Hello fellow gamers and Pathfinders.
In one of my groups I have a player whose character is a half-orc fighter 3/sorcerer 5(elemental bloodline-air) and he asked about renaming/reworking some of the arcane archer PrC. (He took a firearm and the requisite feats to achieve this...) Anyway, I told him I'd work something up and send it along to him in an email. I've done this, but I wanted to see what any of you thought, so I'm hoping my cut and paste will work and you may look it over and tell me your thoughts. (This is for a homebrew game, and I didn't do much more than reword most of the existing prestige class. And I have some thoughts on things I should have done, but left it as is.) Here it is...
Arcane Gunslinger (a variant of the Arcane Archer prestige class.)
Hit Die: d10
Requirements
To qualify to become an arcane gunslinger, a character must fulfill all of the following criteria.
Base Attack Bonus: +6
Feats: Exotic Weapon Proficiency (firearms), Gunslinger*, Weapon Focus (any firearm)
Spells: Ability to cast 1st level arcane spells.
Special: Must have apprenticed to a gunsmith in the Grand Duchy of Alkenstar.
* A regional feat described in the Pathfinder Chronicles Campaign Setting
Class Skills
The arcane gunslinger's class skills (and the key abilities for each skill) are Craft (weapon-
smithing) (Int), Perception (Wis), Profession (gunsmith) (Wis), and Stealth (Dex).
Skill Points at Each Level: 4 + Int modifier.
Class Features
All of the following are Class Features of the arcane gunslinger prestige class.
Weapon and Armor Proficiency: An arcane gunslinger is proficient with all simple and
martial weapons, light armor, medium armor, and shields.
Enhance Ammunition (Su): At 1st level, every nonmagical bullet an arcane gunslinger loads and fires becomes magical, gaining a +1 enhancement bonus. Unlike magic weapons created by normal means, the gunslinger need not spend experience points or gold pieces to accomplish this task. However, a gunslinger's magic bullets only function for him. In addition, the arcane gunslinger's bullets gain a number of additional abilities as he gains additional levels. The elemental, elemental burst, and aligned abilities can be changed once per day, altering the type of ability granted. These abilities can be changed whenever the arcane gunslinger prepares spells or spell slots each day.
Note: If an arcane gunslinger's spellcasting class is sorcerer and he has chosen the elemental bloodline, his elemental, and elemental burst abilities must correspond to his elemental bloodline. This actually gives a new elemental and elemental burst ability to an earth elemental bloodline sorcerer; the acidic (elemental) and corrosive burst (elemental burst). These abilties do acid damage, but are otherwise identical to the flaming, flaming burst, frost, icy burst, shock, or shocking burst abilities.
At 3rd level, every nonmagical bullet fired by an arcane gunslinger gains the flaming, frost, or shock special ability.
At 5th level, every nonmagical bullet fired by an arcane gunslinger gains the distance special ability.
At 7th level, every nonmagical bullet fired by an arcane gunslinger gains the flaming burst, icy burst, or shocking burst special ability. This ability replaces the ability gained at 3rd level.
At 9th level, every nonmagical bullet fired by an arcane gunslinger gains the anarchic, axiomatic, holy, or unholy special ability. The arcane gunslinger cannot choose an ability that is the opposite of his alignment (a Lawful Good arcane gunslinger could not choose anarchic or unholy as his special ability).
Imbue Ammunition (Sp): At 2nd level, an arcane gunslinger gains the ability to place an area spell upon a bullet. When the bullet is fired, the spell's area is centered on where the bullet lands, even if the spell could normally be centered only on the caster. This ability allows the gunslinger to use the firearm's range rather than the spell's range. It takes a standard action to cast the spell and fire the bullet. The bullet must be fired in the round the spell is cast, or the spell is wasted.
Seeker's Bullet (Sp): At 4th level, an arcane gunslinger can fire a bullet once per day at a target known to him within range, and the bullet travels to the target, even around corners. Only an unavoidable obstacle or the limit of the bullet's range prevents the bullet's flight. This ability negates cover and concealment modifiers, but otherwise the attack is rolled normally. Using this ability is a standard action (and firing the bullet is part of the action).
Phase Bullet (Sp): At 6th level, an arcane gunslinger can fire a bullet once per day at a target known to him within range, and the bullet travels to the target in a straight path, passing through any nonmagical barrier or wall in its way. (Any magical barrier stops the arrow.) This ability negates cover, concealment, and even armor modifiers, but otherwise the attack is rolled normally. Using this ability is a standard action (and shooting the arrow is part of the action).
Hail of Bullets (Sp): In lieu of his regular attacks, once per day an arcane gunslinger of 8th level or higher can fire a bullet at each and every target within range, to a maximum of one target for every arcane gunslinger level he has earned. Each attack uses the gunslinger's primary attack bonus, and each enemy may only be targeted by a single bullet.
Bullet of Death (Sp): At 10th level, an arcane gunslinger can create a bullet of death that forces the target, if damaged by the bullet's attack, to make a DC 20 Fortitude save or be slain immediately. It takes one day to make a bullet of death, and the bullet only functions for the arcane gunslinger who created it. The bullet of death lasts no longer than one year, and the gunslinger can only have one such bullet in existence at a time.
Table 1-1: Arcane Gunslinger
Base
Attack Fort Ref Will
Level Bonus Save Save Save Special
1st +1 +1 +1 +0 Enhance ammunition (magic)
2nd +2 +1 +1 +1 Imbue ammunition
3rd +3 +2 +2 +1 Enhance ammunition (elemental)
4th +4 +2 +2 +1 Seeker bullet
5th +5 +3 +3 +2 Enhance ammunition (distance)
6th +6 +3 +3 +2 Phase bullet
7th +7 +4 +4 +2 Enhance ammunition (elemental burst)
8th +8 +4 +4 +3 Hail of bullets
9th +9 +5 +5 +3 Enhance ammunition (aligned)
10th +10 +5 +5 +3 Bullet of Death
Oh my Gosh... it worked. :)
Dean; the Minstrel Wyrm
Well, I dunno about guns and all in D&D or Pathfinder, and not being a fan of the Arcane Archer, I don't know how well this compares.
But if you did what you said, simply copied the arcane archer PrC and edited "bow" to "gun" and "arrow" to "bullet", then I don't see how it could be a problem. If the arcane archer is balanced, then a copy with a few words edited but the powers/BAB/HP/etc. all remaining intact must be equally balanced.
Unless of course your arcane gunslinger has a minigun and is firing a spray of 300 death bullets every round. That could be a problem.
Well, I dunno about guns and all in D&D or Pathfinder, and not being a fan of the Arcane Archer, I don't know how well this compares.
But if you did what you said, simply copied the arcane archer PrC and edited "bow" to "gun" and "arrow" to "bullet", then I don't see how it could be a problem. If the arcane archer is balanced, then a copy with a few words edited but the powers/BAB/HP/etc. all remaining intact must be equally balanced.
Unless of course your arcane gunslinger has a minigun and is firing a spray of 300 death bullets every round. That could be a problem.
Hi DM_Blake, thanks for chiming in. (And yes all I really did was alter/name change most of the Class Features from the Arcane Archer.) I did swap out a couple skills that made more sense for a "gunslinger", and I added (you could say) an elemental and elemental burst ability to cover the earth elemental bloodline. Oh and... heh heh... nope the half-orc (Krang; the Gunslinger) doesn't have a minigun that sprays 300 bullets a round. I think he has the scattergun (from the firearms listed in the Pathfinder Chronicles Campaign Setting) and during the 6 sessions or so I've seen it in action I can't say that he's overly deadly with his gun at this point. No better or worse that say a sorcerer with scorching ray as one of his 2nd level spells. (Actually a little worse. Whatever his firearm is, it does 3d6 damage. Although I have allowed for the "exploding" die if he rolls a 6 on his d6's. Hasn't happen a lot. :P
D'OH! I didn't proof-read well enough. In the Phase Bullet portion I see "arrow" twice. It should of course read "bullet". Dang it... I am so ashamed. :(
(That means the email to my player has the same typo... D'OH!) :P
Sigh... okay, well when you read it, just know that "arrow" should be "bullet" and everything should be fine.
Jeez....