I have neither much experience with style feats nor guns so maybe you could check if what I am trying to sounds right.
The idea is obviously to gain my Int twice on damage for my attacks (magical or otherwise) by identifying my enemy with Kirin Style.
Flavorwise it would be an unusually acrobatic spellcaster, that uses his mental prowess to attack and defend.
1) It starts with 2 levels of Master of Many Styles. This gives me both Kirin Style and Kirin Strike by level 2 (using the trait Magical Knack to count those two levels for spellcasting power). I also take Skill Focus (Sense Motive) on first level.
Nice extra is Evasion, 1d6 unarmed attack and +3 to all saves from Monk.
2) Then it is Wizard (Evoker) all the way. I am leaning towards the spellslinger archetype since I can then upgrade my gun (single gun) and add another bonus to atk and damage with my spells (and get a x3 crit modifier).
I maximize (most of) my Knowledge skills, Sense Motive, Acrobatics and Perception. With my high int I should get a lot of skill points.
As Master of Many Styles I can use two styles at once, so I take Snake Style at level 3 and Snake Sidewinder at level 7. Since I will have as much Int and Wis as possible I can then substitute a Sense Motive Check for my AC which should be a nice boost.
This way I can save money on AC boosting items and spells and instead focus on improving Int and Wis.
I know I only get it on one attack per round, but as spellcaster I should be able to use my spells to keep people from getting too many attacks at me at once. And I can use spells like Blur and Mirror Image to defend myself regardless of my AC.
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Assuming a 20 point buy I can get 17 in both Int and Wis, 12 Con, 10 Dex and 7 in Cha and Str. I start as Half-Elf for the Skill Focus and 2 favored classes and increase Int to 19.
So at level 3 I can add +8 damage to my attacks (+9 if it is an Evocation Spell). Since I have enough money now I can now make my gun a +1 weapon (using the wealth per level table) adding that to the damage.
At level 4 (+1 int) the damage increases to (+11 / +12).
At level 5 I can buff my Int (+4) and upgrade to a +2 weapon thus the damage increases to (+16 / +17).
At level 6 I get another +1 on evocation spells (+16 / +18)
At level 7 I can now use my Sense Motive as AC and get myself a +2 Wis item. That puts the skill at 16 (so around 26 AC on average).
At level 8 I get Wis (+1).
I continue upgrading my weapon and my Wis/Int item till level 10.
At level 10 I have a +3 weapon and +4 to Int and Wis (still in the wealth per level not considering I could take craft feats to reduce the costs). This puts my damage with my gun and non-evocation spells at +17 and my evocation spell damage at +21.
My Sense Motive is 24 (minimum AC 25, average 34)
And that's the gist of it. With this build there are still 8 feats left (+ the wizard's bonus feats) that can be spent on things like Reach Spell and other things you like (Breadth of knowledge?). As this caster climbs higher on the level ladder his AC, and damage will steadily rise. If he survives into high levels and advances in age categories that will give an additional boost.
Here are some additional options I have considered.
You could not upgrade the weapon at all and just use spells to give it +x bonuses.
You could replace 1 level of monk with cross-blooded sorcerer for even more damage with spells and Cantrips (that you loose as Spellslinger). Personally however I like having higher saves and Evasion.
Another option would be using Zen Archer instead of Master of Many Styles, but you'd need 3 levels to get Wis to attacks... oh wait. He can only use bows with that. Strike that.
One thing the Spellslinger misses out on is Ray of Frost with +x damage as attack that does not use up any resources. So a normal Evoker would be cool too. Sadly the Evoker's Force Missile is autohit so it's not usable for Kirin Strike. Conjuration though gives you an acid dart you could use.
This character was point-buy for demonstration purposes. In our gaming group we usually roll stats and it's not unheard of rolling several high stats which of course will boost this character immensely.
1) It starts with 2 levels of Master of Many Styles. This gives me both Kirin Style and Kirin Strike by level 2 (using the trait Magical Knack to count those two levels for spellcasting power).
Please tell me this doesn't work. Surely, you can't raise your caster level in a class that dooesn't grant spellcasting?
A spell's power often depends on its caster level, which for most spellcasting characters is equal to her class level in the class she's using to cast the spell.
However, I can't find caster level called out in specific classes other 4-level casters.
Well I have to pick a trait at first level (unless I get it with a feat). So the bonus would have no effect until I take my first level in wizard.
I thought that was obvious.
@whale_cancer Any 4-level caster has a caster level of their class level -4 due to the time in their career when they gain spell casting abilities.
@op You want the Magical Talent trait, as it gives you a spell and a caster level for that spell immediately, whereas the benefits of Magical Knack are not realized until you gain actual caster levels and multiclass.
But I later miss out on 2 levels of spell-casting which I will miss when I go for damage spells.
Besides, is the trait I took at level one (which is standard for caster builds that dip 1-2 levels in a different class) really the only noteworthy point of this build that warrants a comment?
It's like you visit a car show and then only comment on the fuzzy dice in the featured car <.<
Yes I know. I wrote about that right under the sentence where I take Snake style.
I know I only get it on one attack per round, but as spellcaster I should be able to use my spells to keep people from getting too many attacks at me at once. And I can use spells like Blur and Mirror Image to defend myself regardless of my AC.
If your spellcaster is hit by multiple people then your party already in trouble.
Yes, it would work. No, it is not the best way to build it.
...... details shortened out ......
Oh thanks for the tips.
I didn't know there was an item that gives Sense Motive bonus. I read the rules for custom items and an item that gives +30 to Sense Motive would only cost 90000 gold (by RAW).In any case, Skill Focus could be dropped in this new light (if I need the feat) which makes a different race interesting.
And the Beneficial Bandolier sounds like it is too good to be true. Definitely worth getting.
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After seeing this post yesterday, I was playing around with more potential ideas for utilizing Kirin Strike (I already have a Kirin Striking Mindchemist).
Some of the problems I was seeing as I was working out some different potential combinations (all for PFS, mind you):
Monk(MoMS)/Gunslinger(MM)/Shieldmarshal - This can get a decent Sense Motive with the one level dip in Shieldmarshal giving int bonus to SM. The wisdom gives more grit for GS. Even with a starting 18 (I think that's what I used) in Int, one of the key things you have to remember with Kirin Strike (KS) is that you need to first identify your creature. The Monk and GS does not give many different knowledges as class skills, so your knowledge bonuses would be around 50-60% chance to identify equivalent level CR creatures. However, I think part of this may have been the amount of skills that I had to drop in to qualify for ShieldMarshal (5 ranks each of diplo, intimidate, k(local), SM, perception). If I drop the shieldmarshal, it would give at least 10 skill points back since I probably wouldn't bother with diplo and initimidate due to dumped cha, so that would help to get a few more points in skills. The other problem I was finding is that I burnt my feats on the styles and skill focus (SM) that I didn't really have any left at level 6 to start progressing down the ranged attacking tree. Although that hurts a Gunslinger less than other ranged attackers. But I was planning on Vital Strike to make the most out of my "one big attack".
Monk(MoMS)/Wizard(Wood) - This seems like it could be a decent setup. The Wood school gives you the ability to summon spears and throw them using your int as a bonus for to-hit and damage. Unfortunately, these are aiming at AC and not touch. They don't quite hit as hard as the rays, but you could still have those and the 3 + int spears would be a decent additional damage source, allowing some of your spell slots to go to utility or other defensive measures (e.g. mirror image, blur). Because remember, if you have to Snake style out of a hit, you can't Kirin Strike that round (unless you convert your move action to a swift).
I really like the mindchemist's Perfect Recall ability (twice your int for knowledge checks). As well as the Cognatogen (+4 int, -2 str, +2 natural armor). These really synergize with Kirin Strike.
I had tried the 2 level alchemist dip with the Gunslinger. It pushes out being able to get the level 3 musket master deed (you reload a musket as if it were a one-handed firearm). However, I think the Perfect Recall and the Cognatogen (and a discovery) could be worth it. The discovery could even be Skill Focus (Sense Motive or a Knowledge). And the alchemist also makes K(Arcana) and K(Nature) class skills. It also gives access to a spell list for wands and some extracts (like shield, longshot). For discovery, tanglefoot bomb could be nice as well, or even smoke bomb if you want to invest in something like a Goz Mask or Blind-Fight (->Ricochet Shot).
The alchemist dip as a wizard didn't feel right as it would put you 4 levels behind on spell progression (a full 2 spell level behind). Although again, the Cognatogen would be nice to pump DCs of any utility spells you use.
I also wanted to look into inquisitor as a possible dip for monster lore (wis to knowledge), as this would only take 1 level instead of 2 for the alchemist. It also gives you all of the "monster" knowledges as class skills as well as a spell list.
All in all, I am still messing around and trying to see what I think might work best. The alchemist build that I currently have (level 5) is decent as he has +15-18 on all of his knowledges without his cognatogen. His bombs are currently 2d6+6(+12 more w/ KS) which jumps up to 2d6+8(+16 more w/ KS) when Cognatogened. With targeted bomb admixture that adds my int one more time (but takes away splash). And at level 5, he basically auto-identifies any enemies. He wasn't built with Snake Style in mind though (only has a 12 wisdom), only Kirin Strike.