Making Captain Jack Sparrow

[Blackhawk748]

yup im gonna play a wonky pirate, i assume theres some swashbuckler/rogue in here with daring outlaw, but honestly im not really sure how to make this lovable nut job

[Gildedragon]

Very high charisma, low wisdom.
Likely CN
Emphasis on bluff and diplomacy, but not maxed out

[Fouredged Sword]

Actually I would go factotum 20. Maybe swashbuckler 3 / factotum 17.

Go int>dex>con>cha>str>wis

Get martial study for a shadow hand stance and strike (isles of blades please). Get shadow blade.

Now with weapon fineness, and swashbuckler, you get str, dex, and Int to damage with a rapier, with dex controlling to hit.

[Venger]

if optimization's not important, cadv's dread pirate is pretty fun.

[The Viscount]

Dread Pirate seems a rather obvious choice, and it's pretty good, too, especially allowing the honorable route.
Fortune's Friend isn't great, but to me seems to capture his remarkable luck rather well.

Edit: accursed ninja pirates.

[Frosty]

Very high charisma, low wisdom.
Likely CN
Emphasis on bluff and diplomacy, but not maxed out

Let's say you're allowed to go lower than 8 Wisdom on a point buy on char-gen. How low wis would go for the good captain?

[Emmerask]

The fatespinner class would actually be perfect if it wouldn´t have spell casting maybe there is a similar class for none casters?

[Gildedragon]

He is impulsive and pretty bad at the decision making. I'd go six with the feat that gives Cha to will saves...
Fortune's friend is quite the thing for him.
The factotum inspiration mechanic fits with his fits and starts mo but keying it off int is a poor idea. Likewise spells aren't really his thing. A homebrew martial (not necessarily ToB) Cha-ctotum 4 without font of inspiration would work well. Fighter feats for 1 minute instead of spells...

[Talya]

He is impulsive

That's up for debate.

Lieutenant Groves: "Do you think he plans it all out, or just makes it up as he goes along?"

As for the wisdom of his decisions, well, in general, he has a remarkable degree of success in them. I would call him unorthodox, not unwise.

[Frosty]

Is Jack perceptive at all? A low wis would mean he's half blind or deaf...

[Emmerask]

Well he is drunk most of the time, I think drunken gave you a wisdom penalty? ^^

[Gildedragon]

He seems to be in his own little world. Perpetual inebriation represented as a penalty to wis isn't a bad idea. As to deaf or blind... Those qualities are separate from the wisdom ability

[Renen]

Is Jack perceptive at all? A low wis would mean he's half blind or deaf...

He is VERY perceptive. Watch the 4th movie, with him getting away from the king (or whoever he had an audience with). He did some very nice observing there, in order to devise a way yo get away.

Savvy?

[Kyberwulf]

He actually has a very high wisdom. He has been around the world. Survived it all. Especially in a profession where you get killed pretty fast. I would say he just throws up that veneer to to keep people guessing and underestimating him.

[Dusk Eclipse]

Actually I would paint Jack as really smart and charismatic, the way inspiration point works can be fluffed as pure dumb luck (which fits the Jack to a T).

I read somewhere (probably TV tropes so take this with a grain of salt) that jack just acts as if he was constantly drunk to throw off his enemies, like how drunken kung fu supposes to work.

[Draz74]

That's up for debate.

Lieutenant Groves: "Do you think he plans it all out, or just makes it up as he goes along?"
For better or worse, his conversation with Barbossa in Stranger Tides (during the "Palm Tree Escape" part) sheds some light on that question ...


Is Jack perceptive at all? A low wis would mean he's half blind or deaf...

He certainly seems to have a decent Sense Motive.

[INoKnowNames]

Captain Jack Sparrow? Low Wisdom? Given that he hears everything he wants to hear, see everything he needs to see, is damn near impossible to outgambit, trick, or lie to, and can survive anywhere, even in the afterlife (let alone at sea with a bunch of backstabbing pirates and rival crews), I'd say if you think the Captain has Low Wisdom, you're probably one of the easiest possible targets for him.

He is either always drunk, or trying to get drunk (why is the Rum gone?), and yet seems to be the one with the biggest handle on whatever is going on. I'll +1 that he's unorthodox, not unwise.

His lowest stats are most likely Strength (spends more time tricking people and riding on finesse rather than out muscling anyone) and Constitution (likes to avoid direct combat for that reason, even if it means running away like a little girl, humorous screaming included).

His highest stats are definitely Charisma (because, let's face it, he's sexy enough that even the men like him. Ahem. :smallredface: Also, the only skill that doesn't well apply to him that is Charisma is Handle Animal. Jack didn't very much like the Captain.) and Dexterity (perfect shot with a gun while flying through the air, one hand on a rope, in the middle of a storm on a whirlpool, while the enemy was also moving as fast).

His Intelligence and Wisdom are probably average to decent. Maybe Intelligence more than Wisdom, with a lower Wisdom than Intelligence to accomidate him being so... farfetched. But he can't have penalties there. You don't live long as a Pirate without being a henchman or having a decent head on your shoulders, Savvy?

It's hard to not want to have a spellcaster of some kind to help with the buffs to get away with all the lucky stuff he manages to just weave out of the air, but the Captain is entirely mundane, so avoid Supernatural and Spell Like abilities if you can. Wasn't there some type of super-combo involving Rogue, Fighter, and Swash Buckler multiclassing together that got the benefits of all 3? That, with some Swordsage and Shadow Blade might look promising.

Otherwise, I'm sure there are plenty of Cha/Dex stacking builds that can be pulled together.

[Dusk Eclipse]

Word of God* does says that Jack is the best marksman of the named characters, so high Dex; but no weapon finesse might work for that.



*At least according to TV tropes, I can't find a more reliable source.