Yarr! It be a Pirate Class!

[Xeran]

I made this class with Shadowcraft's Class Construction Engine, still looking to playtest it. I know the Table is all messed up, looks better on word. What do you guys think?


Pirate

Adventure: As Pirates are chaotic they may adventure for many reasons. The most common, however, is greed. Pirates love to plunder, and the accumulation of wealth is often why a person chooses this path. Other Pirates may adventure for the freedoms of the High Seas, or for even more obscure reasons.
Background: Many have spent times in ports of call. Others are simply looking to escape. Yet more wish for the infamy that they might find in a Pirates life. There is no such thing as a guild or schools of Piracy, all are simply trained by those they crew with.
Race: Humans are the most common to become Pirates because they are ambitious and greedy; two qualities need to become a Pirate. Half-Elves also become Pirates due to the acceptance they might find among the crew. Races such as Gnomes and Dwarves are rare at best. Halfling Pirates are uncommon, but not unheard of. Many Half-Orcs become Pirates, finding both acceptance and even fame in such an environment. Among the savage humanoids, many have both the temperament and inclination to become Pirates.
Alignment: Only characters of chaotic alignment may become Pirates. This is because of the free nature and openness to improvisation and willingness to change that is needed to follow this path. Also Pirates, by definition, break laws in the very act of Piracy.
Characteristics: Dexterity is important due to his need to wield a the light blades and to move with agility about a ship. Constitution is almost as important so he can see himself through combat. Strength is helpful to power blows, as is, later, Intelligence.

Class Features
Hit Die: D10
Alignment: Any chaotic
Weapon & Armor Proficiencies: The Pirate is proficient with Simple and Martial Weapons. The Pirate is proficient in light armor but not shields.
Class Skills: The Pirates class skills are appraise (INT), balance (DEX), bluff (CHA), hide (DEX), intimidate (CHA), knowledge: geography (INT), knowledge: nature (INT), listen (WIS), move silently (DEX), profession (WIS), search (INT), spot (WIS), survival (WIS), swim (STR), and tumble (DEX). 4+int modifier.

Level Base Attack Bonus Fortitude Save Reflex Save Will Save Special
1 +1 +2 +0 +0 Weapon Finesse, Lucky 1/Day
2 +2 +3 +0 +0 Improved Feint
3 +3 +3 +1 +1 Insightful Strike, Dodge Bonus +1
4 +4 +4 +1 +1 Free Feint 2d4
5 +5 +4 +1 +1 Lucky 2/Day
6 +6/+1 +5 +2 +2 Ocean’s Visage I
7 +7/+2 +5 +2 +2 Dodge Bonus +2
8 +8/+3 +6 +2 +2 Free Feint 1d4
9 +9/+4 +6 +3 +3
10 +10/+5 +7 +3 +3 Lucky 3/Day
11 +11/+6/+1 +7 +3 +3 Ocean’s Visage II
12 +12/+7/+2 +8 +4 +4 Dodge Bonus +3
13 +13/+8/+3 +8 +4 +4
14 +14/+9/+4 +9 +4 +4
15 +15/+10/+5 +9 +5 +5 Lucky 4/Day
16 +16/+11/+6/+1 +10 +5 +5
17 +17/+12/+7/+2 +10 +5 +5
18 +18/+13/+8/+3 +11 +6 +6 Dodge Bonus +4
19 +19/+14/+9/+4 +11 +6 +6
20 +20/+15/+10/+5 +12 +6 +6 Lucky 5/Day, Ocean’s Visage III

Weapons Finesse: The Pirate gains Weapon Finesse feat as a bonus feat, even if he does not meet the prerequisites.
Lucky: Better lucky then good, some say. The wise Pirate agrees. A certain amount of times a day the Pirate may immediately re-roll a previous roll. He must take the results whether they are better or worse.
Improved Feint: The Pirate gains Improved Feint feat as a bonus feat, even if he does not meet the prerequisites.
Insightful Strike: At 3rd level, a Pirate gains the ability to place his keenest attacks where they will deal the greatest damage. He applies his Intelligence Bonus (if any) to the weapon damage of any weapon he has which is either light or he has the Weapon Finesse feat for. All the things that restrict the Swashbuckler ability of the same name also restrict this.
Dodge Bonus: As a swift action a Pirate may choose one foe and add the relevant number to his AC in attacks from that foe. If the Pirate also has the Dodge feat, the two people need not be the same, but if they are, the bonus stacks. All the things that restrict the Swashbuckler ability of the same name also restrict this.
Free Feint: You can now Feint as a free action rather then a move action. After you have used this, it is harder to trick your foe again, requiring you to wait a certain amount of rounds (2d4 or 1d4) before using it again. You may do anything as you wait, even use a normal Feint.
Ocean’s Visage I: The very power of the Sea infuses you. A constant smell of brine follows you. You must at this time change your deity to one that has either Luck or Water in it’s Domain, or worship the personification of those. If you cannot or will not do this, no Ocean’s Visage powers affect you. At 6th level you no longer take a penalty for Feinting against non-humanoid creatures, and you Swim and Knowledge: Geography skills takes a +8 bonus.
Ocean’s Visage II: The power of the Sea suffuse your body once more, giving you gills and webbed hand and feet. You gain a Swim Speed equal to your Land Speed, and gain the ability to breathe water, though you can still breathe air as well.
Ocean’s Visage III: The Sea marks you as it’s unique champion. Lightning seems to flash in your eyes and your hair turns either the white of frothed waves, the black of the sunless depths, or kelp green. You now gain the Leadership Feat, though you attract Followers, not Cohorts. The Sea urges you to gain your own crew, and your crew know that you are favored by the very sea. Penalties for moving around and death of followers do not apply to you. If you already have this feat, add +6 to your Diplomacy and Intimidate Skills when dealing with other Sailor's.

[sigurd]

I like the class but I'm not sure about the forced mutations. Gills?

I'd rather see a bit of witchcraft or sorcery.


s

[averagejoe]

Do these guys have any weapon or armor proficiency?

As a courtesy to those who potentially might respond, you may consider neatening things up a bit. For example, you should separate different sections via bold titles, bullets, or double spacing. Also, instead of creating a big, messy table involving everything, you could have the table just list the abilities and simply say, "Base attack bonus equal to pirate level, good fortitude save, bad reflex and will saves." It just makes things look nicer.

This is a nice class and all, but I'm not really feeling the "pirate" reflected in his class. I've always seen pirates as being tricksters rather than frontline fighters. Most of the time pirates couldn't go toe-to-toe with the military, and most of the famous pirate stories are about men who used trickery/deciet to defeat superior forces. Just my thoughts.

Edit: Also, I don't see anyone going anywhere near level twenty on this. A worse version of leadership just isn't worth it.

[Xeran]

"Weapon & Armor Proficiencies: The Pirate is proficient with Simple and Martial Weapons. The Pirate is proficient in light armor but not shields."

And This is simply taken out of my personal records, which is in Word. It looks very neat there, sorry.

And Pirates were very good warriors. Sure a fighter would be able to potentially do more damage or be specialized in some other way, but they are good enough to intimidate merchants and the like with their fighting prowess.

[knightsaline]

do they get favored enemy (ninja)? or at least some sort of thingh that shows their hatred of the disiplined killers (whereas they will kill anything as long as it has something shiny and expensive). now my dreams of a strawhatted pirate/monk can come true. now all i need is some way of making his body like rubber....

[Xeran]

They don't have any particular hatred of disciplined killers in game terms, though many indivuals may feel that way.

[Carrion_Humanoid]

((I Don't know If im allowed, but heres the More easily read one))

Pirate

Adventure: As Pirates are chaotic they may adventure for many reasons. The most common, however, is greed. Pirates love to plunder, and the accumulation of wealth is often why a person chooses this path. Other Pirates may adventure for the freedoms of the High Seas, or for even more
obscure reasons.

Background: Many have spent times in ports of call. Others are simply looking to escape. Yet more wish for the infamy that they might find in a Pirates life. There is no such thing as a guild or schools of Piracy, all are simply trained by those they crew with.

Race: Humans are the most common to become Pirates because they are ambitious and greedy; two qualities need to become a Pirate. Half-Elves also become Pirates due to the acceptance they might find among the crew. Races such as Gnomes and Dwarves are rare at best. Halfling Pirates are uncommon, but not unheard of. Many Half-Orcs become Pirates, finding both acceptance and even fame in such an environment. Among the savage humanoids, many have both the temperament and inclination to become Pirates.

Alignment: Only characters of chaotic alignment may become Pirates. This is because of the free nature and openness to improvisation and willingness to change that is needed to follow this path. Also Pirates, by definition, break laws in the very act of Piracy.
Characteristics: Dexterity is important due to his need to wield a the light blades and to move with agility about a ship. Constitution is almost as important so he can see himself through combat. Strength is helpful to power blows, as is, later, Intelligence.

Class Features
Hit Die: D10
Alignment: Any chaotic
Weapon & Armor Proficiencies: The Pirate is proficient with Simple and Martial Weapons. The Pirate is proficient in light armor but not shields.
Class Skills: The Pirates class skills are appraise (INT), balance (DEX), bluff (CHA), hide (DEX), intimidate (CHA), knowledge: geography (INT), knowledge: nature (INT), listen (WIS), move silently (DEX), profession (WIS), search (INT), spot (WIS), survival (WIS), swim (STR), and tumble (DEX). 4+int modifier.

Level Base Attack Bonus Fortitude Save Reflex Save Will Save Special
1 +1 +2 +0 +0 Weapon Finesse, Lucky 1/Day
2 +2 +3 +0 +0 Improved Feint
3 +3 +3 +1 +1 Insightful Strike, Dodge Bonus +1
4 +4 +4 +1 +1 Free Feint 2d4
5 +5 +4 +1 +1 Lucky 2/Day
6 +6/+1 +5 +2 +2 Ocean’s Visage I
7 +7/+2 +5 +2 +2 Dodge Bonus +2
8 +8/+3 +6 +2 +2 Free Feint 1d4
9 +9/+4 +6 +3 +3
10 +10/+5 +7 +3 +3 Lucky 3/Day
11 +11/+6/+1 +7 +3 +3 Ocean’s Visage II
12 +12/+7/+2 +8 +4 +4 Dodge Bonus +3
13 +13/+8/+3 +8 +4 +4
14 +14/+9/+4 +9 +4 +4
15 +15/+10/+5 +9 +5 +5 Lucky 4/Day
16 +16/+11/+6/+1 +10 +5 +5
17 +17/+12/+7/+2 +10 +5 +5
18 +18/+13/+8/+3 +11 +6 +6 Dodge Bonus +4
19 +19/+14/+9/+4 +11 +6 +6
20 +20/+15/+10/+5 +12 +6 +6 Lucky 5/Day, Ocean’s Visage III

Weapons Finesse: The Pirate gains Weapon Finesse feat as a bonus feat, even if he does not meet the prerequisites.

Lucky: Better lucky then good, some say. The wise Pirate agrees. A certain amount of times a day the Pirate may immediately re-roll a previous roll. He must take the results whether they are better or worse.

Improved Feint: The Pirate gains Improved Feint feat as a bonus feat, even if he does not meet the prerequisites.

Insightful Strike: At 3rd level, a Pirate gains the ability to place his keenest attacks where they will deal the greatest damage. He applies his Intelligence Bonus (if any) to the weapon damage of any weapon he has which is either light or he has the Weapon Finesse feat for. All the things that restrict the Swashbuckler ability of the same name also restrict this.

Dodge Bonus: As a swift action a Pirate may choose one foe and add the relevant number to his AC in attacks from that foe. If the Pirate also has the Dodge feat, the two people need not be the same, but if they are, the bonus stacks. All the things that restrict the Swashbuckler ability of the same name also restrict this.

Free Feint: You can now Feint as a free action rather then a move action. After you have used this, it is harder to trick your foe again, requiring you to wait a certain amount of rounds (2d4 or 1d4) before using it again. You may do anything as you wait, even use a normal Feint.

Ocean’s Visage I: The very power of the Sea infuses you. A constant smell of brine follows you. You must at this time change your deity to one that has either Luck or Water in it’s Domain, or worship the personification of those. If you cannot or will not do this, no Ocean’s Visage powers affect you. At 6th level you no longer take a penalty for Feinting against non-humanoid creatures, and you Swim and Knowledge: Geography skills takes a +8 bonus.

Ocean’s Visage II: The power of the Sea suffuse your body once more, giving you gills and webbed hand and feet. You gain a Swim Speed equal to your Land Speed, and gain the ability to breathe water, though you can still breathe air as well.

Ocean’s Visage III: The Sea marks you as it’s unique champion. Lightning seems to flash in your eyes and your hair turns either the white of frothed waves, the black of the sunless depths, or kelp green. You now gain the Leadership Feat, though you attract Followers, not Cohorts. The Sea urges you to gain your own crew, and your crew know that you are favored by the very sea. Penalties for moving around and death of followers do not apply to you. If you already have this feat, add +6 to your Diplomacy and Intimidate Skills when dealing with other Sailor's.
__________________

[TheThan]

I can help you with your table, fill it out in Microsoft excel or some other spreadsheet program, then highlight it, copy and past it into a graphics program such as PhotoShop or even MS word, then save it as a .jpg. Then upload it to a image hosting site and link to it. That’s what I do, it’s a lot less time consuming and frustrating than typing out a table on the forum or trying to format it to look right.

[averagejoe]

I still don't see myself going past level eight with this class. Maybe as far as eleven or twelve, but the higher levels are really blah.

[Xeran]

Thanks for the help guys :)

And what would you suggest Average Joe?

[knightsaline]

the thing about races other than those with human blood seems out of place. pirate crews were a diverse bunch and did not discriminate (except against other crews that have shinys), i mean, that dark elf whose name is never spoken was accepted by a sailing crew. all the pirates care for is shinys and how hard you can hit something

[Xeran]

Dark elves fall under the "Savage Humanoids" category, and I said they commonly become pirates.

[averagejoe]

Thanks for the help guys :)

And what would you suggest Average Joe?

I didn't have anything in mind, but some extra rerolls and leadership aren't worth eight more levels. One might as well level up in fighter.

The swashbuckler class had a similar problem. Perhaps you could add some abilities that give him bonuses to various abilities while the pirate's on a ship on the ocean. This way, it's so circumstantial that it doesn't add much power to the class, but makes the pirate more the master of his own domain. 'Cause, let's face it: I'm not saying it was a wrong decision to give him waterbreathing, but it won't help much if his ship gets boarded.

[Xeran]

Well what kind of abilities do you think would suit him? Like more specifically?

[knightsaline]

how about the pirate takes less damage from spells cast by the ships wizard/psion/cleric up to level 20 where they become immune to spells cast by said spellcaster. also some bluff and diplomacy bonuses (jack sparrows speech about how his crew are going to open a chest they dont have with a key they also don't have). imagine a wizard standing back to back with the high level pirate. wizard drops fireball at feet (wizard having taken ships spellcaster feat). neither the pirate and wizard get hurt from the fireball. pirate goes and robs the corpses of shinys. at low levels, the pirate should gain a bonus to attack rolls/damge rolls if someone holds up a shiny object or the opponent has a shiny object (pirates, in my opiniom are fixated on shinys)

[averagejoe]

I was also thinking about somewhat more obvious stuff. Perhaps +4 to climb checks and balance checks to keep his footing on unsteady surfaces, but only on his own ship. Or, maybe giving him a climb speed might be better, but only when he's climbing the rigging, masts, etc. If you want to go for the swashbuckling fighter type you might as well go all out and give him something that would be relevant to attacking while swinging down on a rope, and suchlike.

[averagejoe]

at low levels, the pirate should gain a bonus to attack rolls/damge rolls if someone holds up a shiny object or the opponent has a shiny object (pirates, in my opiniom are fixated on shinys)

Good lord, they're pirates, not crows. Anyways, pirates aren't really more interested in gold than, say, the average adventurer (which is to say, a lot), but you don't see them getting attack bonuses. It would be like, "No fair, I love gold just as much as Jack here, but I don't get bonuses." (I mean, let's face it, it IS about the stuff.)

[Logic]

I think a d8 hit die makes more sense for a pirate, and would probably use this in my campaign.
In trade, perhaps they recive more skill points? 6+Int doesn't seem all that bad to me.

[knightsaline]

make a king of the pirates PrC! then my swashbuckler/monk can aspire to something! now all I need is some way of making like rubber....

[Bobbis]

They need use rope as a class skill...I mean seriously; they're pirates, rigging and whatnot.

[Kyace]

make a king of the pirates PrC! then my swashbuckler/monk can aspire to something! now all I need is some way of making like rubber....
Threw together a quick template. How broken does this look? Feel free to add your own inability to swim.


RUBBERY
Rubbery creatures appear to be made of living rubber. Other than when they stretch or absorb attack, they appear normal. They may be the result of a curse, a spell or a construct built out of rubber bands.
CREATING RUBBERY CREATURES
“RUBBERY” is an inherited template that can be added to any corporeal creature.
A rubbery creature uses all the base creature’s statistics and special abilities except as noted here.
Size and Type: The creature gains the subtype augmented. Do not recalculate the creature’s Hit Dice, base attack bonus, or saves. Size is unchanged.
Speed: A rubbery creature can stretch their legs or whatever locomotive limbs they use, thus they increase their speed by 1.5x.
Armor Class: Natural armor improves by +1 (this stacks with any natural armor bonus the base creature has).
Space/Reach: +0ft/+5ft
Special Attacks: Improvised Slingshot (Ex): see below.
Special Qualities: A rubbery creature has all the special qualities of the base creature, plus the following special qualities.
—Resistance to bludgeoning 10, and electricity 10.
—Damage reduction: 5/fire or cold or slashing or piercing (if HD 10 or less) or 10/fire or slashing or piercing (if HD 11 or more).
—A rubbery creature’s natural weapons are treated as magic weapons for the purpose of overcoming damage reduction.
Abilities: Increase from the base creature as follows: Str +2, Dex +2, Con +2
Challenge Rating: +2
Alignment: (any).
Level Adjustment: Same as base creature +2.

Special Abilities: A rubbery creature with an Intelligence or Wisdom score of 8 or higher has the following abilities.

Stretch Hand (Ex): Rubbery creatures can use a stretch hand effect as a standard action. They stretch their own hand up to a range of 10 ft / HD. The hand starts at the rubbery creature and travels at the creature’s speed. They may use this effect for as many hands as they have. The hand may grasp nonmagical, unattended objects of any weight but only move objects up to their light load at half their speed, medium objects at 1/4th their speed and heavy loads at 1/8th.
If the rubbery creature suffers any damage while using the effect, either at the main part of the creature, the hand or the stretched limb between the two, they must make a concentration check as if it were a level 0 spell or flinch, retracting the hand back.
Any time the hand is empty, the creature may fully retract the hand back as a free action.

Improvised Slingshot (Ex): Rubbery creatures using the stretch hand effect above may retract any stretched hand as a full round action, with the intent of slinging the hand pass the body. If the hand is empty or has an object weighing less than their heavy loads, the rubbery creature must make a special check against DC 15 with their base attack bonus and Intelligence modifier to aim. On success, they retract the hand back with the object and sling it at a target up to twice the distance the hand started away on the other side of the creature. Treat the object as having falling from a height equal to the distance the hand started from the rubbery creature, allowing a DC 15 reflex save for half damage.. You may make a melee attack with that hand as if you had charged, with a +2 bonus on the attack roll.
If the rubbery creature fails DC 15 aim check less than 5, they miss their target. Roll a 1d8 to determine which direction the slingshot was off, with 1 being toward the rubbery creature and 2 through 8 moving clockwise around the target. The object and the hand end up one square in that direction at least, increasing by another square for every 50 feet the hand started away from the rubbery creature.
If the rubbery creature fails the DC 15 aim check by more than 5 or rolls a natural 1, they strike their selves with the object, as if it had fallen from a height equal to the distance the hand started away from the creature.
If the object the hand is holding weighs in the range of the rubbery creature’s heavy load, the aim check becomes DC 20. If the object weight more than the creature’s heavy load, the aim check becomes 25.

[Xeran]

Ummm, right. Not sure how much the rubber thing helps, but thanks! :)

[Kyace]

Ummm, right. Not sure how much the rubber thing helps, but thanks! :)
You don't watch much anime, I take it. :)

knightsaline was talking about the hero of one piece, Monkey D. Luffy, whom has rubbery powers and wants to be Pirate King.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monkey_D._Luffy

[Xeran]

No, I am afraid I don't. But I'll take your word on it.