Talk:Pirate, Variant (3.5e Class)

Suggestions

Starting Package - Gear: Standard Adventurer's Kit — 98.108.8.69 21:22, 14 June 2010 (UTC)

Rating

Formatting - 3/5: I give this a 3 out of 5 on formatting because it uses the short lived toc depth class (which now is obsolete - see the preload for the modern formatting), and it also does not have enough links to the SRD or to the class features from the table. --Green Dragon 15:23, 22 February 2008 (MST)

Rating

Power - 4/5 I give this class a 4 out of 5 because it is a little overpowered. Changing the Improved Low Blow to a swift action and the bonus from Greater Low Blow to +1d6 would help.--ElfsMaster 01:25, 25 April 2008 (MDT)

I think I remember talking about making it a swift action, but I don't remember why it was decided against. Valentine, do you remember? --Daniel Draco 06:15, 25 April 2008 (MDT)

I believe it was because swift actions aren't in the core rulebooks, which I brought up. I prefer to make things playable by the core rulebooks and since you can make only one free action like taking a five-foot step or the like each round, it is actually the same thing as a swift action given that such things can only be done once on your turn. This also allows DMs to adjudicate a degree of power to this class. If a DM so desires he or she could make it so that a basic pirate is only able to take a single free action; that one could make two, a feint and a five-foot step; or multiple up to infinite, feinting against multiple opponents then optionally taking a five-foot step. Improved Low Blow as a free action allows for more flexibility for players and DMs. Greater Low Blow, on the other hand, was designed to make an incentive for PCs to use full attack actions instead of standard actions, limiting their mobility and creating a vulnerability in exchange for the extra power. If you think 2d6 is too much of an incentive to be vulnerable I would be happy to make it 1d6 instead. --Valentine the Rogue 05:51, 28 April 2008 (MST)

Well, I don't really like free actions since they don't actually count as an "action" (in terms of time) and various free actions can be taken in the same turn, while you can only make one swift action no matter what. But that's not THAT unbalancing, the problem seems to be the Greater Low Blow. As I understand it, all attacks on the turn have that bonus, so, if you make 3 attacks in a round, you're actually doubling the additional damage (from 4d6 to 8d6).If you fight with two weapons, this would go to 10d6, 12d6 if you have two attacks with it, 3 times more bonus damage. Taking a full action doesn't HAVE to be encouraged since it already has the benefits of multiple attacks which already is the extra power received, but if you feel like doing so, as a 20th level ability, 1d6 would be appropriate in my point of view. --ElfsMaster 23:43, 28 April 2008 (MDT)

I think 2d6 is fine, since the CR for most creatures at and after 20th level is slightly inflated and out of proportion with the CR of creatures below 20. Other classes get good abilities at 20th level that can be excessively strong, for example the Mighty Rage of a barbarian, the Perfect Self and Slow Fall of a monk, and the 19th feat for a fighter (which can be as amazingly relevant as Rapid Blitz or Weapon Sumpremacy from the PHb 2). My point being that, for a twentieth level character with only 3 attacks, maybe 6, an additional 8d6, or 14d6, on a full attack only may still not compare to extraordinary abilities of other more powerful classes of the same level. -Valentine the Rogue 19:06, 21 May 2008 (MDT)

Wording - 3/5 I give this class a 3 out of 5 because there are some points that are very hard to understand, such as "ondulating surface" and the Greater Low Blow--ElfsMaster 01:25, 25 April 2008 (MDT)

An undulating surface would be any surface that is moving in a rocking, repetitive motion...and to be honest, I can't remember what greater low blow is supposed to do. --Daniel Draco 06:15, 25 April 2008 (MDT)

I admit that Greater Low Blow may have been hard to understand, but I explained its pupose above and if you would like a more comprehensive description for it I would be glad to provide it if you ask. However, I will not stand for low scores based on vocabulary, since those of who have one should not have to compensate for those of us who refuse to (it is an individual choice to develop lingual skills). If you don't understand something because it is grammatically in correct or a phrasing and idiomatic nightmare thats perfectly fine, but when I see someone complain over "undulating surface" being confusing, I only have this to say: If you can access this website, you can access dictionary.com and it is verging on disrespectful to the authors to be too lazy to type the web address "dictionary.com" and search for "undulating". --Valentine the Rogue 05:59, 28 April 2008 (MST)

For the Greater Low Blow, I think I got it right (like, if your full attack has three attacks, then each one will receive +4d6, but giving an example so that there will be no doubts wouldn't hurt. Now for the "ondulating surface": I'm not saying I don't understand what is an ondulating surface, nor that the vocabulary is poor, incorrect or the like. It's perfectly clear for me in terms of meaning, but not in term os gameplay. I mean, what exactly can be considered an ondulating surface? Due to the kind of character, I'm guessing that the floor of a moving ship is an example, but it's still vague. An earthquake would be? I know an earthquake is a wave phenomenom, but it's waving so fast (about 5 thousand feet/second) it's almost like just shaking the earth in various directions. Sorry if I sounded disrespectful, but there's a diference between knowing what the term means and knowing how does it translates into gameplay. I know that DMs could just use common sense about that, but many DMs don't have any, and a lot of players keep bugging the ones who do, so clarifying it would prevent such things. --ElfsMaster 23:55, 28 April 2008 (MDT)

I suppose I could clarify the undulating surface to be moderately undulating such as a ship's deck but not the rapid waves of an earthquake or such slow things as the ripples after an avalanche. I still think it should be up to DM discretion, but I now understand your concern for the discrepancy. Thanks -Valentine the Rogue 19:06, 21 May 2008 (MDT)

Flavor - 4/5 I give this class a 4 out of 5 because it has a great concept and is very role playable. It only lacks an exemple NPC.--ElfsMaster 01:25, 25 April 2008 (MDT)