Make Characters More Unique By Adding "But On The High Seas"

Despite roleplaying games opening up massive rifts of possibility, a lot of us find ourselves standing on the same foundation stones, making the same characters over and over again. Though they may have different names, different faces, and different alignments, we often find ourselves going back to the same basic building blocks of the iconic characters in their iconic roles.

One interesting exercise you can do at this point is to add the phrase, "But on the high seas," to the end of your character description to see how that changes what you've put together.

Seriously, try it out a few times.

Take any standard character concept you've had, and add the phrase to see how it changes them. For example, you might choose to play a templar who fights wickedness and protects the innocent... but on the high seas! You could play an orc brawler who sends his winnings home to his mother... but on the high seas! You could make a halfling spy who gathers information for the crown, a tengu warpriest who relishes a good fight, or a tiefling archer looking for work... but on the high seas.

And if you're looking for some crews they could have signed up with (or fought against), then you might want to take a look at my 100 Pirates to Encounter supplement from Azukail Games!

Changing Up Environments Opens Up Your Brain

While the phrase I find most helpful is, "But on the high seas," the specific environment can be changed to your liking. You might prefer, "But from the open plains," or, "But from the mountains," but the idea is the same. By altering the region your character is from, or is used to, you change up the typical three or four square miles of English countryside that most Tolkien-esque fantasy seems to take place in.

When you make those kinds of changes, you end up asking yourself what a wizard from the tundra might act like, or what their magic might look like. What does a cleric from the jungle, or an alchemist from a small island, act like? What environmental choices have informed their strengths, skills, and fashion choices? What are they accustomed to, and what would be strange or unusual to them?

What are barbarians like in paradise?

Even the most basic race and class combinations can feel new and refreshing as part of this exercise. And it doesn't take a special, "hey, let's play pirates!" game for these characters to be useful, and viable. For example, your fighter might opt for light armor and a tower shield, because that kind of mobile defense platform is extremely useful in ship-to-ship battles, but it can be cast aside in an instant if he goes over the gunwale. A magus might keep spells like hydraulic push on hand to clear the decks, and fight fires, along with spells like force hook charge in order to always end up where he wants to be. A gunslinger may not opt for different weapons or armor on a ship, but everything from how he dresses, to his tastes in food, to the way he talks will be different. Even if it's something small, like expecting to have a ration of rum with his food, along with a lime.

Don't Waste Resources, But Have Fun!

There are certain character concepts that are a product of their environment. If you're a mounted character who depends on their charge to be effective, you aren't going to be at home on the deck of a pirate ship. And if you have that concept with an aquatic mount, then you aren't going to be terribly useful on dry land. But it is perfectly possible to make character concepts that would be at home on the ocean (or in the desert, or in the jungle, etc.) work in other places. The key is, rather, to ask how certain races, classes, etc. would be different in those far-off or more exotic locales.

Of course, if your game is going through frozen tundra, or being spent on an island-hopping campaign with a lot of ship travel, you're going to benefit the most from characters adapted to that region and climate. But most people and features are far more adaptable than we give them credit for. So, instead of being from another, usual small town surrounded by hills and forest, spice things up a bit. You'll be surprised at what you come up with.

That's all for this week's Moon Pope Monday installment. Hopefully it got some wheels turning out there. If you'd like to check out more content from me, head over to my Vocal archive, or stop by the YouTube channel Dungeon Keeper Radio where I work with other gamers to make fun skits and unusual videos. To stay on top of all my latest releases, follow me on Facebook, Tumblr, and Twitter. And, if you'd like to help support Improved Initiative, head on over to The Literary Mercenary's Patreon page. Or click the following link to just Buy Me A Coffee. Either way, I'll happily send you some sweet gaming swag as a thank you for your support.

Replacing Lost Limbs With Magical Prosthetics in Pathfinder

Being an adventurer is dangerous. Between ravenous undead, hack-happy goblins, exploding evocation, and easily-tripped traps, no one gets out without a few scars. Not all adventurers get off so lightly, though. Some of them lose fingers, hands, legs, or eyes. Sometimes they decide to take the hint, and get cushy jobs as town guards or militia captains. Sometimes, though, they grin, and head right back into the storm, looking for riches, renown, and revenge, in no particular order.

Is what's in that chest really worth your life?

Some adventurers will gladly trade their gold, or their services, for powerful spellcasters to regrow their missing limbs. Others, though, will seek out alternative replacements. Replacements which, in many cases, are far deadlier than the limb that was lost in the first place.

How Do You Lose A Limb in Pathfinder?

Well there are a few ways, actually.

The most common way to lose a limb, mechanically, is to be the unfortunate victim of a debilitating blow on a Called Shot (assuming, of course, that these variant rules are in play), or under the Scars and Wounds rules (which are also optional). Most of the common ways people lose limbs, though, are due entirely to judgment calls on the DM, and obscure, extremely powerful, abilities. For example, if a character is turned to stone, and falls over, the DM might rule that a hand broke off, or an arm shattered. If someone was dragged away by a troll and not rescued soon enough, then perhaps they lost a leg to their captor's appetite. And, in rare circumstances, the PC might sever the limb on their own as a way to escape a trap.

What I'm saying is, if your character loses a limb, it's typically because your table agreed to play in Hardcore mode, rather than because of any rules found in the Core Rulebook.

A Normal Prosthesis (For The Low-Level Adventurer)

High-level adventurers are made of stern stuff, hardened by years of battle and trials, and possessing abilities far beyond those of average men and women. Low-level adventurers, by contrast, tend to be made of wet tissue paper, apt to get knocked unconscious if an owlbear so much as sneezes in their general direction. While your DM, and the dice, may be kind, chances are good you'll need a prosthetic limb long before you can afford the good stuff.

Masterwork stuff ain't bad, though.

You see that image? That's the iron hand of Gotz Von Berlichingen, a German sellsword and all-around badass who needed something to punch people with after he lost his right arm to a cannonball. The hand allowed him to wield a sword, hold his reins, grasp a goblet, and probably gave him a slam attack, too. Given the ratchet and spring mechanics of the hand, it would probably be considered a masterwork item.

So what options do you have as an adventurer who lacks a castle, and a small fortune made from fighting other people's battles? Well, you have the option of the hook hand (Pirates of the Inner Sea), or the peg leg trait (Skull and Shackles), which are both functional, though the latter is a creation requirement. You could get masterwork items, and enchant them, if you so desire. A transformative hook hand that could alter itself into other weapons might seem like an unnecessary expense, but ask yourself just how great it would be in the right circumstances.

Also, if you're a wizard, you might want to invest in a wizard hook, which can fulfill somatic components, and bolster the power of your touch spells.

Magical Prosthetics (For The Discerning/Crazy Badass)

In a world of magic, it's completely possible to regrow a lost limb, if you have the gold, and you can seek out a powerful practitioner of the mystical arts. You could even preemptively invest in a Trollblood Elixir, which allows you to re-attach severed limbs which are still relatively intact. No word on if you could use this to steal other people's limbs or not, though. Of course, if you're already missing something, you could find a replacement that is superior to your former limb. Stronger, tougher, and better able to hold up to the rigors of your adventuring life.

I have always wanted to crush a man's skull with one hand...

If you're that kind of adventurer, then you have a couple of options available to you.

The two most common, found in Dark Markets, are the clockwork prosthesis, and necrografts. Both of these options are permanent additions to a character's body, and both of them will do Con damage, and require a DC 18 Fortitude save in order to make sure the graft takes. Once the limb is in place, you have a handy piece of enchanted augmentation. Clockwork limbs can be enchanted with additional powers, and it's been rumored that many of them have the capacity to transform into weapons, should the owner need them to. Necrografts grant powers of their own, but they also make it more difficult for you to benefit from morale bonuses, and they reduce magical healing for the host. This makes them a difficult option, but it should be noted that not all necrograft recipients are willing ones.

If you want something that's functional, but not overly ostentatious, you could even invest in a Demon Talon, which simply replaces your hand with a demon's hand. Of course, just how under your command the scaly, gnarled limb is remains to be seen.

There is another option, as well. Something less permanent, and a little more customizable for heroes who want something very special. Page 115 of Ultimate Magic lists a modification that can be put on Small or Tiny constructs called Construct Limb. This allows you to pull the construct over your arm, and control its actions as part of your own. A construct limb uses all the special attacks of the construct, so if you make it out of something like an Iron Cobra, you could put a poison attack into it. What isn't said, however, is whether a construct limb can be used to replace missing pieces of an adventurer. However, if you're missing a hand and a lower arm, wouldn't you take the opportunity to replace it with a steel cobra, sectioned off into shimmering fingers, that provides you the bonuses of a heavy steel shield? Especially since you can, technically, use any sort of animated item or construct of the proper size, modified in this way.

Well, that's it for this week's Crunch topic! If you liked it, leave a comment, and share it with your friends! If you want to make sure you keep up-to-date on all my posts, then follow me on Facebook, Tumblr, and Twitter. Lastly, if you're looking for some sweet swag, then visit my Patreon page, and become a patron! I'll send you two ebooks, no strings attached, as long as you make a pledge of any size before 2016.

Old Adventurers Never Die

This week, as with every week, Improved Initiative brings you Moon Pope Monday! It's a day that everyone hates, so we try to liven it up a bit with a laugh, a song, or something epic. This week we show you exactly why you should worry about adventurers who have made it far enough to take age penalties.

And how.

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