A while back, I started building a charismatic pirate gunslinger, with the leadership feat. Using the leadership feat, I decided to build her a crew. It would be a fun chance to experiment with the various sea-related archetypes. She's got a leadership score of 18, so 1 cohort, 1 level 4 officer, 1 level 3 officer, 2 level 2 officers, 35 level 1 crewmen.
I've started by building the officers. I've got a Bucaneer bard LVl 4, a corsair level 3 and 2 level 2 Siege Mages as gunnery officers.
I'm still working on the captain and her cohort (who would probably be her first mate).
So, I'm looking for tips for the crewmen and officers. Namely, how to best prepare the crewmen to be siege weapon crews, to crew the ship, and be "decent" (level 1) fighters. I'm thinking a mix of Gunslingers, Corsairs (figther archetype) and Pirates (Rogue archetype).
I'm also looking for item advice. I'm not sure what "non-combat" items that would be most useful on a pirate ship.
I'll post the captain and the cohort soon enough.
For one of the officers, look at the Freebooter Ranger archetype. They could double as a hook to get the PCs interested in the entire pirate crew (maybe they want to usurp the captain for the fine fine print on their contract).
Due to the confines of the ship, consider adding a few 1st level Clerics for battle-channeling.
Gunslingers I don't see being hyper-effective unless you intend to give them blunderbusts, or perhaps an axe pistol with a brace of "backup" pistols. Otherwise, they're a round or two of dedicated acrobatics away from being combat ineffective. You could fluff that the gunslingers on the ship taught the rest of the crew how to load and fire rifles for ship-to-ship enfilading fire, allowing you to spend more crewmen on Corsairs, Pirates, and the ilk.
I was wondering, are there any rules for a "volley" of muskets? Historically, it's always been more effective than straight shooting, but in this context...
Finally, I built the captain, but she has greater Cha than originally expected, so the officers will have to be expanded. I'll start looking at ships as well.
I don't know of any rules for a volley, but I would make a teamwork feat that gives a group (3, maybe 5, or more) a +2 bonus to attack when they hold/ready actions to fire one after the other (basically at the same time).
I think this is about the same level of power as the teamwork feat that gives the +2 flanking bonus.
This is all house ruled though.
Some food and fresh water would be nice on board a ship. Carpenter tools, sewing tools and raw materials to maintain the ship and the sails. Possibly some gear to catch fish in order to be less dependant on supplies. A sextant, Maps, compass, a pair of compasses and a mapmaking kit. Perhaps even a spyglass.
But most important:
1. the ability to say 'Arrrgh!!', 'aye mate' and 'aye cap'tn'
2. real bad teeth, a wooden eye and most importantly the lack of any backbone.
I'll have to expand the amount of crewmen able to do carpentry and various repairs on the ship. I've noticed that with the full build of the captain, she'll have more followers, so i'll have to rearange the crew.
I've also got the captain's build set up:
I'm still working on her cohort, hopefully I can finish it tonight.
I would suggest having a handful of the crew designated as the "marines," those who are more proficient at fighting and perhaps less so in running the ship. Maybe 6-8. For gunnery crew, I'd suggest 2 to each gun, and they should be skilled enough to help run the ship when not at battle stations. You should have a quartermaster, a bosun, a surgeon (with a couple assistants) and a carpenter (with a few assistants).
Thanks kryptik. I was going to start doing more research on officers and crew members, but you've saved me a bit of time. Wouldnt happen to know a good source online for crew positions?
I think I'm going to add a "party" for the captain (not directly associated with the crew) that follow her for her quest. I'm thinking a sea reaver, a liberator (another native), a couple other folks. It'll take a while, but it'll give me a chance to experiment with some weird classes.
I've got the captain, Emrany, and her first mate (cohort) Verngundur.
I decided to switch Verngunder from a gunslinger (original concept) to a freebooter. That'll allow him to be a much more effective officer, especially when leading boarding parties. At the moment, I'm looking for useful extra items for him that could help him in his tasks.
I've done a basic build for a boatswain (3rd mate), and I'm going to start on the carpenter, surgeon (4th mate), quartermaster (second mate), and head marine.
Edit: just realized I didnt adjust HP and AC, going to do that when I choose the items for him to wear.
That'll allow him to be a much more effective officer, especially when leading boarding parties. At the moment, I'm looking for useful extra items for him that could help him in his tasks.
You can never go wrong with Tangleburn Bags and Thunderstones...
In all seriousness though, I'm getting Server Not Found errors on Emrany and Verngundur, so I don't know what price range to look at.
I'll try to get better links. Ravingdork manages to get skydrive to work for him, so I should be able to find a way...
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Those work, barring a <br\> tag in Verngundur which leads to a 404 error. I'll edit once I calc out how much gold he has to spare and what he'd spare it on.
Gosh darn it, I wish this stopped screwing up.
I've got to say however I've been treating him as a PC more than a NPC for the build, it makes things more interesting.
I sure as hell hope this works:
Ok, I've updated the officers. Everything is done on their side.
I decided to give a bit of diversity; the quartermaster is a drow, the surgeon is a grippli, though the rest are human.
Now I'm starting on the crewmen. I'm looking for good teamwork feats for the little guys.
Well, I've managed to complete the crew! I've also included a small blurb on the ship I'd use. I wish there was more info on designing ships.
I'm so happy I managed to finish this. The only missing thing is a picture for Emrany. I'm not good enough to draw a native american pirate.
Hopefully somedy'll be able to use it someday, because I know I wont anytime soon.