GM Valmoon's Skulls And Shackles

Game Master Valmoon

Alivia, I think you need to check your math - Unless I'm missing something, I'm only seeing a +4 without the trait (1 rank, +3 charisma). Diplomacy isn't a class skill for Sorcerers, and you don't seem to have any alternate racial traits that make it one. Freedom Fighter just gives a bonus, it doesn't make it a class skill. (I also can't find the source.)

I used Hero Lab to do it - I have a trait that makes it a class skill and gives it a +2 (Freedom Fighter), the Persuasive feat

+3 CHR +3 Class +1 Rank +2 Trait +2 Feat = +11

In case you were wondering for Bluff:

+3 CHR +3 Class +1 Rank +3 Skill Focus = +10

And Intimidate:

+3 CHR +3 Class +1 Rank +1 Trait +2 Feat = +10

But you need to check with the GM to find the pirates attitudes vs slavery otherwise the freedom fighter trait that you have listed says that it will actually give you a -2 to deal with them. Seeing how they shanghied, they might not be too adverse to a bit of slavery.

And as funny as it looks, I'm also wondering how no-eyes finds his way around with two eye-patches on.

Being 'for' shanghaiing and being 'for' slavery are two vastly different things. The former was to gain skilled sailors and was most often done via an intermediary, so that the captain can claim no knowledge that it was forced, thereby leaving the sailor with no recourse. The latter involved kidnapping and shackling the person or more often purchasing slaves from an intermediary and could not be done 'unknowingly.'

Just because someone turns a blind eye towards slavery does not mean they are slavers or support them as the trait indicates - whereby support, I assume it actually means, 'actively in favor of the slave trade' not just 'having no problem with it.'

In RL pirates were almost never slavers, they attacked slave ships before they took on slaves, to capture the trade goods, slaves being too annoying to deal with. Also, pirating was one of the few 'professions' open to ex-slaves in RL and most pirates crews were largely made of ex-slaves. Pirates often specifically recruited ex-slaves. Slaves and freedmen escaped to pirate communities because of the freedom allowed. Slavery requires a society with active law enforcement, police, and ownership laws - which is the antithesis of pirate communities. You cannot be a slave without laws for it - otherwise you are merely someone who is held against your will.

Pirates were often proud they stole *from* people, they didn't steal people.

Now, this is a fantasy world, with all sorts of differences, but in general unless you're in a slave owning area, it's very hard to find someone who actively supports slavery. The DM can rule however he wishes, but I assume he's not going to want to try to determine each and every person's individual motivation vis a vis slavery. I assume for simplicity's sake that when we're around slavers or in a slave owning area, I'll receive the -4, when we aren't I won't.

Alivia, your semi wrong. :P The group very quickly picked up on one of multi reasons for this group set up. Slavery or anti-slavery depending on what the group picks as a whole is just the first level. As there are many ships in this area that are pro slaves as well as anti slaves. For those that don't know Port Perl is part of a demon worshiping nation. (This is how the rest of the world sees them. If you asked them they don't worship demons they "use" the demons for the persons own "will",) so owning a slave and anti slavery groups will not be uncommon to come across. This choice will come up majorly for you all later but, for know it's waiting on the side lines.

The group as you will find out isn't a slavery ship. However, Master Scourge, the man with the whip, is going to take a bit more then an 11. It will not effect you negativity this time but, I get the feeling Master Scourge is the type for gender discrimination as you will find out. He's the type that see a "no thanks" as an open invitation and hes not above trying to force his way on some one that hes taken a liking to. All that said for him you get the + because, of hes gender discrimination.

I wasn't asking for a lengthy discourse on pirates and slavery, just pointing out that it's a good idea to ask the gm before you assume you took the bonus from the trait.

Here to apologize about some spelling mistakes in the gameplay thread, I try to proofread the posts, but apparently I always miss something. So, where I wrote "takes its toil", please read "takes its toll". ;)

Here to apologize about some spelling mistakes in the gameplay thread, I try to proofread the posts, but apparently I always miss something. So, where I wrote "takes its toil", please read "takes its toll". ;)

It's all good me and spelling are close to mortal enemies. Had you not said something i would not have noticed. XD

As for the eyepatches, my Oracles Curse is 'Clouded Vision', but isn't real detailed about how. It only says 'sight is occluded'. So...

Ah, I usually just think of it as cataracts. Though that just might be because I've worked with old people for too long. :)

Alivia, your semi wrong. :P The group very quickly picked up on one of multi reasons for this group set up. Slavery or anti-slavery depending on what the group picks as a whole is just the first level. As there are many ships in this area that are pro slaves as well as anti slaves. For those that don't know Port Perl is part of a demon worshiping nation. (This is how the rest of the world sees them. If you asked them they don't worship demons they "use" the demons for the persons own "will",) so owning a slave and anti slavery groups will not be uncommon to come across. This choice will come up majorly for you all later but, for know it's waiting on the side lines.

The group as you will find out isn't a slavery ship. However, Master Scourge, the man with the whip, is going to take a bit more then an 11. It will not effect you negativity this time but, I get the feeling Master Scourge is the type for gender discrimination as you will find out. He's the type that see a "no thanks" as an open invitation and hes not above trying to force his way on some one that hes taken a liking to. All that said for him you get the + because, of hes gender discrimination.

I did have the caveat that it is a fantasy world; which I know almost nothing about. I didn't know that pirates were part of any nation - well, unless they're privateers I guess. I definitely felt that an 11 was far from useful in this case :)

As far as dealing with sex discrimination, I have to deal with that all the time in RL - what else is new. I had to threaten to call 911 on this one guy a week ago that got off the bus and followed me to work, constantly angling and hitting on me; no matter what I said, I even said, "Stop following me, there is no way on Earth I will *ever* go out with you under any circumstances, if you don't stop following me, I'll call 911." I had to threaten multiple times and finally started to dial before he backed off.

Just to give you an idea of the environment, I live in the suburbs, ride a commuter bus to work (everyone on it is a well-dressed professional), I work one block from the bus stop in a downtown skyscraper in a very good area, it was 9AM on a relatively busy sidewalk. This was a guy in a suit, not some random drunk homeless guy. I was dressed down in jeans, flats, and a t-shirt.

This sort of thing happens to me while commuting about once every three months - we won't even get into what happens when I go out to the clubs.

The only difference here is that I don't have 911 or bouncers - there are numerous ways to deal with an abusive, domineering, 'rape-prone' man even without backup. Heck, I have spells :D

Should each of us share our own problems with men now?

Go ahead - the DM started it :D

Well, rather than do that I think I'll put on my "Game Lore Expert" hat. It is not a very good hat, but I do have one. Obviously, the GM is more than allowed to correct me on any point "In his game" and some things about the Shackles region don't make a hell of a lot of sense so factual corrections from anyone are welcome as well:

Thanks for the summary info - that was fantastic. 5 of 6 are slave countries - that's astonishing, sounds like Earth's ancient world. And, contrary to my assumption that most penaltied traits/feats have no more than 25% of the time being penalized - otherwise what's the point of them? This sounds more like 80%+ may be penalized. Yowch. I was also assuming a more RL view towards slavery during the 'golden age' of pirates, where being against slavery would, on the whole, be an advantage.

I just noticed Servi is a witch - this could be quite convenient due to my progression plan being primarily Sea Witch after this level. We should coordinate spell picks.

And, contrary to my assumption that most penaltied traits/feats have no more than 25% of the time being penalized - otherwise what's the point of them?

That trait was written specifically for Privateers sailing out of Andoran - with a friendly home-port and a reputation for not taking prisoners, those characters don't normally get much of a chance to use Diplomacy with people who don't share their viewpoint.

Ahh, I am using Hero Lab and I looked down the list for traits that looked good. It said it came from the book Pirates of the Inner Sea which made it sound doubly good. Next time I want Diplomacy as a class skill I'll use Extremely Fashionable. :D

Ahh, good idea. I chose the Dreamweaver archetype because I'm just so fond of the flavor, even thought its abilities are questionably difficult to work around, so that's essentially why I made Servi a pillow whore, but it gives the added bonus of letting me work around social circles with added ease and flowed very nicely into my decided backstory.

The slumber hex was essential for me first level, as that's essentially what my entire archetype requires, but I also plan to get the fly hex, the charm or evil eye hex, then nightmares major hex, the vision major hex, then the ice tomb or agony major hexes. For Major hexes I'm probably going for Eternal Slumber and Dire Prophecy.

We can definitely work out spells as they come.

I should also note that with the Court Bard Lucia's singing can (eventually) impose a save penalty against Charms and Fear effects, the latter of which I know witches have a fair amount of access to.

Also, Servi, kind of waiting on you to go down and see the chef before I make my checks, if needed.

Servi, I was mostly thinking about coordinating our free spell picks each level so that we don't both pick the same spell when we can learn from each other's familiars. We can also make certain we don't overlap too much on the hexes - I want charm and fly as well, I'm also going to get water lung. I don't fully know what else though.

Wasn't feeling well yesterday but, feeling a lot better today. I will try to get the npc's up as well as the ship info. You all know a lot about the ship but, not all. Enough to do what needs to be done in this book. ^.^

for your viewing pleasure. The completed campaign tab changes may be made based on request. I don't own a copy of the ship images but, I plan on getting it soon.

Ah, alright. If anyone's wanting, here's a nice little index of nautical terms in case anyone, like me, is not all too versed in the subject.

I'm not sure if I should have made those checks before, so I'll make a separate post anyway with 'em.

So I would like to take a second to stop and find out what everybody expects to do with their characters and how they see the campaign going. As I know this ap can get really uncomfortable in how these first two big bads act, I would also like to know what tv or movie rating you would expect from this. (PG-13 Intense Sequences of Violence, Intense Sequences of Action, Language and Some Sensuality. like: the dark knight rises or Pirates of the Caribbean)

This can be a touchy subject, so if you want to talk privately, I am open to private messaging.

Pirates of the Caribbean (PG-13) to The Matrix (R) level is fine with me - lots of buckling of swashes preferred.

I'd like to think that I'm enough of an adult to handle whatever you can throw at me. However, I'd prefer if it doesn't go past an R rating (i.e., don't be extremely graphic). I feel that some things are better left to the imagination, especially in mixed company.

If Jack Sparrow is involved I'd even go into an X rating. ;)

But really, pg-13 to R is fine with me too.

If Jack Sparrow is involved I'd even go into an X rating. ;)

No comment.

But yeah. Basically as long as it doesn't get anyone banned from the boards I'm fine with it.

That's Captain Jack Sparrow.

Likewise, okay with anything that doesn't get the people involved banned from the boards.

PG-13, up to but not past an R rating.

I could dig just about anything.

I'm fine with what the majority decides.

I'd like to make sure I know what to expect in the near/far future.
What kind of fire power are you all wanting / expecting for the ships?

(Doreen this parts more for you but, chim ins from others is ok.)
I'm ok with firearms, Have played a gunslinger myself, but, how up the firearms tree are you really wanting to go?

I'm referencing the firearms rules here.

Personally, I'm good with the standard "early firearms" scenario, but I'd love to see some cannons around. In this case, I think cannons would be possibly one of the most sought-after items for a pirate ship, and maybe only the most successfull crews would have a few on board - they wouldn't be commonplace as in "all ships have cannons", but some defintely would, and those would be the most feared.

Eh, I could do without firearms altogether, but if we gotta have 'em, no more than early firearms.
As for cannon, isn't that what we have mages for?

I'm with Doreen. I just can't capture that classic "pirate" feeling in my head without at least a few cannons mulling about somewhere. Definitely early firearms, and a restricted usage of cannons would also do well by me.

I'm in consensus with the others. Early firearms, rare cannons, spellcasters used as heavy artillery.

Ditto.

I'm fine as long as I have my Uzi :)

Personally, I can do without cannon. That much cheap, plentiful explosives can lead to a lot of mischief. Cannon are annoying in a fantasy world, but combine, for example, the ability for a spellcaster to summon flying or swimming creatures and a barrel or two of gunpowder.

Now, any low level caster can take out a ship under cover of night with near impunity. There are reasons that stored explosion spells are difficult, expensive, and have limited activation abilities.

A barrel can dramatically increase the yield of a fire trap spell. And that's just the first two examples I can think of to take advantage of cannon. A low CR creature can vastly increase it's CR effectiveness.

I'd prefer to not have to watch out for those sort of things from other people.

And let's not even get into the problems of trying to secure your gunpowder while trying to load cannon with fireballs whizzing about.

Plentiful gunpowder, in my opinion, is far too annoying.

Pirates have cannon. This is historical fact; I know from my learnings.

That said, magic has the advantages of being pretty ubiquitous in this setting and not being susceptible to, say, a powder magazine catching fire after a lucky hit. Of the other hand, relying on high-power magic means relying on high-power spellcasters which tend to be significantly higher maintenance than said cannon, as well as potentially harder to replace.

More seriously, historically piracy existed long before cannons did, and still exists even long after cannons went out of style... But they're iconic for what we still refer to as the "Golden Age" of piracy. We'd be doing the genre a disservice if we claim they don't exist.

That reminds me of another question I've been meaning to ask. The description of Controlled Rage in the Urban Barbarian archetype states that the usual drawbacks of rage don't apply, but the post-rage fatigue state isn't mentioned explicitly. What's your call on whether it applies or not?

Perhaps it's just that you don't grow huge and green anymore :)

Controlled Rage (Ex): When an urban barbarian rages, instead of making a normal rage she may apply a +4 morale bonus to her Strength, Dexterity, or Constitution. This bonus increases to +6 when she gains greater rage and +8 when she gains mighty rage. She may apply the full bonus to one ability score or may split the bonus between several scores in increments of +2. When using a controlled rage, an urban barbarian gains no bonus on Will saves, takes no penalties to AC, and can still use Intelligence-, Dexterity-, and Charisma-based skills. This ability otherwise follows the normal rules for rage.

So unless i'm missing something, i could be, the bold section covers the question.

Fair point. Thanks for clearing that up.

*Pokes*

Was waiting for 1 person to post. Will give it about 2 hr and then I will push on. Sorry for the delay.

Just a heads up for everyone get ready to have level 2 characters. Don't post them yet but, have them ready.