One of the delights since I started out as a privateer (the upscale version of piracy) has been the names of the ships destined to visit the Fathom King as a consequence.
Every choice has had me chuckling. The names are so apt, especially for Hell and Polythreme.
Never the same ones twice – which has me wondering whether someone thought up a list, or whether they’re generated in some way.
And then there was the recent batch, which included Seductive Bosom. A Hell trireme, of course. (Is Ooo-er Matron! still in fashion these days?)
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I wasn’t even aware of any “upscale version of piracy” since I usually have the piracy options disabled. I haven’t found anything about Privateering on the wiki either. How does one go about unlocking this?
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It’s documented on the Wiki–it took some digging for players to first find it out, although it’s fairly easy since re-rolling ship names costs 0 actions.
Dynamically generated. Excessively, needlessly complicated dynamic generation. More than 20 invisible qualities re-rolled each time. There are variables for the name schemas because each ship name can fit one of several different patterns. I adore how much time and craft went into something that has literally zero gameplay ramifications. It’s there because it make the game better.
Starting point on the Wiki is here: Consult with your Blue Prophet - Fallen London Wiki. Click through to the storylet and actions to see the various tables that get consulted.
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Just hunt down Hell and Khanate ships exclusively. Polythreme is a protectorate of the Masters, and Admiralty ships have at least a token allegiance to London, so they’re a no go, but the Khanate is London’s main rival and Hell is literally devils. Unless you meant a formal game mechanic for privateering, which doesn’t actually exist. I think @ragnardegenhand was joking about that.
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Oh, I guess I completely misunderstood the OP then. I thought they were talking about a mechanic that rolled new names for the player’s ship and hence thought they were referring to some new content.
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Sorry – it was just a poke at the way the English monarchs gave “permission” to the country’s seafarers in the form of letters of marque – so they could rob the Spanish galleons of their gold quite legally. Making them privateers rather than pirates.
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I like to think of my piracy as privateering, too, but I disagree with your choice of targets. To me, Khanate and Polythreme are my only valid targets. The Admiralty ships are London’s, and the devils are our dear friends and trading partners to the west. Of course, since I usually reside in my luxurious Sanctum at the Brass Embassy, I may be a tad biased. 
The Khanate is CERTAINLY London’s main rival, so no argument there; but my second choice target is Polythreme, for the same reason you gave for sparing them. If Polythreme benefits the Masters, then crippling it is to London’s benefit. After all, the Masters are the REAL enemies of London: the evil buggers who swindled Her Enduring Majesty, and dumped us all in this hole in the first place. Anything that can be done to hurt or kill them (except, POSSIBLY, for Mr. Fires) is pure patriotism.
swindled? i was under the impression that it was an entirely fair deal: they laid out their terms, she agreed, both sides got what they wanted. sure, you could argue that the life of a single person for london isn’t an equal exchange, but that isn’t “swindeling”, that’s just capitalism.
…of course, you could argue that capitalism is a big swindle, but that’s besides the point.
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I mean, I’m pretty sure what actually happened to her beloved when they were saved is not what she was expecting, and unpleasant enough that I think you can argue the Masters shorted their end of the bargain.
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I just sank the Democracy’s Larva, and now I’m hunting the Democracy.
Can’t wait to hunt the Democracy’s Grandpa.
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In a strikingly similar vein, after sinking the Agincourt, I now have to contend with Agincourt’s Master.
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