Gebaseerd op de Pirate Lord (Kingdoms of Kalamar: Salt and Sea Dogs, p24)

Any scalawag can sign on for a stint with a pirate crew, but it takes a special breed of buccaneer to rise to the title of pirate lord. Pirate lords command fleets of ships, in some case more than an entire nation's navy, and a veritable horde of cuthroats assassins, thugs, and other undesirables. The pirate lord is usually retired from active pirating life, but occasionally a pirate lord leads his fleets from the deck of his flagship, inspiring his subordinates to acts of reckless courage and derring-do. The pirate lord's true specialty, however, lies in managing his fleets and learning the schedules of merchant fleets and naval patrols, the better to target the former and avoid the latter.

Without a doubt, rogues are the most common pirate lords- they have the skills to excel in the areas necessary to becoming a pirate lord, and their general knack for skullduggery is a useful asset. Bards are the next most common pirate lords, followed by brigands infiltrators, rangers, and bards. Because their spiritual oaths, paladins and monks cannot become pirate lords without losing most of their original class abilities. Sorcerers, spellsingers, and wizards occasionally follow the path of the pirate lord, using the money earned through piracy to fund arcane research. Fighters and gladiators are probably the least common characters to become pirate lords, because they lack the requisite class skills and the skill points necessary to buy them as cross-class skills.

d6

In order to become a pirate lord, a character must meet all of the following requirements.

• Alignment: Any non-lawful, non-good.
• Skills: Bluff 6 ranks, Diplomacy 10 ranks, Gather Information 10 ranks, Intimidate 6 ranks, Profession(sailor) 6 ranks.
• Feats: Leadership
• Special: The character must own a fleet of at least three ships.

The pirate lord's class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are Appraise(Int),Balance (Dex), Bluff (Cha), Climb (Str), Craft (Int), Decipher Script (Int), Diplomacy (Cha), Disguise (Cha), Escape Artist (Dex), Forgery (Int), Gather Information (Cha), Hide (Dex), Intimidate (Cha), Jump (Str), Listen (Wis), Move Silently (Dex), Perform (Cha), Profession (Wis), Search (Int), Sense Motive (Wis), Sleight of Hand (Dex), Spot (Wis), Swim (Str), Tumble (Dex), Use Magic Device (Cha), and Use Rope (Dex).

Skill Points at Each Level: 6 + Int modifier.

All of the following are features of the pirate lord.

The pirate lord is proficient with all simple and martial weapons and light armor.

Once per week, the pirate lord can attempt to call upon the riches that his fleet of ships brings in. To access this wealth, the pirate lord rolls a d20, adds his pirate lord level, his Charisma modifier, and the number of ships in his fleet, and multiplies the total by 25. 1d3days later (it takes time to have valuables liquidated, coins sorted, and funds transferred to the pirate lord), the pirate lord receives a number of gold pieces equal to this total. This money does not magically appear in the pirate lord's pirse; a minion miust acquire and deliver it. The DM is free to rule that the pirate lord cannot access his riches in certain circumstances (such as on the high seas or in the depths of a dungeon).

At second level, the pirate lord gains a contact, a minor NPC ally who can provide information, small favors and other benefits. The pirate lord's player and the DM should work together to determine the exact nature of the contact, and the DM is encouraged to create statistics and a background for the contact. The exact nature of the contact determines the type of information or aid the pirate lord can expect - a shipping clerk for a Brandobian merchant coster, for example, would be unlikely to know about troop strength at a Svimohzish navy garrison, but could provide schedules for merchant convoys or help the pirate lord smuggle something. Regardless of the contact's nature, however, he will not voluntarily enter combat or otherwise risk his life for the pirate lord.

Beginning at third level, the pirate lord can project such an aura of power and menace that weaker characters find hard to face him. Any character with fewer character levels or Hit Dice than the pirate lord must make a Will save (DC 10+one half the pirate lord's character level + the pirate lord's Charisma modifier) or suffer a -2 penalty to attack rolls and skill checks against the pirate lord. This penalty increases to -4 at sixth level and -6 at ninth level. This ability can be used twice per day, has an effective range of 60ft and counts as a fear effect. The duration of the effect equals 1 round per pirate lord level.

Beginning at 4th level, the pirate lord's minions have committed enough piracy that the pirate lord has an area of established turf equal to one hex, 25 mile across, per level. The turf must be continuous but the pirate lord may establish a new turf that is not adjacent to the old one. Doing so requires a year of sailing the waters of the new turf. After the new turf is established the old on becomes abandoned. All enemy ships suffer a -1 morale penalty to attacks against the pirate lord or his minions while in his turf. As a result, ships tend to avoid the pirate lord's turf, making the waters relatively quiet. Note that the turf of multiple pirate lords may overlap.

By 5th level, the pirate lord has learned how to make certain people see reason through “polite discussion.” Whenever he makes a Diplomacy check, he may choose to add one half of his Intimidate ranks to the check. The pirate lord can only use this ability where “polite discussion” is an acceptable form of negotiation: while discussing things with other pirates.

The unique insigna of a pirate lord of 7th level or higher is so well known that when it is displayed on a flag or banner, every ally within 50 feet of it gains a +2 morale bonus on attacks. This bonus lasts for 10 rounds after the flag is revealed, or until it is destroyed or lowered, whichever comes first. Hoist the black flag may be used three times per day, and the pirate lord must either hoist the flag personally or hand it to an ally who then hoists it. The pirate lord's hoist the black flag ability stacks with the ability of the same name of the dread pirate prestige class. If a character has both abilities, allies within 50 feet of the flag gain a +4 morale bonus on attacks (the ability can only be used three times per day, however).

At 10th level, the pirate lord's pirate empire is so vast that he controls a veritable army of sailors, strong-arms, and scoundrels of all sorts. His pirate lord class levels are doubled for purposes of calculating his leadership score for determining the number and levels of his followers only. For example a 7th level rogue/10th level pirate lord with a 12 Charisma gains followers as if he had a Leadership score of 28. He still only gains a cohort as if his Leadership score is 18, however.