Elven Sailor [Archive] - Wizards Community

Elven Sailor [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
davethebrave371
04-19-04, 09:36 PM I need some help with an Elven Sailor character for one of my players who is just starting with regards to playing Dungeons and Dragons. Here is some statistical information:

Sammael Siannodel
Sorceror 6
Race: High Elf
Alignment: Chaotic Good
Age: 120, Gender: Male, Height: 5' 11", Weight: 160 lbs.
Eyes: Brown, Hair: Brown, Skin: Caucasian
Stats
Str: 14
Dex: 18
Con: 15
Int: 15
Wis: 14
Cha: 18

+1 Seeking Light Crossbow, +2 Bracers of Armor, +1 Cloak of Resistance

Skills (tentatively)
9 Ranks in Profession (Sailor)
9 Ranks in Knowledge (Arcana)
9 Ranks in Spellcraft
9 Ranks in Concentration

Feats (tentatively)
1. Rapid Reload
1. Signature Spell (Ice Storm) (from Arcana Unearthed)
3. Improved Familiar (has not yet chosen, but wants a pseudodragon at next level)
6. Point Blank Shot

RP info: In our homebrew world, there is a war raging, and for the past 20 years the Elven nation has been completely isolated from the rest of the world, to keep themselves out of the war. Sailor is quite an unusual profession for an Elf in our world, who (with the exception of Aquatic Elves) tend to stick to the woods. He can't think of a reason why he would be out and about, and I don't want to give him my opinion without a bunch of others, and to be honest, there is little reason as 99% of Elves withdrew to their nation when the order went out. The ones who stayed behind stayed mostly because of family and friends, but Sammael is a bit of a loner. He also has Dwarven for one of his bonus languages, which might play into it too (they have also closed themselves off in their mountains and delves).

Any ideas? Any questions to clarify?
Lokahn Mandrake
04-20-04, 01:00 AM Just a few minor points...As a 6L High Elf Sorceror, this character would not get two feats at 1st level, only 1. Humans get the bonus feat at 1st level.

Second, I'm not sure I know much about the Signature Spell feat, but wouldn't the sorceror need to have access to 4th level spells in order to take ice storm as his signature spell? If so, he'd need to be an 8L sorceror.

Third, while I'm sure you are trying to help this "new" player enjoy his or her first experience with D&D, I have found in the past that new players actually do better with a campaign that isn't too high-powered. Starting his/her character at 6L is already going a bit overboard in my opinion. But the real problem I think is the fact that the character has +16 total bonus to his stats already after just one ability bonus at 4th level. That, frankly, is insanely high unless you are running an extremely abnormal campaign. If you are running a campaign in which players will need to have such high stats, it is going to be really hard for your "new" character to comprehend. It may give him/her the impression that all campaigns in the future will be similar in power, and he/she might think that if a future character does not have such high statistics that they will be worthless or unable to survive in future campaigns.

Fourth, if there are any populations of elves remaining in your campaign world, it is possible that they would have some naval forces. Perhaps this character received his nautical training with an elven navy. Or, if elves in your world do not exist in significant enough numbers to have an actual naval force, he could have signed up with a primarily human/half-elven mercenary company that has a naval element or that uses sea travel to send troops out to do jobs the company is commissioned for. He could have learned the profession of sailor in that environment as well. There are many similar possiblilities that could work if the player is really interested in working that into their character background.

Cheers and Happy Gaming
Sisyfos
04-20-04, 07:05 AM Originally posted by davethebrave371
Skills (tentatively)
9 Ranks in Profession (Sailor)
9 Ranks in Knowledge (Arcana)
9 Ranks in Spellcraft
9 Ranks in Concentration

Feats (tentatively)
1. Rapid Reload
1. Signature Spell (Ice Storm) (from Arcana Unearthed)
3. Improved Familiar (has not yet chosen, but wants a pseudodragon at next level)
6. Point Blank Shot

Hmm... he has high dex and decent wisdom. Too bad that sorc skill list is that lousy. I'd probably take the versatile feat from FRCS which gives you 2 skills as class skills. Take spot as one and what ever as the other. Then make him the spotter for the ship. He can use alter self to climb/fly to the mast or above. Or perhaps just use his familiar to spot for the vessel.

The archer approach is pretty elven but it is mechanically bad choice for a sorcerer. Even with those feats he will be a bad archer because of his lousy base attack bonus. True strike will help the matter, but then the rapid reload is pretty worthless. Point blank shot only helps at short distances and then he probably will not be using a bow anyhow. I think it might be better to play him more as the sorcerer of the ship. Take feats which improve thas aspect (like enlarge spell which allows him to attack other vessels farther away). Also the character is yet unable to cast his signature spell, the signature spell chose has no saving throw or level dependent factors... thus the feat only increases its range. I do not want to advocate the typical fireball casting sorcerer, but fire was the most dreaded element in naval battles for a reason, also that spell would benefit from the feat and is available for the character at the level you pick the feat.

So... (I am not going to check if the feats can be taken at the levels pointed.)
1: Enlarge spell
1: Improved familiar (pseudodragon) (I do not know why you had 2 feats for the character at first level... house rule?) I'd probably switch this for versatile: spot & XXXX, or cosmopolitan: spot (from oriental adventures)
3: Improved initiative
6: Signature spell (fireball or some other long range fire spell)

So he will be a real naval sorcerer. He can cast fireball to 2*(400+40/level)=1280 feet which is about twice as far as normal sorcerers. When he get 4th level spells he can cast it still twice as far with enlarge spell.

His role in the ship will be remarkably different than what most other sailors have. It is unlikely that he would spend a lot of time rigging the sails et cetera. He would be in the mast of the ship with his hawk flying high above looking for dangers (you said your world is in constant warfare).

What would the personality of this kind of character be? The archetype is arrogant elven sorcerer, but he does not have to be that way. He can be a driven character enjoying his free life at the seas. He would probably be a very valued member of the crew and friends with almost everyone with his high charisma. He would be very useful for the vessel, so his pay might be pretty good. If you want to build him as also the ship's defender give him a counterspelling aspect by including the following feats in the build: heighten spell, improved initiative, improved counterspell and reactive counterspell, these in combination with signature spell and enlarge spell just about make up the whole 20 level progression though.

Sisyfos
davethebrave371
04-20-04, 10:29 AM Originally posted by Lokahn Mandrake
Just a few minor points...As a 6L High Elf Sorceror, this character would not get two feats at 1st level, only 1. Humans get the bonus feat at 1st level.

Second, I'm not sure I know much about the Signature Spell feat, but wouldn't the sorceror need to have access to 4th level spells in order to take ice storm as his signature spell? If so, he'd need to be an 8L sorceror.

Third, while I'm sure you are trying to help this "new" player enjoy his or her first experience with D&D, I have found in the past that new players actually do better with a campaign that isn't too high-powered. Starting his/her character at 6L is already going a bit overboard in my opinion. But the real problem I think is the fact that the character has +16 total bonus to his stats already after just one ability bonus at 4th level. That, frankly, is insanely high unless you are running an extremely abnormal campaign. If you are running a campaign in which players will need to have such high stats, it is going to be really hard for your "new" character to comprehend. It may give him/her the impression that all campaigns in the future will be similar in power, and he/she might think that if a future character does not have such high statistics that they will be worthless or unable to survive in future campaigns.

Fourth, if there are any populations of elves remaining in your campaign world, it is possible that they would have some naval forces. Perhaps this character received his nautical training with an elven navy. Or, if elves in your world do not exist in significant enough numbers to have an actual naval force, he could have signed up with a primarily human/half-elven mercenary company that has a naval element or that uses sea travel to send troops out to do jobs the company is commissioned for. He could have learned the profession of sailor in that environment as well. There are many similar possiblilities that could work if the player is really interested in working that into their character background.

Cheers and Happy Gaming

He's joining an ongoing campaign, so he needed to be 6th level to keep up with the other characters. Also, we are using the Arcana Unearthed rules to do with Truenames, which essentially give you either a Bonus Talent Feat or Bonus Ceremonial Feat, depending on whether or not you went through a ceremony in your youth to get a "Truename" (which he chose not to). Signature Spell can be chosen for a spell not yet to come so that when he does get it, it will be more powerful, and he wants Ice Storm to be his iconic spell, if you will.

As for the stats, he rolled them. I was there. First timers luck, eh? We roll 4d6 and drop the lowest, and re-roll 1s.

As for the mercenary fleet, that is a definite possibility. It was what I was already thinking, I thought that could be the reason he did not come back with the recall...the vessel sent out to alert those Elves on the sea might have been engaged in battle or destroyed by a sea monster before ever reaching his ship, and when he came back on shore in a port far from home, he discovered through a little investigation that the Elven nation had closed their borders. But I want to give him a couple more options than that, and I can't think of too many other plausible reasons other than exile (which seems a little much for such a young Elf).
davethebrave371
04-20-04, 10:33 AM Originally posted by Sisyfos
Hmm... he has high dex and decent wisdom. Too bad that sorc skill list is that lousy. I'd probably take the versatile feat from FRCS which gives you 2 skills as class skills. Take spot as one and what ever as the other. Then make him the spotter for the ship. He can use alter self to climb/fly to the mast or above. Or perhaps just use his familiar to spot for the vessel.

The archer approach is pretty elven but it is mechanically bad choice for a sorcerer. Even with those feats he will be a bad archer because of his lousy base attack bonus. True strike will help the matter, but then the rapid reload is pretty worthless. Point blank shot only helps at short distances and then he probably will not be using a bow anyhow. I think it might be better to play him more as the sorcerer of the ship. Take feats which improve thas aspect (like enlarge spell which allows him to attack other vessels farther away). Also the character is yet unable to cast his signature spell, the signature spell chose has no saving throw or level dependent factors... thus the feat only increases its range. I do not want to advocate the typical fireball casting sorcerer, but fire was the most dreaded element in naval battles for a reason, also that spell would benefit from the feat and is available for the character at the level you pick the feat.

So... (I am not going to check if the feats can be taken at the levels pointed.)
1: Enlarge spell
1: Improved familiar (pseudodragon) (I do not know why you had 2 feats for the character at first level... house rule?) I'd probably switch this for versatile: spot & XXXX, or cosmopolitan: spot (from oriental adventures)
3: Improved initiative
6: Signature spell (fireball or some other long range fire spell)

So he will be a real naval sorcerer. He can cast fireball to 2*(400+40/level)=1280 feet which is about twice as far as normal sorcerers. When he get 4th level spells he can cast it still twice as far with enlarge spell.

His role in the ship will be remarkably different than what most other sailors have. It is unlikely that he would spend a lot of time rigging the sails et cetera. He would be in the mast of the ship with his hawk flying high above looking for dangers (you said your world is in constant warfare).

What would the personality of this kind of character be? The archetype is arrogant elven sorcerer, but he does not have to be that way. He can be a driven character enjoying his free life at the seas. He would probably be a very valued member of the crew and friends with almost everyone with his high charisma. He would be very useful for the vessel, so his pay might be pretty good. If you want to build him as also the ship's defender give him a counterspelling aspect by including the following feats in the build: heighten spell, improved initiative, improved counterspell and reactive counterspell, these in combination with signature spell and enlarge spell just about make up the whole 20 level progression though.

Sisyfos

Well, I was looking more for RP than mechanics in here, so I'll just isolate the RP. I forgot to mention something! :embarrass He is actually not on a ship right now. His profession is sailor, it's what he does. But right now, he's about 500+ miles inland on the main continent, and has likely not been on a ship for the past year or so. Which adds another angle...why isn't he on a ship? As well, he seems content to hide his magic right now...I don't know if he'll carry that through, but it seems like he doesn't want people knowing that he uses magic.
TheMightyMcClaw
04-20-04, 07:39 PM As being both an elf and a sailor, I would recomend being very, very flamboyant and very, very Spanish. Be dashing. Wear a fedora. Speak with an accent. Use dramatic arm gestures when you speak. Maybe even wipe out some Aztecs.
davethebrave371
04-20-04, 09:19 PM Originally posted by TheMightyMcClaw
As being both an elf and a sailor, I would recomend being very, very flamboyant and very, very Spanish. Be dashing. Wear a fedora. Speak with an accent. Use dramatic arm gestures when you speak. Maybe even wipe out some Aztecs.

lol, actually, so far he's quite stoic. He's rather quiet, dresses ruggedly and with substance over style.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
davethebrave371 04-19-04, 09:36 PM	I need some help with an Elven Sailor character for one of my players who is just starting with regards to playing Dungeons and Dragons. Here is some statistical information: Sammael Siannodel Sorceror 6 Race: High Elf Alignment: Chaotic Good Age: 120, Gender: Male, Height: 5' 11", Weight: 160 lbs. Eyes: Brown, Hair: Brown, Skin: Caucasian Stats Str: 14 Dex: 18 Con: 15 Int: 15 Wis: 14 Cha: 18 +1 Seeking Light Crossbow, +2 Bracers of Armor, +1 Cloak of Resistance Skills (tentatively) 9 Ranks in Profession (Sailor) 9 Ranks in Knowledge (Arcana) 9 Ranks in Spellcraft 9 Ranks in Concentration Feats (tentatively) 1. Rapid Reload 1. Signature Spell (Ice Storm) (from Arcana Unearthed) 3. Improved Familiar (has not yet chosen, but wants a pseudodragon at next level) 6. Point Blank Shot RP info: In our homebrew world, there is a war raging, and for the past 20 years the Elven nation has been completely isolated from the rest of the world, to keep themselves out of the war. Sailor is quite an unusual profession for an Elf in our world, who (with the exception of Aquatic Elves) tend to stick to the woods. He can't think of a reason why he would be out and about, and I don't want to give him my opinion without a bunch of others, and to be honest, there is little reason as 99% of Elves withdrew to their nation when the order went out. The ones who stayed behind stayed mostly because of family and friends, but Sammael is a bit of a loner. He also has Dwarven for one of his bonus languages, which might play into it too (they have also closed themselves off in their mountains and delves). Any ideas? Any questions to clarify?
Lokahn Mandrake 04-20-04, 01:00 AM	Just a few minor points...As a 6L High Elf Sorceror, this character would not get two feats at 1st level, only 1. Humans get the bonus feat at 1st level. Second, I'm not sure I know much about the Signature Spell feat, but wouldn't the sorceror need to have access to 4th level spells in order to take ice storm as his signature spell? If so, he'd need to be an 8L sorceror. Third, while I'm sure you are trying to help this "new" player enjoy his or her first experience with D&D, I have found in the past that new players actually do better with a campaign that isn't too high-powered. Starting his/her character at 6L is already going a bit overboard in my opinion. But the real problem I think is the fact that the character has +16 total bonus to his stats already after just one ability bonus at 4th level. That, frankly, is insanely high unless you are running an extremely abnormal campaign. If you are running a campaign in which players will need to have such high stats, it is going to be really hard for your "new" character to comprehend. It may give him/her the impression that all campaigns in the future will be similar in power, and he/she might think that if a future character does not have such high statistics that they will be worthless or unable to survive in future campaigns. Fourth, if there are any populations of elves remaining in your campaign world, it is possible that they would have some naval forces. Perhaps this character received his nautical training with an elven navy. Or, if elves in your world do not exist in significant enough numbers to have an actual naval force, he could have signed up with a primarily human/half-elven mercenary company that has a naval element or that uses sea travel to send troops out to do jobs the company is commissioned for. He could have learned the profession of sailor in that environment as well. There are many similar possiblilities that could work if the player is really interested in working that into their character background. Cheers and Happy Gaming
Sisyfos 04-20-04, 07:05 AM	Originally posted by davethebrave371 Skills (tentatively) 9 Ranks in Profession (Sailor) 9 Ranks in Knowledge (Arcana) 9 Ranks in Spellcraft 9 Ranks in Concentration Feats (tentatively) 1. Rapid Reload 1. Signature Spell (Ice Storm) (from Arcana Unearthed) 3. Improved Familiar (has not yet chosen, but wants a pseudodragon at next level) 6. Point Blank Shot Hmm... he has high dex and decent wisdom. Too bad that sorc skill list is that lousy. I'd probably take the versatile feat from FRCS which gives you 2 skills as class skills. Take spot as one and what ever as the other. Then make him the spotter for the ship. He can use alter self to climb/fly to the mast or above. Or perhaps just use his familiar to spot for the vessel. The archer approach is pretty elven but it is mechanically bad choice for a sorcerer. Even with those feats he will be a bad archer because of his lousy base attack bonus. True strike will help the matter, but then the rapid reload is pretty worthless. Point blank shot only helps at short distances and then he probably will not be using a bow anyhow. I think it might be better to play him more as the sorcerer of the ship. Take feats which improve thas aspect (like enlarge spell which allows him to attack other vessels farther away). Also the character is yet unable to cast his signature spell, the signature spell chose has no saving throw or level dependent factors... thus the feat only increases its range. I do not want to advocate the typical fireball casting sorcerer, but fire was the most dreaded element in naval battles for a reason, also that spell would benefit from the feat and is available for the character at the level you pick the feat. So... (I am not going to check if the feats can be taken at the levels pointed.) 1: Enlarge spell 1: Improved familiar (pseudodragon) (I do not know why you had 2 feats for the character at first level... house rule?) I'd probably switch this for versatile: spot & XXXX, or cosmopolitan: spot (from oriental adventures) 3: Improved initiative 6: Signature spell (fireball or some other long range fire spell) So he will be a real naval sorcerer. He can cast fireball to 2*(400+40/level)=1280 feet which is about twice as far as normal sorcerers. When he get 4th level spells he can cast it still twice as far with enlarge spell. His role in the ship will be remarkably different than what most other sailors have. It is unlikely that he would spend a lot of time rigging the sails et cetera. He would be in the mast of the ship with his hawk flying high above looking for dangers (you said your world is in constant warfare). What would the personality of this kind of character be? The archetype is arrogant elven sorcerer, but he does not have to be that way. He can be a driven character enjoying his free life at the seas. He would probably be a very valued member of the crew and friends with almost everyone with his high charisma. He would be very useful for the vessel, so his pay might be pretty good. If you want to build him as also the ship's defender give him a counterspelling aspect by including the following feats in the build: heighten spell, improved initiative, improved counterspell and reactive counterspell, these in combination with signature spell and enlarge spell just about make up the whole 20 level progression though. Sisyfos
davethebrave371 04-20-04, 10:29 AM	Originally posted by Lokahn Mandrake Just a few minor points...As a 6L High Elf Sorceror, this character would not get two feats at 1st level, only 1. Humans get the bonus feat at 1st level. Second, I'm not sure I know much about the Signature Spell feat, but wouldn't the sorceror need to have access to 4th level spells in order to take ice storm as his signature spell? If so, he'd need to be an 8L sorceror. Third, while I'm sure you are trying to help this "new" player enjoy his or her first experience with D&D, I have found in the past that new players actually do better with a campaign that isn't too high-powered. Starting his/her character at 6L is already going a bit overboard in my opinion. But the real problem I think is the fact that the character has +16 total bonus to his stats already after just one ability bonus at 4th level. That, frankly, is insanely high unless you are running an extremely abnormal campaign. If you are running a campaign in which players will need to have such high stats, it is going to be really hard for your "new" character to comprehend. It may give him/her the impression that all campaigns in the future will be similar in power, and he/she might think that if a future character does not have such high statistics that they will be worthless or unable to survive in future campaigns. Fourth, if there are any populations of elves remaining in your campaign world, it is possible that they would have some naval forces. Perhaps this character received his nautical training with an elven navy. Or, if elves in your world do not exist in significant enough numbers to have an actual naval force, he could have signed up with a primarily human/half-elven mercenary company that has a naval element or that uses sea travel to send troops out to do jobs the company is commissioned for. He could have learned the profession of sailor in that environment as well. There are many similar possiblilities that could work if the player is really interested in working that into their character background. Cheers and Happy Gaming He's joining an ongoing campaign, so he needed to be 6th level to keep up with the other characters. Also, we are using the Arcana Unearthed rules to do with Truenames, which essentially give you either a Bonus Talent Feat or Bonus Ceremonial Feat, depending on whether or not you went through a ceremony in your youth to get a "Truename" (which he chose not to). Signature Spell can be chosen for a spell not yet to come so that when he does get it, it will be more powerful, and he wants Ice Storm to be his iconic spell, if you will. As for the stats, he rolled them. I was there. First timers luck, eh? We roll 4d6 and drop the lowest, and re-roll 1s. As for the mercenary fleet, that is a definite possibility. It was what I was already thinking, I thought that could be the reason he did not come back with the recall...the vessel sent out to alert those Elves on the sea might have been engaged in battle or destroyed by a sea monster before ever reaching his ship, and when he came back on shore in a port far from home, he discovered through a little investigation that the Elven nation had closed their borders. But I want to give him a couple more options than that, and I can't think of too many other plausible reasons other than exile (which seems a little much for such a young Elf).
davethebrave371 04-20-04, 10:33 AM	Originally posted by Sisyfos Hmm... he has high dex and decent wisdom. Too bad that sorc skill list is that lousy. I'd probably take the versatile feat from FRCS which gives you 2 skills as class skills. Take spot as one and what ever as the other. Then make him the spotter for the ship. He can use alter self to climb/fly to the mast or above. Or perhaps just use his familiar to spot for the vessel. The archer approach is pretty elven but it is mechanically bad choice for a sorcerer. Even with those feats he will be a bad archer because of his lousy base attack bonus. True strike will help the matter, but then the rapid reload is pretty worthless. Point blank shot only helps at short distances and then he probably will not be using a bow anyhow. I think it might be better to play him more as the sorcerer of the ship. Take feats which improve thas aspect (like enlarge spell which allows him to attack other vessels farther away). Also the character is yet unable to cast his signature spell, the signature spell chose has no saving throw or level dependent factors... thus the feat only increases its range. I do not want to advocate the typical fireball casting sorcerer, but fire was the most dreaded element in naval battles for a reason, also that spell would benefit from the feat and is available for the character at the level you pick the feat. So... (I am not going to check if the feats can be taken at the levels pointed.) 1: Enlarge spell 1: Improved familiar (pseudodragon) (I do not know why you had 2 feats for the character at first level... house rule?) I'd probably switch this for versatile: spot & XXXX, or cosmopolitan: spot (from oriental adventures) 3: Improved initiative 6: Signature spell (fireball or some other long range fire spell) So he will be a real naval sorcerer. He can cast fireball to 2*(400+40/level)=1280 feet which is about twice as far as normal sorcerers. When he get 4th level spells he can cast it still twice as far with enlarge spell. His role in the ship will be remarkably different than what most other sailors have. It is unlikely that he would spend a lot of time rigging the sails et cetera. He would be in the mast of the ship with his hawk flying high above looking for dangers (you said your world is in constant warfare). What would the personality of this kind of character be? The archetype is arrogant elven sorcerer, but he does not have to be that way. He can be a driven character enjoying his free life at the seas. He would probably be a very valued member of the crew and friends with almost everyone with his high charisma. He would be very useful for the vessel, so his pay might be pretty good. If you want to build him as also the ship's defender give him a counterspelling aspect by including the following feats in the build: heighten spell, improved initiative, improved counterspell and reactive counterspell, these in combination with signature spell and enlarge spell just about make up the whole 20 level progression though. Sisyfos Well, I was looking more for RP than mechanics in here, so I'll just isolate the RP. I forgot to mention something! :embarrass He is actually not on a ship right now. His profession is sailor, it's what he does. But right now, he's about 500+ miles inland on the main continent, and has likely not been on a ship for the past year or so. Which adds another angle...why isn't he on a ship? As well, he seems content to hide his magic right now...I don't know if he'll carry that through, but it seems like he doesn't want people knowing that he uses magic.
TheMightyMcClaw 04-20-04, 07:39 PM	As being both an elf and a sailor, I would recomend being very, very flamboyant and very, very Spanish. Be dashing. Wear a fedora. Speak with an accent. Use dramatic arm gestures when you speak. Maybe even wipe out some Aztecs.
davethebrave371 04-20-04, 09:19 PM	Originally posted by TheMightyMcClaw As being both an elf and a sailor, I would recomend being very, very flamboyant and very, very Spanish. Be dashing. Wear a fedora. Speak with an accent. Use dramatic arm gestures when you speak. Maybe even wipe out some Aztecs. lol, actually, so far he's quite stoic. He's rather quiet, dresses ruggedly and with substance over style.