How to build a L5R Pirate?

[Dovahsith]

Recently in legend of the 5 rings, or L5R for short for those who accidently pressed the link to this thread, is a RPG set in a land similar to feudal japan as opposed to western fantasy used as for the basis originally in basic DnD. In a previous game i attempted to play a ninja but due to the fact that the rest of the party were "nobler than thou" Samurai the chance to use my stealth skills were based up in favor for head on fighting. being armored in black PJ's i tended to almost die in most combat meaning for this years new campaign i'm thinking of something different....

What if i built a Pirate Captain as my new character? this would mean i would would keep the earthier, not as honorable as the other samurai play i enjoyed in the party while possibly boosting my actual combat skills. But what clan is best, i think mantis but i'm open to other ideas and also could the allies advantage be tweaked to get me a crew?

[Terraoblivion]

You'll want to be Mantis Clan, probably from the ruling Yoritomo family and one of their schools, though that isn't required if the game is set after the clan war. The Mantis are pretty much explicitly pirates. However, getting a ship is tricky due to how the game handles valuable objects, but in fourth edition there is an advanced school for owning a ship. It is even relatively easy to get into quickly, merely requiring Water 3, Commerce 4, Knives 3 and Sailing 4, along with the roleplaying requirement of being trusted enough by the clan, which you'd need to discuss with your GM. It is more oriented towards being a merchant than a pirate, however. The school is on page 143 of Emerald Empire.

Another option is to simply discuss it with your GM and be allowed to have the ship as long as it's somewhere off-screen where it doesn't matter much. It won't really make you much of a pirate captain in practice, but at least it's there. I suppose you could also try working something out with a whole lot of advantages and disadvantages to represent the status of owning a ship and having a bunch of crew members serving you.

So I guess that ultimately this comes down to there not really being a simple way to start as a pirate captain. But still, going Yoritomo seems like a solid start at least and the details are probably up to you and your GM to work out.

However, ninjas are pretty effective combatants anyway, as long as you don't try to do Hida, Iron Warrior or Matsy style slugging matches, so I'm not sure if being a Yoritomo bushi will make you that much stronger in a direct fight.

[Black Jester]

Actually, the Yoritomo bushi are quite good skirmishers. Not Akodo-good, but decent enough. I think they are the go-to for a pirate style character. An alternative would be a Crab (for instance a Hiruma-trained Yasuki) or a Crane (as long as your GM allows you to take the Daidoji Scout school; which would eventually allow you to become a Harrier, turning your character into a Samurai Ninja Pirate).
I'm not arguing the point of playing a pirate in a specific game targeted at playing samurai (and a Yoritomo mariner is still a samurai first and a pirate (hunter) / trader second), but for L5R it is actually quite helpful, or even necessary to adapt the right mind set for the game. It's a game of magic samurai who do magic samurai stuff. The whole honor thing is not just an option - it is one of the essential elements of the game.
If this is really not something you enjoy and your GM agrees to it: in Enemies of the Empire, there are rules for Nezumi (ratling) characters. There is a tribe of sea-faring ratlings, the Chipped Tooth, who explicitly serve as crewmen among Mantis and Crab navies and man the Deathless, the one token warship of the Lion. So, without too much stretching, you can integrate such a character in most groups who have a Lion, Mantis or Crab, probably as a follower (Nezumi status and prestige among Rokugani is pretty much non-existant), but hey, you are a chitttering Nezumi pirate.

BTW: an own ship (with at least a skeleton crew of sailors) is a 15pt. Holding advantage. Nothing that is impossible to get.
If you have a concrete build in mind, I can also help you with optimising it.