Pirate
Pirate Specialization Skills: Coercion, Deception, Knowledge (Underworld) and Skulduggery
Pirates care about helping themselves, and they do not care how they do it. They’ll lead a crew to attack well-stocked spaceships. They’ll recruit a naive idealist to steal contraband so they can sell it at a profit. Some Pirates have even seen that there are greater potential rewards—such as ending the ever-increasing Imperial stranglehold over their independence—in working as somewhat-reliable rebels.
For these cunning “entrepreneurs” unafraid to break a few rules, take some risks, and resort to violence, anyone else’s gains can become their own. The first law of piracy is that everything belongs to whomever can take it. However, this is an honorable profession; it’s just business, and never personal. At least, it isn’t until someone else makes it personal.
While Pirates work for their own gain, the best opportunities require at least temporary support. Inside contacts, talented slicers, and reliable pilots can be invaluable—as are plenty of hired muscle to back up threats. Skilled Pirates are adept at manipulating those they work with (and anyone in their way) to achieve their goals, often via coercion and leveraging their dangerous reputations. Some might never need to fire a blaster, such is their terrifying renown, while others delight in violence that normal society does not allow.
Unrestricted by standard conventions of right and wrong, the methods that Pirates use can vary widely. Taking what they want is easy when no one else is left standing, so violence is frequently a first resort. If violence alone can’t work, or is impractical, they rely on cunning. Pirates might propose mutually beneficial agreements to secure assets essential to completing a job. Whether or not the deals are balanced or the Pirates even hold up their end is of little concern to them. This doesn’t mean that some Pirates won’t develop long-term arrangements, but often both parties are aware that such deals are strong only as long as both sides profit handsomely. Even so, most Pirates value their independence too much to be tied down for long, even to lucrative outsiders.
Regardless, Pirates sometimes find themselves aiding fledging anti-imperial cells. These desperate, outnumbered bands have few legal options for support. Many come to rely on the experience of Pirates for help—especially in learning how to survive outside the law and in finding unsavory but useful contacts. What might start as purely business dealings can grow to a more lasting association over exciting times, shared conflicts, and a few bottles of something jointly stolen. Whether a band of Pirates commits to a group of rebels for profit, shared aggression against the Empire, or pure boredom may never be known, but Pirates’ aid can keep such groups alive and fighting long after others have fallen.
Pirates can be duplicitous, conniving, violent con-artists, but they are almost always effective. Whether they are finding criminally-profitable jobs or manipulating their own comrades to make them more effective against the Empire, Pirates are constantly twisting situations to gain the most benefit. They almost always focus the benefit for themselves first, but sometimes it can spill over to their allies.
Potential Backgrounds