herrhauptmann
2014-03-02, 03:09 PM
Making a character for a game at level 1, but I'm blanking on a build and could use some help.
I'm planning to take the 20 point buy for my Halforc slayer. (ranger/rogue hybrid)
Other than that, I was thinking of the PF trait "Pegleg." I'd have a wooden pegleg, but take no mechanical penalties for it. I'd also have a large phobia of sharks.
Also, maybe the feat Corsair. (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/feats/general-feats/corsair-of-taldor)
Concept
I'd been thinking of a character who "Pays the Iron Price" for his possessions. (It's in the series A Song of Ice and Fire, or TV show Game of Thrones)
Only women (and weak men) buy things with gold.
Real men don't even buy food/water for a long voyage. They gather it themselves. Whether that means taking barrels to a stream and hunting, or knocking over a marketplace.
Men don't wear jewelry unless they took it from the bodies of the slain. So no magic ring/amulet/circlet/earring unless I killed the former owner.
Obviously it's going to be difficult to do every aspect of that in a D&D game, but I'll try. Technically, I couldn't go into a tavern and buy a drink with emasculating myself.
As a person who pays the iron price, he's going to be a pirate in his own right. Granted, he'd have just one dinky skiff that he mostly used to rob fishermen. Wouldn't have the capabilities to perform any greater heists, especially at level 1.
The game will start with us getting pressganged, so we'll probably wake up with a hangover and a lump on the forehead. (Other options exist, but those are more for people that will miss the first session)
Other party members:
1/2 Orc ranger
Water Mage/siege Mage
TN Fighter -
1/2 elf swashbuckler
Slayer-Race unknown
1/2 Orc shaman (Wave)
1/2 Orc slayer (me)
House rules and info
Core Races only- unless you get GM approval
Lvl 1 – 1/2 of the starting character gold per class. No masterwork equipment allowed.
Yes, you’re a poor commoner to start. This will not last don’t worry…
20 point buy (PF system)
Or you can roll it. Rolling has 2 options:
Option 1: Roll 4d6, Take best 3 dice. Do this 6 times, arrange at your discretion.
Option 2: Roll 4d6, rerolling 1’s, Do this 4 times
oLast 2 rolls are 3d6 (no brutal ones), arrange at your discretion.
2 Traits allowed
1 must be from the Skull and Shackles players handbook You will want to keep weapons and armaments gear on a separate sheet, as you will not have your gear at the start of the game.
In addition to the starting skill points given per class, you have an Additional 1d4+1 (2-5 skill points) that you must put in non-combat "professions". This quantifies that you had a life before becoming an adventurer. (Ie- alchemy, scribe, entertainer, profession-sailor, Fletcher, etc.)
XP will be awarded as in Pathfinder Societies (3xp/lvl). By achieving campaign archs and completing sessions. PC's with regular attendance will level at similar rates. Tardiness or poor attendance will delay level progression. This streamlines XP for RP heavy sessions and slightly minimizes DM calculations and tracking.
.75 -1.5 XP per complete session| WL gets full credit XP for logging in on time
Completing Bonus Objectives .25 - .5 XP
Late -.25 XP (unless have prior agreement with DM)
Game penalty-.25(being an ass, spoilers, too meta) No evil alignments (to start). However, if your collective decisions/questing leads you to the dark side… you may be able to change alignments. You will lose certain perks, such as reputation with towns/people, may be hunted by bounty hunters/vigilantes, and you won’t have an “auto in” with other evil factions etc. Thus it may just make your life harder...doable, but harder.
Traditional "Lawful" character will have significant issues. Running a piracy campaign will be rife with RP issues if people play "classic lawful". Thus Paladins are banned. Monks may be used if they adjust them to one of the 2 following play styles.
Alignment of neutral
Those that wish to make a "pirate code" as part of their lawful alignment would be allowed, GM approval needed prior to.
Characters that join the game late join the campaign with level appropriate gear and items. These adventurers are outsiders who may have a hard time fitting in with the crew of veterans.
4) Skull and Shackle Specific information
Archetypes: A number of archetypes are especially suitable for use in the Skull & Shackles Adventure Path. The following archetypes from the Pathfinder RPG Advanced Player’s Guide are all good choices: aquatic druid (druid); rake, swashbuckler, thug (rogue); sea singer (bard); and water elementalist (wizard). The tempest druid archetype from Pathfinder Player Companion: Inner Sea Magic is also a good fit, while Pathfinder Player Companion: Pirates of the Inner Sea offers the buccaneer (bard), corsair (fighter), freebooter (ranger), and smuggler (rogue) archetypes. From Pathfinder RPG Ultimate Combat, the cad (fighter), daredevil (bard), pirate (rogue), and sea reaver (barbarian) archetypes all complement the themes of this Adventure Path, as do the sea witch (witch), shark shaman (druid), and storm druid (druid) archetypes from Pathfinder RPG Ultimate Magic. Good favored enemy choices for rangers in the Skull & Shackles Adventure Path include aberration, humanoid (giant), monstrous humanoid, and in particular, humanoid (human). For favored terrains, water would be the obvious choice.
Skills and Feats: Certain skills and feats will be particularly useful during the Skull & Shackles Adventure Path. First and foremost is the Profession (sailor) skill. Some sort of social skill—either Bluff, Diplomacy, or Intimidate—will also be important, especially in the
first adventure, and to gain Infamy throughout the campaign. Characters interested in using siege engines such as ballistae and catapults during ship-to-ship combat should strongly consider taking the Exotic Weapon Proficiency feat to gain proficiency with siege engines and putting ranks in Knowledge (engineering).
Other skills that will be helpful are Climb, Craft (sails), Craft (ships), Craft (siege engine), Knowledge (engineering), Knowledge (local), Profession (cook), Profession (siege engineer), and Swim. Feats such as Athletic and Skill Focus can be useful, as well as feats such as Expert Driver, Sea Legs, Siege Commander, Siege Engineer, Siege Gunner, Skilled Driver, and Sure Grasp (all from Ultimate Combat).
5) Banned Material
Classes- Paladin
Races-Aasimar, Fetchling, Drow, Tiefling, small races (ie goblin) will not be considered
No Feral Template
No Flaws
No Leadership.
Metamagic feats.
Evil alignments (to start, conversions can happen later through storyline/character choice)
Vorpal Weapons
I'm planning to take the 20 point buy for my Halforc slayer. (ranger/rogue hybrid)
Other than that, I was thinking of the PF trait "Pegleg." I'd have a wooden pegleg, but take no mechanical penalties for it. I'd also have a large phobia of sharks.
Also, maybe the feat Corsair. (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/feats/general-feats/corsair-of-taldor)
Concept
I'd been thinking of a character who "Pays the Iron Price" for his possessions. (It's in the series A Song of Ice and Fire, or TV show Game of Thrones)
Only women (and weak men) buy things with gold.
Real men don't even buy food/water for a long voyage. They gather it themselves. Whether that means taking barrels to a stream and hunting, or knocking over a marketplace.
Men don't wear jewelry unless they took it from the bodies of the slain. So no magic ring/amulet/circlet/earring unless I killed the former owner.
Obviously it's going to be difficult to do every aspect of that in a D&D game, but I'll try. Technically, I couldn't go into a tavern and buy a drink with emasculating myself.
As a person who pays the iron price, he's going to be a pirate in his own right. Granted, he'd have just one dinky skiff that he mostly used to rob fishermen. Wouldn't have the capabilities to perform any greater heists, especially at level 1.
The game will start with us getting pressganged, so we'll probably wake up with a hangover and a lump on the forehead. (Other options exist, but those are more for people that will miss the first session)
Other party members:
1/2 Orc ranger
Water Mage/siege Mage
TN Fighter -
1/2 elf swashbuckler
Slayer-Race unknown
1/2 Orc shaman (Wave)
1/2 Orc slayer (me)
House rules and info
Core Races only- unless you get GM approval
Lvl 1 – 1/2 of the starting character gold per class. No masterwork equipment allowed.
Yes, you’re a poor commoner to start. This will not last don’t worry…
20 point buy (PF system)
Or you can roll it. Rolling has 2 options:
Option 1: Roll 4d6, Take best 3 dice. Do this 6 times, arrange at your discretion.
Option 2: Roll 4d6, rerolling 1’s, Do this 4 times
oLast 2 rolls are 3d6 (no brutal ones), arrange at your discretion.
2 Traits allowed
1 must be from the Skull and Shackles players handbook You will want to keep weapons and armaments gear on a separate sheet, as you will not have your gear at the start of the game.
In addition to the starting skill points given per class, you have an Additional 1d4+1 (2-5 skill points) that you must put in non-combat "professions". This quantifies that you had a life before becoming an adventurer. (Ie- alchemy, scribe, entertainer, profession-sailor, Fletcher, etc.)
XP will be awarded as in Pathfinder Societies (3xp/lvl). By achieving campaign archs and completing sessions. PC's with regular attendance will level at similar rates. Tardiness or poor attendance will delay level progression. This streamlines XP for RP heavy sessions and slightly minimizes DM calculations and tracking.
.75 -1.5 XP per complete session| WL gets full credit XP for logging in on time
Completing Bonus Objectives .25 - .5 XP
Late -.25 XP (unless have prior agreement with DM)
Game penalty-.25(being an ass, spoilers, too meta) No evil alignments (to start). However, if your collective decisions/questing leads you to the dark side… you may be able to change alignments. You will lose certain perks, such as reputation with towns/people, may be hunted by bounty hunters/vigilantes, and you won’t have an “auto in” with other evil factions etc. Thus it may just make your life harder...doable, but harder.
Traditional "Lawful" character will have significant issues. Running a piracy campaign will be rife with RP issues if people play "classic lawful". Thus Paladins are banned. Monks may be used if they adjust them to one of the 2 following play styles.
Alignment of neutral
Those that wish to make a "pirate code" as part of their lawful alignment would be allowed, GM approval needed prior to.
Characters that join the game late join the campaign with level appropriate gear and items. These adventurers are outsiders who may have a hard time fitting in with the crew of veterans.
4) Skull and Shackle Specific information
Archetypes: A number of archetypes are especially suitable for use in the Skull & Shackles Adventure Path. The following archetypes from the Pathfinder RPG Advanced Player’s Guide are all good choices: aquatic druid (druid); rake, swashbuckler, thug (rogue); sea singer (bard); and water elementalist (wizard). The tempest druid archetype from Pathfinder Player Companion: Inner Sea Magic is also a good fit, while Pathfinder Player Companion: Pirates of the Inner Sea offers the buccaneer (bard), corsair (fighter), freebooter (ranger), and smuggler (rogue) archetypes. From Pathfinder RPG Ultimate Combat, the cad (fighter), daredevil (bard), pirate (rogue), and sea reaver (barbarian) archetypes all complement the themes of this Adventure Path, as do the sea witch (witch), shark shaman (druid), and storm druid (druid) archetypes from Pathfinder RPG Ultimate Magic. Good favored enemy choices for rangers in the Skull & Shackles Adventure Path include aberration, humanoid (giant), monstrous humanoid, and in particular, humanoid (human). For favored terrains, water would be the obvious choice.
Skills and Feats: Certain skills and feats will be particularly useful during the Skull & Shackles Adventure Path. First and foremost is the Profession (sailor) skill. Some sort of social skill—either Bluff, Diplomacy, or Intimidate—will also be important, especially in the
first adventure, and to gain Infamy throughout the campaign. Characters interested in using siege engines such as ballistae and catapults during ship-to-ship combat should strongly consider taking the Exotic Weapon Proficiency feat to gain proficiency with siege engines and putting ranks in Knowledge (engineering).
Other skills that will be helpful are Climb, Craft (sails), Craft (ships), Craft (siege engine), Knowledge (engineering), Knowledge (local), Profession (cook), Profession (siege engineer), and Swim. Feats such as Athletic and Skill Focus can be useful, as well as feats such as Expert Driver, Sea Legs, Siege Commander, Siege Engineer, Siege Gunner, Skilled Driver, and Sure Grasp (all from Ultimate Combat).
5) Banned Material
Classes- Paladin
Races-Aasimar, Fetchling, Drow, Tiefling, small races (ie goblin) will not be considered
No Feral Template
No Flaws
No Leadership.
Metamagic feats.
Evil alignments (to start, conversions can happen later through storyline/character choice)
Vorpal Weapons