Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum!

For those not in the know, Pathfinder is a tabletop role playing game, think cooperative storytelling with dice and making silly voices etc. Basically, one person runs the game, taking the role of the NPC's (non-player characters) both friendly to the players and enemies such as goblins and anything else that is not the players characters. As for the player, they create or "roll up" a character, choose a class such as wizard, warrior (think of it as the things the specialize in) and a race such as human, gnome or elf. We take up a mindset as that character and play through the trials and challenges the game master or "GM" puts before us, but we have to use knowledge that our characters have, not what we as players know. It's really fun and become one of my favorite hobbies over the last few years. I run a game every second Sunday, and play in a game every Thursday night run by my good friend Charles.

So some friends and I are playing a Pathfinder campaign called Skull and Shackles, we're a few sessions in and have been having a blast. It's a pirate themed campaign, one where our characters were kidnapped and forced to work on a pirate ship.

We've scrubbed the decks, cooked for the crew, rigged the sails, weathered a storm, rescued a crew mate who went overboard and have befriended everyone on the ship. The officers aboard are ruthless bastards that will keelhaul any who disobey to a large degree. We've just had our first go at attacking another ship and so far it has gone well, but before I get too far lets meet the cast shall we?

Matt: Playing Percival the Damphir/Half Vampire Alchemist, they're a potion and bombs specialist, though whether the bombs are meant for the enemy or us seems to be another story... At least when it comes to my character being in the line of fire.

Brent/Me: Playing Dradde "Mittens" Goldmane the Swashbuckler Catfolk, think Zorro in terms of his fighting style. He aims to become captain of his own ship and doesn't put up with people hassling his friends/crew mates, especially Lem, his best bud.

Cameron: Playing Lem the Bard, he boosts morale in battle and has a sharp wit to boot, has a tendency to get himself in trouble and usually hopes Dradde, his good friend, will get him out of it.

Shannon: Playing Blade, the no nonsense warrior, he's there to drink, be merry and slice enemies in two with his massive sword. A pretty direct fella, Dradde and him get along quite well.

Last, but by certainly no means least, Charles: GM, plays everyone else, good and bad. He has the biggest job of the game running the story to a large degree and he's doing a great job at it.

I'll post more on this game as it progresses, but so far we've worked on a ship, made friends and had our first battle on the high seas, who knows what else is in store for us. Apart from Charles anyway :p Will keep you updated now and then.