How does Gunslingers, Firearms, Bullets, and Alchemical cartridges crafting works in PFS?


Pathfinder Society

Lantern Lodge 3/5

So I decided to try dipping into 1 lv of Gunslinger for one of my lv 2 characters and.... got... stunned... by how purchasing/crafting of Bullets and Alchemical cartridges in PFS works and the whole Firearms system.

My character is a Gunslinger 1 / Alchemist 1.

I understand how to "craft" alchemical items for lesser price via the FAQ entry, but do you get to "craft" bullets? Or can you only use the Gunsmith feat to make Alchemical cartridges? (and at what price?)

The Special Material Alchemical Cartridges link listed "non-alchemical cartridge ammunition", but what IS non-alchemical cartridge ammunition?
From what I am reading, all cartridge ammunition are alchemical right?
With Alchemical cartridge (paper, bullet or pellet), being the "default" Alchemical cartridge.

So I if don't make Alchemical cartridge (which is 50% in price), do I make bullets? Black powder?
And are there non-alchemical cartridge ammunition?

I am getting very confused... can anyone please help clarify how does firearms and firearm ammunition crafting in PFS works?

Dark Archive 4/5

2 people marked this as a favorite.

You don't craft your bullets, but you can buy them at the price at which you could craft them. Buy your bullets and powder at 1/10th the cost, and your alchemical cartridges at 1/2 the cost.

Sczarni 5/5 5/55/5 ***

Just ammunition. You can't craft firearms themselves.

Liberty's Edge 2/5 *

There needs to be either a sticky thread JUST for the Firearm /Gunslinger questions. These same questions seem to come up every third week.

Dark Archive 4/5 5/5 ****

2 people marked this as a favorite.

The question I have re: reduced price, etc., is how special materials work with alchemical paper charges.


Material | Full | PFS reduced

lead | 12gp | 6gp
silver | 14gp | 7gp
adamantine | 72gp | 36gp
cold iron | 24gp | 12gp

So, looking at this, it would seem that silver isn't too bad, and even cold iron wouldn't be horrible, but for adamantine, you probably want to go with just standard ammo (where bullets would be 6 (+1 for powder) not 36). Then, again, the increased cost of cold iron is pretty high...

Bullets:
Lead: 1sp
silver: 3sp
cold iron: 2sp
adamantine: 6gp

To me, this makes the idea of going for Vital Strike (or the 7th level Musket Master ability) a better way of going than paper cartridges and Rapid Shot.


Clustered Shots is a must have later on, to deal with DR.

It's nice when you know what special materials can bypass DR, but sometimes that info isn't available, or the DR is one special materials can't bypass.

-j

Grand Lodge 4/5 5/55/5 **

Jason Wu wrote:

Clustered Shots is a must have later on, to deal with DR.

It's nice when you know what special materials can bypass DR, but sometimes that info isn't available, or the DR is one special materials can't bypass.

-j

So far, my 8th-level gunslinger hasn't had much of a problem with this. My first shot may not be as effective but I have ammo to pretty much deal with anything other than DR/Slashing. The only other times it might be a problem is when the party is so knowledge poor we can't determine the right ammo to use, or the DM doesn't believe in telling you your attacks aren't as effective as you thought they would be. But by 8th level, your character will likely already know you need cold iron for demons & fey, silver for devils, and adamantine for constructs.

DR/Good can be a bit of a problem as Oil of Bless Weapon doesn't work on guns and doesn't do the usual '50 pieces of ammunition,' so you have to shill out 300 gold for Oil of Align Weapon. Jus one more reason Gunslinger is a very money hungry class.

Now I will say that, while it isn't my gunslinger's primary weapon, I get regular use out of my dragon pistol because:

a. It ignores concealment
b. It works on swarms
c. It is the only way short of getting a merciful gun to do non-lethal damage

Lantern Lodge 3/5

@ Adam Mogyorodi, Silbeg

Thank you very much for all the info. Got a much, much! Better picture of how this works.

Just to clarify 2 more things:

1) Bullets, are based on early firearms, aka they are just metal balls.
To fire, you need 1 Bullet + 1 Black powder (dose).

2) Alchemical cartridges (paper) = Bullet+Gunpowder "all-in-one".
Kinda like a modern day bullet it allows easier reloading (standard --> move, etc.) But! It increases misfire chances.

Am I right on this 2 points?

-----------

@Jason Wu

I don't think I will be able to grab Cluster Shots.

I'm going only 1 level of Gunslinger and the rest will be in Alchemist.

My feats are currently Breath of Experience at lv 1 and Extra Discovery at lv 3 (to grab the Stink Bomb discovery.) I will most likely be grabbing Point-Blank Shot and Precise Shot at levels 5 & 7.

My ideal for my character, is to make him a good disabler via Stink Bomb, yet able to do lots of damage via a single attack around level 5.

The ideal is to grab the Explosive Missile at lv 4 Alchemist, so my character can load and shot a gun with just a standard action (and add the bomb damage to it.)
In addition, I took the Grenadier Alchemist archetype. This means that with a move action I can infuse the bullet with Alchemical Fire, Acid or even Ghast retch flask.
If used in conjuration with a Hybridization Funnel, I can add up to 2d6+ or a mix of a disabling alchemical weapon and a damaging one.

This means that at lv 5, I can deal up to 4d6+1d8+int mod damage in 1 shot. Using a standard and a move action.

The only problem I will face are multi-rez/immune/DR monsters like Devils, which are immune to my bomb's fire damage and can DR the bullet.
In such cases, I will switch to my Disabler attacks and use Stink bombs and other similar bombs.

It is just a different kinda build from a pure Gunslinger...

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