease'' for those tasty Mortal Wounds, but that only activates at the start of the Hero Phase, which has already passed by the time you cast. So you pick ''Nauseous Revulsion'' for the extra defense and then, next turn, it automatically goes to ''Rampant Disease,'' and you can spell it back to ''Nauseous Revulsion'' again after it dealt its damage. Alternatively, set the wheel to ''Unnatural Vitality'' because your army is painfully slow without it.

-After, each Wizard gets one Lore spell, but which lore they have access to is determined by their Keywords.
<tabs>
<tab name="Rotbringers">
'''Rotbringer Wizards''' get to pick from these:

#'''Blades of Putrefaction:''' Casts on a 7+, affects a friendly unit within 14". 6+ To Hit deal a Mortal Wound in addition to other damage, not specifying melee or shooting. This, of course, is best on something with a lot of attacks and/or something with a bonus to their Hit rolls. In other words, Marauders. Or, you know, those tasty Blightkings (though remember, exploding 6's will only create 1 mortal wound each, not D6). Best used on plague drones, as they have the potential to reach up to 14 attacks per model, drown your foes in the droning swarm!
#'''Rancid Visitations:''' Casts on a 6+, affects 1 enemy unit within 3" of the caster. For each model of that unit within 3" of the caster, the unit suffers a Mortal Wound. Yikes. Do keep in mind though, that this requires your caster to stay alive until he can cast it and that Great Unclean Ones can't pick this. So, in other words, only use on Glottkin and Bloab. <s>So no, named character can't take additional artifacts, spells and command abilities</s> Named characters can take spells, but not artifacts and command abilities. The tome says "As such, these models cannot have a command trait or artefact of power." (pg. 58) says nothing about not taking a spell. Additionally warscroll builder allows you to take spells but not artifacts and abilities. (Interestingly enough the new beastgrave warband, The Wurmspat, may be a much more economic choice for using this spell. Her bodyguards make her much tankier, and she is easier to fit into massive melees because of her infantry sized base. Its worth trying out if you really want to make this spell work, but dont have room for the behemoths).
#'''Gift of Corruption:''' Casts on a 6+, enemy unit within 18" takes either -1 To Hit, -1 To Wound or -1 to Saves, rolled randomly. Not too reliable, but everything it can do is good, so go nuts.
</tab>
<tab name="Daemons">
'''Daemon Wizards''' get to pick from these:

#'''Favoured Poxes:''' Oh lord. Casts on a 7+, pick an enemy unit within 14". It takes -1 to their Hit, Wound and Save rolls until the caster moves, casts another spell, or dies. So, that Herald you cast this with will be useless afterward, but such an utterly crippling debuff means your Herald doesn't HAVE to do anything. Just point literally any unit at the target, and the target is gone. Biggest weakness is its range, but whatever.
#'''Glorious Afflictions:''' Casts on 5+, affects an enemy unit within 21". That unit halves its Move, the distance it runs, the distance it charges and cannot make use of the Fly rule. What? Was the enemy trying to flank you? Not anymore. Slows enemies down enough so you can get the drop on them instead.
#'''Sumptuous Pestilence:''' Casts on 6+, each enemy unit within 7" takes a Mortal Wound, unless they have more than 5 models, in which case it's D3 Mortal Wounds. MSU armies beware.
</tab>
<tab name="Mortals">
'''Mortal Wizards''' get to pick from these:

#'''Magnificent Buboes:''' Casts on a 7+, pick an enemy Hero. He takes D3 Mortal Wounds and gets -1 to Hit, Cast and Unbind rolls. Neuters fighters and heaps damage onto supporters and all of that from phenomenal range.
#'''Plague Squall:''' Casts on a 6+. If successful, roll 7D6. For each 6, pick a visible enemy unit and deal D3 Mortal Wounds to it. You can only pick each enemy unit once. You know what this one doesn't have? A range limit. Even one cast can kill certain artillery crews from the safety and comfort of your own deployment zone. And the best part is, according to the spell description, that missing range limit doesn't seem to be an oversight since it's basically a rain shower made of plague fluids.
#'''Cloying Quagmire:''' Casts on a 5+, pick an enemy unit within 14" and roll a D6. If this rolls equal to or over their Save characteristic, they suffer D6 Mortal Wounds. So, it gets more reliable on precisely the units you want to affect with it the most. Wow.
</tab>
<tab name="Endless Spells">
Slaves to Darkness only

*'''[https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/AoS_Warscrolls//aos_Eightfold_Doom-Sigil_eng.pdf Eightfold Doom-Sigil]:''' (40pts) CV 5. This spell will only have use when things die around it, so you'd best make sure you make at least one model go down so you can power them up. Now a bonus attack won't sound too scary for your Chaos Lord, but throw it on a band of marauders and they won't be laughing anymore.

*'''[https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/AoS_Warscrolls//aos_Darkfire_Daemonrift_eng.pdf Darkfire Daemonrift]:''' (50pts) CV 6. This is a purely predatory spell, dealing d3 MWs to anything it goes through. It's damage potential also powered up by other Wizards and Endless spells, which is pretty trollish for, say, Tzeentch or the Sacrosanct Chamber and all their wizards.

*'''[https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/AoS_Warscrolls//aos_Reamscourge_Rapture_eng.pdf Realmscourge Rapture]:''' (60pts) CV 7. This Predatory spell is like the Pendulum in that it can only move in straight lines (but in this case can also only go forward, making it even more reliable). Anything that this goes through (or near) suffers not only d3 MWs, but their movement will also be halved, which can positively cripple a unit just in time for your Vikings to flatten them.

Beasts Of Chaos only
*'''[https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/Downloads//ENG_AoS_BeastsOfChaos_Doomblast_Dirgehorn.pdf Doomblast Dirgehorn]:''' Subtract 1 from hit rolls for attacks made by units within 3" of this model. '''BEASTS OF CHAOS''' models are not affected. Grows by 3" at the start of each battle round. This one is pretty damn cool but comes with the problem of having a casting value of 6 and thus being fairly easy to dispell.
** On the other hand, it presents the opponent with the interesting dilemma of either wasting his casting attempts to dispel it or letting it get bigger and bigger.

*'''[https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/Downloads//ENG_AoS_BeastsOfChaos_Wildfire_Taurus.pdf Balefire Taurus]:''' A big horde cleaning Endless Spell. It moves 12" a turn and has the Fly keyword. Anything it moves over or ends within 1" of it takes D3 Mortal Wounds, and if the unit has more than ten models, it takes D6 Mortal Wounds instead. Furthermore, Units it damages must fight last at the end of any Combat Phase. While brutal in most situations, it really shines when cleaning up blobs of infantry.

*'''[https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/Downloads//ENG_AoS_BeastsOfChaos_Ravening_Direflock.pdf Ravening Direflock]:'''Spawns three tokens of evil Chaos murderbirds. Anything that is not a '''BEASTS OF CHAOS''' unit within 6" of one of these tokens has their Bravery reduced by -2. However, if any unit finishes a move within 1" of the tokens, they have to set the Tokens up again somewhere within 3D6" of the place they were previously.
** These are phenomenal, especially since it only requires a '''BEASTS OF CHAOS''' Wizard to cast it, but not Beasts of Chaos Allegiance. Find some nice Bravery gimmick and add these birds to increase its effectiveness exponentially.
** Nurgle comes to mind. Have a Nurgle General with Hideous Visage and Carrion Dirge, then a friendly bray wizard to zap in the crows. Under all 3 effects, enemy units will have -6 bravery! But keep in mind your General will certainly also be in range of the crows. However, if you ally in some Slaves to Darkness, it really becomes insane. The Mindstealer Sphiranx has another -2 Bravery Aura, Chaos Knights net you another -1, which results in -9 Bravery! So even Demons can disintegrate after 1 casualty.
</tab>
</tabs>

=Warscrolls=

==Leaders==

===Named Characters===

====Daemon====

'''[https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/AoS_Warscrolls/aos-warscroll-epidemius-en.pdf Epidemius]:''' (200pts)A Herald of Nurgle +1, with two more wounds and a Nurgling base's worth of extra attacks. It doesn't sound like much until you get to his Nurgle's Tallyman ability and realize he's the best force multiplier in the game. You keep a tally of how many models your Nurgle models killed, and as it rises, they get bonuses. How's that so great? Because it doesn't specify Nurgle Daemons, just Nurgle. So this guy buffs your Plague Monks, your Blightkings, Glottkin, the Maggoth Riders, Plague Drones, you name it. And since Nurgle has even a few fast hard hitters like Daemon Princes, those bonuses should start adding up fast.
*If you really want to stack up his bonus fast, bring a couple of Clan Pestilens Plague Claws. If the opponent isn't playing a super low-model count army, you'll rack up the model kills fast and apply it to your whole army before they even get to combat.

'''[https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/Downloads//ENG-Rotigus.pdf Rotigus Rainfather]:''' (Behemoth, 340pts)Rotigus is the newly named version of the GUO. At 16 wounds and a 4+ save he's just as resilient as the normal GUO. He also retains the GUO's ability to deal out mortal wounds to units attacking him. Where he differs from the GUO is trading in his shooting attack for the ability "Streams of Brackish Filth." The ability targets each enemy unit within 6" and on a 4+ slaps them with D3 mortal wounds. Flying units only get hit on a 6+ however. Rotigus also has the "Deluge of Nurgle" unique spell (Casting value 7) which is essentially a more damaging and far-reaching version of the GUO's plague wind spell, allowing you to hit as many as 7 enemy units as long as they are visible to the caster. Regarding melee, he is slightly less effective than a standard GUO equipped with the Sword and flail but is still more than capable of holding his own.

'''[https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/Downloads//ENG-Horticulous-slimux.pdf Horticulous Slimux]:''' (220pts) The head gardener of the greatfathers very own garden. Riding into battle on a giant plowing-snail called Mulch, he lops off the heads of trespassers with his giant shears while Mulch eats the rest with his slime-encrusted jaws.
3+ save 5" move and 8 wounds. He has 3 attacks with his '''Lopping Shears''' 3+, 3+, -1 and D3 damage. Mulch has D3 attacks with his jaws. 3+, 3+, -2 and 2 damage.
For abilities, he, of course, has '''Disgustingly Resilient''' but also '''Beast Handler''' which lets you reroll failed charge rolls and hit rolls of 1 for friendly '''Beasts of Nurgle''' units within the holy inches. Like the Poxbringer you can heal a wound off a '''Nurgle Daemon''' within 7" if anyone was killed in the preceding turn. Lastly, he has the ability '''Acidic Slime Trail''' which makes enemies within 3" take D3 mortal wounds on a 4+ when Slimux makes a retreat. He also lets you set up 1 free gnarlmaw once per game in your hero phase.

====Others====

'''[https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/AoS_Warscrolls/aos-warscroll-theglottkin-en.pdf The Glottkin]:''' (380pts) This count also as '''Behemoth'''. The big bad bad guys of Nurgle are back. <strike>And this time, no bullshit Purple Suns exist that can cascade them out of the game in a single turn. And without that annoying weakness, they are absolutely devastating</strike> With Malign Sorcery, the Purple Sun is back, but not as devastating as before. 18 freaking Wounds with an automatic Regen of D3 Wounds per friendly Hero Phase, basically Terror and the fact that enemies can take Mortal Wounds simply for being charged by the Glottkin combine with magic and very powerful attacks to make something truly nightmarish. Their unique spell is very situational but can make a bunch of Marauders into the single most immovable tarpit in the game - for a turn. They also have a really awesome Command Ability that grants one extra attack to every melee weapon of every Nurgle unit within 14" of them. Yes, this includes Nurgle Daemons and Clan Pestilens. Additionally, they have a shooting weapon that is easy to hit with, has a high Rend and inflicts a whole lot of damage, but unfortunately, it only Wounds on 4+, which makes it quite unreliable.
*Protip: in the right army, Fleshy Abundance is the best defensive spell of the game. Using it on 1-Wound models effectively means giving them a 4+ save-after-the-save (and unlike it, it doesn't depend on a dice roll, it always reduces your losses to half). And the targets aren't limited to Nurgle units, too, but it's even better if they are because then they will be affected by the Glottkin's awesome Command Ability. Plaguebeareres and Chaos Marauders become much better, but glass cannons like Plague Monks and Plague Censer Bearers become ridiculously so. This makes them a very good ally for Pestilins, if you plan on picking that up as a secondary army.

'''[https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/Downloads//ENG-Blob-rotspawned.pdf Bloab Rotspawned]:''' (240pts)This count also as '''Behemoth'''. Of the Maggoth Riders, Bloab is the only Wizard, but in exchange, he has a worse save than the others, makes fewer attacks with his (still decent) weapon and projects several annoying auras. He has a fly swarm that can cause penalties To Hit enemies in a large area and his bells lower enemy casting rolls by 1. His Maggoth also has by far the best shooting attack of the three. Finally, his unique spell is potentially devastating: It affects one enemy unit. At the end of every phase in which the unit lost Wounds, roll a D6. On 2+, the unit takes another D3 Mortal Wounds. Keep in mind, this happens on a per-phase basis. Basically, if you cast this spell, you need to invest in it. Every phase you have to strip off at least one Wound off that unit. Otherwise, just use Arcane Bolt and have done. Other than that, Bloab is simply very versatile. He is strong in melee but not stellar, good at shooting but not the shootiest Hero in the game, can cast but not terribly well and can fuck with the opponent with all his auras and unbinding.

'''[https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/AoS_Warscrolls/aos-warscroll-morbidextwiceborn-en.pdf Morbidex Twiceborn]:''' (240pts) This count also as '''Behemoth'''. The guy who loves Nurglings, because they love him. Of the Maggoth riders, he has the worst shooting attacks, projects Nurgle's Rot and has a regeneration effect in each friendly Hero Phase. On 4-5 he heals a Wound. On 6, he heals D3 Wounds instead. He also adds 1 model to a nearby unit of Nurglings in each of your hero phases and grants a +1 To Wound for Nurglings around him. Nothing crazy, but a free 33pt bodyguard each round isn't too bad. He's pretty good in close combat, better than his boss Orghotts. Use him to lead your charges, because he's tough, powerful and really fast for Nurgle's standards.

'''[https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/Downloads//ENG-Orghotts_daemonspew.pdf Orghotts Daemonspew]:''' (240pts) This count also as '''Behemoth'''. Supposedly the strongest of the Maggoth riders. He damages enemies who punch him, his Maggoth has an okay shooting attack (though with abysmal range), and his Command Ability lets a friendly Nurgle unit reroll To Wound. On the charge, he'll get D3 more attacks, and anyone his axes wound but don't kill will take a mortal wound on a 4+.

'''[https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/AoS_Warscrolls/aos-warscroll-gutrot-spume-en.pdf Gutrot Spume]:''' (140pts) Do you remember Wulfrik? No, not his awful joke rule, don't worry. But do you remember his awesome rule to outflank himself and a unit of Marauders? Well, Gutrot gets to do that now, except he can take a unit of Putrid Blightkings with him instead. That's right, outflanking Blightkings. He can also use his tentacles to wrench enemy weapons off them, making his 7 Wounds with a 3+ Save even tankier. Finally, his already decent attacks gain rerolls of 1s To Hit against '''Heroes''' but in exchange, he can only target Heroes if there are Heroes within 3" of him (so watch out as his highest ranged attack in melee is 2"). He lost his Command, but all his changes make him into a superb supporter and beatstick, who can not only survive but overcome a lot of powerful Heroes. Nothing quite like holding a Gryphon's beak shut while you hack away at the rider. A recommended tactic is to bring a single unit of 10 blight kings with him on turn 2 (after your opponent has likely forgotten you can deep strike him, just keep your mouth shut), and then proceed to tear the everliving fuck out of your enemy's backfield warmachines and characters. When you're done with that, use your remaining Blight King flankers (re: probably all of them) and flank his battle line from the rear. Or just sit on his objective and annoy the fuck out of him, because they will never get you off, no matter how hard they try.

'''[https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/AoS_Warscrolls/aos-warscroll-festus-the-leechlord-en.pdf Festus the Leechlord]:''' (140pts) Festus is a support Hero, pure and simple. He heals a Wound a turn and can either heal a friendly model for D3 Wounds or give out D3 Mortal Wounds to an enemy model, though for both he needs to be within 1" of whoever he wants to affect. His unique spell lowers enemy saves by 1 PERMANENTLY (Save rolls though, not saves. So Nighthaunt or anything else that ignores modifiers will ignore this). Unfortunately, with the Maggotkin Battletome, this explicitly doesn't stack anymore. However, for all this awesome, his close combat potential can be very generously described as lacking, at least compared to melee characters. Compared to most other Wizards, he's about twice as strong.

'''[https://www.forgeworld.co.uk/resources/fw_site/fw_pdfs/aos_warscrolls/Downloads-AoS/aos-warscroll-tamurkhan.pdf Tamurkhan The Maggot Lord]:''' {moved to legends}(Behemoth, 420pts) The eponymous character for the army. Big, mean and perfect to destroy the heroes of the other side; send him after enemy characters where the Black Cleaver and its re-rolls can go to work. Even if he dies, he'll be dealing mortal wounds to them with a chance to Resurrect himself as a final insult. With 18(!) wounds, D3 of which are regenerated per turn, a host of attacks from Bubebolos and a command ability that re-rolls charge rolls for his Horde he's also well-suited for grinding through infantry, so plonk him into the center of your line and go to town. If you have him there's no reason not to use him; just watch out for armies with a high proportion of powerful shooting units like Aelves or Duhardin, since he's only packing a 4+ save.

'''[https://www.forgeworld.co.uk/resources/fw_site/fw_pdfs/aos_warscrolls/Downloads-AoS/aos-warscroll-kazyk-the-befouled.pdf Kayzk the Befouled]:''' {moved to ledgens} (120pts) Tamurkhan's second in command. 7" move, 7 HP, 7 bravery...I think I see a pattern... Best ran alongside a few units of Pox Riders or (even better) Nurgle Chaos Knights for cover - although he does have a 5+ ignore Mortal wounds. consider using him as an archer or wizard hunter. His Command Ability is a slightly buffed version of Inspiring Presence that only works on Nurgle unit, so consider making either the chap above or below your general instead.

===Generic Characters===
====Daemon====

*'''[https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/Downloads//ENG-Great-unclean-one.pdf Great Unclean One]:''' (Behemoth 320pts) Your Greater Daemon and one of the best choices to evoke other units. Your standard general on bigger games. The GUO is one of the toughest fuckers around. He has the same basically-40k's-Feel-no-Pain rule of a 5+ save after his save but for him, if he rolls a 6 and is in melee, he actually inflicts Mortal Wounds. He also has a regeneration of D3 Wounds per turn, has a strong though short-ranged shooting attack and a melee profile worthy of a monster. What makes him shine is his unique spell, a 14" line that damages enemy units under it and heals Nurgle units under it. It can't resurrect but is perfectly able to make the obscenely tough Plague Drones even harder to remove. Also, his command ability gives a Nurgle Daemon unit within 21" play an extra melee attack with each of their weapons. NICE. With the new model, he can now swap his weapons for worse damaging versions with benefits. The sword can be swapped for the bell which gives any Nurgle unit a 3-inch movement increase if they start within 7 inches at the start of the movement phase and the flail can be swapped for a dagger that can give a 1 point boost to a casting or unbinding roll for a unnegatable wound, and with his regen abilities, it could be quite worth it if there's one spell you don't want to be dealing with.

{{anchor|FWExalted}}
*'''[https://www.forgeworld.co.uk/resources/PDF/fw_warscrolls/AOS-Exalted-Daemon-of-Nurgle.pdf Exalted Greater Daemon of Nurgle]:''' (Behemoth 390pts) Better sword but no secondary weapon, slightly longer-ranged version of the GUO's command ability, but crucially, a different name so they can both be used on the same unit. Fancy some Plague Drones with 11 attacks each?

*'''[https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/Downloads//ENG-Poxbringer-herald-of-nurgle.pdf Poxbringer, Herald of Nurgle]:''' (120pts) Your gamechanger. Compared to a Herald of Khorne, he has fewer attacks that are harder to hit and can't deal Mortal Wounds but do D3 wounds if they go through. On average they should do about the same amount of damage, but the HoN will last much longer because he's Disgustingly Resilient and can heal (himself or others nearby) a wound if anyone at all died in the preceding turn. If you play any Nurgle Daemons, at least have one of these guys in reserve so that you can summon him if need be. Beasts of Nurgle especially turn from ''okay'' to ''murder on no legs'' if a Daemon Hero of Nurgle is nearby. If relying on him for synergy, keep him away from combat(and out of range of enemy ranged units) and take advantage of his synergy bubble. Now has a unique spell that does d3 mortal wounds on a unit that's in 7 inches of a Plaguebearer unit, but it's on a higher casting roll than Arcane Bolt and same damage so it's not much of a use if you're in range for bolt, but since there's no specified range on how far the Plaguebearers can be away it can work if you need a spell shot on a unit your herald is not close enough to for bolt.

*'''[https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/Downloads//ENG-Sloppity-bilepiper-herald-of-nurgle.pdf Sloppity Bilepiper, Herald of Nurgle]:''' (90pts) A New Support Provides 7" +1 to the bravery of '''Nurgle Daemons'''(Not that useful) but subtracts 1 bravery from enemies. Also, Re-roll failed charges and hit rolls of 1 for Nurglings & '''Great Unclean Ones''' at 7". Although his Marotter attacks may not seem useful at first, 4 Plaguesword attacks with a -1 rend and 2 damage is nothing to scoff at for a measly 100 points. Additionally, against similarly priced heroes, Bilepipers perform shockingly well. A 4+ save with a Disgustingly Resilient save after that ensure that your favorite Scottish Daemon will be whacking his foes to death turn after turn.

*'''[https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/Downloads//ENG-Spoilpox-scrivener-herald-of-nurgle.pdf Spoilpox Scrivener, Herald of Nurgle]:''' (90pts) Scrivener does for Plaguebearers as what Bilepiper does for Nurglings & '''Great Unclean Ones''' as stated above, except that you always reroll charge dice results of 1 rather than failed charges. Worse in close combat than the Bilepiper, but you can sneeze people to death with him!

*'''[https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/AoS_Warscrolls//aos_Deamon_Prince_eng.pdf Daemon Prince]''': (210pts.) He’s gone through a reworking since his last outing. He no longer has the ability to taken Unmarked and the buff for killing heroes, but now he gains a unique command ability for Nurgle, make a friendly unit within 12 inches cause d3 mortal wounds each time an enemy unit rolls at least one 6 to hit them (so if they get to attack twice they may cause a further D3 MW - errata from the absurd 'D3 mortal wounds for each 6 rolled'). His damage output is pretty solid, so use him to rack up the Epidemius points, and he's fast enough to keep up with (or outpace) Beasts and Plague Drones and activate their abilities.

*'''[https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/AoS_Warscrolls/AoS_Skaven_Warscroll_card_Verminlord_Corruptor.pdf Verminlord Corruptor]:''' (Behemoth, Pestilens, 280pts)A Skaven Daemon from the Clans Pestilens. He's got 12 wounds. With his insane 10 attacks on his melee weapon, he can equip the Sword of Judgement from the shadow realm artifact list and have 10 chances to absolutely murder heroes and monsters. Has a Skaven version of Disgustingly Resilient. Cast two spells and abilities to deal mortal wounds. His COMMAND ABILITY gives Pestalence wholly within 13" re-roll to hit.

====Mortals & others====

*'''[https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/AoS_Warscrolls/aos-warscroll-lord-of-plagues-en.pdf Lord of Plagues]:''' ( MORTAL, ROTBRINGER, 140pts) Oh, dear lord, talk about overcompensating. Before, the Lord of Plagues was extremely underpowered. But now, with a price-bump and some new rules, he's pretty brilliant. First off, he gets the same "6+ To Hit hits D6 times" rule as the Blightkings, but he gets this on top of -1 Rend and D3 damage, so he is potentially murderous. Then, he lets Blightkings around him reroll 1s To Hit, making him into a proper support Hero. Then he can help you rack up contagion points, which is nice. Finally, his Command is still bad, being a very unreliable way of delivering Mortal Wounds over 21". A whole 1.16 of them on average. All in all, a very nice beatstick who can support Blightkings (and only Blightkings) very well. Still slow and with a terrible Command, though.

*'''[https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/Downloads//ENG-Lord-of-blights.pdf Lord of Blights]''' (MORTAL, ROTBRINGER, 140pts) Sporting the same statline as the Lord of Plagues, the Lord of Blights is a new hero for the forces of Nurgle. Gets basically the same melee as the Lord of Plagues, but without the exploding 6s, so it's alright. He also gets Death's Heads he can throw - his own is pretty powerful already, but he also allows Putrid Blightkings next to him to throw a bunch. While a shooting attack over 14" sounds incredibly useful, keep in mind it's one shot per Blightking, so not that much shooting at all. His real meat comes from his Command, which grants one '''Nurgle''' unit the Plaguebearers' ''Cloud of Flies'' rule, so -1 To Hit when shooting them or -2 To Hit while shooting and -1 To Hit in melee at 20+ models. Very powerful. He also has a shield that allows him to re-roll saves of 1 in melee, but whatever.

*'''[https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/Downloads//ENG-Lord-of-afflictions.pdf Lord of Afflictions]:''' (MORTAL, DAEMON, ROTBRINGER, 200pts) And all the Daemons say he's pretty fly for a blight guy. Superbly killy, combining the melee of the Lord of Plagues (sans exploding 6s, sadly) with a Rot Fly's worth of attacks and another damage 2 knock from the underslung bell. For survivability he's also golden, like the other Lords, but with an additional Wound, Disgustingly Resilient and a 1 wound per turn heal. His buff allows all '''Rotbringers''' to reroll 1s To Hit - so Blightkings, Blightlords, and all the mortal heroes. He also has a couple of abilities for dealing Mortal Wounds, one of which, the Incubatch, is so deadly it can even damage '''Nurgle''' models (even himself), albeit only on 6+. Finally, his Command doubles the Move of a Pusgoyle Blightlords unit. All in all, he's just good. He provides good support, especially to the Pusgoyles, he deals a ton of Wounds, both Mortal and otherwise, he's fast and tough and thanks to the '''Daemon''' keyword he can trigger Locus effects as well. However, when playing him, remember that for 40 points more, you could have gotten a Maggoth Lord instead (which honestly isn't flattering to the Maggoth Lords at this point).

*'''[https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/Downloads//ENG-Harbinger-of-decay.pdf Harbinger of Decay]:''' (MORTAL, ROTBRINGER, 160pts) Decently killy and with a one-use ability that can cause extra Mortal Wounds. However, despite the mount, his Movement is stuck at 7". He makes up for that with his Command Ability, though, since he basically projects Disgustingly Resilient to all Mortal Nurgle units within 7". Another thing to consider: Thanks to his Mount, he has the DAEMON keyword. His mount lets make him a useful utility hero as he can move relatively quickly to shore up Mortal Nurgle units with his command ability, while also letting him trigger Daemons' Locus abilities, as those only need a '''NURGLE DAEMON HERO''' to trigger. Let him run after your Plague Drones, which he can keep up with, and suddenly your Fly Riders deal a bunch of Mortal Wounds in addition to their normal damage.

*'''[https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/AoS_Warscrolls//aos_Chaos_Lord_eng.pdf Lord of Chaos]:''' (STD 110pts) Cheaper and more killy, with a decent command ability to boot. This has come at the cost of the amazing 2d6 damage ability and is no longer able to ascend to Daemonhood automatically on killing the enemy general (let's face it though, how often did that happen?). Don't send him alone against characters more expensive than he is, or he will die. The increased rend and attacks values will mean he's good at killing line infantry and when to send alongside another unit he won't auto-bounce against characters like he used to. Side modeling note, the option to take a flail can be achieved by taking the Chaos Chosen off of a Chaos Chariot and basing him and using his as a Chaos Lord, the jury is still out on whether this is official or not.

*'''[https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/AoS_Warscrolls//aos_Chaos_Lord_on_Demonic_Mount_eng.pdf Chaos Lord on Demonic Mount]:''' (STD Daemon 170pts) Your budget (for a Slaves to Darkness character) mounted Lord, and also can double dip into Daemon and Mortal equipment. With the new update, cursed Warhammer now has the potential of mortal wounds on 6s to hit, with the added bonus of healing d3 wounds for killing whelps with your big mallet. Also great for other Slaves to Darkness units as his command ability only affects the mounting options but provides a re-roll to their charge and +1 to hit.

*'''[https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/AoS_Warscrolls//aos_Chaos_Lord_on_Karkadrak_eng.pdf Chaos Lord on Karkadrak]:''' (STD 250pts) The new mounted lord has arrived, and he rode in style as a fully plastic kit. How does this character scream build around? Movement 9", 9 wounds and the always welcomed 3+ save, this lord on battle lizard loves keeping up with his fellow cavalry and bring nothing short of utter destruction. Without any adages, this character boasts no less than 13(!) attacks across 4 profiles, has mortal wound potential both on the charge and with his sword, and can heal with his attacks with his big axe. Sporting classic mortal wound protection that Slaves to Darkness units are spoiled with, and the same command ability as his horse-riding brethren, he is an excellent pick for a Slaves focused army. Pair him with some Chaos Knights or Chariots and reap all the skulls you can.

*'''[https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/AoS_Warscrolls//aos_Chaos_Lord_on_Manticore_eng.pdf Chaos Lord on Manticore Chaos Lord on Manticore]:''' (Behemoth STD, 280pts) Chaos Lord on Manticore: The Lord on Manticore can have a choice between Flail and Sword, with the Sword being better in most circumstances and a choice between Runeshield, Daggerfist, and Lance. The Lance might be awesome, but since everyone and their grandma will be gunning for your Manticore, the 5+ save against Mortal Wounds might be the best choice. Ironically enough, the Manticore itself is actually less damaging than the Lord on it, but it does provide some nice special rules, such as rerolls of 1 To Hit against Monsters for its Claws and Jaws attacks and always rerolling when attacking units in your side of the field. His Command Ability allows a unit of Chaos Warriors within 15" to reroll charge, wound, and Battleshock rolls.

*'''[https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/Downloads//ENG-Sorcerer.pdf Sorcerer]:''' (MORTAL, ROTBRINGER, 120pts) Formerly '''Rotbringer Sorcerer''' Has access to the unique spells of both '''ROTBRIGNERS''' and '''MORTAL NURGLE'''. The Sorcerer fits into many of the Maggotkin battalions but the new Chaos Sorcerer Lord is now 10pts cheaper and has a better move/save/melee profile (though Chaos Sorcerer Lord warscroll abilities/spells now only affect Slaves to Darkness units).

*'''[https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/AoS_Warscrolls//aos_Chaos_Sorcerer_Lord_eng.pdf Chaos Sorcerer Lord]:''' (STD 110pts) Yes. You owe it to yourself to at least check this guy out. While he is utter crap in combat, he can be amazing at support. First, without even casting anything, he can let one Slave to Darkness unit per turn re-roll saves. Then, when he casts, he has a unique spell that provides rerolls To Hit, To Wound and to their saves for a friendly Slaves to Darkness unit in addition to STD endless spells. Just keep him away from the fighting and let Him strengthen your front line. With the new points cost reduction, he could still be a valuable tool for casting some of the Mortal Nurgle Spells.

*'''[https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/AoS_Warscrolls//aos_Chaos_Sorcerer_Lord_on_Manticore_eng.pdf Chaos Sorcerer Lord on Manticore]:''' (Behemoth STD, 260pts) Blessed with the same awesome "reroll saves" ability as the normal Lord, this here rides a Manticore, who is just as killy as the one the normal Lord gets. Additionally, the Sorcerer Lord gets the Wind of Chaos spell, which is potentially devastating.

*'''[https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/AoS_Warscrolls//aos_Exalted_Hero_of_Chaos_eng.pdf Exalted Hero of Chaos]:''' (STD 90pts) A guy with a random flurry of axes with the ability to attack twice in the turn he charged, and when he kills a Hero or a Monster he heals. Skip, you have consistent fighters.

*'''[https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/AoS_Warscrolls/AoS_Skaven_Warscrolls_Plague_Priest.pdf Plague Priest]:''' (Pestilens 80pts) Your standard skaven hero. Gets an extra attack on the charge because of PESTILENS. no longer a buffing priest, he now only has two damage Prayers and deals more mortal wounds after combat.

*'''[https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/AoS_Warscrolls/AoS_Skaven_Warscroll_card_Plague_Priest_Plague_Furnace.pdf Plague Priest on Plague Furnace]:''' (Behemoth Pestilens 200pts) It's 3 Plague Monks with a Plague Priest on a huge censer-thing. It can't move its 6" unless within 6" of 10 or more friendly Skaventide models and it makes 2D6 attacks with Rusty Wheels and Spikes instead of D6 when it charges. It stops battleshock for Skaventide and it damages all the non-'''Clans Pestilens''' units that approach it. The Plague Priest on it gets different prayers, boosting Pestilens units either by giving them +1 weapon attacks or by allowing them to reroll wounds. It's clearly a centerpiece. It will pack a punch thanks to the Censer, but it needs Plague Monks to push it around and pushing stuff around and not charging is something Plague Monks with their awful survivability really don't like to do. On the other hand, the Monks do very much like those tasty tasty buffs.

====Beasts Of Chaos====
''Must be used in the Pestilent Throng battalion to be included without being allies''

*'''[https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/AoS_Warscrolls/aos-warscroll-beastlord-en.pdf Beastlord]:''' Meh, good at taking Hero challenges but to be honest your better off with a Shaman or Doombull. He has a situational Command ability that if he kills something in melee, All Brayherd units wholly within 18" and attack after him can re-roll all wound rolls. This upgrades to include all hit rolls if he kills a hero.

*'''[https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/AoS_Warscrolls//aos-warscroll-great-bray-shaman-en.pdf Great Bray Shaman]:''' Magic Goat. He increases the Move of all Brayherd around him by 3", which is incredible combined with their run+charge musicians. Sure, those first turn charges are still not likely (kinda, since chronomantic cogs exists), but they're possible thanks to him. His spell, Devolve, which casts on a 7 and just takes an unengaged enemy unit within 18" and pulls it towards your closest unit by 2D6". Best used to pull the enemy away from objectives, cover, or buffers while improving your Chances for a successful charge.

*'''[https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/AoS_Warscrolls/aos-warscroll-doombull-en.pdf Doombull]:''' The murder cow has a two-handed axe (3x 3+/3+/-2/3). Overall, the Bull an absolute melee monster. His attacks are great and he shares the Bloodgreed ability with his lesser kin - on an unmodified 6 to wound, inflicts an additional mortal wound. Although it may look a bit gimmicky and definitely weaker than some of the absurd stuff that the Stormcasts have access to, it is very much relevant. his Command ability grants a +1 To Wound roll to a Warherd unit wholly within in a huge bubble. Play him, CHOP EVERYTHING IN HALF. Also, like his lesser kin, he's very fast with a Move of 7".

*'''[https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/AoS_Warscrolls//aos-warscroll-dragon-ogor-shaggoth-en.pdf Dragon Ogor Shaggoth]:''' One of the better picks by a long shot. Gee, that can't have anything to do with the Shaggoth being one of the most expensive kits in the WoC range, can it? 10 Wounds aren't all that high, but thanks to his Summon Lightning spell the problem is remedied. The Shaggoth also has an awesome special rule where, if the roll to see who goes first in a turn is a tie, every Dragon Ogre unit, including the Shaggoth, immediately heals D3 Wounds on a D6 roll of 4+. And those ties happen way more often than you expect them to. Also, the Shaggoth has some absolutely devastating attacks in close combat.

===Battleline===
*'''[https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/AoS_Warscrolls/aos-warscroll-putridblightkings-en.pdf Putrid Blightkings]:''' (Mortal, Rotbringer, Min:5 max:20 140/500pts)The super-hardy infantry Glottkin gave us. Same profile as a Skullreaper but with one more Bravery and Wound (yes, 4 Wounds for each!) and an almost identical weapon. Their shtick? If they score a 6 To Hit, you don't hit once. You hit D6 times. Yes, they don't have Rend on those weapons, but with that many hits, you don't need it. Did we mention they are obscenely tough? There's not much else in the game that boasts 21 wounds with a 4+ save at the same point cost. Even more '''FUN*''', every unit within 3" of them (including themselves) rolls a D6 in your Hero Phase. On a 6, they take D3 mortal wounds. Unless that is, they have the Nurgle keyword, in which case they heal D3 wounds instead. Make sure you let multi-wound Nurgle stuff hug your Blightkings and you're golden. Also remember that this affects ''Nurgle'' units, not Mortal Nurgle. Chaos Lord of Nurgle? Great Unclean One? Plague Furnace? All of them can be healed by the aura these guys have. Generally though, unless you're counting on stacking auras with Blightkings and Nurgle's Rot, this is more of a gimmick. Just use these as powerful infantry, leave the healing to Festus. If even just half of your Blightkings make it into melee, they will earn back their cost and then some, so just make sure you get them there.

*'''[https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/AoS_Warscrolls//aos-warscroll-plaguebearers-of-nurgle-en.pdf Plaguebearers of Nurgle]:''' (Deamon Min10, Max:30 110/300pts.) Basic Nurgle troop. Really hard to kill but not so good in melee (average of 0,33 damages). Take 30 in every unit to make them harder to be hit. Reroll 1s in save rolls with Daemon Heroes of Nurgle nearby, which makes them a fantastic bubble wrap for any of the Nurgle Heroes. Keep in mind they actually got a small price bump to 120 for 10. When taking them, remember you could have gotten twice that many Marauders.

*'''[https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/AoS_Warscrolls//aos_Chaos_Warriors_eng.pdf Chaos Warriors]:''' (STD Min5, Max:30 90pts.) We can't talk about the Maggotkin without talking about Nurgle-marked Chaos Warriors. The fact that you can get five of them for a measly 100 points makes them an incredibly effective Battleline unit. Toss in two such squads followed by a big blob of Blightkings, and you had your Battleline for 2000 points over and done with. Especially with the price bump that Plaguebearers have gotten, small squads of Chaos Warriors as backfield objective campers are a perfectly viable strategy. ''Additionally,'' if ran in a 25-30 man unit (they come in denominations of 5 for some reason), these guys can be strung across a field to make a giant wall of "fuck you". If hit by your Lord of Blight's command ability, this wall of warriors becomes significantly harder to hit (-1 to hit in CC and -2 to shoot, meaning if your enemy's gunline hits on 5's, your warriors are practically invisible to them, as they are now hitting on 7's). This is a viable tactic for bringing slower Blightkings and Maggotkin characters to your enemy's front line, as your blight kings are roughly the same height as a Warrior, and therefore most players won't argue that they can shoot between your warrior wall when also combined with the logic that the warriors are clouded by flies. However, this tactic is expensive and will cost you 620 points (30 warriors + Lord of Blights).

*'''[https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/AoS_Warscrolls//aos_Chaos_Marauders_eng.pdf Chaos Marauders]:''' (STD Min20, Max:40 160pts.) When marked as Nurgle, these make a great Battleline unit for your purposes that alway make an 8" charge. Grab a big squad of them, add ''Blades of Putrefaction'' and watch them dish out a rather obscene amount of Mortal Wounds or just buff them with ''Fleshy Abundance'' to make into a hilariously tough tarpit. And if you really hate the models, you can always convert up some Poxwalkers.

*'''[https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/Downloads//ENG-Pusgoyle-blightlords.pdf Pusgoyle Blightlords]:''' (Conditional Battline: Lord of Afflictions as your general, Daemon, Mortal, Rotbringer, Min:2 max:12 190pts) To be quite honest, these don't really add much to basic Plague Drones. They are more expensive and are tougher, but while killier per model, they are less damaging point-for-point than Plague Drones. Honestly, their only saving grace is their ability to become Battleline, thus providing you with a frankly obscenely tough Battleline choice that moves quite fast for Nurgle's low standards.

=====Beasts Of Chaos=====
''Must be used in the Pestilent Throng battalion to be included without being allies''

*'''[https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/Downloads//ENG_AoS_BeastsOfChaos_Gors.pdf Gors]:''' (Min:10 max:30 70/200pts)The first thing you notice is that Gors are pretty fast, pretty tough and not too killy to start out. gains +1 attack if the unit is +20 models. All in all, they're good. Either +4 melee save with shields or decently killy and still pretty survivable with two weapons. Though be advised that they painfully miss a spear-option, so while sizes of 20 to 30 are encouraged, never go beyond that, as you can never attack in two rows.

*'''[https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/AoS_Warscrolls/aos-warscroll-ungors-en.pdf Ungors]:''' (Min:10 max:40 60/200pts) Weaker Save than Gors and weaker size bonuses. The other redeeming factor to these guys is the fact that they can take spears, which let them fight in more rows.
**Nurgle already has good screening and objective sitters in the form of Plaguebearers, and Plague Monks fill the 2" range hammer horde role far better. I'd suggest skipping these. If you really want a goat horde for objective sitting, go with Gors instead.

===Other Units===
*'''[https://www.forgeworld.co.uk/resources/fw_site/fw_pdfs/aos_warscrolls/Downloads-AoS/aos-warscroll-bile-troggoths.pdf Bile Troggoths]:''' (Min:3 Max:12 180/540pts) While their vomit attack is short ranged (a fitting 7") it's perfect for melting through the armor of heavy infantry and cavalry as well as monsters, and can even help thin out infantry hordes in a pinch. All in all, these can deal a lot of damage very quickly, especially when getting buffed by a Chaos Sorcerer Lord, but their overall reliance on having a babysitter along really hurts them. Also, it doesn't help that they cost a lot more points than Blightkings for a lot less oomph. But hey, at least they have Rend.

*'''[https://www.forgeworld.co.uk/resources/fw_site/fw_pdfs/aos_warscrolls/Downloads-AoS/aos-warscroll-daemon-plague-toads.pdf Daemon Plague Toads of Nurgle]:''' (Battleline in Tamurkhan’s Horde army Daemon Min:3 Max:12 120/400pts)) An odd little unit that's packing a weak and short-ranged shooting attack, a chance to generate more close combat attacks on the roll of a 6, 4 wounds each, and a special 4+ save against Mortal wounds. Crucially, they're also one of the faster units in the army, having a move of 7" as opposed to 5". They have some use as a tarpit, but if you've been reading this guide so far you know that packing a lot of wounds isn't a problem for you. They're also largely overshadowed by...

*'''[https://www.forgeworld.co.uk/resources/fw_site/fw_pdfs/aos_warscrolls/Downloads-AoS/aos-warscroll-daemon-pox-riders.pdf Daemon Pox Riders of Nurgle]:''' (Daemon Min:3 Max:12 200pts)Adding a Plaguebearer to a Plague Toad leaves them with FIVE wounds each, which already makes them superior to the above. When coupled with the same saves as above, the ability to re-roll saves of a 1 if wholly within 14" of a Nurgle Hero (Epedimius is good for this) and an additional-1 to hit modifier against shooting attacks directed at them, you pretty much have no reason to ever take Plague Toads unless you're using the Leaping Pox formation. Something worth considering is summoning 3 for 21 Contagion Points. The same applies for Plague Toads, but you'll never bother with that either unless you have no more Pox Rider models available. though strangely they do not have disgustingly resilience like all other nurgle daemons, instead they have a 4+ against mortal wounds same as the above unmounted toads.

*'''[https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/AoS_Warscrolls//aos_Chaos_Chariots_eng.pdf Chaos Chariots]:''' (STD Min1, Max:3 120pts.) Pretty fast and uncharacteristic of Nurgle, since they always move 12" and once per game Run & Charge. Other than that, it's a chariot. They have a better chance to inflict more moral wounds the better the charge roll. No, you take these because for 120points, they give you 7 Wounds at a 4+ Save that are fast enough to tie enemy shooters up and tough enough to keep them tied up all game long. Also remember that, since they are used in units of one or more if you play them all as separate units, every Chariot gets an Exalted Charioteer.

*'''[https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/AoS_Warscrolls//aos_Gorebeast_Chariots_eng.pdf GoreBeast Chariots]:''' (STD 150pts) a lot slower then a normal Chariot but inflicts Motal wounds to clumped up enemies and they replace the horse with a big monster that will deal more damage especially if you get an unmodified charge roll of 8+.

*'''[https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/AoS_Warscrolls//aos_Gorebeast_Chariots_eng.pdf Chaos Chosen]:''' (STD Min5, Max:20, 140pts.) Warriors with +1 Ld and armed with Great Weapons, which is basically a Protector's Halberd without the cool special rules. What's so special about Chosen, then? If they kill at least one model in combat, all other Slaves to Darkness reroll To Wound until the end of the phase. This is pretty devastating and nowhere does it say that multiple Chosen squads can't affect each other with this. So a good way to look at Chosen is as a potential buffing unit with high damage potential. Do remember than they only buff ''Slaves To Darkness'' though, so unless you're going heavy on those and light on all other Nurgle goodies, maybe better skip them.

*'''[https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/AoS_Warscrolls//aos_Chaos_Marauder_Horsemen_eng.pdf Chaos Marauder Horsemen]:''' (StD Min5, Max:30 90pts.) This unit is the speed and range that your Nurlge army severely lacks. They are a cheap, fast screening unit that will either very quickly cap objectives, or will keep your enemies on their toes with a 9" Javelin attack that shoots ''twice'' and can be used as a 2" melee weapon to jab between friendly models when they're in combat. This makes them extremely lethal if used properly, as they have a 21" threat range, and using Feigned Flight, they can ''Shoot'' '''AND''' ''Charge'' in the same turn in which they retreat. They also add 1 to hit when 10+ strong and with the Damned Icon's -1 bravery, making them a brutally effective screener (when used competently). Just make sure that you keep them out of reach of enemy melee or cavalry.

*'''[https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/AoS_Warscrolls//aos_Chaos_Knights_eng.pdf Chaos Knights]:''' (StD Min5, Max:20, 180pts.)These boys should be kept as an intercept unit for enemy cav, or for unprotected characters. If ran together with Marauder Horsemen, they become a lot more effective, as these guys will tank damage for your actual screeners. Overall not as practical as your Marauder Horsemen, but can still stand toe-to-toe with most of your enemies cav options, even if they do suicide by doing it. Extremely recommended running these guys with their Glaive instead of Ensorcelled Weapon option, as they gain rend when they charge, whereas Ensorcelled Weapons have no rend, ever.

*'''[https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/AoS_Warscrolls//aos_Varanguard_eng.pdf Varanguard]''': (Min:3, Max:12, 300pts) Supper Warriors lent out by Archaon. They are giant chaos knights with 5 wounds 3+ armour and ignore magic on a 5+, able to Fight twice once per game and get +1 to hit if you have Archaon. Each model can be armour with an Ensorcelled Weapon for consistency, Fellspear to overcome bigger Armour saves, or Daemonforged Blade can more inflict Damage and MW with good RNG.

*'''[https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/AoS_Warscrolls/aos-warscroll-plague-drones-of-nurgle-en.pdf Plague Drones of Nurgle]:''' (Daemon Min:3 Max:12 190pts) Your flyers. Their 8" movement sounds promising, but since they are almost the only Nurgle unit with a missile weapon, they will rarely run, so the movement evens out. The missile weapon is rather meh, but combined with the 5 (!) assured attacks per Plague Drones, it adds up. They also hold the distinction of being ridiculously tough to kill, especially with a Banner or two. Make sure to keep a Daemon Hero of Nurgle close to them for that sweet +1 attack with all weapons (yes, including the Death's Heads)). With '''Droning Guard''' these guys can be pretty crazy. With their pre-game move and proper Gnarlmaw positioning these guys can get a first turn charge with an absolute boatload of attacks (you can keep a Lord of Afflictions nearby as the Daemon hero to trigger their Locus and hit them with the GUOs command ability for another +1 attack, for 11 attacks, 3 being multi-damage, per model).

*'''[https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/AoS_Warscrolls//AoS_Skaven_Warscroll_card_Plague_Monks.pdf Plague Monks]:''' (Pestilens, Min:10 Max:40 80/280pts) The antithesis of the normal Nurgle style with a horde of suicidal Plague rats. They have barely protection but make up for it in raw damage potential dealing MWs and Generating a lot of attacks that can go further with spells and other Pestilens ability. take pared blades for smaller units of 25 while Woe-staves let most of them hit in units of 40. Plague Monks make up a cheap hammer after you get your holding Battline. They will die quickly and you have no way to raise models, so use your Plague trees and ''At the double'' to slingshot straight into combat.

*'''[https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/AoS_Warscrolls/AoS_Skaven_Warscrolls_Plague_Censer_Bearers.pdf Plague Censer Bearers]:''' (Pestilens Min:5 Max:20 60pts) Get an extra attack when charging, deal a mortal wound to every non-Clan Pestilence unit within 3" on a 4+ during your hero phase, and can reroll hits and Battleshocks if they're within 13" from a Plague Monk unit. Basically, Censer Bearers on their own are nigh useless, but with proper support, they are even deadlier wound-per-wound than Plague Monks. The best use for these is swinging over the top of a line of Plague Monks. Yes, you won't be getting that charge bonus but these are too expensive point for point to be throwing away like, well, Plague Monks.
**Remember, their only Clan Pestillens units are immune to their Poisonous Fumes ability, so be careful positioning them too close to your non-Skaven units.

*'''[https://www.forgeworld.co.uk/resources/fw_site/fw_pdfs/aos_warscrolls/Downloads-AoS/aos-warscroll-plague-ogors.pdf Plague Ogors]:''' (Battleline in Tamurkhan’s Horde army Daemon Min:3 Max:12 160/560pts) These guys want to be charging to get the most out of their abilities. They hit like a ton of bricks with their re-rolls on the charge, ability to deal out d3 Mortal Wounds enemies within 3", and surprisingly high bravery of 7. They can also ignore wounds that would kill them on a 5+, decent against hit taking a few lucky hits but unlikely to protect you for long against the average the hail of metal and Magic the average player would use. Only use these for flavor. Now that Blightkings have been buffed to 4 Wounds each, they're tougher, killier and have a smaller footprint than Plague Ogors for fewer points per model.

*'''[https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/Downloads//ENG-Nurglings.pdf Nurglings]:''' (Daemon Min:3 Max:12 80pts) These things are interesting. Only a 6+ Save with no Disgustingly Resilient insight, but they heal every wounded model at the end of the turn. Yes, the opponent either does 4 Wounds on them, or it was for naught. They also have 5 attacks with bad Hit and Wound rolls, but if you manage to inflict a wound they're likely to do 1 mortal wound after a 2+ roll. So, you have a unit that deals very little actual damage but is amazing at making the opponent dedicate unreasonable amounts of resources to removing them because shockingly, their 5" move makes them rather fast for Nurgle. They can also outflank, which means they can be a thorn in the opponent's side (and deployment zone) from turn 1. What's that? You get 3 contagion points if you have models in your opponent's territory? Oh dear, EVEN more incentive for your opponent to get rid of the little bastards, lest they drown you in contagion points and thus him in Gnarlmaws.

*'''[https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/Downloads//ENG-Beasts-of-nurgle.pdf Beasts of Nurgle]:''' (Daemon Min:1 Max:6 70pts) Fair warning, your opponent is going to hate you for playing these. 7 Wounds and Disgustingly Resilient make for some tough buggers. Additionally, they can run and charge, so they'll be in his face, tying up his favorite units, much faster than he'd like. Their Slime Trail lets them do Mortal Wounds when Falling Back and they can charge right after falling back. Yeah, you can see where this is going. They'll deal tons of damage without ever giving your opponent the chance to get away. Also, since each unit of the Beasts deals Mortal Wounds individually, a couple of lone Beasts will drive your opponent mad. Get even better with a ''Nurgle Daemon Hero'' along, as they gain a flat +1 Damage on all their attacks, which makes them absolutely tear through low-Save units.

=====Beasts Of Chaos=====
''Must be used in the Pestilent Throng battalion to be included without being allies''

*'''[https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/AoS_Warscrolls/aos-warscroll-bestigors-en.pdf Bestigors]:''' (Min:10 max:30 120/300pts) Elite Gors in heavy armour. This unit got quite the fuckin buff in the new book and can easily put out a pretty scary amount of rend -1 wounds on the charge, especially if they are infantry (that will almost always have at least 10 models, if not they are going to die anyway to them) or ORDER units. Spells and command abilities can buff them even more, to the point of being overkill.
**Unlike most Nurgle units, Bestigors have rend, making them a good choice against armies with good saves. While not being proper hammer units, Bestigors are great at clearing out the enemy screens and weaker infantry, so your Blightkings can focus on other enemy units. If you can handle the points, these are the guys you want to take to fill any remaining slots in the battalion. Gors and Ungors are outclassed by Plaguebearers. Best taken in units of 10 due to their base sizes.

*'''[https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/Downloads//ENG_AoS_BeastsOfChaos_Bullgors.pdf Bullgors]:''' (Min:3 max:12 140pts) Get the same Bloodgreed rule as the Doombull, а weapon choice of great axes (2x 4+/3+/-2/3) or axe(s)(3x 4+/3+/-1/2) with the option of an additional axe to reroll hit rolls of 1, or bull shields which add +1 to the save rolls against attacks from melee weapons. These options are in addition to horn attacks made by each bullgor (2x 4+/4+/-/1). But the really interesting trait is their Drummer and Banner Bearer abilities: namely, they give +1 respectively to charge rolls and Bravery for each enemy unit within 12" from them. If you want to go full Warherd, take one unit of each and see which ones perform best, but if you take only one unit of them and a Doombull, you're going to want great axes.
**Arguably the dual axes may be the better option for a higher chance of mortal wounds with the additional attack and rerolling 1's to hit. The loss of rend isn't that big of a deal as we have many ways of reducing saves already.
**Other than that, they're fast, have more raw, balls-out power than almost anything in the game and have lots of Wounds. The high Wound-count combined with the meh Save also means that targeting them with Mortal Wounds will almost feel like a waste to your opponent, which might keep them safe longer.

*'''[https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/AoS_Warscrolls/aos-warscroll-dragon-ogors-en.pdf Dragon Ogors]:''' (Min:3 Max:12 140pts) Five Wounds with a 4+ save, okay Bravery and scary weapons. Each has what is basically a Chaos Knight's horse bolted to it and in addition fights with a big weapon. You get either Ancient Weapons which are three Double-Hammer Liberators in one, Glaives which exchange 2 attacks with 1 more inch of range and a Rend of -1, or Crushers which only have 3 attacks, but with 2 damage each. Re-roll hit rolls of 1 if wholly within 12" of a Shaggoth.
*Glaives have an interesting use in that you can hide your dragon ogors behind your 25mm/32mm based guys (just in case may want 2 ranks of 25mm bases to have maximum distance). Enemies with 1" weapons won't be able to touch your DO, while the glaives let your DO wack enemies (though you do lose your claw attacks).

*'''[https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/Downloads//ENG_AoS_BeastsOfChaos_Ungor_Raiders.pdf Ungor Raiders]:''' (Min:10 Max:40 80pts) Same as Ungors, but with bows instead of shields and a basic scouting rule. Don't think their bows are good, by the way, but the mass of shots really helps. Don't underestimate 30-40 strong ungor raider units. They can output a surprising amount of dakka (for Beasts anyways, they're not crossbow freeguild!). in a melee-centric and focused faction that can quickly get into melee, missiles will be taken out of you horde budget, can damage distant enemies while holding objectives.
*Keep in mind that Blades of Putrefaction can be cast onto ''any friendly unit''. Grab a unit of 30 of these bad boys and watch the mortal wounds rain down from 18" away.

*'''[https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/AoS_Warscrolls/aos-warscroll-centigors-en.pdf Centigors]:''' (Min:5 Max:20 80pts) Light Brayherd cavalry unit that can Run and Charge. Fairly useless as the other player can lay down even light fire and wipe them out. Their good to at moving across the board, harassing, tieing down or grabbing an objective but not much else. Each turn you can decide to have them get drunk on beast piss to add +1 to their hit rolls but at the cost of your opponent getting +1 on them.

*'''[https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/AoS_Warscrolls/aos-warscroll-tuskgor-chariot-en.pdf Tuskgor Chariots]:''' (Min:1 Max:4 60/200pts) It's a chariot. Aside from the fact that the model is painfully showing its age, it's actually damn good. Lots of Wounds, good Save, tons of attacks that are great on the charge and okay normally. Play three of them and make sure they have a Bray Shaman close to them in your first movement phase. Like Bestigors, its Despoiler Axe can re-roll 1s against Order units and add 1 to hit rolls if the unit has 10 or more units.

===Behemoths===

*'''[https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/AoS_Warscrolls//aos_Soul_Grinder_eng.pdf Soul Grinder]:''' (StD, Daemon, 210pts) Ever wanted a beast that can throw ranged shots AND be great in melee? This daemon might be for you. Same price as a Daemon Prince but with less special abilities. It makes up for it by giving you a boatload of attacks for very good damage. Two ranged attack profiles, one at 20" and six at 16", the 20" does flat 3 damage the rest do 1 damage. CC has six attacks for 1 damage each, 1 attack -2 Rend for D6 damage, and either: two attacks -2 Rend flat 3 damage, OR 4 attacks -1 Rend D3 damage. Big, ugly, and killy, he fills the hammer role. The biggest downside for it is the most 4+ to hit. And since it is a Daemon, it can't benefit from CSL Demonic Power spell or the Warshrine. But at 16 wounds and a 4+ save, you can probably find a spot in the army. Plague Drones and Great Unclean Ones do good damage, but this guy will run roughshod through units and put out good ranged shooting simultaneously. Bonus points if you manage to hit him with Stream of Corruption from a Great Unclean One and heal him while the opponent cries.

*'''[https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/AoS_Warscrolls//aos_Chaos_Warshrine_eng.pdf Chaos Warshrine]:''' (StD, Priest, 170pts) Yes, the Warshrine does not count as a War Machine. If you play with caps on Heroes, Monsters and War Machines, this is a huge advantage. What it does is pretty cool, too. First, it has an Aura that grants Mortal units (almost everything Chaos that isn't a Skaven or a Daemon) an additional 6+ save after their normal save. It can also pray for buffs to Mortal units. God. The favor of Nurgle allows to reroll 1s To Wound, but if the unit it's used on is Nurgle, you can instead re-roll all failed To Wound rolls. Also of note is the fact that this thing can easily hold its own in combat with a monster-like profile and a bunch of strong attacks. Awful Rend, yes, but they plow through low armor tarpits like nobody's business.

*'''[https://www.forgeworld.co.uk/resources/fw_site/fw_pdfs/aos_warscrolls/Downloads-AoS/aos-warscroll-gigantic-chaos-spawn.pdf Gigantic Chaos Spawn]:''' ()A strong but unreliable monster burdened with random movement, random attacks, and regeneration. He can put out a fair amount of damage with a mix of its tongues and maws, and has 12 wounds and has a good chance to regenerate and possibly gain more wounds each turn. It's worth remembering that he can be given any Chaos God as a keyword, which opens up amusing possibilities like running a Khornate Spawn alongside a Bloodsecrator.

*'''Chaos War Mammoth:''' (StD, 320pts)This monster has 22 wounds and a 4+ save! All of his attacks cause at least D3 wounds, making it an exceptional monster-killer when at full strength. Its real strength lies in supporting a Marauder charge, however - as well as imposing -2 to any Battleshock tests to any unfortunate unit that gets charged, the Mammoth can also help Marauder or Marauder Horsemen get in a little extra movement and increase their damage output in combat. Wounding and even killing this thing just makes it cause more damage. If you're playing with a big Chaos horde then there's no finer feeling than running this guy into the enemy's biggest and toughest-looking infantry blob, although expect a few dirty looks for doing so. Keep in mind that he doesn't like magic missiles or war machine fire, however.

====Beasts Of Chaos====
''Must be used in the Pestilent Throng battalion to be included without being allies''

*'''[https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/AoS_Warscrolls/aos-warscroll-cygor-en.pdf Cygor]:''' (140pts) Can unbind two spells in each Hero Phase: If he manages to do it, he deals a mortal wound to the caster healing a wound for himself. He can also reroll hit rolls when attacking wizards, which he really really needs, having Hit rolls of 4+ across the board. Two of them can add some okay shooting, but the fact that the damage table influences his range makes him unreliable at best.

*'''[https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/AoS_Warscrolls/aos-warscroll-ghorgon-en.pdf Ghorgon]:''' (160pts) Same Blood Frenzy as Doombull and Bullgors, but deals d3 mortal wounds on an unmodified 6. Also, he can slay a specific model within 1" after he makes all his attack if he rolls a dice equal or greater than its wounds characteristic, do remember that it's a model so you can chomp on any leader or musician you can get your grubby hands on. This thing is your sledgehammer, with insanely strong attacks, but very slow for a monster. If you manage the charge and a Doombull is nearby, this thing can rip apart whole units, otherwise, it will stop cannonballs with its face for two turns and then die.

===Warmachine===
*'''[https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/AoS_Warscrolls/AoS_Skaven_Warscrolls_Plagueclaw.pdf Plagueclaw Catapult]:''' (160pts)It's an indirect firing war machine. You know those. They have a nice range and can stand waaay back. Brutal against big hordes, lame against Monster/Heroes, and subtracts 1 from the target bravery. An average war machine when used to it's fullest potential, and a terrible one when not.

===Scenery===
*'''[https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/Downloads//ENG-Feculent-gnarlmaw.pdf Feculent Gnarlmaw]:''' The cornerstone of your army. No, not really, this isn't Sylvaneth. While these creepy trees are useful, they are by no means mandatory. If you're within 7" of them in the Charge Phase, you can run and charge. This doesn't really help you get out of your territory, but if enemies are standing close to them, you can reach them very quickly. They also, in good Nurgle tradition, deal damage to non-Nurgle units around them. Keep in mind that this only activates once no matter how many Gnarlmaws the opponent is close to, so no making one big grove that melts entire units. Still, a Mortal Wound here and there, while also making you run and charge, is pretty amazing for the low cost of some of those contagion points you'll generate automatically. But they also generate corruption points, meaning it will take less time to summon in more gribbly goodness.

==Battalions==
Due to how Battalions are now universal, expect see the whole lot of this on the trash bin outside of narrative games. Bonus rules, traits and doodads are going to be likely added to the faction rules as default.
;Blight Cyst (''Found in Chaos Battletome'' - "Maggotkin of Nurgle" - 140pts min. 700pt., max. 4120pt.): ''A Lord of Blights takes 3 units of Blight Kings, up to 6 max. May take a Harbinger of Decay and 0 to 1 sorcerer.''
Blight Kings gain Rend -1, ''all'' Blight Kings within 3" of your Lord of Blight can shoot his death heads (instead of the default single unit), and nobody benefits from being in cover from attacks made by this Battalion.
This is the bread and butter of a Nurgle Mortal Army. Blight Kings are fun on their own, but with the addition of rend on all of their attacks, the Blight Kings become a pretty nasty opponent for anything that likes to wear armor. Especially potent if your Lord of Blights takes the artifact '''Rustfang''' which ''permanently'' reduces a target unit's Save by -1 for ''the rest of the game'', and it can be used ''twice'' per turn (at the beginning of YOUR and YOUR OPPONENT'S combat phase). If you take a Sorcerer with Cloying Quagmire, this becomes a ferocious anti-armor battalion, and will munch the everloving shit out of Stormcast.

;'''Plague Cyst''' (''Found in Chaos Battletome: "Maggotkin of Nurgle", 140pts min. 840pt., max. 4120pt.''): ''A Lord of Plagues takes 3 Units of Blight Kings, up to 6 max. May take a Harbinger of Decay and 0 to 1 Sorcerer.''
Units from the battalion (i.e Blightkings) reroll failed to hit rolls rather than the vanilla reroll 1s to hit from the Wanton Slaughter ability from the Lord of Plagues, they still have to be within range to use this though. In addition, they dish out D3 mortal wounds to every enemy unit within 3" of them on a 6+. If you plan on taking some big 'ol blobs of Blight Kings and making this battalion a 2000pt army on its own, it becomes the AoS Equivalent of spamming Terminators in 40k. The rerolling all failed hit rolls is kinda a big deal, as you're squeezing out every drop of effectiveness from your rendless Blight Kings who are relying purely on their bulk damage and exploding 6s. Rerolling failed hits also gives you more chances for exploding 6s. A unit of 5 Blight Kings is usually getting 20-25 attacks per turn factoring in exploding sixes. This "reroll all failed hits" ability has been able to squeeze this to 30+, which is double their base attacks value of 15. This is a very lethal tactic for facing down horde armies with very weak armor saves.

;Affliction Cyst (''Found in Chaos Battletome: "Maggotkin of Nurgle", 140pts min. 1100pt., max. 8360pt.''): ''A Lord of Affliction takes 3 Units of Blight Lords, up to 6 max.
The command ability of the Lord applies to all units in this battalion, not just one, and you can deep strike as many units you want from this battalion and have to set them up at the end of your first movement phase more than 9 inches from an enemy unit. Unless your planning on building your army around Blight Lords this really ain't worth it, since one half of the benefits require the Lord of Affliction to be your general which is only useful if you build your army around the bug knights.

;Blightguard (''Found in Grand Alliance: Chaos - -pts min. 1020pt., max. 3080pt.''): ''A Lord of Plagues and a Rotbringers Sorcerer take 4 units of Putrid Blightkings.''
Everyone can reroll every 1 to wound and gets a permanent -1 to hit (shooting and combat) debuff to attackers. Note that the Rotbringer Sorcerer warscroll has been renamed to Sorcerer, which arguably falls foul of the FAQ'd 'unit name' requirement for battalions. (Anyone know if this is still legal in Matched Play?)

;Blighted Warband (''Found in "Realmgate Wars" - min. 940pt., max. 3100pt.'' '''Realmgate Wars Battalions are illegal in Matched Play'''): ''A Lord of Plagues takes 4 units of Putrid Blightkings and 2 Chaos Spawn.''
All enemies have a penalty to hit against these units, and have a chance to ignore (mortal wounds).

;Torglug's Foulblessed (''Found in "Balance of Power" - min. 640pt., max. 2260pt.'' '''Realmgate Wars Battalions are illegal in Matched Play'''): ''A Lord of Plagues 3 units of Putrid Blightkings.''
The Lord re-rolls to wound, and gains additional damage to his weapon, and heals an additional wound. The Blightkings get a minor bonus to save rolls if they are near the Lord, and are immune to Battleshock if within LoS.

;Bloab's Swarmbrothers (''Found in "Godbeasts" - min. pt., max. pt.'' '''Realmgate Wars Battalions are illegal in Matched Play'''): ''Bloab Rotspawned takes some friends, meaning 2 units of Putrid Blightkings and 2 units of Plague Drones.''
Bloab can choose to deflect damage onto his minions (on a 4+), and enemy units recieve a -1 to wound when near the battalion

;Nurgle's Deluge (''Found in "The Quest for Ghal Maraz" - min. 680pt., max. 1940pt.'' '''Realmgate Wars Battalions are illegal in Matched Play'''): ''Morbidex Twiceborn, a unit of Blightkings and 3 units of Nurglings.''
The nurglings can 'rain' onto the battlefield, and do damage in the shooting phase for each unit 'rained' unto the battlefield.

;Nurgle´s Menagerie (''Found in Chaos Battletome - "Maggotkin of Nurgle" - 180pts min. 720pt., max. 4660pt.''): ''Horticulous Slimux, 3 units of Beasts of Nurgle. You may also take between 0-3 units of any combination of Plague Drones, Beasts of Nurgle or Nurglings.''
Horticulous Slimux can use his Cultivating the Garden of Nurgle ability in '''EACH''' of your hero phases instead of only once per battle. In addition, when he does so, the Feculent Gnarlmaw can be set up within 3" of any unit from this battalion instead of being set up within 3" of Horticolous Slimux. The enemy subtracts 1 from the Bravery characteristic while within 14" of 7 or more models from this battalion.
This is a serious money-grabber battalion due to the number of trees you need to buy. However, it does generate a lot of contagion points, over a couple of turns, thus forcing you to buy EVEN more Daemons and Gnarlmaws. That said, it IS effective since Beasts are plenty of scary already and the trees can practically blanket the board by the end.

;Thricefold Befoulment (''Found in Chaos Battletome - "Maggotkin of Nurgle" - 60pts min. 1140pt., max. 1320pt.''): ''Three Great Unclean Ones of any type, including Rotigus and Exalted Great Unclean Ones.''
Reroll hit rolls of one when within 14" of another unit in this battalion, and wound rolls of one when within 14" of two units from this battalion. In addition, Plague Wind does 2d3 wounds if cast within 7" of another model from this battalion, and 3d3 if cast within 7" of two models from this battalion.
Expensive but powerful. Give Bileblade and Tome of a Thousand Poxes to whoever's on Plague Wind duty, if not to guarantee it then to stop the inevitable unbinding attempts. Note that this does not increase the healing this spell does.

;Pestilent Throng (''Found in Beast of Chaos 200pts, Min 470.pt. Max -pt.)'': ''1-4 combination of Beastlord, Dragon ogor Shaggoth, Doombull, Great Bray Shaman; 3-7 combination of Bestigors, and Gors, Ungors, Ungor raiders; 0-7 combination of Bullgors Centigors, Dragon Ogors, or Tuskgor Chariots; 0-2 combination of Cygors or Ghorgons.''
Give all units in this Battalion the Nurgle Keyword and when one of the Battalion units are destroyed, enemy units within 7" take a mortal wound on a 2+. Faster than most Nurgle Choices, Letting them Rush into melee faster to make use of use of Nurglish melee buffs and mortal wound abilities. Bullgors are a faster alternative to Plague Orgors.

;Tallyband of Nurgle ''(160 pts, Min 790.pt. Max 7420 pt.)'': ''0-1 GUO,1-3 heralds of Nurgle, 4-7 units of plague bearers or Plague drones, 0-3 of beasts of Nurgle or nurglings.''
At the start of your hero phase, you heal 1 wound to each unit on the battlefield or resurrect D3 modells to plague bearers. In Addition, if the number of plague bearers and plague drones at the start of the battle is 7 you get a contagion point in each of your hero phases.

;The Blessed Sons (40 pts, Min. pt. Max pt.):'' ''
''1 Plague Cyst that includes a Sorcerer, Harbinger of Decay, and at least 4 Putrid Blight Kings; 0-6 additional warscroll battalions chosen among; Plague Cyst, Blight Cyst, Affliction Cyst.''

Units in this battalion do not have to take battleshock tests while they have 7 or more models.

Reroll Save rolls of 1 for the battalion.

;Plaguetouched Warband (''Found in Slaves to Darkness'' 180pts, Min 900pts, Max -pts): ''1 Mortal STD Nurgle Hero, 7 Mortal STD units with Mark of Nurgle.''
Unmodified wound rolls of 6 on attacks targeting units from this Battalion result in the attacker taking 1 mortal wound. Also, in your hero phase, pick an enemy target within 1" of any unit in the battalion. On a 3+, that enemy unit takes D3 MW.
This ability is great on large blocks of Chaos Marauders. Coupled with a Glottkin's unique spell to add 1 wound for a unit, and they become a defensive unit that also a tarpit and kicks back mortal wounds as they take damage.

==Super Battalions==

;The Blessed Sons (''Found in Chaos Battletome - "Maggotkin of Nurgle" 40pts min. 1460pts.; Max. none.''): ''One Plague Cyst with that includes a Sorcerer, Harbinger of Decay and at least 4 units of Blight Kings. Can include up to 6 of any of the cyst battalions and any Rotbringer unit you want on top of that, no limit.''
While a unit has 7 or more models, it does not have to take battleshock tests and re-roll save rolls of 1 for models in this battalion. If your taking a Blight Cyst with all the fixings anyway, this can help a rather decent amount as the re-rolls can save a decent helping of wounds keep models alive to be healed by a myriad of sources. The battleshock part doesn't help at all really since you already have high bravery and most likely won't lose enough models to be able of losing anyone to it unless the unit is focused on everything the enemy has.

;The Munificent Wanderers ''Found in Chaos Battletome: - "Maggotkin of Nurgle" 180pts min. 2020.; max. none.'': ''One Great Unclean One designated Thrombolhox the Giving and 2 Tallybands of Nurgle. Can include up to 5 additional Tallybands and any other '''Nurgle Daemon''' you want on top of that, no limit.''
During the Rampant Disease stage of the Cycle of Corruption enemy units within 14 inches of a unit from this battalion suffer d6 mortal wounds. If Thrombolhox the Giving is on the field, d6 enemy units are afflicted by the Rampant Disease that d3. If your taking This much anyway, its not too much of a price to pay and you can tack on a lot of mortal wounds, especially if you can keep yourself on the Rampant Disease stage through Foul Regenesis, but you'll need to put the stage to the one before Rampant Disease as the wounds happen then and by the time spellcasting starts its already passed.

=Army Building=
==Buying tips==

Chaos Daemons should be among the easier and cheaper armies to collect, thanks to the Start Collecting! kits. Those boxes have everything you could possibly want except for their Greater Daemons (a fair and valid business method) and surely you will never want to buy the kits that those contain ever again when you can get two or more kits with nifty discounts.

You can also add the fact they are not extremely diverse like other factions, they have simpler color schemes (damn, just paint them green or bone and add some dark shades and you're ready to go), and are miniatures perfectly compatible with [[40K]].

For Nurglesque Daemons, you get a unit of 10 Plaguebearers, 3 Plague Drones, 3 Nurglings, and a Herald. All of this for £55 (or your local equivalent) per box, saving £28.50 in the process. Just buy as many SC! kits as you require and the big fat heroes you want. Done.

Maggotkin also got a pretty competent SC! kit with a Lord of Blights, two Pusgoyles and 5 Blightking. You should buy multiples of these whenever you want to expand: the three kits here are all pretty expensive on their own, so this kits is now pretty much mandatory.

=Allied Armies=
*'''Slaves to Darkness''': As of the 3.0 Errata, this is the easiest army to ally in, with your ability to effectively make half your army a bunch of marked marauders and barbarians without sacrificing anything.
*'''Beasts of Chaos''': The 3.0 Errata also allows you to ally with Beastmen to an extent, though not to the same intensity.
*'''Skaven - Clans Pestilens''':
*'''One-Eyed Grunnok''': A Warstomper Mega-Gargant available to all Chaos factions. Recruit a your own monstrous centerpiece at the cost of your entire allied points allowance. He’s a best used right in the heat of combat where he can throw enemies at each other and disrupt enemy formations. Re-rolls jump attacks of 1, plus enemies get -1 to hits on previous jump attacks of 6.

{{Age_of_Sigmar_Tactics}}