I'm looking for advice on a Gunslinger 5 / Shieldmarshal 7 build. This will be for PFS, so please keep that in mind. The goals for this character are, in no particular order:
- to deal a decent* amount of damage in combat
- to work reasonably well in melee as well as at range
- to scale well from levels 1 - 12 (so no 'slow burn' builds)
- to avoid any questionable/grey-area** build tactics
- to provide utility to the party outside of combat (he's going to have decent skill ranks in Perception, Sense Motive, Diplomacy, Intimidate and Knowledge: Local)
- to be fun to play
The first 5 levels will be Gunslinger. I'm still trying to figure out if it's better to take the Pistolero archetype (I won't be using the "double Dex to damage" regardless). I will be using a Dagger Pistol (unless anyone has a convincing alternative). I want to be able to reload with one hand but still be able to switch between melee and ranged with my iterative attacks. I was going to use the Axe Musket, but I'm not sure whether the Musket Master's Rapid Reload (Muskets) applies to all 2H firearms, and the Shieldmarshal's melee judgement bonuses are for light blades only.
Any and all advice and constructive criticism is welcome. Thanks!
Human Gunslinger / Shieldmarshal
Str 16 Dex 15 Con 14 Int 12 Wis 14 Cha 7
L1: Rapid Reload (Dagger Pistol), Point Blank Shot
melee mwk dagger +5 (1d4+3)
ranged mwk pistol +5 (1d8+1) or mwk dagger +5 (1d4+4)
(point blank shot applied)
L3: Deadly Aim
L4: Quick Draw
Str 16 Dex 16 Con 14 Int 12 Wis 14 Cha 7
melee mwk dagger pistol +5 (1d4+3) or dagger +5 (1d4+3)
ranged mwk dagger pistol +5 (1d4+5) or mwk dagger +5 (1d4+8)
(point blank shot, deadly aim applied)
L5: Power Attack
L7: Precise Shot
Str 17 Dex 16 Con 14 Int 12 Wis 14 Cha 7
melee +1 dagger pistol +10/+5 (1d4+11) or +1 dagger +10/+5 (1d4+11)
ranged +1 dagger pistol +10/+5 (1d4+11) or +1 dagger +10/+5 (1d4+12)
(power attack, point blank shot, deadly aim applied)
L9: Weapon Focus (Dagger Pistol)
L11: Opening Volley
Str 18 Dex 16 Con 14 Int 12 Wis 14 Cha 7
melee +1 dagger pistol +14/+9/+4 (1d4+13) or +1 dagger +13/+8/+3 (1d4+13)
ranged +1 dagger pistol +14/+9/+4 (1d4+13) or +1 dagger +13/+8/+3 (1d4+14)
(power attack, point blank shot, deadly aim applied)
(optional +2 to attack or +3 to damage with Judgement up)
Str 20 Dex 18 Con 16 Int 12 Wis 16 Cha 7
melee +1 dagger pistol +15/+10/+5 (1d4+14) or +1 dagger +14/+9/+4 (1d4+14)
ranged +1 dagger pistol +15/+10/+5 (1d4+14) or +1 dagger +14/+9/+4 (1d4+15)
(power attack, point blank shot, deadly aim applied)
(optional +2 to attack or +3 to damage with Judgement up)
*by decent, I mean reasonable for a full-BAB martial character, but not necessarily optimized-drop-anything-in-one-round
**"cheese" aside, I want to avoid as much table variation as possible, so I'd rather not be reloading all 6 barrels of a Pepperbox in one round, for example
Is there any particular reason you want to use one of the firearm/melee double weapons? Since you have to take Quick Draw anyway, you can easily switch to a completely separate weapon (like a rapier for the larger damage die and crit threat range). Plus, you're awfully starved for feats, and I think there are two different builds that can mitigate it:
-Pistolero with pepperbox: With 6 preloaded shots, you can skip the need for Rapid Reload. Once you unload the gun you can switch to melee.
Pros: Damage bonus from Up Close and Deadly, cool flavor for using a six-gun
Cons: Short range increment, and loss of options once gun is used up.
-Musket Master: Take advantage of the bonus Rapid Reload feat
Pros: Longer range increment
By getting Rapid Reload as a bonus feat/not needing it at all, you can make room for Rapid Shot to really crank up the ranged damage potential.
I had a similar idea, but mainly staying ranged only, so musket is a natural choice. And I wanted the snap shot feat line - which is not possible with musket master and shield marshal alone (at least with all the other feats I wanted), so took two levels of fighter:
Musket master 5 / Lore warden 2 / Shieldmarshal 4
1 Point Blank Shot, Rapid Reload (bonus), Precise Shot, Gunsmithing (bonus)
3 Rapid Shot
4 Deadly aim
5 Weapon focus (musket)
6 Snap shot
7 Combat Expertise & Quickdraw & Combat reflexes
9 Improved snap shot
11 Improved precise shot
Why go into melee? You get your judgement with firearms too, and they are far superior.
Rapier won't give the judgement bonus, as it is not a light blade. So it is either a kukri, gladius, or short sword.
Rapier won't give the judgement bonus, as it is not a light blade. So it is either a kukri, gladius, or short sword.
I took "light blade" to mean anything from the "light blades" fighter weapon group, although I suppose it is debatable whether it actually means light weapons that have blades instead.
Rapier won't give the judgement bonus, as it is not a light blade. So it is either a kukri, gladius, or short sword.I took "light blade" to mean anything from the "light blades" fighter weapon group, although I suppose it is debatable whether it actually means light weapons that have blades instead.
I hadn't even considered that, but it makes sense now that you mention it. Which brings it back to the whole question of how those combination weapons interact with things like Weapon Training (would the dagger pistol even qualify as a light blade? or is it a firearm only?)
Is there any particular reason you want to use one of the firearm/melee double weapons?
This originally started as a Musket Master switch-hitter build using the Axe Musket with feats like Pushing Assault and Opening Volley. I started backing away from that once it became clear that Rapid Reload (Muskets) could be a sticking point.
But you make a very good point with Quick Draw.
If I were to switch to a Dex-heavy finesse build, I could do something like:
Str 12 Dex 24* Con 14 Int 10 Wis 18* Cha 7
melee +1 agile dagger +16/+11/+6 (1d4+16)
ranged +1 musket +17/+12/+7 (1d12+17) or +1 dagger +17/+12/+7 (1d4+17)
(piranha strike, point blank shot, deadly aim applied)
(+optional Judgements)
Obviously, that's still pretty feat-heavy with weapon finesse and piranha strike. And I could swap out a better weapon for the dagger.
As for why I want to be in melee in the first place?
- I'd like to have options if backed into a corner--could go for Snap Shot, but that's also feat-intensive
- DR Slashing
- As a backup in case I lose use of my firearm
- Gives me options with GMs/groups that dislike Gunslingers
- Gives me options to be "less optimized" in case hitting touch AC on all my attacks starts to trivialize a scenario
- Allows me to conserve ammo
I like to have builds that can be "tuned" down to avoid dominating every encounter, or tuned up to deal with hairy situations. I'm fairly confident in this build's ability to let others shine, a little nervous about being able to bring out the big guns (ha?).