Looking for a cool/unique Cohort

[Yipyioh]

So in a campaign that has been running for several years, we have just finished what we would call the first "Saga" in our characters' stories, leaving us at level 9.

My character, the soon-to-be-famous privateer "Captain" Fritz von Heinkle, upon beginning our new saga, chartered a ship to be made (still being made) and took the Leadership feat. His "character" is going to become that of a Robin Hood of the seas, plundering pirates and overly wealthy merchants while giving a portion of the loot to rebuild his home city which was destroyed (twice by the party out of necessity during the 4-year long war) and to poor fishermen and other sailors.

The leadership feat makes sense; get a feat that lets me have a nearly inexhaustable supply of crewmembers whenever I need them practically for free. At this point my leadership score should be around 17, but because of my level only being 9 I am still restricted to the Cohort being level 7 or so.

Now what I am looking for are ideas for cohorts that make feel like they're not just another soldier, mercenary, healer, or whatever that decided to follow us. I like flavor myself, and this campaign IS very seat-of-the-pants. Thus, I previously (before we re-started the campaign after about a 6 month haitus) looked through the bestiary for sentient creatures that could act as a cohort (i.e. Nymph, Leolan, Inevitable, etc.) but never really got something solid that the DM liked. I'm open to the idea of a mount also but I'm a swashbuckler, not a paladin or ranger. I'd also like for the mount to be something that doesn't have to act like a "PC-NPC" because with a party of up to 5 and several major NPC's being part of many sessions, he already has enough to keep track of in battle.

Currently in our party aside from my swashbuckler (so you know what we DON'T need) we have Victor the blasty Duskblade, Hiro the sneaky teenage girl Ninja, Ian the number-crunching wizard, and Jhester the Homicidal Maniac, a 3/4 Orc Fighter.

NPC's that stand out that are now "mundane" to us: Spider-legs boy who has some sort of Satan powers but is neutral good, a beguiling sonofab**** named Loki (yeah, just like THAT Loki), a Sorcerer sea-captain with a lighting spear and fuzzy octopus he occasionally Enlarges and rides, "Space Marine" paladins that can SMELL anything non-lawful, a lawful neutral 'scientist' necromancer (currently ruling the Elven kingdom), a halfling gnome assassin (immortal and wealthier than any other being on the earth, might I add), all manner of lycanthropes after the DM decided he wanted a were-party and didn't quite get it, Aztec lizardmen, a Battlecleric of the War and Gluttony domains, and a Vampire Butler Sorcerer. We've also fought many an awesome creature, but few of them would be fit for a cohort.

So what do you guys think? Any ideas pop into your heads?

[ILetGoOfTheRope]

Check out "Green Hag" pg 174 of savage species it is mostly monster class levels but if your a pirate it has a 30ft swim speed as at 7 th level it gets weakening strike which does 1d6 str damage but make sure to clear this with your dm it may outshine most of the party.

[Rubik]

How about a pair of dvati twins who went into dragonfire adept? Get twice the battlefield control and twice the blasting, all for +1 LA.

What about a fiend of possession? It could possess your ship and run operations for you.

[almightycoma]

How about a raptoran cleric with the air and storm domains. they are a cool race that doesn't come up that often. it would hangout in the crows nest and use wind/weather magic to make your ship go faster or make sailing easier.

[Rubik]

Dragonborn warforged artificer to make your ship shapely?

[sleepyphoenixx]

You can't be a pirate without a ship musician! :smallbiggrin:
But seriously, a bard would be useful without overshadowing the party.

[Waker]

Artificer's make excellent cohorts as they can just make everything that the party needs. Bard or Cloistered Cleric make decent cohorts as they can heal/buff the party and serve as a good source of information with Bardic Knowledge/Lore.
As for an oddish race, you could try a Siren. I think they were printed up in Fiend Folio. Good charisma, natural ties to the ocean and some other stuff that I can't remember.

[tuesdayscoming]

Necropolitan Psion who, through use of the Haunt Shift spell (Libris Mortis), is a haunting presence tied to the ship itself, and who uses its powers to maintain the ship, aid in nearby battles, and metamorphose its psicrystal into whatever seems helpful at the time?

[almightycoma]

I've come up with a few other ideas since your considering a cohort/mount. How about a warbeast animal that was hit with the awaken spell? they are strong and smart but dont really act like PCs. If that's not to your liking maybe one of the many varieties of magical horses aspari,lesser nightmare, pegasi(spelling?) ect,ect.

[Yipyioh]

I probably shoulda said this way earlier but...

The cohort probably won't be with me all the time, part of why I wanted to make any "standard" cohort be the first mate, so I can say they take care of the ship in my absence but on occasion I'd request they come ashore if I need their services... And many of the other ideas I came up with previously I purposely limited it so that the DM wouldn't get tired of having to deal with basically another PC tagging along that he had to keep tabs on. So like the Leonal I said was always looking for the greatest wine in the mortal plane (long story) so whenever we were doing something if we didn't have anything we'd have for him to do he'd just go off looking at all the local vineyards. Or a member of a Thieve's Guild that was only working 4 or 5 days a week for me. You get what I mean. Someone I could have when it was convenient but would have a reason to not ALWAYS be with us.

Additionally, as a side note I'm not much for the idea of water-based creatures, for whatever reason aquatic beasties don't really appeal to me despite the whole pirate thing. Flying creatures are great, as are most constructs and other humanoid land-based creatures including some outsiders... But if possible I'd like them to be any non-evil/non-lawful because evil is too destructive for what we do and we're an extremely chaotic party (I mean c'mon, one PC is named Jhester the Homicidal Maniac, a 700-something pound Ork)

[Darth Stabber]

First mate class choices
1) artificer: keeps the ship in ship shape, makes improvements and can upgrade your gear.
2) bard: keeps your crew in line, and provides buffs. Some form of draconic heritage would allow dragonfire inspiration would make your ship even scarier (adding extra damage to the cannons/ballista). Plus he can lead the crew in sea shanties, what good is pirate story without a musical number? Add in some crusader and song of the white raven for real fun.
3) marshal: similar to above, only more "mundane", and less music.
4) cleric: religion and piracy may make odd bedfellows, but tier one is a ton of fun.
5) druid: more tier one fun, only less preaching and more turning into octopi.