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I began the Iron Gods adventure path with only three player characters. Two of them took the Local Ties campaign trait that makes them friends of technowizard Khonnir Baine.
They derailed the plot early to gain additional support from the town of Torch, who offered them a minor (i.e., first level) NPC to aid them. The NPC they wanted was Val Baine, Khonnir's teenage daughter of barbarian Kellid ethnicity. I am willing to bump her up to first level to accompany the party. Her father already started training her as another wizard, and she cast the cantrip Jolt in combat, but the players suggested the Savage Technologist archetype for barbarian.
I will compromise and try to apply the Savage Technologist to the bloodrager class, so her abilities can be barbaric, arcane, and technological. The PCs are a gunslinger, magus, and skald, and Val's class and archetype will be influenced by each of them and by her father. Hence, she will be a Savage Spellslinger.
The next session is delayed by Christmas vacation, so I have time to tweak the archetype. Any suggestions for improvement? Val's attributes will be Str 14, Dex 14, Con 13, Int 12, Wis 10, Cha 16.
Savage Spellslinger
Though most bloodragers express their inner arcane power through ferocious bloodrage, others are seduced by easy access to manufactured weapons and channel their arcane nature into advanced tools of war.
Weapon and Armor Proficiency
A savage spellslinger is proficient with all simple and martial weapons, all firearms, and light armor.
(Firearm proficiency replaces heavy armor proficiency.)
Bloodrage (Ex)
When a savage spellslinger enters bloodrage, she gains a morale bonus to Dexterity instead of Constitution, and she does not take a penalty to Armor Class. She retains the bonuses to Strength and Will saving throws. When a barbarian or bloodrager ability would increase the savage spellslinger's Constitution due to raging, it increases her Dexterity instead.
This ability alters bloodrage.
Cantrips (Su)
At 1st level, the savage spellslinger gains the ability to cast 0-level sorcerer spells even while bloodraging. She can also cast these spells defensively and can make concentration checks for these spells while bloodraging. Nevertheless, her caster level is three less than her bloodrager level, so at first level her caster level is negative two and takes a caster level penalty instead of a caster level bonus.
At 1st level she knows a bonus spell based on her bloodline. She learns Acid Splash if her bloodline is Aberrant, Arcane, or Fey. She learns Ray of Frost if her bloodline is Abyssal, Black Blood, or Undead. She learns Jolt (Acid Orb with electricity instead of acid) if her bloodline is Celestial or Destined. She learns Ray of Fire (Ray of Frost with fire instead of cold) if her bloodlines are Infernal or Kyton. She learns whichever one of those four cantrips matches her bloodline's energy type if her bloodline is Draconic or Elemental.
At every level from 2nd level to 7th level, she learns an additional 0-level spell of her choice from the sorcercer/wizard list.
This ability replaces shield proficiency and Blood Sanctuary.
Spell Loading
At 2nd level, a savage spellslinger can treat a hand holding a firearm as free for spellcasting.
In addition, if she casts any ranged spell that requires an attack roll while holding a firearm, she may load that spell as a held charge inside the firearm. A spell, such as Searing Touch, that gives multiple attack rolls instead creates multiple charges with only one attack roll each. The charge is lost if the weapon is reloaded, if the caster no linger carries the weapon, or if the caster loads another spell into any firearm.
When the Savage Spellslinger attacks with the firearm, she may either use the firearm as normal or expend a held charge in the firearm to finish casting the spell. The firearm's masterwork or enhancement bonus (if any) is a bonus to the spell’s attack roll, but not to its damage. The firearm's chance for misfire or glitch also apply. On a misfire or glitch, the firearm is not affected, but the spell is lost and the misfire deals 1d4 plus the level of the spell damage to the caster. If the spell had an energy type, the misfire deals energy damage of that type; otherwise, it deals force damage.
Sword and Gun (Ex)
At 2nd level, when a raging savage technologist wields a one-handed firearm in one hand and a light or one-handed melee weapon in the other, she can make ranged attacks with the firearm, including held-charge spell attacks, without provoking attacks of opportunity.
Sword and Gun and Spell Loading replace uncanny dodge.
Crack Shot (Ex)
At 5th level, a savage technologist adds her Dexterity modifier to her damage rolls when making ranged attacks with a firearm while raging.
This ability replaces improved uncanny dodge.
Design Notes
The Savage Technologist archetype for the barbarian replaces a few class skills, heavy armor proficiency, the Constitution bonus from rage, uncanny dodge, and improved uncanny dodge. Bloodrager has all that. I could have applied the Savage Technologist archetype directly to bloodrager.
However, the Savage Technologist's change to rage ability redirects the original rage bonus to Constitution over to Dexterity instead, and then directs further rage-based bonuses to Consitution over to Strength. I simplified this to redirecting Con to Dex in all cases.
Val was already casting cantrips, so I wanted to fit them in, too. I believe that Paizo designers denied cantrips to the bloodrager because they wanted the bloodrager to not count as a caster before fourth level, like a ranger and paladin, who also lack cantrips. Giving cantrips before giving first level spells would obfuscate the caster level of the character. I am willing to risk the chaos of a caster starting with a negative caster level.
Next, the Savage Technologist's Sword and Gun ability is less impressive to a bloodrager. Avoiding an attack of opportunity for a ranged attack is less important for a spellcaster than avoiding an attack of opportunity for spellcasting. And the option of two-weapon fighting with a sword in one hand and a gun in the other is not as fun when that leaves no hand free for spellcasting.
Yet the Spellslinger archetype for the wizard could cast spells through her gun. A Savage Spellslinger could have sword, gun, and spells all at hand one every round. Sounds like fun.
The Spell Loading ability is less powerful than the Spellslinger's Arcane Gun ability. It replaced only the limited Two-Weapon Fighting feat granted by the Savage Technologist's Sword and Gun ability, so balance limits its power. However, the Savage Spellslinger can load a single-barrel gun with a bullet and a spell before combat to be able to shoot twice before reloading.
You can do whatever you want since it's just an NPC.
However, the archetype doesn't make fair trades at all. Gaining a bonus to Dexterity is a significantly better boon than gaining a bonus to Constitution. The archetype trades one defensive ability for two strong abilities. And it gives up improved uncanny dodge in exchange for gun training, which is ridiculous.
Finally, bloodragers don't have proficiency in heavy armor.
You can do whatever you want since it's just an NPC.
The game will be more fun if the NPC is balanced.
However, the archetype doesn't make fair trades at all. Gaining a bonus to Dexterity is a significantly better boon than gaining a bonus to Constitution. The archetype trades one defensive ability for two strong abilities. And it gives up improved uncanny dodge in exchange for gun training, which is ridiculous.
The Crack Shot ability had seemed awfully strong to me, too. I copied it directly from Savage Technologist. Any suggstions for a more balanced ability? Perhaps I should give Uncanny Dodge at fifth level instead.
The bonus to Dex also came from Savage Technologist. It too appears strong, but the original phrasing redirecting some of the bonus to Strength was too convoluted. How about if this Dex bonus cannot be applied to AC? Or I could make it a Charisma bonus instead to increase Intimidation and DC on the bloodrager spells.
The Spell Loading ability avoids having to juggle weapons to be able to cast a spell. The ability to load a ranged spell into the firearm was to make up for difficulty in reloading. It seemed more convenient than powerful to me.
I guess I could drop the Gun and Sword ability.
Finally, bloodragers don't have proficiency in heavy armor.
Thank you for spotting the typographical error about heavy armor. I should have typed "medium armor." I also said "Searing Touch" when I meant "Scorching Ray."
Second version
Savage Spellslinger
Though most bloodragers express their inner arcane power through ferocious bloodrage, others are seduced by access to manufactured weapons and channel their arcane nature into advanced tools of war.
Weapon and Armor Proficiency
A savage spellslinger is proficient with all simple and martial weapons, all firearms, and light armor.
(Firearm proficiency replaces medium armor proficiency.)
Cantrips (Su)
At 1st level, the savage spellslinger gains the ability to cast 0-level sorcerer spells even while bloodraging. She can also cast these spells defensively and can make concentration checks for these spells while bloodraging. Nevertheless, her caster level is three less than her bloodrager level, so at first level her caster level is negative two and takes a caster level penalty instead of a caster level bonus.
+
At 1st level she knows a bonus spell based on her bloodline. She learns Acid Splash if her bloodline is Aberrant, Arcane, or Fey. She learns Ray of Frost if her bloodline is Abyssal, Black Blood, or Undead. She learns Jolt (Acid Orb with electricity instead of acid) if her bloodline is Celestial or Destined. She learns Ray of Fire (Ray of Frost with fire instead of cold) if her bloodlines are Infernal or Kyton. She learns whichever one of those four cantrips matches her bloodline's energy type if her bloodline is Draconic or Elemental.
At every level from 2nd level to 7th level, she learns an additional 0-level spell of her choice from the sorcerer/wizard list.
This ability replaces shield proficiency and Blood Sanctuary.
Steady Hand
A savage spellslinger does not suffer a penalty to AC from bloodraging nor to Dexterity from fatigue.
A savage spellsinger can combine sheathing one light or one-handed melee weapon or one light or one-handed firearm with a regular move. If she has the Quick Draw feat, she sheathe such weapons as a free action.
If a savage spellslinger wields a melee weapon two-handed or a primary natural weapon during bloodrage, she adds her Strength bonus to weapon damage rather than 1.5 times (or 2 times) her Strength bonus. Likewise, the bonus to damage from Power Attack and similar feats is not increased by 50% when she makes an attack that would ordinarily add 1.5 times her Strength modifier on damage rolls.
Spell Loading (Su)
At 2nd level, whenever a savage spellslinger casts any ranged spell that requires an attack roll while holding a firearm, she may treat the hand holding the firearm as free for spellcasting and load that spell as a held charge inside the firearm. Spell still provokes an attack of opportunity for spellcasting. It does not provide a free action to attack with the charge. A spell, such as Scorching Ray, that gives multiple attack rolls instead creates multiple charges with only one attack roll each. The charge is lost if the weapon is reloaded, if the caster no longer carries the weapon, if the caster loads another spell into any firearm, or after one hour passes.
When the Savage Spellslinger attacks with the firearm, she may either use the firearm as normal or expend a held charge in the firearm to enact the spell. The firearm's broken condition, masterwork, magical enhancement, and weapon focus apply to the spell’s attack roll, but not to its damage. The firearm's chance for misfire or glitch also apply. On a misfire or glitch, the firearm is not affected, but the spell is lost and the misfire deals 1d4 plus the level of the spell damage to the caster. If the spell had an energy type, the misfire deals energy damage of that type; otherwise, it deals force damage.
At 6th level, a savage spellslinger can reload the firearm without losing held charges in it.
This ability replaces Uncanny Dodge.
Painful Shot (Ex)
At 5th level, when a savage spellslinger attacks with a firearm, she can spend a round of bloodraging to add her Constitution modifier to her damage roll. She must spend the round before making the attack roll. She does not have to be bloodraging while doing so, but bloodraging yields a higher Constitution modifier.
This ability replaces Improved Uncanny Dodge.
Design Notes
For the first version of the Savage Spellslinger, I combined the Savage Technologist and Spellslinger along with a dash of cantrips to create an archetype as powerful as Savage Technologist. But that version appears to be too powerful because Savage Technologist is too powerful. Cyrad noted that the Bloodrager's abilities were replaced by more powerful abilities, but I had copied those replacements from Savage Technologist.
The issue is that a savage technologist barbarian would be MAD (Multiple Attribute Dependent). A barbarian depends on Strength and Constitution. A savage technologist barbarian needs Dexterity, too, in order to be able to make accurate firearm attacks. The designer of savage technologist invented a clever workaround: have rage boost Dexterity so that a savage technologist barbarian could have good Dexterity whenever necessary.
The workaround, unfortunately, can be abused. Apply one of the methods of adding a character's Dexterity modifier to melee damage, and create a savage technologist barbarian that depends only on Dexterity and Constitution. The dexterity barbarian would not be MAD, so it could be devastating in its focus on damage and as strong at range as in melee.
Hence, for balance, I need to drop the Dexterity boost from rage. The savage spellslinger's rage ability goes back to normal. Bloodrager is more MAD than barbarian, and savage spellslinger bloodrager is more MAD that bloodrager. Her lack of specialization has to become her strength.
I had a plan for the first version: a first-level savage spellslinger could make a ranged attack while closing in for a melee attack. Ray of Frost would provide that ranged attack before she purchases a firearm, but a bow would be even better. Without shield proficiency, the character could hold her bow on her spare hand while attacking with a one-handed melee weapon. Once the savage spellslinger could acquire a firearm, she would use the sword and gun style advocated by the savage technologist's Sword and Gun ability.
That vision had a few bugs to work out. First, two-handed weapons are much better for barbarians than one-handed weapons, overshadowing sword and gun. Second, a melee weapon in one hand and a firearm in the other leaves no hands available for spellcasting. Most spells have a somatic component. Third, the rage-fatigue cycle common for a low-level barbarian would result in her often using her firearm while fatigued. Fourth, the MAD character would deal damage more slowly, so would need better defenses.
The Steady Hand ability attempts to correct those problems. Since the ability combines both advantages and disadvantages, it does not need to replace any bloodrager ability.
Next, savage spellslinger would need to make her firearm work as well as a gunslinger's. She could use the Mending cantrip as a much slower alternative to the gunslinger's Quick Clear deed. Okay, I have another reason for the cantrips. The savage technologist's Crack Shot ability is all the Gunslinger's Gun Training abilities rolled into one and given the disadvantage of only during bloodrage, only a minor disadvantage at fifth level with at least 12 rouinds of bloodrage a day. The savage spellslinger needs that same ability, but I was able to increase the cost.
The Spell Loading ability is minor. She can start combat with one bullet and one spell loaded into her firearm, which improves her action economy by avoiding one reload. Other than that, spell loading hurts her action economy. I left it in for fun. It does not combine with Deadly Aim but it does combine with Painful Shot. Is that clear from the description?
Thus, the second version savage spellslinger has abilities a little more powerful than the ones they replace, but they force the savage spellslinger to be MAD to use them, which should weaken her.
Third version
Savage Spellslinger
Though most bloodragers express their inner arcane power through ferocious bloodrage, others are seduced by access to manufactured weapons and channel their arcane nature into advanced tools of war.
Weapon and Armor Proficiency
A savage spellslinger is proficient with all simple and martial weapons, all firearms, light armor, and medium armor.
A savage spellslinger can cast bloodrager spells while wearing light armor without incurring the normal arcane spell failure chance. This does not affect the arcane spell failure chance for arcane spells received from other classes. Like other arcane spellcasters, a savage spellslinger wearing medium or heavy armor or wielding a shield incurs a chance of arcane spell failure if the spell in question has somatic components.
(Firearm proficiency replaces shield proficiency. Another ability replaces the freedom from arcane spell failure due to wearing medium armor.)
Cantrips (Su)
At 1st level, the savage spellslinger gains the ability to cast bloodrager cantrips even while bloodraging. She can also cast these spells defensively and can make concentration checks for these spells while bloodraging. She counts as a 1st-level caster for first through fourth level.
At 1st level she knows one bloodrager cantrip named Flicker Shot.
Flicker Shot
School evocation;
Casting Time 1 standard action;
Components V, S;
Range 40 ft.;
Effect a ball of energy;
Duration instantaneous;
Saving Throw none;
Spell Resistance No;
You shoot a flickering ball of energy that deals 1d3 energy damage when it strikes a target with a successful ranged touch attack. The energy type is acid, cold, electricity, or fire, chosen when the attack is rolled. This spell has no critical hits if the caster has base attack bonus below +4. The critical range and multiplier of Flicker Shot is 19-20/x2 for casters with BAB +4. The multiplier increases to x3 for casters with BAB +7 and x4 for casters with BAB +10.
A savage spellslinger before 10th level can cast only acidic Flicker Shots if her bloodline is Aberrant, Arcane, or Fey, cold Flicker Shots if her bloodline is Abyssal, Black Blood, or Undead, electric Flicker Shots if her bloodline is Celestial or Destined, fire Flicker Shots if her bloodlines are Infernal or Kyton, and Flicker Shots of her bloodline's energy type if her bloodline is Draconic or Elemental. At 7th level, she learns all four energy types for Flicker Shots.
At 2nd level she learns two additional 0-level spells of her choice from the sorcercer/wizard list. At 3rd, 6th, and 9th levels she learns one additional 0-level spell of her choice from the sorcercer/wizard list. The chosen cantrips are bloodrager spells for this character.
This ability replaces the lack of arcane spell failure from wearing medium armor.
Steady Hand (Ex)
A savage spellslinger does not suffer a penalty to Dexterity from fatigue.
A savage spellsinger can combine sheathing one light or one-handed melee weapon or one light or one-handed firearm with a regular move, with drawing a weapon, or both. If she has the Quick Draw feat, she can sheathe such weapons as a free action.
If a savage spellslinger wields a melee weapon two-handed or a primary natural weapon during bloodrage, she adds her Strength bonus to weapon damage rather than 1.5 times (or 2 times) her Strength bonus. Likewise, the bonus to damage from Power Attack and similar feats is not increased by 50% when she makes an attack during bloodrage that would ordinarily add 1.5 times her Strength modifier on damage rolls.
Spell Loading (Su)
At 3rd level, a savage spellslinger can cast any spell that requires a ranged attack roll in order to load that spell as a held charge inside a firearm she holds. The charge is lost if the savage spellslinger no longer carries the weapon in hand or holstered, if she loads another spell into any firearm, or after two hours pass. She can reload a firearm without losing held charges in it.
Bloodrager and sorcerer cantrips for spell loading include Flicker Shot, Acid Splash, Disrupt Undead, and Ray of Frost. First-level bloodrager spells for spell loading include Mudball, Ray of Enfeeblement, Ray of Sickening, and Shock Arrow. Second-level bloodrager spells for spell loading include Acid Arrow, Molten Orb, Scorching Ray, Shatter (single target mode), and Stone Discus. Third-level bloodrager spells for spell loading include Force Hook Charge, Gloomblind Bolts, and Ray of Exhaustion. Fourth-level bloodrager spells for spell loading include Enervation. Metamagic that converts a touch spell into a ranged touch spell adds to this list.
For spell loading, the savage spellslinger can treat the hand holding the firearm as free for spellcasting. Casting a spell to spell load still provokes an attack of opportunity as usual. It does not provide a free action to attack with the charge. A spell, such as Scorching Ray and Stone Discus, that gives multiple attacks instead creates multiple held charges with only one attack each. A spell that allows one attack per turn over multiple rounds can create multiple held charges, but the held charges are loaded indivdually at the beginning of the turns.
When the savage spellslinger attacks with the firearm, she may either use the firearm as normal or expend a held charge in the firearm to enact the effect of the spell. Shooting a held charge from a firearm is a weapon attack with the firearm and uses the firearm's modifiers to the attack, such as broken condition, masterwork, magical enhancement, Weapon Focus(firearms), Deadly Aim, and Arcane Strike, to the spell's attack. However, the shot's range increment is the spell's range rather than the firearm's range increment. The shot's critical range and multiplier are also the those of the spell. Damage modifiers apply only to spells that deal damage, and use the damage type of the spell. (Painful Shot can convert a held charge into one that deals damage). The firearm's chance for misfire (or glitch for technological firearms) apply to the spell. On a misfire or glitch, the firearm is not affected, but the held charge is lost and the misfire deals 1d3 damage to the savage spellslinger of the type the spell would have dealt, or force damage for non-damage spells.
This ability replaces Blood Sanctuary.
Painful Shot (Ex)
At 5th level, when a savage spellslinger attacks with a firearm, she can spend a round of bloodraging to add her Constitution modifier to her damage rolls. This extra damage is multiplied on critical hits. She must spend the round of bloodraging before making the attack roll. She does not have to be bloodraging while doing so, but bloodraging yields a higher Constitution modifier. Painful Shot may be applied to a loaded spell charge, and the damage from Painful Shot is the same type as the spell's damage or force damage if the spell does not ordinarily deal damage.
This ability replaces Improved Uncanny Dodge.
Cantrip Loading Mastery (Su)
At 7th level, a savage spellslinger can load a loadable 0-level spell into any firearm without losing the held charge for any spells already loaded, provided that the final number of spells loaded does not exceed her Charisma bonus plus one (minimum 2). If she loads another 0-level spell while already holding the maximum number of charges, she choses one previous 0-level charge to lose. If she loads a higher-level spell, she loses all other held charges.
This ability replaces the bonus bloodline spell at 7th level.
Design Notes
I tested Val Baine as a savage spellcaster, up to 3rd level so far. At 1st level, she needed a better armor class. Losing both shield proficiency and medium armor proficiency is a serious vulnerability on a 1st-level frontline combatant. Removing the AC penalty from raging was not enough extra defense. At higher levels, she will have Mage Armor, Shield, and Mirror Image to protect herself, so a temporary solution ought to be enough.
In the earlier versions I also forgot to remove the freedom from arcane spell failure from medium armor when I removed medium armor proficiency. That is a more exclusive ability than medium armor proficiency. Thus, I can restore the arcane spell failure chance for medium armor to balance the savage spellslinger abilities, yet leave the medium armor proficiency to aid the low-level savage spellslinger who needs the armor and is willing to risk spell failure. Finally, I restored the AC penalty from raging, despite my annoyance at changing AC, since a savage spellslinger can now adequately protect herself with medium armor.
Though the lack of arcane spell failure from medium armor is given to a bloodrager at first level, it is useless until the bloodrager can cast spells at fourth level. Thus, swapping it for an ability that is useful at first level is a boost to early levels. On the other hand, the savage spellslinger's firearm-enhancing abilities are useless at lower levels due to the cost of a firearm. I hope these two effects balance out.
I realized that keeping the savage spellslinger as a first-level caster for four levels was less likely to cause weird effects than giving her negative caster levels, so I switched to that.
I am unsure whether Painful Shot is too strong or too weak. Its effect is powerful, but it steals rounds from a bloodrager's most important ability. Thus, it is a new option for bloodrage rather than an independent ability.
I read through the bloodrager spells to find which ones could work with Spell Loading. The selection was small, so I spun off Flicker Shot as a new spell and made it improve with level.
I had considered letting the savage spellslinger load multiple spells into her firearms at higher level, but in the long run. a savage spellslinger does not have enough higher-level spells per day to load her firearm regularly. Casting cantrips, in contrast, has no limit and loading them avoids the complicated cases like Scorching Ray. Hence, I decided to allow multiple loading of cantrips.
I had given cantrips to the savage spellslinger for roleplaying reasons and for more resemblance to standard sorcerers, but they became more central to the archetype each time I refined it. I cannot fit the Gunsmithing feat, especially the version that provides a free firearm, into the archetype without swapping out barbarian abilities required for the class to be "savage." Yet the cantrips make up for that. Flicker Shot provides an early one-handed ranged attack before the character can afford a firearm. Mending provides a method of clearing a firearm after a misfire. Loading spells instead of gunpowder and bullets saves on the full cost of ammunition, and cantrips don't even cost a spell slot. A savage spellslinger character could be mechanically inept, treating a gun as Cargo Cult magic and using real magic to keep it working. That seems appropriate for a savage.
Playtesting the savage spellslinger is over. I made frequent changes to the class during playtesting, close to one new version per level, but decided that posting every version would be boring. The ninth version is the final version.
Ninth version
Savage Spellslinger
Though most bloodragers express their inner arcane power through ferocious bloodrage, others are seduced by access to manufactured weapons and channel their arcane nature into advanced tools of war. With sword, spell, and gun, a savage spellslinger embraces flexibility on the battlefield.
Cantrips (Su)
The savage spellslinger gains the ability to cast bloodrager cantrips while bloodraging. At 1st level she learns two 0-level spells of her choice from the sorcercer/wizard list. At 2nd, 3rd, 6th, and 9th levels she learns one additional 0-level spell of her choice from the sorcercer/wizard list. The chosen spells are added to the list of bloodrager spells for this character. Casting them does not consume spell slots. The savage spellslinger must be bloodraging at the beginning of casting, but she can drop out of bloodrage before finishing.
Beginning at 3rd level, the savage spellslinger can also cast her cantrips while not bloodraging.
Gun and Sword (Ex)
A savage spellslinger is proficient with all firearms.
A savage spellslinger shooting a projectile weapon that uses only one hand, such as a firearm, hand crossbow, sling, or halfling sling staff, does not provoke attacks of opportunity from opponents threatened from her other hand, such as with a light weapon, one-handed weapon, claws, or an unarmed hand with Improved Unarmed Strike. Also, she can shoot her projectile weapon against an opponent threatened from her other hand without taking the usual –4 penalty for a ranged attack against an opponent engaged in melee.
A savage spellslinger can combine sheathing a weapon with a regular move, with drawing another weapon, or both. Sheathing a weapon provokes an attack of opportunity, but she can sheathe it in a square of her choice during movement. If she has Quick Draw, she can sheathe a weapon as a free action.
Two-Handed Discord (Ex)
When a savage spellslinger wields a melee weapon two-handed or a primary natural weapon, she adds her Strength bonus to weapon damage rather than 1.5 times (or 2 times) her Strength bonus. Likewise, the bonus to damage from Power Attack and similar feats is not increased by 50% when she makes an attack that would ordinarily add 1.5 times her Strength modifier on damage rolls.
Spell Loading (Su)
At 3rd level, when a savage spellslinger loads ammunition into a projectile weapon, she can also cast a bloodrager spell that uses a ranged attack roll at the same time to store the spell in the ammunition as an attached charge. This is called spell loading. The casting hand holds the weapon and counts as free for spellcasting, because the other hand is loading ammunition. If the loading would take less time than casting the spell, then the spell loading takes the casting time of the spell instead. Spell loading provokes a single attack of opportunity unless neither loading the weapon nor spellcasting would provoke. Spell loading does not provide a free action to attack with the attached charge.
A savage spellcaster can also load a ranged bloodrager spell into a projectile weapon already loaded with ammunition by casting the spell while holding the weapon. She can use the hand holding the weapon for the somatic component of the spell, but if she spell loads from a scroll, wand, or staff, then her other hand manipulates the source of the spell.
Ranged bloodrager spells for spell loading include Acid Splash, Disrupt Undead, and Ray of Frost at cantrip level, Biting Words, Mudball, Ray of Enfeeblement, Ray of Sickening, and Shock Arrow at first level, Acid Arrow, Molten Orb, Scorching Ray, and Stone Discus at second level, Force Hook Charge, Gloomblind Bolts, and Ray of Exhaustion at third level, and Enervation at fourth level. A spell, such as Scorching Ray and Stone Discus, that gives multiple attacks creates one attached charge with all the attacks combined. A spell that allows one ranged attack per turn over multiple turns, such as Biting Words, creates an attached charge that holds the first attack of the spell when spell-loaded, and then the spell progresses as usual, except that the savage spellslinger can spell load the spell's further attacks into the same weapon, replacing any previous attached charge.
When the savage spellslinger shoots the spell-loaded ammunition, the attached charge takes effect on a creature or object hit by the shot. It is lost on a miss. The ammunition counts as magic for damage reduction, incorpreal targets, and similar criteria. With scattershot ammunition from a scatter firearm, the attached charge affects only one creature hit. The spell's damage is doubled on a critical hit. On a misfire or glitch the attached charge is lost and deals 1d3 fire damage to the shooter.
The savage spellslinger can instead shoot the ammunition without the attached charge, and the attached charge is lost. The attached spell charge is also lost if the savage spellslinger no longer carries the weapon in hand or holstered, if she unloads the ammunition, if she spell-loads another attached charge, or after one hour per bloodrager level passes. Unlike a held charge for a touch spell, the charge is not lost by touching other objects or casting another spell.
Spell Loading replaces Blood Sanctuary.
Sorcerous Magic (Su)
Once at 6th level and every three levels after that, when a savage spellcaster would learn a new bloodrager spell, she can learn a spell of the appropriate level from the sorcerer/wizard spell list instead. That spell is added to her bloodrager spell list. If she does so, reduce her rounds of bloodrage per day by three. If she retrains that spell, she may swap it for another spell of the same level from the sorcerer/wizard spell list.
This ability alters Spells.
Playtesting Insights
In playtesting the third version at 3rd and 4th levels, and the unpublished fourth version at 5th level, the savage spellslinger character Val Baine wasn't firing her pistol. In the few cases when she did not charge in like a barbarian, she pulled out her shortbow. The bow was more convenient, both for ease of loading ammunition and in freedom from misfires. She could not easily sheathe the bow with Steady Hand, but she held it in one hand while swinging with her sword in her other hand.
Thus, I restored the Sword and Gun ability from the savage technologist archetype for barbarian, renaming it Gun and Sword to reflect changes from merging it with the Steady Hand ability. It gives the savage spellslinger reasonable opportunity to shoot her firearm after she charged into battle. Gun and Sword is not limited to raging like Sword and Gun, since I intend that the savage spellslinger would use her firearm during fatigued periods. In one encounter at sixth level Val moved to a foe and the her totem spirit from her skald friend's Inspired Rage song dropped the foe, leaving Val without a target herself. But she had her gun in hand, so she shot and killed another target 15 feet away. Another time, she shot a spell-loaded pistol at an adjacent opponent after discovering that her sword's damage was nullified by her opponent's damage resistance.
In the fourth through seven versions, I switched to a "phantasmal bullet" mechanic for shooting a loaded spell without the real bullet. Letting the phantasmal bullet target incorporeal phantoms seemed flavorful, and in playtesting shooting full-damage Disrupt Undead spells against incorpreal undead once every two turns rather than casting two half-damage Disrupt Undead spells once every turn without spell-loading was balanced. Nevertheless, shooting phantasmal bullets was barely better than casting the spell directly, so I dropped the concept as too dull. I dropped the Flicker Shot spell, too, as no longer necessary, but gave the savage spellslinger one more cantrip spell to take Acid Splash, Ray of Frost, or Jolt to replace it. Her cantrips now have the same progression as 1st-level spells but three levels sooner.
Sorcerous Magic was inspired the Urban Bloodrager's Adopted Magic. A savage spellslinger has different spellcasting needs than a standard bloodrager, but I wanted to see if the archetype could work with the bloodrager spell list. When I seriously considered multiclassing my playtest character to wizard to gain more appropriate 1st-level spells, even if Val could not cast them while raging, I decided that the savage spellslinger needed an expanded list. She has to pay for it, but the effects and price are less than those of Adopted Magic. I added Sorcerous Magic after my playtest character had passed 6th level, but she used it at 9th and 12th levels.
The bloodrager spells lacked a good 1st-level spell for spell loading before Biting Words was published in Pathfinder Player Companion: Magic Tactics Toolbox. I tried Mudball, but Val seldom wanted to load it before combat, because damaging an opponent and temporarily blinding an opponent serve two different goals. A 4th-level bloodrager with only two 1st-level spell slots cannot afford to waste one. She did use Mudball in combat, but she cast it without spell loading. The cantrip Jolt was her default spell to load at 3rd through 6th level. At 7th-level she learned Stone Discus. Going from an extra 1d3 damage from Jolt to an extra 4d6 damage from a Stone Discus attack was quite a change. Also, Stone Discus hits regular AC, but spell-loaded Stone Discus at close range can hit touch AC. Furthermore, Stone Discus gives two attacks at Caster Level 7. In earlier versions I stored the second attack in the empty pistol, but later I decided that handling multiple attached charges was an unnecessary complication and switched to combining all attacks into one, for 8d6 damage.
The savage spellslinger is feat starved. She needs Point-Blank Shot and Precise Shot early on. She also wants many feats unrelated to ranged attacks, such as Iron Will, Quick Draw, and Power Attack. Val delayed taking Power Attack long enough that she took it as a bloodline bonus feat. I view most bloodline feats as disappointing because they become available too late, but the feat starvation made them more appreciated. Val still has not taken Deadly Aim, because feats to enhance her bloodline powers had priority. Spell loading has provided adequate extra damage to her pistol without Deadly Aim nor a Dexterity bonus to damage.
Other Design Notes
At 1st level, the savage spellslinger gains two cantrips. That gives the archetype an unprecedented amount of magic without the usual drawback of a +0 BAB at 1st level. Players would be tempted to dip one level of savage spellslinger onto a martial character for a convenient pair of cantrips, such as Detect Magic and Prestidigitation. To reduce the temptation, I applied the familiar bloodline-power limitation of "only while bloodraging" to bloodrager spells for the first two levels. Therefore, cantrips become limited because rounds of bloodrage are limited. I am amused that the bloodline-power theme reversed the usual barbarian theme that characters cannot cast while raging.
The bloodrage-only limitation on cantrip casting disappears at 3rd level because spending bloodrage rounds to spell load outside of combat would be an infuriating nuisance.
No-one should dip into savage spellslinger unless their character wants the gun-and-sword style. The savage spellslinger can still use two-handed weapons but she gains no advanatage for doing so beyond a larger damage die. Two-Handed Discord nerfs the mode of combat most favored by the barbarian. It is both a drawback to balance Gun and Sword and a forceful shove toward gun-and-sword fighting style.
However, 1st level will be bow and sword rather than gun and sword, because a savage spellslinger cannot afford a firearm that early.
I also now allow her to shoot both a bullet and a spell from her firearm in one attack. This reduces the action economy penalty for spell loading, but its main purpose is to add extra damage to her gunshot without resorting to a Dexterity-to-damage mechanic. A savage spellslinger using cantrip magic rather than expertise to enhance her firearm damage is more thematic for a class that is part sorcerer. It intentionally falls short of a gunslinger's Gun Training, because a savage spellslinger is not meant to be as good with a gun as a gunslinger.
The cantrips are an integral part of the gunslinging of a savage spellslinger. She lacks the bonus feats to learn Gunsmithing. But the Mending cantrip can substitute to keep the firearm in repair. And a damage cantrip is her unlimited method of adding damage to her bullets.
In an Advice forum discussion, BretI and Java Man corrected me about the bloodrager's caster level. It is the same as character level. That means I no longer have to explain a weird caster level for the savage spellslinger's 1st-level cantrips.
I altered Spell Loading to apply to any projectile weapon rather than just firearms. Halflings' racial bonuses work well with savage spellslinger abilities, so generalizing savage spellslinger to work with slings was a natural improvement. Spell loading works poorly with bows: it replaces notching an arrow as a non-action to notching a spell-laden arrow as a standard action and does not allow an attack with that standard action.
The problem with changes in response to playtesting is that pinpoint fixes to observed problems increase complexity. I had to drop many ideas to restore simplicity, repeatedly asking myself, "Does my savage spellslinger really need this?" and "Would dropping this limitation overpower the archetype?" For example, I dropped almost all changes to Weapon and Armor Proficiency for simplicity, leaving firearm proficiency as the only change. The savage spellslinger keeps shield proficiency and might even use a shield before she finds her hands too occupied with sword, gun, and spellcasting.