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Draz74
2006-09-13, 06:55 PM
This guy was a canidate in Wizards' Dragon competition. With a lot of revision, I couldn't resist entering him in this contest too.

"Me own dear sweet mum kidnapped me. Life's cruel, ain't it?"

Erzynthrakus (“Captain Zyn”)
Male young adult black dragon Rogue 4 / Duelist 6
Large Dragon (Water)
Hit Dice: 26 (229 HP)
Initiative: +9
Speed: 70 ft., Fly 150 (poor), Swim 60
AC 38, touch 23, helpless 25 (-1 size, +15 natural, +13 Dex, +1 deflection)
Base Attack / Grapple: +25 / +32
Attack: +34 bite (2d6+5)
Full Attack: +34 bite (2d6+5) and +32/+32 claw (1d8+3) and +32/+32 wing (1d6+3) and +32 tail slap (1d8+6)
Space/Reach: 10 ft./5 ft. (10 ft. reach for bite)
Special Attacks: sneak attack +2d6, precise strike +1d6, breath weapon, frightful presence, spell-like abilities
Special Qualities: keen senses, darkvision 120 ft., blindsense 60 ft., enhanced mobility, uncanny dodge, DR 5/magic, immunities, SR 17, evasion, acrobatic charge, canny defense, grace, improved reaction, trapfinding, trap sense +1, water breathing
Saves: Fort +19, Ref +31, Will +16
Abilities: Str 16, Dex 24, Con 16, Int 22, Wis 10, Cha 18
Skills: Balance +14, Bluff +29, Disable Device +11, Escape Artist +19, Hide +30, Jump +21, Listen +10, Move Silently +30, Perform (Dance) +9, Search +16, Sense Motive +19, Spot +29, Swim +17, Tumble +32, Use Magic Device +27
Feats: Combat Expertise, Dodge, Flyby Attack, Improved Feint, Mobility, Multiattack, Spring Attack, Weapon Finesse, Wingover
CR 19
Possessions: amulet of mighty fists +2, boots of striding and springing, bracelets of dexterity +6, cloak of charisma +2/resistance +3, decanter of endless water, eyepatch (headband) of intellect +4, handy haversack, orb of storms, ring of protection +1, ring of sustenance, spyglass, spell component pouch (x2), 5 gems, 1 art object, 505 gp, 5050 sp, 50500 cp
Alignment: Chaotic Evil
Sorcerer Spells/Day: 5 / 4
Sorcerer Spells Known (CL 1):
0 – arcane mark, detect poison, message, prestidigitation
1st – mage armor, unseen servant
- - -
Keen Senses (Ex): Captain Zyn sees four times as far as a human in shadowy illumination and twice as far in normal light.
Frightful Presence (Ex): Captain Zyn can unsettle his foes with his mere presence. The ability takes effect automatically whenever Zyn attacks, charges, or flies overhead. Non-dragon creatures within a radius of 150 ft. are subject to the effect if they have less than 26 HD. A potentially affected creature that succeeds on a Will save (DC 27) remains immune to Zyn’s frightful presence for 24 hours. On a failure, creatures with less than 5 HD become panicked for 4d6 rounds and creatures with 5 or more HD become shaken for 4d6 rounds.
Enhanced Mobility (Ex): While not wearing armor and not wielding a shield, Captain Zyn gains a +8 bonus to AC against attacks of opportunity caused when he moves out of a threatened square. (This includes the +4 dodge bonus to AC from the Mobility feat, which remains if Zyn wields armor or a shield.)
Uncanny Dodge (Ex): As rogue ability.
Evasion (Ex): As rogue ability.
Acrobatic Charge (Ex): As duelist ability.
Sneak Attack (Ex): As rogue ability.
Precise Strike (Ex): As duelist ability.
Breath Weapon (Su): Captain Zyn’s breath weapon is a line of acid 80 feet long that does 10d4 acid damage. Using a breath weapon is a standard action. Once Zyn breathes, he can’t breathe again until 1d4 rounds later. A blast from his breath weapon starts at any intersection adjacent to Zyn and extends in a direction of his choice. Creatures caught in the area can attempt a Reflex save to take half damage (DC 26).
Canny Defense (Ex): While not wearing armor or using a shield, and not denied his Dexterity bonus to AC, Captain Zyn adds his Intelligence bonus (to a maximum of his Duelist level) to his Dexterity bonus to AC.
Grace (Ex): Captain Zyn gains a +2 competence bonus to all Reflex saving throws. This ability does not function if Zyn wears armor or wields a shield.
Improved Reaction (Ex): Captain Zyn gains a +2 bonus on initiative checks.
Trapfinding (Ex): As rogue ability.
Trap Sense (Ex): Captain Zyn gains a +1 bonus on Reflex saves made to avoid traps and a +1 dodge bonus to AC against attacks made by traps.
Water Breathing (Ex): Captain Zyn can breathe underwater indefinitely and can freely use his breath weapon, spells, and other abilities while submerged.
Spell-Like abilities: Three times per day, Captain Zyn may cast darkness with a caster level of 5 and a spell radius of 50 feet.

Draz74
2006-09-14, 02:42 PM
And here comes the first mate on Zyn's ship. Next up, the fluff that ties them together.

“Another blasted … I knew I should have drunk more rum this morning.”

Ferdinin the Glum
Male half-elf Rogue 3 / Sorcerer 6 / Arcane Trickster 5
Medium Humanoid (Elf)
Hit Dice: 14 (96 HP)
Initiative: +4
Speed: 30
AC 18, touch 14, flat-footed 14 (+4 Dex, +4 armor)
Base Attack/Grapple: +7/+7
Attack: melee +8 staff (1d6) or thrown +12 dagger (1d4 / 19-20)
Full Attack: melee +8/+3 staff (1d6) or thrown +12/+7 dagger (1d4 / 19-20)
Space/Reach: 5 ft./5 ft.
Special Attacks: sneak attack +4d6, impromptu sneak attack 1/day
Special Qualities: low-light vision, immunity, +2 save vs. enchantments, evasion, ranged legerdemain (2/day), trapfinding, trap sense +1
Saves: Fort +10, Ref +13, Will +9
Abilities: Str 10, Dex 18, Con 18, Int 14, Wis 8, Cha 24
Skills: Appraise +8, Balance +11, Bluff +23, Concentration +18, Decipher Script +8, Diplomacy +11, Disable Device +14, Escape Artist +16, Gather Information +27, Jump +2, Knowledge (Arcana) +12, Knowledge (Local) +8, Open Lock +11, Search +3, Sleight of Hand +12, Spellcraft +5, Swim +5, Tumble +9
Feats: Eschew Materials, Great Fortitude, Heighten Spell, Point Blank Shot, Precise Shot
CR 14
Possessions: Amulet of Health +4, Bracers of Armor +4, Cloak of Charisma +6 of the Manta Ray, Feather Token – Anchor (x10), Feather Token – Whip, Gloves of Dexterity +4, Handy Haversack, Immovable Rod, Metamagic Rod – Minor Empower, Metamagic Rod – Normal Silent, Staff of Charming [50 charges], Stone of Alarm, Vest of Escape, masterwork dagger, masterwork thieves’ tools, 1398 gp
Alignment: Chaotic Neutral
Sorcerer Spells/Day: 6 / 8 / 8 / 8 / 7 / 5
Sorcerer Spells Known (CL 11):
0 – Dancing Lights, Detect Magic, Ghost Sound, Mage Hand, Mending, Message, Open/Close, Prestidigitation, Read Magic
1st – Grease, Obscuring Mist, Ray of Enfeeblement, Shocking Grasp, True Strike
2nd – Invisibility, Locate Object, Scorching Ray, Spectral Hand, Touch of Idiocy
3rd – Dispel Magic, Magic Circle against Law, Ray of Exhaustion, Vampiric Touch
4th – Dimension Door, Enervation, Shadow Conjuration
5th – Overland Flight, Summon Monster V
- - -
Evasion (Ex): As rogue ability.
Sneak Attack (Ex): As rogue ability.
Impromptu Sneak Attack (Ex): Once per day Ferdinin can declare one melee attack or ranged attack (within 30 feet) he makes to be a sneak attack. The target of an impromptu sneak attack loses any Dex bonus to AC, but only against that attack. The power can be used against any target, but creatures that are not subject to critical hits take no extra damage (though they still lose any Dex bonus to AC against the attack).
Ranged Legerdemain (Su): Twice per day, Ferdinin can use one of the following skills at a distance of up to 30 feet: Disable Device, Open Lock, or Sleight of Hand. Working at a distance adds 5 to the DC of the check, and Ferdinin may not take 10 on these checks. Any object to be manipulated must weigh 5 pounds or less.
Trapfinding (Ex): As rogue ability.
Trap Sense (Ex): As rogue ability.

Lord Iames Osari
2006-09-14, 06:48 PM
... Hate to break it to you, Draz74, but the stats all have to be in this (http://www.giantitp.com/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.pl?board=Contests;action=display;num=11577530 45;start=0#10) (the old) format.

Draz74
2006-09-20, 08:36 PM
Yeah, thanks Iames, good call. But I nominate that we change that next contest; the new format is so much more aesthetic!

* * *

Backstory

Birth
Once a wyrmling dragon suffered emotional trauma when he burst from the captivity of his egg, only to find not one, but two potential mother-figures, locked in a mortal duel in the air above him. The black-scaled one prevailed, hurling her bronze-scaled foe from the sky, and the bronze appeared to be crushed beneath an avalanche. However, moments later, as the black turned to do battle with several nearby humanoids, the bronze crept from the shadows and gently scooped up the wyrmling in her talons. Silently she fled the scene of the battle, and the confused wyrmling fell asleep as she took him far, far away.

Growing pains
The bronze, Nostramin, raised the wyrmling as her own for several years, giving him the name Erzynthrakus. Her den was a cave system, high on a sea cliff overlooking the beautiful water next to the prosperous Azure Coast. Erzynthrakus loved to look at the sea, but Nostramin would never let him leave the cave. “It would be very bad if you were ever discovered here,” she told him. She also would go on errands frequently to human ports and kingdoms, and would return with exciting tales of the heroes she interacted with in her business, the greatest adventurers in the land. Erzynthrakus always pleaded to be able to meet some of these heroes, but Nostramin never allowed that either. To keep him from getting too upset, she lavished him with money and jewelry from her hoard, which piqued his natural greed and vanity but didn’t help his need to get out of the cave.

As a juvenille, Erzynthrakus began to notice his black scales, and began to put them together with his earliest memories. His suspicions about Nostramin’s intentions, and his adolescent temperament, made the family relationship more strained than ever, and his personality began to match his scales. Concerned about her son’s direction, Nostramin compromised. “I’m going to invite one hero to our cave as a guest,” she said one morning over breakfast.
“Which one?”
“Tarian the bard.”
“Really?” It was all Erzynthrakus could do to keep his voice dry and skeptical-sounding in his excitement. Tarian had the grandest adventures of anyone that his mother had told him about. He was a negotiator, who traveled the lands of the south without ever staying in a place for very long, but he was very popular because the places he had passed through always prospered.
“Aye. You see, he and I actually adventured together when … when you were born. So I think he has a right to meet you, and that he can be trusted to keep your location secret.”

Adventure finally calls
Before Tarian visited, Erzynthrakus hatched another plan to get his mother to let him out. He acted weak, spasmed and coughed up acid when Nostramin thought he was asleep, and covered his scales with a white dust that he found in the very back of the cave system. Once he even ate mushrooms and mold that he knew would make him sick. By the time Tarian the half-elf arrived, dressed in fine embroidery and with a jeweled dagger at his belt, Nostramin was quite worried. Erzynthrakus overheard them talking.
“I think it’s serious, whatever it is.”
“My dear lady, it’s obvious that this cave isn’t big enough for him anymore. Why, it sounds like he’s becoming half shrieker.”
“You’re probably right, he’s been in here too long. I don’t suppose he could travel with you to get some fresh air and sunshine?”
“I really don’t think that’s a good idea.”
“Why not? Where are you headed when you leave here?”
“I’m on my way to the royal courts in Icetower. It will be a long and stuffy negotiation, and very public. Word will spread quickly if he is seen there.”
“I’m not worried about that anymore. Take him, or I’ll stop loaning you extra gold.”
“Oh, all right, my lady.” Tarian sounded very reluctant still.

Over the next few days, Erzynthrakus tasted freedom. He was allowed to fly about, and swim in the sea just beneath the cave; and the latter especially fascinated him. But it was all bittersweet, knowing that in a few days he would be cooped up again, in a palace, listening to a stuffy diplomatic ceremony.

Scurvy dogs!
The greater was his surprise, then, when Tarian led him away from the cave, not toward the port city that lay on the main road, but on a path down to the beach. “Where are we going?”
Tarian tore off the lace at his neck with disgust. Beneath it lay a rugged tattoo. “We be disappearin’ from yer mum’s knowledge.”
“What do you mean by that?”
“See,” the half-elf said, wrapping a scrap of cloth around his gray hair. “The hero, Tarian? The one with all the … famous exploits? He don’t exist. Me name is Ferdinin, and has been since the unlucky day you came out of that bloody egg. Tarian stopped existing that day, except in the form of some very clever rumors and poems I’ve authored meself.”
“How have you managed this?”
“Got the idea from yer old mum, actually. See, I knew the black dragon wench we fought that day would want ‘er revenge, ye know, fer kidnappin’ you. So I decided to change me name and disappear into the sea. ‘Course, I needed a decoy, so I made up some stories about meself, Tarian I mean, and I’ve made sure they get circulated in the lands near Bloody Mistress Black ever since. She’s had quite a frustratin’ experience trying to track down the illustrious, flighty Tarian all these years, see. An’ I got the dual-identity idea originally from yer sweet mum, the way she disguised herself as a lovely elven knight while we were on our quest.” His eyes misted over for a moment.
“So what has Ferdinin done all this time?”
“’E’s a pirate. A pirate’s life fer me.”
“And how has a pirate’s life treated you? How do you know I want to come with you?”
“It bloody stinks. It’s hell. Yer always in danger, always bein’ tossed by the Sea Goddess, an’ if yer me, yer always watching fer a mother dragon, comin’ after ya for revenge.” His eyes darted back and forth. “I guess now it’s two mother dragons. Blast, I knew I shoulda drunk more rum this morning.”
Erzynthrakus watched him climb into the small boat he had hidden on the beach.
“But,” said Ferdinin in a resigned voice, “it’s the last place yer mum will look for ya, right under her own nose. Which is why I gotta take ya with me.”
Erzynthrakus jumped into the water and swam behind Ferdinin’s boat.

They say life is very prosperous for a pirate along the Azure Coast, if you can survive the initial hazing. The pirates aren’t thrilled about their swelling numbers, so they try to arrange the death of every new crew member as quickly as possible to keep their ships from being crowded. Erzynthrakus wasn’t hazed all that much, since he was incapable of drowning and quite capable of eating people he didn’t like, so he found the shortcut to the “prosperity” part of the equation. By the time he had been a young adult for several years, his quick wit had won him the title of pirate captain, or “Captain Zyn” (since many a pirate hasn’t the wits to wrap his tongue around “Erzynthrakus”), one of the most famous pirates on the Azure Coast. He is greedy, vain, dirty, cunning, and not overly merciful, but compared to most pirate captains, he’s hardworking and not particularly bloodthirsty. Every fiber of his confused soul loves the life of a pirate—the rum, the sea, the thrill of battle, the varied company, the shiny piles of “swag,” and especially the amoral philosophy—he never has to ask himself, “Am I doing the right thing?”

Epilogue
Meanwhile, on top of having to avoid the attention of two adult dragons (by keeping the myth of Tarian alive and active), Ferdinin now finds that he’s in constant peril of angering a third, nearby dragon captain, and is more glum and paranoid than ever, despite the fact that he drinks more rum than ever before.

Next time I have time: some homebrew treasure.

Lord Iames Osari
2006-09-20, 08:57 PM
I agree. However, it has been pointed out to me (and I must admit they have a point) that using the old format, with all the math out in the open, makes it easier to critique and correct each others' work.

Draz74
2006-09-27, 08:02 PM
Some exciting treasure throughout Zyn's ship:

Sail of Disguise
If a wielder grips the rope that hangs from this sail and speaks the command word, he can change the appearance of a ship to which the sail is rigged. The ship can appear up to 50% bigger or smaller than its actual size, and its color, apparent texture, and apparent shape can be altered at will. A shipwide motif also usually appears (for example, Captain Zyn generally makes all of the features of the ship look
spiky and reptilian). If this item is used to make the ship look similar to local lighting, weather, and water conditions, the DC to Spot the ship is increased by +5 (a circumstance bonus).

Strong illusion; CL 10th; Craft Wondrous Item, disguise self, mirage arcana; Price: 90,000 gp

Cauldron of Merrymaking
This cauldron is a coveted possession that Zyn hides in his own cabin (especially when Ferdinin is thirsty). Twice per day, it turns a cauldronfull of seawater into a fabulous mead that typically sells for 10 gp per mug (30 mugs per cauldron).

Moderate transmutation; CL 11; Craft Wondrous Item, purify food and water, charm person, heroes' feast; Price: 47,520 gp

Ghastly Bond of Unnaturally Swift Pursuit
This 200-foot rope, culminating with a grappling hook, is a pale gray color, and often makes a ghostly hissing noise. If the grappling hook is thrown from one ship to another, the target will then find that the rope and grappling hook become incorpereal (and therefore difficult to remove without a command word). However, this incorpereal bond now connects the two ships, so that the target ship, if it tries to escape the vicinity of the attacking ship, finds that it drags the pursuing ship along with it.

Moderate necromancy and transmutation; CL 14; Craft Wondrous Item, animate rope, haste, dimensional anchor, locate object; Price: 76,000 gp

Buzzing Orbs of Life
These small white pearly spheres, about an inch in diameter, are a legend throughout the Azure Coast, and all merchants and pirates in the land are always on the lookout for a chance to discover, buy, or steal some. If released from containment, these items fly about their vicinity with a buzzing sound, "seeking" for injured creatures. When they are near such a creature, they commence casting cure spells on these creatures. Each orb can cast Cure Serious Wounds once per day, and Cure Light Wounds 10 times per day, with at least half an hour between each Cure Light Wounds spell. Legends claim that the orbs were created by an epic cleric long ago, who had to slay a powerful undead being to create each one.

Moderate necromancy; CL 7; Ability to turn undead, cure serious wounds, fly; Price (1 orb) 20,400 gp

Other than Captain Zyn's personal bed of copper pieces (with a few gold and silver coins scattered in the pile to make it look nicer), and personal reserves of 1,000 or so gp that each crew member keeps, the crew of Zyn's ship doesn't keep treasure in the form of cash. They prefer a collection of exotic art objects, preferably containing gems. Any time they visit pirate-infested ports, they spend all the cash they can on art objects and magical items.

Of particular interest, out of non-magical treasure, are a collection of eleven statues of rakshasas, carved of onyx. Captain Zyn quite accidentally discovered, early in his career, that he had two such statues in very similar styles. Since then, he has discovered that they are both part of a set, but the purpose or extent of this eclectic set is still a mystery (even to Legend Lore spells). Zyn continues to keep a sharp eye out, while he buys and sells and plunders and explores, for more statues to add to his collection, hoping to someday discover their purpose.