History Sandbox / BeyondNewHorizons

* AwesomeButImpractical: 1st rate-ships. Having a swimming fortress that's impervious to anything but forts and other 1st rates, and can obliterate anything smaller is nothing short but awesome - until you realize that you won't catch anything with it, need close or over 1.000 crewmen to control one without its performance suffering, stuff your entire hold with nothing but ammunition, gun powder and supplies to keep the men and cannons fed, must already be rich to pay the crew, every battle will be a huge drain on resources, and have to spend entire fortunes on repairs. They shine against forts, but other than that, a humble 3rd rate will do most jobs just as well with only a fraction of the costs.

** Ever find yourself fighting a whole group of people alone, without being able to run away or force them into chokepoints? Might as well save yourself some time and reload your last save.
** Once your ship has less than five percent of its HP left, it will begin to sink, automatically losing HP until they hit zero. Better finish the fight quickly or run away, or else...

* BoringButPractical:
** Fluyts, common merchant ships. Sturdy and reliable, they offer huge cargo spaces for your precious booty, and are usually armed enough to fend off pesky pirates. They are also surprisingly nimble and fast for their size.

* BoringButPractical: Fluyts, common merchant ships. Sturdy and reliable, they offer huge cargo spaces for your precious booty, and are usually armed enough to fend off pesky pirates. They are also surprisingly nimble and fast for their size.

* EarlyGameHell: On default settings, you start as a nobody who can't do anything right, a leaky tub, some pocket money, a few crewmen that can't hit the [[Pun broadside]] of a barn and need ''literal minutes'' to reload, no guidance except "Buy low, sell high", and the entire Caribbean with all its dangers at your bow. Unless you already know what to do, either from simple trial & error or asking other players for help (and even then), prepare to die. '''''A lot'''''.

* EarlyGameHell: On default settings, you start as a nobody who can't do anything right, a leaky tub, some pocket money, a few crewmen that can't hit the broadside of a barn and need ''literal minutes'' to reload, no guidance except "Buy low, sell high", and the entire Caribbean with all its dangers at your bow. Unless you already know what to do, either from simple trial & error or asking other players for help (and even then), prepare to die. '''''A lot'''''.

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* AntiHoarding: Once you have one million gold on your ship, your crew gets envious of it and demands to sign articles. As long as you don't reduce the amount, either by going to a loanshark or spending it, the crew's morale will plummet. The more money you have, the worse it gets, and extra pays and double rum rations only help temporarily. [[note]] You can buy a trader's licence from either the British or Dutch India Trading Companies for one million gold to remove the limit and profit from lower sales taxes. However, acts of piracy automatically remove the licence[[/note]]

* CompressedAdaptation: Creator/{{Disney}} turned the original into a licensed game late in development, and it ''shows'': The movie's plot is reduced to "Black ghost ship with an undead crew", no movie-characters exist [[note]] The mod adds Pintel and Ragetti in place for the two random crewmen in Port Royal, and Barbossa as the captain if you board the ''Black Pearl''[[/note]], its corresponding quest is extremely short, the ''Black Pearl'' is only encountered twice [[note]]First time is scripted, second time as the [[GiantSpaceFleaOutOfNowhere sudden]] [[FinalBoss Final Boss]][[/note]], [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking and she is a frigate.]]. [[note]] The mod replaces the stock-model with the movie-model, but texts still call her that[[/note]]

* AntiHoarding: Once you have one million gold on your ship, your crew gets envious of it and demands to sign articles. As long as you don't reduce the amount, either by going to a loanshark or spending it, the crew's morale goes down. The more money you have, the worse it gets, and extra pays and double rum rations only help temporarily. [[note]] You can buy a trader's licence from either the British or Dutch India Trading Companies for one million gold to remove the limit and profit from lower sales taxes. However, acts of piracy automatically remove the licence[[/note]]

* AntiHoarding: Once you have one million gold on your ship, your crew gets envious of it and demands to sign articles. As long as you don't reduce the amount, either by going to a loanshark or spending it, the crew's morale goes down. The more money you have, the worse it gets, and extra pays and double rum rations only help temporarily. (note: you can buy a trader's licence from either the British or Dutch India Trading Companies for one million gold to remove the limit and profit from lower sales taxes. However, acts of piracy automatically remove the licence)

** Cannons and firearms require gunpowder to shoot. The heavier the cannon, the more gunpowder you need per shot. 32 lbs-guns, for instance, need 8 units of powder [[note]]Except in the ''Maelstrom''-version, where every cannon only needs one unit[[/note]] - depending on how long a battle takes, you can easily chew through your entire gunpowder-storage.

* [[TheSixStats The Ten Stats:]] The game has many stats, most of which are rather unconventional. Depending on your settings, you either increase them by doing them (think [[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim Skyrim]]), or by distributing skill points after level ups. There are also skill books available.

* HufflepuffHouse: Sweden, and Portugal to a lesser extent. Both are capable to field fleets that can fight the bigger powers, but only Portugal controls one single port in certain time periods. Sweden ''never'' gets one, and thus can't even give letter of marques to aspiring privateers, unless the player captures a town for them.

* TeamSwitzerland: The United States of America, only appearing in the Revolutions-period from 1770 onwards. They always start out as neutral or allied to other nations, but very rarely can declare war.

* AttractMode: Waiting long enough in the main menu shows you a trailer from [[Series/BlackSails]].

* TeamSwitzerland: The United States of America, only appearing in the Napoleonic Era from 1790 onwards. They always start out as neutral or allied to other nations, but very rarely can declare war.

** It takes minutes for destroyed ships to fully sink. Until then, they act as obstacles in battle.

** In realistic sailing-mode, sailing against the wind slows you down to a halt and will eventually push you backwards. How do you reach a target in that circumstances? By ''tacking''.

* HatedByAll: Pirates, of course. Flying the Jolly Roger will lead to every nation in the Caribbean gunning for you, and your reputation with everyone goes up if you sink them. Choosing them as your starting faction even makes every nation hostile to you from the beginning, [[SelfImposedChallenge but that's just a pirate's life.]].

** Sailing: How fast your ship moves and turns, as well as how quickly sails are opened or closed. Increased by [[CaptainObvious sailing your ship]].

** Ships can take quite a beating before sinking, even more so as they get bigger, and only get hit with small calibre-guns. [[DeathFromAThousandCuts Nothing stops you from equipping your 112-gun Man'O'War with 4 lbs-guns]] - but don't be surprised if you need ''hundreds upon thousands of cannonballs'' to sink a ship slightly smaller than you. A ship that will likely sink you first if it has bigger guns.