Privateers are professional mercenary sailors. With their Letters of Marque authorizing them to engage in the otherwise illegal act of piracy, privateers undertake daring raids on the ships of their enemies, stealing valuable and precious resources. Just because their career choice involves plunder and murder doesn’t mean that Privateers are heartless cutthroats, indeed, persons from all walks of life become privateers.

Converting Your Character to a Privateer

The privateer is a class template suitable for use with the stalker and warlord classes. When converting a character to a privateer, the character loses or changes the following class features:

Stalker

• The stalker gives up the blending and improved blending class features.
• The stalker loses the ability to recover their maneuvers by spending a full-round action to center their ki.

Warlord

• The warlord gives up the warleader and improved warleader class features.
• The warlord no longer recovers maneuvers when executing a gambit.

Maneuvers

The disciplines available to a privateer are Golden Lion, Solar Wind, Steel Serpent, Tempest Gale, and Thrashing Dragon. If the privateer does not have these discipline’s associated skills as class skills, he gains them as class skills. He otherwise learns, readies, initiates maneuvers as a standard member of his base class.

This ability alters maneuvers.

Maneuvers Readied

Instead of his base class’ normal maneuver recovery, a privateer must spend a full-round action laughing intimidatingly. When he does so, he recovers a number of expended maneuvers equal to his privateer initiation modifier (minimum 2) and can make an Intimidate check to demoralize all opponents within 30 feet. This ability counts as the Dazzling Display feat for the purposes of meeting prerequisites and for effects or abilities that augment or alter the Dazzling Display feat. Alternatively, the privateer can recover a single maneuver as a standard action.

This ability alters maneuvers readied.

Barking Irons (Ex)

At 1st level, a privateer gains proficiency with firearms.

Sea Dog (Ex)

At 1st level, the privateer gains Knowledge (dungeoneering), Knowledge (geography), Knowledge (local), Profession (sailor), and Swim as class skills if they are not already class skills for the privateer. In addition, he gains a bonus on skill checks with these skills equal to 1/2 his class level.

Swash and Buckle (Ex)

At 2nd level, a privateer learns to use the signature fighting style of high seas corsairs, combining a blade with a number of other weapons. As long as the privateer is wearing a buckler or wielding a boarding axe, cutlass, rapier, or one- handed firearm in one hand, he reduces the penalties for fighting with two weapons by 1. He does not need to be wielding the same weapon in each hand to gain this benefit; a single one of the listed weapons is enough. At 12th level, he reduces the penalties for fighting with two weapons by an additional 1.

Jolly Roger (Ex)

At 5th level, a privateer gains a specialized flag which represents his ship and his crew. As long as the privateer and his crew are on a ship displaying his flag or otherwise able to see the flag (regardless of whether the flag is on the ship or not), they gain a +2 morale bonus on Intimidate, Profession (sailor), and Swim checks, a +2 morale bonus on saving throws against fear effects, and a +1 morale bonus on attack rolls. At 10th level and every five levels thereafter, these bonuses increase by +1.

Privateer Ploys (Ex)

As a privateer levels, he learns several tricks, tactics, maneuvers and dirty deeds that he uses in combat to aid his crew and strike fear into the hearts of his foes. Unless otherwise specified, each ploy can only be taken once.

A warlord privateer may choose to take a ploy in place of a warlord bonus feat or gambit. A stalker privateer may choose to take a ploy in place of a stalker art. This ability does not cause the privateer class template to be incompatible with other archetypes that alter the warlord’s bonus feats or gambit class features, or the stalker’s stalker arts class feature.

Daring Gambit: The privateer learns one warlord gambit (see the warlord class feature), using his privateer initiation modifier instead of his Charisma modifier for any relevant bonuses. In addition, whenever the privateer succeeds on a gambit, he and each other ally within 30 feet recover one expended maneuver. This ploy can be taken multiple times; each additional time it is taken, the privateer learns one new gambit.

Dazzling Gambit: Whenever the privateer succeeds on a gambit, he can make an Intimidate check to demoralize all opponents within 30 feet as a free action, even if it isn’t his turn.

Deadly Strike: The privateer gains the deadly strike class feature (see the stalker class feature) as a stalker of his level –4 (minimum 1d6 damage). The privateer uses his privateer initiation modifier instead of his Wisdom modifier to determine the duration of his deadly strikes. If the privateer already has the deadly strike class feature, this ploy instead increases the damage of his deadly strikes by 1d6.

Gun Training: The privateer gains Amatuer Gunslinger as a bonus feat, even if he does not meet the prerequisites. He uses his privateer initiation modifier instead of his Wisdom modifier to determine the maximum amount of grit points he can have. In addition, the privateer gains a grit feat of his choice as a bonus feat. He must meet the prerequisites for this feat as normal. If the privateer already has grit from another ability, he gains Extra Grit as a bonus feat instead of Amatuer Gunslinger, as normal (he can use his privateer initiation modifier instead of his Wisdom modifier if he so wishes).

Laugh It Off: Once per day when the privateer fails a Fortitude or Will save, he can reroll that saving throw as a free action, even if it isn’t his turn. He must take the result of the second roll, even if it is worse. At 10th level and again at 15th level, the privateer can use this ability one additional time per day.

Red Shirt, Brown Pants: Once per encounter when the privateer takes damage, he can grant his other allies within 60 feet gain a bonus on damage rolls equal to his privateer initiation modifier for 1d6 rounds as a free action, even if it isn’t his turn.

Salt in the Wound: The privateer gains Improved Dirty Trick and Greater Dirty Trick as bonus feats, even if he does not meet their prerequisites.

Sea Legs: The privateer gains a +1 bonus on saving throws against effects that would cause him to become sickened, nauseated, fatigued, or exhausted. At 5th level and every five levels thereafter, this bonus increases by +1.

Sea Combat: The privateer can treat ranged attacks with firearms against adjacent opponents as melee attacks in every way. He may initiate strikes and use feats and abilities that normally only apply to melee attacks (such as Power Attack) with such attacks, and uses his Strength modifier to determine his attack bonus instead of his Dexterity modifier. He adds his Strength modifier to damage rolls as normal for a melee weapon of the firearm’s handedness. The privateer may treat one-handed firearms as light weapons for the purpose of the Weapon Finesse feat, two weapon fighting feat and similar effects. He does not provoke attacks of opportunity when making attacks in this manner, and may not use feats that normally only apply to ranged weapons while treating a firearm as a melee weapon. In addition, the privateer can reload a one-handed firearm while wielding another weapon in his other hand, and does not provoke attacks of opportunity while doing so.

Sneak Shot: Once per round when the privateer makes a full attack using a melee weapon, he can draw and fire a loaded one-handed firearm as a free action. The attack with the firearm must be made against one of the targets of the privateer’s full attack, and does not provoke an attack of opportunity.

Terrifying Brutality: Whenever the privateer reduces an opponent to 0 hit points, he can terrify another opponent within 30 feet as a swift action. That creature must succeed at a Will save (DC 10 + 1/2 the privateer’s class level + the privateer’s initiation modifier) or cower for one round. This is a mind-affecting fear effect.

Terrifying Strike: Whenever the privateer successfully hits an opponent with a deadly strike, that creature must succeed at a Will save (DC 10 + 1/2 the privateer’s class level + the privateer’s initiation modifier) or become shaken for one round. If the target is already shaken or demoralized, they instead become frightened for one round. This is a mind-affecting fear effect.