I've been considering the possibility of using making a Magus with the Kensai archetype, using the Dagger Pistol as his chosen weapon (since it's also a dagger, it qualifies as a melee weapon). But it seems a bit feat-hungry, and without the Gunslinger's gun training, I'm afraid the damage will never be worthwhile. Can it work? Here's what I have so far:
Magus (Kensai)
Human
8/18/14/17/8/7
1: Gunsmithing
Human: Point Blank Shot
Kensai 1: Weapon Focus (Dagger Pistol)
3: Precise Shot
5: Deadly Aim
Kensai 5: Rapid Reload (Dagger Pistol)
7: Weapon Specialization
9: Rapid Shot
I'm not sure what arcanas would work well with this. And even if I'm always using my arcane pool to stick elemental enchantments on it, at 5th level, I'm still only doing about 1d4+2d6+4 damage (13.5 on average). Any ideas on how to make this more viable?
I dont think it would work too well. Spellstrike would be useless (since it only works on melee attacks) so you loose the big draw of the magus class. It's a cool idea, but optimisation-wise...
Would you be willing to take 1 level in another gun class? Either gunslinger or spellslinger? It might reduce your problems, though it's not ideal.
Maybe you could check out myrmidarch, they get ranged spellstrike. But that would be even MORE feat-hungry.
RDN - Great concept! However...
The dagger pistol is a double weapon. I would assume that the dagger is melee targeting AC, but the pistol is ranged targeting Touch AC. Therefore, I doubt it counts for the purposes of utilizing Point Blank Shot, etc. Nor would you be able to use Spellstrike by shooting bullets.
You could go Myrmidarch Magus - that would give you Spellstrike for your dagger AND Ranged Spellstrike for your bullets.
I realize that I can't use Spellstrike with bullets; I would use my spells for other things.
And I can't use Spellslinger, because it's not allowed in PFS. And if I used Myrmidarch, I'd need to spend another feat on the Exotic Weapon Proficiency, so that's out. I'm not sure why you think I wouldn't be able to use Point Blank Shot with the Dagger Pistol. It's still a ranged attack, after all.
Ah, the limits of PFS. Too bad. Hope you find a functional concept though.
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ok since i didnt notice in your topic that it was for pfs, i would suggest you drop the magus idea, and change it for a monk, or a sorcerer/wizard with levels of fighter, or gunslinger.
you can dip 2 levels of fighter to gain the feats necessary to make the wizard work, gain light armor proficiency and use arcane armor training to negate your ASF.
other then that magus just wont work very well for what you wanted to accomplish with your character.
if you were willing to play more of a support role and not focus on damage, a god wizard eldritch knight could work really well.
I realize that I can't use Spellstrike with bullets; I would use my spells for other things.
And I can't use Spellslinger, because it's not allowed in PFS. And if I used Myrmidarch, I'd need to spend another feat on the Exotic Weapon Proficiency, so that's out. I'm not sure why you think I wouldn't be able to use Point Blank Shot with the Dagger Pistol. It's still a ranged attack, after all.
Sorry, I thought you wanted to use the ranged feats for the dagger...my bad.
Also, will you be starting at lvl 1 or do you have enough GM credit to get you to higher levels?
I wouldn't do this without GM credit for at least a few levels. I wouldn't want to play him before I had the money and fame to actually buy his chosen weapon.
Here is another idea...
A Inquisitor/Gunslunger gives very high damage. You could worship Nythis and fluff your Judgment/Bane as "casting spells through your weapon"
I'd rather not multiclass, since I won't have a chance to go very far into either one before level 12.
I'd rather not multiclass, since I won't have a chance to go very far into either one before level 12.
IF you want to pull off guns, you will have to multiclass. In PFS, ONLY gunslingers can buy guns and ammo, gunsmithing etc. are not even available to other classes... if I remember correctly.
Besides which, you very much want Quick Clear, the level 1 gunslinger ability, regardless.
ergo, you'll need a minimum of one gunslinger level to make this work, no matter how you cut it.
I would also look at the axe-musket.
For PFS, you just need the Gunsmithing feat, not necessarily a level in Gunslinger. I agree that the loss of Quick Clear hurts. The more I think about it, the more it looks like it's not going to work, but I'm hoping someone will prove me wrong...