Booty share

Booty shares are the breakdown of how booty is split at the end of a voyage. The captain of a crew chooses the type of booty share breakdown when he or she creates the crew, and he or she can change it at any time.

There are nine breakdowns of booty shares to choose from (all shares are shown in their lowest proportions):

It's important to note that, in the comparison of two different breakdowns, a higher number does not necessarily indicate a higher share. Consider these two examples, in which the jobber does better with a "1" share than with a "5" share:

A jobbing pirate finishes jobbing with a crew that uses the "Even" (each player receives one share) booty share and a 25% ship restocking. On the pillage, the crew earned 10,000 PoE and there were four pirates aboard in total: two jobbing pirates, a senior officer, and a captain (assuming all on board fought the same number of sea battles and no other pirates were on the pillage). The first thing that occurs is 25% of the booty being removed for ship restocking. The total is now 7,500. There are two jobbers, one senior officer, and a captain (1 share + 1 share + 1 share + 1 share = 4 total shares). Each person receives 1,875 PoE.
 * Crew 1: Even

A crew uses "The Cruel Shelf" (5/10/12/15/20/20/20) and a 25% ship restocking. The 10,000 PoE has 25% taken out accordingly. The 7,500 left is divided among the same four players (two jobbers, a senior officer, and a captain). Adding up the total number of shares, there are 50 (5 + 5 + 20 + 20). However, the captain and senior officer each receive twenty shares while each jobbing pirate only gets five. They get 3000 each, but the jobbing pirates only get 750. This puts jobbers at a clear disadvantage.
 * Crew 2: The Cruel Shelf

What counts is not the number, but the percentage it represents. Although it is not possible to compute the exact percentage without knowing the precise composition of the crew aboard the ship, a jobber will generally be best off when jobbing with a crew using the "Jobber's Delight," "Trader Shares," or "Even" breakdown.

Historical notes
Prior to the release of May 25, 2005, the crew's ruling body (usually just the captain of an autocratic crew) could set share portions for each rank individually; there were no pre-made division options. They could choose from 1/2, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 10, 15, and 20 shares.