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Altair_the_Vexed
2008-02-29, 07:52 PM
{table]Level|Base Attack Bonus|Fort Save|Ref Save|Will Save|Special
1st |+1 |+2 |+0 |+0 |Damned, Eyes of the Damned, Fearless, Ghostly Blades
2nd |+2 |+3 |+0 |+0|Cloak of Shadows
3rd |+3 |+3 |+1 |+1|Ghostly Arrows, DR 1/magic
4th |+4 |+4 |+1 |+1|Fog of Fear: Obscuring Mist
5th |+5 |+4 |+1 |+1|Eyes of the Damned +4
6th |+6/+1 |+5 |+2 |+2|DR 2/magic, Shades of the Damned
7th |+7/+2 |+5 |+2 |+2 |Ghost Walk, Fog of Fear: Fog Cloud
8th |+8/+3 |+6 |+2 |+2 |Ghost Strike, Shipmates of the Damned
9th|+9/+4 |+6 |+3 |+3 |DR 3/magic, Fog of Fear: Bane, Ghost Walk (2/day), Ship of the Damned
10th |+10/+5 |+7 |+3 |+3|Eyes of the Damned +6, Ghost Strike (3/day), Incorporeal Form[/table]


Clutching at the flotsam of his stricken ship, the tiring pirate cursed the Duke's Navy and the priggish captain whose pursuit had ended so badly for the Selkie's Blade. Soon he knew he would be the prey of sharks, or drown slowly as fatigue took him. What he wouldn't give to return from his watery grave to avenge his shipmates... From the blackest deeps below, the whispers of dread spirits granted the pirate's dying wish - at a cost.

Game Rule Information
Ghost Pirates have the following game statistics.

Prerequisites:
Alignment: Any non-lawful.
Skills: Profession (Sailor) 6+ ranks
Special: A Ghost Pirate must have been threatened with certain death and escaped only through selling his soul to dark sea gods in exchange for the gift of life.

Abilities: Strength and Constitution are important to a Ghost Pirate, as they will undoubtedly be lending martial support to a party. Charisma is also important for a Buccaneer’s summoning abilities.

Hit Dice: d10

Class Skills: Balance (Dex), Climb (Str), Craft (Int), Intimidate (Cha), Jump (Str), Knowledge (Arcana) (Int), Profession (Int), Swim (Str), Survival (Wis), Tumble (Dex), Use Rope (Dex).

Skill Points per level: 4 + Cha modifier

Weapon and Armor Proficiencies: Ghost Pirates are proficient in all simple and martial weapons, light armor as well as bucklers and small shields.

Damned (Su):The soul of the Ghost Pirate belongs to the dark spirits of the deep who granted him life in his most desperate hour. If the Ghost Pirate is ever raised from the dead by any means, he loses all his Ghost Pirate class abilities.

Eyes of the Damned (Su): The depths of the Ghost Pirate’s eyes glow with a soft eerie light. Unless he hides his eyes with lenses or a helmet or mask or similar covering, he gains a +2 fear bonus to Intimidate checks, and a -2 fear penalty to Diplomacy checks. This bonus and penalty increases to +/-4 at 5th level, and +/-6 at 10th level.

Fearless (Ex): At 1st level the Ghost Pirate is immune to fear (magical and otherwise). He cannot be shaken, frightened, or panicked. As a person who has already sold his soul to the darkest spirits of the sea, he knows there is no greater darkness than those with whom he has already parleyed.

Ghostly Blades (Su): The Ghost Pirate soon becomes so in-tune with the spirit world that he can actually cause the weapons he wields to pass through the border between the Material Plane and the Ethereal Plane. Starting at 1st level any melee weapons wielded by the Ghost Pirate can be imbued with the Ghost Touch trait for a number of rounds up to your Ghost Pirate levels + Charisma modifier. These rounds need not be consecutive.

Cloak of Shadows (Su): The Ghost Pirate gains a bonus to Hide and Move Silently checks equal to his Charisma bonus (if any) at 2nd Level.

Damage Reduction (Su): The Ghost Pirate’s body becomes less and less substantial. Blades do not cut as deeply and blows do not land as heavily. At 3rd level the Ghost Pirate gains Damage Reduction 1/magic. At 6th level and 9th level, this Damage Reduction increases by 1.

Ghostly Arrows (Su): At 3rd level the Ghost Pirate becomes more able to influence and manipulate the connection between the corporeal and incorporeal realms. He may now apply the Ghost Touch trait to any ranged weapons he wields (firing ammunition from this type of ranged weapon grants Ghost Touch to the ammunition), as per the Ghostly Blades special ability.

Fog of Fear (Sp): The Ghost Pirate can summon up a fog. At 4th level, this fog is equivalent to the Obscuring Mist spell. At 7th level, the fog is equivalent to a Fog Cloud spell. At 9th level, the Fog Cloud is accompanied by the effects of a Bane spell, centred on the same location as the cloud. Each of these effects may be used once per day, so at 9th level a Ghost Pirate can produce one Obscuring Mist, one Fog Cloud, and one Fog Cloud with a Bane effect per day. For all these effects, your caster level equal to your Ghost Pirate level. The save DC for the Bane is 11 + Charisma modifier.

Shades of the Damned (Su): Once per night at 6th level and higher, the Ghost Pirate may conjure up the Shades of his drowned shipmates from any body of water to strike terror into his enemies. The Shades remain for up to 10 rounds + 1 round per Charisma bonus (if any), but may not stray more than 30 feet from a body of water large enough to submerge a creature of your size category. The Shades may be dismissed before the duration ends. Creatures seeing the Shades must succeed at a Will save (DC 10 + your Ghost Pirate level), or be panicked. This is a mind-affecting fear affect. The Shades are an illusionary figment, and may only be conjured at night.

Ghost Walk (Su): The Ghost Pirate may momentarily become Ethereal (as per the spell Ethereal Jaunt, except for the limitations below) and travel a distance up to 5 feet, moving through solid matter on the Material Plane in the process. A Ghost Walk is a standard action that can be performed once per day at 7th level, and twice per day at 9th level.

Ghost Strike (Su): At 8th level the Ghost Pirate’s control over the border between Material and Ethereal becomes almost an instinct. Twice per day he can attempt a Ghost Strike with one normal melee attack, which ignores nonliving matter. Armor and shield bonuses to AC (including any enhancement bonuses to that armor) do not count against it because the attack passes through armor (Dexterity, deflection, dodge, natural armor, and other such bonuses still apply.) This attack cannot harm undead, constructs, and objects. A missed attack will still use up the ability.
At 10th level, he may do this one additional time per day.

Shipmates of the Damned (Su): Once per night at 8th level and higher, the Ghost Pirate may conjure up the ghostly spirits of his drowned shipmates from any body of water to strike mortal terror into his enemies. The Shipmates remain for up to 10 rounds + 1 round per Charisma bonus (if any), but may not stray more than 30 feet from a body of water large enough to submerge a creature of your size category. The Shades may be dismissed before the duration ends. Creatures seeing the Shipmates must succeed at a Will save (DC 10 + your CHA bonus, if any), or take 1d4 Strength damage and be panicked. A successful save avoids the Strength damage and panic, but renders the subject shaken. This is a mind-affecting fear affect. The Shipmates are a quasi-real shadow figment, and may only be conjured at night.

Ship of the Damned (Sp): By calling out to the ancient spirits of the sea, a 9th level Ghost Pirate is able to summon a ghostly ship from the depths of the sea. Summoning this ship requires the Ghost Pirate to be standing at the edge of the seashore (or on a floatation device at sea) and spend a single minute chanting in the unknowable tongue of the deep sea. During that minute, the ocean will bubble and froth and the winds will rise. This ghostly ship, though it can support the weight of corporeal creatures, is incorporeal. It functions as Carpet of Flying with the following dimensions and statistics:

Size: 20 x 30 ft; Capacity: 1400 lb; Speed: 40 ft
Using this ability is not without its limits. This Ship of the Damned may only be summoned at night and will only function at night. The instant the sun rises the magical transport vanishes. Also, though it is a flying vessel, the Ship of the Damned may only travel over water. It can travel over seas, rivers, streams and oceans, but any attempts to bring it onto land causes the Ship of the Damned to stop as if it were running into a Wall of Force.

Incorporeal Form: Finally, upon reaching 10th level, the Ghostly Pirate becomes incorporeal and takes on the incorporeal condition. He gains all the benefits and drawbacks of this condition as well as receiving a fly speed of 60 feet, with perfect maneuverability. Though incorporeal, the Ghost Pirate is not technically an undead creature, and cannot be Turned or Rebuked.

(This PrC borrows a few abilities from Unorthodox Pirates published by LE Games under OGL.)
(EDIT: updated to show suggestions from helpful comments - thanks!)

Oh - and PEACH.
Thanks!

Rayzin
2008-02-29, 07:58 PM
theres an error on the chart.

Altair_the_Vexed
2008-03-01, 03:49 PM
Any comments beyond "the table needs to be fixed" (which has now been done)?

GrassyGnoll
2008-03-01, 04:05 PM
The prerequisites are a bit loose and the DR needs to be toned down. I like the idea of replacing it with some leadership kind of progression, such as summoning the ghosts of his dead shipmates with similar restrictions as Ship of the Damned.

Altair_the_Vexed
2008-03-01, 07:24 PM
Something like this?

Shades of the Damned (Su): Once per night, the Ghost Pirate may conjure up the Shades of his drowned shipmates from any body of water to strike terror into his enemies. The Shades remain for up to 10 rounds + 1 round per Charisma bonus (if any), but may not stray more than 30 feet from a body of water large enough to submerge a creature of your size category. The Shades may be dismissed before the duration ends. Creatures seeing the Shades must succeed at a Will save (DC 10 + your Ghost Pirate level), or be panicked. This is a mind-affecting fear affect. The Shades are an illusionary figment, and may only be conjured at night. At X level, you may summon the Shades twice per night.

Shipmates of the Damned (Su): Once per night, the Ghost Pirate may conjure up the ghostly spirits of his drowned shipmates from any body of water to strike mortal terror into his enemies. The Shipmates remain for up to 10 rounds + 1 round per Charisma bonus (if any), but may not stray more than 30 feet from a body of water large enough to submerge a creature of your size category. The Shades may be dismissed before the duration ends. Creatures seeing the Shipmates must succeed at a Will save (DC 10 + your CHA bonus, if any), or take 1d4 Strength damage and be panicked. A successful save avoids the Strength damage and panic, but renders the subject shaken. This is a mind-affecting fear affect. The Shipmates are a quasi-real shadow figment, and may only be conjured at night.

Assuming I throw out the DR 4 & 5, and bump up the DR 1 and 2 to higher levels (say swap DR1 with Cloak of Shadows, and put DR2 at 6th and DR3 at 9th - comparable to the Barbarian's DR), what level should these new abilities be at? I'm thinking Shades should be 4th and 6th, and Shipmates should be 8th...

GrassyGnoll
2008-03-01, 07:54 PM
As long as your happy with it. Personally I think the Shipmates of the Damned fits the best. As for 4th and 6th level abilities maybe some mood setting weather effects like a fog or cold and unfavorable winds.

Parvum
2008-03-01, 11:19 PM
Hiss! DR/magic!

How often can you use ghost blades ability? If it isn't already so, by 10th level (since you're incorporeal) it should be at will/constant.

Damned is... ow. I mean, it makes sense, but... ow. That's up to 10 levels you will NEVER, EVER see again. Ow. There should be a way to retain your abilities.

Perhaps this should stack with some of the swashbuckler's abilities. Makes sense, doesn't it?

Oh, and don't forget to be a warforged, multiclass with ninja and become a zombie of some sort. Long lived be the ghost pirate robot ninjas of the damned!

Altair_the_Vexed
2008-03-02, 07:09 AM
Updated the OP to include suggested changes. Thanks people!

To PARVUM: Yes, Damned is tough, but the point of this PrC is to allow a character to avoid death in the first place - it's in the prerequisites.
The DR isn't as impressive as a barbarian's - that maxes out at 5/-, so there's no chance to bypass it. I've nerfed it anyway, down to 3/magic at max.

Any new comments?