Gunslinger Hit Dice

[Jaelithe]

What's the justification for giving this class a d10 for accumulated hit points? It seems to me that the others that possess (or exceed) it—fighters, rangers, paladins, cavaliers, barbarians et al.—are all classes whose practice with non-firearms and other aspects of purely physical training and exertion would greatly surpass that of a gunslinger. I don't mean to be excessively flippant, but ... pulling a trigger ain't that freakin' tough. Would not a d8 perhaps be more appropriate?

[Zhayne]

They're a full BAB combat class with no spellcasting. They also have to be in very close range most of the time to be useful, so they need the HP because they're going to get slapped around.

[thenobledrake]

Spend one weekend holding a shield up to the onslaught of various weapon blows.

Give yourself at least a week to recover.

Spend one weekend repeatedly firing a variety of guns.

After that study, tell me that both weren't tests of physical endurance if you believe it to be true.

Then, you can go ahead an read what HP mean in Pathfinder and see that they are not an approximation of a class' expected physicality as much as they are a game device used to aid a character in their expected role (i.e. d10 hit die means you are a "good for combat" character)

[Jamie Charlan]

Base range of a longbow is fifth increment for that pistol, or third on a musket. They're only hitting Touch AC in their first increment, and the weapon can't keep up without that so you GO there.

Gunslingers are dealing with more melee than other ranged characters.

[ShadowcatX]

On a side note, you do realize that 1) Pathfinder tied HD to BAB and 2) The difference between d10 and d8 is 21 hp at level 20?

[ArmouredMonk13]

Justification? Well, mechanically a d10 makes since because gunslingers are basically fighters with guns (and I think were originally an alternate class for fighters), and they say that BAB and HD are tied. Roleplay styling it, hit points are a representation of health and stamina (which is why it makes no sense that the monk, the class based on bodily perfection, had d8 HD), and gunslingers are supposed to be tough and gritty, thus giving them d10 HD. AND hit dice are an abstraction of a creatures power and skill, and loading firing a gun safely and accurately is an act that requires a great deal of skill in pathfinder.

[Jaelithe]

I do understand the math behind hit dice, yes, ShadowcatX.

Thank you, ArmouredMonk13. I appreciate you and the other respondees that provided persuasive data, yet didn't feel the need to be obnoxious or dismissive while so doing.

Would you give monks a d10 or even d12 were it up to you?

[ArmouredMonk13]

I probably would give monks d10 Hit Dice.

Reasoning
1.)Mechanically, the monk is squishy with high AC but low HD. Keeping AC up versus attack bonuses takes a lot of investment, meaning that the class has to sacrifice a LOT of offense.

2.)Roleplay styling this, the monk flavor is that he hones his body to an extreme weapon, and undergoing strict martial training, so they would logically have the following, a d10 HD to represent the overcoming physical exhaustion of their training, and a full BAB (which is a different issue) because of the in-depth training they had before they started adventuring.