Scourge of the Seas (Stormwrack): too much?

[jasin]

Has anyone noticed just how good Scourge of the Seas from Stormwrack is?

It lets you make an intimidate check against a captain of a ship that
can see you or your colors. If you succeed, they're frightened for 1d6 x
10 minutes. If cornered, they don't fight, but surrender instead.

This seems a bit too good. Since the captain is in command of a ship,
frightening the captain effectively "frightens" the ship; the whole ship
runs away from you. That alone is as good as victory unless you're out
for loot. Admittedly, most pirates and PC will be, but still, all you
need to do is to slow down the enemy (through damage or magic or
whatever) so that it cannot run away and they surrender.

Auto-victory against every vessel slower than your own for the cost of
one feat (that can be taken as soon as 2nd level)...?

 

[glass]

Auto-victory against every vessel slower than your own for the cost of
one feat (that can be taken as soon as 2nd level)...?

Auto-victory against every vessel slower than your own whose captain you can successfully intimidate. That's not quite the same.


glass.

 

[Jack Simth]

Yeah - the opposed roll on an Intimidation check can easily get rather tough - Will mods Vs. Fear + Hit Dice + Wisdom modifier? A class with even a poor will save goes up in difficulty by 1 1/3 per level... and in order to make it automatic, you need to be about 40 over your opponent (as it's two rolls - if you roll a 1 and they roll a 20....)

 

[Thanee]

Uhm... so, if I take this feat suddenly everyone knows me and/or my colors?

Does it have some sort of prerequisite, like being incredibly well-known or something?

Bye
Thanee

 

[jasin]

The prerequisites are Cha 15, intimidate 5.

Bit silly, innit?

 

[Thanee]

I would say that's a bit of an understatement!

Bye
Thanee

 

[Timeron Malachi]

I would say that ability is not over-powered, and this is why: In playing D&D for the last 5 years or so, with five or six DMs, and countless adventures and a few campaigns, the only times we've ever been on the water, no one knew how to sail or swim.

 

[jasin]

I would say that ability is not over-powered, and this is why: In playing D&D for the last 5 years or so, with five or six DMs, and countless adventures and a few campaigns, the only times we've ever been on the water, no one knew how to sail or swim.

The opposite is pretty much assumed, I think, when discussing material from Stormwrack: Mastering the Perils of Wind and Wave.

 

[jasin]

Yeah - the opposed roll on an Intimidation check can easily get rather tough

For the defender.

Assuming max intimidate, it's level + 3 + Cha (+ 2 possible from bluff synergy) (+ 3 possible from Skill Focus) vs. level + Wis + bonuses vs. fear. The intimidator is in a better situation here, I think, until fear immunity becomes common (heroes' feast &c.).

- Will mods Vs. Fear + Hit Dice + Wisdom modifier? A class with even a poor will save goes up in difficulty by 1 1/3 per level...

You don't get to add your Will save, just your Wis modifier.

and in order to make it automatic, you need to be about 40 over your opponent (as it's two rolls - if you roll a 1 and they roll a 20....)

OK, I was unfair in calling it auto-victory.

Still, I think it's too powerful and, as Thanee implies, conceptually wacky: it's a low level feat that implies practically legendary reputation.

 

[kayn99]

I do also think it is a bit wacky, I would make a prerequisites beingthat you had to at leat beat 3 ships in naval combat. That fame has to come from some where. I would also create a downside to this, that people will look for your color and attack just based on that. It would be like the "kill the man who killed batman" syndron (for those of us who read old comics).