How to play a pirate

Talking like one

Yarrrr

Preferred vehicles

A darter used to be the ultimate pirate vessel, since in the past nothing was able to dock to it. Later it was changed so that it could be docked by a raft, but since rafts aren't very common, a darter still continues to be a viable option.

A sloop is also a pretty good option since it's relatively cheap to build and can only be docked by a dinghy. It can also dock directly to the shore, stopping you from getting stopped by coaster harbour doors.

Pirates with a crew might prefer a raker or a galleon since their storage capacity is vast, they are faster than the small vessels and can be further enhanced with the addition of masts and sails, and can be equipped with cabins and cargo holds to hold prisoners and protect loot. Their drawback is that they cannot dock directly to the shore and can be docked by various boats.

= Risks and strategies

A pirate ship is most vulnerable right after undocking, so the perfect raid is timed right before the sailing tick takes place, allowing the boat to move away from the vicinity of the shore before the townspeople have time to retaliate. When a boat docks to a ship, it cannot be shaken off by any means so the situation might quickly turn dangerous.

Usually it's unlikely that several people are awake at the time of a pirate attack, that any of them would possess a key to a vehicle capable of docking to the pirate vessel, and even more unlikely that the defenders have more than one crowbar, if any, but in the worst case scenario, a pirate ship might be docked by for example a longboat with several people carrying crowbars and iron shields. The pirates may have tried to attack these people while in town and will be unable to strike again for a day, or even if they hadn't previously attacked these particular people, they might still be exhausted from hitting others and unable to deal significant damage. With luck, the landlubbers might be able to break through the lock in less than a day, forcing the pirates to retract to cabins, allowing the attackers to dock the ship back to the harbour and encourage the townspeople to board the ship. If the deck is stuffed full of loot, landlubbers might be able to fill the remaining space so that pirates are unable to exit their cabins, leaving them trapped while the rest of the locks are broken. But a more likely scenario is that only one person is awake during the attack and even if they had a boat and a crowbar, they'll be too afraid to risk hanging along for what might turn out to be days.

If somebody is clearly awake during a pirate attack, it might be worthwhile to unlock the boat straight after undocking, and if someone comes after with a dinghy and docks to the pirate ship, they'll stumble right in through the door while attempting to break the lock. But this will require somebody to be awake to lock the boat before the intruder has time to realize they've walked into a trap. In this situation it's also good to have a cabin or a cargo hold to drag the intruder into, since he might still be able to break the lock from the inside and also to dock the ship back to the harbour.

Intimidating a lonely attacker might be worth while, since if they see a lot of pirates shouting threats at them, they might fail to realize that they're too tired to cause significant damage or have already used their one hit per day.