Is there any information on how to handle such a combination? I'm tempted to just allow Gunsmithing to include Master Craftsman since it'd otherwise be a nearly useless feat tax, but either way, what would skill would you roll once you tried to actually enchant something?
Actually, I'd love to make this an FAQ-worthy question, but I'm not sure how to phrase it in a clear, concise way.
| 3 people marked this as FAQ candidate. |
I think the question you're looking for is:
What skill does a Master Craftsman use to craft magical firearms?
But while I would also like a FAQ for that, we might not really need one. Let's see:
First, I agree, Gunsmithing + Master Craftsman does seem like a feat tax, but remember that each feat does have some separate uses. For example, repairing broken firearms with Gunsmithing is really useful. Also, Gunsmithing allows simple, no-roll manufacture of guns and ammo. Still, a fighter can learn just Master Craftsman and then he's set to take the Craft Arms and Armor feat to start cranking out magical weapons and armor.
However, it's interesting to note that anyone, including Gunslingers, can take just those same two feats without ever taking Gunsmithing and they could crank out magical firearms.
So it's not a feat tax to making magical firearms at all. And it's not a feat tax to clearing jammed (broken) firearms since you really need to do that. In fact, I'd call Gunsmithing a feat tax on anyone making a firearms using character - if you're going to fix anything, fix that (for example, if Gunsmithing were a class ability of a Gunslinger, instead of a feat, you wouldn't be asking your "feat tax" question on the forum at all).
Note that the "no skill roll" applies only to Gunsmithing which is not required at all to take Master Craftsman or Craft Arms and Armor. Those feats, well, at least the latter, require a skill roll to produce magical items. Therefore, using those feats requires the maker to have an appropriate skill, regardless of whether the maker also has Gunsmithing because he won't be using Gunsmithing to make magical items.
What skill?
Master Craftsman says you can use "any" craft skill. Presumably that must be relevant to arms or armor. Simplified, "Craft(Weapons)" is probably good enough since that already covers all simple, martial, and exotic weapons.
And no, before anyone asks, having to invest skill ranks into a craft or profession is not a "tax" on making magical items. Everyone else has to buy masterwork items or invest in skills to make their own AND everyone else (not depending on Master Craftsman) MUST be a spellcaster to make magical armor or weapons but Master Craftsmen skip out on all that magical mumbo-jumbo for the tiny little cost of 5 skill ranks - that's not a "tax", it's a bargain. If you want "tax", consider how many dips into a spellcasting class your gunslinger would have to make if he didn't have this option.
TL;dr:
Just invest at least 5 ranks in Craft(Weapons), take Master Craftsman and Craft Magical Arms and Armor, and start whipping up magical firearms, regardless of whether you take Gusmithing or not.
That sounds like a reasonable suggestion.
I was thinking about allowing Gunsmithing (and Master Alchemist, but that's kind of off topic) to allow for taking magic item feats like Master Craftsman does, but maybe it'd be better to leave it.