Apocalypso's page

GMing tomorrow night. Need a Solid Witch for a Boss Fight. Level 10-12. And some good minions.

I'm thinking lots of enchantments and mind-affecting. Also some necromancy.

If you would throw in some favored tactics that would be much appreciated.

The party is 7 Level 8 players. Pretty buffed with DRs and special weapons. Light on spellcasters tho, as their only spellcaster has been possessed by the BBEG.

thanks for the suggestions.

~A

What do you think of a Dirge Bard (also controls undead)

with a one-level dip in Crossblooded Fey & Serpentine?

Btw... GM is letting me play a modified Fey, so the race is already set. High Dex, High Cha, Low Str. No favored race bonuses. But some occasional SLAs granted at his discretion.

(was going for Arcane Trickster, but Sneak Attack doesn't hit undead in his campaign, sooooo... spent a lot of time with a tiny thumb up my tiny butt. He's letting me rebuild. I really don't feel like playing another. blasty. sorcerer. again. So I'm searching for options.)

I'm playing a high Cha, high Dex, low Str character in a Reign of Winter campaign.

I started out looking at a Vanilla Bard with a dip in Fey Blooded Sorcerer for the +2 DC for mind affecting.

But then I started looking at Bloodlines and archetypes and began theory-crafting this other thing.

Dirge Bard with 1 level dip in CrossBlooded Sorcerer... but which ones?

Dirge Bard or Undead Bloodline give enchantment to Undead
Fey... +2 to mind affecting DCs
Impossible Bloodline... Constructs
Serpentine Bloodline... Animals, Monstrous Humanoid and Magical Beast

and someone just mentioned Mesmerist.

Which to take? which to dip?

what traits and feats to give it oomph.

I don't know that I'll really go this far with my actual PC, but I'm really enjoying playing with the idea of a caster who can charm the pants off anything. Even if it doesn't have legs.

More ideas anyone?

Don't know much about Mesmerists, will research.

Does Reign of Winter have more than the usual amount of undead, constructs, and other immune to mind affecting?

I am also looking for a (new) class to play at 3rd level.

Short Version: What would be a good class to play in this AP with a Tiny, High Cha, High Dex, Low Str character?

GM is letting me change classes because my intended build towards Arcane Trickster just isn't gonna work.

GM very graciously let me play a tiny fey. I've always wanted to build an AT with one. But GM and I really don't see eye to eye on Rogues. He believes the original rogues are OP as written. (???!!!) Unchained is verbotten. And he insists on using the DnD Sneak Attack immunity rules.

So with tiny weapons that do no damage, and the difficulty flanking while tiny added in (PS in 20 combats with a +17 to initiative, I have *never* caught an enemy flatfooted. They always surprise US)... I just can't make an AT mechanically viable with the additional constraints. -cries-

On to my question... what would be a good high Cha, high Dex, low Str, tiny weapon Class to play in this AP?

I know the first idea is Sorcerer. But I've played several blasty elemental sorcerers in the last few years. Can't bring myself to play another one.

Seems like Fey Blooded might be a natural. But are there a lot of things in this AP that will be immune to enchantment? Are there feats or archetypes that make charming further types of critters possible?

I was also playing with the idea of a transmutation specialist, (lots of reduce/enlarge), but I'm not as familiar with feats etc to make that work really well.

Bard maybe? But entirely spell and buff focused.

So if you kind folks have any suggestions for classes, with my racial configuration, that would work really well in this AP, I'd really appreciate it.

Thanks for the tips guys!

GM in a home game has denied then overruled Sneak Attack damage on undead.

I get that it is a long standing home game (and I'm the new kid at the table) and he can overrule anything he wants. But I'm hoping that now we're out of the heat of combat, if I approach him one-to-one that I could persuade him that the "new" sneak attack vulnerable targets is a good thing... and WHY.

I worked very hard to develop an Arcane Trickster when the SLA rules changed. Now if I can't even hit X% of targets at mid levels, well its extremely frustrating.

Does anyone know the % of mid and high level targets that would be invulnerable to SA under the old DnD rules?

And this is a Reign of Winter campaign... if that increases/decreases the number of SA invulnerable targets.

Many thanks for advice on discussing with him.

Oooh. Nice. Thank you.

I need help creating a charisma based caster that has a trickstery feel.

I have a second chance to play an Atomie in a home game. I was thrilled cuz I really wanted to try Arcane Trickster again, and my original campaign with it died at 3rd level.

But when I started looking at it I realized the change in the SLA ruling really gimped the whole thing. Instead of entering Arcane Trickster at 6th level, I'd have to wait until 8/9th. Er, no.

So I am looking for a way to creating something with a Trickstery feel, without necessarily going AT. Probably full caster, because at diminutive size it is really hard to do melee damage.

I am willing to try any caster that can be made to work with the given stats. I have recently played a number of blasty sorcerers so I don't really want to go that route again.

Here are the guidelines:
S: 6, D: 20, C: 10, I: 12, W: 10, Ch: 20
(I have a little play, but S6 and Ch20 are locked)

Diminutive 10" tall

+1d6 racial sneak attack damage. (GM ruling: will not stack with any other SA damage. Unchained Rogue banned.)

(With diminutive weapons, low strength and SA-- best melee damage is 2-2 +1d6)

Fly Speed 20'

Mage Hand and Dancing Lights SLA
Other racial SLAs will be given out at GMs discretion (invisibility, shrink item, reduce person)

Out of the box suggestions welcome: Druid, Sandman Bard, Cleric with Trickster domain. Just keep in mind that melee damage is nil, so it most likely has to be a caster, most likely with emphasis on charisma.

Many thanks for your thoughts.

Thank you L33 Fish for your detailed answer! Very helpful.

I probably should have mentioned that it's a Skull & Shackles variant campaign, so Paladin would be tough. And we're currently only 4th level, so couldn't afford an early "fall".

You answered so many questions, and I'll definitely review your link when I get time.

In the meanwhile, is it possible to imbue arrows with spells from scrolls, etc?

I usually did it as:

1st round: ranged sneak attack, vanish, move into flanking

2nd round: full round sneak attack

If you have gotten into flanking position using Vanish-- every attack is a sneak attack.

If you are going *before* your opponent in the first round, he is flat-footed, and every attack is a sneak attack. Invest in initiative and going first.

I have the opportunity to play an Atomie.

I've wanted to play an Arcane Archer for a long time, and I think this might the chance to do it.

Basic Concept:
Atomie gets most of her licks in with ranged sneak attack.
She also helps party as skill monkey and knowledge monkey (2 lacking groups).
Once she becomes an Arcane Archer she casts ranged debuffing spells-- silence, invisibility purge, dispel magic, etc, via arrows.

Decisions:
1. Archer Type?
I'm leaning more towards sneak attack damage, since her strength is so low. Is there a way to get more ranged DAMAGE from a fighter or ranger with low strength?
Otherwise its down to Rogue:sniper or Ninja, but then I realized items and ninja tricks can give the Deadly Range ability.
So with her low strength and high charisma it seems a natural--- Ninja

2. Arcane Spellcaster Type?
Wizard-- Intelligence 11. No
Summoner-- GM Ban
Sorcerer-- Mayyyyybeee? If so, which bloodline? Is there one that would synergize with ranged damage?
Bard-- The archaelogist bard with Luck bonus would be very nice. Probably vanilla bard won't work since she'll be trying to stay invisible and unnoticed.

3. Then how many levels of each? Goal is to reach +6 Bab

4. Spell selection.
The goal is to imbue arrows with AoE spells, probably debuffs. (AA 2nd)
Since she will probably be way behind in caster levels, are there ways to take a spell from a scroll, wand, or rod and imbue the arrow that way?

Then which AoE spells?

5. Feats, Traits and Ninja Tricks
Point-Blank Shot (manditory)
Precise Shot (manditory)
Weapon Focus: Shortbow (manditory)
Reactionary
Fates Favored (if archaelogist)
Improved Initiative
Deadly Range
Others

6. Ways to get sneak attack/ Ways to get damage when SA is not an option?
Going First
Going Invisible before next attack
Flanking is not a good option for diminutive creatures
Feinting also seems to be a poor option
Other suggestions????

Thanks for playing along. I appreciate all suggestions

For anyone curious about the result... I did speak with the GM.
I tried to stay appreciative of his creative efforts as a GM,
while expressing confusion about a ghast with...
climb speed
CMD of 26+
ability to get an AoO in the middle of my double-move
prognostication (in lieu of spellcraft)
5th level caster.

He replied that it was an 11th level multi-classed undead.
My druid would have died, but for his GMPC-ex-machina

I still wonder about some of the above, even tho I was clearly outmatched in any case.
But he made it clear he's not answering anymore questions, since I don't have the appropriate knowledge checks available.

I also wonder about putting an 11th level random encounter in against a lone 3rd level caster, who was out of spells.
He says he's a "stick with the random chart, and there are some things you are meant to run from" kinda guy.

Yeah, except I had no way to know what it was (knowledge nature wouldn't help), and he'd knocked out half my hp in an AoO, halfway thru my double move. So running wasn't helping either.

So its a his-way-or-the-highway situation. And I have to decide if the other fun elements are worth sucking this up.

Thanks for playing along everyone.

Thanks for the input everyone. Its time to see if I can sort things out with the GM. I just wanted to make sure I knew what I was talking about, before I brought issues up.

Honest question. Does supernatural ability = SLA?

GM described Ghast as chasing my druid, salivating, and crazed to eat me. He said a "Sense Motive of 1 tells you hes about to jump"

Once I told GM that was my plan, for the Ghast to jump, and I readied wind blast...

The GM said the ghast did a spellcraft check, and didn't jump. He -poof- became a 5th level caster and magic missiled me instead. And he developed a 26 CMD to beat my 25 CMB Wind Blast. (We'd had a 4-round chase scene and he'd never shown signs of being a caster before)

My 3rd level druid was 1 xp from dying when the GM sent in an NPC to save my "foolish @ss"

So, I'm trying to figure out if there's any way this is RAW. Or if its just the GM rigging the game to make sure his NPCs always win.

In this case, My Sylph Wind Druid was taunting an opponent to jump from one tree to another towards her.

She had readied the Wind Druid Supernatural Ability "Wind Blast" to go off at the mid point of his jump, in attempt to force him to fall a long way to the ground.

The ghast was ready to jump, and then changed his mind. GM said "spellcraft".

I wonder if that would have worked for a supernatural ability with no verbal, material or somatic components.

Thanks for input, guys.

He *is* an experienced gamemaster of many years, altho I've only been playing with him a few weeks.

He has announced on several occasions that his pet peeve is meta-gaming, and that if he suspects a player is using out-of-game knowledge, he will beef up a monster. If I say "show me the creature in a monster manual," he'll just defend with "I told you I don't tolerate metagaming."

Which *might* be his logic here. Except my character has run into both ghouls and ghasts in recent play. So it wouldn't be metagaming for my character to think, "Hey I'm up in a tree, I can probably take out a lone ghoul before it gets to me."`

It turns out I miscalculated and its a ghast? It has stench, claws, and a +8 to climb? Ok. It looks like my character has more of a challenge on her hands? ok.

But my Sylph has a base 35' move speed (Like the wind racial trait), and a +4 to climb herself, and made her climb checks. So wouldn't her double move climb/accelerated climb be faster then the ghasts?

He must have given the creature an actual climb speed.
Then the ability to take an attack of opportunity in the middle of my turn.
Then a 26+ CMD
Then 5th level spell-casting
(Thanks for the tip about the creature having feather-fall too Stockvillain, that makes sense if its a 5th level caster)

I don't mind an bigger-than-expected challenge.
What really rankles tho, is the sense that he was upgrading the creature on the fly, in order to counter every idea I came up with.

I thought climbing higher and faster then the creature, jumping to a neighboring tree high off the ground, and pelting it with sling stones, or knocking it to the ground with a gust of wind was a reasonably good plan for a 3rd level character.

But he kept adding features to make sure none of that worked.

Then gave me a pity -out.

I'm not sure how to have a conversation with him, without him hunkering down that he beefed up the creature because I was using out of game knowledge...

So GM did something I find very upsetting, and I'm on the verge of quitting, but I'd rather not...

Basic Description:
He beefed up a monster to counter every plan I made. Totally crushed my character. Then gave me a Deus ex machina, another NPC saved my life just before my character died. I quit a previous game (with a different GM) after this happened 4 or 5 times.

I know I'm just hypersensitive because of past experiences, but I really *HATE* the "you can do nothing, you are helpless before me, and only by my pity will you live" style of GMing.

For those of you playing along at home, the ghoul had:
* stench
* claws
* climb speed
* speech
* the ability to move and take an attack of opportunity on the other players turn
* 26+ CMD
* 5th level spellcaster
* ability to jump 42' without damage

(is there such a creature? and if so, what is its CR? appropriate for a 3rd level solo character?)

I understand making it a little bit of a challenge. A regular ghoul I would have been able to pummel with slingstones without taking any damage myself. Ok, increase the challenge.

But making his monster into a super creature that I couldn't touch? I couldn't even knock it out of a tree with a 25 CMB? And then give it magic missile when I jumped to a different tree?

THEN to get me down to 1 hp and give me the pity save?

I hate this style of game mastery. I am *this* close to rage quitting. But I don't really want to.

Advice?

My apologies for the misinformation. We played that any confirmed critical was a hit. (It still had to confirm, tho)

Remember what a rogue-ninja's thinly-sliced bread and butter is: The Sneak Attack.

When does he get sneak-attack?
1. When he goes first (aka opponent flat-footed)
2. When he goes first with a ranged weapon
3. When opponent can't see him (invisible)
4. When he's flanking

Rogues MUST invest highly in initiative.
They MUST go before the opponent as often as possible. Reactionary Trait, Improved Initiative and Items that grant initiative bonuses are manditory.

Rogues CAN sneak attack with ranged weapons if they go before the opponent. Have him get Sniper's Goggles.

Shuriken don't appear impressive initially, but re-consider the Flurry of Stars as an opening move: 4 attacks at 10th. So potentially 4 x (d2 + 5d6)

Consider the Wakizashi. Consider it with Improved Critical. It crits on 15-20, therefore it hits 15-20 no matter how high the opponents AC is.

My Ninja's routine looked like this:
Opening Round: Flurry of Stars, move out of way but close enough to melee next time.

2nd Round: Move to Flank, Sneak attack (standard), Vanishing Trick (swift)

3rd Round: Sneak attack (full-round, 4-5 hits), Vanishing Trick (swift), 5 foot step.

Repeat step 3.

~~~~

And for social-- Your Pally is the Diplomatic Face, that everyone likes and trusts.

Your Rogue can be your bluffing, infiltrating, Con Man. Have info that only he can gather from Whorehouses, Pesh Dens, Gambling Halls, etc... He can go where the paladin can't. And... he can lie like a rug.

This may come across as snarky but, perhaps he should GM.

He could create lots of characters. He could homerule things... although I would request a guideline for consistency, so the ground beneath your feet isn't changing all the time. come to think of it, he might be a wild-eyed super-creative dimension-hopping madman as a GM, which might not work for you either.

And your suggestion about having him stay out until you guys get a firmer grasp is probably a good one. You can phrase it nicely like, "dude we're just not advanced enough with the material for you. why don't you come back in a few months when we've caught up with you a little more?"

Next question how does antipaladin fall?

He Falls... in Love... with a beautiful, doe-eyed, corn-fed, girl/boy that makes him yearn to be a better man.

Wow! Thanks everyone for the additional input on Feats, Domains, and Variant channeling abilities. It's great to have several strong options.

Gothcha Quandry. no caves. I posted before seeing your post.

If only there was a "Scion of Dwarvitude" then I could have the best of both.

Thanks again for suggestions, all.

thanks all for the good suggestions.

to respond to some questions--

Coward, whiner, and hates to get messy, so *not* battle cleric, more hang back and channel and buff kind of cleric. Crossbow when runs out of other options.

Re speed: I was only referring to aasimar being faster than dwarf. With the boost to charisma, and normal instead of slow speed, are there any great reasons to play a dwarf? Or any other PFS legal race besides aasimar?

Thanks Chris for the tip on Temple Vanity. I'd totally prefer to do it with prestige points rather than a trait. I can always get more prestige points.

It looks like Travel and Protection domains are the most popular out of the possible ones for Abadar. with some consideration of Caves and Nobility.

Feats for a buff and channel focused cleric?
Selective channel for 1st level? Others?

bump

So, after teasing a friend in another game who plays the most copper-pinching greedy cleric of Sarenrae ever, I've decided to play that motif the way it *should* be played for my next PFS character.

I've never played a pathfinder cleric so I'd appreciate any tips.

I'm thinking a Cleric of Abadar.

I'm debating between Dwarf or Aasimar born into a dwarven family.
I like the Dwarven racial traits a lot, but the Aasimar boost to charisma and speed is hard to pass up.

I'm debating between the Defense, Earth(especially if dwarf), Protection, *Trade* (seems mandatory, fluff-wise), and Travel Domains. Advice?

Feats: Selective Channel, and...?

Traits: Faith Healer (if Aasimar)- Use Heal checks for Day Job. Aka charge people for healing them. Right up his alley.

Maybe Eyes and Ears of City?- Get Perception as class skill?

Weapons- Light Crossbow and some kind of bludgeoning thing.

Armor?

Stats, I was thinking (if Aasimar):
S 12
D 12
C 14
I 12
W 17
Ch 14

~~~
Style-wise I don't see him as a front-liner. Kind of a prissy coward, standing back and buffing friends to protect him, whining about it the whole time.

He'll also compulsively kvetch about having to heal other people, in a yiddish accent (i've got a little Semite in me so s'alright) "oh, you couldn't be bothered to buy a potion, this is my problem, how?" and going thru the motions of charging people for healing and buffing. It's PFS so he can't really. But he'll haggle as if.

Anyhoo, I'm clear on the fluff, but I'd love some help with building him to be useful, and worth putting up with.

I'm in. It's a PFS game, right? So PFS legal characters? Thinking...

A couple more tidbits of info would help.

What type of campaign? Urban setting? Dungeon Crawl? Unusual environment?

What races are allowed? If the unusual ones are permitted it can be fun to build around... an ifrit fire elementalist or a fetchling umbral sorcerer.

In the end only you know what *you* like to play. Buffer? Control? Blaster? Summorner? Enchanter? But a little more info will help us give you even more ideas to have to sort thru.

How many times should Lois Lane's spine have been snapped from landing on two steely arms, 3 feet from the ground?

I'd actually wanted Kaeso and Akiros to look at the "crime scenes" for footprints, etc.(survival) Could Kaeso apply his nat 20 to that? Also, for some reason I can't access Dris' avatar atm.

I think you're right Ionnia, we should ask if our new friends know anything about this. Bingo, would you mind taking a quick run back to ask them? (GMNel, could you GMNPC him for a bit until he's with us again?)

And Jhod, we found this gentleman, but weren't able to discern much. We think he's a druid. He was found by a lake with turtle scat nearby. Not many footprints or anything. Can you tell *how* he died? Maybe you and Ionnia working together?

Greetings All, Sliding in just under the wire here. Actually I've PM'd the GM with my concept. But wanted to intro myself to the group.

May I introduce Zera, Inquisitor of Desna for your consideration?

She is PFS legal, and will work with either group.

For some reason I am unable to post with my Alias. So here is her info:

My Kitsune bard has been bitten by a werewolf.

Since Kitsune are already technically considered lycanthropes what is the likely result?

The possiblities seem to be...

1. Immune. Already a natural lycanthrope.

2. Adds Wolf and Werewolf shapes to things she can change into at will. (This is my preference obviously) And I feel somewhat justified as she's invested in the Fox Shape and Realistic Likeness feats. Ie she's spent a lot of time mastering her shapeshifting.

3. Changes to an out of control werewolf at the full moon, the same as anyone else.

Thoughts?

Many Thanks!

I'm resurrecting this Thread in hopes of getting updated info.

I'll be getting my first tablet soon and I'm looking for suggestions.

Obviously-- gaming.

I'm starting to GM for PFS, so this has the potential to be a nice way to carry all my books.

And... HeroLab... wanna port all my NPC's around in it.

As well as office-y real life stuff. Keeping client notes, appointment books, etc.

Quality is more of an issue for me than price.

Suggestions?

To the OP:

I suggest going to the Roll20 site and hit "Looking for Group."

You can narrow it to your available time frame.

There are groups that specifically invite newbies.

There are GM's that run one-off scenarios on a regular basis.

Plenty of ways to get your feet wet.

You could even promote yourself as "Group of Players new to Roll20 seek GM" kind of thing.

Try it as a player before trying to GM for your friends.

I have met some terrific people to game with there.

Michael Brock answered that a Cross-Blooded Sorcerer qualifies for the Dragon-Disciple PrC:

If the character has sorcerer levels, he must have the draconic bloodline. If the character gains levels of sorcerer after taking this class, he must take the draconic bloodline.

By this requirement, if he is a Crossblooded Sorcerer with one of the bloodlines being Draconic, he can qualify for Dragon Disciple. He should also be allowed to take Crossblooded Sorcerer, as long as one of the bloodlines is draconic, if he takes the level of sorcerer after becoming a Dragon Disciple.

As Andrew mentioned above, I don’t see how a Crossblooded sorcerer with one of their bloodlines being Draconic would break the game by being allowed to be a Dragon Disciple. One of their bloodlines is Draconic, and that in my mind satisfies the requirement.

Original Link

This link was given to me by my PFS GM (BigNorseWolf) when I asked him for adjudication for my Cross-Blooded Dragon Disciple. 3 PFS GM's have accepted the character.

Is Drow SLA "Darkness" considered Divine or Arcane?

Charisma (Cha)

Charisma measures a character's personality, personal magnetism, ability to lead, and appearance.

Venn Diagram Time:

So I'll give rough examples (YMMV):

Anyhoo... these numbers are very mushy. I was just trying to give the idea of Venn Diagrams. Attractiveness is often an asset to being influential with others, but it is not the only factor.

But physical beauty *IS* a subset of charisma.

~~~

And... the devs are never going to put a picture of an unattractive female hero on the cover of their books, even if her charisma is listed as a 5. They want to sell books to a predominantly heterosexual male market.

So this is giving me all sorts of crazy ideas.

I have a character bard 4/sorcerer 1.

Does this character now qualify for Mystic Theurge?

(bard casts cure moderate wounds.)

Could I now advance bard as my "divine class" and sorcerer as my "arcane class"?

Or retrain a feat-- which is actually easier than retraining a bloodline.
Many Thanks!

Thanks Jake

You're right, I'm probably trying to do too much at once.

I took the combo Draconic/Elemental for blasting, and switching spells to my type of energy.

I took Draconic in the first place to qualify for Dragon Disciple.

And now I want an Improved Familiar too.

Just double checking... does Eldritch Heritage in Arcane bloodline qualify me for a familiar. That looks like the simplest way to go, with the least amount of retraining.

So I'm playing a sorceress that just hit 5th level in PFS.

Dunh, dunh, dunh... a boon has made it possible to get a faerie dragon familiar.

I really want a faerie dragon familiar, now.

Currently she's Cross-Blooded Draconic (Blue)/Elemental (Elec)

So what's the most efficient way to qualify for a familiar?

A) Stay with current cross-blooded combo?
Retrain feats to qualify for Eldritch Heritage
(need Skill Focus and Improved Familiar

B) Retrain bloodline from Elemental to Arcane?
Need to retrain "Elemental Ray" to "Arcane Bond" bloodline power
Need to retrain feats to Elemental metamagic and Improved Familiar

C) Retrain to single Draconic Bloodline and take Eldritch Heritage?
Need to retrain "Elemental Ray" to "Claws" bloodline power
Need to retrain feats to Elemental Metamagic, Skill Focus, and Improved Familiar.

I have prestige points and cash to spend. So I'm mostly interested in which final product will be the most effective.

Thoughts?

LOL!

But I'd rather he feel welcome, even so.

There's a PFS game tonite (Friday), starting at 7.

Right now it looks like there's one table, Tier 3-7.

Do you have a PFS character in that range? If not you can play one of the Pathfinder Pre-gens.

Also, the table looks full at the moment, but if there are enough people and another GM, we'll often split into 2 groups.

So come, we'll find a seat for you.

And its a nice way to meet folks who often split off into home games.

I hope to see you there.

A

If I happened to be GM at your table...

...the Klingon/Viking/Half-Orc Battle Rage wouldn't bother me, as long as the RP wasn't over-the-top or too time-consuming for the current group.

BUT it WOULD be problematic for Shelyn, who I would have give you a couple of warnings before you lost all your clerical abilities altogether-- including proficiency with the glaive.

At which point you could
1) Atone and get back into line with Shelyn

2) Find a new god whose beliefs better suit your new, evolved belief system-- with all the penalties that switching gods entails, or

3) Lose your cleric levels altogether and switch to a class where spells are not given by an entity with a clear set of guidelines in opposition to what has now become yours.

I don't know if you've seen the threads saying that many people don't even consider rogue a required member of a party anymore.

Really the only unique features they get are "trap sense" and "disarm magical traps." Is your adventure particularly trap laden?

And... anyone with Detect Magic can find magical traps; anyone with a good perception can find regular traps.

If your GM is kind, he might let you rebuild with the "Urban Child" Trait which lets you get disable device as a class skill.

~~~

But if you really want to pursue something rogue-ish and skillful, take a look at the Archaeologist Bard. They get many of the Rogues trap sensing and disabling features, many skill points, AND a luck bonus which might suit your gunslinger well.

Attack at night with critters with darkvision.

Does the archer have darkvision too? Probably not past 60'. Have enemy ranged attacks from 70'.