Sean H's page

Color Spray is basically the reason to play a Heavens Oracle, with the expanded HD affecting. I don't really like that mystery, it has one really awesome trick and the rest is garbage.

While Color Spray is certainly that revelation's schtick, I wouldn't say the rest is garbage. I played with one who made EXCELLENT use of the levitation and moon bridge powers.

As a cleric you won't have the raw power of any of the martial classes, so you will need to focus on buff spells; especially ones with a long duration or ones which affect the whole party. Prayer, Blessing of Fervor, Magic Vestments, and Greater Magic Weapon are all great choices.

I would highly recommend spending 3,000gp on a Metamagic Rod of Reach. With it, you can pull from pack(move) and cast(standard) to stick your whole party with any of the Communal spells(Protection from Evil, Resist Energy, etc.) in a single turn. This can be a lifesaver; when you suddenly find yourselves fighting a magma elemental, or when you get ambushed by a dominate-happy vampire, this can be the difference between victory and a TPK.

I do have to question why you have no shield. You could drop your Amulet of Natural Armor down to +1, then use the gold to buy a +2 Buckler, netting an extra 2 AC. You can still cast with a buckler on, and you can even wield your longspear with it on if you have to.

EDIT: One thing of note, one advantage of a cleric over a paladin is when you hit level 12 you will be able to stick a +3 bonus on your weapons and armor with Greater Magic Weapon and Vestments, respectively. These both last 1 hour/level, meaning a single casting will last you 12 hours. It's MUCH more efficient to cast these at the start of each day, and put the money you would spend on enchanting your weapons/armor into something else(Deliquescent Gloves are good for a damage boost).

I have a Cleric in PFS who is really good at bluffing(Trickery Domain), but terrible at forgery. I want to focus on shoring up this weakness. As I see it, the only real way to make believable forgeries is with the Linguistics skill. This is problematic for me, because as a Cleric who dumped INT, I start with an intrinsic penalty and don't have many points to put into it.

So, are there any other ways I can create believable documents, or ways to quickly boost my Linguistics check? Something like, I dunno, magical paper which makes people believe whatever is written on it?

The cheapest and easiest way to help with SR when you have *that moment* when everything goes to hell is to pull out some Dweomer's Essence. It's not exactly cheap, but with a +5 bonus to SR penetration it is very useful to have on hand when you do need it.

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always wondered why folks have dwarves use axes so much--for people associated with earth and stone as often as they are, wouldn't the pick or hammer be more fitting (which they get as well, dont get me wrong)?

Because axes are the most effective weapon when fighting against the Dwarves' ancient ancestral enemy, a fearsome creature with a tough skin and hardy flesh. Those towering behemoths can reach heights of over 300 feet, and the largest have a girth of 100 feet! Picks barely make a dent against these creatures, and hammers simply bounce right off; you need the strong, chopping motion of an axe to fell these terrible beasts. I am talking, of course, about the dreaded tree.

rungok wrote:

Power Attack, Weapon Focus (Scythe), Combat Expertise, Improved Trip.

Well, here's your problem. Power Attack, Combat Expertise, and Improved Trip are not a good idea in the lower levels. You are better off with automatic feats, ones that kick in constantly. And being a Fighter, your defenses suck as a class.

Therefore, I suggest the following: Lightning Reflexes, Iron Will, Improved Initiative. Go for the fancy stuff LATER, as these will help more now. Second, Dodge and Mobility are your friend, particularly since you are using a 2 handed weapon so your AC is down. Use Mobility to flank, which will be much appreciated by your party.

I would strongly disagree with the statement that 'always-on' feats are stronger than feats which you can activate, for the simple reason that feats you actively use give you options - options which can completely turn the tide of a battle.

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With something like Lightning Reflexes, you have a 10% increased chance to make a reflex save, which is usually v.s. an AoE effect or breath weapon that does 1d8/level. In other words, at level 4 that feat will stop you from taking 10 damage a mere 10% of the time.

Thus, Lightning Reflexes will save the OP an average of 1 damage/round(10 damage x 10%), but only when fighting something that uses these attacks; against a melee grunt, the feat is worthless.
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Contrast that to Power Attack, where the OP can decide to use it against any enemy, dealing an extra 6 damage every round 90% of the time. 10% of the time he would miss where he would normally hit, effectively losing an average of 15 damage(2d4+10).

Thus, Power Attack will give the OP an extra 4 damage/round(6 damage X 90% - 15 damage X 10%). He can use this feat every round, or if fighting something with high AC, simply chose not to use it.
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Improved Trip is also better than Lightning Reflexes, since it stops you from provoking an AoO and gives you a 10% better chance at tripping a target.

Assuming an average creature does 10 damage/attack(not unreasonable, since the OP can do 20 on average), a tripped enemy takes an extra 10 damage/round(10 damage X 5 party members X 20% hit bonus) and deals 2 less damage/round(10 damage * 20% miss chance).

Thus, when you trip an enemy with Improved Trip you 'save' on an average of 12 damage/round, compared to Lighting Reflexes where you 'save' an average of 7 damage/round.

spectrevk wrote:

I'm willing to be proven wrong on this, but I don't see a problem with the math. The axe has a 5% chance to threaten a critical. The sword has a 10% chance to threaten a critical. The multiplier is only 50% higher. I'm kind of bored with every fighter in the games I play using swords, so I'd love a good reason to pick axes aside from flavor.

That "50%" comes from comparing the wrong numbers, btw. It's +100% damage vs. +200% damage. It's *1 additional damage vs. *2 additional damage.

In a statistically simple world, the battleaxe and longsword are exactly even in the long run. But that's assuming no crit riders and no overkill, no significant DR or need-20-to-hit opponents.

@OP

Let's look at a Longsword vs a Battleaxe, shall we?

Longsword
Price: 15 gp
1. Average damage (d8): 4.5
2. Average critical damage (x2): 9
3. If you apply the percent chance to score a critical to the extra damage (10%, 4.5 extra damage): .45
Total average damage (#1 + #3): 4.95

Battleaxe
Price: 10 gp
1. Average damage (d8): 4.5
2. Average critical damage (x3): 13.5
3. If you apply the percent chance to score a critical to the extra damage (5%, 9 extra damage): .45
Total average damage (#1 + #3): 4.95

Results?
The battleaxe is cheaper to buy and has a higher top end damage, but other than that, the two are the same.

This is critically important. A large majority of the responses in this thread accept that the mathematics posited by the OP is correct, and attempt to justify the weapon via flavor or cost reasons, when in fact the math isn't correct.

Let's extrapolate some, shall we? Assume you're a Level 1 Warrior with no STR score, and you hit a monster with the following rolls:

19, 20

With a Longsword, you will crit on both the 19 and the 20, while with the Battleaxe you will crit only on the 20, while the 19 will be a normal hit:
----------------------------------
Longsword:
Minimum Damage: 2+2 = 4 damage.
Average Damage: 9+9 = 18 damage.
Maximum Damage: 16+16 = 32 damage.

Battleaxe:
Minimum Damage: 3+1 = 4 damage.
Average Damage: 13.5+4.5 = 18 damage.
Maximum Damage: 24+8 = 32 damage.
----------------------------------

It's the same. Even when you add flat damage bonuses such as from enchantments or strength, they scale the same. Heck, let's even throw in a Flaming Burst enchantment, to really complicate things!
----------------------------------

+1 Flaming Burst Longsword:
Minimum Damage: 4[+2] + 4[+2] = 8 slashing [+4 fire damage].
Average Damage: 11[+9] + 11[+9] = 22 slashing [+18 fire damage].
Maximum Damage: 18[+16] + 18[+16] = 36 slashing, [+32 fire damage].

+1 Flaming Burst Battleaxe:
Minimum Damage: 4[+2] + 4[+2] = 8 slashing [+4 fire damage].
Average Damage: 16.5[+14.5] + 5.5[+3.5] = 22 slashing [+18 fire damage].
Maximum Damage: 27[+26] + 9[+6] = 36 damage [+32 fire damage].
----------------------------------
Once again, when you add everything up it's the same. The difference between the two lies in if you as a player prefer:

• larger spikes in damage(battleaxe), useful against single targets or creatures with DR or Resistances.
• more consistent damage(longsword), useful against multiple targets or creatures with no damage mitigation.

Alright, thanks everyone. I think I have a good idea on how to make this work.

I've done some more research on the Darklands, and come up with a solid path going from the surface to Orv utilizing the Endless Gulf... so I guess that takes care of #1 and #3.

I still need help with #2 though. There's a couple cities in the Darklands such as Hagegraf, which tend to be trade-focused and thus would allow PCs in, but once you get deeper I'm still at a loss for how to handle this.

I will be starting a new home game this Saturday, and I want to run it where the players begin on the surface and slowly work their way down into the heart of the Darklands. The concept for the game I have is that something is causing the Black Blood of Orv to spread, which is pushing the creatures spreading out to Sekamina, pushing creatures living in Sekamina to the surface, pushing the ones displaced even further, up until creatures such as the Derro are forced out of their homes and begin attacking surface settlements en-mass. The PCs need to find out why.

That said, there are several parts I need some help figuring out.

1) Setting. I've never done an underground campaign before, so I'm exploring new territory here. I've read the section on the Darklands in the ISWG, and I'm looking through the Pathfinder Wiki now, but I would really appreciate recommendations of resources to look at.

2) Rest Stops. I get the impression that the Darklands tend to be overwhelmingly hostile; as such there won't really be any stereotypical 'village with an inn' for the PCs to stop at between adventures. I want some sort of area where the PCs can rest to regain their bearings, purchase supplies & sell loot, or fall back to as a last resort. What should I use for this?

3) Ecology. I know there's a lot of weird, crazy monsters in the Darklands, like the Intellect Devourers and Neolithids, but I'm not exactly certain what fits where.

Thanks in advance for your help!

Where do Dwarves(and for that matter, Gnomes) primarily live on Golarion? I've seen a smattering presence of them here and there, but they don't seem nearly as predominant as Elves or Orcs, who have their own nations, or Halflings, which just sort of pop up everywhere.

For anyone who is building a new pugwampi character, here are the stats for creation:

-----------------
-6 Str
+2 Dex
-2 Con
+2 Wis
-2 Cha

Pugwampis recieve Toughness and Weapon Finesse as bonus feats.
Pugwampis can see in the dark 120 ft, and have low-light vision.

Pugwampis have a +4 racial bonus to stealth
Pugwampis have a -4 racial penalty to sound-based Perception checks.

Pugwampis have the following ability:

Unluck Aura (Su)

A pugwampi radiates an aura of unluck to a radius of 20 feet. Any creature in this area must roll two d20s whenever a situation calls for a d20 roll (such as an attack roll, a skill check, or a saving throw) and must use the lower of the two results generated. This is a mind-affecting effect that does not work on animals, other gremlins, or gnolls. Any character who gains any sort of luck bonus (such as that granted by a luckstone or divine favor) is immune to the pugwampi unluck aura.

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Oh man, I just had a hilarious thought:

So I'm sure you all know how much people like to differentiate Pathfinder from MMOs or other video games. Almost every thread that discusses GM fudging (I'm actually kind of surprised that this one hasn't gone there yet) will have 2d6 posts with statements to the effect of "I should be able to change things, because this isn't a video game".

You know what's a common feature of video game RPGs? Bosses having immunity to pretty much every worthwhile non-damaging spell/effect, in order to force the fight to last at least a few rounds. It's so common it's even got its own TV Tropes page.

And now we have GMs insisting on implementing that exact same mechanic in PFS.

I'm finding the irony incredibly funny:
"I can fudge, because Pathfinder isn't a video game! Except for the times when I fudge out some of its differences and *make* it more like a video game than it would be if I didn't fudge, but, uh, try not to pay attention to that..."

Bwahahaha! Oh man, I'm having trouble keeping a straight face at work here. The laughter would be hard to explain to a co-worker... :)

Additionally, video games often *do* fudge on the die rolls. I would be surprised if a Pathfinder GM fudged more than any video game. Why? Because you can't see any of the dice in a video game.

When the BBEG in a Pathfinder game rolls four 20s in a row, players chalk it up to terrible luck and continue on.

When the BBEG in a video game 'rolls' four '20s' using it's internal random number generator, players feel cheated and give hell and high water about how the game is broken or rigged, even though the roll was completely fair & random. The best way to stop that is to actually rig the game to never roll more than one '20' in a row.

Point is, the dice rolls in Pathfinder only really work because the GM establishes a covenant of trust and fairness with his players. That covenant is lacking in a video game, which is why video games end up fudging the dice to make the game feel more fair than a true random would be.

There's a Staff in Ultimate Equipment known as the Staff of the Master. The book says there are 8 different staves, one for each school of magic, but an example is only given for one of them(Necromancy). That particular staff allows the wielder to cast three Necromancy spells: Ray of Enfeeblement(1st), Spectral Hand(2nd), and Vampiric Touch(3rd).

It seems like for most games, Staves for the other 7 schools can be created simply by picking a 1st, 2nd and 3rd level spell from the school of the staff, which the staff can then cast. For PFS however, this seems to tread dangerously close to the custom magic items line.

So, how would this work in PFS? The Additional Resources states that all staves on pages 192–203, except the unholy staff, are legal for play. That means the Staff of the Master should be legal, but what spells to we use? Can we chose what spells we want the staff to cast? Will someone create a list of spells specifically for this staff we can use? Or is only the Necromancy staff available, because it's the only example given?

Good to know Mark! Kinda cool that it's a one of a kind familiar, so if he dies, he dies. (I guess you COULD raise him...)

Not if he gets disintegrated, sadly. RIP Riddywhipple... you shall be missed.

why should a club made of silver take a penalty to damage? It's a silly rule.

It doesn't, actually. The CRB includes this lovely line:

On a successful attack with a silvered slashing or piercing weapon, the wielder takes a –1 penalty on the damage roll (with a minimum of 1 point of damage).

That said, I do agree that even for the piercing and slashing weapons it's an unnecessary tidbit which over-complicates things.

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An another interesting option, is the Forgemaster Cleric.

It trades Channel, for intelligence based abilities.

You will be able to craft the party an assortment magic items.

This is what I was going to recommend once I saw the stats:

• It's an interesting, versatile class.
• It doesn't get played often due to the odd stat requirements.
• Due to your odd stats, the class fits extraordinarily well.

For those reasons, I would suggest the Forgemaster over all the other suggestions in this thread. Any character with a half-decent DEX and WIS can be an Inquisitor or Gunslinger; any character with a good DEX and INT can be a Magus. Forgemaster stands out as something that is uniquely suited to the particular stats you've rolled.

Writer wrote:

This is how you do it

How did I not know about that feat? That's going in my back pocket.

Probably due to the high prerequisites. At it's core it isn't that great(Let's spend 3 feats for a -4 to hit and 2 DR) but it gets better if you combine it with Combat Expertise or Crane Style(though 5 feats for a -2 to hit and 4 DR isn't what I would call game-breaking either).

I would even say it's probably not worth it unless you can grab the prerequisites as bonus feats(From Unbreakable Fighter, as the OP did, or from Monk of Many Styles).

First, you can only ever get 2 direct attacks with this hex, Haste & the haste arcana do not stack with spell combat you use one or the other each round currently.

I believe that is incorrect. From the Magus class:

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... etc.

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.

The extra attack from using Spell Combat/Spell Strike function as an extra attack from Two-Weapon Fighting, NOT as an extra attack from an ability such as Haste or Speed. As such, Haste/Speed abilities stack with Spell Combat.

I have a Cleric of Urgathoa running through the Thornkeep dungeon who just hit 3rd level. She took the Alternate Channel for food, so living creatures who fail their will save versus her channel become Fatigued from starvation.

I took Selective Channel for my first level feat OFC(don't want to be fatiguing the party), but I'm not sure about my third level feat. I was considering Shatter Resolve to make enemies who fail the save Shaken as well as Fatigued, but we have run into several undead so far so Command Undead would be really nice to have as well.

Which one would be better?

Adding greater invisibility to a babau increases its damage per round assumption from about 28 to about 49. Taking away their spears only lowers the damage per round by a few points.

That's a change in damage per round of a CR 6 creature to a CR 11 creature, but doesn't adjust upward the babau's hit points or attack numbers or saves or DC saves, so it makes for a pretty lopsided encounter. I wouldn't recommend this.

How do you determine what the damage/round of each CR should be?

I don't know why everyone is here assuming that as soon as I detect evil on a character, I pull out my sword and lop his head off. No, of course not - I haven't gone full retard. It's just information I use that guides my character's interactions with the NPC. An evil NPC, my paladin would never trust or do any favors for and would be super suspicious of.

it also got me OUT of combat one time since I ran across a party of goblins in the wilderness at level 1 and was going to come out swinging, but I detected evil on them and got nothing. So, I diplomacied instead.

Note that creatures of less than 5 HD that are evil won't have an evil aura(unless they're undead or serve an evil deity). Goblins are typically Lv 1 Warriors, which means Detect Evil won't ping even if the goblins are evil.

Step 1: Be a Half-Elf.
Step 2: Cast Paragon Surge(Extra Evolution).
Step 3: Take Skilled(Whatever skill you need).
Step 4: Instant +8 bonus to any skill, which stacks with all other modifiers.

Thanks.

I have a Diviner Wizard(Opposed Abjuration & Enchantment) in PFS who has started taking levels in Pathfinder Savant, and I'm looking for spells to take for Esoteric Magic. The ability states the following:

At each class level beyond 1st, the Pathfinder Savant chooses a spell from any class’s spell list and thereafter treats it as if it were on the spell list of his base spellcasting classes; if his base class could not normally cast that spell, it is treated as 1 level higher.

This ability caused some confusion about what was possible in the past, I think thatJames Jacobs's take on this is fair, so that's how I'll run it for PFS. So, assuming we take all spells at +1 spell level, what are some good picks for this?

I picked up Litany of Sloth from the Inquisitor list, and I was considering Death Knell next. I also like the looks of Bloodsworn Retribution and Blessing of the Champion from the Paladin list. Any other good picks?

James, the Pathfinder Savant's Esoteric Magic ability says the following:

At each class level beyond 1st, the Pathfinder Savant chooses a spell from any class’s spell list and thereafter treats it as if it were on the spell list of his base spellcasting classes; if his base class could not normally cast that spell, it is treated as 1 level higher.

Since wizards already have Bestow Curse on their spell list, with this ability could a Wizard select Bestow Curse from the Cleric spell list and thereafter cast it as a 3rd level spell(like clerics do), instead of a 4th level spell(like wizards normally do)?

Halflings.

I love the idea of opening up some classes that normally wouldn't be legal, such as the Daggermark Poisoner or Razmiran Priest.

Maybe the ability to take some sort of specialized Pathfinder feat or trait upon character creation? Something like 'Aspis Hunter' for rangers maybe, which gives you a favored enemy bonus v.s. the Aspis consortium.

It would also be neat to have some sort of ability related to the new story arc, whatever Season 5 is.

Ability to summon

Huh. So, I just realized that an Echoing MM Rod could be a potentially interesting purchase as well; for 14,000 gp, I get the ability to recast any 1st, 2nd or 3rd level spell 3/day. Not very practical on 1st level spells, but on 2nd and 3rd level spells this is strictly cheaper than Pearls of Power for a very similar effect(downside is you need the rod in hand when you cast them, upside is you don't need a standard action to retrieve it).

Hmm... Blessed Book seems useful, and I really like the Jaunt Boots. The Persistent Rod also sounds lovely.

I've already got plenty of scrolls; that's where most of my money went previously(and why I have so few items).

Staff of Fire would be neat, but lacks diversity. I don't exactly want to blow most of my budget on a couple extra fireballs each day.

I've got a 8th-level Wizard who just came into a big pile of money. After filling up my spellbook and expanding my scroll collection into a library, I have 23,000 gp left over to spend; I'm not sure on what, though. Right now all I have is the following:

-Handy Haversack
-INT Headband +2
-4 Lv1 Pearls
-1 Lv2 Pearl

Other than upgrading the headband to a +4, I'm not sure what else to get. Any ideas?

After running a few more scenarios, I'm amending my list to include Haunting of Hinoji and Jester's Fraud.

Anybody?

Erm... so... while I believe your interpretation is correct ValandilT, is there a particular reason you cast Animate Dead on this thread? It is several months old, after all.

I would also go with the Magic Missile wand. It really helps to have a 'yes' button. Demons? Yes. Constructs? Yes. Elementals? Yes. Humanoids? Yes. Aquatic? Yes. Flying? Yes. Dragons? Yes. Undead? Yes. It works on everything but shielded targets, which do exist, but are rare enough to make it very worthwhile to pick one up.

Specifically, I'm thinking about the spell Bestow Grace of the Champion, though this is also applicable to spells like Holy Word or Order's Wrath. If I have a LN or CG character, is there any way to make these spells affect them as if they were Lawful Good?

Way to run a magic mart? Contract the Red Mantis to kill anyone who robs you. Done. Fear keeps everyone in line.

If you're more concerned with prevention, the OP's method works, but only for a 'Chain' of stores with a centralized location. For smaller shops, throwing up Dimensional Lock + Symbol of Revelation probably isn't a bad idea.

Dying and going to Heaven?

Immortality without becoming undead is available to anyone with money though:

• Get a ring that'll cast Magic Jar once a day. Better yet: get two.
• Have a Simulacrum made of whatever body you'd like.
• Have the Binding (Minimus Containment) spell cast on you.

Your real body will be inside a bottle and does not require any food or air, nor does it age. You can Magic Jar into your Simulacrum for hours on end, since the spell doesn't require any Line of Effect and the creature cannot disobey an order never to resist.

Neat. I've never heard of that before, but it's kind of like a non-evil way to create a phylactery(only instead of storing your soul, it stores your body).

There is the drawback of only having half your hitpoints, though.

The real advantage of this build is the ability to fight and win in close quarters where there is not enough room to draw and wield larger weapons. In restrictive areas like small tunnels and the like the dagger is the ideal weapon.

Maby make a tunnel rat fighter.

Realistically, yes. Mechanically however, there are no advantages associated with smaller weapons in Pathfinder; even if you're Squeezing in a 2 ft. wide tunnel, you can swing a 6 ft. greatsword just as easy as you can stab with a 6 inch dagger.

I have to disagree with casting it to appear in mid air. Cloudkill is a conjuration:

Conjuration: A creature or object brought into being or transported to your location by a conjuration spell cannot appear inside another creature or object, nor can it appear floating in an empty space. It must arrive in an open location on a surface capable of supporting it.

So the cloudkill must be cast so as to be touching the ground.
But, it's 20' high, so if you can see a point over the castle wall 20' up, you should be able to cast the spell inside the walls.

I don't think Cloudkill counts as a creature or object though... it's an effect.

wraithstrike wrote:

The game assumes that the correct spell components are always in the spell component pouch, so unless they cost money I don't track them. The beauty of the Eschew Materials feat is not that you don't have to track anything. It is that you don't have to worry about the spell component pouch being sundered.

Yes I will sunder that bag, even though I have not done it yet. As a player I make sure to carry more than one in case a GM ever does it to me.

Well Eschew only takes care of components up to 1 gp.

False Focus will take care of components up to 100gp(but requires a Holy Symbol).

If it is a spontaneous discount, it can't really be abused since you always sell items at 1/2 what you bought it for in PFS.

I always vote to play up, and I know several others at my FLGS who do as well. Death is common, but the games are more interesting and we're generally prepared with contingencies. It makes the game feel more like the dangerous adventuring it is and not something any ol' commoner could do.

I used it quite extensively on my wizard prior to the 4.3 update. Now that scribing spells is less expensive, the spell is significantly less useful, though if you really want to save that 50 gp it you may want to prepare it.

An average adult human has ~5 pints of blood. If you want to cast Blood Transcription 5 times, go ahead and learn all of the spells.

It's important to note that you can't actually cast the spell until after it's scribed in your spellbook; the act of learning the spell doesn't actually let you cast the spell.

What alignment are you looking for? True neutral?

Yep.

What would happen if my faction did get axed? Would I just have to pick a new one?

I'm starting a new character who will be a Separatist cleric of Urgathoa, but I'm having a little trouble pinning down a faction for her. I plan on playing her as a bit of a hedonist, but I'm uncertain where to place her. Scarnzi(for greed), Taldor(for decadence), or Cheliax(for the tender flesh puppets...?) all seem like viable options, but they all have some downsides as well.

Of the 3, I've only played Cheliax before, which was a lot of fun. As my cleric won't be super-lawful though, I'm not sure how well it would fit this concept.

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First off, he has a revolver, so reloading isn't an issue. Ammunition cost is why he almost never uses the thing.

Second off, he has a full kit now, and he's still made worthless by any enemy with even the tiniest of DR that isn't /Piercing or /Bludgeoning.

It should only cost him 1.1gp/shot if he's making his own ammunition(as he should). Even if me makes all of his ammo Cold Iron, which isn't a bad idea, they would all be 1.2gp. That's hardly prohibitive; even Silver bullets would only cost 1.5gp and Adamantine ones 7gp. Compared to 180gp or 3,000gp for a silver or adamantine sword, respectively, that's nothing.

So why is DR a problem, again?

The pistol firearms do such pitiful damage[...]

Okay... so let's take a level 3 gunslinger with a revolver(1d8) and throw in point-blank shot(+1), and rapid shot(extra attack).

In total, that's 2d8+2 damage/round, or an average of 11 damage.

Now, let's take a level 3 fighter with a longsword(1d8) and throw in power attack(+2), Weapon Focus(+1 to-hit), and weapon specialization(+2 damage), as well as 16 strength(+3).

In total, that is 1d6+7 damage/round, or an average of 10.5 damage.

Both have the same to-hit, both deal roughly equal damage, but the gunslinger is still targeting Touch AC.

I ended up having him hide in one of the cubbyholes, and when one of the party members disturbed the shrine he jumped out and started attacking. It was a very interesting encounter, because the party had only one member who could cast Daylight, but he was the one who disturbed the shrine(and thus was the first one submerged in the Silence+Deeper Darkness).

I was expecting a few deaths based on the way the fight got triggered, but everyone actually made it out alive due to impressive co-ordination among the party members, which was great to see.

That prep drive is near Myron, I'll have to prepare that stuff if I ever run this again(I really hope to, actually).

Per the CRB,

"If a creature has damage reduction from more than one source, the two forms of damage reduction do not stack. Instead, the creature gets the benefit of the best damage reduction in a given situation."

At times, however, Damage Reduction is specified to stack with other types of Damage Reduction.

That's the general rule, but I'm wondering if this does count as coming from the same source in this case, considering that you're gaining the DR as a class ability, and all other class abilities tend to stack(Sneak Attack, Uncanny Dodge, Trapfinding, Domains, etc.)

One important thing to note is that the two extra spells per level are NOT spells per day; rather, they are merely spells known. So the magus will have a larger variety of spells to prepare in the mornings, but he still gets the same number of spells.