Pathfinder 1E Recurring BBEG Pirate

[dragonis111]

For this campaign the party I'm DMing has pretty much done all the adventuring possible in their starting area and have decided to take to the seas instead to continue their adventure. Basically I plan on having a dread pirate with a small fleet under his belt as the already unofficial rule of the waters. Aside from the usual piracy acts of plundering merchant ships and getting in small skirmishes with the governments navy, this pirate will frequently encounter my players as they sail the seas. My plans for him as of now is he will be 20th level, Gunslinger 2, Rogue 8, and Dread Pirate 10 from 3.5 complete adventurer, and will have a decked out flagship plus some other smaller ships in his fleet. The party is 6th level and at this point and most of there money went into magic items so I don't see them having money for a large super powerful ship or anything.

I'm here looking for ideas on how to set up the encounters with the small pirate fleet that the players can survive. One of my thoughts was to create a 10th level version of the Dread Pirate and use those stats until the players are strong enough for his 20th level version, which his level 10 dread lord ability gives him many more followers to command. I have access to the 3.5 stormwrack book so that gives me tons of options for running this campaign out at sea.

 

[brvheart]

I am currently running 2 pirate campaigns here also in San Antonio, Skulls & Shackles and Razor Coast so I would be more than happy to compare notes. Are you running this for 3.5 or Pathfinder? I have acquired a lot of resources for pirate campaigns for Pathfinder in the last few months.

 

[dragonis111]

I run pathfinder but I use and allow material from 3.5 as long as I double check it isn't broken for pathfinder.

 

[Rakusia]

just hope there arent any clever magic users in your party. in my group creative use of this and water breathing is known as the pirate killer

[h=1]SRD:Warp Wood[/h]

This material is published under the OGL

Transmutation
Level:	Druid 2
Components:	V, S
Casting time:	1 standard action
Range:	Close (25 ft. + 5 ft./2 levels)
Target:	1 Small wooden object/level, all within a 20-ft. radius
Duration:	Instantaneous
Saving Throw:	Will negates (object)
Spell Resistance:	Yes (object)

Warp Wood

You cause wood to bend and warp, permanently destroying its straightness, form, and strength. A warped door springs open (or becomes stuck, requiring a Strength check to open, at your option). A boat or ship springs a leak. Warped ranged weapons are useless. A warped melee weaponcauses a –4 penalty on attack rolls.
You may warp one Small or smaller object or its equivalent per caster level. A Medium object counts as two Small objects, a Large object as four, a Huge object as eight, a Gargantuan object as sixteen, and a Colossal object as thirty-two.
Alternatively, you can unwarp wood (effectively warping it back to normal) with this spell, straightening wood that has been warped by this spell or by other means. Make whole, on the other hand, does no good in repairing a warped item.
You can combine multiple consecutive warp wood spells to warp (or unwarp) an object that is too large for you to warp with a single spell.
Until the object is completely warped, it suffers no ill effects.

 

[dragonis111]

Actually I love that spell!! I think I'll have the Dread Pirate's first mate be a druid who utilizes it during battles!!! But must the spell target the whole item or can it target like a small section of hull? and how much would this spell need to be cast to sink varying sizes of ships?

 

[Rakusia]

oh no your players are going to hate me now.

 

[brvheart]

A warped ship springs a leak and gains the broken condition. If the ship is reduced to below half its hit points while warped, it gains the sinking condition.
Source Skull & Shackles Player's Guide

 

[Rakusia]

we were running with a druid and a pirate ship came up on us I called Parley! thank you pirates of the Caribbean. while our druid was going to jump over the other side wreck their boat. at the same time we were going to handle the captain when he came onto our ship alone. anyone left around would have to join us or risk the open seas. fast way to get a pirate crew started

 

[Rakusia]

A warped ship springs a leak and gains the broken condition. If the ship is reduced to below half its hit points while warped, it gains the sinking condition.
Source Skull & Shackles Player's Guide

the kicked is its a level 2 druid spell so a decently leveled druid could cast it several times in different places along the shil. or just once on the main part that runs the entire length of the boat. which would you know pop every nail holding the boat together

 

[brvheart]

It is going to take multiple castings to affect a colossal ship. Note the proviso in the spell:

You may warp one Small or smaller object or its equivalent per caster level. A Medium object counts as two Small objects, a Large object as four, a Huge object as eight, a Gargantuan object as 16, and a Colossal object as 32.

You can combine multiple consecutive warp wood spells to warp (or unwarp) an object that is too large for you to warp with a single spell. Until the object is completely warped, it suffers no ill effects.