Piracy Campaign

[Kenny]

I'm thinking of setting up a campaign using the new GURPS Spacecraft pdf.

I've been keeping my eye on the piracy issues near Somalia but would still like others views and takes on piracy both in the real world and in space opera.

Thanks for the replies up front and I might put some of my ideas for my game up later.

Kenny

[Ragitsu]

Will Bittorrent be involved?

;-)

[Neophyte42]

As much as Ragitsu was joking, why not add an occasional cyberpunk-style data-raiding mission to the game?

As for space piracy, I think that really depends on why space travel is happening. Pirates always like to operate within a short (relative) distance to their logistical base.

If your space travel is in system only, then perhaps an asteroid belt is where the pirates hide, so attacks are most likely when traveling near said belt.

If your FTL is fixed point jump based, then the pirates will likely set up shop near jump points (whether natural or man-made gates) that are also near some sort of planet / planetoid capable of maintaining a fixed base of operations.

If FTL is more free form, then pirate might try to set up near planets importing or exporting high value goods. Many of these planets will be well patrolled. If the FTL beginning or end has to be (again, relatively) far from planetary gravity, this opens up the patrol area, meaning less coverage. However, this also means lower probability of a ship being near where the pirates are.

Just some things to think about - I hope your game goes well!

[Ragitsu]

How about dimensional pirates? They're able to hop over, steal what they need, and hop back over. This, of course, makes them damn hard to catch. Enter the PCs...

[Rocket Man]

Originally Posted by Ragitsu

How about dimensional pirates? They're able to hop over, steal what they need, and hop back over. This, of course, makes them damn hard to catch.

Which is when you bring in the equivalent of a "Q-Ship" -- a nice, tempting target that just happens to be bait for a trap.(The trick was a favorite of the British during WWI and the Yanks during WWII; build a merchant ship with a lot of concealed weaponry to lure a submarine into making a surface attack ... do it right and good bye, sub! Or, in this case, "goodbye, pirates," be they spatial or transdimensional in nature. )

[David Johnston2]

[QUOTE=Neophyte42;794831]

As much as Ragitsu was joking, why not add an occasional cyberpunk-style data-raiding mission to the game?

As for space piracy, I think that really depends on why space travel is happening. Pirates always like to operate within a short (relative) distance to their logistical base.

One distinction between the Golden Age of Piracy and the mundane pirates that have always plagued cargo shipping, is that the Golden Age was an exception to that rule. For a century or so, pirate ships roamed free all over the Atlantic and around the Horn to Madagascar.

If your space travel is in system only, then perhaps an asteroid belt is where the pirates hide, so attacks are most likely when traveling near said belt.

If your space travel is in-system, piracy is impossible without a superscience invisibility cloak.

If your FTL is fixed point jump based, then the pirates will likely set up shop near jump points (whether natural or man-made gates) that are also near some sort of planet / planetoid capable of maintaining a fixed base of operations.

"Fixed" jump points, permanent choke points are a little too easy for the authorities to control. Pirates don't hang out at navigation canals or straits. Never did. They'd hang out on coastlines and islands that were controlled by friendly rulers or disorganised ones that couldn't control that commercial ships would have to pass by on the way from choke point to choke point.

If FTL is more free form, then pirate might try to set up near planets importing or exporting high value goods. Many of these planets will be well patrolled. If the FTL beginning or end has to be (again, relatively) far from planetary gravity, this opens up the patrol area, meaning less coverage. However, this also means lower probability of a ship being near where the pirates are.

Ideally your drive system should allow in-flight detection and interception of other ships. That gives you all of interstellar space that the anti-pirates will need to keep track of. Provided that the commercial traffic is really dense, you'll spot prey, but your hunters will have great difficulty spotting you.

[Daigoro]

Originally Posted by David Johnston2

If your space travel is in-system, piracy is impossible without a superscience invisibility cloak.

So that's how the Somalis are doing it...

Seriously, if piracy can still exist against the power of modern day radar technology, I'm sure enough tech assumptions can be postulated to make in-system piracy possible without requiring superscience.

Originally Posted by David Johnston2

"Fixed" jump points, permanent choke points are a little too easy for the authorities to control. Pirates don't hang out at navigation canals or straits. Never did. They'd hang out on coastlines and islands that were controlled by friendly rulers or disorganised ones that couldn't control that commercial ships would have to pass by on the way from choke point to choke point.

I'm not sure exactly what you mean by "hang out", but piracy is certainly prevalent in the Malacca Strait. Given, there are 900kms of small islands and river outlets for pirates to hide in so it's difficult to exert government control, but it's nonetheless a dangerous choke point.

[David Johnston2]

Originally Posted by Daigoro

So that's how the Somalis are doing it...

Seriously, if piracy can still exist against the power of modern day radar technology, I'm sure enough tech assumptions can be postulated to make in-system piracy possible without requiring superscience.

Radar? Radar is horizon-limited. Space is different. There just isn't enough cover out there. The Malacca Straits are of course the best of all possible situations for pirates. They're a choke point for commerce and large military vessels, but not for the pirates.

[Figleaf23]

Space Viking might be a helpful resource.

[Kenny]

There are a few other things I have thought of:

1. Taking over a spaceship by hijacking it.
2. Docking to a ship and dragging it towards a safe (pirate) port to ransom it.
3. Threatening to destroy or damage a ship for safety money.
4. Taking of crew's possessions and other small valuable items.
5. Rigging explosives to the hull of a ship and removing them once ransom has been paid.