English pirate. Based out of Port Royal, Jamaica, he was the main defender of the English colonists from the Spaniards. He was not a member of the Royal Navy, but he always carried letters of marque, so he wasn't precisely a pirate either. Morgan was the more-or-less undisputed leader of the anarchic buccaneers in that area, and he led entire fleets of buccaneers--as many as 36 ships and over 2,000 men. They sacked many Spanish towns, harvesting so many pieces of eight that it became the legal coin of Jamaica.

His greatest feat is considered to be his sacking of the city of Panama, on the Pacific side of the Isthmus of Panama. He docked on the Atlantic coast, marched his men nine days across the isthmus, and successfully plundered the richest Spanish city in the New World.

Morgan was a lousy sailor but a brilliant general. After he retired from the pirate's life, he was knighted by the British and became Lieutenant-Governor of Jamaica, hunting down and hanging pirates. He was full of life and gusto, bellowing speeches even in small rooms. He died obese, shouting, and in bed in 1688.

Research: GURPS Swashbucklers, Third Edition, by Steffan O'Sullivan, (C) 1999 by Steve Jackson Games, p. 73.