Cestus and reloading a pistol

[Chief Joseph]

I want to be able to be effective with the Sword and Gun ability of my savage technologist 2/gun tank 1, making him able to reload while he's got his light off-hand weapon still equipped, and I don't want to deal with weapon cords, class dips, or any of those other costly or just "thematically-challenged" solutions.

It looks like a cestus should allow the character to reload with his exposed fingers, since there's no skill check for reloading. Combining rapid reload and paper cartridges, this would make reloading a free action and still allow him to benefit from the Sword and Gun ability every round (though he'd take AOO's occasionally).

However, some would say that while there's no skill check for reloading, it still requires more manual dexterity and freedom of movement than simply wielding or carrying an item.

How would you PFS GMs rule on this? Can a cestus-wielding pistol shooter use his off-hand to reload his weapon?

[Andrew Christian]

PFS has ruled, in the PFS FAQ, that weapon cords do not restrict reloading. Therefore, I would rule that Cestii do not either, since the language is similar.

[Bartholomäus]

My Savage Technologist/Gun Tank just uses a Gauntlet as his off-hand weapon. No mess.

[Dylos]

In any case, the most important line in the cestus is this "allowing you to wield or carry items in that hand" this means that if nothing else, you can transfer the gun to your cestus hand to reload with your (now) free hand and then transfer it back, and unless I am mistaken, this is a free action.

[Gwen Smith]

Bartholomäus wrote:

My Savage Technologist/Gun Tank just uses a Gauntlet as his off-hand weapon. No mess.

This is one of those interesting "edition" issues like the potion sponge.*

A gauntlet completely covers your fingers, but the text doesn't mention any penalty on dexterity checks.

A cestus specifically leaves your fingers free, allowing you to carry or wield items in that hand, but you take a -2 penalty on skills like Disable Device.

Now, logically, having you fingers completely covered (in anything) makes it harder to use them. So does the penalty on the cestus imply that when you use a gauntlet, you can't use skills like Disable Device at all and we just never realized it? Otherwise, why is there a penalty on these skills when you have more freedom of movement in your fingers?

*Until the introduction of the potion sponge, nothing in the rules indicated that you can't drink a potion underwater; once the potion sponge appeared, it implied that you were never able to drink a potion underwater. However, until someone mentioned it, you never had a problem with it. (Like looking down when you run off a cliff in a cartoon.)

[Nefreet]

Since the cestus didn't introduce any new rules, like the potion sponge did, and only applies penalties to its own use, I believe the gauntlet is still safe.

[Imbicatus]

There is also the oddity that a cestus cannot be disarmed, but a scizore, which covers your entire hand and is strapped over your forearm, only gives a +10 to cmd vs disarm.

[Dread Knight]

Imbicatus wrote:

There is also the oddity that a cestus cannot be disarmed, but a scizore, which covers your entire hand and is strapped over your forearm, only gives a +10 to cmd vs disarm.

Well it kinda makes sense a Cestus is pretty much a spiked glove and is tightly connected to the hand so it can't really be disarmed unless the person actually was dis-armed while a Scizore is just placed over the forearm which can still be disarmed but still be difficult.