So, you know how back in the Caribbean in the 1600s you had a lot of port towns, like Port Royale, which for all intents and purposes functioned as good bases for pirates who liked to raid the Spanish main?

My understanding is that the port provided a good place to sell and spend raided booty and, since Port Royale was controlled by the British, it was kind of like a safe spot or a haven for people who spent their time pirating the Spanish.

In the context of Shadowrun, do you think it would be appropriate for there to be places like Port Royale where shadowrunners or smugglers might be able to stay relatively safely?

For example, perhaps there's an island in the Caribean which is owned by a UCAS megacorp. The UCAS megacorp might turn a blind eye to people who stay on that island who use it as a launching pad or a safe hidey space to go and do crap against Aztechnology in Mexico from. Perhaps Aztechnology can't go and blow up the island in force because of the political implications so the best it could try and do might be to send assassins to that island but then the assassins would have a hard time because everyone on the island would kill them on sight if they knew they were from Aztechnology.

Could that concept work in SR, or is someone going to jump out of the bushes with a cannon reference that says that that's not allowed to happen and that the metaplot will come and eat me if I so much as suggest it?

I think the Cascade Crow area was good for this in the past IIRC, just north of Seattle. May have changed with the govermental change though. New Orleans was also a good spot, although not quite a free-for-all.

Privateers, please.

~J

Target: Smuggler's Havens suggests that Russia is dominated by Saeder-Krup and Zeta-ImpChem while Cross Applied Technologies has some pull with their national police. It goes on to state that Russia has a giant navy and is very protective of its shipping lanes due to its proximity to Japan.

As long as the pirating is done outside of Russian shipping lanes and the victims were not allied with Saeder-Krup, Zeta-ImpChem, or Cross you should be realitivly safe in Vladivostok.

Not only is it very plausible in the sixth world. (Extraterritoriality, anyone?) But I would say that Cyberpirates supports exactly that sort of thing.

Though it doesn't utilize extraterritoriality, the Sai Kung region of Hong Kong is very much like this, with corporate shipping often the pirates' targets. The villages of Sai Kung have friendlier relations with the pirates than with the corps and so they provide shelter for them and trade in their stolen goods.

The old Kai Tak airport in Hong Kong has been converted into an open-air bazaar selling assorted black market or stolen goods, most of it off-loaded right onto the old runway from sampan boats ferrying the goods from the pirates.

All this is in Runner Havens.

I also have ideas for a sprawl along these lines for a future sprawl book, but we'll see how that goes.

*cough* Caracas *cough*

Arrrgh, me hearties! Off pirating we go!

For some reason, I keep having an image of a arcraft carrier flying the Jolly Roger.

I find the concept facinating.

Fort Dauphin in Madagascar is pretty much a pirate city with absolutely no central authority, IIRC you can even buy and sell bioweapons there if you have enough cash and know the right people. Over in the Pacific I seem to remember Shadows of Asia saying that that Guam Freeport is pretty much a den of iniquity and haven for much of the Pacific. Seems one of local admirals decided to pull a Saito and not obey orders when the UCAS pulled out and turned the place into one big free port. And Demonseed Elite's already mentioned Borinquen and most of the Caribbean League.

Interesting fact of the day, it seems the US Constitution allows Congress to issue Letters of Marque. Now Letters of Marque were outlawed by the 1856 Declaration of Paris but guess who isn't a signatory of that? Yeah, the US. Seems you guys recognised it during the Spanish-American War and the Civil War but only for the duration of hostilities so I've been told. Thanks to MooCow for telling me that. So with the UCAS being the successor state to the US and the CAS being a completely new one, they should legally still be able to issue them.

That information is probably useless, but still very interesting. Thanks for sharing .

um. the problem being that it's OPEN. Shadowrunners are hired for thier (supposed) secrecy and deniability.

and what self-respecting shadowrunner is going to sign a contract like that?

might be a good idea to BS your way past the army though.

Notice I said 'shadowrunner-type'.

I'm looking the legality issue. Every government covertly uses runner types to accomplish certain goals. The UCAS can do that as well, but they can also openly hire pirates, revolutionaries, terrorists, and other sundry people of the like, all technically legal and above board, while other nations have an agreement that technically makes it illegal for them to do likewise.

I'd generally see the CAS as the more likely of the two to use it if things with Aztlan got more tense or moved into outright warfare. Since they only have a brown water coastal navy it'd be easier to issue Letters of Marque if they wanted to go after their commercial shipping around the world than do it themselves.

Is there anything about a 'Letter-of-Marque' that legally and specifically limits its issue to seafaring adventurers (ie pirate types)? I am under the impression that there is no such limitation, but am open to correction.

If that is the case, and no mariner-limitation exists, then land-based (and air/space-based) operations could also fall under a Letter-of-Marque.

To get back to the original post for a moment, just remembered that the Coastal Provinces in north-east China are also a pirate nexus according to Shadows of Europe and use Letters of Marque frequently.

Letters of Marquis don't give you the right to attack commercial shipping whilly-nilly. There are specific warrants in response to specific offenses, not unlike a search warrant or an arrest warrant. They give specific rights and specific limitations to their recipients. Going beyond the bounds of those rights makes one a pirate (on the sea) or a thief (on land). They generally do not allow a privateer to enter into the territory of another nation, limiting him to international waters (or airspace) and disputed territories.

There are, however, 6 Articles in Section VII of the Hague Convention that complicate the issuance of such letters in wartime.

But you can only bring police action on people who are within your own jurisdiction, can´t you? Quite limiting to the hunt on cargo ships, and all the wrong targets. True piracy needs deniable assets.

I seem to recollect some gentleman in Florida tried to get a new Letter of Marque issued for his boat, but for reasons unknown, Congress denied his request. You'd think a Republican congress would be a little kinder about enabling its citizens in such regards.

Bonus. Thanks for that.

I note that they tend to be specific for a particular ship and ships captain. Implying that any drastic changes in personnel would necessitate a new Letter.

In terms of a SR campaign. A Letter would probably have to be issued to a specific vessel or vehicle. I could readily imagine a Letter being issued to a particular T-Bird and it's crew.