checked-no =>Safety: Enter your name as |Black Beard| and you will rarely be attacked. =>Black Market: Check out the port item shops at 2 am. Check the one in Timbuktu for the Crusader Sword. =>Cash Start: Take the Collect Debt job in the Venice guild; once you get the 5 gold ingots, put them in the bank and return to Venice, where the banker will tell you that you failed -- but the gold remains safely in your bank! This will deduct from your fame rating, but if you just started the game it doesn't matter. =>Battle Speed: When it isn't your turn on the battle field, hold Y to speed up the game. =>New Ships: Invest $50000 a month for about 5 months in the Bristol shipyard and you should be able to build a variety of new ships, including the Barge. Doing this in the Hamburg or Antwerp yards will allow you to build the Full-Rig Ship, which is the best in the game. =>Battle Experience Trick: In Tunis, find a fairly weak pirate and bombard him when he departs. Challenge him to a duel and whack him down to about 50 hit points, but don't kill him; this will keep him pretty useless but alive. After 10 attack rounds the duel ends; rechallenge him to gain experience again. Repeat as often as desired.