[Help] Dwarven Balista Engineer

[Illusive_shade]

First off, this is my first post, so please forgive me if it happens I post it in the wrong place
I've been playing pathfinder for some time, mostly divine or magical characters, but I had an idea I wanted to try out. A dwarf, carrying, and shooting, a balista. Is this possible? And if so, what would be the required skills to fire, set up, maintain etc said balista?
Thanks for any feedback

[Andre Roy]

Not really. Ballista is siege engine. It's big and bulky (it is a Large weapon, it not bigger), you'll have a -4 penalty on your attack roll in addition to have to spend a feat on exotic weapon (ballista (you might even have to specify witch type of ballista you are proficient in)) and you would very likely need Knowledge (Engineering) or profession (siege engineer). And I'm pretty sure the party won't appreciate going at a speed of 10" as you push it around.

[RealAlchemy]

You can carry the parts on a pack animal, but the setup will still take a while so it would mostly only be useful if you're preparing an ambush. The -4 size penalty and the two full round action reload time is still rough though. You might be able to get somewhere with Reloading Hands (sorceror/wizard 2) but talk to your GM about if it applies to siege weapons since the target says "ranged weapon" but I'm pretty sure siege equipment is not what they had in mind. Assuming reloading hands works with this, now I'm getting this crazy idea of reloading hands, true strike, and vital strike working together.

[Dragonchess Player]

A ballista is a type of Siege Engine: 500 gp, 3d8/19-20, 120 ft range, Crew 1, Load 2, Speed 10 ft. So a dwarf can trundle a ballista around at 10 ft per round, load it with 2 full-round actions, etc.

If you want something a little more mobile, a Large heavy crossbow would cost 100 gp, do 2d8/19-20 damage, weigh 16 lbs, and can (arguably) be fired by a Medium character at either -2 or -6 (-2 for being Large; -4 for firing it "one-handed," a Medium character using two hands to use a one-handed Large weapon).

[PossibleCabbage]

The problem with the "full actions to move" is fixed by the "Master Siege Engineer" feat which lets your crew reload with move actions. Ballista has a crew of one, so that's you.

Issue is that the feat only comes online at level 10, and it's still a move action to load and a move action to aim, then a standard action to fire so you can't get a shot off every turn. The solution (though there's nothing to be done with the "wait until level 10" bit) is to bring a buddy who loads while you aim. Maybe make friends with a telekineticist who can carry the thing for you.

[avr]

A siege mage archetype wizard might lug a ballista around on a floating disk spell. Given the reloading time you'd only get one shot per combat at first, but if it counts as a projectile weapon then reloading hands should work and you could fire 1/round once it was cast.