How to Build Davy Jones in Pathfinder 2e

Who Is Davy Jones?

Who Are Davy Jones?

Davy Jones is a bloodthirsty pirate, cursed by his spurned lover – the Sea Goddess Calypso – to ferry souls to the deep. Years of servitude to his curse has made him, and his indentured crew, hideous sea-creature hybrids.

Hideous and heartbroken, he plays a mighty organ from the depths of his ship, the Flying Dutchman. And boy does he play well, using his many tentacled beard as extra fingers for the keys.

The legend of Davy Jones' Locker has endured for centuries. The term was used by sailors referring to objects or people sunk to the bottom of the sea. While the origin is unknown, the figure at the center of the legend has taken on a life of his own throughout the years, including as an antagonist in the Pirates of the Caribbean series.

Fifteen or so years later, the CGI that made Bill Nighy into Davy Jones in Dead Man's Chest still holds up pretty well. It is a great character design, a half-man, half-sea monster hybrid whose every word bubbles with sea water.

And that organ looks fun to play.

Keys to the Character

Tentacle-tickling the Ivory

Davy Jones' ship is home to a giant organ, which he uses to play haunting harmonies of love lost. While he his weird lobster hand may seem limiting for playing, his many tentacles are the perfect piano-pushers.

Heart Shaped Box

Heartbroken (literally) by Calypso's betrayal, Davy Jones cut out his own heart and locked it away in The Dead Man's Chest, which represents the only way to kill him.

Release the Kraken

When things get rough, so do the seas – because Jones can summon a giant, monstrous, sea creature to do his bidding. If his bidding is destruction.

Spooky Sails

Based on the Fata Morgana optical illusion, Davy's ship the Flying Dutchman is a ghostly boat that may never make port.

Building Davy Jones

Putting Davy Jones on the tabletop, like many pirate themed characters, will vary in fun depending on setting. He is undoubtedly at his best in water-heavy campaigns, where he can use his pirate skills (and water-breathing) to great effect.

But that doesn't he's dead in the water [Ed. Note: Pun not intended] in non-seafaring campaigns. No matter where the adventure takes place, the inspiring performance of a bard will always be a great boon to allies. Davy is no exception – his haunting organ music inspires them to fight on.

Meanwhile, his grotesque visage intimidates enemies, scaring them half to death. Ugly is ugly, on land and sea.

While many of his actions will be spent on those typical bard activities of buffing and debuffing through focus cantrips, Davy also has access to a wide range of Occult spells. The most important, of course, coming late in the game with the heightened version of Summon Entity – the Quoppopak makes a great Kraken-style summon, with all the pomp and circumstance you'd expect from such a sea monster.

Outside of battle, Davy's legendary performance and intimidation skills can continue to do work for the party – most notably by making demands and causing distractions.

Build OVERVIEW

STATS

Defense

· ·

· · ·

· · · ·

· · · · ·

Power

· ·

· · ·

· · · ·

· · · · ·

Speed

· ·

· · ·

· · · ·

· · · · ·

Utility

· ·

· · ·

· · · ·

· · · · ·

PROS

CONS

Ancestry

Thalassic Azarketi

Once a human, years of being cursed has turned Davy Jones into something else – a hideous water-breathing sea creature hybrid! Azarketi is the closest thing to that, and it's really pretty close.

Plus, the need to return to water every 24 hours is a nice reference to Davy's burden.

‍

Level	Feat	Notes
1	Cynical	A broken heart can leave someone hardened. Plus the weird barnacles.
5	Drag Down	Take those souls to the deep!
9	Riptide	Lowkey one of the most terrifying feats in Pathfinder. Use a reaction to carry a grabbed enemy to the depths.
13	Water Strider	Cross the water like nothing
17	Perfect Dive	How is Davy Jones' form? Let's assume perfect.

Background

Cursed

Doomed to bring the souls of the dead to the bottom of the sea, Davy harbours a terrible curse. This background is as fitting as it gets, plus it helps with a Charisma boost for his bard life.

Class

Bard - Enigma Muse

Using his expert organ playing as a basis for feats, and his lost love Calypso as an enigmatic muse, Davy Jones commands the battlefield as a Bard. But that's just the beginning.

In order to truly capture the Davy Jones experience, two dedications need to be taken along the way: a Pirate Dedication (duh) and a Lich Dedication. Of course, Davy's soul cage is his Dead Man's Chest, which contains his broken heart.

‍

Level	Feat	Notes
2	Pirate Dedication	He’s a pirate, after all.
4	Pirate Weapon Training	To get that cutlass. Throats await.
6	Dirge of Doom	Frighten nearby foes with a song.
8	Soul Sight	In order to ferry souls, one must see them.
10	Symphony of the Unfettered Heart	Use the power of music to end an affliction.
12	Walk the Plank	Move foes to the brink.
14	Lich Dedication	The creation of the soul cage – the locker – makes Davy somewhat unkillable. And somewhat dead.
16	Allegro	Command your allies to do your will!
18	Frightful Aura	Who needs music? Any enemy that comes near Davy is frightened.
20	Fatal Aria	A song of death.

Skills & General Feats

Davy Jones is a frightful, intimidating man, who happens to be able to play a mean organ. His skills show that well. He needs to pick up Expert Crafting before taking the Lich Dedication.

Legendary: Intimidation, Performance
Master: -
Expert: Crafting, Diplomacy

‍

Level	Feat	Notes
2	Underwater Marauder	Being able to fight while under the sea is a must.
3	Diehard	Diehard? More like Die Almost Impossible.
4	Intimidating Glare	You’d be intimidated too if something that grim glared at you.
6	Terrain Expertise - Aquatic	Davy’s so at home in the aquatic terrain that he is rarely allowed on land.
7	Virtuosic Performer	With over 30 tentacles to play with, he’s pretty good.
8	Lie to Me	It's hard to lie when you're terrified beyond belief.
10	Intimidating Prowess	You know what helps make someone intimidating? Tentacle faces.
11	Terrified Retreat	Run them right off the plank.
12	Group Coercion	Strength in numbers? Even groups are afraid of Davy.
14	Battle Cry	At least the battle cry is in perfect tune.
15	Scare to Death	And once they’re dead, ferry them to the locker.
16	Skeptic’s Defense	Hard to be affect by mortal concerns when you are cursed to the deep.
18	Legendary Performer	He may be a terrible ferryman of souls, but boy can he play that organ.
19	Lasting Coercion	When you're commanded by Davy, you don't just change your mind.
20	Terrifying Resistance	What is Davy afraid of? Other than keys to the locker, I guess.

Attribute Increases

Equipment

Suggested Starting Equipment

Davy Jones's Signature Items

Key Spells

Level	Spells	Notes
Cantrip	Haunting Hymn	The first of many spooky ballads to come, played from a barnacle-covered organ.
Cantrip	Know Direction	A good sailor always knows which way they are going.
1	Inkshot	Honestly, this is just here because it's hilarious. Does Davy shoot ink?
1	Bane	A brutal, disconcerting aura that can grow wider every turn.
2	Darkness	Davy makes the surface seem like the terrifying thallasic deep.
2	Sound Burst	Turn that organ volume up to 11 and hurt everyone.
3	Impending Doom	Just seeing the Flying Dutchman come across the horizon is a sign that your time is short.
3	Slow	Make everyone feel as if they are trudging through the depths.
4	Dimensional Anchor	Tether a foe to Davy's location, they are cursed to him.
5	Summon Entity	In the beginning, it is some decent sea creatures. But Heightened +3, it's the Kraken.
6	Suspended Retribution	Like the curse put upon him by Calypso, Davy's foes know they deal is doomed.
7	Visions of Danger	Foes imagine being swarmed by tentacles, dragging them down.
8	Discern Location	Find the target of Davy's scorn, the next one to ferry souls to the deep.
8	Canticle of Everlasting Grief	Make sure Davy's foes understand that they are doomed forever.
9	Ferryman	Reflavor of Undertaker. Curse a foe to Davy Jone's locker.