Brawl

A typical rumble brawl

A typical swordfighting brawl

A brawl is a special type of rumble or a swordfight in which at least one team has more than one team-member. This is in contrast to standard matches, and challenges, in which each team has exactly one team-member. In a brawl, if the opponents have more than one player on their team, pirates can choose who to target and send their attacks to - this known as teaming. Additionally, pirates may target a team member in rumble to defend him or her, an option which is not available during a swordfighting brawl.

Brawls and frays are distinct things, but the two terms may often be used interchangeably. Brawl refers specifically to the multiplayer team-based mechanism that is used in conjunction with the swordfighting and rumble puzzles. Fray, on the other hand, is used by the game to refer to the act of repelling boarders from Sea Monster Hunts and to the act of defeating skellies, werewolves and zombies. Note that all of these fray activities, with the exception with one-on-one fights against boarders, also involve brawling.

Brawls can be initiated from a gaming table at an inn, and these fights may have up to 12 pirates on each side. Players can also participate in brawls at other locations in the game, such as as the fights which begin after a ship has been successfully grappled in a sea battle. In these ship versus ship fights, the players' puzzles also have additional black blocks that correspond to the amount of damage each ship took.

Brawls can be started by the table creator at any time when the number of players on their team is less than or equal to the number of players on the other team. When the table creator decides to start the match, a five-second countdown begins, during which any player may still leave if they are not happy with the table configuration. At the end of the countdown, provided no players have left the table, the puzzle begins.

Pieces of eight can be wagered on a brawl. This is determined by the table creator.

The table creator may also decide whether a one-on-one match will be rated; all other brawls are unrated.

Historical notes

Before release 2004-08-24, brawls had to have an even number of players on both sides.
As of release 2005-06-29, brawls were incorporated into the parlor game interface, and thus players could brawl with others not in the same inn.
During release 2005-07-08, brawls were changed to where the teams must be equal, or "initiator's team must be at a disadvantage." Game chat was also introduced into brawls with this update.