30 Reasons why someone joined the Navy.

1-To See the World

This person wants to see the world and sail to exotic places that he could never afford to go to on his own. He is entering the Navy with open eyes-he knows that naval discipline is often strict-but he also knows that shore leave for those who do their duty is common and that naval pay is reasonable, and the chance of being killed or maimed in a naval battle is low as his country is at peace and has been at peace for decades. 

2-Captured Pirate

A pirate ship was taken in battle, and so many sailors and marines were killed in the fight to take it that the Navy ship was left rather short handed. One of the pirates surrendered early without fighting and was given a couple of choices. Either be locked in chains in the brig and be taken to a court on land to face trial for piracy with a possible death penalty or be forgiven on condition that he joins the Navy, as he is a seaman with the needed naval skills.

3-Press Gang Victim

He was a wigmaker who was just in the wrong place at the wrong time and got grabbed by a press gang of the King's Navy, but he learned the ropes and was soon rated as an able seaman. What's more, he has started to enjoy naval life and further promotion to a petty officer or even further is possible. In the Navy, unlike the Army, promotion is by merit instead of by bribery or accident of birth, as an overpromoted dullard could end up accidently wrecking a mighty warship.

4-Better this then Prison

He used to be a smuggler smuggling brandy to avoid the taxes on it until someone narked on him and he got arrested.Given  a lengthy sentence in prison, he was set free on condition that he enlisted in the Navy. As he was already a seaman and most people didn't think his crime was all that bad, he has been a welcome addition to the Navy.

5-Secret Revolutionary

A secret member of a banned revolutionary political party, he has joined the Navy in the hope of one day inciting a mutiny and taking over one of the Navy's most powerful ships.If he is caught attempting to do this, he will be hanged at the yardarm as punishment and an example, but he is willing to take the risk to fulfil the greater goals of the Party and the revolution.

6-Political Reasons

Suspected of treason, to have him executed would be embarrassing for the monarch and his government, and to murder him might risk the secret getting out of why he was murdered and causing even more embarassment to the monarch and his government. So he was given a choice-either enlist as a somewhat elderly midshipman on a ship known to be sailing far, far away, or face trial for high treason, a near certain conviction, and being hanged drawn and quartered in a public place and his head put on a spike, his limbs being sent to four  different towns.

7-Planning on Desertion

He hopes to live on some comfortable island someday or failing that seek a new life in another country over the ocean, and is in effect using the Navy to get him there. After that he plans to desert but if he is caught in peacetime, he will be whipped. Should a war break out, he could be hanged from the yardarm if he is caught trying to desert. Rightly or wrongly he thinks he will be able to successfully desert when the right time comes.

8-Tradition, Tradition

Every member of his family as far back as he can remember has willingly joined the Navy, and he was groomed almost from birth for a naval career, so it is not surprising that he ended up joining the Navy. A few years in, he is already the Master-at-Arms of his ship, and a commissioned rank beckons. His family are proud of him.

9-Sea Mage

He came from a well-known family of mages, and aged twelve joined the University of Naval Sorcerers and learned to be a Sea Mage. With magic behind them, a warship can put the wind into it's sails, literally, can take the wind out of the enemy's sails at hailing distance, can summon Kraken in a true emergency (they tend to attack both ships though) can speak with Merpeople, exorcize unwanted spirits from ships, and can even ignite rival ships as long as they are made of dry wood. He will be paid well and have a very good career ahead of him.

10-Conscipt

He has been pressed but not by a press gang but by a formal conscription system as his country is at war. Given the choice of the Army or the Navy, he chose the Navy as he would at least be able tro avoid long marches. As time has gone by, he has got used to naval life and began to learn true seaman's skills, and has avoided the cat'o'nine'tails and other naval punishment.

11-Mutineer in Waiting

A friend of the Secret Revolutionary, he is eager to start a mutiny, take over the ship and turn to piracy to get rich. In fact, the Secret Revolutionary is finding it hard to keep him in check and stop him from trying to trigger off a premature mutiny that might fail and get them both hanged from the yardarm. Should the mutiny be successful, there could be some serious friction between the two men. The Mutineer in Waiting just wants to become a pirate and get rich, whilst the Secret Revolutionary has much more lofty political ideals and wants to overthrow his country's government.

12-Island Love

For him , it is the love of the exotic islands and the chance of one day getting an exotic girlfriend from one of 

13-Midshipman

Historically, the Navy has promoted people on merit even far in the past. Unlike in the Army, one could not simply buy a commission if one was rich enough, and there is a very good reason for this. A dullard who brought a high rank in the Navy might end up wrecking a very expensive warship and sending it and it's well-trained crew to the bottom of the sea. Even those from wealthy and well-connected families  have to start low in rank and earn their way up. From a titled family, this boy is only twelve, and chose to go to sea rather then wait a few years and purchase a commission in the Army when he was old enough.

14-To Escape the Law

The police are after him for a serious crime, and they are closing in on him. So he has decided to join the Navy under a  false name to escape from being caught, and the Navy has no idea that he is wanted by the police. Despite his crime, he genuinely wants to become a good sailor and escape falling foul of naval discipline.

15-In Hiding

He witnessed the wrong thing  and the Mafia is closing in on him. So he has decided to join the Navy under a false name to escape from being caught, and the Navy has no idea that he is wanted by the Mafia. Despite the hardships and dangers of naval life and the strict discipline, he considers it better then the risk of being murdered and thrown into the harbour.

16-Good Pay and Conditions

A former seaman on a merchant ship, noone needed to press him into the Navy. He joined it willingly, as the pay is higher, the conditions on ship are better, the officers less capricious in enforcing discipline providing one behaves oneself, and even the food is slightly better. Life can be surprisingly good on board a man-of-war, at least in peacetime.

17-War War War

War has broken out and this young man has been seized with war fever and the desire to fight the foe, and has joined the Navy of his country to do so.How good a seaman he will turn out to be and how well he will adapt to naval life is an open question at this point.

18-Last Chance

At the ago of only ten, he murdered a five year old boy by cutting his throat and robbed him of the little money that he had. He was caught by the police, found guilty in court, but because he was so young, the judge did not want to sentence him to death and had him given a new name and sent to serve for the rest of his life on board a man-of-war, with only the captain knowing his true identity. His death sentence has been suspended, but if he fails to become a good sailor or commits further offences he will be hanged at the yardarm.

19-Freed Slave

Captured in a tribal war in his own country, he was sold as a slave and locked in chains below decks in a slave ship. After a few days however, the slave ship was captured by the Navy of a country that has banned slavery, and he and the other slaves were set free. He was so grateful that he joined the Navy as a landsman until he learned the skills of a seaman. A couple of years have passed since then and he became an able seaman, and he may well earn further promotion as the years go by.

20-For Somewhere To Live

He fell on hard times and was legally evicted from his house. Rather then become a homeless beggar or go into crime, he decided to join the Navy as a landsman and try to work his way up the ranks to become a petty officer someday or perhaps even rise higher in rank. He will have somewhere to live, free meals and might make some new friends and earn prize money if his country goes to war-perhaps even enough to buy a house on land outright when he is old enough to retire from the Navy.

21-To Learn how to Rule

A secret Prince, only the captain knows his true identity. Starting with the rank of Midshipman, he is there to learn how to rule. As a commissioned officer, he cannot be flogged, and in the very unlikely event that he commits a death penalty offence it will be up to his father to decide what to do with him. Apart from that he has no special privileges. It is hoped that by the time of his father's death, he will at least have reached the rank of Captain, and will have learned how to rule the ship fairly and well without either letting the men get slack and lazy or making their lives hell on earth-skills that can then be used to rule his country without giving into either the Scylla of democracy or the Charybdis of unrestrained tyranny. 

22-Sabotage

A spy from another country, he has been ordered to join the Navy under an assumed name, become a trusted and skilled sailor-and then set fire to the gunpowder store when in port and escape, leaving the ship to be blown to pieces along with it's crew. If caught, he will certainly be publically hanged at the yardarm as a warning to anyone else wanting to do that sort of thing.

23-More Fun then Fishing

He considers a naval career to be much more interesting than a life spent fishing at all hours, risking getting drowned in a storm for not very much money. Life on a man-of-war means better pay and a chance of excitement and prize money and stories to tell in his old age.

24-Revenge

His best friend was killed by the leader of a press gang when he was trying to escape, so he has joined the ship that the man works on, intending to murder him at the first chance he gets where he things he has a chance of avoiding getting caught, convicted and hanged from the yardarm for committing murder.

25-Secret Lover

He chose to join the Navy to be with his lover, but their love could get them both hanged from the yardarm if they are ever found out, as they are both males and sodomy is a capital crime of the Navy that they are seamen in. And unlike most capital crimes that can be commuted to a lesser penalty, the death penalty is mandatory for it.

26-To Find A New Land

The voyage on which he is part of the crew is no ordinary one. It is a true voyage of exploration looking for new lands-to trade with if they have equal or better technology, and to point the way to so that they can be forcibly settled and colonised if their technology is inferior. Excitement mixed with a little fear is in the air on board and affects almost everybody, as they set sail into the unknown.

27-Paying Passenger

A former seaman on a merchant ship, he has a not entirely legal deal with the captain. In exchange for a bribe and for serving as a member of the crew until he reaches his destination in a month he will be allowed to leave with no problems. Naval ships are not supposed to carry paying passengers like this, even if they are willing to pay well for the privilege and act as crew, but the captain has a corrupt sideline in this sort of thing and has grown extra rich over the years because of it.

28-Slaver

His country makes captured POWs into slaves, and he is there to sort them out and decide who will be used for hard labour, who will go to the gladiatorial schools and be trained to fight and die for the entertainment of the masses, who is rich enough to be worth ransoming for a higher price then he would get as a slave, and who is too ill or wounded and should be thrown overboard without ceremony. A cruel fellow, he has few friends amongst the other members of the ship's crew. He joined just to get rich on the misery of other men.

29-Last Voyage

An elderly seaman, he joined up as a musician for one last voyage before he retires from the sea and takes up a new job as a lighthouse keeper until he finally retires.

30-Suicidal

Something has gone badly wrong with this man's mind, and he has joined the Navy of his country with the secret intention of stealing a cannonball when he is on watch one dark night and throwing it-attached to himself-into the water so he can drown and die.