Trial Interface
From Pirates and Traders
If you are captured by a naval/merchant ship or while carrying out illegal activities, you and your crew will usually be put on trial for robbery and piracy.
Before the trial commences, you will usually be put in jail for a significant amount of time. The time will vary, but the time you spend in jail will usually exceed half a year. When the Courts are finally ready to hear your case, the important question will be asked - will you be acquitted or will you hang for your crimes.
Trial Resolution
The trial decision is resolved as a modified Charm check. Your ability to charm the judge and jury determine whether you will be acquitted; however, the crimes you have committed count against you and provide a negative modifier on the skill check. The more crimes you have committed against the country, the greater the negative modifier.
Before the trial begins, you have the opportunity to spend your own wealth and the treasure of your ship to try and influence the decision. The effects of bribes depend on how notorious you are in the country you are being tried in; the worse your reputation is, the more gold you will need to spend to affect your chances of a positive verdict.
If you hold a letter of marque with the country that you are being tried in, your chances of acquittal are modified by +50 points. Other countries will disregard such papers or manage to use them. One country's privateer is another country's pirate.
The Game Interface
The trial interface will provide you some general information about how serious the charges against you are, an estimate of your chances of acquittal, and how much gold you will need to spend in order to succeed.
Note that no matter how grave the charges against you are, there is always a small chance of success. Similarly, no matter how secure your case, there is always the possibility for failure. The exception is if you are playing in the immortal game mode - in this case you will always be exonerated.
Press the Start Trial button when you feel ready to try your luck. If you are acquitted, you will be returned to the port you were locked up in, with a sum of money deducted equal to the bribes or reparations that you were forced to spend. If you are convicted, you dance the jig of the gallows and your game ends.