Movtivating players to be something other than a swashbuckler?


Savage Tide Adventure Path


So my group has it in their head that they all want to be a piratey type, given the setup of this adventure. That's really great but I smell problems down the road if they have no arcane or divine spellcasters.

What sorts of ways could I motivate players to try some of these other classes?

One thought I had was to offer up some interesting variations on them, e.g. it's not a cleric, but a witch doctor, or not a wizard but a voodoo shaman. There is a book by Green Ronin called Skull & Bones that looks promsing, but does anyone have any other suggestions for them?


"Festivus wrote:

What sorts of ways could I motivate players to try some of these other classes?

The encounter on the Blue Nixie should be enough of a motivation for them to make up a more balanced party. It isn't your responsibility to have the party make up a party that is going to be balanced and playable. There are several encounters in "There Is No Honor" that are very rough and unless they have extra cash, and want to buy healing, they will need a healer in their party.

If they want to play all swashbucklers, let them. Sooner or later their strategy will fail and they will need to diversify. If you want to push that issue sooner, increase the difficulty of the encounter on the Blue Nixie to ensure "open character slots" when they finish.


Chris Manos wrote:
"Festivus wrote:

What sorts of ways could I motivate players to try some of these other classes?

The encounter on the Blue Nixie should be enough of a motivation for them to make up a more balanced party. It isn't your responsibility to have the party make up a party that is going to be balanced and playable. There are several encounters in "There Is No Honor" that are very rough and unless they have extra cash, and want to buy healing, they will need a healer in their party.

If they want to play all swashbucklers, let them. Sooner or later their strategy will fail and they will need to diversify. If you want to push that issue sooner, increase the difficulty of the encounter on the Blue Nixie to ensure "open character slots" when they finish.

Yes, the "Let God sort them out" scenario had crossed my mind, but in an effort to be proactive I was looking for game options to help them decide before we went the TPK route (possibly multiple times) leading to a quick end to the adventure path.


One of the major things to stress is that even though it's a pirate flavored campaign, there are other elements to it. Demons, dinosaurs, exploration, etc. It's still D&D and Sasserine fits into the baseline setting. I think the AP has to tread a fine line between being pirate flavored and just being a fad pastiche.

The thing to remind your players of is that, yes, pirates are a major element, but if everyone settles into being crusty buccaneers going "Arr!" before every statement like the Sea Captain on the Simpsons for an entire campaign, everyone is going to want to kill each other from roleplaying alone.

It would be a good idea to perhaps find some more themed approaches to the base classes, like witch doctors and things. Or even come up with ideas based entirely in the campaign. A ship wizard could be a big asset for any navy for protective spells and artillery, while a ship druid would be a no brainer for most crews because of their abilities to heal, control the weather, find food and potable water in a shipwreck situation, etc.


Festivus wrote:
What sorts of ways could I motivate players to try some of these other classes?

I agree that adding campaign flavor to the base classes could be really helpful. Find out what about the swashbuckler/pirate archetype appeals to each player and see if you can't twist that into one of the existing classes...

Sell one player on a Cleric of Olidammara - a down n' dirty street rat who wears light armor and fights with paired daggers. Add the Trickery and Luck domains, a cool background, and you've got a straight-out-of-PHB Cleric who'll "feel" more at home with swashbucklers than the run of the mill platemail-n'-mace type of Cleric.

Maybe instead of a Wizard, you encourage someone to try out a Beguiler or a Duskblade - both of which would feel right at home in a piratey/swashbucklery party. You'd lose the variety of a Wizard, but you'd still have some arcane magic going on.

Dark Archive Bella Sara Charter Superscriber

I like the voodoo shaman idea a lot. The warlock seems like it would fit into this sort of niche with some tweaking (which would also give you an excuse to bring down the power level if you are one of the many people that thinks that class is too powerful).

dizzyk wrote:


Sell one player on a Cleric of Olidammara - a down n' dirty street rat who wears light armor and fights with paired daggers. Add the Trickery and Luck domains, a cool background, and you've got a straight-out-of-PHB Cleric who'll "feel" more at home with swashbucklers than the run of the mill platemail-n'-mace type of Cleric.

This is a good idea, but you might want to try pushing the favored soul instead. IIRC, the class is already more lightly armored than the typical cleric. Plus, it pulls you out of the whole church organization that clerics frequently feel pulled into.

For rangers, swap out their two weapon fight/archery feats for pistols. Either give them the ability to fire pistols more often or allow them to fight two weapon style with a rapier plus a pistol (i.e., not Attacks of Opportunity for firing in melee). A grizzled old dog or *shudder* a parrot could be used for the animal companion.

dizzyk wrote:
Maybe instead of a Wizard, you encourage someone to try out a Beguiler or a Duskblade - both of which would feel right at home in a piratey/swashbucklery party. You'd lose the variety of a Wizard, but you'd still have some arcane magic going on.

The warmage also seems like it would fit into your players thinking. It's a flashy caster focused on combat, the type of guy you would want on a ship kicking ass and taking names. Again, this class tends to ride high on the power curve, so you may want to consider modifications to make it fit better.

Liberty's Edge

I'd also be a little wary of the magic classes in Skull and Bones. They're made for a campaign system a little different than standard D&D, so they're a little weaker in some ways. Certain levels of spells, I think 6th, they can only cast once a week; 8th or 9th once a month and you lose permanent hit points...
Voodoo's a b$~#~, man.
It has some fun stuff in it, though.


Well, our group had long nicknamed this campaign Tides of Pirates, from a long-running joke we had about a one-shot adventure my brother ran way back when. We are all going into this (I'm a player this time around) expecting to play pirates.

Surprisingly, only my sister has an even remotely pirate-esque character, and she's a bard. We have a rather large group (7), and 3 are straight melee: one is a knight, a holdover from the last great war; one is a savage Darfellan, who uses his bare hands and teeth against his foes; one is a monk, assigned to guard another member of our party.

That member is the real point to this post - another possible take on the theme. Sure, you could be a pirate, but why not be the Illumian Truenamer, complete with briar pipe and monocle? There's nothing quite like the Imperialist ex-big-game-hunter-type who spends his time in his library with a good brandy, some books, a smoking jacket and fez. I'm pretty sure the concept will just get funnier when we hit the Isle of Dread, too.

~kov.


I've had exacctly the opposite problem--not a single pirate-themed character in my game!


I would point out how well those other classes can function in a naval based game. A wizard who specializes in spells for shipboard combat can be a fearsome addition to a party (mass jump spells, burning other ships rigging to end a chase, etc., etc.). A cleric... well they just rock, but one who has access to the right domains can calm the seas and turn the very winds to the parties favor by the power of their faith. Rogues and fighters of course are already represented in your swashbuckling style.

The other classes can fit nicely as well. A bard adapts easily to swashbuckling, or is already there already! A Druid with aquatic animal companions could be a huge boon to the party as well.

Frankly, Wizards, Clerics and Druids have the ability to adapt from one set of circumstances better than the other PCs. From shipboard spells to standard dungeon fair, they will more likely be ready for anything should the right planning and forthought be done.

Sean Mahoney


You could convince a player to make a bard or a wizard/bladesinger. Both can use a rapier and use light armor or no armor. This works well with pirate and swashbuckler idea.

One could be a voodoo shaman and uses the druid class. The spirits help him to change in animal forms, give him spells. And he doesn't care about nature. And his animal companion could be a snake or a crow.

One could be a swashbuckler/divine crusader. Just be careful on the domain taken. This brings divine power while leaving the player play a character he wants.

One could be a favored soul of a sea god and uses a rapier, light armor/no armor.

A rogue/duelist is a nice swashbuckler even if he doesn't have the name.

Liberty's Edge

Festivus wrote:

One thought I had was to offer up some interesting variations on them, e.g. it's not a cleric, but a witch doctor, or not a wizard but a voodoo shaman. There is a book by Green Ronin called Skull & Bones that looks promsing, but does anyone have any other suggestions for them?

I think it was Arcana Unearthed that introduced the aquatic druid which could be an interesting way to bring in some devine magic. Perhaps a windcaller for ships with an albatross companion or a protector of jungles with a small spider monkey hanging on her neck returned to Sasserine to seak her family relatives. The PCs will be spending a long stretch on the Isle of Dread so any character with the survival skill or related abilities will be put to good use.

I like the idea of using a Warlock in a swashbuckling campaign, as it brings in an element of darkness & grittiness. Or, re-imagine Jim Hawkins from Treasure Island as an eager young wizard just learning to cast a sleep spell with a parrot familiar perched on his shoulder (use the stats for a raven since ravens can already "talk"). For players who enjoy damage dealing type mages you could suggest a storm mage who specialized in lightning & weather affects. Even the daughter of a sea hag who focuses on divination (psionics could be used for this as well).

For clerical types, players might choose to play a "Friar Tuck" sort of character who works among the ruffians to attempt to reform them, all done in a lighthearted way of course. This was reccommended in an article from Dragon #301 about incorporating various classes in to a swashbuckling campaign.


Festivus wrote:

So my group has it in their head that they all want to be a piratey type, given the setup of this adventure. That's really great but I smell problems down the road if they have no arcane or divine spellcasters.

What sorts of ways could I motivate players to try some of these other classes?

One thought I had was to offer up some interesting variations on them, e.g. it's not a cleric, but a witch doctor, or not a wizard but a voodoo shaman. There is a book by Green Ronin called Skull & Bones that looks promsing, but does anyone have any other suggestions for them?

I love Green Ronin's Skull & Bones book, but note two things:

It introduces firearms into the game (though in what is really a very balanced way) and it is based on a very low magic setting, so the spellcasters would be at a fairly steep disadvantage in the game.

- Ashavan


I just love the idea of a piratey bard singing old sea shanties to motivate the matey's.

Great ideas here, everyone!


Barbarian - Raging drunk whose down on his luck? Or savvy pirate with a temper. Remember even Conan was a pirate for a time.

Bard - "I'll tell ye a tale of the blackest sea..." says the old salt, aye he might be grizzled but his tales always have a way of bringing your spirits up.

Cleric - Ship's doctor, psychologist and blessing bringer all in one. A superstitious lot like sailors would truck well to have a god's favour on their side.

Druid - Witch Doctor, Voodoo Shaman or just adorant of the aquatic a person able to control the very waves of the sea is invaluable on any ship or in any port.

Fighter - Sword in one hand, Axe in the other and a bandolier of pistols to finish the job. Nobody messes with a fighter on a ship, nobody.

Monk - Not all monastaries are stone walls and depressing doctrine. The fleet of the one wind are a group of ships manned by monks dedicated to protecting vessels through pirate infested waters. People laugh when they see the unarmed sailors throw their grappling hooks at the pirate ships. There is no laughter when they balance perfectly along the tightropes and disarm every scurvy sailor on those pirate ships.

Paladin - Evil does not stop at a shoreline. On a ship every captain is King. The Paladin brings his righteous fury against every honourable sailor turned pirate, every galleon gone rogue and every captain who renegs on his word. For the gods watch the sea as much as they watch any city.

Ranger - Sometimes you have to go past a dock to track a bounty, a sea bound ranger is a canny fellow who is adept at fighting pirates and doing his chores about the rigging.

Sorcerer - The wizards study their books, but you know where magic really comes from. The true kings of the sea the DRAGONS. As much brine flows through your veins as blood, aye those missiles of magic might look like cannon balls and you surely use the ability to climb sheer surfaces Spider-like is useful on a ships deck. But you know that you are more than just the magical artillery. You should be a captain.

Wizard - You know the secrets of Voodoo, the ability to summon and transform loa into potent magical spells. Aye and Aye you can bring potent magics into this world, but what do the loa demand of you in return? That is the question.

Community / Forums / Archive / Paizo / Books & Magazines / Dungeon Magazine / Savage Tide Adventure Path / Movtivating players to be something other than a swashbuckler? All Messageboards

Want to post a reply? Sign in.
Recent threads in Savage Tide Adventure Path