The feat Goblin Gunslinger says:
Benefit: You can wield Medium firearms without taking the penalty for an inappropriately sized weapon.
However a few questions:
a) Can they use a medium-sized pistol in one hand or do they need two?b) Can they dual-wield them?
c) Do they reload said pistol as one-handed or two-handed firearm?
It doesn't say anywhere that the rule about using wrong sized doesn't apply, except the -2
On the other hand that rule only refers to light, one-handed and two-handed weapons, while ranged weapons are their own category that may require one or two hands but they're all just "ranged weapons".
Third, if they'd have to use two hands, I fail to see the benefit of that feat really. A small sized musket would be superior to a medium pistol then.
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As you noted, this feat does not allow them to bypass the "handedness" of a weapon, only to overcome the inappropriately sized weapon penalty. So, a goblin couldn't dual-wield medium-sized pistols, since for him they are still two-handed weapons. He just doesn't suffer from the normal penalties of using an inappropriately sized weapon. Firearms fall into the one-handed and two-handed categories just like any other weapon. (I do not believe there are any "light" firearms).
A weapon's size category isn't the same as its size as an object. Instead, a weapon's size category is keyed to the size of the intended wielder. In general, a light weapon is an object two size categories smaller than the wielder, a one-handed weapon is an object one size category smaller than the wielder, and a two-handed weapon is an object of the same size category as the wielder.
Inappropriately Sized Weapons: A creature can't make optimum use of a weapon that isn't properly sized for it. A cumulative –2 penalty applies on attack rolls for each size category of difference between the size of its intended wielder and the size of its actual wielder. If the creature isn't proficient with the weapon, a –4 nonproficiency penalty also applies.
The measure of how much effort it takes to use a weapon (whether the weapon is designated as a light, one-handed, or two-handed weapon for a particular wielder) is altered by one step for each size category of difference between the wielder's size and the size of the creature for which the weapon was designed. For example, a Small creature would wield a Medium one-handed weapon as a two-handed weapon. If a weapon's designation would be changed to something other than light, one-handed, or two-handed by this alteration, the creature can't wield the weapon at all.
So I take it a goblin couldn't use a two-handed human weapon (like a medium shotgun) either? That... kinda makes the feat pointless. I mean, I guess it gives you two-handed weapons that load like one-handed weapons without being a musket master, but that's... meh.
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Wait, firearms do not change 'handedness' based on size... they are specifically different then other weapons.
The size of a firearm never affects how many hands you need to use to shoot itSo a small goblin, using a medium sized pistol, still uses it as a one-handed weapon.
I had missed that quote, but there it is. So a goblin could use a medium shotgun with no difficulty with the Goblin Gunslinger feat, or dual-wield two medium pistols.
Contributor, RPG Superstar 2010 Top 16
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In fact... It seems as though a goblin could use a large or huge shotgun at no penalty....... There may be a small issue between the interaction of this feat and the general rules for firearms...
"You can wield Medium firearms..."
The feat doesn't even apply if you cast enlarge person on the goblin and pick up a Large weapon.
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In fact... It seems as though a goblin could use a large or huge shotgun at no penalty....... There may be a small issue between the interaction of this feat and the general rules for firearms..."You can wield Medium firearms..."
Ah, good catch. I let visions of goblins with pump-action cannons running wild and despoiling the world of Golarion cloud my vision for a second there....
But then there's this FAQ entry:
The text of the rule is, "The size of a firearm never affects how many hands you need to use to shoot it." The intent of that rule was to prevent a Medium character from using a Small rifle as a one-handed pistol; it wasn’t intended to let a Medium character use a Large, Huge, Gargantuan, or Colossal two-handed firearm as a two-handed weapon. Just like with non-firearms, a creature cannot wield a weapon that’s far too big or small for it. Specifically in the case of firearms, a Medium character can’t use a two-handed firearm sized for a Large or larger creature, and a Small character can’t use a two-handed firearm sized for a Medium or larger creature.
—Sean K Reynolds, 02/21/12
Which brings us unfortunately back to the original post.
Does it circumvent this ruling or not?
Well ok, thinking about it, it still has it's advantages, even if it doesn't.
Good you can't dual wield medium pistols with it, but that's really the only advantage of one-handed firearms you lose, right?
As long as the gun still reloads as a one-handed firearm (even if the goblin needs two hands to fire it), and has a misfire rate of 1, it's still better than a small pistol.
However, not really by much, really all it does is a +1 damage on average.
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But then there's this FAQ entry:
** spoiler omitted **
Which brings us unfortunately back to the original post.
Does it circumvent this ruling or not?Well ok, thinking about it, it still has it's advantages, even if it doesn't.
Good you can't dual wield medium pistols with it, but that's really the only advantage of one-handed firearms you lose, right?As long as the gun still reloads as a one-handed firearm (even if the goblin needs two hands to fire it), and has a misfire rate of 1, it's still better than a small pistol.
However, not really by much, really all it does is a +1 damage on average.
You potentially could dual-wield medium pistols with that feat without violating the FAQ, but it definitely makes it clear that your goblin can't use a medium two-handed weapon... And I'm pretty sure the intent was to prevent even that. I think that at the end of the day, Quatar, the feat pretty much just gives you a small increase in the weapon die.
