Its a hodgepodge really, help would be appreciated.
Firstly, I have a player who wants a gunslinger pirate. Its her first roleplaying experience, and I want her to be able to do what she has her heart set on. But I have heard bad things about the class, and was wondering what the most popular arguments and, more importantly, fixes for it were.
Remove a natural 1 breaking the gun at around 5th level. All it does is make multiple attacks give you a higher chance to break your weapon.
Secondly, do Witch hexes have somatic or verbal components? I find no mention of it, and if not, can they be done without knowing who did them?
They're assumed to have 'flavor' descriptions that are supplied by the PCs. A flight hex on one witch may be ethereal angel wings-- another may be floating through the air slowly, yet appearing to be hit by high winds. An evil eye might be a bright flare of arcane power in their left eye or it might simply be their pupil turning red. In other words, it's up in the air and open to your interpretation.
When stealthing, and you say, shoot an arrow or cast a spell at someone, do they instantly know where you are now? I know if I got shot by an arrow in the dark, I would be confused to where it came from.
No. There may be extraneous modifiers, and the DC is 0. You could have up to a -7 from difficulty modifiers and being distracted, and up to -20 from distance if we're talking longbow range. If you're shooting an arrow from stealth, you can, as a move action, take a -20 to stealth and make another stealth check to stay hidden. The dark gives the ability to make this check-- otherwise, you hear them or notice them.
A spell requires you draw components, wave your hands around and speak strongly. For clarification, f you had silent spell, I'd let you "snipe" with it.
Arrow:
Spell:
How does surprises and initiative work. A player will be talking to an NPC and want to suddenly stab him. I tell him to roll initiative first, and he said there is no way the person knows he is about to get stabbed.
If the combatants are aware of eachother, there is no surprise round. This is like the cantina in Star Wars-- both parties are aware of eachother, and they rolled init (the results are debateable). Or, it's like, if someone tried to sucker punch you. Some people-- especially superhumans, as the PCs are-- might be able to preempt the punch with their own based entirely on snap reflexes. In either case, initiative and surprise rounds are subject to GM Fiat-- not Player Fiat.
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1} My advice here is to play it as fairly as you can; she knows you're new just as you know she's new -- BUT KEEP IT BALANCED! If her PC ends up more powerful than other PCs, it's not fair and you two should adjust her abilities.
2}
a. I don't think so either.
b. ???
3} Yes. In combat "there's no facing" so if a PC is facing north and someone hits him from the south, they see each other. If you stealth you're going slowly, hiding in shadows; when you attack you lose that (exceptions: see "cover" and "hide in plain sight") .... If it's dark, check rules on low-light vision and darkvision.
4} Some DMs want the "about to attack" character make a Bluff check vs Sense Motive but I don't necessarily think that's good; your mileage may vary. For me, if we're talking and I decide to hit you with my sword, you're Flat Footed.
If two groups meet and neither side really trusts each other, which happens alot, have them roll initiative.
. . . .
Have fun.
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The Core Rulebook mentions "sniping" under the section on Stealth. The official rule is, if you hit a creature, they know where you are unless you make a new Stealth check, this one at a -20 penalty. Possibly because firing a ranged weapon without anyone noticing is far more difficult than simply staying still and not being noticed. And even if you don't see the archer who just took a shot at you, you do know the general direction from which the arrow came, so you'd probably know which side of that nearby barrel you need to hide behind.
As for spellcasting, I honestly never thought about it. Silent Spell is a good point, but I'd allow a stealthed spellcasting without it if there's enough other noise around-- say, on a crowded city street. In that case, I'd allow a re-stealth roll with appropriate penalties for verbal and somatic spell components.
For the surprise vs. initiative debate, I'd have the stabbing player make a Sleight of Hand check against the victim's Perception check to see if he sees the player drawing a dagger. If the NPC saw it, he'd get to roll initiative-- otherwise, he's flat-footed.
1) I'd just play it by the book and if you notice a problem cross that bridge when you get to it. There's going to be lots of little things they won't feel right, or won't make sense, or lead to weird results, when that happens, let it happen, see if it's really a problem, if it's obvious it is, everyone should be ok with doing someting to fix it to make the game fun again then. It's been my experience that trying to second guess problems before they materialise too much actually causes more problems than it avoids.
2) Anything noted as (SU) - stands for Supernatural Ability - those have no components, and they can't be disrupted by distracting things like being wounded or jossled (unlike spells and spell-like abilities than can, see the rules on consentration checks for those)
3) like people said, check the rule on Sniping under the stealth skill (and take care to factor in the context and conditions).
4) I like the Perception and Sense motive solutions, all that makes sense - this is exactly one of those cases I talked about in (1). The rules don't cover that kind of thing, you have to use other rules as best you can to come up with something everyone will agree is fair. If there's a dispute on that, flip it around and see if it'll also be fair if the shoe was on the other foot. Just make sure whatever's good for the goose is good for the gander, be consistent and don't make a rule one day that disadvatages the player and then change is when they try it, or if they get a benefit, be sure the monsters will use it on them, too.
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So for my character that wants guns, would it be better recommending just a fighter who has guns?
I freely admit I don't know anything about gunslingers, having not read Ultimate Combat. But I'd say a fighter could be roleplayed just about any way you want. If she's on a boat, and she has a gun, then she's a gunslinger pirate. Let her roleplay it however she wants.
I'd say a fighter would make a good introductory class. Maybe the bard as well, since then you get to try a little of everything and see what you like the best. I'd see nothing wrong with a gun-wielding fighter or bard being played up as the archetypical swashbuckling adventurer. If it sounds fun, let her give it a try!
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I'm going to recommend one thing here, that hasnt been done before. And ymmv on this.
But as a new DM, stick to core rules. adding extra rulesets for alternate classes like witches and gunslingers will only bog down your game if you arent totally comfortable with the base rules already. It's called an 'advanced' players guide for a reason.
also, 'I've heard it was bad' is not a good thing as a new DM. Approach everything with an open mind, let it play out. If for some reason you find it seems out of whack, do a few things.
1. Read the rules again. Make sure you are using the ability in question properly.
2. Come here and ask for advice on those specific rules. We are helpful people with experience to draw on.
3. Repeat number 1.
4. Make small subtle changes, rather than broad sweeping ones.
Thanks so much for the replies!
So for hexes, they really can get off free without anyone knowing they were being magically assaulted?
It has to be judged on a one-by-one basis. Some hexes might have visible effects. Also, there is a rule stating that a successful saving throw that negates magical effect alerts the target - he feels that something magical failed to affect him (strictly speaking that rule is part of spell/sp-like ability section but I think that it works appropriately for supernatural abilities as well).
Secondly, do Witch hexes have somatic or verbal components? I find no mention of it, and if not, can they be done without knowing who did them?
Hexes are generally supernatural powers -- supernatural powers do not require somatic or verbal components (not even cackle).
From the magic section of the book:
Succeeding on a Saving Throw
A creature that successfully saves against a spell that has no obvious physical effects feels a hostile force or a tingle, but cannot deduce the exact nature of the attack. Likewise, if a creature's saving throw succeeds against a targeted spell, you sense that the spell has failed. You do not sense when creatures succeed on saves against effect and area spells.
If you’ve already put it out there that APG options are open take-back is disappointing… I suggest asking the players to cut you a break and stick with core as much as they can stand.
'I've heard it was bad' is not a good thing as a new DM. Approach everything with an open mind, let it play out.
^This +1! For every person that hates a class, there is someone who loves it. For every game a mechanic ruins, there is one it saves. Okay maybe not always, but almost always. The point is don’t just take other people’s word for it or let your first impression stop you from giving something a fair chance.
If for some reason you find it seems out of whack
1. Read the rules again. Make sure you are using the ability in question properly.
2. Come here and ask for advice on those specific rules. We are helpful people with experience to draw on.
3. Repeat number 1.
4. Make small subtle changes, rather than broad sweeping ones.
Also, ^this +1! Adding to #4: Houserule the rule you are having issues with – don’t muck around with the rules it interacts with because it seems simpler.
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On to the questions you actually asked :P
1. Sorry can’t be of much help, having not seen a gunslinger in play. The only thing that struck me as a possible issue is the high cost of ammo, but when compared to what other martial classes have to pay for magicing their weapons to be awesome it probably more or less balances out. Unless the player is really unlucky with rolls, broken guns won’t happen often enough to break the character when compared to how awesome guns are (when they are working). And everyone should have a half-decent back up plan for when sh*t happens.
2. Abraham spalding covered well.
3. Pretty much. Look here and here for more info.
4. Like Ice Titan said, “If the combatants are aware of eachother, there is no surprise round.” It is not about knowing you are about to be stabbed. It is about seeing it coming and initiative determines whether you react fast enough. Feel free to use one of the houserules suggested above if your group prefers (understanding it works for enemies too), but they are not the official rules.
5. Take this with a grain of salt as again I haven’t experinced the gunslinger in actual play, but my instincts tell me the gunslinger class is going to be the best fit for a gunslinger concept.