3.5 - Help me with an undead pirate crew please!

[gurgleflep]

Hello everybody :)
For a campaign I'm running soon, I would like some form of seafaring quest. I'm going to be using Captain Gnash as one of the bunch, but I would also like to have a crew captained by a powerful skeleton pirate, a warlord of the sea if you will.

I have no clue where to begin, as I've never made an NPC with class levels. It would be most appreciative if you could either give me some pointers! I'm wanting the Captain, his first mate, a mage (lich possibly?) and various other crew members. Would a flesh golem be appropriate?
The party of 3-4 will be fighting them when they're all approximately level twelve.

I would like to thank Man on Fire for giving me the idea; he suggested captain Gnash and gave me a link to a pirate song... the album art that showed up in the video gave me the idea. Caution, it's Pirate Metal! Here's the link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q49slS1_vFc to cut straight to the song, you may want to skip to the ten second mark.

[Ravenica]

It's pathfinder but pretty much any skeletal champion with caster levels could command this crew http://www.d20pfsrd.com/magic/all-spells/s/skeleton-crew

saves you from having to worry about the lesser crew members

for your command crew
Captain, skeletal champion, rogue levels or sorc (probably should be a caster, what kind of captain wouldn't want to directly control his crew?)
first mate: zombie with a template, fighter or bard maybe?
Mage: definately not lich with a party that size, possibly a hecueva?

[Fyermind]

Ghouls work almost perfectly (well you may decide to use the aquatic kind) for the crew. What sort of level do you want them to be? There is a template in Book of Vile Darkness (that may have been reprinted elsewhere) called Bone Creature that is skeletons that don't lose their mental stats.

If you want a good challenge Sorcerer --> Sea witch (Stormwrack) is a very good captain. I'd start with a Vampire lord if the party was strong enough, or a ghast if they weren't. The first mate would do well as a Dread pirate (Complete adventurer) or a Scarlet Coursair (Stormwrack). They are basically the same class.

If you tell us more about the key levels I can give you more accurate builds.

[gurgleflep]

It's pathfinder but pretty much any skeletal champion with caster levels could command this crew http://www.d20pfsrd.com/magic/all-spells/s/skeleton-crew

saves you from having to worry about the lesser crew members

for your command crew
Captain, skeletal champion, rogue levels or sorc (probably should be a caster, what kind of captain wouldn't want to directly control his crew?)
first mate: zombie with a template, fighter or bard maybe?
Mage: definately not lich with a party that size, possibly a hecueva?

I can't help but notice that the link says the skeletons are unable to fight/defend themselves. Also, what's a hecueva?

[hamishspence]

There is a template in Book of Vile Darkness (that may have been reprinted elsewhere) called Bone Creature that is skeletons that don't lose their mental stats.

I haven't seen it anywhere but BoVD.

I'd probably put it as LA+1, since it doesn't change the creature's CR.

(I'd also change "half damage from non-bludgeoning weapons" to "DR 5/bludgeoning"- since that's the same change as skeletons went through, in the changeover from 3.0 to 3.5).


Also, what's a hecueva?

It's basically a kind of undead cleric.

[Xervous]

sounds like one heck-of-a scary thing (probably an awful pun, and improper pronunciation on top of that)

[hamishspence]

sounds like one heck-of-a scary thing (probably an awful pun, and improper pronunciation on top of that)

Don't worry, you would not be the first to make that pun:

OOTS 453: Heck of a Fight (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0453.html)

[gorfnab]

Dungeon Lord prestige class (Dungeonscape page 108) would make for an interesting option for a ship's captain. Basically declare the ship to be a dungeon and you're set.

[Ravenica]

I can't help but notice that the link says the skeletons are unable to fight/defend themselves. Also, what's a hecueva?

That is exactly true, and keeps you from having to worry about them in a fight while your party deals with the ring leaders, you can easily fluff that they are ineffectual or what have you and have whatever crew your party brings along fight them in the background, but this keeps things much simpler without having to drag 30 skeletons into the mix to crowd your battlefield

[gurgleflep]

Ghouls work almost perfectly (well you may decide to use the aquatic kind) for the crew. What sort of level do you want them to be? There is a template in Book of Vile Darkness (that may have been reprinted elsewhere) called Bone Creature that is skeletons that don't lose their mental stats.

If you want a good challenge Sorcerer --> Sea witch (Stormwrack) is a very good captain. I'd start with a Vampire lord if the party was strong enough, or a ghast if they weren't. The first mate would do well as a Dread pirate (Complete adventurer) or a Scarlet Coursair (Stormwrack). They are basically the same class.

If you tell us more about the key levels I can give you more accurate builds.

Ghouls are a great idea, though I'm unsure where to find the aquatic ones. Stormwreck? I'm going to have to look up Bone Creature, I've not read anything about it.
What kind of spells would the sea witch use? I don't tend to use magic so I never really look into them. Where can I find Vampire Lord?

What do you mean by key levels?


*snip*

(I'd also change "half damage from non-bludgeoning weapons" to "DR 5/bludgeoning"- since that's the same change as skeletons went through, in the changeover from 3.0 to 3.5).

It's basically a kind of undead cleric.

DR is damage reduction, right?
Thank you for clearing that up.


Dungeon Lord prestige class (Dungeonscape page 108) would make for an interesting option for a ship's captain. Basically declare the ship to be a dungeon and you're set.

How would I make a ship a dungeon, just throw in some traps or something? All I can think of is a large(r than usual) ship adorned with skeletons (crew members) hanging from the walls.


That is exactly true, and keeps you from having to worry about them in a fight while your party deals with the ring leaders, you can easily fluff that they are ineffectual or what have you and have whatever crew your party brings along fight them in the background, but this keeps things much simpler without having to drag 30 skeletons into the mix to crowd your battlefield

I like that idea. It simplifies things quite a bit.

[Tokuhara]

Why is this (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RisL9l8HzmM) the first thing I thought of from the title

[gurgleflep]

Why is this (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RisL9l8HzmM) the first thing I thought of from the title

`Cause that's a good pirate movie? It is.

[Ravenica]

`Cause that's a the best pirate movie? It is.

fixed :smallbiggrin:

[gurgleflep]

fixed :smallbiggrin:

Agreed. I wish I still had a copy of it, my VCR ate it :/

Back to the subject though...
Any ideas/answers?

[Jack_Simth]

How would I make a ship a dungeon, just throw in some traps or something? All I can think of is a large(r than usual) ship adorned with skeletons (crew members) hanging from the walls.No, you just treat it as one.

[hamishspence]

Ghouls are a great idea, though I'm unsure where to find the aquatic ones.

They're in the MM under Ghouls- basically just Ghouls with the aquatic subtype and a swim speed:

http://www.d20srd.org/srd/monsters/ghoul.htm#lacedon