Numerian Gun Mage (magus archetype)

Not even going to lie, everything in this archetype was stolen from other Paizo archetypes. I am making this for Iron Gods, for one of my players to use. I will be GMing. I was hoping for some feedback to see if it is balanced, playable, or just a steaming pile of s#!t. Thanks in advance.

Numerian Gun Mage (Magus Archetype)

Skills: The gun mage adds knowledge (engineering) to his list of class and removes knowledge (planes).

Weapon and Armor Proficiency: A gun mage is proficient with all simple, light and one handed martial weapons, and all firearms. A gun mage is also proficient with light armor. He can cast magus spells while wearing light armor without incurring the normal arcane spell failure chance. Like any other arcane spellcaster, a gun mage wearing medium armor, heavy armor, or a shield incurs a chance of arcane spell failure if the spell in question has a somatic component. A multiclass gun mage still incurs the normal arcane spell failure chance for arcane spells received from other classes. This changes the weapon and armor class ability.

Gunsmith: The gun mage gains the Gunsmithing feat and a battered gun that is identical to the gun a gunslinger gains at first level.Like a gunslinger, a gun mage can use the Gunsmithing feat to restore his battered gun.

Diminished Spellcasting: Gun mage cast one fewer spell of each level than normal. If this reduces the number to 0, he may cast spells of that level only if his Intelligence allows bonus spells of that level.

Arcane Pool (Su): At 1st level, the gun mage gains a reservoir of mystical arcane energy that he can draw upon to fuel his powers and enhance his firearm. This arcane pool has a number of points equal to 1/2 his magus level (minimum 1) + his Intelligence modifier. The pool refreshes once per day when the gun mage prepares his spells.
At 1st level, a gun mage can expend 1 point from his arcane pool as a swift action to grant any firearm he is holding a +1 enhancement bonus for 1 minute. For every four levels beyond 1st, the firearm gains another +1 enhancement bonus, to a maximum of +5 at 17th level. These bonuses can be added to the firearm, stacking with existing weapon enhancement to a maximum of +5. Multiple uses of this ability do not stack with themselves.
At 5th level, these bonuses can be used to add any of the following weapon properties: dancing, defending, distance, flaming, flaming burst, frost, ghost touch, icy burst, merciful, seeking, shock, shocking burst, spell storing, thundering, vicious, and wounding. Adding these properties consumes an amount of bonus equal to the property's base price modifier (see the Magic Weapon Special Ability Descriptions). These properties are added to any the firearm already has, but duplicates do not stack. If the firearm is not magical, at least a +1 enhancement bonus must be added before any other properties can be added. These bonuses and properties are decided when the arcane pool point is spent and cannot be changed until the next time the gun mage uses this ability. These bonuses do not function if the firearm is wielded by anyone other than the gun mage.
A gun mage can enhance more than one firearm in this way at one time, but if they leave his hands they lose all enhancements. Both firearms must be enhanced separately, paying the cost in arcane pool points. This ability changes the arcane pool class ability.

Magus Arcana: The gun mage has access to the following magus arcana

Covet Charge (Ex): A gun mage can spend 1 arcane pool point to use 1 charge fewer than normal when firing a technological weapon (minimum 0), as long as the weapon has enough charges remaining to be fired at least once.

Reliable (Ex): A gun mage can spend 1 arcane pool point as a free action to prevent a timeworn firearm from glitching.

Charge Recycling (Ex): By spending 1 arcane pool point, a gun mage can grant 1 temporary charge to a technological firearm, even if the firearm normally can no longer be recharged. This charge must be used within 1 hour or it fades. The gun mage can grant temporary charges to multiple firearms as long as he has enough arcane pool points, but temporary charges do not stack with themselves in the same firearm. At 15th level, the gun mage can grant 2 temporary charges when he uses this magus arcana, and at 19th level, he can grant 3 temporary charges. A gun mage must be at least 11th level to select this arcane.

Ranged Spellstrike (Su): At 4th level, a gun mage can use spellstrike to cast a single-target touch attack ranged spell, and deliver it through a ranged weapon attack. Even if the spell can normally affect multiple targets, only a single missile, ray, or effect accompanies the attack. A gun mage can cast any ranged touch attack, cone, line, or ray spells through his firearm. When he casts through the firearm, the gun's enhancement bonus (if any) is a bonus to the spell's attack rolls or to the spell's saving throw DCs. Yet there are dangers inherent to this method. If any of the spells' attack rolls result in a natural 1 (a misfire), or a natural 20 is rolled on any saving throw made against the spell by a target (an overload), the firearm gains the broken condition. If the firearm already has the broken condition, the gun explodes. When a gun explodes, it lets loose a blast of force, or if the spell has the acid, cold, electricity, or sonic descriptor, it deals that type of energy damage instead. In the case of spells with multiple descriptors, roll randomly among the descriptors to determine the type of damage dealt by the blast. The blast is centered on a single intersection within the gun mage’s space (gun mage's choice) and deals 1d6 points of the appropriate energy damage or force damage per level of the spell cast. Any creature within the blast other than the gun mage can make a Reflex saving throw to halve the damage. The Reflex save DC is calculated using the spell level of the spell being sacrificed. This ability replaces spell recall.

Bonus Feats: A gun mage can select Technologist as a bonus feat, even though it's neither a combat nor a metamagic feat.

Technic Training (Ex): Starting at 7th level, a gun mage can select one specific type of advanced technology firearm (such as a laser pistol, mindrender, stun gun, or zero rifle). Thereafter, he gains a bonus equal to his Dexterity modifier on damage rolls when using that firearm. Furthermore, he treats all detrimental glitches of timeworn versions of his selected firearm as a result of no glitch. (He can retain the effects of beneficial glitches if he wishes.)
At 10th, and 13th level the gun mage selects another type of advanced technology firearm, gaining these bonuses for those types as well. This ability replaces medium armor, knowledge pool and heavy armor.

Improved Ranged Strike (Su): At 11th level, a gun mage using a multiple-target spell with this ability may deliver one ray or line of effect with each attack when using a full-attack action, up to the maximum allowed by the spell (in the case of ray effects). Any effects not used in the round the spell is cast are lost. This ability replaces improved spell recall.

I was up with this until Technic Training.

Giving Dex to Damage on top of Ranged Spellstrike IS too much. I would suggest one or the other, not both.

Giving up medium and heavy armor for dex to damage is essentially giving up something that no ranged character would use, for a heavy bonus. Essentially there is no real sacrifice here. Giving up Knowledge Pool isn't enough to make up for that.

Maybe just a bonus similar to weapons training from the fighter class? Or just drop it and go the original class abilities?

Maybe just a bonus similar to weapons training from the fighter class? Or just drop it and go the original class abilities?

The latter is probably best.

Thanks, honestly I see little to no reason for a ranged character to have medium or heavy armor so I was just looking for some filler.

Thanks, honestly I see little to no reason for a ranged character to have medium or heavy armor so I was just looking for some filler.

Have that be the cost of ranged spellstrike then.

Is there any particular reason why you rewrote the proficiency and arcane pool?

The first sentence of ranged spellstrike conflicts with the rest of the ability (which looks like you copied from the spellslinger). It says you can only do it with a ranged touch attack spell, but it later says you can use other types of spells, too.

I agree that this archetype doesn't need Dexterity to damage with guns when they have plenty of other offensive capability.

Copy/pasting improved ranged spellstrike from the myrmidarch was a bad idea. That ability doesn't actually work as written. Strangely, Paizo never errata'd that.

Is there any particular reason why you rewrote the proficiency and arcane pool?

I wanted weapon proficiency to include firearms but felt there had to be some compromise. So I took away two handed weapons martial and ranged martial.

The first sentence of ranged spellstrike conflicts with the rest of the ability (which looks like you copied from the spellslinger). It says you can only do it with a ranged touch attack spell, but it later says you can use other types of spells, too.

Yeah need to fix that.

I agree that this archetype doesn't need Dexterity to damage with guns when they have plenty of other offensive capability.

Copy/pasting improved ranged spellstrike from the myrmidarch was a bad idea. That ability doesn't actually work as written. Strangely, Paizo never errata'd that.

I don't see how it doesn't work. But I could be missunderstanding it.

the Queen's Raven wrote:

Thanks, honestly I see little to no reason for a ranged character to have medium or heavy armor so I was just looking for some filler.

Have that be the cost of ranged spellstrike then.

That would give spell recall and imroved spell recall back, along with knowledge pool. Though it would delay the ranged spellstrike 3 more levels, kind of makes the point of the archetype start coming in late.

LazarX wrote:

the Queen's Raven wrote:

Thanks, honestly I see little to no reason for a ranged character to have medium or heavy armor so I was just looking for some filler.

Have that be the cost of ranged spellstrike then.

That would give spell recall and imroved spell recall back, along with knowledge pool. Though it would delay the ranged spellstrike 3 more levels, kind of makes the point of the archetype start coming in late.

I didn't say that you had to change the level of where it came in. Not all archetype swaps are at level to level correspondence.

How do you make a full-attack action on the same round you cast a spell with a 1 standard action casting time?

the Queen's Raven wrote:

LazarX wrote:

the Queen's Raven wrote:

Thanks, honestly I see little to no reason for a ranged character to have medium or heavy armor so I was just looking for some filler.

Have that be the cost of ranged spellstrike then.

That would give spell recall and imroved spell recall back, along with knowledge pool. Though it would delay the ranged spellstrike 3 more levels, kind of makes the point of the archetype start coming in late.

I didn't say that you had to change the level of where it came in. Not all archetype swaps are at level to level correspondence.

Fair enough I see your point. I can take things a bit to literal at times.

How do you make a full-attack action on the same round you cast a spell with a 1 standard action casting time?

You don't. You're getting the damage of a spell added to the damage of a technological weapon. And you're making your attack at range. That's part of the tradeoff.

How do you make a full-attack action on the same round you cast a spell with a 1 standard action casting time?

I think that has always been the point of the magus. Cast a spell and make all your full round attacks. Spellstrike even gives a magus one extra attack to deliever touch spells with his/her melee weapon. I think what was meant to happen with the improved ranged spellstrike is that you used the ranged weapon to make the attacks for the spell, incuring all bonuses from enhancements and feats. Like I said in my first line of my first pragraph, I stole it all from paizo.

Cyrad wrote:

How do you make a full-attack action on the same round you cast a spell with a 1 standard action casting time?

I think that has always been the point of the magus. Cast a spell and make all your full round attacks. Spellstrike even gives a magus one extra attack to deliever touch spells with his/her melee weapon. I think what was meant to happen with the improved ranged spellstrike is that you used the ranged weapon to make the attacks for the spell, incuring all bonuses from enhancements and feats. Like I said in my first line of my first pragraph, I stole it all from paizo.

The "point" of the magus is that he got all that standing up in front face to face melee combat. With all the intended disadvantage of being melee attacked himself.

The ranged version however is sniping from distance, doesn't have to worry about melee, so we're far from operating under those basic assumptions.

I think you would still incur the -2 to all attacks the round you use ranged spellstrike same as standrd spell strike. I am trying to create something that is a cross of the myrmidarch, spellslinger, and a taste of Numeria, the techslinger.

I think you would still incur the -2 to all attacks the round you use ranged spellstrike same as standrd spell strike. I am trying to create something that is a cross of the myrmidarch, spellslinger, and a taste of Numeria, the techslinger.

Queen's Raven, I don't think you understand how the magus's class features work. Spellstrike doesn't incur any penalties to your attacks. You're confusing it with spell combat.

Spell combat is a full-round action that functions like a two-weapon fighting full-attack, except your "off-hand weapon" is a spell and you can only perform attacks with a melee weapon.

Spellstrike is a passive ability that allows you to deliver the charge of a touch spell through a melee weapon attack instead of a melee touch attack. In addition, it allows you substitute the free action melee touch attack that you normally get from touch spells with a melee weapon attack instead.

Your abilities have nothing to do with these. You can't use "improved ranged strike" because you can't make a ranged full-attack and cast a standard action spell on the same round. And spell combat doesn't work with melee weapons -- and if it did, it would be ridiculously overpowered.

Spellstrike (Su): At 2nd level, whenever a magus casts a spell with a range of “touch” from the magus spell list, he can deliver the spell through any weapon he is wielding as part of a melee attack. Instead of the free melee touch attack normally allowed to deliver the spell, a magus can make one free melee attack with his weapon (at his highest base attack bonus) as part of casting this spell. If successful, this melee attack deals its normal damage as well as the effects of the spell. If the magus makes this attack in concert with spell combat, this melee attack takes all the penalties accrued by spell combat melee attacks. This attack uses the weapon's critical range (20, 19–20, or 18–20 and modified by the keen weapon property or similar effects), but the spell effect only deals ×2 damage on a successful critical hit, while the weapon damage uses its own critical modifier.[/qoute]

Spellstrike can used as part of spell combat.

Spell Combat (Ex): At 1st level, a magus learns to cast spells and wield his weapons at the same time. This functions much like two-weapon fighting, but the off-hand weapon is a spell that is being cast. To use this ability, the magus must have one hand free (even if the spell being cast does not have somatic components), while wielding a light or one-handed melee weapon in the other hand. As a full-round action, he can make all of his attacks with his melee weapon at a –2 penalty and can also cast any spell from the magus spell list with a casting time of 1 standard action (any attack roll made as part of this spell also takes this penalty). If he casts this spell defensively, he can decide to take an additional penalty on his attack rolls, up to his Intelligence bonus, and add the same amount as a circumstance bonus on his concentration check. If the check fails, the spell is wasted, but the attacks still take the penalty. A magus can choose to cast the spell first or make the weapon attacks first, but if he has more than one attack, he cannot cast the spell between weapon attacks.

Spellstrike is just clarifying that if you use it with spell combat, the attack still has the penalties from spell combat as normal. Spell combat is where the -2 penalty comes from, not spellstrike.