I don't mind having a basic ship & all.

The thing is that, this way, the pirate crew will also be "basic". So, will the crew be just the leaders & another couple of members in the beginning, or something like that???

That way, the rest will have to join the crew while the story unfolds.

As for the characters, i presume that we'll have to make them pretty simple in the beginning; not many traits & not many abilities, right? It's not logical for a new-movice pirate to be able to kill 20 people with a swing of his sword, e.t.c.