For the longest time, there has always been a problem in Sea of Thieves: Say I want to play with a friend, but two of my friends may join, but it isn't confirmed. I either start a session with a sloop, be mid grind (be it an emissary flag or anything) and then they join, meaning I have to reset my progress to accommodate for them in a galleon, or I start a galleon, suffer with a two-crew Galleon until they may or may not join (and even then, maybe one of them joins).
This is when this thought occurred to me: the skeletons in the burning blade actually allow even a solo player, or a two-people sloop crew, to decently manage a galleon. Yes, they cannot steer the wheel, adjust the sails, bail, or get off the ship, but frankly, them shooting the cannons, fixing, and creating difficulty for boarders is the right balanced kind of support that regular crews may need. In fact, they may be able to support a solo slooper too; not just a pending crew.
The way it goes, and how to balance it, is obviously up to Rare, but here is how I imagine it going:
When you start a session in an outpost, as you get your supplies, you may purchase a skeleton as a supply. The skeleton, then, appears on your ship, acting like an NPC crew member. It acts the way a skeleton on the burning blade would act; shoot cannons, repair, fight any invaders, etc.
It may or may not be limited only to captained ships, or ships in a guild. Either you're only allowed to purchase one at a time no matter what, or you're only allowed to purchase the amount necessary to fill your ship's crew size (2 skeletons for a 2 crew galleon, 3 skeletons for a solo galleon, etc). For a crew member to join and take that spot, the skeleton must be destroyed.
The skeleton either has infinite resurrections, or a limited number of resurrections just like in the burning blade. That limited number may or may not be able to be replenished by beating skeleton camps. The skeleton doesn't carry over between sessions, being treated as a supply. Whether Rare finds it broken to run a solo galleon with skeletons, or finds that limited actions on the skeletons, plus limited resurrections, is enough balancing that most people wont use it as a crutch (and we find servers with nothing but galleons), is up to them.
The skeleton may be purchased from the Order of Souls (since only the Merchant Alliance has special supplies at the moment) as a friendly skeleton resurrected by the Order. Or, it can be exclusively purchased from the reaper skeleton in the cage at every outpost. Or, it can be purchased from all emissary companies (which bring about interesting interactions, such as only being able to purchase one if you raise the company's emissary flag, just like trading supplies from the merchant alliance. They can even have thematic costumes from their respective companies, and have slightly different unique functions/stats based on the chosen company).
FOR THOSE WHO WILL CALL THIS UNBALANCED:
- Please notice that I have already been vague about a lot of the micro-balancing of the idea, even offering multiple visions on each facet, openly stating that Rare would know best how to balance it
- Please don't skim over the text, because chances are, I might've already addressed your concern
