Pirates

characters

Vomzisk

Vomzisk was hatched and raised up the coast from Cove Secret. Her folk have ancient alliances with the gods and monsters of the deeps, and those who are most touched by tentacles of the Elder ones spend much of their childhood among the Deep Swimmers, learning the magics that will help them to defend their folk. When many of her village fell to heresy. Vomzisk went with them to the foreign temple, for her duties were not done. Now the temple is overthrown, and she has followed the few survivors from her home into their latest alligiance: the warmbloods who overthrew the priests and their champions. She's learned the ways of a sailor with them, and is happy to turn her skills to the needs of the new cheiftain. Or her heir, as the case may be.

Name: Vomzisk Race: Lizard Class: Pirate 1,Seaborn Sorcerer 1, Bloodrager 2 (Aquatic Bloodline) Favoured Class: Sorcerer Alignment: CN Appearance: Tall, wide bodied, heavy tailed, grey-green horny scales, long snout full of sharp teeth. Generally wears a weapon harness and some painted runes. 6'6", 300 lbs, 25 http://orokos.com/roll/744136 Attributes Str 17/21 +3/+5 Dex 18 +4 Con 18/22 +4/+5 Int 12 +1 Wis 14 +2 Cha 16 +3

BAB +2 CMB +5 CMD +5 Fort +7/+8 Ref +6 Will +4/6 Speed: 40ft ground, 15' water

AC 19 Hit Die: 1d8/2d10/1d6 HP: 36 Damage Unarmed: 1d4+3/5 claw, 1d3+3/5 bite Greataxe: 1d12+4/7 Javelin with atlatl 1d6+3, 50' (30' if thrown) Sneak Attack +1d6 Languages: Plaza, Draconic (or whatever lizards speak) Skills: 8/lvl pirate 4/lvl Sorcerer (Counting favoured class) 5/lvl Bloodrager

Ranks/Total Acrobatics (dex) 1/+14 Climb (str) 2/+10 Diplomacy (Cha) 2/+8 Intimidate (Cha) 2/+8 Know Local (int) 3/+7 Perception (wis) 2/+7 Profession (Sailor) (Wis) 1/+6 Sense Motive (wis) 1/+6 Spellcraft (Int) 2/+6 Stealth (dex) 2/+9 Survival (wis) 2/+7 Swim (str) 2/+18

Proficiencies: Simple Weapons, Martial Weapons

Feats: Eschew Materials: No need for material components worth less than 1 gp Improved Unarmed Strike: Doesn't provoke AOO when making an unarmed strike.

Class Abilities Sea Legs: You gain a +2 bonus on Acrobatics, Climb, and Swim checks Fast Movement: +10'land movement Bloodrage: Enter a rage as a free action, +4 Str & Con, +2 Will saves, -2 AC. Can use for 8 rounds/day. Fatigued after for twice the duration. Underwater Attacks: your bludgeoning and slashing melee attacks underwater ignore the usual underwater penalties. Water Blast (Sp): At 1st level, as a standard action, you can fire a bolt of water at a foe within 30 feet as a ranged touch attack. The foe is knocked prone, and at your option may be pushed 5 feet directly away from you. A reflex save (DC 13) negates this effect. You can use this ability a number of times per day equal to 6 Uncanny Dodge: At 2nd level, a bloodrager can react to danger before his senses would normally allow him to do so. He cannot be caught flat-footed, nor does he lose his Dexterity bonus to AC if the attacker is invisible. He still loses his Dexterity bonus to AC if immobilized. A bloodrager with this ability can still lose his Dexterity bonus to AC if an opponent successfully uses the feint action against him.

Spells 0: Mage Hand, Dancing Lights, Drench, Scoop 1(3/day): Mage Armour, Long Arms Racial abilities Natural Weapons: 1d3 claws, 1d4 bite, +1 natural AC, Swim 15' Ability Score Modifiers: +2 Str, +2 Con, -2 Int Hold Breath: A lizardfolk can hold its breath for a number of rounds equal to 4 times its Constitution score before it risks drowning. Swimmer: Lizardfolk have a natural swim speed of 15 feet. This also grants them a +8 racial bonus on Swim checks. Acrobatic: Lizardfolk use their tail to balance and help propel them when jumping, gaining a +4 racial bonus on Acrobatics checks.

Traits Magical Knack: Pick a class when you gain this trait—your caster level in that class gains a +2 trait bonus as long as this bonus doesn’t raise your caster level above your current Hit Dice. (Sorcerer) Tribesman: You gain a +1 trait bonus on Survival, and it is always a class skill for you.

Equipment: Masterwork Greataxe 10 javelins Atlatl Leather belt with:

   Pouch:
    Scale polish
    7 days worth of dried fish
    Sharpening stone
    Body paint in assorted colours
    3 oil of Magic Weapon
    3 potions of Magic Fang
    2 potions of Pass Without Trace
   Waterskin

Leather harness holding quiver of javelins and greataxe 600 poe

Gap-Tooth Shelly the Prize Fighter

Name: Gap-tooth Shelly Race: Human Class: Pirate 1 Prize Fighter (Drunken Master) 3 Favoured Class: Prize Fighter (i.e. Monk) Alignment: Neutral Height 5'4", Weight 140lb Age 20

Str 20 (+5) Dex 17 (+3) Con 14 (+2) Int 8 (-1) Wis 13 (+1) Cha 12 (+1) BAB +2 CMB +8 (Grapple +10) CMD 20 (22 vs grapple)

Fort +5 Ref +8 Will +4

Speed: 40ft AC 17 Hit Die: 4d8 HP: 31 (including 3hp from 3 lvls of favoured class)

Unarmed Strike Atk +7 Dmg 1d6+5 Rain Of Blows (Flurry) Atk +6/+6 Dmg 1d6+5/1d6+5 Mwk Handaxe Atk +8 Dmg 1d6+5 (crit x3)

Sneak Attack +1d6 Languages: Plaza, Common

Skills Acrobatics (dex) 4/12 Climb (str) 1/10 Escape Artist (dex) 1/7 Intimidate (Cha+str) 4/14 Know Local (int) 1/3 Perception (wis) 2 / 6 Sense Motive (wis) 1/5 Stealth (dex) 1/7 Swim (str) 1/10

Proficiencies: Simple Weapons, hand Xbow, rapier, sap, shortbow, shortsword, pistols Prize Fighter Weapons: Brass knuckles, Weighted Glove (cestus), club, crossbow (light & heavy), dagger, handaxe, javelin, quarterstaff, shortspear, shortsword, sling, spear.

Feats Intimidating Prowess Improved Unarmed Strike Combat Reflexes Improved Grapple Haymaker (Stunning Fist)

Class Abilities Sea Legs AC Bonus (Ex) Rain of Blows (flurry) (Ex) Evasion (Ex) Fast Movement +10ft Maneuver Training (Ex) Liquid Prowess (Drunken Ki) (Su)

Racial abilities Heart of the Sea: Bonus Feat Ability Score Modifiers (+2 Str) Lvl 4 Ability Sc ore Increase (+1 Str)

Traits Accelerated Drinker Bully

Goods & Gear

Masterwork Hand Axe, Belt pouch containing 35poe worth of mixed coin, Traveler's Outfit (Boots, breeches, belt, linen shirt), Hip flask, Wineskin (filled with 4lb cheap wine), Dagger

Purchased brand new from a chandler in town as a complete kit and still bearing a 20poe price tag (i.e. slightly overpriced)

Backpack (oilskin bag with a single shoulder strap) containing

Waterskin Bedroll Mess Kit Flint & Steel 50ft hemp rope Soap 5 sunrods 5x trail rations

10 gallon keg filled with applejack Pewter Tankard

2 potions of Cure Light Wounds

Leather sack containing 800poe

Original Concept

Pathfinder Pirating. Way Down the Monkey Isles

Pathfinder DnD. Level 3 ( 1 level Pirate, 2 levels as you wish) in a low-level setting. You'd play the crew of a tiny skiff plying dangerous tropical oceans, discovering ancient ruins and trekking through steaming forests. etc. I’d set the adventure in the Guild Adventurers pocket universe I created on these board recently, expanding the map to include a New World, jungle continent and plenty of islands. A lot of the adventure would take place off-ship, with the pirate-theme helping to focus character ideas.

Standard Adventurer races 'd be human, halfling and tiefling. More exotic island races might include lizardfolk , jungle-elf, aquatic elves and grippli. You'd be ex-pirates from a scurrilous City of Pirates, looking for booty in a world where piracy is beginning to fade as a profession. The City was once powerful and rich but is decaying and falling into the into control of slum gangs and necromancer factions.

If there’s interest, I’d like to move at pretty good rate of play, ideally with daily posting. I am happy to puppet busy characters and put holidaying players on hold, but we’d need a core group of regular players to make it viable.

Let me know if there’s any interest- but please also give me a concept and be willing to accept feedback on an idea.

HOUSERULES

Born to Pirate. Start at level 3, but all characters have 1 level in Pirate (the archetype variation of Rogue). Think of it as a bonus level rather than a restriction! It will provide opportunities for lots of skill-rich, interesting characters.

No armor rules. where characters get a parry bonus depending on their class.

Firearms are common, a martial weapon rather than exotic, and added to the Rogue (Pirate) class weapon list. Defence bonus will not affect touch AC for purposes of shooting.

Faster play. All monster natural armour is halved (round up, mind); your ACs will be modest owing to the parry rules used.

Party initiative.

Classes: most core classes and anything that ‘feels’ right. Not keen on (don’t want) clerics; most dedicated spell-casters like wizards/sorcerers can burn spell-slots for healing spells. I don’t want tricky characters (like gunslingers ) that require complex resource-tracking or complex rules judgements.

Theatre of mind play. No wiki unless the game takes off.

Players track their own hit points and gear including money. Post details like hps to help the GM.

The New World

Languages

Old World languages are Common, Court Elven, Tusk and Dwarven. We had a hunting sign language and Thieves' Cant, too. There was a religious language, Angelic, like Celestial, and Reverse Angelic (David Lynch backwards slur) which was Infernal.

All those are still around. As new, new world learnable languages for humanoid characters I offer the following as likely to be actually used: 1. Pirate Cant. 2. Plaza. Trade language parsable by most humans and lizardfolk in the islands 3. Old Palace. Aristo, courtly and poetic human language 4. Aquan ("Tongue of the Sea": sea elves but also sea dragons, nereids and such) 5. Jungle Sign Language. Similar across multiple species but only shared by foresty types 6. Priestly, used by human and lizardfolk priests and magicians. 7. Dead Tongue. Used by ghouls, liches etc. Actually a scambled form of Old Palace

There are dozens of local human and lizardfolk dialects. Other weird exotic languages like aboleth, grippli, bullywug also exist but are unlikley to be freq, used.

City of Pirates

Some/ most characters will hail from the old world and the City of Pirates, where identities form around the races there: halflings (hearty but sturdy), elves( elegant and aloof) , etc. Many CoP people will be pirates or descendants of pirates, merchants, sailors, but others will be gangsters, thieves and slum-dwellers locked in gang warfare. The city is governed by pirate chiefs and sorcerers who use necromancy to create undead crews, raise famous pirates and such. It’s meant to be grim-dark but fun. there are plenty of infernal temples in the place and interbreeding with outsiders common.

Spice Nations

Humid, jungly coast and dusty dry interior. Fire berries grow in stands on the rocky high deserts. Ancient highways link old temple ruins.

For several days the band follow the dusty ancient highway across the high desert spine of Spice Nations. 
The stones of the broad road have cracked with age and the intensity of heat.
But the group travels easily in the shade provided by the Tidesage’s powers. 
At night they rest under rocky crags where sand dogs howl and the twin moons spin high in the desert night.

Cove Secret

Cove Secret nestles in the crook of a hooked bay on the western coast. jungle-clad coast and humid heat. The town is a sight indeed. The grand main palace and rows of seedy slums have the very same feel as a quarter of the old world City of Pirates. On the waterfront, sails rise above a chaos of quays and jetties. Yet the structure of the old city on which it has nested- a lizardfolk ruin with plazas and avenues- gives some welcome shape to the place.

The highway runs directly into the town, aligning precisely with its central avenue. But the ancient gates are manned by a score of well-armed pirates, suspicious of such a large force arriving from the land side of the town. A guard captain descends with a swagger to challenge the newcomers.

....... Like the City of Pirates, the town is divided in three areas, each being governed by different levels of law. There is the tavern and slum quarter , where it’s every pirate for themself. The docks, shops and market are governed by ordinary laws, patrolled by a sharp-eyed watch. And the pristine Pirate Lord’s quarter, with its fountains and elegant houses, where the pirates must dress, speak and observe protocols very carefully indeed. ....

Two taverns are the Conger Eal [sic] and the Piece of Eight. Both stand near to the bustling quays.There is plenty of beer, rum and even a beaker or two of fiery local cactus juice for the piece of gold. Also sailor’s fare of corn gruel and fishy stew.

The Dolphin is a more elegant inn in the fancy captains’ quarter. ...

The merchants’ guild have seen treasure hauls aplenty before. They load loot onto carts in the building’s vaults that run on rails into the palace’s dungeons. The one percent fee is payable on receipt. ...

Every pirate town has its elected Lord, chosen by the Best Captains , also a Harbourmaster, Treasurer and Executioner. The last is typically keen to show their willingness to maintain pirate honour by hanging, guillotining or plunging into an arena violators of the town’s code....especially fears infiltration by arch-enemies the Red Spider Society, or Wizard Realm spies.

...

the Soul Lodge

A cross between a Masonic Lodge and voudou temple. Shaved-headed , Necromancer Chaplains, all tattoos and black-painted eyes, keep the souls of high ranking pirates safe in jars. The Soul Repository.

The Lodge’s power comes from their ability to summon Past Elders, capable of casting higher level spells like Restoration or even, some say, Raise Dead. The summoning requires a special meeting and service with Lodge dignitaries present.

the lizardfol’s religion

“The lizardfolk, hm, they have been acting oddly in places. Of tradition, their goode olde religion calls for blood sacrifices only to sustain the life of our two suns. They believe that this world once had more, a dozen or so, and bloodletting is all that sustains the two that remain. But the ceremonies so conducted are oddly decent-teams compete at ball games for the honour of giving up their blood. This thing you observed is part of a subversive cult which we do not understand. Captives are offered to give the sacrificers power....”

ships

ships available:

• A sea-elf courier yacht, absurdly fast, comfortable, yet small and unarmed. 5000 poe.
• A large two-master, fast from the good spread of sail, with several built-in cannons and space for a large crew and even more cargo. The ship needs some work. 5000 poe.
• Several trade catamarans, unarmed but almost as fast as the yacht, also cheap (2000 poe)
• Two sloops, similar to the Octopus, going for just 4,000

carousing

base cost 10poe/pirate but-see below-could cost more!

roll 6d6. read the result like an ORE roll, i.e count how many times each number appears.

1s. foul play from (1) clumsily pickpocketed to (3) dosed and robbed to (5) pressed to (6) captured by death cultists

2s. wenchin'* from (1) harmless flirting to (3) hook-up to (6) sophisticated orgy

3s-folly from (1) mild over-spending to (3) gamblin' (6) buying a haunted mansion/ magic lamp/ etc.

4s-fun (1)memorable joke to (3) palsy sing-along to (6)town-wide festival

5s-fightin' from (1) banter to (3) bar fight to (6) small-scale riot

6s-darin' from (1) arm wrestling to (3) climbing the palace walls to (6) racing to the Monkey isles

• gender neutral version of this, obv.

As in ORE the sum of the total roll also has a meaning; XPs gained are total *pirate level*20.