Nalz's page

One thing that we have done (in my home games) is give rogues the Shadow Child trait from the 'Council of Thieves' AP. (As a free bonus trait.) This allows rogues without dark-vision to function better than most characters of their race in dim light, which my group feels is thematically appropriate.

Edit:

It also allows them to keep their sneak attack in dim light, which we like as trying to knife someone in an alley at night shouldn't negate sneak attack damage.

This ideal is Appealing to me more and more, now just how to present her...

You could always use one (or more) epithet(s) in place of a proper name. I think it would be cool to have multiple as it might reflect different cultures/races/groups perceptions of death, but as she is an actual being this might be a little weird in your world.

The epithets themselves (as in ancient Greek literature) could very in their tone - describing physical features (such as Aphrodite Kallipyge - Aphrodite with beautiful buttocks - or, more famously, Athena glaukopis - bright-eyed Athena), inherent qualities (Melaina Nox - Gloomy/Dark Nox), place of origin (Delios - the Delian [ie. Apollo]), etc.

All you need to do then is come up with a list of adjectives, which you feel describe your "Death" (wow, never thought I would type that...), and then formulate them into epithet style appellations. (The x lady, x one, she of x, etc.)

Hey all,

So here is the background:

My group is currently playing through the Skull and Shackles AP (we are somewhere in book 2 - see spoiler below) and everyone is having a blast.

Recently, we had a PC die and this sparked a debate as to whether it was appropriate to raise dead/resurrect/reincarnate a PC (who had not left any sort of documentation suggesting that was their desire) when we wouldn't do so for anyone else in the crew. Ultimately, we agreed that for this campaign no one would get raised, unless they had actively expressed a desire for this to happen at some point in the past. (For the record, we ruled that the PC closest to the dead PC had heard him express such a desire as we didn't want to punish him based on a spur of the moment decision.)

I fully support our decision, but it did get me to thinking - my character is not really one for forethought and he tend to drop quite a bit so he might have to be replaced at some point in the near future.

Now, I really have no idea what I would play if my current character bites it and I was hoping you kind folks could make some suggestions.

Here is the current party:

1) Lucius Rackham - Captain (CN; Human, Oracle of Waves 5) [Me]: He was made captain purely because he was the most likable/extroverted member of the party. He is a nice guy (just too lazy to be of Good alignment) and kind of a fop, spending too much money on cloths, jewels, and expensive wine. As the only character to max profession sailor he is currently the helmsman as well as captain. He also has solid social skills and acts as party face most of the time. When it comes to combat he is alright - I decided to play a more "balanced" character and thus fell into the classic jack-of-all-trades trap. He is also the only source of party healing (except for Sandara, which I believe Corvin is going to pick up as a cohort at level 7).

2) Corvin Shecuranz - Quartermaster [I guarantee you I misspelled that name...] (CG; Half-Elf, Ninja 5): He is the conscience of our motley crew, quick to tell us when we have gone too far. He is also an economic wiz and manages the ship's funds. He has an intense hatred for "One-Eye" (the non-disruptive, fun roleplaying kind). Outside of combat he acts as secondary face, and does the other things generally considered the purview of rogue-like classes (perception, disable device, etc.). In combat, the build is a fairly standard reasonably optimized ninja.

3) "One-Eye" - Bosun (CE; Aquadic Half-Orc, Sea Reaver Barbarian 5): He acts as a foil to Corvin, constantly pushing us towards more violent acts. After dying, he returned a bit more muted having seen the terrible afterlife that awaits him. He returns Corvin's hatred with aggressive apathy. He is the guy we turn to when something needs a good intimidating. He is probably the most combat capable character in our group and consistently dishes out really solid damage.

4) Rathion - Ships Wizard (CN; Drow, Shianti bloodline [?] Sorcerer 5): He is our stereotypical creepy wizard, who spends most of his time performing strange experiments in his alchemists lab. When he does emerge he generally acts as tertiary face and spell support. It is the player's first time playing any kind of caster, but he is picking it up fairly quickly and has been devastating in the last couple combats.

For this AP, our group is using 20pb and most pathfinder material is allowed - I say most because the GM has the right to veto anything, but it hasn't happened yet.

Questions (finally, that post went longer than intended):

1) So given our current party composition, what do you all think would be a reasonable replacement character for Lucius?

Some things to consider - I am leery of running without any healing. That being said, I don't really want to play another Oracle or Hedge Witch (which was my last character) so I am willing to be convinced to give it a go. Also, I am not a huge fan of dumping stats. I am willing to do it, but I generally like to have a solid roleplay related reason. Finally, I would really like to be able to make a meaningful contribution in combat (which is where I currently feel like I am lagging).

2) How would you go about introducing a new character into the insular culture of a pirate ship and getting them promoted reasonably quickly to an officer position? (Both general and group specific advice appreciated.)

Whew, I think that is everything. Thank you to everyone who managed to slog through my sloppy prose.