Been thinking about this for a while, and here are some ideas I want to put forward for playtest considering.
1.)Give us a double barreled firearm. Correct me if I am wrong, but it even looks like the ICONIC Gunslinger is using double barreled firearms. Would defenetly help with full combat actions.
2.)Combat styles. Like the ranger, at second lvl allow a gunslinger to chose a specific gun combat style to build off of:
Huntsman (musket):sniper training in essence. The Huntsman focuses on making singular, highly accurate and damaging shots. Key ability would one that, as a full attack action make a single attack roll. Gain a bonus of some kind to your tohit/damage rolls depending on how many attacks you sacrifice.
Flying Thunder(dual Pistol): concentrates on dual wielding pistols as your main weapon. Gives a de facto Two Weapon Fighting only usable on pistols, and an ability to quickly reload multiple shots quickly. Also a very mobile fighter, taking pot shots and then moving to cover quickly.
Swashbuckler (Pistol and Melee): Use of a pistol and light one hand weapon. abilities would include one where if you lead with a melee attack and hit, can make one ranged pistol attack without provoking AoO. Also mobile, possibly only using light armor.
3.) rework some/all of the deeds to make them usefull. Reword Quick clear to prevent firearms from exploding period, but instead become jammed, and need a check before they can be fired again.
there is more, but my mind is failing me right now. Post more later.
have you read any of the preexisting threads? this has all already been covered, many times.
I like where the OP is going with this. Especailly the swashbuckler style. Honestly, however the gunslinger winds up, I'll be using some of these ideas to create a new ranger style or two focusing on firearms.
Swashbuckler would also need something to pistol whip with no penalties.
The sniper style, sacrificing attacks for a single high damage shot, sounds good. Not sure how to articulate it nicely, but adding an additional die of the next lowest die to damage per iterative attack sounds good to me.
Not sure about the flying thunder idea...I'm not sure if you were trying to go for a John Wu image...but that's all I can picture after reading it. (Note, I'm sooo not a John Wu fan).
How's this? I posted it in another thread.
Firearm Combat Style Feat (Ex): At 2nd level, a gunslinger must select one of three firearm combat styles to pursue: musketeer, buccaneer, or pistoleer. The gunslinger’s expertise manifests in the form of bonus feats at 2nd, 6th, 10th, 14th, and 18th level.
He can choose feats from his selected combat style, even if he does not have the normal prerequisites.
If the gunslinger selects musketeer, he can choose from the following list whenever he gains a combat style feat: Deadly Aim, Far Shot, Point-Blank Shot, Precise Shot. At 6th level, he adds Improved Precise Shot and Vital Strike to the list. At 10th level, he adds Pinpoint Targeting and Improved Vital Strike to the list.
If the gunslinger selects buccaneer, he can choose from the following list whenever he gains a combat style feat: Dazzling Display, Point-Blank Shot, Quick Draw, and Two-Weapon Fighting. At 6th level, he adds Improved Two-Weapon Fighting and Deadly Stroke to the list. At 10th level, he adds Greater Two-Weapon Fighting and Penetrating Strike to the list.
If the gunslinger selects pistoleer, he can choose from the following list whenever he gains a combat style feat: Point-Blank Shot, Quick Draw, Rapid Shot, and Two-Weapon Fighting. At 6th level, he adds Improved Two-Weapon Fighting and Many Shot to the list. At 10th level, he adds Greater Two-Weapon Fighting and Shot on the Run to the list.
The benefits of the gunslinger’s chosen style feats apply only when he wears light, medium, or no armor. He loses all benefits of his firearm combat style feats when wearing heavy armor. Once a gunslinger selects a firearm combat style, it cannot be changed.
I like the idea behind this...though I don't like it basically working exactly like a ranger's style ability. I would rather see a tree of class abilities that are actual special abilities, not just bonus feats. Maybe it's the difference between calling it a rabbit or a hare, but there it is.
One more problem with something like this, is what happens a year from now when a book comes out that has a feat that fits the theme of one of these? It's sorta the same problem that individualized spell lists have, if that makes sense.
Also, in essense you have a sniper style, and two two weapon styles. When you go the bonus feat route, then the two different two weapon styles wind up with a fair ammount of over lap...by creating full class abilities it's easier (I think, anyways) to differentiate them a little more.