Black Powder Crew

Navies might tap their connections to Alkenstar or other firearm-producing regions to equip their forces with pistols instead of crossbows. For a naval crew equipped with flintlock pistols, replace Crossbow Salvo with Pistol Salvo. Since they typically prefer loose bullets and powder to the expense of cartridges, they can't repeatedly fire their pistols.

Every navy has use for a well-trained, disciplined naval crew. Unfortunately, most of those called by the sea are a grand assortment of misfits, dregs, and rebels seeking to escape the structures or perils of the land, so developing teamwork and coordination takes extensive work. The adversaries a naval crew faces usually lack the same discipline. While ramshackle pirate crews excel at aggression, improvisation, and even dirty tricks, their onrushing wave often breaks against the unflappable reef of a true naval crew.

Though each navy has its own training regimens and priorities when assembling these disciplined squads of soldiers, most agree that the same combination of equipment is most effective: sturdy cutlasses perfect for hacking through boarding lines, close-quarters fighting belowdecks, and the opportunity for the more ornamented weapons preferred by officers, along with a brace of crossbows ready to catch a fleeing pirate in the back or surprise a group of miscreants.