Hey,
My real life group is going to start Skulls and Shackles in a week or two.
Usually I am the DM of the group, but this time I will be a player.
I was thinking about doing a blaster sorcerer and, as I was told there will be naval battles, hoping to eventually become a ship's "battle mage".
What are the things I should avoid in this adventure path? Is the arcane bloodline a good one to go with? What about alignment? Are good aligned characters hard to manage in this APG?
Thanks!
PS.:I understand that the theme of the adventure path is piracy, but I haven't read or played it before, so if possible, please avoid spoilers.
Although the Aquatic Bloodline fits best thematically, besides providing swim as a class skill, there's nothing it really provides over the Arcane Bloodline. Chaotic Neutral is the classic "pirate alignment". Good chars may or may not be able to abide everything happening. You have few skills, so I would recommend taking ranks in Profession (Sailor), Swim, and a social skill if you can afford it, or at least avoid dumping strength. You don't want to be that guy who drowned because he had a -2 to swim.
As for the "battle mage" in ship-to-ship combat... talk to your DM. The mechanics for ship to ship combat are passable at best, and mostly amount to the captains making skill checks at each other, while the rest of the party twiddles their thumbs. I've read of multiple parties that have dropped it completely, just saying the ships grapple each other after a few rounds. Being a ranged blaster, you'll at least have something to do, but talk to your DM to make sure you concept will work with what he's planning.
Fire spells are your friend in this game. When you are exchanging siege weapon shots, a ship on fire gives the enemy a choice: attempt to put out the fires, or continue to reload. Reloading siege weapons takes several rounds to do, so you can drain your enemy's action economy by catching their ship on fire with a fireball or flaming sphere. Attempting to put out a ship on fire requires the entire crew to spend a full round action to attempt a new save for the ship.
So:
skills: swim, profession (sailor), and something socially focused.
Spells: fire ranged spells, and water stuff.
Assuming the group will not be evil, would a NG character have trouble joining the piracy thing?
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A N-G or C-G character could be a "freedom fighter pirate" willing to do what's necessary to those who would enslave others. We'll be starting Skulls & Shackles shortly, and our DM tells us that slavery is a major theme in the campaign and he's hoping we'll oppose it, so maybe this would be a good angle to go into the campaign with?
A N-G or C-G character could be a "freedom fighter pirate" willing to do what's necessary to those who would enslave others. We'll be starting Skulls & Shackles shortly, and our DM tells us that slavery is a major theme in the campaign and he's hoping we'll oppose it, so maybe this would be a good angle to go into the campaign with?
That's perfect, thank you
A rank in Climb (and Swim of course) is probably a worthwhile investment. Our caster fell off a rope and drowned in the first book.....
Wow, I was going to rely on levitate aor fly, but now I'm scared, lol.
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A rank in Climb (and Swim of course) is probably a worthwhile investment. Our caster fell off a rope and drowned in the first book.....Wow, I was going to rely on levitate or fly, but now I'm scared, lol.
Yeah, people were falling from the rigging and drowning trying to cross from boat to boat long before Fly or Levitate ever became available. The sea took more party members early on than enemies ever did.
Oh man, skull and shackles is your time to be evil!
I don't really dig evil characters in general, plus the group as a whole is going to be neutral slightly skewed to good, so I want to avoid PC conflict.
Skills are *very* important in this AP; Climb, Swim, Stealth, the social skills... I could go on.
Without spoiling the AP you want us to tell what will work?
You know everything your character would, well more actually, just make the dude you want to play and run with it. There may be some sea around but mostly any build will work.
My GMPC is NG and she has no trouble, although she is pretty hard on captured enemy pirate and goes easy on captured civilians.