I’m trying to create a character who is a self taught pirate wizard but I’m not sure which race makes the most sense. I need them to be violent enough that having a member shun weapons is weird and having him learn some cantrips and a first level spell makes him useful enough to keep around.
Typical Humanoids are abundant with people who don't have magic. Adventurers and Fey-based/descended and such have lots of magic. The average Humanoid doesn't. A wizard on a pirate crew of mundanes would be invaluable. One who is first and foremost a pirate and not some Devil's plaything or child prodigy or former posh student would be welcomed by the crew and feared by the enemies/prey.
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Human. Male. Possibly. Don't be a divider. My characters' backgrounds are written like instruction manuals rather than stories. My opinion and preferences don't mean you're wrong. I am 99.7603% convinced that the digital dice are messing with me. I roll high when nobody's looking and low when anyone else can see.🎲 “It's a bit early to be thinking about an epitaph. No?” will be my epitaph.
A Pirate NPC in my camapign is Captain Squall aka "The Dragon Tortle". He's a Tortle and a Sorcerer but you could reflavour it to a PC wizard, the basic background would be: He worked for a merchant company but found out they were a front for pirates and was promptly framed by them and sent to prison, on release he learned some magic and raised a crew to take down his former employers. He doesnt burn ships or kill the crew of ships he attacks unless he has too and he uses the Dragons Breath spell but I use it as a Steam Breath attack akin to the Dragon Turtles breath weapon so he doesn't burn ship sails etc.
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I’m trying to create a character who is a self taught pirate wizard but I’m not sure which race makes the most sense. I need them to be violent enough that having a member shun weapons is weird and having him learn some cantrips and a first level spell makes him useful enough to keep around.
To be honest, when it comes to a relatively low magic population, anyone who can cast spells is very useful to the community. Even in a population of people in which Magic is relatively common, like High Elves for instance, those with more magic are simply more useful in that regard. To a pirate crew, someone who could cast fire bolt alone would be useful to have around to burn the sales of a prey ship. Add stuff like control flames to it and Yahtzee, but even something as simple as prestidigitation would be super useful. Add something like fog cloud, sleep, or cause fear to that and that’s a pirate crew’s MVP (Most Valuable Pirate). After all, just look at the pirate deck wizard, and that guy’s got a much less useful list of spells for the most part. So any magic is good magic, all you really need then is a “violent” race/species to meet your criteria. Off the top of my head, here are some very likely candidates:
Human- Humans are pretty effing violent. The one thing we truly excel at is killing stuff, be it each other, other animals, plants, fungi, and even viruses and bacteria, we’ve got ways to kill just about everything. And the stuff we can’t kill we’re workin’ on next.
Hobgoblin (legacy)- According to FR lore, hobgoblins are the poster children for a martial society. And with them getting light armor proficiency and proficiency with two martial weapons, that makes them even more useful in a fight. Add to that some advantageous ASIs and you’re golden.
Dwarf- Renowned as “skilled warriors” with a lust for gold, that spells pirate potential to me. And the +2 Con is a great pickup for a spellcaster.
IamSposta's comment on dwarves is a good idea. It breaks the usual feel of dwarves, but they are short, which means they take up less room on a ship, strong and hardworking, and they love gold to an extreme extent. Plus they have great beards so every single one of them can have a beard name like, Blackbeard, Applebeard, Saltbeard, Bloodbeard, Bonebeard, Hairbeard, etc.
Pirate orcs might be interesting.
Hobgoblins are a very martial race. They could have a few goblins as underlings, a bugbear or to for a stealthy heavy hitter, but they would be low on magic.
Maybe your crew was an all reptile ship with a name like, "Scaly Death" or something. They would have lizardfolk, kobolds, dragonborn, tortles, and maybe a few yuan-ti.
Teiflings are magical but they are often used as pirates.
Aarokocra. They have a boat, but when they attack they fly out to harm their enemies from the skies. They use the boat as a resting place, that way they can stay at sea longer, but they are able to fly out in a huge flock, attack the enemies, and then return to an undamaged boat.
How about a half Drow? Plenty violent, innate spells but you may want to be a sorceror rather than a Wizard due to he +2 to Charisma of course then you don’t have to worry about that dang spellbook and sea water either. try rolling up a few of the suggestions and see what you like best.
Aarokocra. They have a boat, but when they attack they fly out to harm their enemies from the skies. They use the boat as a resting place, that way they can stay at sea longer, but they are able to fly out in a huge flock, attack the enemies, and then return to an undamaged boat.
And you can flavor your character as being a pirate parrot.
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Find your own truth, choose your enemies carefully, and never deal with a dragon.
"Canon" is what's factual to D&D lore. "Cannon" is what you're going to be shot with if you keep getting the word wrong.
I’m trying to create a character who is a self taught pirate wizard but I’m not sure which race makes the most sense. I need them to be violent enough that having a member shun weapons is weird and having him learn some cantrips and a first level spell makes him useful enough to keep around.
Having a bit of trouble understanding this part of the post, not sure what you mean here? You want a race that is so known for their violence that seeing one without weapons is weird? But then if they are a wizard then it is not particularly unusual regardless of race or how violent they are to see them without martial weapons beyond a quarterstaff and/or dagger? Are you looking for a race that is known for being violent as well as it being rare to see one as a wizard? Orc or Bugbear would probably be the best fit, not generally known for their intelligence and thus not expected to be wizards and both races are known to be somewhat violent, and it makes sense that a member of such a race would be more welcome among a pirate band or band of misfits than in a more civilized society.
However if you want a race that makes more sense to be a wizard then Drow would be a good choice, the Drow are particularly well known for their cruelty and have a good number of capable spellcasters among them, if one were to venture out of the Underdark for whatever reason then I would think a pirate crew would be one of the more fitting places to find one, besides the backstory kind of writes itself.
Drow dislike sunlight. Pirates definitely work in the sun a lot. Maybe it would be interesting having a crew of pirate drow who work all night and sleep during the day, leaving just a few drow as the nightwatch. This might be a cool idea, but it is unrealistic. Sailors had to work night and day, they often didn't have a choice of when they would be awake. A drow would be incredibly uncomfortable as a sailor because of how often they would be out in the sun. Maybe one or two drow could work on a crew with other sailors and they could cover a lot of the night work, but they would probably not be treated well by the other crew. I doubt they would be trusted. Sailors are a superstitious bunch and having strange, magical elven creatures from deep within the earth run the ship by night and never helping the rest of the crew during the day would not be a good thing in a sailor's mind. Pirates especially had to be ready to set sail with speed at any time, choosing when to fight and when to flee. When being chased down by the royal navy, all hands would be called on deck. Having drow sailors who mechanically do poor jobs in any task done in the sunlight would not be good.
However, drow sailor's would work great in a subterranean sea. Imagine an ocean underground, maybe it is filled with a waterfall coming from the ceiling which is actually water powering from the ocean. Instead of navigating by the stars, they navigate from the Waterfall and by using stalactites. Drow would make sense as pirates, if the sun didn't exist, and there is no sun underground.
Well honestly I am pretty sure the Drow will find it hard to find any welcoming places on the surface that they can escape the sun whether at sea or on land, obviously any Drow that takes refuge on the surface is going to be an outlier.
Of course I get what you are saying in that it is harder to escape the sun at sea than on land but it is not like a Drow character has many options regarding groups that would accept them, just give the character a slick pair of shades that takes away the sunlight sensitivity trait, also not sure if you have heard of the eyepatch trick that they tested on Mythbusters.
I’m trying to create a character who is a self taught pirate wizard but I’m not sure which race makes the most sense. I need them to be violent enough that having a member shun weapons is weird and having him learn some cantrips and a first level spell makes him useful enough to keep around.
Having a bit of trouble understanding this part of the post, not sure what you mean here? You want a race that is so known for their violence that seeing one without weapons is weird? But then if they are a wizard then it is not particularly unusual regardless of race or how violent they are to see them without martial weapons beyond a quarterstaff and/or dagger? Are you looking for a race that is known for being violent as well as it being rare to see one as a wizard? Orc or Bugbear would probably be the best fit, not generally known for their intelligence and thus not expected to be wizards and both races are known to be somewhat violent, and it makes sense that a member of such a race would be more welcome among a pirate band or band of misfits than in a more civilized society.
However if you want a race that makes more sense to be a wizard then Drow would be a good choice, the Drow are particularly well known for their cruelty and have a good number of capable spellcasters among them, if one were to venture out of the Underdark for whatever reason then I would think a pirate crew would be one of the more fitting places to find one, besides the backstory kind of writes itself.
Basically my aim is that the character is the son of the captain and so got the choice of what loot to take from an early age. This coupled with his natural intelligence and dislike of physical violence meant that he went for any books that came up and taught himself enough magic to be a functional crew member. He’s using a mixture of quick thinking and magic to compensate for a lack of skills with weapons or traditional violence. Thanks everyone, all of your responses have been really helpful.
If you want him learning from books then the half Drow sorceror I suggested is out but a half Drow Wizard or warlock would not be. Hove the father be a Drow pirate captain that was cold and cruel ( a real stretch I know) and the mother be a (now dead) slave girl then give the character the pirate or sailor backgrounds and build from there. A warlock might be interesting for the character as it has some magic but not huge amounts.
I would personally be a Yuan-Ti abomination because they know suggestion, poison spray, and animal friendship (situational). Also they get a plus one to intelligence, which is your spellcasting stat.
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DM: “Who’s your patron?”
Warlock: “Ummm”
DM: “Hurry Up”
Warlock: “yOu”
*All other players look at each other with utter fear*
__________________________________________________________________________________ Check out my homebrew: My Homebrew
You could use a halfling or Golbin (I don't remember if they're playable). They're small, can learn magic, and would be a good choice for a tiny aggressive pirate.
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I’m trying to create a character who is a self taught pirate wizard but I’m not sure which race makes the most sense. I need them to be violent enough that having a member shun weapons is weird and having him learn some cantrips and a first level spell makes him useful enough to keep around.
Typical Humanoids are abundant with people who don't have magic. Adventurers and Fey-based/descended and such have lots of magic. The average Humanoid doesn't. A wizard on a pirate crew of mundanes would be invaluable. One who is first and foremost a pirate and not some Devil's plaything or child prodigy or former posh student would be welcomed by the crew and feared by the enemies/prey.
Human. Male. Possibly. Don't be a divider.
My characters' backgrounds are written like instruction manuals rather than stories. My opinion and preferences don't mean you're wrong.
I am 99.7603% convinced that the digital dice are messing with me. I roll high when nobody's looking and low when anyone else can see.🎲
“It's a bit early to be thinking about an epitaph. No?” will be my epitaph.
I'll pop this out for you....
A Pirate NPC in my camapign is Captain Squall aka "The Dragon Tortle". He's a Tortle and a Sorcerer but you could reflavour it to a PC wizard, the basic background would be: He worked for a merchant company but found out they were a front for pirates and was promptly framed by them and sent to prison, on release he learned some magic and raised a crew to take down his former employers. He doesnt burn ships or kill the crew of ships he attacks unless he has too and he uses the Dragons Breath spell but I use it as a Steam Breath attack akin to the Dragon Turtles breath weapon so he doesn't burn ship sails etc.
To be honest, when it comes to a relatively low magic population, anyone who can cast spells is very useful to the community. Even in a population of people in which Magic is relatively common, like High Elves for instance, those with more magic are simply more useful in that regard. To a pirate crew, someone who could cast fire bolt alone would be useful to have around to burn the sales of a prey ship. Add stuff like control flames to it and Yahtzee, but even something as simple as prestidigitation would be super useful. Add something like fog cloud, sleep, or cause fear to that and that’s a pirate crew’s MVP (Most Valuable Pirate). After all, just look at the pirate deck wizard, and that guy’s got a much less useful list of spells for the most part. So any magic is good magic, all you really need then is a “violent” race/species to meet your criteria. Off the top of my head, here are some very likely candidates:
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Humas always work.
IamSposta's comment on dwarves is a good idea. It breaks the usual feel of dwarves, but they are short, which means they take up less room on a ship, strong and hardworking, and they love gold to an extreme extent. Plus they have great beards so every single one of them can have a beard name like, Blackbeard, Applebeard, Saltbeard, Bloodbeard, Bonebeard, Hairbeard, etc.
Pirate orcs might be interesting.
Hobgoblins are a very martial race. They could have a few goblins as underlings, a bugbear or to for a stealthy heavy hitter, but they would be low on magic.
Maybe your crew was an all reptile ship with a name like, "Scaly Death" or something. They would have lizardfolk, kobolds, dragonborn, tortles, and maybe a few yuan-ti.
Teiflings are magical but they are often used as pirates.
Aarokocra. They have a boat, but when they attack they fly out to harm their enemies from the skies. They use the boat as a resting place, that way they can stay at sea longer, but they are able to fly out in a huge flock, attack the enemies, and then return to an undamaged boat.
How about a half Drow? Plenty violent, innate spells but you may want to be a sorceror rather than a Wizard due to he +2 to Charisma of course then you don’t have to worry about that dang spellbook and sea water either.
try rolling up a few of the suggestions and see what you like best.
Wisea$$ DM and Player since 1979.
And you can flavor your character as being a pirate parrot.
Find your own truth, choose your enemies carefully, and never deal with a dragon.
"Canon" is what's factual to D&D lore. "Cannon" is what you're going to be shot with if you keep getting the word wrong.
Having a bit of trouble understanding this part of the post, not sure what you mean here? You want a race that is so known for their violence that seeing one without weapons is weird? But then if they are a wizard then it is not particularly unusual regardless of race or how violent they are to see them without martial weapons beyond a quarterstaff and/or dagger? Are you looking for a race that is known for being violent as well as it being rare to see one as a wizard? Orc or Bugbear would probably be the best fit, not generally known for their intelligence and thus not expected to be wizards and both races are known to be somewhat violent, and it makes sense that a member of such a race would be more welcome among a pirate band or band of misfits than in a more civilized society.
However if you want a race that makes more sense to be a wizard then Drow would be a good choice, the Drow are particularly well known for their cruelty and have a good number of capable spellcasters among them, if one were to venture out of the Underdark for whatever reason then I would think a pirate crew would be one of the more fitting places to find one, besides the backstory kind of writes itself.
Drow dislike sunlight. Pirates definitely work in the sun a lot. Maybe it would be interesting having a crew of pirate drow who work all night and sleep during the day, leaving just a few drow as the nightwatch. This might be a cool idea, but it is unrealistic. Sailors had to work night and day, they often didn't have a choice of when they would be awake. A drow would be incredibly uncomfortable as a sailor because of how often they would be out in the sun. Maybe one or two drow could work on a crew with other sailors and they could cover a lot of the night work, but they would probably not be treated well by the other crew. I doubt they would be trusted. Sailors are a superstitious bunch and having strange, magical elven creatures from deep within the earth run the ship by night and never helping the rest of the crew during the day would not be a good thing in a sailor's mind. Pirates especially had to be ready to set sail with speed at any time, choosing when to fight and when to flee. When being chased down by the royal navy, all hands would be called on deck. Having drow sailors who mechanically do poor jobs in any task done in the sunlight would not be good.
However, drow sailor's would work great in a subterranean sea. Imagine an ocean underground, maybe it is filled with a waterfall coming from the ceiling which is actually water powering from the ocean. Instead of navigating by the stars, they navigate from the Waterfall and by using stalactites. Drow would make sense as pirates, if the sun didn't exist, and there is no sun underground.
Well honestly I am pretty sure the Drow will find it hard to find any welcoming places on the surface that they can escape the sun whether at sea or on land, obviously any Drow that takes refuge on the surface is going to be an outlier.
Of course I get what you are saying in that it is harder to escape the sun at sea than on land but it is not like a Drow character has many options regarding groups that would accept them, just give the character a slick pair of shades that takes away the sunlight sensitivity trait, also not sure if you have heard of the eyepatch trick that they tested on Mythbusters.
Basically my aim is that the character is the son of the captain and so got the choice of what loot to take from an early age. This coupled with his natural intelligence and dislike of physical violence meant that he went for any books that came up and taught himself enough magic to be a functional crew member. He’s using a mixture of quick thinking and magic to compensate for a lack of skills with weapons or traditional violence. Thanks everyone, all of your responses have been really helpful.
If you want him learning from books then the half Drow sorceror I suggested is out but a half Drow Wizard or warlock would not be. Hove the father be a Drow pirate captain that was cold and cruel ( a real stretch I know) and the mother be a (now dead) slave girl then give the character the pirate or sailor backgrounds and build from there. A warlock might be interesting for the character as it has some magic but not huge amounts.
Wisea$$ DM and Player since 1979.
maybe lizardfolk could be cool?
I would personally be a Yuan-Ti abomination because they know suggestion, poison spray, and animal friendship (situational). Also they get a plus one to intelligence, which is your spellcasting stat.
DM: “Who’s your patron?”
Warlock: “Ummm”
DM: “Hurry Up”
Warlock: “yOu”
*All other players look at each other with utter fear*
__________________________________________________________________________________
Check out my homebrew: My Homebrew
This was in March, pretty sure the poster would’ve already chosen by now.
Characters (Links!):
Faelin Nighthollow - 7th Sojourn
Sounds like a Human to me.
You could use a halfling or Golbin (I don't remember if they're playable). They're small, can learn magic, and would be a good choice for a tiny aggressive pirate.