Okay...so this is my first time posting on Paizo's messageboards...ever...so please be gentle (I mean, I know this place is typically friendly and open, but I just...you know how it can be on other sites...and I just want some constructive help or criticism).
This is my very first time building a gunslinger ever, and I decided on a Tengu. I know the bonus feat for being human is nice, but Tengu have good stat bonuses for a gunslinger. Plus, after Paizo made tiefling and aasimar boon-only races recently, I decided to try and make a character in every new race and try to level them up to level 2 before next GenCon, in case they do something similar in the near future. Yeah...I'm a little weird.
Anyway, her name is Asuka Sanzuwu, a Tengu from Tian Xia, and these are her stats (I've already factored in the racial boosts)(using a 20-point buy for PFS):
STR: 7
DEX: 18
CON: 10
INT: 12
WIS: 18
CHA: 10
She's a musket master archetype (not a mysterious stranger, so that's why her charisma is normal). She has the Glide alternate racial trait (I figured, if she went to a high place to get a better view of the area, she'd want an easy way to get down). For feats, she has Rapid Reload (free with archetype), Gunsmithing (bonus feat for her archetype/class), and Precise Shot (to get started on that feat tree early). She also has the natural weapons trait, which is a bite attack (I figured it'd be good to have in emergencies while still leaving her hands free to reload, in theory).
For equipment, she wears a Haramaki (I know it kinda sucks for now, but I only get 500 starting gold in PFS and still need money for bullets and stuff). Her weapon is musket (broken because it's the one you get for free at the start) and I have her carrying paper cartridges, but also packing regular bullets and silver bullets (because sometimes, when the dice are cursed, you want to keep your misfires to a minimum. And they were cheap).
And that's a lot of information. I put her skill points into perception, knowledge (engineering and local), craft (alchemy), and acrobatics. I think I'll get her some stealth next level, so she can maybe get a surprise round to set up, but that's not a class skill for her, so it would be a bit of work.
Well, what do you think? Any advice? I feel the STR score is a bit lower than I'd like, but I'm not sure what I should lower to bump it up. And her AC is still rather low. For reference, I only have about 79 gp left at this point and she's still level 1, so I can completely tear this stuff apart and rebuild her if I need to.
Firstly, I would like to ask how you are taking precise shot without the point blank shot per-requisite.
Secondly, keep in mind that a gunslinger is expensive in upkeep, especially if the gun breaks or you need more bullets. They are hard to come across normally and crafting rules in pathfinder are silly to say the least.
I played a gunslinger, musket master as well, however I never intended his primary weapon to be the musket for some time. When starting off at low levels, the gun is a fancy ornament that occasionally goes boom. I would stick with crossbows for the early levels until you fix your starter gun and only bring out the musket when you really need to. Boss fights or in a pinch. The expense of firing that thing every round adds up quickly. Mind you, I was playing Reign of Winter and bullets and places to make them were rather scarce. This is why I say use a crossbow. It's cheaper for repeated use at early levels.
Often times it was the case that I would fire a shot and then stow the gun for the rest of the combat, or pull it out at the end of the combat and take one, maybe two shots to kill an escaping boss. Hitting touch AC is a nice feature that way, but it also makes you the center of attention very, very quickly.
If I was going to make a Musket Master, then I would alter some stats, slightly.
I usually stick to a 16, 14, 14, 12, 10, 8 array for my characters and I find that it keeps them balanced and pretty in line for PFS difficulty.
Statwise:
STR: 8; DEX: 16+2; CON: 14-2; INT: 12; WIS: 14+2; CHA: 10
This array will reduce your grit by one and Will Save by 1, but give you a little bit better Strength for carrying capacity and the rare melee attack as well as boost your Fort Save by 1, HP by 1 per level and gives you two more HP until death.
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Starting Gold is 150 GP, not 500 GP. At least invest in some studded leather armor instead of haramaki so your starting AC is 17.
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Starting feat should be Point Blank Shot, not Precise Shot. Precise requires PBS, so you cannot start at first level with Precise due to the feat chain (unless human).
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As you get martial weapon proficiency, try to carry around a melee weapon for the off times that you don't want to shoot. (Noise, forced into melee, etc.)
With your current build, you might consider running around with a Rapier and Weapon Finesse at first level, so you can switch-hit. At level 2, retrain to PBS.
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Your musket isn't broken. It has a special condition: "battered". This means that the weapon is broken if anyone besides you uses it. It functions as normal for you until you upgrade it to Masterwork.
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Other than that, Gunslinger is very malleable so you can pick and choose how to build them and make some very interesting concepts. Good luck!
+1 on GM Bold Strider's post.
I believe those stats are pretty close to my human musket master. He also started with a haramaki, eventually upgrading to darkleaf studded leather and endless bandolier once he had the cash. He carries a rapier and his bag of skittles (silver, cold-iron, adamantine bullets/cartridges). He keeps the musket pre-loaded with a bullet and powder to ease costs and misfire chance then switches to cartridges for any remaining attacks.
Once you get rolling on dex to damage and/or rapid shot, it should be pretty easy to keep your grit pool full from kills.
If you're interested in gaining stealth as a class skill, you could take the Bitter Nobleman (campaign trait) or Highlander (regional trait). The latter could be especially thematic for a tengu and helpful for a sniper.
Early feat pick-ups to consider (after Point Blank/Precise): Deadly Aim, Rapid Shot, Clustered Shots (for DR)
As far as builds, I had planned on taking the Targeting Shot Signature Deed and the snap shot feat chain but this was pre-errata which nerfed both as well as the abundant ammunition option. One opinion mentioned on the forums several times in response to the errata is that multi-classing after level 5 (musket training for dex to damage) may be the better option now. Just some things to consider.
This seems nice if using a gun with an other class is ok, Ranger Archetype
edit: oops, missed it was for PFS
GeneticDrift wrote: This seems nice if using a gun with an other class is ok, Ranger Archetype Indeed. Unfortunately, trophy hunter is not legal in PFS as are most non-gunslinger archetypes that use firearms. I had wanted to take that for a ranger dip for improved tracking instead of wild empathy on a different character but, alas... :(
Kudos on even taking this archetype. It's the only time I delved into Gunslinger because at 1shot/round very few Players/DMs can complain about guns in their campaign versus the archer who can contrive to somehow deliver six or more arrows in six seconds.
I went with Goblin Gunslinger as it allowed me to use a full-weapon. The defining image being a Goblin wielding a five-foot shoulder-fired muzzleloader and being to speed load it once a round with a ramming rod taller than him.
Any inspiration on your PC from Evangelion or Tekken?
ArtlessKnave wrote: Firstly, I would like to ask how you are taking precise shot without the point blank shot per-requisite.
Secondly, keep in mind that a gunslinger is expensive in upkeep, especially if the gun breaks or you need more bullets. They are hard to come across normally and crafting rules in pathfinder are silly to say the least.
I played a gunslinger, musket master as well, however I never intended his primary weapon to be the musket for some time. When starting off at low levels, the gun is a fancy ornament that occasionally goes boom. I would stick with crossbows for the early levels until you fix your starter gun and only bring out the musket when you really need to. Boss fights or in a pinch. The expense of firing that thing every round adds up quickly. Mind you, I was playing Reign of Winter and bullets and places to make them were rather scarce. This is why I say use a crossbow. It's cheaper for repeated use at early levels.
Often times it was the case that I would fire a shot and then stow the gun for the rest of the combat, or pull it out at the end of the combat and take one, maybe two shots to kill an escaping boss. Hitting touch AC is a nice feature that way, but it also makes you the center of attention very, very quickly.
First of all, thank you for catching the Precise Shot thing. My original gunslinger idea used a human for the race and I forgot that Tengu don't get two feats at level 1. I must have forgotten to get rid of Precise Shot when I made the new sheet. I've changed it to Point Blank Shot and will take Precise Shot at my next level (as I will probably be firing into melee a lot). As for your advice on how to use my musket at early levels, I see what you mean about becoming a target quickly. Though I'm playing in PFS scenarios and am thus not solely dependent on the GM's whims, a lot of tactics for enemies say they focus on the character who deals the most damage to them...which could probably be me given how guns use touch AC. I will keep that in mind for the early levels. The crossbow is a nice idea, but since I'm doing PFS, there's never an issue with finding ammunition, since it's assumed I can buy it anywhere between scenarios. Though you're right and ammunition is very expensive and it will likely be an issue once I start playing.
Validorn wrote: +1 on GM Bold Strider's post.
I believe those stats are pretty close to my human musket master. He also started with a haramaki, eventually upgrading to darkleaf studded leather and endless bandolier once he had the cash. He carries a rapier and his bag of skittles (silver, cold-iron, adamantine bullets/cartridges). He keeps the musket pre-loaded with a bullet and powder to ease costs and misfire chance then switches to cartridges for any remaining attacks.
Once you get rolling on dex to damage and/or rapid shot, it should be pretty easy to keep your grit pool full from kills.
If you're interested in gaining stealth as a class skill, you could take the Bitter Nobleman (campaign trait) or Highlander (regional trait). The latter could be especially thematic for a tengu and helpful for a sniper.
Early feat pick-ups to consider (after Point Blank/Precise): Deadly Aim, Rapid Shot, Clustered Shots (for DR)
As far as builds, I had planned on taking the Targeting Shot Signature Deed and the snap shot feat chain but this was pre-errata which nerfed both as well as the abundant ammunition option. One opinion mentioned on the forums several times in response to the errata is that multi-classing after level 5 (musket training for dex to damage) may be the better option now. Just some things to consider.
First of all...holy crap. I thought starting gold was 500! Holy crap! Now I have to go back and adjust ALL my PFS characters! (well, okay, it's really just the last few I made, I think. The gunslinger's the only one who went really overboard when it comes to cost, so the rest can probably just be adjusted easily). Oh crap! Thank you so much for realizing that!
Secondly, I think I will change the ability scores as you suggested. It will certainly help things in the early levels. And I think I will take the Highlander regional trait after all, as it is thematic for my character's backstory and grants me stealth. Thanks for that. And I'll keep those feats under advisement. Anyway, thanks for the advice.
Avaricious wrote: Kudos on even taking this archetype. It's the only time I delved into Gunslinger because at 1shot/round very few Players/DMs can complain about guns in their campaign versus the archer who can contrive to somehow deliver six or more arrows in six seconds.
I went with Goblin Gunslinger as it allowed me to use a full-weapon. The defining image being a Goblin wielding a five-foot shoulder-fired muzzleloader and being to speed load it once a round with a ramming rod taller than him.
Any inspiration on your PC from Evangelion or Tekken?
Honestly, no. I've never seen Evangelion or Tekken (I know. I'm a terrible nerd). I just saw that the stats bonuses were good for a gunslinger and I thought it'd be cool. I'd do a goblin but I'm using this character in PFS play and Goblins aren't a PFS legal race yet (at least, not without a boon or something).
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