Pirate Campaign and Guns/Boats/Cannons/Classes

[dascarletm]

So I'm thinking of starting a Pirate campaign to come out of DM retirement.:smallbiggrin:
I felt like asking you all for advice on some things.
1) Is there any good homebrew pirate classes/prestige classes
2) besides dread pirate and the PRCs in Stormwrack, what other PRCs should I recommend to the players?
3) Guns: If firearms are commonplace, is there variant rules than the guns in the DMG I should use? 250/500gp seems like a bit much to me.
4) Stormwrack: is that pretty much the book I want to use, or is there better rules for ships and whatnot? (also is there an expanded ships list?)
5) Is there anything else I could consider/ any general tips for running this? It's been a while.

I have a legacy of greatness within my group so I want to come back strong.:smallamused:

[vrigar]

"Iron Kingdoms" campaign settings cover firearms pretty well for 3.5.
As for the rest - do you really want the focus to be battling the elements to get the ship across the water? If so, I'd look for a module involving a lot of water travel - they usually have a lot of rules for that.
IMHO let the sailors deal with the ship and the PCs with the nautical monsters.

[Fable Wright]

Well, step one on the list would probably be getting some setting information out there to determine what uses different classes might have aboard a ship. For example, the different kinds of challenges there are on Pirate ships, be that Leviathans in the ocean, patches of Kelp, authorities running after the party, and so on. I'm not that familiar with homebrew, so I'll just stick with established classes/whatever that might be useful.
1&2. Not too sure here, but there are some good core classes that might be useful for a pirate. Druids, in particular, would be invaluable on a ship: you get huge aquatic guardians for animal companions, ships are made of wood, you can Handle Animal the huge creatures away, and Stormwrack has some druid spells that really help on the open sea. Plus, Control Weather and Control Winds. Beguiler, oddly enough, might also be pretty good. Huge illusions to cover the party are useful when you're surrounded by space and are trying to escape detection, and mind control/detect thoughts is incredibly useful when interrogating people for stashed loot. Master of the Unseen Hand (possibly with casting progression, if you feel nice) + a homebrew Warlock invocation that grants Telekinesis as the spell would also be useful- there are a huge number of moving parts aboard a pirate ship, and having someone that can move a huge number of them by themselves would be a powerful ability. Probably best suited for a captain/navigator. Next thing to ask is how a party might counter these things/alternative methods of achieving them. Ranger in particular could be of use- ranged sniping of people/ropes might cause havoc for crews, and still can use aquatic help and can convince sea monsters to go somewhere else for their daily mauling. Counterspelling/antimagic/dispelling would probably be huge- most ships are going to be decked in protective enchantments, and would be vital against anyone with Telekinesis on a pirate ship. Wizards would be useful on a ship- Animate Rope is good to have, and they can buff the ship/crew when necessary.
3. Reflavored Crossbows. That's all I have to say.
5. If you have days to kill, Jim Butcher's Codex of Alera series, starting in book 3, has a completely badass captain/crew that you can probably add to the game. You might take some tips from them. Aside from that... you can't go overboard with descriptions, and Pirates are an interesting and diverse lot. Go nuts with the different crews that you could find! If you have weeks to kill, One Piece might give you some ideas for crews to add.

[dascarletm]

Thanks for the advice! Ill need to look up iron kingdoms when I get home. Reflavoring crossbows could be good, which brings me to another question. Is there a ranger style suited for crossbows/ how would you do one?

[hamishspence]

Dragon Magazine 321 (August 2004) also had rules for various guns.

[roguemetal]

Reloading is a free action with hand or light crossbows, so I think you should be able to make a full attack with them...

If not, just take a ton of crossbows, and two-weapon fight quickdrawing crossbows out, and never worry about reload in the first place.

[grarrrg]

PATHFINDER!
You'll have to reverse-convert, but there is a good bit of Piratey PF stuff.

1) Is there any good homebrew pirate classes/prestige classes
2) besides dread pirate and the PRCs in Stormwrack, what other PRCs should I recommend to the players?
I'll try to stick to the more '3.5 conversion friendly' options, and/or give 'replacement' suggestions.
PrC:
Inner Sea Pirate (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/classes/prestige-classes/other-paizo/i-m/inner-sea-pirate)
Shackles Pirate (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/classes/prestige-classes/other-paizo/s-z/shackles-pirate)
Base Classes (archetypes, they trade features)
Sea Reaver Barbarian (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/classes/core-classes/barbarian/archetypes/paizo---barbarian-archetypes/sea-reaver)
Pirate Rogue (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/classes/core-classes/rogue/archetypes/paizo---rogue-archetypes/pirate) (instead of "replaces 2nd level Rogue talent, maybe have it replace Evasion)
Aquatic Druid (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/classes/core-classes/druid/archetypes/paizo---druid-archetypes/aquatic-druid)
Freebooter Ranger (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/classes/core-classes/ranger/archetypes/paizo---ranger-archetypes/freebooter) (Hunter's Bond is Animal Companion)


3) Guns: If firearms are commonplace, is there variant rules than the guns in the DMG I should use? 250/500gp seems like a bit much to me.
Pathfinder also has great rules for 'early guns (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/equipment---final/firearms)', although they are a bit more expensive then 250g...
Gunslinger (www.d20pfsrd.com/classes/base-classes/gunslinger) Class


4) Stormwrack: is that pretty much the book I want to use, or is there better rules for ships and whatnot? (also is there an expanded ships list?)
Any Pathfinder book with "Inner Sea" on it.

[Crasical]

So I'm thinking of starting a Pirate campaign to come out of DM retirement.:smallbiggrin:
I felt like asking you all for advice on some things.
1) Is there any good homebrew pirate classes/prestige classes
2) besides dread pirate and the PRCs in Stormwrack, what other PRCs should I recommend to the players?
3) Guns: If firearms are commonplace, is there variant rules than the guns in the DMG I should use? 250/500gp seems like a bit much to me.
4) Stormwrack: is that pretty much the book I want to use, or is there better rules for ships and whatnot? (also is there an expanded ships list?)
5) Is there anything else I could consider/ any general tips for running this? It's been a while.

I feel kinda bad for being so flippant, but play pathfinder, or at the very least check out the SRD. It has pretty much the best rules for fantasy firearms that I've come across, rules for vehicular/ship to ship combat, Cannons, and archetypes for the base classes to give them a more nautical feel (Barbarians can be Drunken Brutes or Sea Reavers, Bards can be Sea Singers and Buccaneers, Druids can be Aquatic Druids or Shark Shamans, Fighters can be corsairs, Monks can be Drunken Masters, Rangers can be Freebooters, Rogues have Pirate and Smuggler...It has lots of stuff for pirate games, is what I'm saying.


Edit: graaaaaaaaaarrrg! *Shake fist*


Edit 2: I can at least one up him by mentioning that the firearms rules have a note that in a setting where firearms have become more common (Pirate adventures), the firearms and ammunition become cheaper, costing only a few hundred gold.

[Ryu_Bonkosi]

For base classes I would definitely have the Factotum, Beguiler, and Swashbuckler as options for your players to choose from outside of core. They all offer something that could be considered useful on a ship and even if they don't take them as classes, having some NPCs who do have those classes could be a lot of fun.
I think that the Changeling and Warforged races from Eberron add a lot of flavor to whatever setting they are in, and from my experience make great pirates.

I have never used guns in my playing before so I can't help there, but Stormwrack is basically the go-to book for naval combat and piracy.

[grarrrg]

Edit: graaaaaaaaaarrrg!

:smallconfused:Can't tell if angry, or just misspelled like normal...


*Shake fist*

Probably gonna go with 'angry'...
:smalltongue: