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I have been working on a series of core classes for a pirate game I will run. So far, I've just been cherry picking stuff from other products, and so far I have balanced them well, but I would like a second opinion for this new class I've cherry-picked/made; the sea-dog. (And yes, for those of you who own it, most of this is taken from Skull & Bones and Thieves World). I am trying to make a class that is a skill-fiend and good at combat as well. Does this look balanced to you?
The Sea Dog
Whether crewing a pirate sloop, a merchantman, or a man o’ war, the sea dog is at home on the deck or in the rigging of any ship, large or small. The oceans hold a myriad of dangers, from lethal storms to enemy warships, and the sea dog is capable of dealing with any of them as a matter of course. To such men, land is less familiar than the rolling waves.
Adventures
Many sea dogs first go to sea in search of a life of high adventure. They are rugged and flexible enough to adapt to many situations both at sea and on shore, and willing to try almost anything if there’s a chance of wealth, or even just to satisfy their curiosity. Some sea dogs fight for a cause, whether in a navy for King and Country or as idealistic outlaws who believe that they can create a lawless utopia.
Characteristics
Sea dogs are hard workers who form communities. They tend to be loyal first to other sea dogs, and only secondarily to the officers of their ship. This loyalty does not usually extend to mutinous behavior or anything that puts the crew or the ship in danger.Sea dogs aren’t soldiers or willing fighters, but when it comes time to defend themselves and their ship from attack they join battle with uncommon ferocity. Sea dogs are typically superstitious; anything from a bird in the sky to the way a piece of rope coils on the deck can be a sign of bad luck or impending doom. The few sea dogs who aren’t tend to reject superstition entirely.
Alignment
Sea dogs can be any alignment, but most are neutral. Those of strongly evil or chaotic alignment seldom last long on civilized ships, but thrive in the company of pirates.
Hit Die: d10.
Class skills
The Sea Dog can choose any 10 skills to be class skills. They also receive Craft, Profession, and Seacraft.
Skill Points: 10 + Int modifier.
Base Attack Bonus = Full HD
Good Saves = Fortitude and Reflex
Poor Saves = Will
All of the following are class features of the sea dog.
Weapon and armor proficiency:A sea dog is proficient with all simple and martial weapons and with light and medium armor, but not with shields.
Enlightened/Superstitious (ex): Sea dogs are either highly superstitious or don’t believe in myths and superstition at all. At 1st level, the Sea Dog must choose to be either Superstitious or Enlightened. Superstitious Sea Dogs treat all beneficial spells that target them as if they were empowered. Note that this effect only applies to you, not to any others targeted by the same spell. Enlightened (those who don’t believe) receive a +2 bonus against all spells and spell-like abilities, and are immune to mind-affecting spells and spell-like abilities.
Close quarters (ex): Starting at 1st level, when fighting below decks or in any cramped space (where there is at least two walls on either side of the 5-foot square you occupy) the sea dog gains a +1circumstance bonus on damage rolls. This bonus increases to +2 at 5th level, +3 at 10th level, +4 at 15th level, and +5 at 20th level.
Dodge: The Sea Dog gains the Dodge feat for free at 1st level.
Favored ship (ex): At 2nd level, a sea dog may select a type of sea-going vessel as a favored ship. His expertise and training with that particular type of ship gives him a +2 bonus to all skill checks while aboard (or attempting to board) such a vessel. He may select a new favored ship at 6th level and each four levels thereafter (10th, 14th, and 18th level). Each time he gains a new favored ship, the bonus associated with every previous favored ship goes up by +1.
Jack-of-all-trades: At 2nd level, the sea dog can use any skill, even if the skill normally requires him to be trained.
Talent: As a sea dog increases in level, he gains special talents that grant him new abilities or improve his existing skills and abilities. At 3rd level and every four levels thereafter (7th, 11th, and so on), a sea dog chooses a talent from the list below. Some talents may be selected multiple times, as noted in their description.
• Consummate Professional (Ex): The sea dog is known for his candor and bearing when it comes to business dealings. He gains a +3 bonus to all Profession checks.
• Eidetic Memory (Ex): The sea dog has a near-foolproof memory for information, gaining a +2 circumstance bonus on all Knowledge checks, and may make Knowledge checks untrained. If the sea dog is the victim of any effect (magical or mundane) that alters memories, he adds his Intelligence bonus (if any) on his saving throw.
• Good Fortune (Ex): A sea dog is simply luckier than the average citizen. Once per day, he may reroll any failed attack roll, saving throw, ability check, skill check, or other d20 roll. He must take the result of the reroll, even if it is worse than the original result.
• Great Performer (Ex): The sea dog has an uncanny skill at performing in front of audiences. Choose one Perform skill. The sea dog may roll two dice and take the better result when making checks with this skill. In addition, the sea dog can bolster his companions when faced with grave danger. As a full-round action, the sea dog may make a Perform check against the save DC of the spell or effect afflicting an ally with 30 feet. For example, Corby, a stalwart thief, is crippled with fear, having failed a save against cause fear. The spell’s DC is 13. To negate this spell, Corby must succeed on a DC 13 Perform check.
• Healing Hands (Ex): The sea dog is a master of using mundane medicines and treatments, gaining a +2 bonus on Heal checks. When the sea dog uses the Heal skill to stabilize an unconscious character, that character also heals one hit point (a character can only receive this benefit once per day). When the sea dog uses Heal for long-term treatment of a patient, that patient heals an additional number of hit points each day equal to the sea dog’s Intelligence bonus (minimum +1).
• Intelligent Combatant (Ex): The sea dog uses his common sense and quick wits in combat, and can spot openings in an opponent’s defenses. When in combat, the sea dog may use his Intelligence modifier instead of his Strength modifier on melee attack rolls, and may use his Intelligence modifier instead of his Dexterity modifier on ranged attack rolls. This does not affect his AC, initiative, damage rolls and bonuses, or any other function of Physique and Dexterity in combat, nor does it alter the Physique and Dexterity prerequisites for any combat-oriented feats.
• Master Merchant (Ex): The sea dog is an expert at buying, selling and haggling. He receives a +4 bonus on all Profession (merchant) checks and on Diplomacy checks made to haggle or bargain. As well, the sea dog can raise or lower a price by a maximum 30% in each round of haggling, instead of the normal 25%.
• Skill Mastery (Ex): The sea dog becomes so proficient in the use of certain skills that he can use them reliably even under adverse conditions. He selects a number of skills equal to 3 + his Intelligence bonus (if any). When making a skill check with one of these skills, he may take 10 even if stress and distractions would normally prevent him from doing so. The sea dog may select this talent multiple times. Each time, he selects a new set of skills.
• Supportive (Ex): The sea dog has a gift for assisting others in difficult or complex tasks. If he successfully uses the aid another action to assist another character on a skill check, the sea dog gives that character a bonus equal to his own ranks in the skill (but not the applicable ability bonus or any other bonuses the sea dog might add to his own skill checks). When the sea dog uses the aid another action in combat, his ally gains a bonus on attack rolls equal to the sea dog’s own Intelligence bonus (if any).
• Trapfinding (Ex)A sea dog adds 1/2 her level to Perception skill checks made to locate traps and to Disable Device skill checks (minimum +1). A sea dog can use Disable Device to disarm magic traps.
Mobility: The Sea Dog gains the Mobility feat for free at 4th level.
Spring Attack: The Sea Dog gains the Spring Attack feat for free at 8th level.
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IDK; the "enlightened" +4 vs. spells looks kinda high.
Question: is this for a "high magic" game i.e. for Pathfinder, or a "magic is dieing" thing like "Skull and Bones?"
*edit* maybe an offset might be to require a save for the good stuff like "healing" and "buffing(?)" He's enlightened, so he doesn't believe in that gobbledygook.
I'm not sure the whole "enlightened" deal is that sellable in a campaign like Golarion either.
"Superstitious" vs. "enlightened" have new meanings in a world with what's going down there.
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I think the "enlightenment/superstitious" bit might work, but it'd require some fluff retooling of the basic campaign assumptions.
In Skull and Bones, for instance,
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Well, I'm not looking to take specific stuff out of skull & bones, so it's not really that important to me. Most likely, the players will just encounter NPC's with class levels like themselves. Actually, I can guarantee it. The worse thing they might encounter is Mind Flayers. Also, magic is treated more like a science than magic. Superstitions dealer with deeper issues, like not taking a woman on board a ship or killing an albatross; mainly, things that deal with luck and belief. There is no divine magic, for example.
Conceptually, why would a Sea Dog be able to find traps? I am not one who thinks this is a domain solely of a rogue but I do find it odd that this is an ability for a sea faring character.
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Conceptually, why would a Sea Dog be able to find traps? I am not one who thinks this is a domain solely of a rogue but I do find it odd that this is an ability for a sea faring character.
That's why it's an option, not something they just get. Also, this'll be a game where they will be searching for buried treasure (dungeon crawls) and the ships they overtake will have trapped treasure chests and such. It's a weak argument, to be sure, but no other class I'm offering have trapfinding, so I figured I'd throw it in as an option.
It looks like you really like your seadog. Its way ahead of the standard fighter and way ahead of Skull and Bones.
10 skill points and full BAB and more to boot. (Or should I say booty :))
I'd pull it back until the class promises they can be a good pirate and then allow players to use their level feats to develop further.
Sigurd
I was thinking about a pirate class just today as I was statting out a pirate crew for my PCs to go with. I have the Swashbuckler from Adamant and it's pretty good but it's not for Joe Skill Pirate and the Shackles Pirate p-class, though achievable at a reasonably early level, is kinda blah.
This is a bit much though. 10 skill points (more than ANYONE) on top of d10 HD, full BAB, and two good saves is a non starter. And you've put enough bennies in here for two classes.
I'd consider allowing one that hits the basics of either ranger (more fighty pirate/marine) or rogue (more saily pirate/sailor). Heck, it could be two classes, the "sea dog" and "reaver".
Sea dog:
d8 HD
2/3 BAB
8 sp
good fort, will
Reaver:
d10 HD
full BAB
6 sp
good fort
Definitely no medium armor, because then you get "mithril full plate pirates!" Light armor only. Give them the monk's AC bonus progression, usable on top of light armor.
Abilities I'd consider:
- Jack-of-all-trades for Sea Dog at 10 (not 2) like the bard
- fast movement +5ft. for Reaver
- mobility/spring attack stuff for Reaver
- your good fortune for both
- i like healing hands, trapfinding, even track for sea dogs
- I don't get all the high Int, eidetic memory, enlightened etc. stuff.
- pirates tend to use light weapons, so something beyond Finesse for that - maybe a damage or crit booster.
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I'm getting the feeling people think I should drop the Ba+ to 3/4 and the skill points to 8.
Will that make it balanced? I think so. I like to over-power a class and then tone it down, instead of the other way around.
As far as jake-of-all-trades, I thought it was stupid that they got it at 10th level. That's nine levels of skills not being used, and even at tenth, it's with no large bonuses, which is pretty useless at 10th (have you SEEN the DCs they have at tenth in the modules?). And for why? It's not really that powerful (in my opinion). I've been allowing my bard players to start with it, and it has not done a bit of damage. No, I think I'll let it sit.
As far as a reaver class, funny enough, I've already made it. Har! And my rouge class is called the Scurvy Dog. I was hoping the Sea Dog would fill the niche for a player who wants to play the normal sailor guy; like an expert on the high seas.
Of, and sigurd, what do you mean?
I'd pull it back until the class promises they can be a good pirate and then allow players to use their level feats to develop further.