Pirate / Raider
This page explores the pirate playstyle — an empire oriented around disruption, predation, and extracting value from the activity of other players rather than building their own.
It does not describe final game behavior. It captures the current direction and unresolved design choices.
Orientation
A pirate derives income and strategic advantage by attacking other players' fleets, disrupting trade routes, blockading gateway systems, and extorting passage. They build little of their own and instead feed on the output of more productive empires.
In a real-time persistent world, a pirate is particularly dangerous because they can operate while their targets are offline. A merchant who leaves fleets in transit unattended is exposed.
Primary Mechanics
Fleet interdiction — the ability to intercept or attack fleets in transit through a system. This mechanic is not yet fully designed and connects to the open questions in Transit Events.
Gateway blockading — positioning a fleet at a gateway system to deny passage. This is described in Inter-Region Movement but the specific rules for how blocking works, what force is required, and how it can be broken are not yet defined.
Raiding — attacking holdings to extract resources, damage infrastructure, or weaken a rival without committing to permanent occupation. Distinct from conquest in that the goal is disruption and extraction, not territorial control.
Natural Tensions
A pirate who attacks indiscriminately has no safe harbors and no allies. Every empire becomes a potential enemy. Sustained piracy requires either operating from a very defensible position or maintaining enough political cover to avoid coordinated retaliation.
A pirate who is too effective can find that traders reroute to avoid them entirely — removing the very targets they depend on.
Interaction With Other Playstyles
- Traders are the primary target. A thriving trade network is a pirate's food source.
- Military players are the primary threat. A coordinated military response can eliminate a pirate presence permanently.
- Diplomats may try to redirect pirate activity toward rivals rather than eliminating it. A pirate who accepts such arrangements becomes a covert instrument.
- Defenders / Warlords directly counter the pirate threat when hired for convoy escort or route protection.
Current State
The pirate archetype currently has partial mechanical support. Gateway blockading is described in inter-region movement. Transit events touch on encounters during fleet movement but are not yet resolved.
Dedicated raiding mechanics and interdiction rules are not yet designed.
Open Questions
- Can any empire choose to raid, or does piracy require a specific stance or declaration that carries diplomatic consequences?
- What distinguishes a raid from a full military attack in game terms?
- Should there be NPC pirate factions in addition to player pirates, and if so, do they behave differently?
- What are the consequences for a pirate empire's diplomatic standing, and can those consequences be mitigated?
- Can a pirate extort passage — collecting a fee from fleets that want to traverse a system they control — rather than outright attacking?