A Primer on Gameplay

Welcome to the Caribbean, sir.

I think you know well why you are here, but in order to live a long and hopefully prosperous life out on these seas, it might be good to listen a while.

Your Situation
The sea is big; a man is small.

This is not to say that the small man cannot effect great change, but it won't be your destiny to command great flotillas and great fleets, or even the mighty battleships with their heavy guns. Those are the reserve of the great powers, such as the Confederate States Navy, the Royal Navy, the Union Navy or the Marine Nationale.

That path is not for someone with no nation and no state behind him, no ensign over his head. For someone like you, the key is the great variety and number of small craft of all sorts that ply the seas between the different islands and the ports, large and small. You will be fighting small battles, with small craft, and carrying small cargoes which may have great impact. For some, anyway.

You can choose to fight for something bigger than yourself, or to look out solely for your own interests. In fact, most people out here do a little bit of both - patriotic duty on the weekdays, smuggling for income on the weekends. That's how the Caribbean is under the chaotic and often violent rule of the Confederacy.

Ships and Boats
As the captain of a small boat to start with, you have a small crew and a certain cargo capacity. This will be your steed, with which you navigate the treacherous Caribbean, and you will have to manage several things about it.

Engineering
You will make choices about the ship's outfit and the machinery on board, which allows for you to do different things with it. Prioritise cargo space, and have a slow ship that might rely on trickery and disguise; or sacrifice space and armament for a blade that cuts through the waves.

Crew
Manage your crew, and keep them happy about your work.

Armaments
You can choose to arm your boat in different ways - with the Great Powers all interested in undermining each other, guns are plentiful in this region right now.

Missions and Factions
As a free agent, your ship is your business and your mission - but it is simply a handy tool for others.

Different factions will want your ship, and your skills, to carry out tasks for them, and therefore increase their power and influence in the Caribbean. Across these narrow seas, you might ferry people, rescue slaves, attack settlements and ships, escort other vessels, or just do other things as well.

As you take more missions and do more work for factions, you will get to know their people better.

Ports
Ports - large or small, advanced or ramshackle - are the key locations of this story. These cities on the sea are where trade is done, crews can be hired, social interactions carried out and ships replenished and repaired.