[5e] Spell & Crossbones

[Quickleaf]

QL, thanks for the clarification about the mechanics. ("does replace?" OK)

Re: For example, you could be a Warlock bonded to an "Archfey" with the Ship Mage subclass, no problem. "Archfey" would need some creative reinterpretation in the setting, possibly something along the lines of a loa from Voodoo faith. --

At this point, I'm going to have to do some research into the loa of the Voodoo faith, then.

I did purchse a copy of "Skull & Bones" in anticipation that there might be an opening here; but I haven't read it. However, just looking at it, the book seems not to go into Voodoo much. I seem to recall a mention many pages back to the effect that Cozumel (was it?) had an emphasis on devotion to the loa of the moon. That's the kind of intelligence that I'll need to acquire, I think, if I'm to create a character that fits the setting.

In the mean time, while I'm flailing about like this*, I hope other interested parties aren't waiting for me to get it together before submitting their own characters. I think the intention here was (yes, I'm guessing) that the early bird gets the first crack at getting a character approved; and that's supposed to be the one who gets a character done first, not started first. (Again: that is guesswork on my part.)

* Re: flailing -- Warlock 3 / Sorcerer 1? No, wait: Warlock 4? Maybe Sorcerer 4, so Ship Mage doesn't displace Patron? No, don't do it that way: start as Warlock but choose your Patron first, because that defines your mix of 'lock and 'tron motivations. That kind of flailing. . . .

Skull & Bones is a terrific resource. Yeah, when it comes to learning about the loa, it's a crap shoot online. I'll see if I can dig up some links that I use, but the Wikipedia article does give a good overview of the nanchons (nations/groupings) of various loa. I tend to think of them as "hot and aggressive" (Petro Loa), "cool, watery, and ancient" (Rada Loa), and "underworld" (Ghede Loa).

As for making a PC, I can only speak to my process, but for more story-based games (like this one), I like to craft story for my character before thinking about mechanics, classes, feats, fortunes, etc. Then once I have that, I like to select things that fit the character. However, not everyone thinks that way.

 

[tuxgeo]

As an aside, I hold the philosophical position that the way one thinks is partly a matter of the ways one has thought before: generally, people tend to get into mental ruts. I have to keep reminding myself, "Horse of Rabbit," by which I mean: "Force of Habit."

I live in hope that I can still learn new tricks at my age. I'll try the story bit (um, the last Creative Writing class I took was back in the 1960s); but for now, I notice that if I were to go Sorcerer instead of Warlock, I wouldn't have to plan for a Patron, Loa or otherwise. (Downside: miss out on flavor and Eldritch Invocations. Upside: get CON proficiency, four starting cantrips (highest in game), and Metamagic.
(Ooh! "Subtle" Buoyancy from a diving bell? Maybe? No, wait: that cantrip is "Touch" range, and if you're in a diving bell, you aren't actually touching the treasure chest outside it. Maybe start with the story elements. . . .)

Esoterica (from last night's research):
Intro to Voodoo in Haiti at Hartford
Short List of Loa at Webster
Vodoun (also Voodoo) at themystica
Voodoo History -- Basic Principles at white-magic

 

[Matthan]

I'm of the opinion that creativity is a skill independent of age. The more we practice it, the better we get at it. You're going to develop something great.

That said, I do think you and I have something in common. I love the mechanical side of D&D. It's fun to read through the rules and imagine the possibilities. However, when it comes time to actually make a character, the wide expanse of options that we love and want to play can make it difficult to just make a choice. It's choice paralysis. The best thing to do is just to make a decision and commit to not revisiting it. Once that option is closed, don't consider the paths not taken. Just push forward to make the character. Every class in 5E looks fun to play. Just pick one and save the other classes for another game.

If I'm right, you're flipping back and forth between Sorcerer and Warlock and looking over spell lists and abilities trying to figure out which one is the best option for this game. That's a trap, and it's one I fall into all the time. Trust your first instinct. Pick that class and move forward. Do not flip back to the other class. That desire to make the perfect choice will keep you from making any choices. The perfect choice does not exist.

You'll face choices like this at many points as you develop your character. By all means, read the options and consider them, but when you don't have a clear winner for what you want then just choose. Flip a coin if you have to. Just break out of the paralysis to keep moving forward.

Hopefully, that doesn't sound to harsh, but it's honestly something that trips me up a lot when making characters. I recently joined another one of QL's games where he allowed characters to start with magical items. I spent far more hours than I care to admit poring over the magical items in the DMG trying to decide. I eventually had to force myself to stop, choose, and move on. Otherwise, the character would never be made.

One side note on voodoo, your mileage may vary with this, but one of the things that struck me as I researched it to build Blaise was that it wasn't just a plot device, but an actual religion with real adherents. I felt like I did not want to dishonor them by playing fast and loose with their religion to serve my plot. So instead of picking a loa off of a list, I made one up and built the story around it. Now, that's my hang up. I don't share that to tell you how to approach your character, but to tell you to trust your instincts as you're researching. If something bothers you or fascinates you, then it will most likely provoke some emotion in your story. Follow those threads and see where it leads.

 

[Shayuri]

I'll pitch in here and add that I didn't make a character for this game the way I usually do.

Normally I take a look at what's not already being done by other players and use that to get a general shape of a 'missing niche.' Then I'll use that to get the general shape of a character that would fill that niche. Then I feel around races and classes and see if there's something that catches my attention right away for what I want to play...and then I build up a background that explains those choices.

Nia started out with that...but I got the idea for her background very early, and it fed back in and influenced my decisions about classes in unusual directions. Being a ranger/druid multiclass is an odd choice, mechanically. It's not a -bad- choice, exactly...but it does water down the raw power of both classes quite a bit. Rangers and druids have compelling reasons not to multiclass. But it was right for Nia. I wanted her to have powerful magic, but I also wanted her to be a capable hunter of monsters and have the breadth of knowledge that the ranger class has to offer.

Since then, I've had occasional cause to question my decision...but I've never regretted it.

I relate this to maybe reassure you that there's nothing wrong with not starting with the story. I often don't. Stories can be emergent, flowing from the mechanical choices of a character. Alternatively, sometimes the mechanics are emergent from the story. Neither approach is innately superior, in my experience. It's all a question of what snags on that little hook in my head and gets fished out of the primordial goo I call inspiration first.

 

[Queenie]

A lot of PBP games, the games I tend towards perhaps, are way more story orientated then mechanic orientated. It's definitely better in certain games to have those deep story roots.

Myself, I went, "I want to play a pirate," worked on my story, then built my character from there. It was easier for me to do it that way.

However, I *still* don't have the sheet completely filled in - flaws and ideals maybe - because I don't really completely know a character until I play her. I know them now, I just have to get them on paper

So, everyone goes about it differently and almost all the ways work.

But in PBP you've got to worry way less about every single mechanical thing that is "right" for the character, because in the end, you'll have way more FUN if the story is there. Min-maxing rarely plays out well in PBP, in my experience either you don't use a lot of things you've picked, or it pisses everyone else in the group off!

 

[Fenris]

[MENTION=20323]Quickleaf[/MENTION] A Seawolf variant?

 

[Shayuri]

Badass.

 

[Quickleaf]

[MENTION=20323]Quickleaf[/MENTION] A Seawolf variant?

Mwahaha.

 

[tuxgeo]

Do they make a lantern like that that works underwater?

Bought DVDs online of Swiss Family Robinson and POC: Curse of the Black Pearl. Both arrived Thursday. Have watched POC. More connections to the setting:
[sblock]Sparrow said Turner was Obsessed With Treasure? (There's a Fortune for that.) Sparrow was Marooned (twice)? Sparrow has a Magical Trinket that doesn't point North? Sparrow has something like the Casanova fortune? Sparrow is Wanted, and branded on his forearm as a pirate? Cotton is a Parrot Perch, Barbossa is a Monkey Magnet? Passing mention of Davy Jones' Locker -- similar to the Secrets of the Deep fortune? The governor's daughter needed saving -- similar to the Price of Freedom Bond? However, the first installment didn't get much into Haitian Voodoo that I noticed -- but it did mention Tortuga, which is right by Haiti. Close enough?
Comment (1) Gotta cover the stereotypes first: the audience needs something to recognize. Establishing-shots, establishing-schticks -- what's the difference?
Comment (2) For character-building, "it all comes down to La Gloriosa." (Heh, heh! He said, ". . . down to La Gloriosa!")[/sblock](Would have posted this last night (Friday), but for a short window of downtime for maintenance.)

Edit to add: Now leaning Sorc. (Not wanting to spam Eldritch Blast. The attraction of Warlock was Tome Pact's extra cantrips, and False Life at will as an Invocation.)
[sblock=Needn't be saidJames Barrington's name is a lot like James Norrington's name. Somehow, this surprised me.[/sblock]

 

[tuxgeo]

Quick character-building (story?) thoughts of a Sunday morning:

(1) New Bond: "Redemption": Was a member of one of the failed expeditions to find La Gloriosa del Mar, and is Notorious or potentially even Disgraced (or not?) because of this prior failure. Desires to convert that failure into an eventual success by trying again, not only for the sake of the money (a chance to loot a spanish treasure galleon without having to face the galleon's guns) but also because of the chance to redeem reputation, plus give others the news they crave about what happened, who is to blame, what's in the "alleged ledger" of privateers who were french agents, etc.

(2) Char. intro.: served on the Coral Curse, so is a one of the few survivors to be interviewed during or after the questioning of its dying captain. That would need a reason, or several, for surviving the Yellow Fever long enough to get recruited, so here are three potential reasons: high (heroic) CON score, CON proficiency as a Sorc., and the "Scurvy Sea Dog" Seafarer's Trick (Adv. on saves vs. disease, resistance to disease damage).
(Probably not worth pursuing in that connection: taking the Spell Sniper feat to get the "Resistance" cantrip to gain +1d4 on saves if cast within a minute of the need for the save. With that cantrip, he could have given most of the crew of the Coral Curse the same bonus to Yellow Fever, so why didn't he if he had that? That's a can of worms, and should not be needed if his high CON with Proficiency and the SSD Trick would get him back alive from the hospital ship's voyage.)

(3) If it works out for him to be a former crew member aboard the Curse, that gives an automatic Ill Fortune of "Enemy" in the person of the french captain who attacked the Coral Curse enroute.