PF2e Character Concept: Shackles Goblin Rogue
Again, I’m watching Mythkeeper’s lore videos, this one on The Shackles, the pirate archipelago in Western Garund. There’s a lot of fun things in this area of the world, but a very small, random one snagged me. There are several goblin tribes in the Shackles, but apparently on Blacksand Beach, in the vicinity of Kelizar’s Atoll, there’s a tribe called the Reefrunners who are primarily swimmers and wreckers more than sailors and pirates, and I’ve no idea why that stuck in my brain, but … I’d really like to play a Reefrunner goblin horizon walker rogue? For reasons.
(Possibly it’s my choice of ghost fiction, and obsession with lighthouses, but wreckers have slightly more of a pull for me than pirates. Also I like the Reefrunners’ combination of almost-courtesy and raw pragmatism, in that they like to run ships aground and then let the crews go, not necessarily out of goodness, but because it’s easier to loot an empty sunken ship than fight a pinned crew. Which I love. This is about the shinies, the crews are just awkward obstacles that need to be shooed away first. Or, you know. Killed if it absolutely has to come to it, but let’s try the less risky methods first).
I was browsing backgrounds on Pathbuilder, and it has a regional one called Pearl Diver, which when I look it up on Archives of Nethys is actually regional to Absalom, not the Shackles, but I’m from the pirate isles, here, so I’m going to steal it anyway. Because I want a swimmer goblin who likes shiny things, a Reefrunner who’s fine taking the ocean’s bounty whether grown there naturally or lured there by a judiciously placed light on the rocks. Heh.
The idea here is just … I want a tough, scritchy little gal who’s in love with the ocean and all the shiny things the ocean can provide, and who’s not too particular about how the shiny things get in the ocean in the first place. She’s not mean, necessarily, just … single minded. Very loyal, courteous in a rough, absent-minded sort of way, but extremely pragmatic and with roughly one priority in the world, maybe two if she gets especially attached to anyone.
We’re in the pirate isles, so I am feeling rogue. But she’s a pearl diver and a swimmer and a scavenger, so I also want a survival emphasis, and I thought the Horizon Walker archetype? With aquatic terrain. I could take the ranger archetype instead, but I just like the vibe of horizon walker. Skillwise, we’re going to build around stealth, survival, intimidation, acrobatics, athletics and thievery. Because we’re a rogue and we can have that many skills levelled high. Heh.
Starting stats we’ll have a +4 in Dex, +3 in Con, +1 in Int/Cha, and +0 in Str/Wis. As we level I’m going to prioritise Dex, Con, Cha and Wis.
I’m going to go for Unbreakable Goblin for my heritage, because she’s a tough little gal, and also it’s just such a fun heritage. We’re tough, and we bounce, and we don’t go down!
Feats I particularly want as we go would include Breath Control as my first general feat, because pearl diver, Magical Adaptation from Horizon Walker as we hit Level 10, because water breathing, Quick Swim from Athletics Mastery, Fleet and Mobility and Catfall and Cave Climber and Skitter and just a lot of general movement feats, because we a bouncy goblin, Kneecap from goblin, to attack other people’s move speed, and a bunch of Intimidation feats because this girl is all teeth.
She’s 19, I feel like. Young for most people, but pushing the limits of survivability for goblins. She’s wiry and scarred and toothy, cheerfully pragmatic, polite as goblins go, and she has a collection of shinies sewn into/onto her clothes where she can see and admire them. She does favour seed pearls, all self-gathered, as a point of professional pride, but she also sees diving shipwrecks as much the same thing, so any old shinies will do if they’re pretty enough. As will glass and buttons and whatever was sparkly and caught her eye, to be honest. She’s out wandering, looking for better ships to dive, different waters to swim, because she is pushing survival age for a goblin, and she might as well. Most of her people die not much older than her, so why bother being afraid? Let’s just get the good stuff before we go!
Her name is Early Reefrunner. Early, to rhyme with Pearly. She’s a tough little goblin survivalist rogue from Blacksand Beach near Kelizar’s Atoll, and if you promise her good waters and good treasure, she’ll follow you to the ends of the earth. Or, well. The ends of the ocean, at least. Heh.
Ahoy, longshanks! Let’s go!
