For the fun of it, I'm trying to build a charismatic gunslinger. I've got a basic selection/bunch of feat. However, the charismatic archetypes kinda suck. Buccaneer is a very flavorful class, but the special things (namely the whole alcohol themed replacement for nimble) just font work terribly well (raising con isnt worth it).
I want to make a female pirate captain (Emrany the quick) who uses leadership to crew her vessel.
Human , Chaotic Neutral
S: 10 D:15 C:12 I:12 Wis:12 Cha:15
1 Deadly Aim, Point Blank Shot
2
3 Rapid reload
4 Rapid shot
5 Precise shot
6
7 Leadership
8 Extra Grit
9 Skilled driver (water vehicles)
10
11 Improved critical
12 Expert Driver
13 Improved precise shot
14
15
(Not sure about the rest) (open to suggestions)
Her cohort would be her first mate. Not sure what class would be best. Maybe a bruiser to act as bodyguard? Another gunslinger to take care of the ships cannons? I'm open to suggestions.
I would never use this in PFS, but I think a reasonable GM might let me Use CHA instead of WIS. Maybe use a few of the bucaneer grit feats. In any case, this is just a fun character I'm planning. I might use her eventually as an enemy in a campaign or something.
So what do you guys think?
It sounds fine, since wisdom is mechanically more powerful than charisma. Charisma is only more powerful through RP. The most appealing part of your idea to me is all of your horde of gun-toting followers. :)
Yeah. I really like this character as a seductive pirate type. Mainly for RP. I'd probably give her the world traveler trait so she could use diplomacy, and dangerously curious so she could mess with some magic. She could make a wonderful character, or a terrifying foe/ally if I ever DM. Probably like a less couchy version of Saemon Havarian (from baldur's gate 2).
Still looking for cohort tips though.
If you pump up CHR even more, mysterious stranger isn't a bad archetype. CHA to damage can be pretty good.
Combine it with Pistolero, and you've got both DEX and CHA to damage by lvl. 5, which is close to fantastic. Note that this hinges on a pretty strict RAW, as it seems that the Pistoleros Pistol Training should replace or at least modify Gun training, but by RAW it's not.
For your cohort, you could stay in theme and have a musket master. He could both lead the cannon crews (allthough he'd need a feat for proficiency) and use a double hackbut himself. With vital strike that's 4d12 pr. attack. :)
Or have a skill monkey with all the important skills, such as prof (sailing), survival, knowledge (geography), craft (ships), craft (sails), appraise (for the plunder). That would allow you to tone down int and put the points in DEX or CHA.
I dont really think mysterious stranger is worth it, because the whole "cha to damage" lasts one turn per grit point.
BTW, I had another idea for one of her crewman. Last night, I came up with this marvelous build, my "dimensional wirlwind":
Str 17, Dex13, Con 12, Int 13, Wis 15 , Cha 8
Lore warden 6, Horizon walker 3, Lore warden 11
1 Power attack, Dodge, EWP (Fauchard)
2 Mobility (Combat expertise)
3 Combat reflexes
4 Spring attack (+1 wis)
5 Endurance
6 Whirlwind attack
7 Lunge, Favored terrain (Astral)
8 Favored terrain (anything), Terrain mastery (astral), +1 str
9 Dimensional Agility, Terrain dominance: Astral
10
11 Dimensional Assault, Improved critical (fauchard)
12
13 Dimensional Dervish, Blind fight
14
15 Stunning critical, Crit focus
16
17 Blinding critical, Crit mastery
18
19 Greater blind fight, Improved blind fight
20
By the time the guy gets dimensional dervish, he can Dim door 920 feet. You get the ship within 450 feet range of another ship, this guy dim doors in, use whirlwind to hurt a ton of people on the top deck, then door back to the ship. This guy would be a terror to crews.
But, I'm going to try to build a gunnery officer. Either a regular gunslinger, or maybe a gun tank. Would gun tank 5 / fighter 15? Or maybe something else to make him a skill jockey?
Well, I worked out the build for a gunnery officer/ first mate. This guy is great with cannons, the ship and a number of skills.
Elven (+2 dex, +2 int, -2 con)
Str 10 Dex 17 Con 10 Int 16 Wis 15 Cha 9.
Skills maximized:
Craft (siege weapons)
Knowledge (engineering)
Profession (siege engineer)
Perception
Knowledge (local)
Profession (sailor)
Skills with a few points:
Climb, swim
20 levels of gunslinger
1 Deadly aim, Weapon Finesse
2
3 Point blank Shot
4 Rapid reload
5 Siege engineer
6
7 Siege Gunner
8 Precise shot
9 Skilled driver
10
11 Master siege engineer
12 Extra grit (or siege commancer or improved precise shot)
13 Expert driver
(not sure what to put for the rest)
I was wondering about the synergy between gunslinger feat and siege engineering (with cannon of course). This guy would make a decent (if gruff) first mate, seeing as he could drive the ship, lead the gunnery crews and take care of the ship. This guy aint awesome, but he's quite good on any pirate ship. Well, I've got another member of my pirate ship crew.
Edit: I'm thinking of taking the "noble scion" prestige class for my pirate captain. Make her a pirate queen, and it boosts all her crew. What do you guys think?
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I dont really think mysterious stranger is worth it, because the whole "cha to damage" lasts one turn per grit point.
The Mysterous Stranger is not as bad as most people think, especially if you play to it's strengths. I have one in PFS. It uses a double barrel pistol to get of a large number of attacks every round so I spend Grit at about the same rate as I get it back and Stranger's Fortune helps insure I get my full attack off. Swift Action economy is actually a bigger problem.
The legality of combining it with Pistolero, however, is highly questionable.
Yeah, I think I'll probably never get to use the character. But is there a way to compensate for the fact that you loose the quick clear deed? From what I can gather sufficient misfires can criple you, and a gunslinger aint exactly competent in melee.
Note: I'm likely to go for buccaneer rather than mysterious stranger. I dislike the whole drunkenness mechanic (though I could switch it to other beverages, like coffee, with a flexible DM), but flavour wise it's cool. Plus, they have a few cool deeds. I would, however, try to modify it, because a bunch of things (like sword and pistol, and exotic pet) seem rather uninteresting for me.
If anybody has a workable build for sword and pistol, I'd be interested to know, because it seems impossible to me. You'd need TWF, Pistol feats, and finesse feats to make it work...
A gunslinger isn't exactly incompetent in Melee either, as they are still a Full BAB class with Martial proficencies.
You may want to take a look at the 3rd party product by super genius games: Ultimate Options Grit and Gunslingers. They offer alternate forms of grit including 'panache' which works with charisma, and an alternate version of the gunslinger that can use grit with finesse weapons as well as melee weapons, which would be very useful for a pirate character.
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@williamoak: You might want to look at Magic Siege Engine, Telekinetic Assembly, Energy Siege Shot and consider a caster for your Gunnery Officer. Dip Gunslinger to pick up the relevant feats, but with True Strike, phantom crews filling in for fallen crew members, Gravity Bow to up ranged damage, you could be looking at a very effective and unique Officer, who is capable of pulling off amazing shots as needed, as well as replenishing ammunition, magically creating more, or other repair components with Creation spells...
Just think about it.
Edit: Don't forget about the assistance with sea monsters!
@ errant pursuit: That seems like a good idea. I think I might make the other guy first mate rather than gunnery officer.
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Misfires for a Mysterious Stranger aren't a problem once you hit 5th provided you have a decent Charisma. Until then I carried backup weapons. First a bow, then when I could afford my double barel pistol my starting gun became my backup weapon. Then I added a Dragon Pistol which has proven very useful due to its ability to deal non-lethal damage, ignore concealement and damage swarms.
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My GM said power attack doesn't work with whirlwind. In fact no feats or abilities work with whirlwind that add bonuses.
Whirlwind Attack specifies you give up any attacks granted by anything else. It does not specify that you cannot use Power Attack. The wording threw me off before, too.
When you use the Whirlwind Attack feat, you also forfeit any bonus or extra attacks granted by other feats, spells, or abilities.
You forfeit any Bonus attacks or Extra attacks granted by other feats, spells, or abilities. You can, for instance, combine this with Dazing assault to daze several creatures with your whirlwind attack, or Enforcer, etc...
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Paizo has felt no need to FAQ this ability.
I'll break up the language for you. You are free to search any of the dozens of threads (dating back years) as to how I am interpreting these interactions...
"When you use the Whirlwind Attack feat, you also forfeit any"
-bonus or extra attacks- (inclusive)
"granted by other feats, spells, or abilities."
The big concern is not that you are applying effects, but that you are not making more than one attack per target. It is a full round action that replaces the full attack action as a way to hit several times in combat. I understand your reticence, someone had to point it out to me, too, once.
If you read it as:
"When you use the Whirlwind Attack feat, you also forfeit any bonus"
-or- (exclusive)
"extra attacks granted by other feats, spells, or abilities."
Then, as written, you have a character who rolls 1d20(no modifiers except penalties) to hit everyone in their reach. Base Attack Bonus is a bonus, High Strength is a bonus, weapon specialization is a bonus. It is actually absurd to try to run the feat that way.
Well, I'll try to build up a crew later and post the crew of the marvelous pirate Emrany the quick.