Arya Semkhehay's page

At 1st level, a rogue gains Weapon Finesse as a bonus feat. In addition, starting at 3rd level, she can select any one type of weapon that can be used with Weapon Finesse (such as rapiers or daggers). Once this choice is made, it cannot be changed. Whenever she makes a successful melee attack with the selected weapon, she adds her Dexterity modifier instead of her Strength modifier to the damage roll. If any effect would prevent the rogue from adding her Strength modifier to the damage roll, she does not add her Dexterity modifier. The rogue can select a second weapon at 11th level and a third at 19th level.

If a rogue can catch an opponent when she is unable to defend himself effectively from her attack, she can strike a vital spot for extra damage.
The rogue's attack deals extra damage anytime her target would be denied a Dexterity bonus to AC (whether the target actually has a Dexterity bonus or not), or when the rogue flanks her target. This extra damage is 1d6 at 1st level, and increases by 1d6 every 2 rogue levels thereafter. Ranged attacks can count as sneak attacks only if the target is within 30 feet. This additional damage is precision damage and is not multiplied on a critical hit.
With a weapon that deals nonlethal damage (such as a sap, unarmed strike, or whip), a rogue can make a sneak attack that deals nonlethal damage instead of lethal damage. She cannot use a weapon that deals lethal damage to deal nonlethal damage in a sneak attack—not even with the usual –4 penalty.
The rogue must be able to see the target well enough to pick out a vital spot and must be able to reach such a spot. A rogue cannot sneak attack while striking a creature with total concealment.

At 1st level, a pirate becomes adept at moving on ships, boats, and similar vessels. She gains the Sea Legs feat as a bonus feat, even if she does not meet the prerequisites.

At 2nd level, a rogue can avoid even magical and unusual attacks with great agility. If she succeeds at a Reflex saving throw against an attack that normally deals half damage on a successful save, she instead takes no damage. Evasion can be used only if the rogue is wearing light armor or no armor. A helpless rogue does not gain the benefit of evasion.

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 or no armor, when fighting in an environment where such structures exist, the rogue incorporates them into her movement, and does not have to move in a straight line when making either a charge attack or bull rush combat 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.

1) Write five things about your character's concept and background - five things that you think are the most essential parts of your character.

- Arya’s family moved to Siren’s Bay from Cseza when she was very young.

- Growing up, she always wanted to be a dancer.

- She dropped out of the Telvanta Dance Academy because she couldn’t handle the rules; she has a rebellious, chaotic spirit.

- Arya makes her living as a sailor, because she wants to see more of the world.

- The tattoos covering her body are a record of her life story so far.

2) List two goals for the character that you, as a player, think would be cool to see accomplished in-game.

- It would be a dream come true for Arya to captain her own ship, with no one to tell her what to do and nothing holding her back from travelling wherever the wind takes her.

- Arya wants to find the treasure hoard of the fearsome pirate Captain Mitabu Shikaba.

3) List two secrets about your character. One is a secret the character knows, one is a secret that involves her but that she is not actually aware of yet.

- When she was a child, Arya snuck into the Meravanchi’s private garden and overheard Zebula make a deal with Mayor Lidu. She slipped away unseen and has never told anybody a word of what she heard.

- Arya is unaware that the buried treasure she believes her map leads to was actually retrieved long ago, by Captain Shikaba himself and it now lies deep within the dungeons of the pirate’s lair.

4) Describe three people that are tied to the character through blood, romance, or honor. Two of them are friendly to the character, one is hostile. All can do something useful for you, if you can get the situations to line up.

- Arya’s father, Namere “Nate” Semkhehay is a wealthy merchant. Nate disowned her when she dropped out of the dance academy to become a sailor.

- Arya is currently involved in a romantic relationship with, Sikta “Ray” Huxley, a member of the tattooist guild who practices her trade in the Sails district.

- Amella Venkalie saved Arya from drowning when she fell overboard in a storm, Arya feels indebted to the down-on-her-luck captain.

5) Describe three memories that your character has. They don't have to be elaborate, but they should provide some context and flavor.

- Arya has many memories of being bullied while growing up, this was usually for the fact that her family came from Cseza.

- On the night her father threw her out of home, Nate had just found out that Arya was failing her schooling. Arya confessed she hated the strict rules and constant bullying she received at the academy and wanted to become a sailor. After a long shouting match Arya found herself standing on the curb, alone and in tears. It was three years ago now but it’s a memory that is hard to forget.

- Arya remembers the pain and rush of adrenaline she felt while getting her first tattoo. It is a small flower, hidden away somewhere she could hide it from her family. She snuck out to get it when she was 14.

Born of Human parents in Cseza, Arya Semkhehay belongs to a well-to-do middle class family. Arya's parents travelled to Siren's Bay very early on in her life. They didn’t agree with the political climate in the Empire and wanted a new life for their children in the free city-state. At first the family had a rough start in their new home town. Not long after they arrived in the city-state, Arya’s mother, Lyssa, died in childbirth. Her father, Nate, attempted to establish himself as a jeweler, but did not do well. Eventually, Nate joined the more profitable merchant business and accumulated a substantial fortune. Arya has two older brothers. Djehi and Ismar, however she was always closest with her younger brother, Bobecc. This was especially the case once her father remarried and she received two new half-sisters, Kiandra and Maria.

In her early life, Arya was easy prey for bullies, and anyone out to make themselves look tough. This was all thanks to her Csezan heritage. The other children would call her names, and make fun of her family, especially before her father managed to find success in the merchant business. On more than one occasion Arya was left bloody and bruised by some older bullies. After one particularly rough beating, Arya found herself in the arms of a kind stranger, who took her in and cleaned her wounds. The man was an old sailor, and while he nursed her back to health he told her of all the places he had traveled to and the people who lived there. This chance encounter inspired a wanderlust within her. The sailor also told her tales of the fearsome pirate captain Mitabu Shikaba, known on the high seas as “the Shark Lord”. Before she left the man pulled an old map from out his boot and gave it to her, he told her that it was a map to the pirate’s buried treasure, but neither he nor anyone she has shown it to since can decipher the clues scrawled on the parchment.

As an adolescent, Arya started to stand out for a different reason. She was quite an attractive young girl, and some even started to see the fact that she was Csezan as something of a draw, especially rebellious young men looking to annoy their more patriotic parents. Arya paid little attention to the boys chasing after her though. Arya was an adrenaline junkie, and she and her friends would take turns daring one another to take risks and complete challenges around town. Racing through the markets, climbing up ships rigging, or performing other dangerous tasks to chase the high.
For several years, Arya attended the Telvanta Dance Academy, where she pursued her dream of becoming a dancer. Although she was a talented young student, and got on well with her teacher, Alma Telvanta, her time at the academy was not a happy one. Arya could not handle the strict rules and regulations of academic life, and again she found herself the victim of bullies, whether they were discriminating against her because of her race or just because they were jealous of her looks, or skill, the other students made life hell for Arya and she dropped out of school before she turned fifteen.

When she dropped out of school, her family disowned her, and she found herself out on the street. She ended up living in the sails district, where she met Sikta “Ray” Huxley. Arya quickly fell deeply in love with Sikta, the first person in her life who Arya felt she could tell anything to. Soon, Arya moved in with her lover in the sails district and started looking for work as a sailor to help support their life together.
For the past two years sailing has been Arya’s life. She took to the profession quickly. Her years in the dance academy taught her a lot about how to move and this has served her well climbing the rigging and navigating through crowded decks. Arya has served on several voyages under Captain Amella Venkalie, although lately it seems like Amella’s luck has dried up, and with it so have Arya’s job prospects.

Arya is independent and free-spirited. She has an easy going and carefree approach to most situations although she can be unpredictable and hot-headed at times. She still respects people’s personal liberties and values their company, making a trustworthy and honest friend. She has little regard for law, order, or social standards and does not respond well to authority but would never betray a family member, comrade, or friend. She believes it is immoral to attack an unarmed foe or to ever harm an innocent creature. She has inherited a great wanderlust from growing up around the sailors around Siren’s Bay, and used to dream of taking a ship to faraway lands, especially in times where she saw it as a way to escape her bullies, although she still feels Siren’s Bay is her home.

Arya is still looking for a true calling in her life. She feels like there's more to explore in the world than what she’s seen of it and longs for a life where she can be truly free and happy.

Arya is 17 years old, stands 5' 11" tall and weighs roughly 127 lbs.
Arya’s thick, auburn hair is short and wavy in the front, and longer in the back where several thick dreadlocks are double braided and tied back under an old bandana. Her hair is decorated with numerous beads, bones and old coins that she has tied into it. She has a strong, angular face, high cheekbones and thick eyebrows. Her almond-shaped eyes are a bright blue-green, like two coastal lagoons, contrasting vibrantly against her warm-brown complexion. She has the thin, graceful build of a dancer, although she has put on some more muscle in her arms and shoulders since leaving the academy.

She has a tattoo of a small anchor on her cheek, just below the outer corner of her right eye, a reminder of her first time at sea. Among a large sleeve tattoo, the constellation Usherine sprawls across her right forearm, roughly resembling the shape of a great whirlpool. In an ancient society, this constellation was seen as the representation of the goddess of the ocean, which is how it received the name still used today.
Arya has quite a plain wardrobe. Her favourite shirt, once quite a fanciful blouse is now little more than a dirty scrap of fabric, grime and muck. Both sleeves are missing and there's two gaping holes where they once were which reach almost all the way down to her waist. Her dusty, brown pants aren't in much better condition. She wears a small scarf around her neck and has it wrapped around her face in a way that covers the chin. It's ragged and stained, but it smells of the sea and she liked to keep it close.
She accentuates her plain clothes with as much cheap jewelry as she can afford. Copper and brass adorn her wrists, arms, fingers and toes, just about anywhere she can fit a ring, a cuff, a bracelet or a bangle she'll wear one.
When she's out at sea Arya wears a grubby old navy officer’s coat. It's in quite poor condition. Aside from the holes, the left arm is completely missing, as are most of the buttons and embellishments. But at least it helps her stay relatively warm and dry, even if only a little.

Arya spends most of her free time relaxing in a hammock strung between a tree and the back wall of Sikta’s tattoo parlour, a drink in her hand and usually a fresh-picked fruit of some kind in the other. She daydreams a lot, or watches “Ray” work on her clients. When she’s feeling in the mood for something more entertaining, she likes to head over to the Smiling Shipwright Tavern in the Azure district. The walls of the tavern are littered with nautical memorabilia,and it is often packed full of sailors. Arya can often be found drinking at the bar, playing dice in the corner or even up dancing on one of the tables, on a good night.

Arya is a chaotic good rogue, using the unchained rules and following the pirate archetype. She will focus on using her rapier in battle, utilizing combat maneuvers and flanking to try and deal out sneak attack damage whenever possible. Outside of combat she will rely on good diplomacy or the ability to bluff to handle most situations, although she will also be able to sneak around and make use of her acrobatics and climbing abilities if the needs arise.
Rogue Talents: The following rogue talents complement the pirate archetype: black market connections, combat trick, finesse rogue, firearm training, hold breath, rope master, and strong stroke.
Advanced Talents: The following advanced rogue talents complement the pirate archetype: getaway master, hard to fool, and unwitting ally.