Blackpowder Pirates Bringing guns to the high seas. DESIGN
David Adams ART
Drifting Onto a Rocky Coast in a Storm, Willem van de Velde the Cover: A Mediterranean Brigantine Drifting Younger PD-1996
Pirate: Enmanuel "Lema" Martinez
DUNGEONS & DRAGONS, D&D, Wizards of the Coast, Forgotten Re alms, the dragon ampersand, and all other Wizards of the Coast product names, and their respective logos are trademarks of Wizards of the Coast in the USA and other countries. c ountries. This work contains material that is copyright Wizards of the Coast and/or other authors. Such material is used with permission under the Community Content Agreement for Dungeon Masters Guild.
voyage out into open waters is as likely to be perilous as it is beautiful. There are strange and terrible dangers lurking in the deeps, and the waters of Faerûn are no exception. It takes a brave, or perhaps more likely reckless, spirit to decide to set sail and venture over the known horizon. The denizens of Toril are no strangers to traveling by ship. The Sword Coast is teeming with merchant vessels, and with those vessels looking to make quick money by stealing what’s on the merchant vessels. From the Trackless Sea to the Sea of Fallen Stars and every body of water across Faerûn, sailors and pirates abound. Recently, rumors from merchant ships that have traveled near the southern reaches of the Trackless Sea claim that Lantanese pirates are using a fearsome new technology. It is said these pirates bear armaments that belch smoke and fire, injuring and quickly killing men from a distance. Lantan is no stranger to amazing new artifice, but as of yet these pirates have not been spotted in northern waters.
QUICK B BUILD This tome gives you a variety of simple tools to quickly turn your character into one of the brave souls willing to risk life and limb on the high seas in search of plunder. Use the Quick Build suggestions for your class, but consider conside r the pirate variant sailor background background (or simply the sailor background) as the point to kick start building your your character.
MARTIAL ARCHETYPE Men and women experienced with a blade are always a welcome addition to any crew. Any fighter with the Sailor background will be more than able to hold their own on such an expedition. The archetype presented here, the Buccaneer, represents a fighter who learned to fight amidships, using the sway of the deck a nd the punch of a brace of pistols to turn the tide of battle in their favor.
AUTHOR’S NOTE Firearms feature prominently in most of the new class options presented here because of their prominence in a great many cinematic depictions of pirates. They lend a distinctive flair to maritime adventures that helps establish a unique tone. You’ll need the for the complete rules on firearms, Gunslinger PDF for otherwise you can utilize one of the alternative options found within to liberate these pirates from a reliance upon their guns.
BUCCANEER The archetypal Buccaneer is at home on any ship. Buccaneers remain chillingly calm in the face of danger and relish any and every opportunity to show off their considerable skill. Those that seek to emulate this archetype cultivate a flashy style of fighting that sees them taking many risks, and learning to reap the rewards of pushing themselves to their limits.
COMBAT SUPERIORITY When you choose this archetype at 3 rd level, you learn maneuvers that are fueled by special dice called superiority dice. Maneuvers. You learn one maneuver of your choice from a subset of the maneuvers presented in the “Maneuvers” section of the Battle Master martial archetype in the fighter section of the Player’s Handbook. Many maneuvers enhance an attack in some way. You can use only one maneuver per attack. You learn one additional maneuver of your choice at 7 th, 10th, and 15th level. Each time you learn new maneuvers, you can also replace one maneuver you know with a different one. When you learn a maneuver, you may choose from the following options: Disarming options: Disarming Attack, Attack, Evasive Footwork, Feinting Feinting Attack, Menacing Menacing Attack, Parry, Pushing Pushing Attack, and Trip and Trip Attack. Superiority Dice. You have four superiority dice, which are d8s. A superiority die is expended when you use it. You regain all of your expended superiority dice when you finish a short or long reset. You gain another superiority die at 7 th level and one more at 15 th level.
Using Superiority Dice. In addition to fueling your maneuvers, you can expend superiority dice to gain one of the following benefits: When you make a weapon attack against a creature, you can expend one superiority die to make an attack with a firearm you are holding against any creature you can see within range of your firearm. When you make an attack with a firearm, you can expend one superiority die to add it to the damage you deal with the attack. Saving Throws. Some of your maneuvers require your target to make a saving throw to resist the maneuver’s effects. The saving throw DC is calculated as follows:
pr oficiency Maneuver save DC = 8 + your proficiency bonus + your Strength or Dexterity modifier (your choice)
OLD SALT When you reach 7 th level, your time aboard ocean-faring vessels has turned you into one of the finest sailors to board a vessel in living memory. You are counted as two members of any ship’s crew and are able to fulfill all the required duties without unduly exhausting yourself, and you are able to push the efforts of other crew members to further f urther heights. The effective crew of any ship you sail on is increased by 50% and you can use your downtime to increase the loyalty score of the crew by 1d4. Additionally, you are never at risk of losing your sea legs due to prolonged activity on dry land.
IMPROVED COMBAT SUPERIORITY At 10th level, your superiority dice turn into d10s. At 18 th level, they turn into d12s.
FIGHTING STYLE
ECKLESS DARING R ECKLESS
Heavy armor fashioned of metal might provide excellent protection to those fighters that engage in combat upon land, but for the Buccaneer such armor is a liability. The extra weight makes swimming difficult and risks drowning. Salty spray accelerates the rust and deterioration of such armor as well. The Mariner fighting style, first shown in the Unearthed Arcana series from Wizards of the Coast, is recommended for those characters planning to emulate the Buccaneer martial archetype and for any campaigns that are planned to spend much of their time aboard ships on the open seas.
Starting at 15 th level, you can spur yourself to greater action when you throw yourself recklessly into daring situations. On your turn, you can take one a dditional action on top of your regular action and a possible bonus action. You can only use this action to Dash or to perform any action that requires an athletics or acrobatics check or that would provoke an opportunity attack. Until the start of your next turn, attacks against you have advantage. Once you use this feature, you must f inish a short or long rest before using it again.
MARINER As long as you are not wearing heavy armor or using a shield, you have a swimming speed and a climbing speed equal to your normal speed, and you gain a +1 bonus to AC.
SHOOT FIRST At 3rd level, you gain proficiency with firearms. When you roll initiative you can draw one firearm in your possession. If you are not surprised, you can also make one attack with that firearm against any creature that you can see and whose initiative result is lower than your own.
GUNSLINGER PERSONAS Firearms are a favored tool of pirates. They’re lethal, intimidating, and conveniently c onveniently transportable. Those pirates that master them, do so using the gunslingers art and cultivate a reputation as ruthless sea dogs.
DREAD PIRATE Noisy spectacle and boisterous boisterous showmanship showmanship are the hallmark of your reputation. You use your
firearms as tools of intimidation against your foes, and a means to inspire awe in those that you are allied with. You desire command of your own vessel and crew, inspiring anyone of like mind to revel with you in your ostentatious behavior. You are a consummate consummate adventurer, enjoying the company of others as bold as yourself and pushing more out of the dregs that try to keep up with your company.
COMBAT SUPERIORITY rd
At 3 level, you gain a set of abilities that are fueled by special dice called superiority dice. Superiority Dice. You have four superiority dice, which are d8s. A superiority die is expended when you use it. You regain all of your expended superiority dice when you finish a short or long reset. You gain another superiority die at 7 th level and one more at 15 th level. Using Superiority Dice. You can expend superiority dice to gain a number of different benefits: When you make a weapon attack against a creature, you can expend one superiority die to make an attack with a firearm you are holding against any creature you can see within range of your firearm. You can forgo one of your actions on your turn and expend a superiority dice to allow an ally that you can see to either make a firearm attack against a target of your choice, or to perform an action that requires requires a skill or ability check. This ally can add your superiority die to the firearm damage or check result.
DETERMINED SWORDSMAN Starting at 3 rd level when you select this persona, you gain proficiency with your choice of the cutlass (use the rules for the scimitar) or rapier. When you have advantage against the target of an attack you make with your chosen weapon, you can expend a use of your Grit to add your firearm bonus damage to the attack. EPUTATION VICIOUS R EPUTATION
Beginning at 10 th level, your reputation as a scourge upon the sea has reached the point where those that see you coming are apt to turn and run. When you use your Menace ability, the creatures you target are frightened until the end of their next turn and until they rest they have disadvantage on any attack made against you if you have more than half of your hit points remaining.
WALK THE PLANK Upon reaching 15 th level, you use your firearm to force your foes to swim with the sharks. You can use your Menace ability to force one target to spend their turn moving up to their speed towards the edge of a ship’s deck. They have advantage on the save against this effect, but if they have enough movement to reach the edge of the deck, or a gangplank or similar part of the ship overlooking the water, they must jump overboard if they fail the saving throw against this ability.
ULE: SEA LEGS OPTIONAL R ULE: The constant rocking of a ship on the open water can be disorienting for those unaccustomed to it, and presents constant difficulty for balance and walking. Aboard such a vessel, a character has disadvantage on acrobatics checks. During combat, a character that moves more than 5 feet has disadvantage on their attack rolls during their turn. After two consecutive days aboard a ship, most characters gain their ‘sea legs’ and no longer suffer these penalties (DMs may decide that acclimation takes longer, if it is possible at all.) Characters lose their sea legs if they spend more than a month off a ship, but gain them again after only an hour aboard a ship. After more than three months as a landlubber, a character must spend two days aboard a ship before claiming their sea legs again.
OGUISH ARCHETYPE R OGUISH It takes loose morals and a sharp mind to make a sustained living as a pirate, and rogues have little problem developing considerable talent in either area. Freebooters are rogues r ogues that ply their larcenous trade under the billowing sails of a ship on the open waters.
FREEBOOTER You hone your skills operating as a pirate-forhire aboard and ship that will have you. With finesse and aplomb, you attack other vessels in order to sell their cargo to the first merchant that will pay you for it at your next port of call. A trusty sidearm and a knack for f or cheating define the fighting style that keeps you alive and makes you a valuable asset to the rest of your crew.
SCOUNDREL’S TACTICS Starting at 3 rd level, you learn to employ a number of dirty tricks while fighting. When you hit a creature with a melee attack that has advantage, you can choose to knock the target prone or cause it to be blinded blinded or deafened until the end of its next turn. Once you have used this ability you cannot use it again until you complete a rest.
SHOOT FIRST At 3rd level, you gain proficiency with firearms. When you roll initiative you can draw one firearm in your possession. If you are not surprised, you can also make one attack with that firearm against any creature that you can see and whose initiative result is lower than your own.
PRESS THE ADVANTAGE At 9th level, your dirty f ighting style allows you to capitalize more fully on the openings in your targets’ defenses. When you would normally inflict sneak attack damage with a melee attack, you can instead deal no extra damage but leave
the target of your attack stunned until the end of that creature’s next turn. This still counts as a use of your sneak attack ability.
UNFLINCHING At 13th level, you become immune to fear and fear effects and cannot be surprised.
BLOOD IN THE WATER At 17th level, your combat bloodlust is spurred by the sight of a wounded enemy. When you make an attack against a creature that has fewer than half of its total hit points remaining, you can deal additional damage to the target e qual to your sneak attack damage. This does not count against your limit of dealing sneak attack damage once per turn.
FIREARM ALTERNATIVES While the explosive bluster of firearms makes a solid contribution to the tone of the class options presented here, they might not be the best fit for every campaign. DMs looking for alternatives to the firearm-centric options here need look no further.
ONE STEP AHEAD Replaces Shoot First When you roll initiative, you can move up to your speed before combat beings. Until the end of your first turn in combat you have advantage on attacks against any creature that has not yet acted.
PIRATE’S PET Replaces Shoot First You gain the loyal companionship of a noisy parrot (use the stats for the owl). This companion acts independently in combat, rolling its own initiative and acting on its own turn, but still obeying your commands. It can attack, or use its action to distract an enemy, giving you advantage on attacks a gainst that target. If your companion dies, it takes 1d4 days to find and groom a suitable replacement.
SEA SHANTIES Replaces Shoot First As a bonus action on your turn you can begin singing a nautical song. Any non-hostile creature that can hear you gains advantage on their next skill ability check as long as you maintain concentration on this ability.
manipulating your compass to draw you into the web of its greater schemes.
WARLOCK OPTIONS Sailors tell tales of voices carried on the wrongs of storms or crashing waves. Many landlubbers dismiss such talk as superstitious nonsense, nonsense, but you know better. There are mighty powers that lurk or slumber beneath the deep waters. When you first heard the call you took to the sea, saying far and wide wherever the whispers lead. Eventually you found a place of power where your future master gathered its followers and you forged pact to the thing beneath the waves. The new options below allow you to create a warlock with strong ties to the sea.
PACT BOON Any of the warlock pacts presented in the Player’s Handbook are suitable to high-seas adventures, but the new Pact Boon presented here is a distinctly nautical option for warlocks interested in exploring the mysteries s urrounding exploration upon the high seas.
PACT OF THE COMPASS Your patron has allowed you to hold the Black Compass, an instrument of guidance and tool for divining your master’s will. The compass does not point towards magnetic north as other compasses do, instead it bends in the direction that your patron desires. While you possess the compass, you can make navigation checks on the open water as though you were trained and you do not risk getting lost if you lose sight of land. Additionally, Additionally, you can whisper the name of one person known to you and the needle of the compass will point in their direction for the next 24 hours. You must finish a long rest before using this ability again. At 11th level, you can cast find cast find the path using path using the compass as the required divinatory tool once per day without expending expending a spell slot. You must must finish a long rest before you are able to cast this spell again. At the discretion of your DM, there is always the possibility that your patron is
OTHERWORDLY PATRONS Beings of power capable of fueling f ueling the powers of warlocks might be rare, but there are still many—including those that are imprisoned or slumber beneath the waves, biding their time until a worthy individual comes along and is crazy, or gullible, enough to work towards their eventual freedom.
THE THING BENEATH THE WAVES You have forged a pact with some inscrutable creature that dwells in the eternally lightless depths far beneath the surface of some notable body of water. This creature’s creature’s ambitions are often inscrutable, due to the inhospitable
THING BENEATH THE WAVES SPELLS Spell Level st
1 2d 3d 4h 5h
Spells
fog cloud, thunderwave gust of wind, warding wind* call lightning, tidal wave* control water, watery sphere* control winds*, maelstrom*
* these spells appear in the Elemental Evil Player’s Companion.
environs in which they dwell. Many look to see kingdoms brought low beneath the waves, or for the world to be consumed in unending floods. Others have goals more nuanced and all t he more dreadful. Entities of this type include Zoth-Ommog and the Abolethic Sovereignty. Some exceptionally powerful sea creatures like like the kraken or leviathan may also be able to grant such power through pacts with mortals.
EXPANDED SPELL LIST The Thing Beneath the Waves lets you choose from an expanded list of spells when you learn a warlock spell. The following spells are added to the warlock spell list for you.
BREATH OF THE DEEPS Starting at 1 st level, you are able to breathe water as easily as air. Additionally, Additionally, you gain a swim speed equal to twice your speed.
SIREN’S SONG th
Beginning at 6 level, your patron teaches you the irresistible call of the sea. As an action you cause one creature you can see within 60 feet of you to make a Wisdom saving throw against your warlock spell DC. On a failure, the creature is charmed by you and must spend its next turn moving closer to you without regard for its safety. This effect ends after a number of rounds equal to your Charisma modifier, or if the target takes damage. You must complete a long rest before using this ability ability again.
STORM SHIELD Starting at 10 th level, you are protected by your patron’s tempestuous magic. magic. You have resistance to lightning and thunder damage. Additionally, when you are damaged by a creature within 60 feet of you, you can expend a spell slot as a r eaction to deal 5d6 lightning damage to the triggering creature. You must finish a short or long rest before using this feature again.
COMMAND THE GALE At 14th level, you are granted the power to summon storms. You are able to cast the spell control weather once once without expending a spell slot, but you cannot change the temperature or decrease the intensity of precipitation or wind. You must complete a long rest before casting the spell again.
NEW I NVOCATIONS The following new invocations complement the nautical options presented here.
BAELFUL GEAS Prerequisite: 12th level, Pact of the Compass feature You can cast the spell geas spell geas once once using a warlock spell slot against a creature you have successful tracked with your black compass. You can’t do so again until you complete a long rest.
CRAWLING EYE Prerequisite: 7 th level One of your eyes is permanently disfigured, allowing you to cast the spell arcane eye once eye once using a warlock spell slot. It is your own eye, not a magical sensor, that travels out as part of this spell. You can’t cast this spell again until you complete a long rest.
