PC is a pirate wizard/rogue

[Blackbard]

Hey there, I'm a long time viewer, yet first time poster.


I'm currently DM'ing a 3.5 campaign, standard stuff, and I have a player that is going a few levels of sorcerer, then rogue, to go Arcane Trickster.

Yet, he has attached a "Pirate" theme to it, and it's completely within the lore of the world.


Is there anyway to make his "pirate" feel less like a rogue wizard and more like an actual pirate, while still keeping that sorcerer feel to it?

[Waker]

Well, bear in mind that much of that has to do more with roleplaying and representation of a character, rather than just strict mechanics. One suggestion that I could make for said character is to check out the Spellwarp Sniper class from Complete Scoundrel. Using it you could switch up using spells as an area blast (as normal) or make them into an accurate single target shot to take out key personnel (like the enemy captain). The requirements are fairly simple. A build might be something like
Rogue 1/Sorcerer 6/Spellwarp Sniper 5/Arcane Trickster 8
Leaving you with the spellcasting abilities of a 19th lvl Sorcerer, Sneak Attack +5d6, Sudden Strike +2d6.

[Blackbard]

Thank you for the input!

It was the player himself who wanted to know more about the pirate flavor stuff.


I'll definitely let him know about that, I think he might have Complete Scoundrel...



I was looking at some other things for him, like ship-to-ship combat.

Would info for that be in Stormwrack?

[Waker]

I believe there is ship-to-ship combat in Stormwrack. There may also be rules for mass combat in Complete Warrior that can give you ideas.

[nedz]

Rogue and Sorcerer are pretty generic in that you can fluff them almost anyway you want — Pirate included.

Is there a particular theme to his Sorcerer side though ?
(Maybe it's too early to tell ?)

There are some casterly PrCs in Stormwrack, but they're mainly weather related.

[Blackbard]

A little bit of his backstory:

Character grew up in small fishing village, village got raided by pirates when he was 5.

Pirates led by a Dread Pirate Roberts-type, took him in as an "apprentice."

Taught himself more spells and sorcery during raids by taking tomes and scrolls.

That way, he could have the rogue element to his spellcaster, and he really liked the arcane trickster

[BowStreetRunner]

I would recommend Stormwrack, Complete Adventurer, Complete Scoundrel, and Heroes of Battle (in that order) for useful ideas for a Pirate-themed Rogue/Sorcerer.

Also, there is an unusual Prestige Class in Races of the Dragon he might want to take a look at called Dragon Devotee. It actually gives 2 levels of sorcerer casting and 2 levels of sneak attack over a 5 level progression, as well as +2 to CHA, CON and STR, and the character ends up with the draconic template.

Edit: just wanted to add a link (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?p=15374000) to another discussion that included some runestaff ideas that may be relevant here.

[limejuicepowder]

Sorcerer and Rogue are both very general classes, and thus can be played virtually any way the player wants.

There are still some spells that would help a pirate more than others, though. Take a look at complete scoundrel for starters, as most of that book is useful/relevant to pirates. If I was making such a character, I would take mostly buffing spells that can be applied to multiple targets. I'd also throw in some trickery/BCF, like solid fog and major image. Lastly, I'd also want to get good ol' fireball, or at least a wand of it. Cast that bad boy from 600 ft away and turn another ship's rigging to ash. That will take the wind out of their sails in more ways than one.

[DMVerdandi]

One time I researched a bunch of spells for an example of a pirate wizard.


Here is the trick.
Don't cast any crazy dynamic spells. No evocation, little conjuration, abjuration is ok, no transmutation, illusion ok, enchantment great, no necromancy unless you want pirates of the carribean. DIVINATION IS THE BEST.

There are so many spells for finding lost objects, appraising magical objects, spying, finding directions, and knowing what the opponent is thinking. Spontaneous Divination is just fantastic for that.

Of course this isn't hard and fast. Cloud of knives would be great for a dagger throwing pirate. It's all about spell selection.

Arcane strike is good for doing damage in melee, and if you don't want to actually have any damage dealing spells. get a rapier if you want to be errol flynn and a cutlass if you want to be more accurate. Cutlasses are somewhere...

[The Viscount]

Well, there's certainly the parrot familiar option. A bit corny perhaps, but the classics are classics for a reason. Stormwrack says just use Raven stats, complete with the ability to speak a language.

[Emperor Tippy]

Honestly, Rogue 1/ Martial Monk 2/ Factotum 16/ Swordsage 1 is probably your best best for the feel you want while still having the power.

Take Spring Attack and Perfect Two Weapon Fighting as your Martial Monk feats and use the Decisive Strike and Invisible Fist Alternate Class Features for Monk, along with Kung Fu Genius to run Monk off of Int (it ends up feat neutral if you Chaos Shuffle Improved Unarmed Strike if you don't need that for anything else).

You want Craven, Darkstalker, Shadowblade, and Martial Study: Child of Shadow for feats. Make the rest Font of Inspiration (and shuffle MS after taking Swordsage or buying Novice Shadowhands).

That makes a really great Int based skirmisher that is easily fluffed as a pirate with some magical ability.

On every standard action attack you get 2 attacks, and once Cunning Surge comes on line you get to go to town.

[CaladanMoonblad]

The Conan d20 game from Mongoose has "Pirate" as a base class. "To Sail a Road of Blood and Slaughter," available at level 2. Sneak attack is also peppered throughout the class. Might be worth a look.