1600s if I could be a pirate captain. Although I would go for maintaining a relatively low profile and a reputation as the captain of a mysterious vessel that shows up out of nowhere, sometimes to “acquire” goods needed by the crew, other times to help those in need, depending on the circumstances. And I’d vet my crew to ensure they hold the same or similar values. Being seen as a deadly and fearsome swashbuckler may make it easier to take what you want, but it also puts a huge target on your back and I’d rather avoid that. The thing with pirates of that era is that while they were criminals, they also generally had a code of conduct, and the main goal of many crews was to simply live free of the various martime empires that were in power at the time. Of course, the whole “women aboard a ship are bad luck” bullshit is definitely going to have to go - I’d be an equal-opportunity recruiter.
1600s if I could be a pirate captain. Although I would go for maintaining a relatively low profile and a reputation as the captain of a mysterious vessel that shows up out of nowhere, sometimes to “acquire” goods needed by the crew, other times to help those in need, depending on the circumstances. And I’d vet my crew to ensure they hold the same or similar values. Being seen as a deadly and fearsome swashbuckler may make it easier to take what you want, but it also puts a huge target on your back and I’d rather avoid that. The thing with pirates of that era is that while they were criminals, they also generally had a code of conduct, and the main goal of many crews was to simply live free of the various martime empires that were in power at the time. Of course, the whole “women aboard a ship are bad luck” bullshit is definitely going to have to go - I’d be an equal-opportunity recruiter.
Otherwise, I’d go back by exactly 1 minute.