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Hello all.
Decided for my next PFS character, I'd try a musket master gunslinger. Basic build without magical gear is
Stats:
Str10
Dex18 (16+2Human)
Con14
Int10
Wis14
Cha10
Feats:
G1:Rapid Reload (Musket)
H1:Point-Blank Shot
L1:Precise Shot
Gear:
Leather Armor
Musket
Gunsmith's Kit
Pathfinder's Kit
18 Paper Cartridges
5gp
Traits:
Reactionary
???????????
AC=16
Touch=14
Flat-Footed=12
CMB+1
CMD15
Will+2
Fort+4
Ref+6
Skills:
Craft (alchemy) +4
Perception +6
Acrobatics +8
Intimidate +4
Slight of Hand +8
Attacks:
Musket +5(+6)(1d12[+1];20/x4) 40ft.
Melee Dagger +1 (1d4;19-20/x2)
Class Features
Grit Pool (2pts)
Steady Aim
Quick Clear
Deadeye
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imo, precise shot is normally not a necessity. ofc I normally play aragon (switch hitter ranger :D works very well actually!) I don't quite remeber how rapid reload works for muskets, if it makes it a move action then by all means wait on precise shot.
also, please tell me your character has a hat with a feather in it. pleeease lol. (personally I prefer the pistol/sword or later, double pistole/double pistol)
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imo, precise shot is normally not a necessity. ofc I normally play aragon (switch hitter ranger :D works very well actually!) I don't quite remeber how rapid reload works for muskets, if it makes it a move action then by all means wait on precise shot.
also, please tell me your character has a hat with a feather in it. pleeease lol. (personally I prefer the pistol/sword or later, double pistole/double pistol)
Rapid Reload(Muskets) is a bonus feat granted by Musket Master archetype at first level, and it brings muskets down to standard action reload. Then you need paper cartridges to bring it down to move action reload. I know that I want precise shot eventually, I'm more curious as to whether or not its useful to pick up deadly aim/rapid shot/weapon focus (musket) at first level and grabbing precise shot at 3rd. And sadly, no hat and feather for this character. That build is later on.
Anybody know the duration of steady aim? It doesn't seem to list one.
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Rapid Reload for muskets reduces the loading time to a Standard Action.
With the Musket Master's Level 3 Ability, Fast Musket, they can reload to an equivalent of a One-Handed Firearm, so a Move Action with the Rapid Reload Feat. To reduce this to a Free Action, a Musket Master is required to use Alchemical Cartridges as ammunition. This increases the Misfire Rate, but you can now apply extra attacks, such as Iteratives and Rapid Shot.
Remember that in later levels, your BAB will be very high against a creature's Touch AC. Take for example, a Babau. It's AC is 19/11/18. Being a CR 6, you pretty much have a sure shot that you will hit it about 90% of the time, sans cover penalties. Ricochet Shot does a nice thing, as you can shoot a wall and have it attack from that point, ignoring cover.
Gunslingers overall are a powerful class due to Touch AC capabilities. Dual Pistols for PFS has been severely hampered unless you have other means to reload with two hands occupied. Be wary that some GMs might target the gunslinger as top priority.
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Remember that in later levels, your BAB will be very high against a creature's Touch AC. Take for example, a Babau. It's AC is 19/11/18. Being a CR 6, you pretty much have a sure shot that you will hit it about 90% of the time, sans cover penalties. Ricochet Shot does a nice thing, as you can shoot a wall and have it attack from that point, ignoring cover.
True enough here, but I'd rather have precise shot and not need it than need it and not have it. Just not sure about its necessity at level 1 v. deadly aim for more ranged damage.
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Personally, I feel Precise Shot actually is necessary for any Gunslinger in PFS, Musket Master or otherwise. Remember, you hit touch AC but without Precise Shot you will most likely be dealing with a cumulative -8 to hit thanks to the cover your fellow players will be creating. And they will, no matter how many times you ask or tell them to do otherwise.
You will definitelly want to take Deadly Aim and Rapid Shot. I prefer to take DA at level 3 and wait to take Rapid Shot next solely because by level 4-5 you should have a better way of affording all the extra alchemical cartridges you will need to take advantage of Rapid Shot. Earlier than that and you will be burning through gold to afford all the lead you'll be throwing.
For your traits I recommend Armor Expert (combat) and Hermean Paragon (regional). Hermean Paragon is the exact same as Reactionary (+2 to Initiative) but it allows you access to Armor Expert which you will want since Gunslingers benefit from the fabled Mithril Breastplate better than most any other class. With Armor Expert and the Mithril Breastplate you won't have an armor check penalty to worry about even untrained in Medium Armor.
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Rorek, have you played a Gunslinger in PFS? At level one you really do need all the help you can get to up your accuracy due to the fact you cannot rely on the other players at your table to work as a cohesive unit. In addition, you are expected to track every. single. piece. of ammunition you use. For your first three scenarios you will be earning about 1500 gp which you need to spread out in upgrading to the bear essentials (Masterwork Backpack, Cloak of Resistance, better armor, consumables, Masterwork Musket, etc.) as well as your ammo. In those first few scenarios every shot counts. And touch AC means piss-all when you realize the scenario you just sat down to play is populated by enemy Monks...
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what I am saying, is that at level 1. your allies should more often than not be able to take out most enemies in melee, quite quickly (at least in my exp)all you have to do is take out the ones that are out of melee range, or attempt to stay out. therefore you really don't need precise shot. Even "bosses" die rather quickly if in melee. precise shot is a feat that can be left for level 3 IMHO.
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I think I am going to stick with Precise Shot at level one just because of the Ammo cost (6gold a shot, Yikes!) and need for accuracy. Tracking bullets is enough of a pain in the @$$ without missing a bunch anyway. Didn't know about the regional trait Hermean Paragon, so thanks MrRetsej, now I can use the Mithral Breastplate (at least, until I have a +7 Dex and need to get celestial armor, which will be near the endgame for this character anyway.
So, now the build at about 5th level will look like
Stats:
Str10
Dex19
Con14
Int10
Wis14
Cha10
Feats:
G1:Rapid Reload (Musket)
H1:Point-Blank Shot
L1:Precise Shot
L3:Deadly Aim
G4:Rapid Shot
L5:Improved Initiative
Class Features:
Grit 2pts
Steady Aim
Quick Clear
Deadeye
Nimble+1
Gunslinger's Initiative
Fast Musket
Pistol-Whip
Musket Training
Gear:
Masterwork Chain Shirt
+1 Musket
+1 Ring of Protection
+1 Cloak of Resistance
Pathfinder's Kit
Gunsmith's Kit
x Alchemical Cartridges
Attacks:
Dagger +5(1d4;19-20/x2)
Musket +10(1d12+5;20/x4)
*Deadly Aim +8(1d12+9;20/x4)
*Rapid Shot +8/+8(1d12+5;20/x4)
**Deadly Aim+Rapid Shot +6/+6(1d12+9;20/x4)
Pistol-Whip +5(1d10+1)
AC19
CMB+5
CMD20
Touch14
Flat-Footed14
Will+4
Fort+6
Ref+8
Initiative+12
Gun users tend to be pretty much set in their feats
Point blank shot
Precise shot. (because taking a -8 to shoot through your meat shield is bad)
Rapid Reload- because more attacks are everything for a martial, especially one that doesn't have to move.
Rapid shot: as above AND because a -2 means nothing to you
Clustered shots: because the one area where you might be behind an archer is having the golf bag full of trick arrows.
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Point blank shot
Precise shot. (because taking a -8 to shoot through your meat shield is bad)
Rapid Reload- because more attacks are everything for a martial, especially one that doesn't have to move.
Rapid shot: as above AND because a -2 means nothing to you
Clustered shots: because the one area where you might be behind an archer is having the golf bag full of trick arrows
Yep, got plans for picking those feats up by level 7. Any feats beyond level 7, other than the obvious Signature Deed that would be nice/exceptional? And is there a duration on Steady Aim?
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@Rerednaw:Thanks for the input.
Didn't know about reliable enchantment, but it looks awesome. Thanks for the tip.
Paper cartridges I agree aren't great, but until level 3, Its either paper cartridges or attack every other round. And considering I don't have a lot of uses for move actions, there isn't much to do that round I give up other than move to a new position, or increase my range with steady aim (which I still can't find a duration for).
Any particular reason you went with Rapid Shot before Deadly Aim? Just curious.
With carrying capacity, I was thinking of raising strength up to 11 and dex to 19 by dumping charisma, to help with carrying stuff and give more accuracy later on (4th level I get another +1 attack), and getting a masterwork backpack to raise my carrying capacity to 43lbs. Then getting a haversack later.
Why snap shot for musket master? Just curious because unlike pistols, muskets have a better range to shoot from, and being 5-10ft away kinda defeats the purpose of having 50ft of range.
And yeah, I was planing on picking up a light crossbow fairly quickly to get a mook weapon.
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I have a Musket Master in a game I'm playing in, its a home game but we are using PFS rules,
my self, I went point blank shot and percice shot, the snap shot feat is nice because you can threaten with your musket but I'm not a huge fan,
one thing to look into for later levels, vital strike. very handy when you have a target you can't use alchemical carts on, I also tend to carry some musket balls that I used blanches on, because silver and cold iron blanch is far cheaper then real silver or cold iron ammo,
reliability is a good enchantment for the musket, but for me, I just upend my wis to get more grit and instead added distance,
The above mentioned a breast plate, I'm not sure about that, because some of your defensive ability only work if you were light armor or no armor.
and for non-magic weapons, I'd say boarding axe is a nice back up melee weapon. for magic gear, you have two nice options for different slots, the beneficial bandoleer and the endless bandoleer. endless I believe is 1500, I like it my self, the beni can teleport one bit of ammo to your weapon though.
or get finece and get a rapier or spiked chain since your already dex based.
just my two cents
oh, if you think you might dip a level or two, wait till after level 5. dex to damage is so pretty :)
Yeah, it is a bit of a toss up between distance and realiable. Figure I'll choose between the two depending on what the dice say. As to the mithral breastplate, mithral says that it is counted as one size lighter for all purposes, which includes nimble. Didn't know about the bandoliers, but they look great. Thanks for the input.
Figured out an outline of the
Point-Blank Shot
Precise Shot
Rapid Shot
Deadly Aim
Improved Initiative
Clustered Shots
Improved Critical(Musket)
Vital Strike
Signature Deed (Bleeding Wounds)
Improved Precise Shot
Steady Aim works for one shot.
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As soon as you have the Fame, get the Handy Haversack to help deal with all the gear you will have and your lower strength. If you can swing it by dipping a level of Cleric/Bard/Ranger/Sorc./Wizard or just sucking up a late level UMD high enough to activate it, you can try using a wand of Abundant Ammunition in a spring loaded wrist sheath (from Adventurer's Armory) to save you GP on your special material paper cartridges since missing with an adamantine paper cartridge just hurts one's miserly soul.
FYI, the Beneficial Bandolier is not PFS legal, I'm afraid. The Endless one is though, so yay!
Steady aim works for that turn only.
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Yeah, I actually was thinking of getting a Muleback Cord before the haversack, just to help things along. Its a shame about the Beneficial Bandolier, but I was planning on getting the Endless one anyway. Thanks for the info.As soon as you have the Fame, get the Handy Haversack to help deal with all the gear you will have and your lower strength. If you can swing it by dipping a level of Cleric/Bard/Ranger/Sorc./Wizard or just sucking up a late level UMD high enough to activate it, you can try using a wand of Abundant Ammunition in a spring loaded wrist sheath (from Adventurer's Armory) to save you GP on your special material paper cartridges since missing with an adamantine paper cartridge just hurts one's miserly soul.
FYI, the Beneficial Bandolier is not PFS legal, I'm afraid. The Endless one is though, so yay!
Steady aim works for that turn only.Just curious, where are you getting that? The text doesn't mention it.
Steady Aim (Ex): At 1st level, as long as a musket master has at least 1 grit point, she can take a move-equivalent action to increase the accuracy of a two-handed firearm. When she does, she increases the range increment of the firearm she is firing by 10 feet. This stacks with other abilities that increase her range increment. This deed replaces the gunslinger's dodge deed.
True enough. It is RAI. Obviously it is meant that you are taking extra care to steady your rifle for your very next shot that round. There is no RAW in this case however, unless there has been an FAQ ruling on the matter.
I love the idea of a cestus. Just the thought of holding the gun with a cestus and bashing an AoO between shots, even though not very effective sounds great.
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Instead of a dagger, I'd use a cestus as your melee back up. Same weight and threat range with the added benefit that you don't have to draw to threaten. I'd skip the cords since a cloak of res is a better investment.
yeah, the dagger comes with the pathfinder's kit, so its with my gear. Plan on getting a cold iron cestus pretty soon. Also, due to some pre-gen module combination shenanigans, this character will start out at level 7, but I have no idea how much gold I will have for him. Question as to targeting (torso), does it stack with Improved Critical? Because if so, then,
Yeah, either a cestus or a spiked guantlet. And spend the extra gp to make it Cold Iron at least.
Every single one of my PFS characters sports a cold iron spiked gauntlet. All of them.
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My Musket Master took two levels of Paladin (Divine Hunter archetype) for the bonus feat Precise Shot and Divine Grace. Smite Evil was nice as well.
I took Deft Shootist Deed before 10th level, IIRC, because I kept finding myself in melee range. YMMV. Since Paladin gave Medium Armor Proficiency I didn't need to take Armor Expert, and I set myself up with a Mithral Breastplate. I think my AC by level 12 was in the low 30s.
I don't think Clustered Shots is worth taking. You'll be carrying around so many different types of ammunition you should be able to overcome any DR. Just be sure to carry around a few oils of Align Weapon. If you go with Paladin, your Smite Evil will bypass all DR, although you'll only get 1/day if you take two levels.
I also took Arcane Strike at 11th level (since she's an Aasimar). I think my damage was something like 1d12+20 per shot, crit 19-20/x4.
You have a lot of options. Don't let anyone tell you your feats are set.
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My Musket Master took two levels of Paladin (Divine Hunter archetype) for the bonus feat Precise Shot and Divine Grace. Smite Evil was nice as well.
I took Deft Shootist Deed before 10th level, IIRC, because I kept finding myself in melee range. YMMV. Since Paladin gave Medium Armor Proficiency I didn't need to take Armor Expert, and I set myself up with a Mithral Breastplate. I think my AC by level 12 was in the low 30s.
I don't think Clustered Shots is worth taking. You'll be carrying around so many different types of ammunition you should be able to overcome any DR. Just be sure to carry around a few oils of Align Weapon. If you go with Paladin, your Smite Evil will bypass all DR, although you'll only get 1/day if you take two levels.
I also took Arcane Strike at 11th level (since she's an Aasimar). I think my damage was something like 1d12+20 per shot, crit 19-20/x4.
You have a lot of options. Don't let anyone tell you your feats are set.
Interesting choices Nefreet.
I probably would go paladin, but I have made plenty of multiclassed builds and they tended to slow down game play a bit when the GM kept asking how my monk could channel energy, smite evil, cast mage armor, cast protection from evil, enlarge myself, and use bardic performance [hehe, champions of irori are fun]. It was fun, but it confused the GMs and I figured I probably should make less of those builds.
I probably will take Clustered Shots to save on the cost of ammo [adamantine alchemical cartridges hurt to miss with, and I'd rather just not need them].
Still, thanks for the input.