Okay so I've been D/GMing my friends for a good while as they play through a pirate themed campaign which I've cooked up. Now the problem isn't the campaign, but rather that one of the PC's found and took the 'Leadership' Feat (These guys are very new to this. I am too, but not quite that new) and along with a fortuitous capture of a wealthy merchant vessel. They have got it into their heads to start their own pirate faction and raid the high seas.
Now, although I'm completely okay with this (I geuss the whole point of playing Pathfinder/DnD is to be able to do this sort of crazy shenanigans) I have a feeling that I'm about to jump off the deep end with this. I've already read up on naval combat rules, but i'm in need of tips/advice on how to handle my PC's wanting a faction and all that this implies. They've been going on about weapons dealers, setting up their own port and all sorts of, really cool, but difficult sounding things.
Help Plz
Personally I'd say make up this stuff however you want. I don't know the rules on sea combat or factions or that lot. But Leadership is probably something you don't want to allow, it can cause lots of problems. Also, you can just "magically" makes stuff happen. You can say, "you all spend 2 years and now you have a port and all that jazz." Or make it so they have problems or can't do it. Or talk with your players about how they think this should all go down and have everyone come up with stuff.
Ultimate Campaign handles this.
You can be the leader of a group, without actually needing the Leadership feat.
I would allow the player to replace the feat.
Handling the Leadership feat is something that I would not suggest newer players/DMs do.
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Leadership, minus the cohort abuse, is actually really simple. They have an army of NPCs (the followers). They replenish and get more, or people quit, whenever their scores go up or down. Said NPCs should probably be NPC classes, and if they're not optimizing don't worry about it. If they are, don't let them use adepts. Let them pick races, then choose whether they're skilled (expert), fighting (warrior), or mixed (aristocrat, call them officers instead). If they want a magic user the only NPC option is adept, so feel free to let them pick a few special followers (or maybe the cohort) to take real spellcaster class levels.
As for what their followers are it sounds like your players have that well in hand. Give them free reign and they can probably give you a pile of NPCs they want for their ship. Make sure they have some bare minimums (pilot/navigator, carpenter/guy who repairs ship, quartermaster for supplies). I think Skull and Shackles has some ideas for pirate codes as well, and oaths to swear upon joining.
Now for what happens to your campaign. With one pirate ship they're not a faction, they're pirates. They'll be doing regular campaign stuff, just with a ship they work out of instead of a home town/wandering murderhobory. Once they start a franchise though, now you enter into kingdom building territory. Here's a handy list of some of the optional systems Paizo has done. Of interest for this is the Downtime rules, which are for Kingmaker and kingdom building but we can use here. Treat pirate ships as revenue generating buildings (randomly determine what they get based on who they robbed?) and their harbor as what processes the revenue into something else. They already have some stuff for a thieves guild, so there's some illicit stuff in there already. Once they become a full faction you can have the random events include sabotage by rival factions, and they can sabotage them right back.
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Do it in stages.
Let them earn their power and loyalty in smaller quests and storylines, add new rules and responsibilities on a case by case basis.
That way neither they nor you will get overwhelmed by the potential of their actions. (pcs ruling a faction can make some extreme changes to their sorroundings, something both pcs and dms need to ease into.)
for example, they have a ship. does it come fully crewed? if so is the crew loyal to the characters? is there discontent individuals or groups hidden in the crew? potential for mutiny or betrayal?
if they don't have a crew (or the above scenario plays out) where do they find new crewmembers? what will these individuals demand for their service? (some of them might have higly specific demands or test before they will swear to a captain.) Who will be chosen as seconds in command? why? how will they manage? what will the other crewmembers/rivals do with this? Maybe it will become apparent that some of the crew are unfit for the job they are doing, maybe they will have to travel to seek out specific individuals
("they say he's the best navigator on the 9 seas, yes I said 9. they say he has even sailed to hell and back out again. just don't come between him and his booze captain, he needs to be pleasantly liquered at all times to keep his sanity")
and all of this before and during the actual raids and adventures. where by the way; crewmembers will die based on the pcs actions.
and when they are starting to get their bearings, there is always other factions and politics that will appear around them.
like I said take it in stages.
Congratz on trying and on just doing. I do believe that's the best way to learn.
Leadership:
The main problem many gm's have is that it more or less allow a player doubble actions (playing 2 chars) if you have many players at your table, that really can be annoying. On the other hand, if you have less than 4 players, it could help you a lot...
The important thing is to agree with the player BEFORE the cohort enters the game what rules apply.
-you as gm must approve the cohort. (perhaps build it after hearing players wishes)
-you as gm have final say
-even a cohort will leave if treated badly
-how big a part of the loot should the cohort have?
-is the cohort an active part of the adventuring group, or does he manage affairs from home base?
-more stuff like this... Remember that an idea can sound really nice, but fail miserably in play... Agree on terms if you need to change things if the doesn't work...
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Faction
This adventure sounds great. Remember that as the group becomes stronger, stronger enemies hear about the group... You can eventually have royal fleets empowered by mercenaries go hunting for them...
Make sure all your chars have the right mentality (and alignment) to become pirates...
Best of luck...
If you are going to try to nerf leadership, definitely give him a chance to retrain if he doesn't like it how it stands.
Don't worry too much about Leadership, it will play out, if you keep to the CRB and don't go overboard with additions to it. First and foremost you should be the one designing the characters and not the players. They are hiring NPCs, and they are your province. Don't treat them too much as secondary characters of the players, and especially refrain from any crazy builds.
If the player in question is - e.g. - looking for a martial oriented bodyguard, you can present him with several applicants which are likely to be where he is looking and he can take his pick, even if he does not know exactly what he is getting. No need to show them character sheets, if you keep them as real NPCs, although it is easier, if the players run (and roll for) them. In some cases it is easy for a player to learn what a NPC actually is, in others it is not. An "experienced pirate" can be a lot of things, from full fighter to rogue to a multiclass anything is feasible. Priests and other spellcasters are usually easy to identify by their magic.
Now...
The most important thing is that your players want to do something on their own. You probably don't appreciate how rare this is, but believe me, many players never do this. And this is the best thing that can happen, too: the guys are motivated and set their own goals, which is way better than nebulous honors and rewards by which many players set little store. Therefore you should play along and see what you can make out of this.
If you need inspiration, I recommend "Neverwinter Nights 2", if you don't know it already. You don't have to play it, reading about the PCs stronghold in that PC game will do. As a mini-game within NWN 2 the player gets to rebuild, man and manage his own stronghold, which was a much treasured part of the game by many players. Playing it or reading about it will give you several ideas on how to proceed, although you have to apply the ideas to a pirate setting instead of a castle.
Another source of inspiration is the old basic D&D box (green) or the hardcover rulebook, in which are simple rules on how to found and run a fiefdom, and a simple mass combat system.
I don't have the Ultimate Campaign book mentioned above, but I guess it will also have some useful information about PC holds.
Thanks so much for the advice guys, after reading all the above, i talked it over with the PC in question and he agreed to keep the cohorts to a minimum (sticking with a goblin he has raised to basically be a blunderbuss that sits on his shoulders and he swings his bastard sword around).
The faction adivce clears up a few things, especially the part about NWN2 (much loved favorite). So i've decided they're gunna have to find a place to setup, find craftsmen and other people to populate the place and then gunna go from there.
Cheers so much guys :D
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