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Upstarts Unbound [OoC]

Well, I want to play a female, bisexual, Gnome, Chaotic, good, swashbuckler, with high Charisma and Dexterity having adventures on the high seas. Pretty much what I said in my first post. I’m pretty flexible on the specifics.

We do need to clarify how we are doing stats.
 
Sexy swashbuckling adventure is what hooked me, though character interaction/development is one of my favorite parts of rpgs.

And I was planning on playing a noble spymaster rogue or bard with a focus on deception, subterfuge, and social skills. If we have too much back line / support I could also switch things up. My character idea would work as well for a once-loyal soldier rather than a once-loyal spy.
 
Hm. Okay, so that's mobile melee with fancy maneuvers, snappy repartee, and an endless drive forward. And stealthy flank support with tricksy manipulations, a battalion of secrets, and a looming past.
 
And... I basically proposed Elizabeth Swan as an AtLA bender. That means endless artillery, utility magic, reckless bravado, and the eternal now of youthful rebellion
...
Honestly, this is an awesome group, then!


So, can I get some input? The person I'll be playing is clear in my mind and settled. And I get to be hammy no matter what, so believe me, I will be equally happy in all cases. But I have to choose an element to start with, so I'll take into account what you think is best or most fun to have around. There are five I think would work.

Water is obvious. We're gonna be on the ocean all the time! It would mean bashing people around with geysers, or freezing things solid, maybe walking on the waves, and at high levels she could create strong currents under a ship to move it around. But that's a long way off.

Air is also good for travel, since she'd be able to fill the sails at will, eventually, in any heading needed. Until then, we'd have to content ourselves with blowing people overboard, calling lightning strike, and magnetically deflecting cannonballs. Boo hoo, right?

Speaking of cannonballs, earth can eventually become metal, and she could just produce them and launch then with her bare hands. Earth is also great for defense, can create instant cover from enemy fire, and would mean there's basically no prison on land that could hold us.

Fire is almost all offense, natch. It's just really, really good at it. Plus, nothing like the threat of an unending stream of burning to make the crew of a wooden sailing ship listen to what we have to say. It also governs smoke, so she could actually cover retreats really well, if needed.

Aaaand, wood. It would mean she can warp the planks to wrap around people's ankles, repair hull damage trivially, and annihilate the undead with positive energy. Oh and heal. Do we feel like we want a healer? Because I can do that, with either wood or water.
 
I'd argue my character also has an endless drive forward because what better way to escape a looming past?

Those are all interesting ideas! We're a bit squishy so a healer is always good but you should play what you want. I think fire and air fit best with the reckless bravado / youthful rebellion theme. All make sense and would be fun, in different ways. Could you also break ships apart underneath enemy crews with wood?
 
I think if Salix goes for Rogue, we will really need water for the healing and support. If she goes with a Bard, your options increase exponentially, since I can build my swashbuckler DPS or an off tank, and she could take care of the support. I always like playing characters that fit thematically with the setting, so water and air both sound appealing. My two cents, all five of them sound like fun options.

Also for help with my build,i was first thinking of being a picaroon, but pistol and sword seems extremely impractical in pathfinder, and we seem to need a strong close range party member in our group anyways. I’m leaning to Corsair for the thematic elements,but whirling dervish sounds fun as well. I might just take the dervish dancing feat at level 3. Any thoughts?
 
@Salix - Kineticist's core power is a single big damage strike at range, and it keeps getting bigger. If it's a physical strike, I could break the ships to the same degree regardless of element, and fire might actually do it best. But don't worry; I'll make water fit the mood just as well as anything else would. You've both indicated you'd feel better with a healer around, and water has very fun things to do on the ocean.

@Motoharu - I kind of agree about Picaroon. Don't you need a free hand to reload? Like, I get that a bandoleer with multiple pistols is a real thing people did, but 1) expensive and 2) sounds like a lot of added gear-management overhead. Maybe I'm missing something? Corsair appears to be mostly about scaring people, which can be a lot of fun, gives you a lot of snappy dialogue potential, and dovetails well with performance combat, if you want to play with that subsystem. Gnomes do take a size penalty on intimidate, but that also makes success more amusing. Dervish is... I guess I just don't see the appeal, in this situation. Makes taking prisoners easier! Or developing some kind of reputation for being a merciful bandit!
 
Thanks for the input! I agree, I looked at guides on picaroon, and it is way to feat intensive or too equipment intensive to justify, unless the GM bends the resources or rules to a degree I’m uncomfortable with. Merciful bandit is appealing to me, but especially with Salix leaning to something like an evil character and a high seas setting, I don’t think it will mesh as well. And I do like the imagery of an intimidating Gnome, even if it is less than optimal. I will go with Corsair. And I won’t put any extra ranks in bluff, so Salix will still have a strong niche in social settings.
 
Unfortunately all my Pathfinder books are 200 miles away until Friday so I'm not very helpful in answering any technical questions :) I’ve got a pdf to tide me over till then, though.

What is easier for someone without much experience in pathfinder to play - bard or rogue? I jumped right into my first pathfinder game with witch and was sooo lost.

The evil character is totally up for debate, too, honestly. I almost always play do-gooders so I’m pushing myself out of my comfort zone. If we want a chaotic good party, I could use the same character concept, maybe have her be a noble sympathetic to the plight of the lower classes or an abolitionist working secretly against her peers and shouting ‘vivre le revolution!’ at the local ale houses.
 
www.aonprd.com is also a great resource.

So, uh, the answer depends on your play style, really. Rogue has fairly simple tactical options unless you get fancy with gear, but what those options are, you pick from a dizzying array of possibilities as you gain them. It's possible to specialize in almost anything even before you look at archetypes (which are like subclasses, except you don't have to take one).

Bard is pretty straightforward to build, I think, because your competencies are gonna come from the same place no matter what you do—You want good performance rolls, charisma for casting, and (usually) dex for everything else. But the bard gets a lot of options for what to do with any given turn, and then learns new ways to use them.
 
Oh that is a great resource - thanks! And I appreciate the character class insights. Hmm... what to do what to do? Time to start experimenting.
 
Sepulchritude said:
Well aren't you aggressive
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I, uh, *blushes*
It's something new I'm trying out.


Well, got a lot of catching up to do, I see.


Motoharu said:
We do need to clarify how we are doing stats.
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I should have a post for all the nitty-gritty up soon, but it'll be some kind of point-buy.


Motoharu said:
I think if Salix goes for Rogue, we will really need water for the healing and support.
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Don't worry too much about filling roles, there's always ways to work around them. If nobody wants to play healer, I'll just dole out more potions or something.


Salix said:
Unfortunately all my Pathfinder books are 200 miles away until Friday so I'm not very helpful in answering any technical questions :) I’ve got a pdf to tide me over till then, though.
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Also, here: d20PFSRD


Salix said:
The evil character is totally up for debate, too, honestly.
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I like a more nuanced view of alignment. So go evil if you want a darker character. They can still have genuine loyalty to the group and still have their own reasons to be a hero, while still having a malicious and self-serving side.



Anyway. Should have all the proper info up tomorrow. Then the brass tacks can be gotten down to.
 
Psychodurus Eques said:
I like a more nuanced view of alignment. So go evil if you want a darker character. They can still have genuine loyalty to the group and still have their own reasons to be a hero, while still having a malicious and self-serving side
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good to know! I was thinking evil with the original concept because she’s self-interested and not hesitant to step on others to get what she wants, but also doesn’t go out of her way to inflict harm or suffering without reason.
 
My evil characters have usually wound up leading the party, or being the ones holding it together and keeping everyone cooperating. It's totally doable. Go ahead.
 
Evil is fine with me. I am planning on playing a good character, but I wouldn’t be surprised if she changes over time. I always think selfish evil is more interesting than kill and torture everything evil.
 
Wow those threads are incredibly well organized. 👏 Thank you!

And evil it is! Starting alignments are always just that anyway. I love character growth and change.
 
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