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Right, for an upcoming campaign, I'm allowing a homebrewed/converted Gun Mage, and I was wondering if anyone on these forums would mind taking a glance and give me advice or criticism. Thanks.
Gun Mage
d8 Hit Die, 3/4 BAB, Good Reflex and Will, Bad Fortitude
Skill Ranks per Level: 4+ Int modifier
The gun mage’s class skills are Acrobatics (Dex), Bluff (Cha), Climb (Str), Craft (Int), Intimidate (Cha), Knowledge (Arcana), Perception (Wis), Profession (Wis), Spellcraft (Cha), Stealth (Dex), and Swim (Str)
1. Arcane Focus, Bonded Firearm, Cantrips, Quick Draw
2. Enchant Ammunition (+1), Force Bullets, Gunfighter
3. Enchant Bonded Firearm (+1), Rune Bullets, Trick Shot
4. Bonus Feat, Uncanny Dodge
5. Enchant Ammunition (+2)
6. Enchant Bonded Firearm (+2)
7. Trick Shot
8. Bonus Feat, Enchant Ammunition (+3), Improved Uncanny Dodge
9. Enchant Bonded Firearm (+3)
10. Improved Firearm Handling
11. Enchant Ammunition (+4), Trick Shot
12. Bonus Feat, Enchant Bonded Firearm (+4)
13. Combo Trick
14. Enchant Ammunition (+5), Seeker Bullet
15. Enchant Bonded Firearm (+5), Trick Shot
16. Bonus Feat
17. Enchant Ammunition (+6), Phase Bullet
18. Enchant Bonded Firearm (+6)
19. Trick Shot
20. Bonus Feat, Bullet of Death
Weapon and Armor Proficiency: A gun mage is proficient with all simple weapons and all firearms. Gun mages are also proficient with light armor, but not shields. A gun mage can cast gun mage spells while wearing light armor without incurring the normal arcane spell failure chance. Like any other arcane spellcaster, a gun mage wearing medium or heavy armor incurs a chance of arcane spell failure if the spell in question has a somatic component. A multiclass gun mage still incurs the normal arcane spell failure chance for arcane spells received from other classes.
Arcane Focus: A gun mage is capable of channeling arcane magic through his bonded firearm. As long he is wielding a bonded firearm, he always has the arcane focus necessary to cast his spells. He can also make due without inexpensive material components, though any component worth 100 gp or more must be provided by the gun mage.
Additionally, any ray spells cast by the gun mage can be focused through the barrel of his bonded firearm, allowing him to use his ranged attack bonus (and any ensuing bonuses from Weapon Focus and other feats, or an enhancement bonus from the weapon) to determine the ranged touch attack bonus for resolving the ray spell. However, the gun mage cannot cast a spell and fire a firearm at the same time.
Bonded Firearm: A gun mage is a master of melding firearms with magic, and this ability is best demonstrated by his ability to bond with his firearms. By performing a ritual that takes 8 hours to complete, and costs 150 gp, he is able to make this weapon an extension of himself. This bond is taxing though, and as a result, a gun mage can only bond to a maximum number of firearms equal to his Charisma modifier. Also, due to the precise nature of magic, a gun mage can only bond to pistols, revolvers, muskets, and rifles.
A gun mage begins play with a masterwork firearm of his choice that is already bonded to him.
Cantrips: Gun mages learn a number of cantrips, or 0-level spells, as noted on the table Spells Known. These spells are cast like any other spell, but they do not consume any slots and may be used again.
Spells: A gun mage casts arcane spells drawn from the sorcerer/wizard spell list. She can cast any spell she knows without preparing it ahead of time. To learn or cast a spell, a gun mage must have a Charisma score equal to at least 10 + the spell level. The Difficulty Class for a saving throw against a gun mage's spell is 10 + the spell level + the gun mage's Charisma modifier.
Like other spellcasters, a gun mage can cast only a certain number of spells of each spell level per day. Their progression is identical to that of a bard’s spells per day.
A gun mage's selection of spells is extremely limited. A gun mage begins play knowing four 0-level spells and two 1st-level spells of her choice. At each new gun mage level, she gains one or more new spells, at the same rate as a bard. (Unlike spells per day, the number of spells a gun mage knows is not affected by her Charisma score; the number of spells known is fixed.) Upon reaching 5th level, and at every third gun mage level after that (8th, 11th, and so on), a gun mage can choose to learn a new spell in place of one she already knows. In effect, the gun mage loses the old spell in exchange for the new one. The new spell's level must be the same as that of the spell being exchanged. A gun mage may swap only a single spell at any given level, and must choose whether or not to swap the spell at the same time that she gains new spells known for the level.
A gun mage need not prepare her spells in advance. She can cast any spell she knows at any time, assuming she has not yet used up her spells per day for that spell’s level.
Quick Draw: At first level, a gun mage gains Quick Draw as a bonus feat, even if he doesn’t meet the prerequisites.
Enchant Ammunition: A gun mage is a master at combining magic with firearms and as such is able to craft his own magical ammunition, even when she does not have the Craft Magical Arms and Armor feat. A gun mage can use their Craft (firearms) skill or their Spellcraft skill, whichever is greater, when crafting this ammunition. A gun mage using this ability must still follow all other guidelines regarding magic item creation.
Force Bullet: As a free action, a gun mage is able to channel a spell into his bonded firearm, and create a temporary bullet made out of pure force. This bullet deals an amount of damage equal to the spell level in d6’s (Channeling a cantrip creates a force bullet that does 1d3 force damage and does not explode). For every six levels of gun mage, one additional die can explode for additional damage, to a maximum of three additional dice (four total) at 18th level. (For example, a 2nd level spell channeled by a 7th level gun mage deals 2d6 force damage and both of the dice will explode).
Gunfighter: At second level, a gun mage gains Gunfighter as a bonus feat, even if he doesn’t meet the prerequisites.
Enchant Bonded Firearm: A gun mage’s skill at combining magic with firearms increases, and as such he is now able to enchant his bonded firearms, even when she does not have the Craft Magical Arms and Armor feat. A gun mage can use their Craft (firearms) skill or their Spellcraft skill, whichever is greater, when enchanting their bonded firearms. A gun mage using this ability must still follow all other guidelines regarding magic item creation.
Rune Bullets: At level 3, a gun mage learns how to craft special bullets that are capable of delivering his spells at range. A gun mage is capable of creating 5 rune bullets per hour with a successful DC 12 Craft (firearms) check; failure results in the loss of the raw materials and the gun mage is incapable of making any more rune bullets until he has rested for eight hours. This costs 1 gp per bullet made, above and beyond the normal cost of creating ammunition.
It takes a move action to channel his spell into his bullet, and a gun mage cannot cast or channel any additional spells without harmlessly discharging the original spell channeled. This attack is resolved as a ranged touch attack, and if successful the spell discharges; if the attack also succeeds as a normal ranged attack, it also deals the normal firearm’s damage.
At level three, the gun mage is capable of delivering ranged touch attacks using his rune bullets. At level five, this ability improves and the gun mage is capable of delivering melee touch spells at range.
A rune bullet cannot be fired from a gun being wielded by anyone but the gun mage that created it. When a rune bullet is fired from a non-bonded firearm, the arcane power channeled through the gun and bullet deals damage to the firearm being used. For every two spell levels cast through the rune bullet, the firearm being used loses one point of hardness, rounding up for odd level spells. When a firearm’s hardness reaches 0 it is destroyed, consumed by the arcane forces channeled through it.
Trick Shot (Ex): At level 3, and every four levels thereafter, the gun mage chooses one of the following combat maneuvers and can apply any of the selected maneuvers he knows to a ranged attack he makes by spending a swift action, using his Caster Level as his BAB and adding his Dexterity modifier instead of his Strength modifier to determine the CMB of the check. Making the combat maneuver check does not provoke an attack of opportunity.
Disarm (the gun mage cannot be disarmed on a failed attempt), Sunder, and Trip (the gun mage cannot be tripped on a failed attempt).
At level 11, the gun mage can now choose to gain the appropriate improved (or greater if he already has the improved version) combat maneuver feat, as a bonus feat instead of learning another trick shot combat maneuvers, for one of the trick shot combat maneuvers that he can perform.
Bonus Feat: At level 4, and every four levels thereafter, the gun mage is able to choose a bonus feat from the following list. He can choose these feats, even if he does not have the normal prerequisites.
Any Metamagic feat, Combat Casting, Deadly Aim, Point-Blank Shot, Precise Shot, Rapid Reload, Rapid Shot, Two Weapon Fighting, Spell Focus, Spell Penetration, Weapon Focus (choose a firearm).
At 8th level, he adds the following feats to the list: Elite Marksman, Greater Spell Focus, Greater Spell Penetration, Improved Precise Shot, and Improved Two Weapon Fighting.
At 12th level, he adds the following feats to the list: Shot on the Run and Pinpoint Targeting.
Uncanny Dodge: Starting at 5th level, a gun mage can react to danger before her senses would normally allow them to do so. She cannot be caught flat-footed, even if the attacker is invisible. She still loses her Dexterity bonus to AC if immobilized. A gun mage with this ability can still lose their Dexterity bonus to AC if an opponent successfully uses the feint action against her. If a gun mage already has uncanny dodge from a different class, she automatically gains improved uncanny dodge (see below) instead.
Improved Uncanny Dodge: A gun mage of 8th level or higher can no longer be flanked. This defense denies a rogue the ability to sneak attack the character by flanking her, unless the attacker has at least four more levels than the gun mage does. If a character already has uncanny dodge (see above) from another class, the levels from the classes that grant uncanny dodge stack to determine the minimum rogue level required to flank the character.
Improved Firearm Handling (Ex): When using his bonded firearm, a gun mage no longer suffers a misfire chance when he rolls a 2 on his attack roll. In addition, when he rolls a natural 1, he rolls on the misfire chart as if he rolled a 2.
Combo Tricks (Ex): The gun mage can apply a number of different combat maneuvers to her ranged attacks with his gun equal to 1/2 his Dexterity bonus (minimum 2) as a swift action.
Seeker Bullet (Sp): At 14th level, a gun mage can fire a bullet 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 shooting the bullet is part of the action). A gun mage can use this ability a number of times per day equal to the gun mage’s Charisma modifier.
Phase Bullet (Sp): At 17th level, a gun mage can launch 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 bullet.) This ability negates cover, concealment, armor, and shield modifiers, but otherwise the attack is rolled normally. Using this ability is a standard action (and firing the bullet is part of the action). A gun mage can use this ability a number of times per day equal to the gun mage’s Charisma modifier.
Bullet of Death (Sp): At 20th level, a gun mage can create a special type of bullet that forces the target, if damaged by the bullet's attack, to make a Fortitude save or be slain immediately. The DC of this save is equal to 10 + one-half the gun mage’s level + the gun mage's Charisma modifier. It takes 1 day to make a bullet of death, and the bullet only functions for the gun mage who created it. The bullet of death lasts no longer than 1 year, and the gun mage can only have one such bullet in existence at a time.
Bonded Firearm
Gun Mage Level Hardness Hit Points Special
1 – 2 +1 +2 Alertness, Spell Link
3 – 4 +2 +4
5 – 6 +3 +6 Sighting Link
7 – 8 +4 +8
9 – 10 +5 +10 Call Firearm
11 – 12 +6 +12
13 – 14 +7 +14 Gun Scry
15 – 16 +8 +16
17 – 18 +9 +18
19 – 20 +10 +20
Hardness: As a gun mage increases in level, his bonded firearms become more durable. A standard firearm has a hardness of 10; this increases by +1 for every two levels of the gun mage.
Hit Points: A standard pistol has 5 hit points, and a rifle has 10 hit points. As a gun mage increases in level, the firearm gains +2 hit points for every two levels of the gun mage.
Alertness: While holding his bonded firearm, a gun mage’s senses sharpen and he gains the benefit of the Alertness feat.
Spell Link: Due to the unique nature of the bonded firearm, any personal range spell cast by the master will also affect the firearm; the firearm must be within 5 feet at the time of the casting. If the spell has a duration other than instantaneous, the spell stops affecting the pistol if it is moved more than five feet from the gun mage. The spell’s effect will not be restored even if the gun mage retrieves the firearm before the spell’s duration would have ended. The gun mage and the bonded firearm can share spells even if the spells do not normally affect items.
Sighting Link: Due to the unique nature of the bonded firearm and the gun mage, a gun mage of 5th level or higher can see as if looking out from his firearm’s sights, (or end of the barrel if there are no sights) by taking a free action. This enables the gun mage to aim the firearm without looking, allowing for some spectacular trick shots.
Call Firearm: At 9th level, the master gains the ability to summon his bonded firearm to his hand. When separated from his bonded firearm, the master can cause his firearm to fly into his hand so long as it is not gripped by another and can be seen by its master. This ability is a free action.
Gun Scry: If the gun mage is 13th level or higher, the gun mage can scry on his bonded firearm (as if casting the spell scrying) once per day.
Also, since it is relavant, here are my firearm rules:
Firearm Rules
Firearm Damage (Med) Critical Range
Blunderbuss 3d6 x2 15 ft
Musket 1d12 x2 80 ft
Pistol 1d8 x2 60 ft
Revolver 1d6 19-20/x2 80 ft
Rifle 1d10 19-20/x2 150 ft
Scattergun 4d6 x2 25 ft
All damage dice explode; on a critical, those additional dice also explode. When using feats like Vital Strike, a maximum of the original amount of dice can explode.
Blunderbusses and Scatterguns deal one die less damage per range increment; however they have a +1 to hit per range increment away. In addition, precision based damage (such as rogue’s sneak attack) only applies for the first range increment.
Blunderbusses deal 1 point of damage in the fourth range increment, and no damage beyond that.
Scatterguns deal 1 point of damage in the fifth range increment, and on damage beyond that.
Muskets and Pistols suffer an additional -1 to hit penalty per range increment.
Firearm Feats
Gunfighter
Prerequisites: Quick Draw
A master of firing so quickly enemies can’t stop you, this feat allows you to fire a firearm while being threatened without provoking an attack of opportunity.
Elite Marksman
Prerequisties: Vital Strike, Weapon Focus (any firearm)
This feat allows the additional dice provided by Vital Strike to also explode.
Expert Marksman
Prerequisties: Improved Vital Strike, Vital Strike, Weapon Focus (any firearm), Weapon Specialization (any firearm)
This feat allows the additional dice provided by Improved Vital Strike to also explode.
Master Marksman
Prerequisties: Greater Vital Strike, Greater Weapon Focus (any firearm), Improved Vital Strike, Vital Strike, Weapon Focus (any firearm), Weapon Specialization (any firearm)
This feat allows the additional dice provided by Greater Vital Strike to also explode.
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Outlaw star much? Sorry, I had to :P
1 Concern jumps out at me right from the start. The power of a firearm is significantly higher than that of a normal weapon.
Second is that Share Spells was changed with Pathfinder where instead of "sharing" the spell, you instead can cast spells with the designation of "self" on the familiar as well.
Next is the fact that the character gets defensive class features reserved otherwise exclusively for melee heavy skirmisher type classes, it does not fit with the flavor of the class and IMO is way too powerful to give to a ranged type character.
Lastly, the ability to bond with more than 1 firearm is a bit much. Part of being a PC is making choices, some of them are difficult. Allowing multiple bonds is ... well there is no precedent for it, if I were you I would simply mirror the bonded item stats from wizard and try to treat it less like a familiar than a weapon. You can remove the limitation on how fast they can enchant their weapon and ammo in this step too, simply copy the bonded item feature in this aspect, makes things easier and more balanced.
I would suggest changing the spread of the trick shots up, starting at third level and awarding one every 3 levels. The bonus spell progression also looks a little schizophrenic. Combo Trick seems like you should be able to get it sooner too... here let me just do this really fast...
1. Bonded Firearm, Cantrips, Quick Draw
2. Force Bullets, Gunfighter
3. Rune Bullets, Trick Shot
4.
5. Bonus Feat
6. Trick Shot
7. Combo Trick
8.
9. Trick Shot
10. Improved Firearm Handling, Bonus Feat
11.
12. Trick Shot
13.
14. Seeker Bullet
15. Trick Shot, Bonus Feat
16.
17. Phase Bullet
18. Trick Shot
19.
20. Bonus Feat, Bullet of Death
It may look a bit sparse but mind you they get arcane spell progression at the same time and get to wear armor at base, something neither wizards or sorcerers get.
my 2c
I will be here all day, feel free to bounce ideas.
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I'm not a big anime fan, so I actually had no idea what Outlaw Star was until I looked it up. Anyways, back to the idea bouncing:
First things first, I really wasn't comparing the gun mage to the wizard or the sorcerer, but rather the bard and the inquisitor (who are the other two big 6-level spellcasters). They just take the spells from the sorcerer/wizard spell lists because I don't feel like creating a whole new spell list, and if I end up using this in multiple campaigns (which I will probably do, as I like recycling) I'd rather not tweak the spell list every time. It would just end up being a spell list that more or less completely draws from the sorcerer/wizard spell list; a sub-set of the spell list if you will.
Anywho, to my comments about your comments
Regarding Share Spells, ok that's a fair point and that'll definitely be tweaked to bring it in line with a Wizard's familiar. Also, that is a fair point about Uncanny Dodge and Improved Uncanny Dodge being a touch much, losing those isn't too big a deal.
As for the bonded firearm, that is stolen pretty much word for word (multiple bonded firearms, treating it like a familiar, etc...) from the Iron Kingdoms Gun Mage, and I'd be loath to removing its familiar-like progression, as if anyone should be able to hide behind a wall, poke only the tip of the barrel of his pistol over the top of the wall and fire a perfectly aimed shot, it should be the gun mage. He should be the one with the ability to call his rifle to his hand from a hundred feet away and then fire off a perfect shot. Or the ability to always know exactly where his weapon is at all times. Or the ability to have just a regular old pistol that can take a full on strike from an adamantine battleaxe and hardly even be scratched by it.
But thinking about it, it would be simpler and a bit more balanced to just have 1 bonded firearm per gun mage and then just do its improvement as a wizard's bonded object would be able to improve; once again, that is somewhat a holdover from the Iron Kingdom's gun mage. Well, that and the image of the ghost hunter gun mage dual wielding a pair of bonded pistols and just ripping incorporeal enemies to shreds via force bullets. Though I wonder, what about maybe being able to fire force bullets from a non-bonded firearm, it just damages the gun like firing a rune bullet from a non bonded firearm; that might work.
Now the only question is the crafting of magical ammunition. If you follow the same rules regarding bonded firearms, does that mean that he can powerful magic ammo willy-nilly and hand it out to his allies? I will admit, I did kinda expect him to do that to some degree, hence the restrictions on the max enhancement bonus. Or if you allow him to just enchant it as he will, maybe only he could use those enchanted bullets? But then its a bunch of extra paperwork for keeping track of the bonded ammunition, and the non-bonded ammunition.
Maybe a specific progression for ammunition, while the bonded firearm is enchanted as you will?
More combo tricks is nice, because I expect the gun mage to be doing crazy shots, particularly when he goes and gets a hold of adamantine rounds and starts shattering enemy's weapons at range.
Not quite sure what you mean by schizophrenic bonus spell progression, as the gun mage doesn't gain bonus spells. Maybe you meant bonus feats?
Now switching gears from the gun mage to the guns themselves, let me put down a couple of things that I should probably included to start with:
Reloading anything other than a revolver or a breech-loading rifle will take a full round action to reload, which is reduced to a standard action by Rapid Reload.
Reloading a revolver or a breech-loading rifle takes a standard action (per round in the case of the revolver) which is reduced to a move action by Rapid Reload.
Also, firearms are RARE and EXPENSIVE and DESIRABLE. And breech-loading rifles and especially revolvers, are even more rare, expensive, and desirable. Firearms are also (generally) untrustworthy due to their misfire chance.
Firearms automatically miss when they roll a misfire.
Misfire Chart - Rolled a natural 2
5% chance of powder exploding out the breech, or exploding in the barrel, or otherwise befouling the weapon in such a way that it deals the weapon's damage to the wielder of the weapon. And yes, this damage can explode (sucks to have that scattergun blow up in your face), though additional dice from effects such as Vital Strike are not applied. In addition the weapon's hit points are immediately reduced to 1, and the weapon gains the broken quality.
15% chance of the weapon dealing its damage to itself. This damage does not explode and follows the other rules for damaging objects
80% chance of the weapon jamming, which requires a full round action to clear.
Misfire Chart - Rolled a natural 1
10% chance of powder exploding out the breech, or exploding in the barrel, or otherwise befouling the weapon in such a way that it deals the weapon's damage to the wielder of the weapon. And yes, this damage can explode (sucks to have that scattergun blow up in your face), though additional dice from effects such as Vital Strike are not applied. In addition the weapon's hit points are immediately reduced to 1, and the weapon gains the broken quality.
25% chance of the weapon dealing its damage to itself. This damage does not explode and follows the other rules for damaging objects
65% chance of the weapon jamming, which requires a full round action to clear.
Note: In the case of a natural 1 misfire, this result is in addition to the results of a critical failure. (and considering I always use the Critical Failure deck...)
