Creating Davy Jones (now with Pirates of the Caribbean 3 spoilers)

[Immak Antunel]

Just stick in another regional-inhabitant term, as appropriate to the setting being used..

The Flying Thayan
The Flying Furyondian
The Flying Khyberian
The Flying City-State-of-the-Invincible-Overlord-an
...and so forth

 

[Shade]

Getting back to this fella, any further thoughts on his type (undead, aberration, etc.)?

 

[Olly]

I'm going to go with aberration. Barbossa and his crew already have the undead franchise going.

 

[Shade]

Let's see how he works as an aberration, then.

Let's summarize what we know about him before we proceed further:

• He can only be killed by destroying his heart, which is hidden away.
• His face-tentacles have fine motor skills.
• He has a lobster-like claw for a left hand.
• He has a tentaclelike index finger on his right hand.
• He has a crablike "pegleg" for a right leg.
• He can seemingly teleport.
• He sleeps.
• He can breathe underwater.
• He honors his deals (thus probably lawful).
• He can bestow a curse upon dying sailors.
• He can bestow a "black spot".
• He can summon a kraken using that big drum thing.

What am I missing?

 

[Olly]

He's also a romantic soul, is Jonesy. Very sympathetic where love is concerned. I'm not sure if that would result in any mind-affecting effects or suchlike, but still...

 

[Gothenem]

Hmmm, I'd say Aberration. He is good at playing his Organ, so ranks in Perform might be in order.

It appears that he is calmed by that musical pendant/doohickey....

I would argue that Davey Jones and his entire crew are alive, not undead. The Hide Life spell would cover the heart....

We also know:
Javey Jones smokes (and therefore breathes)

 

[Olly]

If it was me, I'd make that pipe of his a magical item, just to make it a bit more interesting. The smoke wreathes his face and heightens his strange and sinister appearance, granting him a bonus to Intimidate checks.

 

[DnDChick]

As for his alignment, I'd have to vote lawful neutral. He isn't necessarily evil, but he does (as has been said) play by the rules. He acts without pity, but also apparently without malice. He offers lost sailors to join his crew, but lets them refuse if they so desire. There are certainly evil beings in his crew, but good ones also (ie. Bootstrap Bill). If any alignment fits ol' Davy, to me it would be lawful neutral.

 

[Nellisir]

I'd vote monstrous humanoid and lawful evil. He might offer a sailors a "choice" to join his crew, but it's a choice between life on his terms and in his service or death. And he didn't always offer that.

He's not undead, since the point of his offer is to avoid death. He's aberrant, but still quite literally humanoid and monstrous.

I'd leave off "kraken control" altogether, and put the summoning ability into an item, together with an antipathy effect. The kraken doesn't attack the ship with the kraken caller (I suspect this won't be true in the third movie, but ce la vie). The black spot is a weird one, though.

 

[Gothenem]

I think aberration. Mind Flayers are humanoid and monsterous, and they are aberrations. There are other examples of humanoid-shaped aberrations, such as the human-looking elan.

I think Aberration fits much better than Monsterous humanoid.

As for alignment: Lawful Evil. He is lawful as has been pointed out before. He is also evil, as he does not seem to care for anyone but himself. He is self-serving and uses intimidation and threats to control others.