I'm inclined towards joining PFS at a convention this month. After being indecisive, I'm gravitating towards the idea of a gunslinger that slays undead in the name of Pharasma. Any advice on this? I want to wield a pistol and have divine spellcasting. Otherwise, I'm open to any suggestions.
I have all the hardcover rulebooks, but not any of the campaign setting or player companion material.
You could go a couple of different ways. You could make an Inquisitor with the Black Powder Inquisition, or a Trophy Hunter Ranger with Undead as a favored class.
A Gunslinger/Inquisitor would be a solid choice. A single level of Gunslinger to pick up all the feats, and the rest Inquisitor for spellcasting, judgments, and bane to boost damage.
Yeah, scrap what I said. Neither the Black Powder Inquisition or Trophy Hunter Archetypes are legal for society play.
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Spellslinger wizard is out too. You would need to take a single level of Gunslinger and then cleric after that. If this is to play at a con and you have never played PFS before, you will need to start at level 1, and play those sessions either as a cleric without a gun or a gunslinger who isn't a cleric.
Spellslinger wizard is out too. You would need to take a single level of Gunslinger and then cleric after that. If this is to play at a con and you have never played PFS before, you will need to start at level 1, and play those sessions either as a cleric without a gun or a gunslinger who isn't a cleric.
Yeah, they pretty much ban any way to have a gun without taking the gunslinger class. Would you recommend inquistor/gunslinger or cleric/gunslinger? I'm not familiar with the inquistor class, so I'm not sure what advantages it has over a cleric.
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Inquisitor is going to be more effective at combat and social skills at the cost of reduced spellcasting. It really depends on the focus you want on your character. And whatever you do, prepare Abundant Ammunition.
Would abundant ammunition work with paper cartridges or black powder?
I never considered Mysterious Stranger / Oracle. It would be risky, but I could probably offset that with the right choices. Though, I dont see the appeal of dual-cursed.
Would you recommend inquistor/gunslinger or cleric/gunslinger? I'm not familiar with the inquistor class, so I'm not sure what advantages it has over a cleric.
Gunslinger5/InquisitorX is really a more interesting gunslinger. 5 levels of gunslinger gets most of the useful parts of that class, thereafter it gets a bit 'samey' and lacks anything other than 'I shoot it'.
Adding inquisitor makes everything more fun, but most combats are likely to still revolve around shooting things. Having spells is nice; inquisition/domain abilities are nice; the bane and judgement abilities are simply fun. However, the emphasis would still be on shooting things.
Taking less than 5 levels of gunslinger means you don't get to add dex to damage, and if you're a musket master less than 3 levels means you don't get free action reloads.
Inquisitors, as a quick overview/feel of the class, are Holy Warriors like Paladins but where you can choose your deity/alignment/code. It works well without using a gun at all.
Clerics are primary spellcasters, and taking any level that doesn't increase spellcasting always feels like you're weakening the character rather than adding something to it.
Would abundant ammunition work with paper cartridges or black powder?
It's left unclear. Technically, you could say it would only work on the actual bullets, but I've never had a GM who insisted on that.
On the other hand (pun intended), the Reloading Hands spell will reload your gun for you, once per round, which is even better than having free ammo, once you've levelled up a few times and the odd 100gp feels like spare change rather than a fortune.
Beneficial Bandolier and Endless Bandolier are also extremely useful to a gunslinger.
Oh, and trying to use 'mending' to fix your gun if you don't have quick clear? Not useful except out of combat because it takes 10 minutes to cast.
Your concept is really hindered by the PFS limitation of the gun using archetypes. You essentially want to either dip 1 gunslinger just for gun access or go 5 for dex to dmg. I dont recommend trying to do 5 levels of gunslinger as by that point you want even begin to play your character as your concept until half way through his PFS life.
If you did one level inquisitor offers judgment and bane to make up damage. They also get 6 skill ranks and access to most divine spells that would be relevant to you, and some others clerics dont get (divine favor and weapon of awe for dmg, also gets heroism, invisibility, and see invisibility clerics dont). This is probably the strongest concept mechanically and thematically.
If you want to be more caster focused mysterious stranger/oracle is better in my opinion than cleric as, due to the shorter nature of PFS, the limited uses of CHA to dmg should still prove sufficient.
The biggest draw of cleric, to me, is getting new spell levels earlier. I dont really see Pharasmas domains as being very ranged friendly.So basically at this point you just have to set your priorities between damage with your gun, skills, and casting.
Yeah, now I'm starting to second guess my concept because of PFS limitations. It disheartens me because I have a million character concepts I'm dying to play and nearly all of them are either illegal, wouldn't suit a game with many people and limited roleplaying, or involve material I do not have.
Inquisitor with a one-level dip gunslinger sounds like the best option to me. Cleric sounds good with channel energy (perhaps refluffed as a holy blast from his gun or something), but having more skills appeals to me. The warpriest from ACG looked rather cool, but almost all of its abilities rely on melee attacks.
Unfortunately, Ancestral Weapon specifies a Simple or Martial weapon, so you can't use it to summon a backup firearm.I thought that firearms counted for martial weapons. Oh well.
Depends on the setting: 'emerging guns' is the default assumption, so guns are exotic; 'guns everywhere' (iirc) makes firearms count as simple weapons. There's a middle level too where firearms are martial.
Actually, the warpriest looks pretty enticing now. They can cast spells on themselves as a swift action, get Weapon Focus and other bonus feats, and they have a full BAB when using weapons for which they have weapon focus. It's also flavorfully neat that I can have a gun that's labeled as a "sacred weapon." I'm torn between that or an inquisitor.
Depends on the setting: 'emerging guns' is the default assumption, so guns are exotic; 'guns everywhere' (iirc) makes firearms count as simple weapons. There's a middle level too where firearms are martial.Unfortunately, Ancestral Weapon specifies a Simple or Martial weapon, so you can't use it to summon a backup firearm.I thought that firearms counted for martial weapons. Oh well.
This is PFS, though.