Pirates, Vikings and Knights

Pirates, Vikings and Knights was a total conversion mod originally released for Half Life. It was followed by Pirates Vikings and Knights II, which used the Source engine. Gameplay is best described as Exactly What It Says on the Tin, with a three-way battle among Pirates, Vikings and knights. Depending upon the map, each team's objective may territory to control, treasure chests to capture, or being the last team standing.

As of now, seven classes have been completed, with 18 planned in total. The classes so far complete are:

Pirates

Skirmisher:

The Fragile Speedster of the group, having the fastest movement speed but low armor and health. Wears an Eyepatch of Power and is The Musketeer. Good for harassing the enemy while staying out of melee range.

Weapons:

• A cutlass. Very quick to attack with, but does only middling damage.
• A flintlock pistol. Can be used to harass enemies, but only at a short distance, as its accuracy is terrible.
• A powder keg. Used to blast large groups of enemies into smithereens.
• Special move: Lunges forward with his cutlass, knocking aside and doing heavy damage to anyone in his way. Unlike the Viking charges, this move isn't steerable, so mind where you aim.

Captain:

Wears a peg leg and has a hook for a hand, as well as a parrot on his shoulder. Has elements of Jack of All Stats, being good in speed, offense and defense despite not really excelling in any of them.

Weapons:

• A cutlass: Slower than the Skirmisher's, but does more damage.
• A blunderbuss: Functions like a Short-Range Shotgun, doing heavy damage at close range but less as distance increases.
• A parrot: When released, it flies towards the nearest enemy and began frantically pecking at him. Does little damage, and the parrot can be killed in one hit, but useful for distracting opponents or for Cherry Tapping. Once the parrot is gone the Captain can use his hook and fists to deal out (paltry) damage.
• Special move: An explosive cannonball fired from the blunderbuss.

Vikings

Berserker:

A hulking Norse warrior wearing a wolf hide on his head. Carries a big axe and has a Badass Beard. The Lightning Bruiser of the game, having very high offence, high speed and a respectable amount of Hit Points.

Weapons:

• A two-handed axe: Slow, but deals heavy damage.
• Axe/Sword combo: The Berserker hacks and chops with a sword in one hand, an axe in the other.
• Special move: Berserk mode: Damage, speed, and health are temporarily increased.

Huscarl:

Jack of All Stats for the Vikings. One of the more well-rounded characters, having both a two-handed axe, a sword, and throwing axes for attacking and a shield for defense.

Weapons:

• A two-handed axe. Slightly faster than the Berserker's, but deals slightly less damage.
• Sword and shield: Can be used either for attacking or for defending. The Huscarl can also bash opponents with the shield, stunning them temporarily.
• Throwing axes: Has decent range and damage, though not as much as the Archer's arrows.
• Special move: Charges forward with his shield, damaging and knocking aside anyone in front of him.

Gestir:

The Vikings' Fragile Speedster. Is a badass despite being grey with age. Carries a large spear, as well as a shield, short sword and javelins.

Weapons:

• A spear: The pointy end goes into the other man.
• A short sword and shield: Functions much like that of the Huscarl, although not nearly as powerful.
• Javelins: Does heavy damage, but relatively short-ranged. Must be charged by moving forward, making it somewhat awkward to use.
• Special move: Charges forward with the spear, doing heavy damage to anyone in front of him.

Knights

Heavy Knight:

A knight in full plate armour carrying a large sword. The game's Mighty Glacier, being slow in movement but having very high offense and defense.

Weapons:

• Great sword: Slow attacks, but long range and has does the most damage of any melee weapon in the game.
• Sword and heater shield: The shield can be used to bash like the Viking ones and is quite a bit more durable, what with being metal instead of wood.
• Special move: Does a 360-degree spin with his sword.

Archer:

The Glass Cannon, having low health, but his arrows and crossbow bolts pack a punch. Carries a sword, as well as a bow and crossbow. Has shades of Difficult but Awesome, as the class requires more practice to master, but in the right hands can be absolutely infuriating to play against.

Weapons:

• Short sword: One of the weakest melee weapons in the game. Nicknamed "The Butterknife" by players.
• Crossbow: Long range and high damage, but has a lengthy reload time. Can be aimed for greater accuracy.
• Longbow: Does a good amount of damage and has a fast firing rate, but requires practice to use effectively.

Tropes used in Pirates, Vikings and Knights include:

• Anachronism Stew: Of the intentional variety.
• Badass Spaniard: The Pirates' Sharp Shooter will be one.
• Body Armor as Hit Points: Players have an armor meter next to their health one. Armor reduces damage taken from all attacks until depleted and can be replenished by picking up the incredibly obvious floating plate armor pickups. Obviously, the plate-mail clad Heavy Knight has more armor then say, the Skirmisher, who doesn't even have a proper pair of boots.
• Camp Gay / Camp Straight: The Archer's new voice actor makes him sound rather... fruity. He's also whiny and unsportsmanlike.
• Capture the Flag: The "Booty" game mode, in which the object is to capture treasure chests from the opposing teams.
• Fan Nickname: Several. The "Badass Cutlass" for the Captain's primary weapon, due to it's high damage.
• Game Breaker: Before version 2.3, the "Perfect Parry" could negate almost all damage from an attack, as well as leaving the opponent stunned and vulnerable to attack. To make matters worse, the two-handed weapons, in addition to dealing more damage, were also better at parrying than one-handed weapons. The Perfect Parry system was eventually toned down.
  • The Skirmisher's powder keg is accused of this when it's not simply derided as a "noob weapon".
• Horny Vikings: Averted — the Vikings have realistic helmets.
• Incredibly Obvious Bomb: The powder keg, complete with audible hiss from the fuse. If you're not a Pirate, that's your cue to start running.
• Guns Are Worthless: Not totally worthless, but generally the pirates' guns are far less effective than the melee weapons. They are best as an opening attack or for a Tactical Withdrawal.
  • The Sharpshooter will probably avert this with his "long rifle", serving as the Pirate counterpart to The Archer.
• Major Injury Underreaction: The Pirate Captain, when gravely wounded, will often say "Don't mind me, just leaking out my guts here."
• Mondegreen: A particular Old Viking taunt is often misheard as "Odin's Pizza Place!"
• Ninja Pirate Zombie Robot
• Perpetual Beta: The game has been in "beta" phase since it's public release in 2007. Only seven classes of the projected eighteen have been implemented. Not that it isn't pretty fun already.
• Pirate Booty: Of course, it's called booty by the Pirates themselves. Knights just call it treasure and the Vikings gold.
• Pirate Girl: The pirates' 'Ealer will be one.
• Poisoned Weapons: The pirates' Freebooter will use these.
• Rule of Cool: The entire basis for the game.
• Simple Staff: Healing classes for the Vikings and Knights will use these.
• Shout-Out: Many of the knights' taunts are lifted from Monty Python and the Holy Grail, in particular that of the Heavy Knight, who is a walking Expy of the Black Knight.
  • The achievement for having your parrot killed within a second of being released is named "I Wish to Register a Complaint"
  • Another to Alestorm in the pirates' lines. The Skirmisher even sings parts of "Keelhauled" "Wenches and Mead" and "Captain Morgan's Revenge".
  • The achivement for scoring two or more kills with the Captain's special attack is called "Great Balls of Fire!"
  • The Viking team can be heard to sing parts of Led Zepplein's Immigrant Song.
• The Medic: Though there is now a voice command to call for one, they haven't yet been implemented. Each faction will get one, the 'Ealer, the Seio-Konna and the Cleric.
• Talk Like a Pirate: The pirates, naturally.
• The Wiki Rule: An official one here
• The Skirmisher is About to Shoot You!
• Welcome to the Caribbean, Mon: The map bt_island, in particular.