Basic Information
Taking the Zombie Legion one step further, sometimes a Ghost Ship will have an undead crew. Pirates are like sailors, except more crude, treacherous, dangerous, and vile. By analogy, Zombie Pirates must put other zombies (and other pirates) to shame. This zombie variant is often shown to retain tool and weapon use after death, as well as nautical skills, and sometimes even personality. Some would argue they aren't technically zombies as a result. At the very least they would need to be significantly more dextrous than an average zombie to be able to work aloft on a square-rigged ship1.
Pirates once sailed the same Caribbean where Voodoo developed. Therefore, it's not too big a stretch for Voodoo Zombies to also be Zombie Pirates or vice-versa.
See Also
The Flying Dutchman
Blue Men … undead? Check. Maritime? Check. Attack Shipping? Check.
Sources
Game and Story Use
- As in The Watchmen, the PCs may have to race home before the Zombie Pirates destroy it.
- Or you could import the Black Freighter into a Call of Cthulhu game, and have it's crew a mix of undead, mad men, and Deep Ones.
- Or rip off Event Horizon and have a wandering ghost ship (literally perhaps) full of undead that drifts around the world's oceans eating salvage crews.
- See also Pirate, Pirate Ship, and Piracy for various piratical elements you can zombify.
- For a really disturbing idea, make them space pirates.
- The Voudou style, stolen soul zombie probably makes more sense … for quite a lot of pirates, having your soul trapped in a bokor's calabash is probably preferable to the alternative.