I'm thinking about this as my group is currently playing Skulls & Shackles. A guy in our party is playing a Swashbuckler/Inspired Blade so I don't want to duplicate his PC. There We already have a spell caster, cleric, and an alchemist. We also have a barbarian but he hasn't been coming consistently.
I'd like him to be viable from at least level 4, and I'm excited about taking a level of Ranger/Freebooter for Freebooter's Bane: " At 1st level, the freebooter can, as a move action, indicate an enemy in combat and rally her allies to focus on that target. The freebooter and her allies gain a +1 bonus on weapon attack and damage rolls against the target. This ability applies only to allies who can see or hear the freebooter and who are within 30 feet of the freebooter at the time she activates this ability. At 5th level and every 5 levels thereafter the bonus increases by 1."
Other than that I don't have much of a preference for race, class, PrC, etc, as long as it is pirate-themed or it contributes to the theme of the build. Any ideas?
i find Buccaneer hella fun.
yes it delay his gun training till level 13 but get so many shiny things to use. note he uses cha instead of wis for his deeds and grit etc. -which i think is a bonus for a charming\intimidating pirate. the 'dread pirate Robert' (and his clones) ruled the sea with his name alone!
at level 1 he get 'Sea Legs' and can ignore difficult terrain with grit.
level 3 he get to confuse a target as a swift action for a round by talking to it (Jack Sparro style?).
he get abilities to help climbing and swinging on ropes as well as open a bunch of siege weapon related feats for he's bonus feat list.
he gain a familiar (usually monkey or parrot) which also give him evasion. and can get extra grit from downing strong drinks.
but my favored is the 'caption curse' deed (which can be used along side signature deed to only cost 1 grit) a curse to make the target permanently sickened and also stack on staggered if he's near or on water.
and it later on can bring on the wrath of the ocean's creatures instead as the dreaded 'black mark' - goes back to 'treasure island' if you read it. and since it's the same deed the signature deed feat is effective for both formats of the deed's curse.
stacking both could make the target permanently sicken, shaken and staggered near or on water... (sickened is everywhere even in the middle of the desert).
btw i got Signature Deed twice. one for the curse one for the confusion. getting to try and confuse any one living target that can understand you once per round as a swift action without grit cost is sooo worth a feat..
The idea of “ultimate pirate” is interesting, because there are so many archetypical pirates. About the only commonality is that they are almost all good at sailing.
I'm in agreement with Melkiador that "Ultimate pirate" is a broad concept.
If I made one myself I'd focus on the sailing/smuggling aspect as a Transporter Ranger.
Or the rum/sea shanty aspect as a Skald with the Good for what Ails You rage power.
Or someone that dabbles in necromancy for the real "skeleton crew" gimmick.
Plenty of ways to make a pirate. It's almost easier to limit the options by listing what isn't part of the pirate theme. Heavy armor and bigger weapons feels like a no-no. As does archery builds (but not thrown or firearms).
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Really all you need for a decent pirate is a few skills and a way to fight effectively on ship. You are going to want to avoid heavy armor and being able to fight in the water is going to be a bonus.
For skills Profesional Skill Sailor, and Swim are going to be the obvious ones. Climb, Perception, Knowledge Nature and Survival will also be useful. Climb lets you get up in sails and rigging, Survival is used for navigation and fishing. Knowledge nature gives you knowledge about weather and oceans, Perception allow you to spot your targets. Other skill may also be useful depending on your role in the group.
An Aquatic Druid with the Aquatic domain would be incredibly useful in a pirate campaign. Aquatic adaptation gives you a scaling bonus on a lot of the important skills. You get a swim speed that gives you a +8 bonus to swim in addition to your other bonuses. You get +4 Save vs water spells and abilities or aquatic or water creatures. You can command water and aquatic creatures. At 6th level you can attack underwater with no penalties and even throw weapons and have them return to you. At this level you also gain Wild Shape. At 9th level gain the aquatic subtype, the amphibious trait and your swim speed equals you full speed.
The druid spell list has a lot of spells that are going to be useful in a pirate campaign. Being able to convert any spell into s summon natures ally spell means you can always summon things to fight for you.
Thanks everyone, and yes I left the definition broad intentionally to leave the field wide for good ideas.
Really all you need for a decent pirate is a few skills and a way to fight effectively on ship. You are going to want to avoid heavy armor and being able to fight in the water is going to be a bonus.
For skills Profesional Skill Sailor, and Swim are going to be the obvious ones. Climb, Perception, Knowledge Nature and Survival will also be useful. Climb lets you get up in sails and rigging, Survival is used for navigation and fishing. Knowledge nature gives you knowledge about weather and oceans, Perception allow you to spot your targets. Other skill may also be useful depending on your role in the group.
An Aquatic Druid with the Aquatic domain would be incredibly useful in a pirate campaign. Aquatic adaptation gives you a scaling bonus on a lot of the important skills. You get a swim speed that gives you a +8 bonus to swim in addition to your other bonuses. You get +4 Save vs water spells and abilities or aquatic or water creatures. You can command water and aquatic creatures. At 6th level you can attack underwater with no penalties and even throw weapons and have them return to you. At this level you also gain Wild Shape. At 9th level gain the aquatic subtype, the amphibious trait and your swim speed equals you full speed.
The druid spell list has a lot of spells that are going to be useful in a pirate campaign. Being able to convert any spell into s summon natures ally spell means you can always summon things to fight for you.
Thanks, I love this idea. I'm currently playing an amphibious Undine cleric, and playing an aquatic druid would be cool. If my cleric dies an aquatic druid sounds like a great option!
J
Shifter dolphin/orca whale or shifter water elemental can also be a good option for water campaigns