Post/Author/DateTime	Post
LittleCarp04 04-02-07, 07:45 PM	Hi everyone, I was looking for some help fleshing out a few PCs that me and a friend will be playing soon. The idea behind the campaign is that I am a Pirate Captain of a ship, the Dragon's Rage. The other PC (its a 2 pc campaign with each of us playing parts of the crew) will be the ships Quartermaster and the ships wizard/sorc (not sure on class selection, probably wizard for the more spells known in the spellbook and can learn differnet ones). I want my captain to be a human from Luskan who was orphaned as a child and had to learn how to survive on his own, at the age of 13 he started on a boat as a deckhand, and has grown to be the captain of the ship. The quartermaster is a haughty nobleborn mage, who has a thirst for travel.
Rudysseus 04-09-07, 12:38 AM	Well you might start by asking a few simple questions first. What are the alignments of the characters in question? That can go a very long way to answering the following questions: You said he had worked as a deckhand and then became a captain of his ship. So...what exactly drives him to be a pirate? Revenge? Is it seeking adventure? Riches? A general desire to cause trouble and undermine authority? A pirate's life tends to encompass all of those (if they are any good), but typically one of them is the general reason why they are out there. What type of pirate is he? The "people are easier to rob when they're dead" type? Or the type that wouldn't hurt anyone he didn't have to to get the job done? How does he treat/interact with his crew and the other PC? Are they real friends? Or just business partners? Does he brutalize his crew? Or does he treat them all like they are his brothers? What weapons do they favor? Obviously the wizard/sorcerer will likely favor magic of some sort, but that's not to say he didn't learn how to wield a rapier or some other weapon at some point for when his magic didn't work. Not entirely sure if using a valuable feat on a weapon they likely won't use often is worth it but that's not to say they couldn't carry around a menacing looking longsword to scare people away, even if they weren't proficient. Also feel free to deviate from established norms here. Daggers, cutlasses, and that type of thing are standard pirate weaponry. But perhaps your characters don't want to be the run-of-the-mill pirates. They want to stand out. Think outside the box on weapons. That's not to say they couldn't have a dagger on their belt, but perhaps they favor a falchion or spear. or perhaps even a bow and arrow to pick off raiders before they can swing across. It may not seem "piratey" right away, but I always tend to suggest people take established archetypes and tweak them. You want to play a character that is unique and exciting, not just a carbon copy of Jack Sparrow. If you happen to have your character's statistics and skills already done, those can also give you ideas. (or vice versa) Is he charming and wittY? Or just intelligent and street-smart? A gentleman or a brute? Pirates come in all shapes and sizes, and sometimes are all of these things at once, plus many many more. Since he grew up alone in Luskan and then on a ship he likely had a rough and tumble lifestyle, so the odds of him having skills that relate to higher learning are probably not the best ones to take (unless he had a mentor of sorts). The skills like bluff, diplomacy, gather information, intimidate and sense motive are all pretty handy for a pirate who has to keep his crew happy, the enemies scared, and use his silver tongue to stay one step ahead of the people who want to put a stop to him. Might also ask yourself WHERE does he pirate these days? Sword Coast? One of the smaller seas? Think about where he spends a lot of his time and perhaps do a little research into how those people act or dress. Perhaps he picked up a few of their mannerisms. Hope this helps a bit. :)