So I've received a bit more character background information from two players, along with some fun character art. Again, if players want to share more about their characters they should send me an e-mail and I'll post the info (you can view the first set here, as well as the full current breakdown on who is playing what here).
From Chris:
Chris is playing a rogue with a penchant for the ladies, and sent me this descriptor:
"Son of a longshoreman, Jax Sandstrom has always been a bit of wharf rat. Forbidden to go to sea by his father, he knows most of the dockside workings of the maritime trades. Jax has always shown some aptitude at whatever he has tried, but has led a fairly unambitious life thus far. He is generally happy and easy going. Since discovering the joys of the company of women, finding and enjoying such companionship has been his sole driving goal."
From Shannon:
Shannon is playing an aquatic dwarven druid named Sadie, and sent me the following information:
"Sadie's parents fled their home because her grandfather disapproved of her father. (He is beardless dwarf due to a tragic accident with a scroll of fireball. And of course no dwarf would let his daughter marry a beardless dwarf.) Sadie was born at sea while they were escaping. They moved inland to be harder to track. [I haven't decided how much she knows about this.]
She grew up as a bit of an odd dwarf with her love of water and open expanses, she was living relatively happily with her folks in a mostly human settlement. Her parents died during an ambush by a giant-led orc squad somewhat recently which leads her to finally following the call of the sea. She ends up on Port Peril in hope of finding some place that feels like home.
She is good at talking her way out of trouble and loves to mislead people. [Which hopefully I won't totally botch while role playing.] She thinks she is following her own path, but Besmara probably has a hand in her destiny."
From Dan (and Kevin):
Also, Dan did another great illustration of his character and Kevin's character and I couldn't skip sharing it!
Sometimes Gilbert needs to leave town in a hurry
The streets of Port Peril are rough, and knowing the right spot where a sewerboat is waiting to scoot one out of town for a day or two (until certain ships leave port) is an essential skill.
Slightly less immediate than their splitting headaches to the player characters are a series of impressions of the various sorts at sea with them. As the calls of "get up you filthy landlubbers" echo through the below deck area, the player characters get a few visual impressions of the swabs and riggers that are sharing this voyage with them.
"Ratline" Rattsberger, Fipps Chumlett, Samms Toppin, Tam "Narwhal" Tate, and Jack Scrimshaw (left to right)
Shivikah, Jaundiced Jape, Maheem, Crimson Cogward, Aretta Banison, and Conchobar Shortstone (clockwise from top left)
Slippery Syl Lonergan, Dovan from Nisroch, "Badger" Medlar, Rosie Cusswell, and Sandara Quinn (left to right)
There will be another post once the game starts detailing the various swabs and riggers and their personas, as the first session will be all about meeting and interacting with the crew. It's important to know your fellow sailors, as their kindness can make life easier and their animosity can make life miserable.
[note that I took the actual art of the characters where I could find it, and just grabbed something that looked close where there was no existing art]
When the bleary eyed, recently press-ganged player characters arrive on deck, they'll meet the crew of the sailing ship The Wormwood. These are the officers of the ship--and should be minded as such. Mouth off or lip up and you'll as likely be killed on the spot as keelhauled.
Again, another double-update of Skull and Shackles campaign info and painting toward my Privateer Press force. As usual, the campaign comes first.
Skull and Shackles
Adversaries of Renown:
Vice-Admiral Delthretta Pavane is the current commander of the Chelish forces in the Arcadian Ocean. An elite fleshcrafter in training, when she set her eyes on commanding naval forces she soon rose to the top. Given the relative freedom of the seas and her absolute authority over her armada, the Vice-Admiral has pursued greater and greater devilish infusions into her body than would normally be seen among elites within Chelish borders. Plumbing the depths of fleshcrafting, she has transformed parts of her body with infernal power.
The darkness grows from within
As a sign of pride and command for her troops, the one thing she has refused to adjust is her peg leg--having lost it to a cannonball shot at the Battle of the Nine Coasts. Her sailors, many of whom have also been crippled in the course of battles, look to her example with a source of pride.
All dressed up but no parties to attend
Vice-Admiral Pavane is the one behind the surge in Chelish fleets deploying great fleshcrafted beasts of war on their ships. This creature, a blend of sea monster and hellfire spitting devil, is but one of many creatures dispatched with teams of handlers to man Chelish vessels large, small, and in-between.
Anyone got a breath mint?
These developments in the Chelish naval fleet have led to worrysome effects for the pirate residents of The Shackles. Not only do privateer crews need to prepare for the solid Chelish marines, but they never know when the hold of a pirate-hunter boat may belch forth one of these monstrosities. And if that were not enough, the other nations of Golarion have gotten word of the Chelish plans and are attempting to arm their ships in similar fashion. The great nation of Rahadoum, a somewhat uneasy competitor with Cheliax, has been rumored to be importing massive beasts of war to help supplement their own slave-driven ships. Even some free captains of The Shackles have taken to the practice. Rumors abound across Port Peril that Captain Barnabas Harrigan of the Wormwood keeps an Owlbear chained below decks for just such a purpose.
Privateer Press
Two things have been added to my Legion of Everblight forces since the last update. First, the Warlock Absylonia, who is my preliminary commander. And the Ravagore, a heavy warbeast with a great shooting attack option for my force.
Fire in the hole
I'm really pleased with how the painting has gone on these models, and the battlegroup is looking really tight in my eyes. The bigger beasts having the higher red-to-orange spectrum makes them eye-catching. Then the details can all be cooler colors in light shades, such as the light blue dress of Absylonia or the green fire from the Ravagore.
I spent a lot of time getting the green fire color right... I'm proud
I've played my first few games of Privateer Press with this group, and so far I've split 1 and 1 at the 20 points size level. The first battle had some great infantry killing by my forces, but I bumbled control of an objective on a critical turn and ended up losing the game. Totally my fault, but it was a fun match. Second game I reversed the trend by using my lesser warbeast Shredders to help secure objective points--and the enemy took the bait and focused on my big beasties (who took a pounding) until it was too late.
Absylonia's battlegroup thus far
In all, I'm pretty pleased with how the force is doing--particularly on the painting side. I'll be painting up the first infantry models of the force soon (as the Skull and Shackles game needs enemy "Chelish Marines" to fight), and I'm working on their battle engine as fast as I can manage. So far so good!
North of Port Peril and the Shackles region lies an enormous whirling hurricane in perpetual motion called the Eye of Abendego, and just north of that is the Arch of Aroden a thin passage to what is known as the Inner Sea. Commanding the Inner Sea, and now turning their eyes outside to the Arcadian Ocean (where the pirates of the Shackles ply their trade) is the grand nation of Cheliax. A lawful evil society based around devil worship, the Chelish field fleets of naval vessels to support their control of the Arch of Aroden and gain influence and control of the greater ocean. For more information on the nation of Cheliax in the Pathfinder world, check here.
Essential to our purposes in the Skull and Shackles campaign is that the Imperial Navy of Cheliax are the primary formal navy and pirate hunters of the region and the campaign. More worrysome to aspiring pirates is the sheer might of the Chelish forces. Their ships of the line include the Chelish Man-o'war, a massive three-decked vessel that normally is fitted with 20 ballistae per side and huge catapults on both the fore- and aftcastle. As if that is not bad enough, the current Vice-Admiral of Chelish forces who has been tasked with the elimination of piracy in the Shackles is the infamous Delthretta Pavane, a deeply cursed woman whose raw savagery is augmented from a most dire pact with some devilish force. Vice-Admiral Pavane has been equipping her naval crews with not only the normally-sturdy Chelish Marines, but with strange devil-bred hellspawn made from the unholy matings between devils and sea beasts: sharks, sea monsters, and worse.
Behold, the Scythean!
For instance, the most recent reports from a few sailors who managed to survive their ship being wrecked by a Chelish attack talk of a large beast which was driven onto their decks by its Chelish Marine handlers. The strange beast seemed to be a cross between a devil and a plesiosaur, and tore into the pirate crew with unmatched savagery. This corresponds to similar stories of small two-legged shark creatures that were delivered by strange agents on floating rafts to assail other ships north of the Eye of Abendigo. For now, while the massive hurricane continues its whorl, hopefully the Imperial might of Cheliax and their devil-bred ocean beasts is held in check.
The regions of Golarion that are primarily involved
Privateer Press
So while in the Pathfinder campaign, the models will represent the devil-bred forces of the Chelish navy, they're the Legion of Everblight in Privateer Press' twin games Hordes and Warmachine. The painted model, the Scythean, is the first heavy warbeast that I've painted for my force. I like the way the color scheme worked out on the model with a lot more area. The prior ones, the Shredders I posted about first in this post, had only smaller areas that were in the red-to-orange spectrum. I really like the way it came out in the larger model.
Side and back view
The Scythean is a seriously nasty foe in combat, with brutal attacks and the ability to punish large groups--it has a chain attack ability that goes off if it hits with both of its initial attacks. While I have plans on doing a Ravagore and a Carnivean to give some depth of options for my force, I decided to paint up the Scythean first. The reason: simplicity. I'm still learning the game, and the beauty of the Scythean is that it's just a face-wrecking melee critter. Plus, I'm saving the complex tech for my next addition: the Throne of Everblight
Awww Mikey, give us a little lickery-kiss
It's still being assembled, because the kit is HUGE. But I wanted to do a Throne as it's honestly the model that inspired my vision for this force. I pictured a massive beast that burst up from below-decks in a ship due to the commands of a master sorceress. Normally, the Throne has kind of a parapet at the top. I changed it up, with some Sculpey and bits from other models, plus ample numbers of the coffee stir sticks I am using for decking, to look as if it burst up from below decks.
It came from below!
That shot of the full model gives a good sense of my intentions. I still have work to do on it, such as finishing the tentacles, adding the pirate details to the sorceress on the deck, and putting on the broken and splintered deck from the base (which I am going to at least try to paint a recessed image underneath... we'll see how good my painting skills are). But I'm really pleased with the progress thus far. I love the look of the piece for Privateer Press--let alone what sort of horror it will be for the Pathfinder gaming table in my Skull and Shackles game!
Okay, so the one rule about starting skills is that no one can be trained in Profession (sailor) at level one. The idea is that none of the characters have skill at this seafaring thing yet. That said, there are plenty of skills that might come in handy on a ship. Some people asked about various tasks on a ship, and what skill will be appropriate. I want you to find out what skills work well, rather than build characters who are already perfectly equipped and split up by role on the ship to begin with. The module is built around an organic development of characters, so keep that in mind--your character learning either what skills to learn the hard way, or what use they can put an existing skill toward is part of the game. Some things to ponder though:
Basic Ability
For almost all tasks, you can swap the base ability score in rather than the skill.For example: swabbing the decks, a task of mopping and cleaning the wooden surfaces with sandstone blocks called holystones, can either be done with a Profession (sailor) check OR a Strength check.
Doubling Up
I know that the temptation is to say "okay, you be good at this and I'll be good at that and we'll be more effective." Unfortunately, the nature of life on a ship means that there might be times when EVERYONE on board the ship has to take part in a given task. In a blowing storm, almost everyone has to be working on the lines and rigging to keep it both intact and the ship sailing. So rigging skills like Climb, Athletics, Profession (sailor), Perception, and various Craft skills, could be handy for everyone to dabble in.
There's a lot of diversity in a good crew, but also a great deal of similarities
Who Actually Makes the Ship Go
There are more than a few roles that happen on various sailing ships. Not every one is required, but many are essential to the process of sailing, commerce, war, or discipline. A list of who does what on a ship will at least help players understand the kind of people they are working for and with, and who has what authority (and set of skills). All of the following descriptions are taken directly from the materials presented to the GM in Book One of the Skull and Shackles adventure path. The size of the boat determines how much crew is needed to make it sail.
Botswain (also called Bosun): Runs the upper deck of the ship, and is responsible for all the rope, rigging, anchors, and sails. Directly oversees most of the ship's daily labor, and is such often a key part of the discipline of the ship.
Cabin Boy/Girl: Servant to the officers and runs errands.
Captain: Ultimate authority of the ship, who decides the plan for the ship as well as who fills the other stations of the ship.
Carpenter/Surgeon: Mainly responsible for taking care of the below-decks well-being of the ship, plugging leaks and repairing damage. Typically also the ship's surgeon, as Craft (wood) can be a default for Heal checks for certain tasks on the ship... such as the sawing off of injured legs.
Cook: Makes and distributes the food that is stored on the ship to the crew.
Master-at-arms: Concerned with the security of the ship and the fitness of the crew. Keeps order on the ship, administers punishments during the Bloody Hour (the hour before dinner when punishments are conducted with the full crew present), and trains the crew for boarding and deployment as a fighting force.
Master Gunner: Commands all ship-board artillery, and ensures that the crew knows how to use all the weapons on the ship. Ability to craft siege engines and knowledge of engineering is critical. How martial they are depends a lot upon the type of weapons used by the ship, as they might need to know how to fire everything from a sling to a musket, fight with any and all weapons longer than a dagger, and fire everything from ballistae to catapults to even cannon.
Quartermaster: Oversees the supplies and items that are stored on the ship. Every bit of food and weaponry, plus all the plunder, are coordinated and counted by the Quartermaster. They are also responsible for distributing the rum rations each day.
Rigger: These folk climb the rigging and unfurl the sails, which is dangerous work even in calm water. When fighting enemy vessels, their role is one of the most dangerous--having to pull enemy vessels close in preparation for boarding.
Sailing Master: This crew member is the one who commands the moment-to-moment direction of the ship. While the Captain determines the course, the sailing master is the one who guides it. They may work the wheel themselves, or have a helmsman to do the actual piloting. Likewise, they may command the positioning of the sails, or let the Botswain do that task while they mind the general course of progress.
Swab: Any sailor who mops the decks and does generic low skilled work on the ship.
You might be asking, "wait, where's the mate? I know that there are mates on a ship!" True, but only on merchant ships where they are the various levels of deck officers. As the characters are on a pirate ship, the call of "Ahoy matey" is much more about boarding a vessel that is prey than about saying hello to a buddy on the same ship.
So players have started envisioning their characters for the game, both in description and in visual depiction. And I wanted to share the concepts, so people could start to get their own sense of what characters they are playing and how to distinguish themselves from the others.
From Brad:
Brad is focusing on playing a sea raider barbarian, and here's the short description he wrote up about his character:
"I was thinking of going half elf. My father used to be an adventurer and had me with an elf woman. But she died and he we moved from port city to port city while he worked as a longshoreman. I worked in various pubs as a barkeep, table waiter and cook. We would go fishing on his days off and work on building a nice small fishing boat – then one time we were attacked by a huge shark that killed him and mangled my leg. I’ve hated sharks ever since. I started to develop a real temper after dad died, particularly when the patrons would get out of line and make comments about my leg. I would wreak havoc. I lost a lot of pub jobs that way but managed to get some merc work outside of town here and there."
From Kevin:
Kevin's descriptor of his bard is short and sweet thus far: "Half elf bard traveling salesman who goes with a new persona in every town. Got a little too piratey in Port Peril and was shanghaied for it."
But the best part is we have a picture of his Bard: Gilbert.
From whence did this amazing picture come from? Das interwebz?
From Dan:
Actually, that amazing digital painting was done by Dan, who has started to work on illustrating his character's backstory--and conferred with Kevin to have a bit of shared history. Well, at least the two characters met up in Port Peril before shanghaied by ruffians! Dan is an amazing digital illustrator, and has produced so many good images for his own Pathfinder game (in which I'm a player--check them out here), as well as doing his own Pathfinder/Dungeons and Dragons thematic comic book (which is amazing and you can buy super cheap for Kindle devices right here on Amazon).
Dan wanted to play a druid, but knowing that another druid was taking the aquatic route wanted to develop his own distinct druidic flavor: "Chaotic Good, a non-hypocrite druid who knows that humanoids are animals as well, and humans using weapons, tools, building stuff, etc. is no different than birds and wasps building nests and apes using tree bark and sticks to gather bugs as simple tools. Will just have to see what the rest of the group and story is like to shape her more."
Here's Druna relaxing in an abandoned jungle temple near Port Peril
Dan intends to keep doing portraits of Druna's adventures, and I imagine that other characters from this campaign, as he goes on a blog which you can click to here or save and follow at the following address: http://drunadruid.tumblr.com/
From Alex:
And finally, a quick note from Alex about his character. He took the Buccaneer's Blood trait, which means he is descended directly from a famous pirate of the Shackles region--and was given the same name as that infamous pirate. Nearly twenty years ago the human pirate Captain Patrick "Salt-Eye" O'Shaughnessy wedded a woman then promptly ditched her and her newborn child. Whether Captain O'Shaughnessy and his ship, The Darcy's Pillage still ply the waters of the Shackles is unknown. But the O'Shaughnessy name carries steep recognition on the waters, as everyone knows the very tale of horror where old Salt-Eye (who must be over 100 years of age if he still lives today) earned his notorious nickname...
From Chris:
Another quick note, as Chris is waiting for others to really lock in their ideas. But he's leaning toward rogue, with a campaign trait substitution that is something like "outrageous flirt"--which gives a clear reason for why he gets shanghaied. His preliminary descriptor: "I envision a young, fresh faced, swashbuckling, happy-go-lucky cad with not particularly discriminating sexual tastes."
So the Pathfinder Skull and Shackles campaign player's guide (available here if you don't already have it) has rules on page four for dismemberment: what happens to player characters that requires the addition of a peg leg or an eye patch or leaves scars. While I like the concept of these rules, I think there are two main problems with them as they exist. First off, they happen only when someone takes massive damage (50 points or more of damage in a single moment). The problem with that is that NO low level pirates with such maladies would exist--imagine a first level expert or commoner and remember that they have five hit points total. They would simply die from the hit point loss. Second, the chart is peculiar and any magnitude of attack can either sever a leg or lead to a tiny scar. Thus, I'm going to use an entirely different chart.
Who knew piracy required so many charts?
Dismemberment and Damage Rules
Whenever a character takes damage equivalent to 2/3 of their hit points in a single attack, he or she has taken dismemberment damage. A character must make a successful Fortitude save to prevent this damage from leaving him or her with a permanent scar or missing limb. The DC of the Fortitude save is 15, increased by +1 for every additional 5 hit points beyond the 2/3 point. For instance, a character with 30 hit points would have to make a Fortitude DC 15 dismemberment damage save if they suffered 20 points of damage in a single hit. If they suffered 25 points of damage, the save would be DC 16.
If the character fails the dismemberment damage save, then they must roll on the chart below. Note that a few modifiers to the chart apply. For every 5 points of damage above the 2/3 point, there is a cumulative +1 on this chart roll. So continuing the example above, a character with 30 hit points who suffered an attack that inflicted 35 hit points of damage would not only be left unconscious, but would have to succeed on a DC 18 Fortitude save or roll on the following chart with a +3 modifier to the roll.
Second, the type of damage can have an effect on the roll. Bludgeoning damage sources subtract -1 to the roll results, while slashing damage sources add +1 to the roll results. Special cases and magical weapons that are more effective in maiming foes might exist within the campaign. And one specific case of weapon inflicts particularly grievous wounds:Cannonballs. They will be seen in later adventures, and will have their own modifier to the table should a character be unlucky enough to be hit by one.
d20
Battle Scar or Amputation
Game Effect
1-4
Minor Scar
Interesting but cosmetic
5-7
Moderate Scar
+1 to Charisma checks for first scar only (treat two or more moderate
scars as a major scar)
8-10
Major Scar
-1 to Charisma checks with all non-pirates, +1 to Diplomacy and
Intimidate checks versus pirates
11-12
Loss of Finger
For every three lost fingers, -1 Dexterity
13-14
Loss of Toe
For every three lost toes, -5’ of movement speed
15-16
Loss of Eye*
-4 to sight-based Perception checks and -1 to Charisma checks
17-18
Loss of Leg*
Speed reduced by half, cannot run or charge
19-20
Loss of Hand*
Cannot use two-handed items (can still perform somatic components for
spells)
* Pirate's Fate: Once a character loses a hand, a leg, or an eye they re-roll that result on the chart should they get it again. Once a character has lost an eye, a leg, and a hand, then they can no longer re-roll those results on the chart. A further loss of hand, leg, or eye leaves the character permanently crippled. They must immediately seek magical regeneration or retire to a short and hard life of begging on the streets of Port Peril.
The Regenerate spell can completely repair all dismemberment effects suffered by a single target. However, as the affected portion regrows completely new and fresh, it may not match the rest of a suntanned, weathered, and aged body. A character with obvious regenerated sections of their body suffers a -1 penalty to all Charisma-based checks when those sections are exposed to the target of the interaction. Eye Patches, Peg Legs, and Hook Hands
Players will notice that the chart is pretty simple, and there are three types of main dismemberment: eyes, legs, and hands. The following rules detail the most simple prosthesis choices available. More complex or magical choices may appear in game play, but any character with ranks in Craft (ships) can create the simple versions.
Eye Patch: These do not correct the vision issues caused by loss of an eye, but they do remove the penalty of -1 to Charisma checks. In addition, they provide a +1 to Diplomacy and Intimidate checks versus pirates. If a character wears one simply for that benefit and is found out to not have a lost eye, they will suffer a lasting penalty to their infamy score.
Peg Leg: Allows the wearer to run and charge normally. After extended wear (one year of game time) the wearer gets used to the prosthesis and the movement penalty is removed.
Hook Hand: Does not enable use of two-handed items, but the hook hand can be used for appropriate manipulation tasks (opening doors, loosely holding certain objects). In addition, the wearer gains a +2 circumstance bonus to Intimidate checks when the hook is used to threaten the target of the check. Finally, the hook hand is a simple melee weapon--see the Skull and Shackles Campaign Player Guide for statistics of the hook hand.
Reports have reached Port Peril of a small raft that was sailed up to a ship (the Sea's Largess) from an island, and a horde of small shark-like beasties with legs clamored aboard. A strange woman was guiding them, but as the ship's crew fought and finally repelled the beasts the sorceress escaped in a burst of magic.
Landsharks!
Keep tuned for more emerging threats that will appear throughout the campaign!
Privateer Press
So this blog is going to do double-duty, as I am painting up some Privateer Press models to be the villainous (and friendly) crews of various other ships. This is the start of a Legion of Everblight force that will be serving as a crew of blood-thirsty beast-handling aquatic raiders. I'll divide my comments and thoughts about the Privateer Press portion from the Skull and Shackles comments with headings.
These are three Shredders from the Legion of Everblight force I'm working on. I saw some trollbloods that were done with purple bodies and red-to-orange stones in their skin, and thought: "I could do that with scales!" I've been looking for a color inspiration for my force for almost 6 months, and finally found one that I liked. It's going to be interesting to see how I can handle the skin of the Nyss and Ogrun (the elves and mountain ogres that fight on behalf of the awakened-but-not-corporeal dragon Everblight), as the purple will pose a little concern. But I think I have the idea handled.
Next on the painting table is a heavier warbeast and two warlocks to give me some variation in the leader of the force.
Current list of what players are thinking of playing and what campaign trait they will have:
Player
Race / Class
Archetype (if any)
Campaign Trait
Pirate Weapon
Alex
Sorcerer
Buccaneer's Blood
Shannon
Dwarf Druid
Aquatic
Besmara's Blessing
Chris
Leaning Rogue
Outrageous Flirt
Kevin
Bard
Buccaneer
Eye for Plunder
Cutlass
Brad
Half Elf Barbarian
Sea Reaver
Peg Leg
Rachel
Dan
Dwarf Druid
No archetype (land/jungle focus to remain distinct from the aquatic druid)
Touched by the Sea
All sorts of options await
Archetypes
One way of making your character unique for their class is to consider an archetype. The archetypes change a few abilities of a character, which makes them feel tailored and different. Because we're limiting this to single class characters, I wanted to have a healthy set of archetypes for people to choose from so they can get suitable variation (which is Paizo's current strategy for character diversity). As people think of their archetypes, that is one area where I'm willing to go slightly outside of the Core Rules and the Advanced Player's Guide. The following are archetypes that will be appropriate for use in the campaign, with links to their Pathfinder SRD descriptions.
Sorcerer: Bloodline suggestions as per the guide which are Elemental (water) from the Core Rules, and Aquatic and Stormborn from the APG. Also, Destined from the Core Rules would be quite characterful.
Wizard: Siege Mage (would be perfect for the gunnery master of the ship)
"Poor" and "Terrible Option" classes can be handled with the discussion of why you're thinking of that class.
I posted some general thoughts on character creation in the first post (check it out here), but I wanted to make a few more points clear as people start to think out their characters. One discussion is about the background traits for the campaign and one is about power level and path. Finally there is a little section about bonus weapon proficiency that I will be giving to characters. First up, the campaign traits--otherwise known as how you ended up on this ship.
By H.R. Department we mean "Hammer Resources"
Traits
On page four of the Skull and Shackles Campaign Player's Guide (which you can purchase and download for free from Paizo at this link) you will see a section on Campaign Traits. Each character must choose one of these campaign traits, and gets to choose one other trait (listed here) to help shape the background of your character. Traits relate to where your character comes from, how they behave, and what they learned in their life before setting out on adventure. Note that traits are a great way to get "class training" in a skill that you don't already have for a class (e.g. "Sure, you're a book learned wizard but you grew up rough so you know how to Intimidate with the best of them."). While your personal trait choice is pretty open, the campaign traits all set up the reasoning why you were at Port Peril and shanghaied by a press gang from the sailing ship Wormwood.
I would generally prefer that we have variation on campaign traits, as they will really help distinguish between characters. So that said, I want to make many of the traits exclusive--it doesn't make sense to have everyone show up on the ship named after a famous pirate, for instance. Everyone should message me via e-mail with two campaign traits they would be okay with using, and I will arrange them as best I can to your preferences. The following lists have the traits and the quick-and-dirty "why you're in Port Peril" description. Any comments on the trait will be in parenthesis afterward.
Only One: Barroom Talespinner - Decided to make a few coins telling old sea stories you've heard in Port Peril (preferably outside of archetype--so not a bard or rogue) Besmara's Blessing - Just seem to have the luck of the pirate queen Bucaneer's Blood - You have the surname of a famous pirate, and thought you'd try to follow in the footsteps of your forbearer Eye For Plunder - This one we'll adjust slightly, saying that you've been in on a few heists in your day, but never on the high seas Peg Leg - You're not a huge fan of sharks because one bit off your leg, but hey you're in Port Peril anyhow (I love this one, btw) Ship's Surgeon - Grew up as a tradeswoman or carpenter, and turned a natural hand to being a sawbones from that experience
Any Number: Ancient Explorer- Looking for treasure and ancient ruins Dockside Brawler- Grew up on the docks of a port city Touched by the Sea- Just have an affinity for the ocean
Prefer None: Ilizmagorti Native- This one is really to connect to other prior adventure paths in the pathfinder series.
As players select them for their characters, I'll update a "character options" post which will list who is playing what, and has what trait.
I don't want to deploy a pirate crew of brain eaters against you but I will...
Power and Paths
Because we have a big group, I think that the goal really should be to play an interesting character rather than a super tricky exploitative combat character. To that end, I ask that players be generally reasonable. Central to this are a couple of things:
1) I think that I would like to have no characters that multi-class or take a prestige class in this adventure. Paizo has really made it possible to do single class builds that are very different using their archetypes system (and have been pretty publicly against multi-classing with their game rules). Given that we'll have a rather big table, to be certain that no one crosses into other folks' territory too much I am going to ask that everyone just play a single class character. If this changes your thinking on what you would play, no one's plans are set in stone yet so I ask that you just consider something that works within a single class. I think that will not only help develop clearer personas, but it will also decrease nonsense from a GM point of view (see #2).
2) Don't play the power-gaming game. Don't focus your character on being a one-combo killer, or on one particular mode of tricks to game the system to be completely powerful. The results of that are just that the DM has to either take away your toys every fight so you get frustrated, or dial up the power level such that your over-poweredness is equalized. No one wins in the second version, so prepare for the first version. Instead, just focus on an effective but diverse character. Because selling out to combat alone means that you'll have less to do in the game (see #3).
3) Skills are of equal importance to combat ability. This module has plenty of fights, but skills and roleplaying will be a big part of every session. You can lose your ship and have every character die just with skill checks alone. Unlikely, but I know one player's ability to roll 1's. Having lots of characters who can support the ship in various roles and work with NPCs in a variety of ways will be huge.
4) Prepare for lower build points. We've got a larger group of players (6 or maybe 7), and that means lower point buys to start. The campaign is written for everyone to have a 15 point buy for ability scores. I might have us go down to that, or be in the 16 or 17 range rather than 20 as I said in the first post. Just an FYI.
Hit 'em with the curvy end!
Pirate Weapons
I think that almost everyone should be able to use a cutlass, a pistol, and/or a harpoon after their time on the ship. So for the purposes of this campaign, each character will get one "bonus weapon" choice in the course of play. You don't have to decide it now, but you can choose to either be proficient with a cutlass, harpoon, boarding gaff, or pistol when you want to pick one (normally the cutlass is martial and the pistol and harpoon are exotic) if you are not already proficient in that type of weapon. I'll record the choice when you select it, but it can be from the very start if you wish. The point of this is to encourage you choosing weapons of these types, as you can be certain that more magical cutlasses, gaffs, harpoons and pistols will appear in the game than other weapons.
Finally of course, a bit of Pirate-themed music for fun. This time everyone's favorite Pirate-Metal band Alestorm, playing my favorite tune of theirs: Keelhauled.
