Space Pirate
Pirates are galactic outlaws who make their living raiding and stealing other peoples spacecraft in order to relieve them of their valuables. Sometimes, the spacecraft itself, its crew and their cargo are all considered viable booty. The craft are sold or impressed into service, the crew are ransomed or sold as slaves (though some may be kept for the same role), and cargo is put to use or liquidated. Regular raiding is thus needed to maintain a lifestyle, however, frequent raids are not. In a manner similar to a farmer harvesting yearly and rotating crops to ensure rich soils remain so, most pirates make sizable raids, or a series of such and fade away until it is necessary to go out again. Likewise, they will rotate their areas of operations to not only avoid capture, but to ensure that they do not scare the more profitable targets away from their zones of operation. Too many raids will scare potential targets away and force the raiders to move. The most successful pirates are not necessarily the smartest or the strongest, but the most practical. The Raiding Clans presented in Aliens Unlimited are a perfect example of this latter class of pirates.
Regardless of their tactics or wisdom, with all of the trade moving through the galaxy's spaceways, there are more than enough opportunities for freebooters to earn a living picking from heavily laden transport and cargo craft. A large enough cargo craft can hold thousands of tons of cargo, but pirates only need a small fraction of that to earn themselves a substantial profit, especially considering they did not have to pay for the cargo in the first place...unlike the unfortunates it was taken from. It is also rare when a pirate band can take the time to get away with huge loads of cargo. Stealing the personal effects of the passengers, especially on a full luxury liner can also turn a profit, and generally the victims will go unharmed. Pirates are by and large thieves and do not all fit the vile, murderous image given to them by the holo-video industry. A significant number of them are quite polite and others are even honorable, for again, one would not wish to scare off one's future meal tickets.
The more honorable , some would even say foolhardy, pirates will only hit the craft of the larger and more wealthy corporations and governments (when possible) who can absorb the losses. This usually gives them less of an unsavory reputation among the civilian populations, most of who never even hear of the incidents; however, on the other hand, it makes them targets of the reprisals of those same wealthy entities. The less savory types will raid anyone, especially easy targets like civilian cargo and transport craft. Some pirates even kill their victims to remove witnesses and make their theft easier. Most do not, though and the Raiding Clans actually have their own laws against killing any source of income. As a Raider might say, paraphrasing their laws, "Dead men certainly tell no tales, but neither do they give you money more than once."
It should be noted that anyone can prepare themselves adequately to raid spacecraft in open space and profit from the plunder. This O.C.C. is for those pirates which do not fall into a specialized role. There are fighter pilots that fly the raiding craft, former SIS that lead the boarding teams of larger pirate organizations, and former military officers who actually head their own enclaves, such at the commander of the Darkith and the massive organization that grew from his vocational change. Not all pirates will necessarily be of the Pirate O.C.C.
Attribute Requirements:
O.C.C. skills
Find Contraband
Pick Locks
Prowl
Safecracking
Detect Concealment
Intelligence (specialized in casing and cataloging targets)
W.P. Energy Pistol
Zero Gravity Combat: Basic
Hand to Hand: Basic
Hand-to-hand: Basic can be upgraded to Expert at the cost of one other skill and Martial Arts at the cost of two.
Other Skills
Choose five other skills from the following list. At least two of these must be additional espionage or rogue skills.
Communications: Any
Domestic: Any
Electrical: Basic Electronics only.
Espionage: Any (+5%)
Mechanical: Spacecraft and Basic Mechanics only.
Medical: First Aid only.
Military: Recognize Weapon Quality only.
Physical: Any (+5% where applicable)
Pilot: Basic: Any (+5%)
Pilot: Advanced: Spacecraft skills only.
Pilot Related: Any (+5%)
Rogue: Any (+15%)
Science: None
Technical: Any
Weapon Proficiencies: Any
Wilderness: None
Secondary Skills: In addition to the above skills, the character can select four secondary skills from the secondary skill list on page 47 of Heroes Unlimited, second edition. As usual, these skills receive none of the bonuses listed above. the character can select three additional secondary skills at levels 3, 6, 9, 12 and 15.
Standard Equipment: Light armor (A.R. 11, S.D.C. 40), two sidearms of choice (usually a matching pair), melee weapon of choice (the traditional pirate cutlass is popular, especially in vibro or kisentite versions), numerous pouches for stashing small items, a backpack, walkie-talkie or hand radio (range: 2 miles/3.2 km), incapacitating weapon of choice (stun, sonic, strap guns, etc.), flash protected visor or goggles, and appropriate accessories (eyepatch, head wrap, pet sidekick, etc).
Not likely to have his own spacecraft unless part of a pirate group (i.e. the other PCs or an NPC organization established by the gamemaster).
Optional Cybernetics: Headjack, radio reciever/transmitter and one chemical spray or finger weapon (claws and finger guns are common).
Average Salary: Variable based on successful pirate activities: 1D4x1000 credits per month. Higher ranking pirates and those that are very successful can make 1D4x2000 credits per month.
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