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I have mostly elves and half elves in my Campaign. But the Captain is a female Dhampir. Plus they have had Tengu crew members.
There is a product (not by paizo) that has several notorious pirates and one happens to be a treant, which I am going to use.
So I personally don't see why you have to limit races. I think The Shackles lends itself to all walks of life simply wanting to become a pirate. Or even as slaves, considering the slaving that goes on in the area.
I think it adds some nice flavor and with a good background I don't see why anyone would bat an eye.
its pirates! Let them get weird with it! That said Trox are overpowered and not allowed as a PC race for me
My crew consists of a Tiefling, a Vanaran, an Aquatic Elf (bit of a hybrid, she's got some Nereid blood in her too), and a straight up Human (tried to convince him to play Half-Cyclops for the fun of it).
My take is as long as each PC is balanced against the rest, let them have fun with it!
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I agree with LadyIrithyl. I think Absalom and the Shackles are the most cosmopolitan places on Golarion.
If a goblin, a half-angel, a walking, talking chunk of animated wood and a human are going to seek adventure together anywhere, it will happen in the Shackles.
Edit - I'd be more intimidated by the number of party members you seem to have than the races they've chosen. Run a game for eleven people? Ummm, suuure. Who's gonna be my Assistant GM?
So credibility wouldn't suffer if a PC wanted to play a Nagaji or a Wayang?
not at all! there are at least 2 different islands with peoples formerly of Tian-Xia, and Garund is a pretty big and unfinished continent:)
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I am playing a Kuru (from Isles of the Shackles sourcebook) in one of the Skulls and Shackles PbPs here on the boards.
So far, it has been a lot of fun. The rest of the group is pretty varied, we also have a kitsune in the group, for example.
So far, it hasn't diminished the game. None of the players have been complaining, at any rate.
People seem to go particularly nuts in this campaign when it comes to exotic races, but the bottom line is that the appropriate races for this campaign is whatever the hell you want to set them as. I strongly recommend disallowing any race that breathes underwater.
Our group consisted of three Humans and a Half-Elf, and chief NPC's were a Halfling, a Human and a Tengu. Worked out just fine for us.
My biggest pet peeve comes alive in campaigns like this, when you have a Gillman, a Dwarf, a Catfolk and a Drow that, at the end of the day plays like:
A Human with gills
A Human with a beard
A Human with whiskers
A Human with pointy ears and dark skin
If people want to play an exotic race, make certain they actually intend to play an exotic race and not just make a grab for mechanical advantages or the coolness of being something strange without actually being something strange.
People seem to go particularly nuts in this campaign when it comes to exotic races, but the bottom line is that the appropriate races for this campaign is whatever the hell you want to set them as. I strongly recommend disallowing any race that breathes underwater.
Our group consisted of three Humans and a Half-Elf, and chief NPC's were a Halfling, a Human and a Tengu. Worked out just fine for us.
My biggest pet peeve comes alive in campaigns like this, when you have a Gillman, a Dwarf, a Catfolk and a Drow that, at the end of the day plays like:
A Human with gills
A Human with a beard
A Human with whiskers
A Human with pointy ears and dark skinIf people want to play an exotic race, make certain they actually intend to play an exotic race and not just make a grab for mechanical advantages or the coolness of being something strange without actually being something strange.
This, a billion times this!!!
The only reason I hate the ARG and the evil it has spawned with a passion.
the ARG isn't evil, its the populace that uses it for evil!
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In any game, there has to be a contract between the GM and players.
It begins with character creation and needs to remain in place throughout the game.
I don't mind players making exotic characters as long as they make sense in the context of the story, and the players accept that the exotic character will be seen as much more than a human who happens to have gills, or whatever.
I am running Skulls and Shackles for my face to face gaming group, and the PCs include two drow, a tiefling, and a dhampir.
I have made a point of describing how NPCs react to them, and now they make a point of thinking of about how their appearance affects situations that require diplomacy and tact.
There have been several situations where the drow and tiefling have remained on board or even hidden below deck so as not to alarm a particular NPC.
On the flip-side, I try to fulfill that same contract as a player in the PBPs here on the boards.
My kuru fighter is definitely exotic. He is not unlike Queequeg from Moby Dick, though a bit less civilized. He has a rudimentary grasp of the common tongue and "civilized" cultural norms. He often misunderstands things like sarcasm, and his sense of humor is very dark.
One of the other characters, a human rogue, has befriended him and she often intervenes when he is about to cross a line. I love the fact that the other players in the PBP don't take the fact that one of their crewmates is a CANNIBAL as a matter of no consequence. The GM also makes the point that the NPC members of the crew tend to give him a wide berth, and are generally uncomfortable when assigned to work with him.
For Reign of Winter, i encouraged my my wife and kids to get totally weird with it, said any race from ARG and ISB is okay, compared it to Dr. Who, the whole nine yards, just to see what they'd do.
the party we ended up with 2 Elves, a Dwarf and 1 human.
sometimes if you want normalcy give them the choice to be Insane, most likely they'll go with normal:)
well i play with kids and my wife whom i've known for 22 years so i dont need to say much, as characters are made questions are asked, hints are dropped, etc. Its a fairly organic process and kids love weird:)
Is there anything that you can do as a GM to help players role-play and create character, such as voice and accent, to address this pet peeve? Perhaps creating these things during the generation of player characters? Giving players suggestions on how to role-play their characters?
Start with how you as a GM you portray NPCs and their reactions to the various races. Bob the Innkeeper should react differently to a elf than he would a tiefling.
Get the players to read the various race books before letting them play one.
Say how you as a GM see that race as a whole behaves.
But leading from the front works, for me, the best.
This discussion talked me out of restricting player character races in this AP.
Awesome!
This and other similar threads has convinced my wife and kids they absolutely NEED to make an adventuring party comprised entirely of Animalistic races:) so far we're tentatively calling it either "Talespin: Uncensored" or "When Animals Attack!, On the High Seas!"|
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This discussion talked me out of restricting player character races in this AP.Awesome!
This and other similar threads has convinced my wife and kids they absolutely NEED to make an adventuring party comprised entirely of Animalistic races:) so far we're tentatively calling it either "Talespin: Uncensored" or "When Animals Attack!, On the High Seas!"
Those names are both great!
Don Karnage, gnoll captain of the Iron Vulture. Yes, I might have to throw him in somewhere and see whether my party notices. According to Wikipedia, he was supposed to be a wolf, but I think a gnoll would be close enough.
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People seem to go particularly nuts in this campaign when it comes to exotic races, but the bottom line is that the appropriate races for this campaign is whatever the hell you want to set them as. I strongly recommend disallowing any race that breathes underwater.
Our group consisted of three Humans and a Half-Elf, and chief NPC's were a Halfling, a Human and a Tengu. Worked out just fine for us.
My biggest pet peeve comes alive in campaigns like this, when you have a Gillman, a Dwarf, a Catfolk and a Drow that, at the end of the day plays like:
A Human with gills
A Human with a beard
A Human with whiskers
A Human with pointy ears and dark skinIf people want to play an exotic race, make certain they actually intend to play an exotic race and not just make a grab for mechanical advantages or the coolness of being something strange without actually being something strange.
If it makes you feel any better, he talks with a certain embellished styles, In every post, there is an ear twitch, or whisker twitch or a wild tail that is far more expressive than his words. He Wiggles a bit when he gets excited, he lays his ears back in a fight to protect them His smile looks more like a snarl. Part of the reason I chose the catfolk was to get to be overtly different. Expressive. Lots of snarls and hisses in combat so far as well
and coughing up fur balls...
This discussion talked me out of restricting player character races in this AP.Awesome!
This and other similar threads has convinced my wife and kids they absolutely NEED to make an adventuring party comprised entirely of Animalistic races:) so far we're tentatively calling it either "Talespin: Uncensored" or "When Animals Attack!, On the High Seas!"Those names are both great!
Don Karnage, gnoll captain of the Iron Vulture. Yes, I might have to throw him in somewhere and see whether my party notices. According to Wikipedia, he was supposed to be a wolf, but I think a gnoll would be close enough.
Gnoll is good! I was thinking Kitsune myself:)
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Gnoll is good! I was thinking Kitsune myself:)This discussion talked me out of restricting player character races in this AP.Awesome!
This and other similar threads has convinced my wife and kids they absolutely NEED to make an adventuring party comprised entirely of Animalistic races:) so far we're tentatively calling it either "Talespin: Uncensored" or "When Animals Attack!, On the High Seas!"Those names are both great!
Don Karnage, gnoll captain of the Iron Vulture. Yes, I might have to throw him in somewhere and see whether my party notices. According to Wikipedia, he was supposed to be a wolf, but I think a gnoll would be close enough.
I forgot about Kitsune. Either one should work.
I'm ambivalent to beastmen and advanced races. I could rarely see playing one myself unless I had a very specific concept in mind. I like my PCs to be of a kind with their surroundings and generally play the most dominant race of the setting. The "fish out of water" trope holds no interest for me. At the same time, I never get bent out of shape about strange races.
Some GMs concern themselves too much with "What would the peasants think?!?", in my opinion. I figure everyone in Golarion knows they live in a world where fantastic things exist. Even if someone hasn't personally seen a race before, I think it's contrived to act like they'd have a meltdown by seeing a fox-man because they all know they live in a world where such things are possible. They don't live on Earth and shouldn't act like they do.
Interestingly, my original party consisted of a human, a halfling, a down-powered tiefling, a tengu and a ratman.
When the tengu was killed in battle, the player opted to just play a Chelish human instead. He felt that he couldn't get into the headspace of playing an Asian bird-man and felt his roleplaying suffered for it. These things work themselves out
Shenchu Bay and Ushinawa Isles are both populated by natives of Tian Xia
if you don't already have it i very very highly recommend you get Isles of the Shackles Campaign Setting book, it is the book outside the APs i use most for Skull & Shackles.
Shenchu Bay and Ushinawa Isles are both populated by natives of Tian Xia
if you don't already have it i very very highly recommend you get Isles of the Shackles Campaign Setting book, it is the book outside the APs i use most for Skull & Shackles.
Seconded, especially if you plan on filling out some of that sandbox in the middle books.
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Roddy McDowall provided the voice in the mini-series and created a much less obnoxious character. Frank Welker was the voice in the television series.I want to add Niddler the monkey bird from The Pirates of Black Water animated series.I wasn't too fond of Niddler, but that's another great source for S&S material.
I didn't know that. I guess I'll have to check out the mini-series some time.
True, but Isles of the Shackles makes no mention of the Kitsune, Nagaji, or Wayang. We might imagine that these races live on Senchu Bay and the Ushinawa Isles.Shenchu Bay and Ushinawa Isles are both populated by natives of Tian Xia
if you don't already have it i very very highly recommend you get Isles of the Shackles Campaign Setting book, it is the book outside the APs i use most for Skull & Shackles.
i just assume if its a colony from tian-xia you'll get a mix of the less dominant races in there to.
Some third-party races at d20pfsrd:
I'd leave 3pp stuff out.
There's enough Paizo bits IMO to satisfy players. As a GM its up to you what races you allow.Personally I'd leave the uncommon races out of the game.
But that's me.
Are Gillmen too OP for this particular AP?Seems like he's almost built to counter the Skull and Shackles campaign lol
Are Gillmen too OP for this particular AP?Seems like he's almost built to counter the Skull and Shackles campaign lol
Not too OP - just too cheesy on the part of the player. ;-)
Gillman and Undine seem.... nifty when it comes to the AP, but actually.... yeah well, they usually are not. Or at least not around here. Water Breathing is nice to have, but a any humanoid swimmer cannot keep up with a sailing ship (which usually travel at 30'+ each as basic speed), so basically that ability is less useful. Also, climbing aboard a rocking and wet ship's side (usually no less than 6' straight up from the surface - more like 10'+ on galleons and merchants) proves a major problem for getting back aboard (simply watch the "Open Water" movies to understand the big problem ).
Besides they can be readily identified (nice gills/nice colour and fins) and around here are regarded both with some overt racism ("yeah blue boy, I am looking at you !") and in the beginning of our game (We have an Undine who is actually willing to play the "native fish boy" approach to things) who then got a lot of "special" assignments outside the boat from Scourge & Co.
Like : Checking the anchoring hawser (in an environment with plenty of sharks) or regularly being commanded overboard to check on the ships underwater plating.
Hence, the character has developed a healthy sense of paranoia for "big stuff" underwater, especially since he noticed that he cannot actually outswim much of it. There is plenty of really dangerous stuff sub-surface.
Strix are the only thing explicitly forbidden as are all of the furries : Catfolk, Kitsune, Grippli, Ratfolk, Merfolk and all the reptilian breeds. Houserule, yes. Seems like everyone agrees that they are silly as concept. Same goes for Blood of the Moon and Blood of the Night stuff as being higly probmelatic for in group gameplay.
No one cares for the Drow (who would simply be tossed overboard away from the coast by the PCs or NPCs and would really be a problem in the sunny Shackles). Everyone agrees that the way-eastern races (like Wayang or Samsarans)have little place in the Shackles and again, will most likely be treated as freaks (and readily sold as slaves by many unscrupulous brethren).
Other races which are plenty relevant in our campaign are Tieflings, who basically are the ultimate outcasts who have plentiful reason to strike back at civilization and Cheliax ). Sylphs and Undines have been located inside the campaign, as well as some aquatic elves. Hobgoblins and Goblins are universally viewed as opposition
Current group : Half-elf, Dwarf, Half-Orc, Elf, Undine.
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Grippli. Hmmmm... An amphibian, with thin skin that allows some oxygen exchange in fresh water.
Welcome to salt water!
Mr./Ms. Froggy takes 1d6 points of (lethal) dehydration damage per round submerged, as his/her internal osmotic pressure tries to equalize with the ocean.
Too scientific for Pathfinder? Probably. Fun for a sadistic GM? Definitely.
Grippli. Hmmmm... An amphibian, with thin skin that allows some oxygen exchange in fresh water.
Welcome to salt water!
Mr./Ms. Froggy takes 1d6 points of (lethal) dehydration damage per round submerged, as his/her internal osmotic pressure tries to equalize with the ocean.
Too scientific for Pathfinder? Probably. Fun for a sadistic GM? Definitely.
Well, tell the player beforehand ? If he chooses to dig his own grave, so be it.
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i'm pretty sure pathfinder amphibians are good to go in salt water... didn't you know Golarion amphibians have a special membrane with adjustable porosity? :)
i.e. unfortunately, nothing in the rules that mentions differences in the way aquatic or amphibian creatures operate in salt vs. fresh water... :)