Swashbuckler fighter, raging sailer barbarian, or good ole pally.
you look like you need someone who hits hard and can take some serious damage.
a lightly armored switch hitter martial would be best. mobility is important and check penalties will badly hurt you.
but a lightly armored 3/4 bab martial pseudocaster works too.
or a melee druid with a powerful melee pet if someone else takes up the ranged role.
raging sailer barbarian
this one will be strong to the finish 'cause he eats his spinach.
A fighter might be good, though, or a paladin, depending on how the path handles heavy armored warriors at sea (you don't want to sink down to Davey Jones' Locker if you end up in the drink wearing full plate), or if there's enough path-appropriate gear for a decent lightly armored swashbuckling/buccaneer build to still get a decent AC.
An ddon't forget Barbarian rage powers are not just combat only. Raging Climber, Raging Leaper, and Raging Swimmer all fantastic on a ship or in a battle between ships.
I think your group is missing a true brute. Maybe a Barbarian or a Straight up swashbuckling fighter or a fighter/duelist.
Melee Druid with a nasty Melee companion.
the huge strength of a big cat makes swimming much easier for it, and it deals nasty pounce damage.
I also say Barbarian. Besides wrecking in melee combat, they also get 4+int for skills, so as long as you don't dump int you can easily be able to help outside of combat, though the lack of them being class skills hurts a bit.
A zen archer. he can be in melee or ranged! decent skills, good saves, and good defenses.
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An Inquisitor of Besmara
Paladins are not a good class to have in this AP, I heavily discourage them.
A cavalier might be a good option as well. Mounts might be a bit odd on a boat, but consider having a flying mount or a dangerous one with a swim speed.
A Druid with an ape animal companion.
A sea ranger has been suggested a couple of times. That isn't a bad idea.
A monk of some sort, maybe a tetori, a drunken master, or a flowing monk. Each seem to have something that makes me think pirate.
Barbarian has also been suggested and I second those.
A summoner might be cool. The eidolon would be the brute and you stand back and assist.
A rogue isn't a bad idea. You won't be a heavy hitter but you would offer some great support in and out of combat.
beastmorph vivisectionst is surely a good pick
how about a summoner with a sea serpent as eidolon?
As other commented a ranger might be good too, your party got the whole spectrum of magic very well covered.
You could even flavour a ninja into something more pirate-y.
The one thing your party might lack (just a little bit) is ranged combat. Gunslinger musketeer is also very pirate like and would go well with the rest.
Altough armor only gives normal AC penalty on swim, I wouldn't recommend heavy armor fighter because of flavour. (altough some say that you actually can swim in armor, it just won't enter my mind)
Without giving spoilers the Sea Reaver barbarian gets a lot of traction wiith his early abilities in this ap.
an Aldori Swordlord Fighter might be what your looking for,
Aldori Swordlord
Figure him out as a Will Turner from Pirates of the Caribbean and have fun!
There are so many archetypes with nice pirate flavor, it makes me sad nobody seems to play them in s&s.
The freebooter ranger is really nice, too. Not only flavorful.
I've seen a ranged combatant mentioned a couple times, is that something the party needs more than melee? Should I try for some sort of switch hitter where I can cover both decently, if not exceptionally well? So many choices!
It's never a bad idea for a melee specialist to have a ranged backup. I've seen too many fights come to a near standstill because of a lack of this basic versatility. ...even if it's only picking up some javelins.
I've seen a ranged combatant mentioned a couple times, is that something the party needs more than melee? Should I try for some sort of switch hitter where I can cover both decently, if not exceptionally well? So many choices!
A zen archer doesn't provoke AoO's when it fires in melee, has good skills, good mobility, good saves, and good ac. I suggest a dwarven zen archer because dwarves are awesome and zen archers are awesome.
Several Ideas have already been posted I agree with...
Your original Idea is a great one. He can do damage and give utility.
A summoner is another nice idea because it adds a brute(your pet) and utility casting.
A Ranger (I would consentrate on Archery) could be devestating from a Crows Nest.
A ninja reflavored as a pirate sounds really fun and Ninja has plenty of tricks.
Honestly your group is fleshed out well enough that you should be able to play whatever you want. Just pick whatever you would have fun playing.
Disarming tactics would probably be useful...someone with a reach weapon that can disarm? Buckler shield and a reach weapon. Improved Shield Bash.
I like the fighter for the CMB feats.
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I've heard a lot of people mention the issue of a fighter in plate sinking, but wouldn't the armor training offset that? Besides, except for the most ridiculous full-plate (-7 check, if I recall?) the Fighter's Str mod and class bonus should outweigh the penalty, anyway.
I personally would like a lightly armored, mobile fighter for flavor reasons; but optimization-wise, a core Fighter is a solid bet.
Well, since you mentioned gunslinger, there is an archetype in ARG for a gunslinger called a buccaneer, it sounds really cool. I think it's human only.
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Were doing this AP next, I'm leaning toward Sea Singer Bard variant (monkey familiar!) but considered a melee Druid as jumping overboard and turning into a shark is just plain awesome.Argh! Lol, that does sound cool! I would consider a Bard, but I don't want to step on the toes of the other player in the group who wants to play a Bard. Might have to look into the Druid variants and see what fun can be had with them as well.
I would do the Druid, but in our last AP the barbarian PC was named Kegjack played by a guy who loves monkey t-shirts... "We call the monkey, Kegjack...." will be uttered by me every "parley".
As mentioned before your party member's have most aspects covers. Bard & cleric for the diplomacy, buffs, and healing, magus makes for a good combat caster and can be deadly in melee, and finally the witch to back up everyone. Now i am basing this off of the bog standard classes but archetypes should change these to much. Just to throw something different out why not look at a Divine Hunter Paladin or a gunslinger aiming for the sword and pistol feat? The Divine Hunter provides a Ranged warrior who can fight up close and personal if need be. The gunslinger allows you to be a switch hitter and still provide ranged support in melee combat or allow for cinematic sequences where you fight with multiple pistols using by he quick draw feat alongside a rapier, elven curved blade, or maybe even the infamous cutlass? Hmmm I might just have to make a Pirate Captain NPC...
Either way best of luck with your character and campaign. And remember an infamous Captain's famous saying "the best things in life only come to those who are willing to risk everything to seize them."
Thanks for the ideas and encouragement. The more I've read up on the Gunslinger, the more I like the idea of a sword and pistol wielding character, I just have to figure out how best to pull it off. I know I could take the Buccaneer archetype for the sword and pistol feat, but I'm not sure if I want to lose out on one of the regular Grit feats that would be replaced. One idea that was mentioned to me in another thread that was a similar idea was to use Gunslinger and Ranger for the switch hitter combo. I'd love to hear more ideas for creating that type of character if you have any.
I just finished a mock up for a NPC using my NPC system if you want I can send you a link when it gets posted on my blog.
She is a Elf gunslinger built to get Sword & Pistol feat ASAP and have multiple pistols to maximize her combat potential using muzzleloading pistols. This is assuming firearms to be uncommon but not rare. I will tweak her based on the tech level. While this seems like a boring build as it would be planned far ahead I find it makes it simple in that you can spend less time leveling up and focus on the game.Once you get the Sword and Pistol feat you might should get Weapon Finesse next or even before you get S&P. Which Now that I think about it is a better idea.
I personally avoid Multiclassing as I like the simplicity of single class characters. But if you do it really depends on what you are fighting. If it is general foes I.E. neutral enemies then ranger might not be bad. If it is evil foes like undead etc then a divine hunter is an excellent alternative unless your GM makes it to where you can't synergize the classes. It effectively makes you into what the holy gun archetype should have been instead of the PoS it ended up.
I don't usually deal with APs as I enjoy world building. Although I really like the concept of the Kingmaker & jade regent APs.
In summary I this build captures how any self-respecting sea fairing person would fight. You can add to the feel by using a cutlass Though idk if it is compatible with Weapon Finesse... I really hope that made sense.
Ah I forgot to mention that Sword & Pistol requires feats you should already be looking at being a ranged character.
RogueMG
Here is another idea. Kinda weird but effective.
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Empyreal Tattooed Sorc 1/Zen Archer Monk 4/Arcane Archer 10/Sorc 5
Empyreal Tattooed Sorcerer 1 - Use Wis instead of Cha for all Sorc abilities and you gain a familiar.
Zen Archer Monk 4 - A host of archer feats, Wis to hit with ranged attacks, Point Blank Master feat.
Arcane Archer 10 - 7 Caster levels, Imbue Arrow, and a ton of other nice Archer abilities.
All total you use Wisdom for almost everything. Your a 13th level caster (6th level spells), +16 BAB (4 attacks). Wisdom to Hit and Damage(with the right enchant), AC, Will saves, Spell DCs, Bonus spells, ect.
And your a tattooed no armor wearing bad mofo with unarmed combat and a bow. Id say that fits a Pirate campaign pretty well.
I think I remember a Feat that gives you a lesser form of favored enemy. Though I might be thinking of 3.x. Personally favored enemy is OK but the benefits of staying one class is usually much better. The build will be posted probably around Friday. But it only includes background stuff that must be inferred to understand the build. If there even is a build to infer. Tell you what you help me give her a unique name and title I will help you plan out a build that is flavorful.
What do you say? All I need to know is the StatGen method and any special restrictions.
Also on introducing a paladin maybe you seek to make the waterways safe from evil?
O-o I think I might just try have to 'borrow' that build Dragonamedrake.
Though my next question might make me seem like an idiot but as I haven't played an AP I have no clue about this.
How many levels do you normally advance through?
RogueMG
Ah then a multiclass character might actually be more rewarding.
And talk to your GM about houseruling the alternate alignments. I have always done this as the standard paladin feels like a Christian Knight ala the Crusades with downloading and I try to get away from it.
I have it similar to the cleric and I always have my players build a code personalized to them and their deity. This helps make then feel like a champion of their deity. And it increases player agency.
The auras might need to be slightly altered but are easily kept balanced and very few really need dramatic changing some just need a flavor change.
Though alternate paladins would make good Archetypes for a future expansion.
I say make your character Lawful Good but with a Chaotic edge when it comes to overly oppressive laws and regulations. Or even CG and seeking to set every oppressed person free. Any abilities relating to order or law become chaos and freedom.
I am actually working on this for my blog as well... why is it you seem to be pulling this from me?
Ah! You might check pathfinderdb.com for an archetype or alternate class.
Also I ain't to good with point buys... I like the concept of it representing the character training their attributes... perhaps use venture captain to build your characters stats then put them into/onto your sheet.
Personally I think maybe the Zen Archer Monk might be better than ranger.
Though I think there is a ranger archetype based on firearms.
Hope this helps you... hmm wonder if you could house rule the arcane archer to work with firearms...
};P
RogueMG
P.S. how does Shar'ys sound for an elf pirate?
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All total you use Wisdom for almost everything. Your a 13th level caster (6th level spells), +16 BAB (4 attacks). Wisdom to Hit and Damage(with the right enchant), AC, Will saves, Spell DCs, Bonus spells, ect.And your a tattooed no armor wearing bad mofo with unarmed combat and a bow. Id say that fits a Pirate campaign pretty well.
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..??? What "enchant" lets you use your wisdom bonus for damage?
OK a think I think I have a build down though it depends on how you feel about the progression.
First 4 levels in Ranger with either combat style being acceptable for a sword & pistol build. Hunter Bond take the party option as it will be more versatile than a weak animal companion.
Lvl 5+ being gunslinger. It will cause you to progress slower as a slinger but in the end based on a level cap of 15 it should get you the Sig. Deed feat.
Note: ask your GM if you will hit lvl 15 before the final adventure. If you won't drop the 4the level of ranger you will lose the ability to share you favored bonus but it should let you get Sig. Deed at lvl 14. If it would end before lvl 14 I recommend cutting out the lvls of ranger.
RogueMG
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All total you use Wisdom for almost everything. Your a 13th level caster (6th level spells), +16 BAB (4 attacks). Wisdom to Hit and Damage(with the right enchant), AC, Will saves, Spell DCs, Bonus spells, ect.And your a tattooed no armor wearing bad mofo with unarmed combat and a bow. Id say that fits a Pirate campaign pretty well.
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.??? What "enchant" lets you use your wisdom bonus for damage?
I think that comes from the Zen Archer Archetype.
Edit: I stand corrected and it isn't. Basic monk ability... and I can't check the bloodline or archetype...
Empyreal Tattooed Sorc 1/Zen Archer Monk 4/Arcane Archer 10/Sorc 5
Empyreal Tattooed Sorcerer 1 - Use Wis instead of Cha for all Sorc abilities and you gain a familiar.
RAW you can't be a empyreal tattoed sorc because both the empyreal bloodline and the tattooed sorc archetype replace the 9th level bloodline power.
It doesn't matter if you ever reach 9th level.
But you could ask your GM to HR allowing it.
Empyreal Tattooed Sorc 1/Zen Archer Monk 4/Arcane Archer 10/Sorc 5
Empyreal Tattooed Sorcerer 1 - Use Wis instead of Cha for all Sorc abilities and you gain a familiar.
RAW you can't be a empyreal tattoed sorc because both the empyreal bloodline and the tattooed sorc archetype replace the 9th level bloodline power.
It doesn't matter if you ever reach 9th level.
But you could ask your GM to HR allowing it.
I think it by passes that R.A.W. by being a bloodline with a archetype. Technically not 2 archetypes. Though as I don't have the books available and am working from the PRD I could be wrong.
It is the Tattooed archetype and the wildblooded archetype, so two archetypes.
It is the Tattooed archetype and the wildblooded archetype, so two archetypes.
Wildblooded? From what I understand he is using a bloodline from the Advanced Race Guide. If memory serves it is designed for humans which means his concept is a half-elf.
Perhaps I got something wrong.
I think it was about the empyreal bloodline, which is the wildblooded bloodline based on the celestial bloodline.
And the tattooed sorcerer archetype (based on the varisian tattooes).