[3.5] Creating a character for a nautical campaign

[Neko Toast]

So my friend (who happens to be an awesome GM) is planning on hosting a nautical-style campaign. He's giving us a lot of freedom with our characters: Any race that exists, and any class that exists, including prestige. I've got a pretty good idea of what I'm going to do, but I still have a couple of questions.

I play a very serious character in our d20 WoD campaign, so I thought I'd try something different and shoot for something more light-hearted and fun.

This character is going to be the cook on our group's ship. Her race is still undecided, which is primarily what I'm asking about (I'll get to that later). I was planning on going ninja (that's prestige, right?) for my class.

Here's her back story that I've got so far. Keep in mind, it's supposed to sound a bit ridiculous. Her father is an expert chef, and her mother is an expert ninja. Each of them trained her non-stop, hoping that she would choose to take on one of their careers later in life. Sometimes the two of them would argue with each other about it. When she was about 16, they sat her down, and asked her what she wanted to be. She pondered it for a moment, and said with a smile, "I want to be a pirate!" Neither of them actually believed her when she said that, but that night she sneaked out of the house with nothing but a bag of her possessions. She left a note behind, that said "I'm off to go become a pirate. Bye!" Sure enough, she found a ship that was looking for a cook. Her skills in the kitchen as well as on the battlefield impressed the captain, and so she became a pirate.

Not my best written description, but you get the idea. Now, here's my question: I have to ask my GM about it first, but I want to give her the ability to determine a person's favorite food or dish just by looking at them. Would that be some sort of psionic ability? Should I find a race that has this kind of ability, or just see if the GM will give me this small luxury? If he will give it to me, then I was planning on just being a human for the extra feat and skill points.

Also could use some help with the ninja thing, like how to best utilize the class.

[woodenbandman]

Quite a lot of this depends on what kind of ninja you want to be. Do you want to be a magic ninja, or a normal ninja?

A very nice "Ninja" build involves taking the rogue class all the way, while at some point taking 1 level of Monk and taking the feat "Ascetic Rogue." Gets you full unarmed strike damage, good sneak attack, all that stuff. Plus you can use shuriken.

Now as far as cook goes, it's clear that you'll need skill focus (Profession: Gourmet Chef).

[Neko Toast]

Quite a lot of this depends on what kind of ninja you want to be. Do you want to be a magic ninja, or a normal ninja?

A very nice "Ninja" build involves taking the rogue class all the way, while at some point taking 1 level of Monk and taking the feat "Ascetic Rogue." Gets you full unarmed strike damage, good sneak attack, all that stuff. Plus you can use shuriken.

Now as far as cook goes, it's clear that you'll need skill focus (Profession: Gourmet Chef).

Yeah, I was planning on taking that feat, and then pouring the max amount of ranks I could into the Profession.

As for the class, I'd prefer a normal ninja. No "magic ninjutsu" stuff like Naruto.

I thought that maybe I should make her highest stat Dex, and take the feat "Weapon Finesse". She was going to use shuriken and throwing daggers (kunai) for the most part, but carry a shortsword (I know that ninjas use a sword with a specific name to it, but I can't recall that name) on her as well.

[kyuubigan]

but carry a shortsword (I know that ninjas use a sword with a specific name to it, but I can't recall that name) on her as well.

The sword is called a 'ninjato'.

Anyway, if your going for a nautical campaign, consider taking at least three levels in Swashbuckler. Good BAB, Weapon Finesse at first level, good Fort saves, d10 hit die, melee weapon proficiencies, and you get to add your Intelligence modifier to damage. But that doesn't really match the concept you have in mind...

Well, if you go mostly Rogue you should be fine...

[deuxhero]

If you are going Swashbuckler/Rogue pick up daring outlaw, Swashbuckler is pretty meh otherwise.

[Tiki Snakes]

I remember there being a pretty cool semi-aquatic race of some kind in Races of Destiny? They were pretty flavourfull, though I remember none of the crunch.

If you have access, have a look? Unless someone with better memory wants to post the basics, of course.

[Assassin89]

I remember there being a pretty cool semi-aquatic race of some kind in Races of Destiny? They were pretty flavourfull, though I remember none of the crunch.

If you have access, have a look? Unless someone with better memory wants to post the basics, of course.

You mean the sea kin? They are similar to humans, as they get one addition skill point, are medium size and have a 30 foot movement speed. They also treat tridents and nets as simple weapons, have a +2 racial bonus on escape artist checks, and can hold their breath for 8 rounds per point in constitution. The drawback is that in a non aquatic setting, it would be difficult for a sea kin to be submerged once a week, but considering the nautical campaign, there should be no problem with that.

Edit: Forgot that sea kin have low light vision

[Emy]

Dread Pirate [Complete Adventurer]. How could this have not been suggested yet? It is the most piratical.

Honorable gives you something similar to Inspire Courage, and it stacks with IC. You can charge while swinging from ropes, tumbling, moving over unsteady terrain, balancing on railings, and generally buckling some swash. You also get a reroll 1/day ability, aren't flat-footed while climbing or balancing, and can boost allies's AC and HP.

What level range is this game going to use?

Legendary Captain and Scarlet Corsair are also quite piratey.

Legendary Captain gives great bonuses if you're doing actual ship-to-ship combat, rather than fighting individuals. Bonuses for attracting followers, bonuses for maneuvering your ship, bonuses vs. aquatic hazards, increased ship speed, better siege weapon rate of fire, extra damage for your siege weapons, extra AC for the ship, give enemy ships penalties on basically all checks, and you can use the aid another action on ships (several ships simultaneously), giving their captains a +4 bonus on their profession (sailor) checks. Oh, and they also get all of the other benefits you normally confer, too.

[Shas aia Toriia]

If you don't want to be a Naruto ninja, stay away from the actual class. You'd be much better off going rogue with a level of monk or two.

Anyways, don't forgot to put some points into Proffesion (sailor) and Use Rope. Those are some useful skills on a boat.

Lastly, if you want to pimp your boat, there is a lot of neato stuff in Stormwrack, as well as items for you and stats on different kinds of ships, not to mention ship to ship combat.

[PId6]

This sounds like a job for Factotum! You can cook, you can clean, and you can ninja it up with Iaijutsu Focus. What's not to love?

You can even develop some kind of cantrip for determining someone's favorite food, then just use it as a SLA.

[Tiki Snakes]

This sounds like a job for Factotum! You can cook, you can clean, and you can ninja it up with Iaijutsu Focus. What's not to love?

You can even develop some kind of cantrip for determining someone's favorite food, then just use it as a SLA.

Normal Ninja, not Magic Ninja, though, so they'd have to ignore swathes of class-features?

[PId6]

Normal Ninja, not Magic Ninja, though, so they'd have to ignore swathes of class-features?

Factotum isn't magic, not really. Only two of the abilities are magical, and even then, they're easy to ignore. One of them even fit into the the idea of getting someone's favorite food.

Edit: Okay, make that three, but they're not really very important abilities to the class at large. Opportunistic Piety offers sub-par healing/turning while Cunning Breach comes late and isn't too useful. Arcane Dilettante is the only one that matters much and even then, it's only a small part of the class as a whole.

[Neko Toast]

If you don't want to be a Naruto ninja, stay away from the actual class. You'd be much better off going rogue with a level of monk or two.

Anyways, don't forgot to put some points into Proffesion (sailor) and Use Rope. Those are some useful skills on a boat.

Lastly, if you want to pimp your boat, there is a lot of neato stuff in Stormwrack, as well as items for you and stats on different kinds of ships, not to mention ship to ship combat.

Hmm... GM would prefer that we don't multi-class, if possible. Apparently it's a hassle.

I read up on the ninja class finally, and I think I might just go with the ninja class itself. Although some things about it seem rather complicated. I could always go straight rogue, but I always end up going rogue, and I want to change things up for once.

[Woodsman]

Slayer, take a look at Stormwrack.

The whole book is filled with nautical races, class variants, feats, spells, etc.

Perfect for a setting like this.