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The age old question: Which is cooler, the pirate or the ninja?

I planned on playing them but stories didn't support it, I still want to play them though.

Yarrr!!! I be an pirate!...

Shiver me timbers!

To be true, I'm Indecisive... they both have their pro's and con's.
Though roleplaying wise I think I'd go for the pirate, the ninja isn't very communicative and the pirate can talk cool (Harrr!) and drink lot's of ale.

Well, I think there are many factors we must consider in this debate.

One of the most poignant ones being the cool factor. Now, both the Pirate and the Ninja are cool in their own regard, but can one really be considered 'cooler' than the other? Let us examine their respective cool factor, if we shall:

General Appearance:

Ninja: The black sneaking suit, Katana, and ability to kill just about anything, with anything, is always a couple points of cool. The fact that you can turn around, and be staring death in the face adds a whole new level of coolness. Not to mention the fact that Ninja has effectively been tacked onto terms such as 'chop' and 'kick', and of course, 'Teenage', 'mutant', and 'turtle'.

Pirate: Pirates are swashbucklers, the ninja of the sea, if you will. What they lack in silence, they make up in hearty sea-chanties, boats, and buxem wenches. Like the ninja, the pirate also sports an amazingly cool outfit. The more flamboyent, the cooler, with extra cool points being awarded for either a monkey, or parrot on the shoulder, and a wide brimmed hat.

Background:

Ninja: Origins laying in the Orient, the ninja has a latent ability to fight, with all that Kung-fu hari-kari stuff. Not this whole Neo 'I know Kung-fu' crap, but the real stuff. The 'I-just-stuck-this-sword-up-your-ass-what-you-gonna-do-about-it' type of Kung-fu. I mean, this is the real stuff. These guys are assassin's, and the go-to guys of the government. While being tools of the government is a bit of a downside, they have proven time and again they're capable of screwing them over just as much as their target.

Pirate: Since the high seas became a venue of travel, so has pirates existed. Sailing on their boats, going from port to port, and giving sailors the reputation they have today. No, not the gay one, but the promiscous man-whore reputation. Not to mention the fact they are always connected with massive amounts of gold, women, and beer. Where's the downside of that?

Effectiveness:

Ninja: Ok, let's be honest here. ninja's loose points in coolness here. I mean, they suffer from a serious problem. Send one ninja to do a job, and no matter what it is, assassinate someone, steal something, halt and army of invaders, and damn, that job will be done hell or high water. Replace that one ninja with, say, a dozen, and damn, they somehow become useless! So, while looking cool, and acting cool, they are only cool when alone. Otherwise, they become fodder.

Pirate: Pirates recognize the fact they need to work together, but that doesn't mean they can't work alone either. A swashbuckling pirate has been known to fight their way of just about anything (see Jack Sparrow). Not only that, but if you give them a team to back them up, all of sudden they become that much better. A pirate gets the job done, alone or with their A-team.

So, to sum up, I'll have to go with pirates. Women, money, booze, a monkey... How cool is that!

Nice rant.

I voted for Ninja....just because I think they are cooler...simple as that.

That pirate prestige class from complete adventurer sucks, so I'll go with ninjas.

A choice between a guy that drink alot, chase woman, collect valuables (not bothering with ownership), sing (usualy badly, as all drunks) and basicly party alot and a guy that skulk around in the night, stay alone, is forbiden to love, have friends and any emotion. Actualy there is no choice.

Ahooooy, mateey!!

Although the ninja is pretty cool the pirate gets the eye patch which has +1 to coolness putting the pirate just ahead of the ninja.

[QUOTE=Aegis]beer[/QUOTE]

Can we sub rum or grog in place of beer its much more pirate fitting ...ARGH

[QUOTE=Shai Hulud]Can we sub rum or grog in place of beer its much more pirate fitting ...ARGH[/QUOTE]
Talk about a misconception! Rum was a purely Caribbean thing, and even there, came late to the pirate game (We're talking colonial times here, the 1700's), and grog, well grog is something completly made up, I'm afraid. All known pirates used beer for a couple reasons: One, it was cheaper than both alternatives of Ale, or wine, and two, it had a greater shelf life and travel capacity than most other forms of drink.

I shall not be party to historically incorrect pirates! Yarr!

i have to agree with the pirate pose although the ninja is a completely rock class its hard to play in a group , also everyone loves a dude with his own ride (a big boat) so a monkey some alcholic beverage and women it is for me

[QUOTE=Aegis]well grog is something completly made up, I'm afraid[/QUOTE]

Actually, on the French side of a label for powdered apple cider, there read "Grog aux Pommes". So perhaps "grog" in the pirate sense was hard cider. Spiced apple beer, or some such.

And what about ninja pirates? Shiver me shurikens!

[QUOTE=Aegis]Talk about a misconception! Rum was a purely Caribbean thing, and even there, came late to the pirate game (We're talking colonial times here, the 1700's), and grog, well grog is something completly made up, I'm afraid. All known pirates used beer for a couple reasons: One, it was cheaper than both alternatives of Ale, or wine, and two, it had a greater shelf life and travel capacity than most other forms of drink.

I shall not be party to historically incorrect pirates! Yarr! [/QUOTE]

FYI

Grog
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
For the fictional alien species the Grog (or sessile grog), from Larry Niven's Known Space universe, see Thrintun and Tnuctipun.
Grog is also a type of clay, see Grog (clay).
Grog is an alcoholic beverage made with water and rum. The date of its invention varies from 1730 to 1741, but most agree that it was invented by British Admiral Sir Edward Vernon (1684–1757). Modern versions of the drink sometimes include lemon juice, lime juice, cinnamon or sugar to improve the taste. Rum with water, sugar and nutmeg was known as Bumboo and was more popular with pirates and merchantmen.

In the British Navy, up until 1970, every sailor was given a daily ration of rum. Rum was favored by the navy, because it took longer to spoil compared to other liquors. However, this caused additional problems, because some sailors would save up the rum rations for several days, then drink them all at once. Due to the subsequent illness and disciplinary problems, the rum was ordered to be mixed with water. This both diluted its effects, and would make it spoil faster.

When it was determined that daily doses of vitamin C prevented the disease scurvy, citrus juice (usually lime or lemon juice) was added to the recipe.

The sailors named the watered down drink grog, after its inventor — the admiral was nicknamed Old Grog, after the grogram coat he always wore.


Rum
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
This article discusses rum the liquor. For the Scottish island called Rum (or Rhum), see Rum, Scotland. For the Arabic term for "Rome" see Rüm.
Rum is a spirit made from sugar-cane by-products such as molasses and sugar cane juice by a process of fermentation and distillation. The distillate, a clear liquid, is then usually aged in oak and other casks.

Rum production takes place chiefly in the Caribbean, along the Demerara river in South America; Australia, and India. Rum has famous associations with piracy and with the British Royal Navy. Dark rums, golden rums and white rums (actually colorless) exist.

Like I said: Grog is completely made up

BTW, beer has a shorter shelf life than wine or any sort of liquor and the movement of the ship causes it to go flat quickly. It was used by the British Royal Navy for short trips, but was replaced with wine or rum for rations for longer journeys.

Since rogue are my favorite class, and i like sneaking around quiet and have total control, i voted for pirate

(ok maybe i voted ninja...)

[QUOTE=jopperm2]BTW, beer has a shorter shelf life than wine or any sort of liquor and the movement of the ship causes it to go flat quickly. It was used by the British Royal Navy for short trips, but was replaced with wine or rum for rations for longer journeys.[/QUOTE]
Actually, the original creation of beer, whether or not it was flat was not an issue. IT was a replacement for ale, which went staled far faster. Beer, in it's original form, kept for a long enough time, as well as being a supply of water on long voyages.

If you want to get the whole story, I recommend checking out a book called Ale, Beer and Brewsters. I had to read that (amongst some other books) for one of my courses. I was pleasantly surprised to find out a book on the history of beer, and brewing was around

[QUOTE=Aramant]So perhaps "grog" in the pirate sense was hard cider.[/QUOTE]

[QUOTE=Shai Hulud]FYI
Modern versions of the drink sometimes include lemon juice, lime juice, cinnamon or sugar to improve the taste.[/QUOTE]

Close enough for me to consider myself correct. Ha.

I thought this thread was about pirates and ninja's. Not about beer.

Yarr!!! Ye be an darkrobed man. I be an fancy pirate. We pirate drink beer and feast. While ye shadowy people.... hide... Yarr!!!!