Hello all!
So I am getting ready to run this a second time (first time made it through the first 3 books before it petered out). This group is just finishing Wrath of the Righteous (Of which I was a player), so I feel good about us actually finishing this AP, which I am excited about.
So on to the reason I'm posting.
I have a player who's going with the cross blooded sorcerer (aquatic) and elemental (water). Which allows her to make any element spell a water type spell, and then treat it as +1 caster level. Super clever! Thematically element water and aquatic are pretty close together, so the drawback of -2 to will saves seems a bit harsh, but such is life. I agreed that we could do something to make it a little easier. I was looking at the Peg Leg campaign trait that gives you a +1 to Fortitude saves, and a +1 to damage rolls against aquatic animals and so I thought about just creating my own campaign trait for her. So here we go:
Port Pauper: Orphaned at a young age, you grew up on the docks in Port Peril, and have worked every job from loading cargo to salvaging shipwrecks. Dealing with swindling merchants, shady pirates, and corrupt guards, has taught you how to deal with a multitude of miscreants, and as such you gain a +1 trait bonus to Charisma-based checks while you are on the docks or the shipyards of any port city, and the years of looking over your shoulder has also sharpened your wits and as such you gain a +1 trait bonus to Will saves. Because of the shear amount of comings and goings, you also "know a guy/gal" and gain 1 friendly contact that that can be named at any time and that can be in any port you are currently in.
You stopped into the Formidably Maid to have a quick drink after work and got to chatting with a few patrons there that you had met on the dock earlier that day. You indulged a bit too much and woke up in the cargo hold of a ship. Well, not your first time... I guess you’ll see if this was your own doing or someone else’s.
So, the breakdown of the three abilities compared to Peg Leg.
1) +1 to Will saves. Equal to +1 to Fortitude saves for Peg Leg.
2) +1 to Charisma-based checks on the docks or in shipyard's. Very situational. So much in fact that it won't even be used in the first book. My opinion is that this is far more situational than the +1 to damage against aquatic animals you get with Peg Leg, so add on another small benefit to balance it.
3) The "I know a guy/gal". Basically the Han Solo plot device. It's tough to value this, but having it be a one off, I'm thinking the three abilities here are on par with Peg Leg, or any other S&S campaign trait.
She loves it, and it fit's her backstory better than any of the other campaign traits do. But I told her it's not in stone yet. Still checking for balance.
Because it's a trait bonus on the Charisma checks, it keeps her from stacking any other charisma based traits, which I like. So a big part becomes meaningless if she picks up a +1 to diplomacy or something from another trait. It also keeps her from adding a +1 to will saves from any other trait.
What do you guys think? OP, right on, or UP vs. other S&S campaign traits?
I think it is really great !
But l think you should let all the players write up a few names on contacts (2-3 friends and 1 enemy) they have from their background storry to draw on.
So skip that part of the trait and make it avaible for all the players.
That makes much more sense. Especially with this campaign! Thank you so much. We ended up tweaking the trait a bit too, because I wanted to incorporate more of her backstory. I'm not exactly sure how to word the last part, so I'll place it here for comments.
Port Pauper: Orphaned at a young age, you grew up on the docks in Port Peril, and have worked every job the Shackles has to offer. Dealing with swindling merchants, shady pirates, and corrupt guards, has taught you how to deal with a multitude of miscreants and to always keep looking over your shoulder. As such you gain a +1 trait bonus to Will saves. Finally, the last few years you have spent salvaging shipwrecks and so you gain a +1 circumstance bonus to all skill checks associated with sunken ships, and all non-naturally occurring objects underwater.
You stopped into the Formidably Maid to have a quick drink after work and got to chatting with a few patrons there that you had met on the dock earlier that day. You indulged a bit too much and woke up in the cargo hold of a ship. Well, not your first time... I guess you’ll see if this was your own doing or someone else’s.
The change is moving the +1 from Diplomacy checks on docks and shipyards (something she's already really good at anyway as a Sorcerer), to something to help with exploration of sunken ships, as well as the grates, chests, cages, and traps in the grindylow and sahaugin caverns. There's not much in traits or feats for that matter that apply to salvage divers, so here we go.
My thought process is that a lot of the story plot points happen with these underwater checks, and so a little bonus here and there should lead to a bit more discovery.