Skull and Shackles Characters

[Urtar37]

With AD6 out, coming soon is Skull and Shackles, and as a player of all the physical game content, I would like to let people know what there is in the AP, who haven't played the phyisical game, so that they can prepare for it.  I will start with the characters, and post more of them, along with other things, later including advice for this set.

Characters:

Alahazra the Oracle

Skills

STR d4

DEX d4

CON d6

INT d6

WIS d8

CHA d12

Knowledge - INT+2

Divine - CHA+2

Powers:

Hand Size 5 or 6 cAN'T remember

When you play a spell with the Attack trait, add 2 to the check.

At the start of your turn, you may discard a divine card to take a divine card from your discard pile.

You may recharge a card with the Divine trait to examine the top card of any location deck.

Cards:

WPN -

SPL 5

AMR -

ITM 2

ALY 3

BLS 5

Favored = Blessing

Lem the Bard

Skills

STR d4

DEX d8

CON d6

INT d6

WIS d6

CHA d10

Arcane, Divine CHA +1

Diplomacy CHA +3

Knowledge INT+2

Craft INT + 1

Powers:

Hand size 5

For your check that invokes the Finesse trait, you gain the skill Melee DEX +1.

You may recharge a card to add 1d4 to a check by a character at your location, including yourself.

When you would recharge a card, you may shuffle it into your deck instead.

Cards:

WPN 2

SPL 3

AMR -

ITM 2

ALY 4

BLS 4

Favored = Your choice

Meresiel the Rogue

Skills

STR d6

DEX d12

CON d6

INT d6

WIS d4

CHA d8

Disable, Acrobatics, Stealth DEX + 2

Craft INT + 2

Powers

You may evade your encounter.

If you are the only character at your location, you may recharge a card to add 1d6 to your combat check.

For your check that invokes the Finesse trait, you gain the skill Melee DEX +1.

Cards:

WPN 3

SPL -

AMR 1

ITM 5

ALY 2

BLS 4

Favored = Item

One more for now

Damiel the Alchemist

Cards:

Weapon 1

Spell 2

Armor 1

Item 6

Ally 1

Blessing 4

Favored = Item

Skills:

Str d6

Dex d8

Ranged Dex +2

Con d6

Int d10

Craft Int +3

Wis d6

Cha d4

Powers:

When you would banish a card with the Alchemical trait, you may recharge it instead.

You may recharge a card to add 1d6 to a combat at your location, if the card is Alchemical, add an additional d6.

When you play or would banish a spell that does not have the Attack trait, you gain the skills Arcane and Divine equal to your Craft skill.

 

Before I leave for now, I would like to mention some basic cards in this AP.

Fireblade

2d4 Divine attack spell, 8 recharge

Phantasmal minion

Like merchant spell arcane 6 recharge,

Lots of potions

Noxious bomb

Attack item Alchemical Poison Ranged

Firearms in this set

Fox

Blessing of Sivanah, Milani, Cayden Cailean

I will also say some cards that are NOT in this set.

Augury

Greatsword

Greataxe

Holy Light

Longspear

Blessing of Lamashtu

Cards modified Ad number since ROTR

Blessing of Gozreh B

Blessing of Abadar B

Blessing of Norgorber 5

Edited February 11, 2017 by Urtar37

[Ethics Gradient]

With AD6 out, coming soon is Skull and Shackles...

 

Whoa there!  I like your enthusiasm.  

Most people here seem pretty pessimistic about what's next for the game.  You, however... you have vision!

 

It's been a while since I've done S&S, so I'll gladly take any tips you've got.

[nsr]

Are there any mechanics that are very different in the next set? For example I guess the Emerald Codex and Black Magga scenario required additional engine work since it's so different.

[MauGibrin]

Are there any mechanics that are very different in the next set? For example I guess the Emerald Codex and Black Magga scenario required additional engine work since it's so different.

 

There is a 'ship' mechanism, where players can move together in some scenarios since it's supposed they're aboard a ship. This ship can take damage and sometimes she must fight other ships (it's not too intuitive, I must say).

 

There is also a scenario (a somewhat annoying one) where the whole deck is split into two piles, and you can't run into the boss if it's not the last one (something like that).

 

But I would not be worried about Skulls & Shackles that soon, since Steam release, multiplayer, cross-platform accounts and improving Quest Mode are probably higher on the dev-team list...

 

Cheers!

 

Mauricio

[Ripe]

Are there any mechanics that are very different in the next set? For example I guess the Emerald Codex and Black Magga scenario required additional engine work since it's so different.

It's a pirate themed game so naturally there are ships, ship to ship combat and most importantly plunder.

 

What is plunder? Basically, at the start of scenario you roll for plunder and add one card of predetermined type (Weapon, Armor, Spell, Item, Ally, Your choice) under your ship. Each time you defeat a ship in combat you add another plunder card. And there are some scenarios whose reward is to add another plunder card of each type (there is one such scenario where current record for most plunder cards given as reward is in low 60's).

 

And there are plenty of scenarios with unique win conditions... the one MauGibrin mentioned where you have two locations but you can't close (permanently or temporary) either one of them while location deck have cards in it, there is one with single location and your hand size is equal to "bane pile" or your normal hand size, whichever is lower (so you start scenario with just 1 card in hand), there is one where you get to build a new location after you defeat a villain (and then you add new villain into that location), etc.

 

All in all, S&S is rather fun game but it's not to everyone's taste due to introduction of firearms, ships and pirate theme...

[Borissimo]

I appreciate the effort (and enthusiasm!) that went into the OP, but I feel obliged to note that character information for Skull & Shackles is available in much-easier-to-read PDF for free from Paizo:

 

http://paizo.com/products/btpy914x

 

But I would not be worried about Skulls & Shackles that soon, since Steam release, multiplayer, cross-platform accounts and improving Quest Mode are probably higher on the dev-team list...

 

I'd also add "fix horrifying bugs" to that list.

[Urtar37]

Yeah, this set is pretty fun, but it is also a LOT more harder than ROTR, with its scenarios being very different.

I will mention some more of the characters.

Lini the Druid

STR d4

DEX d6

CON d8

Fortitude CON +2

INT d6

WIS d10

Divine WIS +2

Survival WIS +2

CHA d8

 

Weapons 1

Spells 4

Armors 1

Items 1

Allies 4

Blessings 4

 

Handsize 5

When you would discard, bury, or recharge an ally with the Animal trait, you may shuffle it into your deck instead.

You may discard a card to use 1d12 for your Strength or Dexterity skill. If the check is against a bane with the Aquatic or Animal trait you may recharge it instead. 

 

Advice on Lini

Since this Lini loses her d4+ on every check, you are going to need those blessings.

Take a Pistol as your weapon, because with the pistol I reveal it to use my DEX + 1d6, and then Discard it to use 1d12, and then I roll to see if the pistol gets shuffled into my deck.

 

Blessings:

B/C

Gods

Cayden Cailean

Milani

Sivanah

Gozreh

Abadar

Achakek: Add 2 dice to a check to defeat a Henchmen or villain.

Gorum

Erastil

1

Besmara: Add 2 dice to a check that has the Swashbuckling trait.

2.

Hshura : Add 2 dice to a check on a ship.

3.

Kelizandri: Add 2 dice to a check that invokes the Aquatic trait.

4.

Blessing of Asmodeus: One of the two worst blessings in the game. Bury this card and the rest of your hand, to succeed at your non-combat check, then reset your hand.

5.

Norgorber

6. Geryon: Like Asmodeus, but combat checks.

[Ripe]

 

Advice on Lini

Since this Lini loses her d4+ on every check, you are going to need those blessings.

Take a Pistol as your weapon, because with the pistol I reveal it to use my DEX + 1d6, and then Discard it to use 1d12, and then I roll to see if the pistol gets shuffled into my deck.

Take note that 24 out of 45 monsters, 2 out of 5 villains and several Henchmen from "B" and "C" set have either Animal or (more often) Aquatic trait so Lini will be recharging cards for her combat checks quite often. AD1 improve your odds even more considering 12 out 13 monsters there have either trait. Overall, due to it's theme you can expect at least 50% of all the banes to have Aquatic trait...

 

Also note that you get to shuffle (and later on put on top of deck!) animals that you bury in addition to ones you discard! And later on with her roles... well, she get to be quite deadly.

 

Oh yes, when posting character descriptions you missed Alahazra's greatest power, one that will be used constantly:

"You may recharge a card that has the Divine trait to examine the top card of any location deck."

 

Also, Lem's get to use Melee: Dex+1, not Str+1 on Finesse checks and Damiel get to add Poison or Fire trait (in addition to d6) when discarding (not recharging) a card to help a combat check (including his own) at his location.

Edited January 14, 2017 by Ripe

[Urtar37]

As for new mechanics there are ships, plunder, Firearms, The Swashbuckling trait, Summoning and building locations.

Some of the scenarios are really different, like The Free Captain's Regetta: There are always 8 locations, an Enemy ship henchman is shuffled into each location, in addition to the normal henchman. Your goal is to bring the Ships to the top of the location deck when the blessings deck empties, and if you defeat one it returns to the top of the deck.

[Ripe]

Skulls & Shackles also led to a weirdest game I ever had when we actually won the scenario on FIRST EXPLORE!

 

Which led to a small discussion about "are we reading this correctly" but following a quick check on Paizo forum we found out that yes, we are reading it correctly and we really did just win scenario on a first explore... to make everything even more bizarre, we won simply by encountering a barrier, we didn't even need to defeat it!

[Urtar37]

Oloch the Warpriest

STR d12

Melee STR +1

DEX d4

CON d8

Forttiude CON+3

INT d4

WIS d8

Divine WIS+2

CHA d6

Powers

Display a weapon or blessing to add 1 to another character's check. At the end of your turn draw all displayed cards.

Kyra's heal with Armors and Blessings.

Cards

WPN 4

SPl 2

ARMR 3

ITM 1

ALY 0

BLSG 5

Favored: Armor

[Urtar37]

This set even has things like loot allies and blessings. It even has cards like cards in ROTR but better. For example there is the Master At Arms which is like the soldier but better, and is basic.

[Thyraxus]

Skulls & Shackles also led to a weirdest game I ever had when we actually won the scenario on FIRST EXPLORE!

 

Which led to a small discussion about "are we reading this correctly" but following a quick check on Paizo forum we found out that yes, we are reading it correctly and we really did just win scenario on a first explore... to make everything even more bizarre, we won simply by encountering a barrier, we didn't even need to defeat it!

I'm sorry, but you will have to elaborate on that. I've never had a chance to play S&S, so I have no idea how that is even possible.

[Ripe]

OK, so the scenario victory condition is to have a number of plunder cards stashed equal (or greater... don't have it before me now so I'm not sure) to the number of locations. So in 4 player game we needed 6 (or 7) plunder cards. You start the scenario (any scenario) with 1 plunder card.

 

We started playing and on first explore of the game we encountered one of the nastiest barriers available in the game: Goblin Keelhaulin (it's a promo card for S&S)

 

Now, on the first look, Goblin Keelhaulin is nothing special (Con/Fort 5 or Wis/Survival 6) but then you start to read it's powers... first of all, difficulty is increased by twice the adventure deck number (so in our case, being in AD2 we faced Con/Fort 9 or Wis/Survival 10). Second line is the nasty part: "If undefeated, draw a number of cards equal to your hand size, then bury that number of cards". Final line is what caused us to win the scenario: "After you act, stash a number of plunder cards equal to your hand size."

 

Considering character doing exploration had a hand size of 7, after resolving the barrier we passed the treshold required to win the game which lead to discussion about "Are we reading this correctly?" and "Did we really just won the scenario?"

 

As it turned out, yes, we did just won a scenario simply by facing a barrier.

Edited February 13, 2017 by Ripe

[Thyraxus]

Thanks for the explanation

[Funnyfrog]

OK, so the scenario victory condition is to have a number of plunder cards stashed equal (or greater... don't have it before me now so I'm not sure) to the number of locations. So in 4 player game we needed 6 (or 7) plunder cards. You start the scenario (any scenario) with 1 plunder card.

 

We started playing and on first explore of the game we encountered one of the nastiest barriers available in the game: Goblin Keelhaulin (it's a promo card for S&S)

 

Now, on the first look, Goblin Keelhaulin is nothing special (Con/Fort 5 or Wis/Survival 6) but then you start to read it's powers... first of all, difficulty is increased by twice the adventure deck number (so in our case, being in AD2 we faced Con/Fort 9 or Wis/Survival 10). Second line is the nasty part: "If undefeated, draw a number of cards equal to your hand size, then bury that number of cards". Final line is what caused us to win the scenario: "After you act, stash a number of plunder cards equal to your hand size."

 

Considering character doing exploration had a hand size of 7, after resolving the barrier we passed the treshold required to win the game which lead to discussion about "Are we reading this correctly?" and "Did we really just won the scenario?"

 

As it turned out, yes, we did just won a scenario simply by facing a barrier.

Happened in my play group too.

[Edannan]

^{Yeah, later on in Wrath of the Righteous, you get some silly stuff with Alain and the Lancer Role. I want to say I hit... 12 or so explores on my first turn of the scenario, closing one location in the process.}

[Ripe]

^{Yeah, later on in Wrath of the Righteous, you get some silly stuff with Alain and the Lancer Role. I want to say I hit... 12 or so explores on my first turn of the scenario, closing one location in the process.}

I don't think that it can get crazier than having Ranzak + Damien combo... we actually managed to close two locations in a single turn with Ranzak thanks to Potion of Heroism + Potion of Flying combo.

Edited February 14, 2017 by Ripe

[chaosticket]

Has nobody asked questions about how new Adventure Paths/Base Sets will work in the phone game?

 

I am concerned that players will have to start over with either 1 a new group of basic characters from the current set, losing progress, 2 required to purchase and use only characters from the new sets.  If that is the case then its really a waste to keep playing if every new set means you have to effectively start over to play it. Cross-compatibility allowing existing characters to move between sets would be very important.

 

Also I do want to see want to see the new(ish) characters, but Idont  know if I want to see multiple versions of the same character ESPECIALLY if as a player I have to keep gathering Gold or pay cash to unlock them at full price and the individual adventures.

 

It took me months to unlock the characters and adventures to get where I am now and I am still nowhere near unlocking 100% of the current content. A new game expansion would be painful.

I think some reforms should be taken to reduce the cost of adventures, characters, and treasures well before any new Adventure Paths/Base sets come out. If there are multiple character versions then please give all versions when purchasing one. You cant use multiple versions of the same character anyways.

 

To the game developers, take this into considering beforehand. I dont want start over, so Mercy Please!

Edited February 17, 2017 by chaosticket

[Ethics Gradient]

I am concerned that players will have to start over with a new group of basic characters with no ability to crossover between them. If that is the case then its really a waste to keep playing if every new set means you have to effectively start over to play it.

 

I think that's exactly how it would work, should we get a new adventure deck.  It would be really hard to rebalance early scenarios if you're showing up to Skull & Shackles with a tooled-up party from RotR.

 

I'm really not sure what the alternative would be.  People have considered such ideas in the tabletop version of the Pathfinder ACG, and the consensus is that there's really no way to make it work to carry over leveled characters from one set to the next.

 

Probably the best you could hope for is for Obsidian to create some AD7+ content for RotR.

[chaosticket]

That being said the Skulls and Shackles adventure set can be quite confusing. Ive been playing it in real life for months now and there are plenty of rules that may be too complicated. The set characters are specialized to deal with the new details of Pirates, Swashbuckling, and Ships which would be useless outside SKulls and Shackles.

 

I like new classes, but there would need to be ways to get all of them cheaply especially if theyre coming all at once. More character slots are necessary to accommodate them. There are 11 characters so far and 24 slots. 8 new classes and 4 new alternate characters would require 16-24 new slots.

 

I have 3 Suggestions:

1 Cheaper characters(or free alternate characters), 

2 More Character Slots,  and this would be a good time to have

3 some sorting options of characters(by class, name, number of adventure/scenarios completed, manually).

Edited February 17, 2017 by chaosticket

[chaosticket]

 

I am concerned that players will have to start over with a new group of basic characters with no ability to crossover between them. If that is the case then its really a waste to keep playing if every new set means you have to effectively start over to play it.

 

I think that's exactly how it would work, should we get a new adventure deck.  It would be really hard to rebalance early scenarios if you're showing up to Skull & Shackles with a tooled-up party from RotR.

 

I'm really not sure what the alternative would be.  People have considered such ideas in the tabletop version of the Pathfinder ACG, and the consensus is that there's really no way to make it work to carry over leveled characters from one set to the next.

 

Probably the best you could hope for is for Obsidian to create some AD7+ content for RotR.

 

It would and would not be a problem to carryover existing characters. A major benefit to have new Base Sets would be to have more Skill, Power, and Card feat upgrades. That would allow you to get closer to actually reaching a character's limits. That being said people could CHOOSE to make new basic characters. Just dont force people to reset.

 

Its really balancing things for both hardcore and casual players. If you make the game too hard youll drive away people that could be paying.

Edited February 17, 2017 by chaosticket