As suggested with the Monster Monday creature, this Friday build is in commemoration of the conclusion of the Depp v Heard trial. This is one of those characters who has so much about and behind them and can be interpreted in many different ways, that there are at least half-a-dozen builds that could be made from this character. So this features my idea of a build for Jack Sparrow. As always, this build is conceptualized entirely in a vacuum, with choices made in an attempt to fit the character. These choices might not hold up in a campaign with different themes and should be adjusted accordingly.
Let's get into the build for Captain Jack Sparrow from Pirates of the Caribbean!
JACK SPARROW
CHARACTER Jack Sparrow
SOURCE Pirates of the Caribbean
GOALS
o A legendary pirate and irreverent trickster, Jack Sparrow was born upon a pirate ship amidst a typhoon
o Even as a teenager, he had a desire for adventure and fell in with a pirate crew before briefly attempting to go legitimate with the East India Trading Company
o However, he found their morals even more reprehensible than those of pirates, prompting him to leave their employ and earn their ire
o They sunk his vessel and he made a deal with the psychopomp Davy Jones to pull it up from the depths, after which it was renamed the Black Pearl
o In combat, he most commonly wields swords and flintlock pistols but will make use of muskets and other weapons as needed
o Having had many encounters with the supernatural, Jack has learned how to make use of such trinkets when the situation calls for it
o While a skilled swordsman, he prefers escaping or negotiating his way out of a fight. When forced into a fight, he holds his own through a use of skill, trickery, and taking advantage of anything at hand
o His weapon training came at the hands of an Italian fencing master
o He has learned several languages
LEVEL 1
Ancestry & Heritage: Versatile Human
o Ability Boosts & Flaws: +Charisma, +Dexterity
o Ancestry Feat: Natural Ambition
o General Feat: Incredible Initiative
Background: Aspiring Free Captain
o Ability Boosts: +Charisma, +Dexterity
o Skill Increase: Intimidation (trained), Sailing Lore (trained)
o Background Feat: Group Coercion
Class & Subclass: Scoundrel Rogue
o Class Ability Boost: +Charisma
o Skill Increase: Acrobatics (trained), Arcana (trained), Athletics (trained), Deception (trained), Diplomacy (trained), Intimidation (trained), Occultism (trained), Religion (trained), Society (trained), Stealth (trained), Survival (trained), Thievery (trained)
o Class Feat: Nimble Dodge, Overextending Feint
o Skill Feat: Bargain Hunter
Details
o Ability Boosts: +Strength, +Dexterity, +Intelligence, +Charisma (Str 12, Dex 16, Con 10, Int 12, Wis 10, Cha 18)
Despite occasional attempts to be more, Jack Sparrow is very much a human who often gets the drop on people, reflected in Improved Initiative and his Surprise Attack class feature. He’ll also pick up Natural Ambition as Jack does have a surprising amount of ambition, but this will mostly serve the build in a mechanical sense. The closest background I could find for Jack, who values freedom above all else, was aspiring free captain. Even if Intimidation isn’t exactly his hat, the Sailing Lore is a nice get. After a slight debate, scoundrel rogue felt like the best fit for Jack. He'll use his ambition to snag Nimble Dodge for those instances where he dodges a blow at the last second, and Overextending Feint to draw a foe into overplaying their hand. One main use of this particular feat is that when Jack is already flanking with a member of his crew, he can target their attacks instead. Finally, Jack has a way with words and the Bargain Hunter skill feat lets him make a little money off of those words, leading to picking that up.
LEVEL 2
o Class Feat: Distracting Feint
o Skill Feat: Bon Mot
o Skill Increase: Deception (expert)
o Gear: ring of discretion
LEVEL 3
o General Feat: Fleet
o Skill Feat: Pickpocket
o Skill Increase: Diplomacy (trained)
o Gear: +1 rapier, predictable silver piece, ring of discretion
LEVEL 4
o Class Feat: Mug
o Skill Feat: Subtle Theft
o Skill Increase: Stealth (expert)
o Gear: blazons of shared power, +1 rapier, necklace of knives, ring of discretion
LEVEL 5
o Ability Boosts: +Strength, +Dexterity, +Constitution, +Charisma (Str 14, Dex 18, Con 12, Int 12, Wis 10, Cha 19)
o Ancestry Feat: Wavetouched Paragon
o Skill Feat: Lie to Me
o Skill Increase: Thievery (Expert)
o Gear: +1 striking rapier, blazons of shared power, ventriloquist’s ring, necklace of knives, predictable silver piece, ring of discretion
Jack’s thought processes are hard to follow and can confound foes, leaving them beyond flat-footed, which is represented through Distracting Feint. Furthermore, with his quips and non sequiturs, Jack can throw foes off before he even makes a Feint with the Bon Mot skill feat, taking advantage of his investment in Charisma. Many of Jack’s fights are over a McGuffin of some sort or another that will regularly trade hands mid-fight, which he can accomplish with his Mug class feat. In general, Jack has quick fingers, which covers the investment into several Thievery skill feats in this block. Lie to Me covers his mastery over deception and ability to know when others are trying to pull a fast one on him as well. As somebody that was born on a boat in the midst of a typhoon, Wavetouched Paragon felt an appropriate ancestry feat for Jack.
LEVEL 6
o Class Feat: Stab and Snag
o Skill Feat: Hobnobber
o Skill Increase: Sailing Lore (expert)
o Gear: +1 explorer’s clothing, +1 striking rapier, shining wayfinder, predictable silver piece, hat of disguise, necklace of knives
LEVEL 7
o General Feat: Multilingual
o Skill Feat: Trick Magic Item
o Skill Increase: Deception (master)
o Gear: bellflower toolbelt, +1 explorer’s clothing, quick runner’s shirt, +1 striking rapier, blazons of shared power, ventriloquist’s ring
LEVEL 8
o Class Feat: Sidestep
o Skill Feat: Swift Sneak
o Skill Increase: Stealth (master)
o Gear: boots of bounding, bellflower toolbelt, bi-resonant wayfinder, +1 explorer’s clothing, +1 striking rapier, sleeves of storage
LEVEL 9
o Ancestry Feat: Multitalented – Gunslinger Dedication (Way of the Drifter)
o Skill Feat: Doublespeak
o Skill Increase: Performance (trained), Thievery (master)
o Gear: +1 resilient explorer’s clothing, boots of bounding, jar of shifting sands, bellflower toolbelt, quick runner’s shirt, +1 striking rapier
LEVEL 10
o Ability Boosts: +Dexterity, +Constitution, +Wisdom, +Charisma (Str 14, Dex 19, Con 14, Int 12, Wis 12, Cha 20)
o Class Feat: Practiced Reloads
o Skill Feat: Shameless Request
o Skill Increase: Diplomacy (master)
o Gear: greater ventriloquist’s ring, +1 resilient explorer’s clothing, folding boat, boots of bounding, bellflower toolbelt, +1 striking rapier
Stab and Snag is something of an improved version of Mug in that it allows Jack to move as part of it. This means that Jack can run in, hit, and snatch something before using his last action to start making his getaway. The Fleet feat from his previous block is going to help him get away in such circumstances. Sidestep mostly just feels fun and works well with the tricksy sort of stuff that Jack gets up to. Before covering his level 10 class feat, Jack uses his level 9 ancestry feat to pick up the Gunslinger Dedication, specifically the way of the drifter, so that he can wield his sword and pistol in concert. With this grab at this late, Jack then immediately qualifies for Practiced Reloads once he levels up, allowing him to make great use of his action economy. Jack is clearly Multilingual in the movies even if there aren’t great equivalents to the languages he can speak in Golarion. He also readily takes advantage of various magic throughout the movies such as the compass he carries, the Black Pearl itself, and other such tokens, which made Trick Magic Item a relevant feat for him. Further diving into his confounding manner of speaking that those close to him can at least somewhat grasp as Doublespeak. His supreme confidence allows him to make the most ridiculous requests of others with Shameless Request and Swift Sneak allows him to better steal aboard ships or through towns.
LEVEL 11
o General Feat: Hireling Manager
o Skill Feat: Lengthy Diversion
o Skill Increase: Arcana (expert)
o Gear: +2 striking rapier, greater ventriloquist’s ring, elemental wayfinder (fire), +1 resilient explorer’s clothing, boots of bounding, jar of shifting sands
LEVEL 12
o Class Feat: Basic Shooting – Dual-Weapon Reload
o Skill Feat: Combat Climber
o Skill Increase: Occultism (expert)
o Gear: +2 resilient explorer’s clothing, +2 striking rapier, elemental wayfinder (water), greater ventriloquist’s ring, fire weapon rune, folding boat
LEVEL 13
o Ancestry Feat: Bounce Back
o Skill Feat: Sow Rumor
o Skill Increase: Society (expert)
o Gear: +2 greater striking rapier, +2 resilient explorer’s clothing, greater blazons of shared power, elemental wayfinder (water), triton’s conch, greater ventriloquist’s ring
LEVEL 14
o Class Feat: Advanced Shooting – Sword and Pistol
o Skill Feat: Confabulator
o Skill Increase: Sailing Lore (master)
o Gear: boots of speed, +2 greater striking rapier, aeon stone (black pearl), +2 resilient explorer’s clothing, elemental wayfinder (water), ring of lies
LEVEL 15
o Ability Boosts: +Strength, +Dexterity, +Constitution, +Charisma (Str 16, Dex 20, Con 16, Int 12, Wis 12, Cha 21)
o General Feat: Skitter
o Skill Feat: Reveal Machinations
o Skill Increase: Deception (legendary)
o Gear: +2 greater resilient explorer’s clothing, boots of speed, keen weapon rune, +2 greater striking rapier, greater blazons of shared power, bag of holding (type III)
This block dives into Jack’s gunslinging with Dual-Weapon Reload so that he can reload even when he can’t get a Reloading Strike out as well as Sword and Pistol. This second feat works particularly well with Jack as when against an enemy lacking an AoO, he can take a shot and then make them flat-footed to his follow-up sword Strike. Hireling Manager primarily references his place as a captain of a pirate ship, even if he often loses the position, whereas Bounce Back is about his return to life after being rescued from Davy Jones’ Locker, though Diehard + Numb to Death might better represent that. Several instances from the films have shown Jack to be highly capable of moving even when in a compromised position, such as when he’s tied to a spit or scrambling across a busy ship, which led to the inclusion of Skitter. This block dives deeper into Jack’s trickiness with mostly Deception skill feats, but he does slip in Combat Climber so that he can climb the rigging while still fighting.
LEVEL 16
o Class Feat: Advanced Shooting – Pistol Twirl
o Skill Feat: Legendary Negotiation
o Skill Increase: Diplomacy (legendary)
o Gear: greater folding boat, +2 greater resilient explorer’s clothing, exploration lens (searching), boots of speed, +2 greater striking rapier, aeon stone (black pearl)
LEVEL 17
o Ancestry Feat: Heroic Presence
o Skill Increase: Legendary Thief
o Skill Increase: Thievery (legendary)
o Gear: +3 greater striking rapier, greater folding boat, dragonscale amulet, +2 greater resilient explorer’s clothing, boots of speed, keen weapon rune
LEVEL 18
o Class Feat: Trickster’s Ace
o Skill Feat: Legendary Sneak
o Skill Increase: Stealth (legendary)
o Gear: anklets of alacrity, +3 greater striking rapier, speed weapon rune, greater folding boat, +2 greater resilient explorer’s clothing, exploration lens (searching)
LEVEL 19
o General Feat: Toughness
o Skill Feat: Slippery Secrets
o Skill Increase: Society (master)
o Gear: +3 greater resilient explorer’s clothing, anklets of alacrity, major shadow armor rune, +3 greater striking rapier, greater folding boat, dragonscale amulet
LEVEL 20
o Ability Boosts: +Strength, +Constitution, +Wisdom, +Charisma (Str 18, Dex 20, Con 18, Int 12, Wis 14, Cha 22)
o Class Feat: Enduring Debilitation
o Skill Feat: Glad-Hand
o Skill Increase: Sailing Lore (legendary)
o Gear: +3 major striking rapier, +3 greater resilient explorer’s clothing, mercurial mantle, major shadow armor rune, greater talisman cord, speed weapon rune
Some builds might consider taking the Gunslinger Dedication and its feats sooner because getting Pistol Twirl earlier, to Feint at range, would be fairly solid for Jack. Similarly, Trickster’s Ace fits Jack who always has something up his sleeve, but Enduring Debilitation is mainly chosen for lack of other particularly appropriate options. The choice of Heroic Presence follows a similar thought process while he rounds out his mastery at talking himself out of trouble and improving his ability to snag items from others. Late as it is, Toughness helps Jack stay on the frontlines more easily.
FREE ARCHETYPE SUGGESTIONS: For those in the know, I know what you’re thinking. ‘How can you do a Captain Jack Sparrow build without the Pirate Dedication?’ I hear you. I do. But the Pirate Dedication…isn’t very good. And there’s only four feats to it. The only time I would grab it is in a game using free archetype. In such a case, you’ll use your early levels to grab rogues as per usual while investing in the Gunslinger Dedication, largely for functionality. This will allow important feats such as Pistol Twirl to be obtained much earlier. Once you qualify for taking another archetype, grab Pirate Dedication and take the feats you want from it even if their final feat doesn’t fit Jack who focuses more on Deception and Diplomacy over Intimidation. With the freed up class feats, Jack may want to consider Quick Draw if he wants to dual wield, feats such as Gang Up and Opportune Backstab to take advantage of fighting alongside his crew, and Felling Shot down the line since he can more reliably flat-foot flying creatures with Pistol Twirl.
CONCLUSION
With that, we have a build that performs as something of a switch-hitter thank to using a finesse weapon, allowing Jack to battle with gun and blade alike. He isn’t quite as skilled as a fighter with his weapons of choice, but is a top-notch trickster with feats such as Pistol Twirl, Overextending Feint, Sidestep, and his focus around Deception. Between that skill and his hefty investment in Diplomacy, he tries to avoid combat in the first place, especially as he gains Shameless Request and Legendary Negotiation. While other skills took precedence, he does at least raise his Sailing Lore to master proficiency and took Hireling Manager to better serve as a captain of his ship and crew. Some of his more humorous movements are covered with Skitter while the way his McGuffin fights traditionally go will make use of Mug or Stab and Snag. Further tying him to the sea is Wavetouched Paragon while his use of mystical trinkets can be achieved with Trick Magic Item and Trickster’s Ace.
Be sure to lemme know what you think of the build and who else you might like to see!
If you want to join in on the discussion of these builds and the ones I do for monsters or just hang out with a bunch of fellow TTRPG nerd, check out the Discord server. We also have a Twitter where we try to post teasers for the blog and are trying to get some milestones made up for. Next week, we return to our regularly scheduled builds!
Until then, have a fantastic Friday!
Comments