About Jacques LacrimoisiGrandam Lacrimoisi was an infamous pirate captain in the Shackles, renowned for her dark magic and her ghost ship Nightmare sailed by the spirits of the dead. However, according to her daughter when telling the tale to her own son Jacques, these legends were all blown out of proportion-- mere stories to frighten soldiers and other pirates. Grandam Lacrimoisi was a wicked woman, and when she died she suffered for her misdeeds, and those who come after her suffer because of her evil reputation. But Jacques liked these stories and wanted to believe them with all of his heart. He grew up resenting his mother's domineering influence, who was determined to keep him safe and practicing a respectable trade. As a teenager going through the attic of his ancestral home, he discovered an old chest made of black lacquered wood with the Lacrimoisi family crest carved into it. Inside, he found a note of warning: it said that Grandam Lacrimoisi had left these treasures as heirlooms for her family, and invoked woeful curses upon anyone else who disturbed them. Beneath this were beaded charms and fetches made of bones, gold coins, jewels, several weathered books and journals, scrolls, rolled-up maps, daggers, an exotic heavy blade, and finally a heavy, dusty tome filled with magic writing and bearing a weeping skull on the cover. Sitting there in the dusty eaves, he finally knew that it was all true, and he could see his destiny before him. He returned downstairs with a new swagger, and ceased to obey or even listen to his mother. He practiced night and day shadow-fencing with the rapier, and began his study of the dark arts. After several more years, his long-suffering mother became very sick and died. Taking this as a sign that he was finally free to leave his home and become a pirate sailing the Shackles, Jacques closed up her shop and burned down the house, destroying all of her possessions. Her bones, he kept. Theme Song
Description
He generally believes that all creatures are but tools for his own advancement, including evil creatures like demons or the undead. However, having been himself recently press-ganged into service, his enthusiasm for the enslavement of other people has severely lessened. Following his grandam's example, he views a pirate crew as a deadly machine with necessarily interlocking parts, and he feels loyalty, care, and concern for his fellow crewmembers, whatever he may think of them personally. He is passionate and easily excited, and does not mind charging ahead in battle. He is also quite vengeful, taking a long time to forget slights and betrayals and vulnerable to petty acts in the pursuit of payback. Like many other pirates he likes strong drink, music, and dancing. Most of all he likes amassing supernatural knowledge, and using that knowledge to aid his crew in their black-hearted endeavors. A note about roles:
I've played the first part of this adventure before, and one of the things that is very tricky is managing the players' expectations about their characters' roles. It seems common to me that many players see their character as the future captain of the group's pirate ship. However, if everyone wants to be the captain, there will be a lot of tension in the group because everyone can't be in charge. I've been in two groups that fell apart relatively early on in this adventure path because of this problem.
That said, I don't see Jacques as a leader-- not of living crew members, anyway. He is more of an enforcer, probably good as master of arms or first mate depending on everyone else. I suppose if no one else wants to be the captain Jacques could gravitate into that role, but I will tend to play his high Influence as being very Intimidate-heavy rather than Diplomacy-oriented. But that might be okay, I don't know. He is also a hopeful necromancer, though it might take a little while for the associated spells to come on line. However, I have played with people in the past who could not see their characters working with someone who can raise the dead, which is an unfortunate thing to realize once we are all in a game together. I feel like pirate stories blend really well with ghost stories ("You best start believin' in ghost stories, Miss Turner-- yer in one!") and I would hope that anyone interested in this game isn't going to be morally opposed to my character occasionally casting spells that might be considered evil by Golarion standards. :) Race Human
Size Medium Str 10 (+0) (10[base])
Hit points 11 (1d10[10]+1[CON]) AC 16 (10+4[DEX]+2[armor])
Initiative +6 (+4[DEX]+2[trait]) Speed 30' (30[light load]) Fortitude +3 (+2[base]+1[CON])
BAB +1
Weapons
Armor
Human Bonus Feat, Skilled Favored Class Bonuses +1/6 magic talent (Soul Weaver) Background Sailor Traits Cruelty (Drawback, -2 attack vs nondying or nonhelpless creatures when there are dying or helpless creatures), Irrepressible (Faith, use CHA for Will saves vs charm/compulsion), Reactionary (Combat, +2 initiative) Feats Combat Expertise* (EitR), Deadly Aim* (EitR), Deft Maneuvers* (human), Power Attack* (EitR), Selective Channeling (level 1), Waterway Caster (Sailor), Weapon Finesse* (EitR) Skills Acrobatics +5 (1[ranks]+4[DEX]), Athletics +4 (1[ranks]+0[STR]+3[class]), Escape Artist +5 (1[ranks]+4[DEX]), Influence* +7 (1[free ranks from Fencing]+3[CHA]+3[class]), Perception* +2 (1[ranks]+1[WIS]), Profession* (sailor) +5* (1[free ranks from background]+1[WIS]+3[class], +2[*sailing a ship, Pirate Training]), Sense Motive +5 (1[ranks]+1[WIS]+3[class]), Survival +5 (1[ranks]+1[WIS]+3[class]) Languages Common, Polyglot Johnsonfinder Fighter (Tactician) 1 combat talents x1, combat training (Expert/Charisma), martial tradition, stamina, strategic training, weapon training (heavy blades) Johnsonfinder Soul Weaver (Dual Channeler) 1 casting (High-Caster, CL +1), casting tradition, channel energy 1d6, magic talents x1, master of life and death, potent channeler, spell pool Custom Martial Tradition (Bloodthirsty Swashbuckler):
Jacques studied to use his blade not just to feint but also to stop-cut and even draw out the pain of his strikes with bloody gashes. His fighting style is brutal and merciless as much as it is nimble and deliberate.
Bonus Talents:
Combat Talents Duelist sphere* (from tradition), Blooded Strike
Equipment sphere
Fencing sphere* (from tradition), Fatal Thrust
Custom Casting Tradition (Ancestor Possession):
Jacques channels the spirit of his granddam-- part ancestor, part folk hero-- into his body to perform magic.
Magic Type: Divine
Magic talents Death sphere* (from Master of Life and Death), Reanimate
Illusion sphere* (from bonus talents), Illusion, Trick
Life sphere* (from Master of Life and Death), Cure, Invigorate, Restore
Equipment
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