I've got a new campaign that is starting tomorrow night and I'm looking to build a Spellslinger/Archaeologist thought I'd get some advice from the boards.
I really want the character to be cinematic in his ability to move, part of what sparked this idea was the thought of a guy that voluntarily leaping off a cliff while running away from some flying beastie and started shooting it on the way to the ground- finishing off with a Feather Fall spell. Along those lines I'm looking at feats and spells, that while not necessarily great for DPR, are pretty good at looking cool. Which is what I'm going for.
I'm not horribly interested in using the Spellslinger ability to increase my spell DC's, not adverse to it, I just want the ability to make my guns shoot flaming, freezing and electrically charged bullets etc.
Open to suggestions, critiques, campaign is projected to start at level 1 and go to level 9-11, 15 point buy, and while we like rules we do tend to house rule some things that allow characters to have a little more coolness aspect. None of us generally try to optimize.
So far I have
Name: Mumford Augustine IV
1. Spellslinger- F: Gunsmithing, Dodge, Mobility
2. Archaeologist
3. Archaeologist -F: Rapid Reload
4. Archaeologist
5. Archaeologist- Rouge Talent- Grit- Amateur Gunslinger, Deadeye deed
Leaping Shot
F: Deft Shootist
6. Archaeologist
7. Archaeologist F: Landing Roll
8. Archaeologist
9. Archaeologist F:
*Note- The DM and I are aware that I shouldn't be able to take the "Grit" rogue talent without taking the "Firearms" rogue talent, but since the talent just gives Firearms EWP and I already have that from Spellslinger that I could skip it and just take "Grit."
Big spells that I'm after:
1st level: Feather Fall, Liberating Command, Timely Inspiration.
1st level from wiz: Vanish, Mage Armor, Truestrike
2nd level: Allegro, Gallant Inspiration, Pilfering Hands. I would love to find a way to legally take Reloading Hands and Ricochet Shot.
3rd Level: Haste, Reviving Finale, Heroism,
4th: Discordant Blast, Sonic Thrust.
Thanks all for reading this and any advice tips you might have!
Haskul
I'd probably switch Leaping Shot for Shot on the Run. Same machanic, but it doesn't require grit. You would need Point Blank shot though (not that it'd be a bad idea).
Also consider for this build either Extra Grit (not normally one I'd recommend, but this is one exception since you want to look cool and not run out of Grit in the process) or the Ricochet Shot Deed (Shooting around corners and off shields is just awesome).
Also note that the Archeologist has a very limited number of rounds per day of his Archeologist's Luck class feature. To ameliorate this you could always take Lingering Performance (effectively triple your rounds per day at the cost of having to re-activate the ability every 3rd round).
Oh, and you could get Reloading Hands in an Eternal Wand (Magic Item Compendium p159, 4.5k) and have a special slot bored into your firearm's handle/butt so you would have access to it whenever you had your weapon out (there were actually rules for this somewhere, but I can't seem to find them right now). You would only get to use it 2/day, but ask your DM if you couldn't pay more for additional charges/day (by pricing guidelines each additional charge/day would cost 1/2 the base item's cost, so 2.25k).
I don't have any advice on the build itself, but... I'm playing an Archaeologist right now, and my GM tweaked it a little bit. He let me completely ditch Perform (don't need it anyway) for Disable Device. He also let me switch out some of the more obvious Bard-only spells for Ranger spells. Since your GM seems to have no problem with manipulating the rules to make your characters seem "cool", then he shouldn't have any issues if you ask him to do the same thing. If you really want those spells that you can never learn, maybe he will let you learn them anyway. Just bring up the fact that the Archaeologist really has nothing to do with music/performance and see if he'll let you switch out some spells on the spell list that better suit your character.
Man, some of the bard only spells are some of the coolest.
Also, good hope is better for your group than heroism.
Take lingering performance. No question about it.
Remember that you can take Extra Rogue Talent, since you have the Rogue Talent ability.
Yeah I like the idea of lingering performance. I wasn't too sure about the grit feats, I was thinking that some of the hero point feats instead. Nice catch on Good hope. I like that. What about Extra Performance? Deadly Aim? I'm not so sure I want Landing Roll or Leaping shot just because they wouldn't come into their own till the VERY end of the campaign, that being said I'm not to worried about the very end of the campaign anyway. Should I maybe try to dual wield pistols? and pick up rapid shot? If the DM allows me to pick up Reloading Hands to my spell list should I even bother with Rapid Reload?
Cheapy got any favorite bard only spells?
Thanks!
When taking amateur gunslinger do you have to choose from the gunslinger deeds or could you grab a deed from one of the archtypes?
The feat specifies "a single 1st-level deed from the gunslinger deed class feature," however if your DM is lenient and the deed is appropriate, I would say you can have any deed available to a lvl 1 character, regardless of the source.
Note: The designer of the Archaeologist mentioned that he now wishes he had given the archetype +1 round of luck per level.
You have most of the best spells already, IMO.
Timely Inspiration is phenomenal, as is Gallant. Gallant is on average +5 to a roll.
Saving Finale can be useful, but I feel only when you can start a performance as a move or swift action. And it doesn't work with the Archaeologist anyways.
But this spell? This spell takes the cake, IMO. It's essentially Summon Somewhat Mostly Immovable Rod. Let your imagination shine with it!
Allegro is great, but I'm not sure how good it is for archs without Lingering Performance, or the suggested houserule. With so few rounds, I feel like you'd be obligated to use them all up so it works with allegro.
Heroism is a 2nd level spell :)
Bard's Escape, Dance of a Hundred / Thousand Cuts.
One *really* powerful spell is Wall of Sound. It does 2d4 sonic damage when something is reflected by it. It reflects loose debris. If you can or someone in your party casts Sleet Storm where the Wall of Sound is...the things within 10' of it are just *dead*. Although since that's probably not the intention of the spell, I'd notify your GM of it, and mention that you won't use the combo often.
The only time I used it was when we needed to destroy an army in a mountain pass.
It worked.
Updated Version:
Anything with a * has been pre-approved by the GM.
Name: Mumford Augustine IV, Half-Elf- Bard Alternate Favored Class ability for Archaeologists Luck.
1. Spellslinger- F: Gunsmithing, Point-Blank Shot, Precise Shot
2. Archaeologist
3. Archaeologist -F: Rapid Reload
4. Archaeologist
5. Archaeologist- Rouge Talent- Grit- Amateur Gunslinger, Up Close and Deadly deed. F:Extra Grit
F: Deadly Aim
6. Archaeologist
7. Archaeologist F:
8. Archaeologist
9. Archaeologist F:
*Note- The DM and I are aware that I shouldn't be able to take the "Grit" rogue talent without taking the "Firearms" rogue talent, but since the talent just gives Firearms EWP and I already have that from Spellslinger that I could skip it and just take "Grit."
Big spells that I'm after:
1st level: Feather Fall, Liberating Command, Timely Inspiration, Solid Note.
1st level from wiz: Vanish, Mage Armor, Truestrike
2nd level: Allegro, Gallant Inspiration, Pilfering Hands, Reloading Hands* Ricochet Shot*
3rd Level: Haste, Reviving Finale, Heroism, Burst of Speed*
4th: Discordant Blast, Sonic Thrust.
Now I need to get 2 traits. I'm wondering if I should still take Lingering Performance. With the additional round per level per day I'm thinking It's less necessary but still good. In which case I'd move Lingering Performance to level 3, Rapid Reload to level 1, Precise shot to level 5 and Deadly Aim to level 7. Thoughts on any of this? Especially traits. Currently considering Magical Knack to get +2 CL for Wizard spells, and Elven Reflexes for +2 Initiative.