Avast, ye land lubbin' ladies. Thar's work ta be doin'. I'll be havin' yer PCs up on deck afore time. Now, mebbe ye be be knowin' t'others and mebbe ye be on yer own, and all's right by me. Ye'll all be wantin' ta be part o' th' briney blue afore th' year's out, fer if'n th' sea's not in yer blood, then ye'll be walkin' th' plank afore yer time is due.
Now, ye don' hafta be born ta th' sea, but it'll be growin' on ye in time, so if'n yer only aims are ta abandon ship, then ye'll be changin' yer mind right smart or ye may's well be joining th' sharks.
Now I be a purist, I do, an' yer fancy moves and extra flourishes mean nought ta th' likes of me. I'll be toleratin' the core classes and ye c'n ask fer th' Advanced Player's Guide, but I'll be sayin' "No!" more of'en th'n not. I aint'nt got the Ultimate anything so's yer c'n be forgettin' such fancy thoughts right up, though's I must be admittin' I'll change course if'n a fair enough wind blows me way. Ye be gettin' 20 points t' buy yer stats, 2 traits an' average gold fer yer class. The Player's Guide traits be optional, thar flavour changeable and thar suggested skills indispensable.
Ye're all in Port Peril. Born or brought or even bought, 'tis all the same t' me. Fer those not in the know, Port Peril is th' cap'tal o' Th' Shackles, a free land ruled by th' council of Free Cap'ns where everything's got its price. There be more isles in Th Shackles th'n there are rats in a plague, but Port Peril's on the western coast o' the great continent o' Garund, in a bay that backs onto th' mountains th't guard her from the monsters and savages o' th' hot, wet jungles beyond.
Our northern neighbours were wiped out by the Eye of Abendego, the permanent hurricane to th' north th't arrived a hunnerd years ago and it be protecting us from the fat, rich nations o' th Inner Sea. The worst o' these knaves, th' devil worshipin' nation o' Cheliax, has tried afore to tame us an' both times we scuttled any poor excuse fer a navy they'd left after the Eye took 'em. So's the northerner's mostly leave us alone, an' at our leisure our skillt Cap'ns skim th' Eye an' pay reg'lar visits to the fat sloops on t'other side.
Thar'll be no rush, as we be settin' sail only once the hold is full, an' some o' th' wares be takin' thar time. So be askin' yer questions and displayin' yer wares, an' I'll be takin' what I be wantin'. It's a pirates life fer me.
Based on the allowed source material, looks like of the class concepts I PM'ed Shipmaster Dave, I'll be going with a Cleric of Besmara (maybe multi-classing to Bard).
For those of you interested, yes this will be a positive energy channeling cleric. Might do the negative energy thing later if I can get the Shipmaster to buy into a feat from another source.
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Non-Core stuff i'd like looked over-
Working on a high dex Fighter- a Shoanti Lore Warden. I've not used any UC or UM elements, with the exception of the Scorpion Whip which to be fair, came from a much earlier book and was simply ported to UC.
I've also assumed Pirates of the Inner Sea is an acceptable player resource.
Finally- i'm desperate to find a way to get Acrobatics as a class skill without some dodgy class level dip. The only way I can see beyond a tweaked player trait is the Hermean Blood feat which will fit rather strangely with my Shoanti- would like some input from DM here. If such a trait could be cooked up i'd switch out Bred for War for it.
Bah I've spent the last 30 minutes working out how to make a shark shaman work.... I even had the how to knock them into the water and led the sharks eat them thing sorted.
So, Talomyr- given the sudden influx of rogues, my lack of UC and my wariness of firearms, your second option should fit in very well.
Joana- can't see any real issues with your character concept. Should work well enough, but the captain appears to have carried out his threat. You won't have any starting equipment.
Terok - Love the childhood and the use of Buccaneer's Blood. You're only 1st level so you may wish to shorten your backstory/experiences. If you'd rather not though, your character will still work well regardless.
Dan- if you can give me a clue before you depart, I'll run people through intros while you're away and we can kick off on your return. I still need to contact Tim.
Alex- It'll be a pleasure to have you on board and I hope to be up to your standards. That said, if you choose not to play, I'm fine with that too - make the best decision for you.
I figured as much. I'm likely to try and get you to approve an archetype and possible a trait/feat or two. I will post the information much as Alex has later.
Equipping is my least-favorite part of character creation. Having no starting equipment is cake. Definitely takes the pressure off. ;) With a background as a ladies' maid, she's not likely to have had anything useful like armor or weapons, anyway.
Concept for now is a high-Cha rogue, but I'll give some thought to a buccaneer bard. I know parties love having a bard, but they're just so darn useless at anything other than buffing. Taking people alive could actually be useful in a game where I assume we'll end up able to press our own crew or do business with the slave markets, though.
Joana,
I saw in Dan E's thread that you do not like playing bards, I'm likely to work bard into my character at some point early if you are not wanting to go that route.
Alex- Lore Warden seems okay but if you were going to make it work with a Shoanti, the Shundar-Quah (Spire Clan) would be a smoother choice (though their Totem Spirit has no acrobatics bonuses :-). I would allow you to take Hermean Blood also, which I see fitting in with a Lore Master quite well. As a GM, I would take advantage of the final part of the feat's description which reads "...as determined by the GM's whim." In other words, I'll pick on you. :-)
I am okay with multiple rogues. For this AP, rogues are a good career choice and I'm looking at 6 PCs so some doubling up will occur.
So how does average starting gold work, in a situation where we have no starting equipment? Or is the idea that all our stuff is somewhere on board ship to be reclaimed at some point?
Talomyr here...don't pay a whole lot of attention to the information in the profile yet, though the background stuff that is there is acurate, if incomplete.
Depending on the construction of the party, I may actually start with Bard instead of Cleric, though Cleric will still be the primary class.
David, how do you feel about the following Archetype from the APG?
The sea singer calls the blue waters his home, and is much in demand among sea captains wishing good fortune for their crew and hull as they ply the tradewinds far and wide.
Bardic Performance: A sea singer gains the following types of bardic performance.
Sea Shanty (Su): A sea singer learns to counter seasickness and exhaustion during long sea voyages. Each round of a sea shanty, he makes a Perform skill check. Allies within 30 feet (including the sea singer) may use his Perform check in place of a saving throw against becoming exhausted, fatigued, nauseated, or sickened; if already under such an effect, a new save is allowed each round of the sea shanty, using the bard's Perform check for the save. A sea shanty has no effect on instantaneous effects or effects that do not allow saves. This ability requires audible components. This performance replaces countersong.
Still Water (Su): At 3rd level, a sea singer can use performance to calm rough waters within 30 feet, reducing the DC for Profession (sailor) and Swim checks, as well as for Acrobatics and Climb checks aboard ship, by an amount equal to the bard's level (to a minimum of DC 10) for as long he continues to perform. He can extend this duration to 1 hour by playing for 10 consecutive rounds. This ability requires audible components. This performance replaces inspire competence.
Whistle the Wind (Su): A sea singer of 6th level or higher can use performance to create a gust of wind. This wind lasts for as long as he continues his performance. He can extend this duration to 1 minute by playing for 5 consecutive rounds. This performance replaces suggestion.
Call the Storm (Su): At 18th level, a sea singer can use performance to duplicate control water, control weather, control winds, or storm of vengeance, using his bard level as the caster level. Using this ability requires 1 round of continuous performance per level of the spell (as if he were a druid). These effects continue for as long as the bard continues performing (the effects on control weather happen immediately), but not longer than the spell's normal duration. This performance replaces mass suggestion.
World Traveler (Ex): A sea singer gains a bonus equal to half his bard level on Knowledge (geography), Knowledge (local), Knowledge (nature), and Linguistics checks. He can reroll a check against one of these skills, but must take the result of the second roll even if it is worse. He can reroll one additional time per day at 5th level and every five levels thereafter. This ability replaces bardic knowledge.
Familiar: At 2nd level, a sea singer acquires an exotic pet—a monkey or parrot (treat as raven)—that gains abilities as a wizard's familiar, using the sea singer's bard level as his wizard level. This ability replaces versatile performance.
Sea Legs (Ex): At 2nd level, a sea singer gains a +4 bonus on saving throws against air and water effects and effects that would cause the sea singer to slip, trip, or otherwise be knocked prone. He gains a +2 bonus to CMD against grapple, overrun, and trip. This ability replaces well-versed.
Well fighter, rogue and fighter/rogue make a front-line.
Currently split between an archer (zen archer monk (APG) or ranger), full divine caster (oracle of waves (APG) or druid) or full arcane caster (maybe aquatic (APG) bloodline). Not much help but I'll think over the weekend.
Assume a few high skill profession sailors will be required :)
I'm also a bit obsessed with the shark shaman idea particularly after reading the peg leg trait and seeing the archtype actually recomended in the players guide (what other game can say that). Let me know if that is permissable DM.
For Alex http://www.d20pfsrd.com/traits/regional-traits/stormrunner-regional-the-sha ckles.
Almost as good as class skill (kinda)
For Alex http://www.d20pfsrd.com/traits/regional-traits/stormrunner-regional-the-sha ckles.
Almost as good as class skill (kinda)
Doesn't help with jumping or avoiding AoOs, though.
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Alex- Lore Warden seems okay but if you were going to make it work with a Shoanti, the Shundar-Quah (Spire Clan) would be a smoother choice (though their Totem Spirit has no acrobatics bonuses :-). I would allow you to take Hermean Blood also, which I see fitting in with a Lore Master quite well. As a GM, I would take advantage of the final part of the feat's description which reads "...as determined by the GM's whim." In other words, I'll pick on you. :-)
I'm leaning towards the Tamiir-Quah as it seems to fit fairly nicely with the whole "wind and waves" theme, is that more suitable than the Sun Clan?
I thought Hermean Blood was more along the lines of 'hey your awesome, you might have good things coming your way', especially as the feats significantly weaker than its cousin Cosmopolitan.
I'd prefer a trait solution to forcing Hermean Blood into my characters background to be honest, if one is available. I could have a go at re-tooling one of the players guide ones once my backgrounds written up perhaps? I'd just like my Lore Warden to be decent at leaping from ship to ship without a dirty 1 level dip. I'd take Cosmopolitan in a heartbeat if it let me take a Dex based skill for it.
If this is looking a little problematic I can switch concepts, i've had this Shoanti Lore Warden kicking around for quite some time but I have others (depends on what everyone else takes to some extent).
Next in line is likely a half-orc Barbarian... :)
So, Talomyr- given the sudden influx of rogues, my lack of UC and my wariness of firearms, your second option should fit in very well.
Joana- can't see any real issues with your character concept. Should work well enough, but the captain appears to have carried out his threat. You won't have any starting equipment.
Terok - Love the childhood and the use of Buccaneer's Blood. You're only 1st level so you may wish to shorten your backstory/experiences. If you'd rather not though, your character will still work well regardless.Dan- if you can give me a clue before you depart, I'll run people through intros while you're away and we can kick off on your return. I still need to contact Tim.
Alex- It'll be a pleasure to have you on board and I hope to be up to your standards. That said, if you choose not to play, I'm fine with that too - make the best decision for you.
Yeah Baggs will be more Rogue than Fighter, might even go 2 levels of Ranger instead, not sure yet. The backstory can be updated but in the early years he was more green cabin boy. It was really his mouth that got him in over his head and he aint too wise so he didn't think about him being a lowly sailor who might get his own throat slit in short order...
Dotting. How long will i have to make my mind up? :)
Dotting. How long will i have to make my mind up? :)
Ten minutes. And ... GO!
;D
I guess poor patrik is out :)
Joana you are a cruel, cruel women!
Joana- the others can generate starting equipment using average gold for class. You may not. Starting equipment is everyone's possessions at the Formidably Maid tavern, in Port Peril. The history of that equipment once the adventure starts is to be determined. :-)
Talomyr- Sea singer will be very useful. Starting bard and switching to primary Cleric should fit perfectly.
Dan- Your assumption is correct. Profession (sailor) will get a lot of attention if you're that type of player. :-)
Shark Shaman looks okay- I read that you don't get wild shape till 6th level, when it kicks in at +/-2. You can easily alter the flavour of the Peg Leg trait so you have come to an 'understanding' with Sharks.
Alex- The Tamiir-Quah is also thematically appropriate, though the Totem Spirit feat is vastly superior to Fleet, which would surely make up for Hermean Blood being 'Significantly weaker' than Cosmopolitan. However, given Hermean Blood's ability to access Dex skills, and Paizo's reluctance to release a trait that makes Acrobatics a class skill, I think Hermean Blood is quite well balanced, and it is the physical versus mental ability scores in general that are unbalanced.
Hermean blood is "Hey, your ancestor was awesome." You, however, may be observed and possibly even tested. Your character could easily fit into a Hermean breeding program, official or otherwise. :-)
I like the Shoanti Lore Warden concept and Tamiir-Quah does tie it in quite well. But if you're going to have your cake and eat it too, you may have to make do with the icing on top. :-)
Patrik- I hadn't expected to lift Daniel's entire Legacy of Fire game, but I certainly won't be taking everyone except you. You are most welcome and I look forward to whatever character(s) you may offer up here.
Terok- Baggs looks good, especially since you've corrected the feats. :-)
Joana- the others can generate starting equipment using average gold for class. You may not.
Yay! No shopping! :)
Second-least-favorite part of character generation: naming the PC. Don't suppose they could take away her name, too? (Although I have an idea the pirates always just refer to her as "Your Ladyship" in a mocking tone of voice as they order her around and mistreat her, due to her deception. Hm... Now that I think about it, that'd actually be a pretty cool pirate name down the road: "Trim your sails, keep a weather eye on the horizon, and pray you don't fall into the hands of Her Ladyship." She probably faces the death penalty, or at least a life of servitude, under her old identity for her actions.)
I'll get my backstory polished and figure out the mechanics over the weekend. Thinking of Tongue of Many Towns as a trait (Diplomacy & Knowledge: Local), if it meets with your approval. She's not ethnically Garundi, but she was born on the continent and has lived her life there, traveling to the more fashionable tourist attactions, like Sothis and Katapesh, with the family to which she was in service.
i'll sit this one out. having trouble getting a character concept i'm excited about and most roles seem to be filled.
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I've decided to skip Hermean Blood, as the sheer awesomeness of Swinging Reposition makes a couple of levels of the Pirate rogue archetype more appealing to me than I thought it would be :).
At 2nd level, a pirate incorporates a ship’s masts, rigging, ropes, sails, and other such structures into her combat style. Provided she is wearing light armor, when fighting in an environment Classes where such structures exist, the rogue incorporates them into her Acrobatics checks by grabbing hold of the structure and swinging toward her opponent, making either a charge or a bull rush maneuver. Once she completes her attack or maneuver, she can reposition herself. Immediately after making the charge or bull rush, she can move 5 feet as a free action, even if the charge ends her turn. This movement does not provoke attacks of opportunity.
My Shoanti will begin play as a Fighter and that will be his favoured class and dominant one- but at some point he'll be picking up a couple of Rogue levels :).
I'll polish off the background today or tomorrow.
Joana - you may have tongue of many towns.
Patrik - Thanks. If you change your mind, let me know.
Alex - Swinging Reposition certainly looks fun. Go for it.
Hi All,
I would like to play a fighter mage but haven't looked at system yet and not sure of the setting and too lacking sleep right now to look will check later.
Tim
Welcome to the group, Tim. Based on his first post, I doubt that Shipmaster Dave will allow it, but you may want to look at the Magus as an alternative to the multi-class Fighter-Wizard/Sorcerer. Then again maybe not, depends on what you prefer.
I think Lysandra might be ready to go. Shipmaster Dave, let know what you think.
Magus looks interesting, a little more limited in it's spell selection (lacking a lot of the utility spells) but better at combining magic into combat than what I was thinking about. I'll also have a look at going pure mage (that can stand toe to toe with a fighter) might just be possible with pathfinder where I don't think it was possible in DnD 3.5.
Tim
Hi Tim. Glad you could make it. Pretty much everything you need to know for the game is in my first post. The Shackles is a bunch of islands run by the pirates, for the pirates. Pathfinder is just 3.5++. You can use the Pathfinder Character Creation Outline or even just make a PC in 3.5 and I'll update it for you.
I'd rather not mess around with Magus, especially with this as your first Pathfinder game. No one else has considered pure mage, and you could give it some melee options if you really wanted. That would complicate it somewhat, but nothing you couldn't handle.
Talomyr- Lysandra looks great. Your plans for her should fit right into the module.
So far we're looking at-
Male Human Rogue
Female Human Rogue
? Human Fighter
Female Human Cleric (starting as Bard)
Something Magey
Something by Daniel
I'll also have a look at going pure mage (that can stand toe to toe with a fighter) might just be possible with pathfinder where I don't think it was possible in DnD 3.5.
Ha! Have a look at AK's "squishy" wizard. :) Click here. I believe the conventional wisdom is that transmuter is the way to go for the Physical Enhancement ability.
Nice to meet you, Tim, but sorry to see Patrik go. :( The DM probably would have given you more than 10 minutes, you know. ;)
Baggs is pretty much done, I changed his build a little to make him more interesting and went down the Rake (Rogue) path and will pick up the TWF at 3rd since I will be picking up 2 levels of Ranger at 2nd/3rd if I live that long.
Well, we have a Rake and a Pirate archetype. I might look at Smuggler. Plays to her strengths and might come in handy. The only issue is that it leaves us with 3 (at least partial) rogues and not a one that can deal with magical traps.
Shipmaster Dave, I've got an Aquatic Druid all ready to go for a S&S campaign. I made him as a Vanara, which is a race in Bestiary 3. If that doesn't work, I'd be glad to change it. Thanks!
EDIT: I noticed this in the PbP Discussion board and not the Recruitment one. Is recruitment still open? If not, please disregard my post, and I apologize for jumping in!
Do you have a problem with a craft "ship wright" skill?
There's a Craft (ships) skill listed in the Player's Guide as helpful.
Very nice character history, Joana. I like it!
Hi Dave,
Starting to put flesh on my ideas. For background reasons I want to have my father's Falchion however the wizard's average money isn't enough to start with it. Do you mind if I spent 65gp of the 75gp it costs and say it is needing repair (say leather on the handhold needs replacing) and is unusable until I spend the extra 10gp?
The issue may be around not having any starting equipment and something like a Falchion may be difficult to hide...grimaces at thought of where you might try to hide it...can you swallow a sword for that long?
Hmm... Rich Parents trait? ;)
Or On the Payroll? Don't suppose you ever traveled with a Professor Lorrimor?
Joana- the others can generate starting equipment using average gold for class. You may not. Starting equipment is everyone's possessions at the Formidably Maid tavern, in Port Peril. The history of that equipment once the adventure starts is to be determined. :-)
terok, you don't get out of equipping your PC just because you're about to get mugged. Your starting equipment will be around somewhere, even if you have to watch the pirates using it against you. :)
Ah but I lost mine when I went overboard so it is part of my background as well!!!! lol
Actually I didn't catch that originally so I went ahead and updated him with a few things.
I think Amelia and Baggs should get along quite well if they don't slit each others throats....
Going back and forth based on what everyone else has chosen but narrowed to three options I can't decide between. Comparison is mechanical only.
1. Wild shaping high strength elven shark shaman (ocean domain)
Grim and surly masochist.
Pros
+ Gets to fight with spear, trident and net!
+ Summons sharks to eat people.
+ Ocean power summons wave to knock people into water for sharks to eat.
+++ Eventually turns into a shark to eat people (super awesome).
Cons
--? Its a sea based AP but on reflection assume unlikely to be a whole lot of fighting actually in the water, bets theres only one undersea AP (and summoning sharks to eat people you've already beaten when you boarded their ship is only so fun).
- Lots of melee already.
2. High wis/cha caster aquatic druid (acquatic domain if permitted).
Possibly completely weaponless and a gnome.
Pros
+ Full caster.
+ Can control the creatures of the sea ! (aquaman but useful!)
++ Comedy!
Cons
- DM may not like meta aspect of seizing control of sea creatures and following me around.
- Thought we needed a face but Joana may have that covered.
3. Water creature summoner (probably acquatic sorcerer, master summoner archtype seeme superior but heaps of cheese there, breaking DM's guidelines and I don't allow summoners myself so I get a dirty feeling thinking about it).
Probably a more social human or half-elf.
Pros
+ Full caster
+ Summons go away after battle.
+++ Summons water elementals that can fight on land and under sea.
Cons
- Thought we needed a face but Joana may have that covered.
- Harder time thinking up a back story for this one.
Any suggestions?
You have stuff; the pirates grab you and take your stuff but, being smart pirates, they take the stuff with them when they take you; maybe you can get it back down the road.
Except for Aemilia who has already been in piratical custody for a while. They've already sold all her stuff, which was mostly probably costume jewelry and silver hairbrushes anyway. :)
Dan, gotta agree with Alex on this one...please no summoner, just not a fan of that class.
Either one of your other concepts look good, though the shark shaman has more potential to be a lot of fun, in my opinion.
Sorry I thought the dirty feeling part was clear. Regardless, I wouldn't try and play something I personally wouldn't allow.
You have stuff; the pirates grab you and take your stuff but, being smart pirates, they take the stuff with them when they take you; maybe you can get it back down the road.
Except for Aemilia who has already been in piratical custody for a while. They've already sold all her stuff, which was mostly probably costume jewelry and silver hairbrushes anyway. :)
If you haven't seen the movie Stardust with a pirate Robert De Niro you need to go netflix / rent it right now!
Shark does sound fun but I would share the same concerns.
What about a shaman that has a flying cohort/companion? Flying through the water would be very cool.....