Republic of Pirates - Exploration Age Civ Concept

[evonannoredars]

Somewhat silly concept, but I'm on a roll today with Civ ideas it seems so here's my take on how a Republic of Pirates (could also be called Flying Gang, Nassau or New Providence) would work. They are unlocked by having a coastal city with a minimum gold output (no prior civ or leader-based unlocks), accompanied by the following text:
Gold flows in and out of the harbour gates in ships from other cities along the coast, but sailors look to the vast ocean beyond. If this prosperity should falter, might better fortunes be found on other shores?

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Unique Ability
Jolly Roger: Upon the beginning of the age, all previous settlements become independent powers, gain three Flying Gang settler units instead. All units take no damage from rough seas.
Your empire didn't survive the last crisis and has fractured. Instead of the usual 'change capital' option in age transition, you choose which cities to spawn three unique settler units at. Can be at the same city or in different ones. Strategy should be to immediately strike east/west and begin to settle the islands between. First settlement created will be a capital city, all later ones will be towns as normal.

Attributes
• Economic
• Militaristic

Civic Trees
Buccaneering
• Tier 1: Settler units of other civilisations can be captured at the cost of reputation.
• Tier 2: Gain a unique endeavour called Letter of Marque, during which you recieve additional gold and improved reputation with the civilisation whenever pillaging another civilisation they are unfriendly with. Gold and reputation increased if they are at war.
Pirate Round
• Tier 1: Unlocks Pirate Captain unique unit. Defeating enemy naval commanders grants access to a tradition from the defeated civilisation.
• Tier 2: Capturing treasure fleets grants additional gold.
Post-Spanish Succession
• Tier 1: Pillaging within the command radius of a Pirate Captain grants additional gold per unit within the command radius or packed into the captain.
• Tier 2: Unlocks Haven unique improvement.
Golden Age of Piracy
• Tier 1: Gain a unique treaty called Act of Grace. Can only be proposed to civilisations with which you have a negative relationship. If accepted, return to peaceful relations. Gain increased culture and science per each accepted treaty so long as positive or neutral relations are maintained.
All civics form a linear sequence and are fairly cheap. No traditions! You get those by stealing from other civs. As you progress through the tree, you get increasingly good at pillaging and acquiring gold - but eventually you might want to settle down and begin catching up in science and culture!

Unique Infrastructure
Haven: Unique Improvement. Must be built adjacent to three land tiles outside of owned territory. Units within a haven are hidden from other civilisations and gain additional healing.
Self-explanatory.

Unique Civilian Unit
Flying Gang: Unique Settler Unit. New settlements created have boosted yields and begin with extra population.
Probably a better name I could've used, but this works.

Unique Military Unit
Pirate Captain: Unique naval commander. Gains extra xp from naval combat. Has the ability to locate nearby treasure fleets. Has one charge to build a haven, once unlocked.
I wanted initially to have pirates as great people (Blackbeard, Captain Kidd, Anne Bonny, Mary Read, Stede Bonnet, etc) but I don't think there are any civs with two unique civilian units. Naval commanders make more sense gameplay wise, perhaps they could at least recieve random names?

Associated Wonder
???: ???.
I'm not actually sure what would work best for one.

Starting Biases:
• N/A
If playing with an advanced start, will immediately begin in the islands inbetween the continents.

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Note that the Republic of Pirates has no default modern age unlocks. If the player somehow cannot unlock anything (if that's even possible), three random options are granted.

 

[evonannoredars]

Revised version:

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Unique Ability
Jolly Roger: Upon the beginning of the age, all previous settlements become independent powers, gain three Flying Gang settler units instead. All units take no damage from rough seas.

Attributes
• Wildcard
Changed attribute to wildcard as it is a very wildcard civ - abandoning all your previous cities and starting anew is a wild decision to make! Means you can also have more flexibility in deciding which direction you want to go in next.

Civic Trees
Buccaneering
• Tier 1: Settler units of other civilisations can be captured. Reputation decrease for doing so. Unlocks Fort improvement.
• Tier 2: Gain a unique endeavour called Letter of Marque, during which you recieve additional gold and improved reputation with the civilisation when pillaging another civilisation they are unfriendly with. Gold and reputation further increased if they are at war.
Pirate Round
• Tier 1: Unlocks Pirate Captain unique unit. Defeating enemy naval commanders grants access to a tradition from the defeated civilisation.
• Tier 2: Unlocks Nosy Boraha wonder.
Post-Spanish Succession
• Tier 1: Pillaging within the command radius of a Pirate Captain grants additional gold per unit within the command radius or packed into the captain.
• Tier 2: Returning treasure fleets to the capital increases happiness on the palace.
Golden Age of Piracy
• Tier 1: Gain a unique treaty called Act of Grace. Can only be proposed to civilisations with which you have a negative relationship. If accepted, return to peaceful relations. Gain increased happiness and production per each accepted treaty so long as positive or neutral relations are maintained.
Mostly reshuffled previous civics. Act of Grace now grants happiness and production as those will be more important for weathering the imminent crisis.

Unique Infrastructure
Fort: Unique Improvement. Can only be built once per settlement. Increases settlement sight range from borders by one tile. Fortified tile, increases combat strength of stationed units.
Changed from Haven. Now built inside settlements, which realistically are themselves the havens. Helps with defending your settlements from the many other civs you'll be making enemies with.

Unique Civilian Unit
Flying Gang: Unique Settler Unit. Cannot disembark, can settle on adjacent land tiles. New settlements created have boosted yields and begin with extra population.
Inability to disembark now restricts settlement placement to islands and coasts somewhat. You can still settle inland by going up navigable rivers or capturing other civs' settlers, which will be able to disembark as normal.

Unique Military Unit
Pirate Captain: Unique naval commander. Increased xp gain from naval combat. Has the ability to locate nearby treasure fleets.
Removed Haven building ability. Will spawn with a random (cosmetic) name.

Associated Wonder
Nosy Boraha: Culture base. Grants additional culture per naval unit lost. Must be placed on a tropical tile adjacent to four coast tiles.
Pirate cemetery on Nosy Boraha. Was otherwise considering Fort de Rocher but figured this would be a more interesting choice. Essentially the more you go to war, the more your units die, the more culture you get.

Starting Biases:
• N/A
If playing with an advanced start, will immediately begin in the islands inbetween the continents.

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And a little more explanation of the civ design:

As the player, the Republic of Pirates offers a chance to start afresh if your antiquity age didn't go so well. True, you lose your previous cities, but the head start gained for settling on the islands (and potentially in the new world) and boosted yields will help you be a little caught up by the time other civs start to cross the ocean - at which point you can exert your dominance over the seas.
Be careful who you cross however, it's good to keep one or two friends - or more likely enemies of enemies - who will tolerate your plundering. The letters of marque endeavour will be a useful way to maintain a few friendships and get more gold in the process.
The Act of Grace provides peace (happiness) and jobs (production) for your people reintegrating with civil society ahead of the crisis, although there is a risk of a nasty shock when the previously rich gold income suddenly drops.

The Republic of Pirates would likely be a rare choice for the AI, but would make an interesting situation for when they do choose it. Do you offer donations of gold in hopes to remain on good terms, letting your settlers and treasure fleets pass safely, or rally the other mainland civs against them to open a safe route between the continents?

The economic and militaristic focus is still there, but there's elements of expansionist, diplomatic and cultural too. Coupled with the unique, risky move of becoming a pirate empire, I feel the wildcard attribute is well suited, although I do hope we get a wildcard civ eventually - it'd be interesting even if it isn't a Pirate civ.