Shelby Babcock's page

Sweetness! Seems like we're getting a lot of interest from new players! Yay!

Hey. Well, I had an idea with a friend who plays PFS with me and we had a good laugh over it. See, we both like anime and TV shows and we thought "hey, wouldn't Pathfinder scenarios be cool as TV show or anime episodes?" And we got to talking and it actually all fell into place rather quickly. Mind you, it'll likely never happen. If fans were to try and make a Pathfinder show, it would have copyright issues from Paizo and then that's a whole mess right there.
But there were some cool ideas there. Of course, we both wanted our own PCs to be in the show, but we realized that everyone has their favorite character and it wouldn't be fair to just have a set cast. Then we thought, everyone hates "filler episodes", right? Why? Because they take away from the main storyline and focus on ancillary or tertiary characters. But what if there were no "main" characters, so to speak? What if each scenario or arc featured a new cast of characters, with only NPCs reappearing regularly, and maybe a cameo here and there. Popular characters could come back for big events (I can already imagine a whole arc based on Siege of Serpents) and this way you could pick the best group for the job.
Course, I'm essentially describing the Pathfinder novel series. Silly me. Still, my friend and I had a good time coming up with ideas. Using scenarios would make them hard to play in PFS since you'd know what to expect, so it would mean writing all new scenarios just for the show...but think about it. This way you could create a single meta-story, set in stone, for PFS fans to follow. You could use the results of games to help determine future episodes. The ideas just keep flowing.
I'm not really expecting anyone to comment on this post. Really, I just put it here since I have a terrible memory and I didn't want to forget the idea because it was memorable and fun.

I appreciate all the advice you guys have posted here. In the end, I think I'll go with the Bloodrager idea suggested by Ventnor. Perhaps when I become more experienced in Pathfinder and understand more about multiclassing and prestige classes, I'll return to this idea. But for now I think I'll give the bloodrager a try, especially since I've never been that good with magic-using classes.

Kudos on even taking this archetype. It's the only time I delved into Gunslinger because at 1shot/round very few Players/DMs can complain about guns in their campaign versus the archer who can contrive to somehow deliver six or more arrows in six seconds.

I went with Goblin Gunslinger as it allowed me to use a full-weapon. The defining image being a Goblin wielding a five-foot shoulder-fired muzzleloader and being to speed load it once a round with a ramming rod taller than him.

Any inspiration on your PC from Evangelion or Tekken?

Honestly, no. I've never seen Evangelion or Tekken (I know. I'm a terrible nerd). I just saw that the stats bonuses were good for a gunslinger and I thought it'd be cool. I'd do a goblin but I'm using this character in PFS play and Goblins aren't a PFS legal race yet (at least, not without a boon or something).

+1 on GM Bold Strider's post.

I believe those stats are pretty close to my human musket master. He also started with a haramaki, eventually upgrading to darkleaf studded leather and endless bandolier once he had the cash. He carries a rapier and his bag of skittles (silver, cold-iron, adamantine bullets/cartridges). He keeps the musket pre-loaded with a bullet and powder to ease costs and misfire chance then switches to cartridges for any remaining attacks.

Once you get rolling on dex to damage and/or rapid shot, it should be pretty easy to keep your grit pool full from kills.

If you're interested in gaining stealth as a class skill, you could take the Bitter Nobleman (campaign trait) or Highlander (regional trait). The latter could be especially thematic for a tengu and helpful for a sniper.

Early feat pick-ups to consider (after Point Blank/Precise): Deadly Aim, Rapid Shot, Clustered Shots (for DR)

As far as builds, I had planned on taking the Targeting Shot Signature Deed and the snap shot feat chain but this was pre-errata which nerfed both as well as the abundant ammunition option. One opinion mentioned on the forums several times in response to the errata is that multi-classing after level 5 (musket training for dex to damage) may be the better option now. Just some things to consider.

First of all...holy crap. I thought starting gold was 500! Holy crap! Now I have to go back and adjust ALL my PFS characters! (well, okay, it's really just the last few I made, I think. The gunslinger's the only one who went really overboard when it comes to cost, so the rest can probably just be adjusted easily). Oh crap! Thank you so much for realizing that!

Firstly, I would like to ask how you are taking precise shot without the point blank shot per-requisite.

Secondly, keep in mind that a gunslinger is expensive in upkeep, especially if the gun breaks or you need more bullets. They are hard to come across normally and crafting rules in pathfinder are silly to say the least.

I played a gunslinger, musket master as well, however I never intended his primary weapon to be the musket for some time. When starting off at low levels, the gun is a fancy ornament that occasionally goes boom. I would stick with crossbows for the early levels until you fix your starter gun and only bring out the musket when you really need to. Boss fights or in a pinch. The expense of firing that thing every round adds up quickly. Mind you, I was playing Reign of Winter and bullets and places to make them were rather scarce. This is why I say use a crossbow. It's cheaper for repeated use at early levels.

Often times it was the case that I would fire a shot and then stow the gun for the rest of the combat, or pull it out at the end of the combat and take one, maybe two shots to kill an escaping boss. Hitting touch AC is a nice feature that way, but it also makes you the center of attention very, very quickly.

First of all, thank you for catching the Precise Shot thing. My original gunslinger idea used a human for the race and I forgot that Tengu don't get two feats at level 1. I must have forgotten to get rid of Precise Shot when I made the new sheet. I've changed it to Point Blank Shot and will take Precise Shot at my next level (as I will probably be firing into melee a lot). As for your advice on how to use my musket at early levels, I see what you mean about becoming a target quickly. Though I'm playing in PFS scenarios and am thus not solely dependent on the GM's whims, a lot of tactics for enemies say they focus on the character who deals the most damage to them...which could probably be me given how guns use touch AC. I will keep that in mind for the early levels. The crossbow is a nice idea, but since I'm doing PFS, there's never an issue with finding ammunition, since it's assumed I can buy it anywhere between scenarios. Though you're right and ammunition is very expensive and it will likely be an issue once I start playing.

Okay, so I thought it'd be cool and kinda flavorful to have a Nagaji built up into a Dragon Disciple, but, while there is a pretty awesome guide on making a DD, I'm still really new to idea of prestige classes. Other members of the local lodge have said they think DD isn't worth pursuing or very good at all, so I'm hesitant to start down the long road to building one without any sort of advice.
My current plan is to mix sorcerer with paladin, so I get both divine and arcane spells, and then go for a golden dragon when I hit the appropriate level for the prestige class, as that kinda matches the paladin flavor, but, once again, I'm not sure how viable or wise that is. At this point, it's just an idea, so I have no tentative stats or feats selected. Heck, I haven't even named the character yet.
Anyway, if you have advice either on the prestige class, my current plan, or maybe a better option for my Nagaji, please post it here.

Okay...so this is my first time posting on Paizo's messageboards...ever...so please be gentle (I mean, I know this place is typically friendly and open, but I just...you know how it can be on other sites...and I just want some constructive help or criticism).
This is my very first time building a gunslinger ever, and I decided on a Tengu. I know the bonus feat for being human is nice, but Tengu have good stat bonuses for a gunslinger. Plus, after Paizo made tiefling and aasimar boon-only races recently, I decided to try and make a character in every new race and try to level them up to level 2 before next GenCon, in case they do something similar in the near future. Yeah...I'm a little weird.
Anyway, her name is Asuka Sanzuwu, a Tengu from Tian Xia, and these are her stats (I've already factored in the racial boosts)(using a 20-point buy for PFS):
STR: 7
DEX: 18
CON: 10
INT: 12
WIS: 18
CHA: 10

She's a musket master archetype (not a mysterious stranger, so that's why her charisma is normal). She has the Glide alternate racial trait (I figured, if she went to a high place to get a better view of the area, she'd want an easy way to get down). For feats, she has Rapid Reload (free with archetype), Gunsmithing (bonus feat for her archetype/class), and Precise Shot (to get started on that feat tree early). She also has the natural weapons trait, which is a bite attack (I figured it'd be good to have in emergencies while still leaving her hands free to reload, in theory).
For equipment, she wears a Haramaki (I know it kinda sucks for now, but I only get 500 starting gold in PFS and still need money for bullets and stuff). Her weapon is musket (broken because it's the one you get for free at the start) and I have her carrying paper cartridges, but also packing regular bullets and silver bullets (because sometimes, when the dice are cursed, you want to keep your misfires to a minimum. And they were cheap).

And that's a lot of information. I put her skill points into perception, knowledge (engineering and local), craft (alchemy), and acrobatics. I think I'll get her some stealth next level, so she can maybe get a surprise round to set up, but that's not a class skill for her, so it would be a bit of work.

Well, what do you think? Any advice? I feel the STR score is a bit lower than I'd like, but I'm not sure what I should lower to bump it up. And her AC is still rather low. For reference, I only have about 79 gp left at this point and she's still level 1, so I can completely tear this stuff apart and rebuild her if I need to.