So I find myself in a dilemma of too many options.
I have 15 1st level (npc) elven followers along with an Arcanist cohort and a Machinesmith character.
We're to form a military unit for us in mass combat and out. Guns everywhere is the rule and I have loads of money to kit out the crew.
So basically everyone already has a handy haversack, plenty of ammo, and at least a masterwork rifle.
I've toyed with a number of ideas from technology to siege weapons.
What I want to do is produce something fast, mobile, and packing a good hard punch.
I have 13,000gp to spend. Troops are already armed and kitted up for basic stuff. So I'm looking for something extra to give that extra push towards awesome.
If you or someone in your party can craft wondrous items, I recommend:
Amulet of Bullet Protection
Price Varies; Aura faint abjuration; CL 5th; Weight —+1 luck bonus 1,500 gp; +2 luck bonus 6,000 gp; +3 luck bonus 13,500 gp; +4 luck bonus 24,000 gp; +5 luck bonus 37,500 gp
This amulet, usually crafted from the splintered remains of spent firearm bullets shaped into a rough holy symbol or clover, grants the wearer a luck bonus to AC against firearm attacks that target touch AC.
Construction Requirements
+1 luck bonus 750 gp; +2 luck bonus 3,000 gp; +3 luck bonus 6,750 gp; +4 luck bonus 12,000 gp; +5 luck bonus 18,750 gp
Craft Wondrous Item, divine favor, creator's caster level must be at least three times the amulet's bonus
A bit too pricey to outright buy enough, but they are literally perfect for a "guns everywhere" campaign.
Have 1 or 2 'scouts' with:
Eyes of the Eagle
Price 2,500 gp; Aura faint divination; CL 3rd; Weight —These lenses are made of special crystal and fit over the eyes of the wearer. They grant a +5 competence bonus on Perception checks. Both lenses must be worn to gain the benefit. Wearing only one causes a character to become dizzy and stunned for 1 round.
Construction Requirements
Cost 1,250 gp
Craft Wondrous Item, clairaudience/clairvoyance
You can't go wrong with a bard or two. Inspire Courage really adds up when it's. +1 bonus to hit and damage for seveteen characters.
If you want some reall "sharpshooters", then Human(for Point Blank and Precise Shot at level one) Barbarians with the Urdban Archetpye can rage for a +4 Dexterity.
While fairly mediocre for PCs unless combined with a Banner of Ancient Kings, the Flagbearer feat could be a winner for mass combat. A Bard with Inspire Courage and Flagbearer gives +2 to hit and damage to all allies within 30 feet at level 1.
For those suggesting bards and things please bear in mind these are NPC classes as noted in the post. Mostly Warriors and Experts.
The Phantom chariot sounds like a good idea. IT wouldn't get everyone but other form of mount spells can solve that.
Amulets of bullet protection are too pricey to be of much use and the dm has told us despite the rule firearms aren't that common.
You can't go wrong with a bard or two. Inspire Courage really adds up when it's. +1 bonus to hit and damage for seveteen characters.
If you want some reall "sharpshooters", then Human(for Point Blank and Precise Shot at level one) Barbarians with the Urdban Archetpye can rage for a +4 Dexterity.
for the record, there is no range listed for inspire courage, its just "to be affected, an ally must be able to see or hear the bard" so a bard, with perform: percussion, working a serious pair of war drums could easily inspire everyone withing a hundred feet I'd think, farther if there wasnt a huge battle going on around them lol
Double hackbuts with the cart replaced by immovable rods?
I considered hackbuts but ultimately decided the rifles would prove better since they required less set up and more range.
I'm wondering if it wouldn't be prudent to simply load up on potions, scrolls, and some wands. Both my machinesmith and arcanist have good UMD scores and potions can be used by anyone.
If you want to improve mobility and add some melee punch giving everyone warhorses will do it.
Caltrop beads are good for removing enemy mobility and at 40 gp each surprisingly cheap.
Warhorses and flying mounts, siege artilery, eyes of the eagle,distance enchantments,magic bullets, weapon blanched alchemical cartridges to get around material based DR, silence spells, ammunition cassions, dinosaurs to pull the siege artillery, powered armor for the machine smith, battle standards, ioun torches or sniper sights, oil of magic weapon, abundant ammunition bandoliers, shotguns, hand cranked gating guns if you can convince the DM to let you use them, land mines, sending or whispering wind radio equivalents to coordinate artillery strikes,silver scarabs to take care of jams and weapon explosions, bayonets, shotguns, revolvers, and down the road, the arcanist should get form of the dragon for aerial support and fast insertion str ikes. How's that for a start?
Horses?
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I'd just stick to the longest range firearms you can get them. Normally NPCs that much lower level wouldn't be much use except to protect your stronghold from marauders etc while you went off adventuring. This is in large part due to the ACs they have to deal with. But with touch attacks, they actually have a shot (pun intended) of hitting tanky characters with decent consistency.
The fiend's mouth cannon has a range increment of 150 ft and does 8d6 damage. So - touch attacks within 150 ft for an average of 28 damage (same as a level 7-10 scorching ray only with more range). Heck - you could just have your cohorts load them while the party members actually aim the first volley or two so that you don't have to use their +1 BAB.
So - just have them use cannons to bombard the enemy from max touch AC distance while on the back of one of those chariots so that they can run away if need be.