Been trying to think of a good source for some custom characters to tackle Skull & Shackles, and decided to try bringing to Golarion a few favourites from Firefly.
check out the others:
http://paizo.com/threads/rzs2rvkx?Firefly-Custom-Characters-Mal
http://paizo.com/threads/rzs2rvky?Firefly-Custom-Characters-Shepherd-Book#1
http://paizo.com/threads/rzs2rvkz?Firefly-Custom-Characters-Jayne-Cobb
http://paizo.com/threads/rzs2rvl0?Firefly-Custom-Characters-River-Tamm
http://paizo.com/threads/rzs2rvl1?Firefly-Custom-Characters-Inara#1
couldn't quite work out what "class" she would be
Kaylee – Female, Human
Favoured card type: Item
Str – D6
Dex – D8 – Disable +2
Con – D6
Int – D10 – Cra +2
Wis – D6
Cha – D6
Hand-Size 5 []6. Proficient with [] Light Armours
Reduce Damage to your ship by 1 [] 2
You may discard a card to re-roll your craft ([] or disable) check
Weapon 1
Spell –
Armour 1
Item 4
Ally 4
Blessing 4
First of all, I think she could use more skill points. Since you don't have a weapon or spell skill, you can afford to load up, similar to a rogue. I'd suggest Knowledge or Perception as possible fits for the character.
Also, since she doesn't really have a combat ability, I think you need better support to make up for it. I could see her giving a bonus to checks made on a ship for example. Possibly give a bonus to acquire some things (items and weapons?)
Overall, I like what you're doing with these designs. You're keeping them well grounded in the game considering the source material (Possibly too grounded, River was the only one that I really felt went out of the box, and that one is about ten miles from the box). Good luck with these designs, and I look forward to seeing where you go with them.
I think I'd been wanting to avoid making her over-powered (reducing damage to the ship has been a major hole in the parties we've played with Jirelle etc), but I think you're right, there's scope for a bit more.
I like the idea of something ship related. I'm also tempted to try something tied into salvage/plunder.
Is rerolling a Disable check too powerful? Craft I mind less because it comes up less often, and its failures tend to be less catastrophic (goose in the rigging versus even something baby-ish like trapped passageway) It's balanced a bit by her fairly low Dex, but at a lot of points I'd find discarding a card to reroll a botched Barrier check preferable to discarding a blessing to ensure I'd win, especially if she's gonna have +4 Dex skill feats.
V2.0 - based on Dave's comments, I've modeled the re-roll check on Oloch's first power - almost useless straight out of the box, but really quite nice once you sink a couple of power feats into it
Kaylee – Female, Human
Favoured card type: Item
Str – D6 []+1 []+2
Dex – D8 []+1 []+2 []+3
– Disable +2
Con – D6 []+1 []+2
Int – D10 []+1 []+2 []+3
– Craft +3
Wis – D6 []+1 []+2 []+3 []+4
- Perception +2
Cha – D6 []+1
Weapon 1 []2 []3
Spell – []1
Armour 1 []2
Item 5 []6 []7
Ally 4 []5
Blessing 4 []5 []6 []7
Hand-Size 5 []6.
Reduce Damage to your ship by 1
When you acquire an item ([]or weapon) you may immediately banish it to draw a random card of the same type from the box.
You may bury ([] discard) a card to re-roll your craft ([] or disable) check
Genius Mechanic
Hand-Size 5 []6.
Reduce Damage to your ship by 1 ([]2) ([]3)
When you acquire an item ([]or weapon) you may immediately banish it to draw a random card of the same type from the box.
You may bury ([] discard) a card to re-roll your craft ([] or disable) check
[] You may recharge a card to add d4 ([]+2) to your ([] or any other character’s) check whilst on a ship.
[] add 2 ([] 4) to your ([]or any other character’s) checks to defeat ships.
Salvage Expert
Hand-Size 5 []6 []7.
Reduce Damage to your ship by 1
When you acquire an item ([]or weapon) ([] or any boon) you may immediately banish it to draw a random card of the same type from the box.
[] At the start ([] or end) of your turn you may exchange 1 card in your hand with 1 card of the same type in your ([]or another character at your location’s) discard pile.
You may bury ([] discard) a card to re-roll your craft ([] or disable) check
[] Add 2 ([]4) to your check to acquire an item ([] or any other boon).
And - I really wanted a fluffy pink dress, but couldn't figure out how to mesh it with her general abilities/play-style
Mechanics Tools
Item
Tools
Owner: Kaylee
Reveal this card to add 1 die to your disable or craft check
Discard this card to repair your ship. If you are the owner you may attempt a craft 8 check to recharge them instead of discarding
-power level is pitched somewhere between Thieves tools and Masterwork Tools, with a craft bonus, and a recharge ability for the owner
Okay, so based on the updates you're doing here, this character seems to be the designated boon-getter in the party, especially if items are involved. I'm still concerned about her viability due to the complete lack of combat ability, though I guess a d8 dex with one weapon might at least get her through the base adventure before she's outclassed, and Kaylee should be the worst combatant in the group. I'm still worried about how fun she is in actual play, at least on the base card, but I also know mine isn't the only playstyle, so if someone else finds her fun, then that's enough for me.
Both of the role cards provide at least a few very exciting powers. On Genius mechanic, you have a power (the d4 while on ships) that's borderline broken when the ship isn't docked, and borderline useless when it is, especially after you can use it to assist others. On balance, I think the power level will be okay, but you may want to consider adjusting it so it's a bit more balanced between the two scenario types. Here's an idea I just came up with, so it might be awful, but here goes:
[] While you are on a ship, recharge a card to add 1d4 to a check by you ([] or another character). ([] Add an additional d4 if the target is also on a ship).
The reason I like that a bit better is 1. It matters if Kaylee is on the ship, which feels better from a flavor perspective, 2. You can still use it in docked scenarios, since she can stay on the ship and just 'point the ships guns at the enemies' in order to help other people, and 3. it means she can't give the full bonus to all people at all times in un-docked missions, so it's a bit weaker there. The big problem I have with it is that there isn't really a 'target' terminology in the game, so I'm not sure how to word it properly in the existing lexicon.
The Salvage expert appears to become the queen of item collection, since she has a major bonus to acquire all boons, and can exchange them all for free. One point of note: This will make her very effective at removing basics from the game, since she can acquire one and immediately banish it, thus removing it from the game, including BotG. Now, this actually isn't too terrible, since this group has such a low blessing count, so I doubt you'll ever feel a crunch, but it's still worth considering.
On the whole, I feel that each role card is exciting and has abilities that make me really want to play Kaylee. I still feel that the first 3 adventures are going to be a major slog to get to that point, though. However, I'm not sure what you can do to change that at this point, so I'm going to chalk it up to 'not my playstyle' and hope that whomever does like her has a lot of fun.
I've followed your suggestion on the "on ship" power- tweaked it slightly to "[] While you are on a ship, recharge a card to add 1d4 to a check by you ([] or another character). ([] Add an additional 1d4 if the character making the check is also on a ship)." - it's still a little odd, but I think it's clear.
Hoping to start a proper play-test of these soon, so it will probably go quiet for a while - I think I'll have her hanging around with Jayne for combat support.
Cool. Sounds good. Hope your playtest goes smoothly (Though looking at another thread you made, I'm guessing it could've gone better)