Building Yosemite Sam - Need help with progression

[Bober]

Hello, I'm working on a new build for a possible campaign, but I'm not sure about a few things. I'm building it around the concept of Yosemite Sam. I know dual wielding pistols is REALLY feat intensive, but I'm not going for a power-play build. I would still like to optimise what I have, though.
Here's what I have so far:

[The character begins at level 7, so the order of feats below 7 is not optimised]
[For 3PP stuff, I'll have to ask the DM]

Race:
- Human, for the obvious bonus feat
- with Permanent Reduce Person, for the small size (and bonuses)

STATS: 20 points buy, +2 DEX for human, +2 DEX -2 STR from reduce person permanent, +1 DEX at level 4. Not sure what to increase at 8th.
I would have 10, 22, 12, 12, 14, 7
I know 22 is a lot of DEX, and could go with more WIS to get grit, but my reason for such a high DEX is that TWF gives me a -4 / -4 (once I have the feat) already, so I really need to increase my hit chances, especially if I go with a DB pistol (another -4) and/or with improved/greater TWF (-5 second attack, -10 third attack)

Classes:
- Gunslinger 5, Pistolero Archetype
- Fighter 3, Trench Fighter Archetype + Drill Sergeant Archetype (should be able to pick both, since they don't touch the same skills)

After level 8, I'm considering 2 more levels in Fighter, to get the Weapon Training (Firearms) and to be able to pick Weapon Specialisation as a feat. That brings me at 10th level.

I'm not much interested in increasing my Fighter or Gunslinger level anymore, so I'm thinking what can I get?
- Ranger: fav. enemy and terrain can be useful, bond useless. Maybe an archetype like corpse hunter, if the campaign is heavy on undead (dunno yet)
- Rogue: love the rogue talents, they add a lot of interesting options. Not so much sneak attack, I don't see it coming up that often (unless my DM agrees that u can flank without a bonus even with ranged attacks)
- PrC: I haven't found anything interesting, but I'm up for suggestions
What would you do?

Feats:
01. Quick Draw
01. (Human) Weapon Focus (Pistol or Double-Barrel Pistol)
01. (Gunslinger) Gunsmithing
03. Dazzling Display
04. (Gunslinger) Gun Twirling
05. Point Blank Shot
06. (1st Fighter) Rapid Reload (at this point, I can reload alchemical ammo as a free action, without dropping the guns)
07. Precise Shot
07. (2nd Fighter) Two-Weapon Fighting

After that I'm not sure which way to go. Feats I am considering are:
- Weapon Specialisation
- Improved Two Weapon Fighting
- Greater Two Weapon Fighting
- Improved Critical (not sure about it)
- Clustered Shot
I'm also not sure because it really depends on what I want to get after level 10. Depending on it, I might go for different feats

As for Traits, I don't have any idea yet. Probably something that gives me Initiative, but I might look for something related to poison use, since I like the idea of poisonous bullets.

Another thing I'm considering, since I'm small after all, is taking a medium mount to move around. I'm not sure how it works yet, but it would be neat to shoot while riding a wolf or something... Not sure if I need feats for that, or if they are just for melee/ride-by combat

One more thing. Other than buying my pistols and the permanent reduce person, I have like 6-7k to spend. Any suggestion what I shouldn't live without?

[Bober]

Anyone? :(

EDIT: One trait that might help me is Poisonous Slayer, giving a +1 on attack rolls with poisoned weapons. That's IF I can craft alchemical ammunition with a poisonous bullet.

[Lune]

Nope. This is all wrong. Sam is definitely a Spellscar Drifter. You gotta have your mule.

[Davor Firetusk]

I think you are required to have a method of Raging to properly encompass Sam

[Bober]

I've never heard of the Spellscar Drifter before. While the description suits the concept pretty well, his abilities do not in my opinion... Mount and Order have no place there (as for the mule, no need to have a special ability to get it), and while the Hat used as banner sounds cool, it's attack roll bonus is given only on charge attacks, which will never happen with guns...

As for Rage, it would fit quite well as a concept, but it would be to be modified to give me some advantage on ranged attacks (or DEX) instead of STR. As far as I know, there are two archetypes that do that (Urban Barbarian for DEX, Primal Hunter for ranged attack rolls), but both would replace fast movement with something I have no use for whatsoever. Is there another way you can think of?

EDIT: I found that Savage Technologist would work well for a 1 level dip if rage is all I need from it. Otherwise, 5 levels into it gets me yet another DEX bonus on damage

[Bober]

Ok, so my DM doesn't allow me to stack those 3 abilities granting me DEX on damage (two are untyped bonuses, one says adding directly the DEX mod, so from my point of view they do stack). I understand his point of view, don't agree with it, but he's the DM so I can't do much about it.

That changes things:

- Savage Technologist is still useful for DEX rage, but just as a 1 level dip (I don't need the other abilities it gives me, and I wouldn't be able to stack the bonus from Crack Shot at 5th).

- Pistolero becomes useless, a standard Gunslinger would work fine, since I could still get the DEX bonus from Trench Fighter (and I didn't plan to go over 5, so I wouldn't have the +1 at 9th)

Not sure where to go from here

[Taja the Barbarian]

Bober wrote:

Ok, so my DM doesn't allow me to stack those 3 abilities granting me DEX on damage (two are untyped bonuses, one says adding directly the DEX mod, so from my point of view they do stack). I understand his point of view, don't agree with it, but he's the DM so I can't do much about it.

...

That's not your GM, that's the actual rules: Pazio made a clarification a while back that untyped stat bonuses from the same stat do not stack, so you can't add Dexterity to damage multiple times, nor can paladins combine the 'use Charisma instead of Wisdom for Will Saves' feat with their 'add Charisma bonus to all saves' class ability.

[FAQ finder]

The FAQ Taja is referring to

[Son of the Veterinarian]

I'm not sure the actual build matters that much for a character like Yosemite Sam, playing him is going to be all about the roleplay.

[Taja the Barbarian]

Offhand, I'd say go with Dwarf as a race:

• It fits the image you are working toward, and
• The Dwarven Gunslinger FCB that reduces misfire chance is really nice.

Beyond that, I'd say at least 5 levels in Pistolero Gunslinger (Dex to damage, reduced misfire FCB, and 'Up Close and Deadly' deed) and at least one in Savage Technologist Barbarian (probably at least 2 for the increased movement), and then whatever you want. Personally, I would disallow the Trench Fighter Fighter as it is a WW1 archetype, but that might just be me.

Also, remember that you'll generally be attacking against touch AC, so you don't actually need to squeeze every possible +1 to hit out of your build (Weapon Focus, for example, is very nice but by no means essential).

Finally, make certain your GM is onboard with the Gun Twirling feat: There's a big difference between using a free action to holster a weapon occasionally and using it six times (at level 11) every 6 seconds of every fight (see every 'how many free actions you can reasonably take in a round' discussion ever).

EDIT: Sorry, didn't notice Weapon Focus is a prereq for Gun Twirling, so I guess you do need to take that feat.

[Bober]

Thanks for the rule reference :)

I know it's a matter of role-play mostly, but I want a build that works well too. I've done the RP mistake too many times, building a great character that unfortunately was way behind other when it came to combat...

I know Dwarf would fit well, but with a bit of money I can go small Human (reduce person) and get those nice bonuses... In the end, he's a human in the cartoon after all :)

Pistolero 5 - Savage Technologist 1 is a good idea. I will still get at least 5 levels into fighter for the bonus feats, which gives me the chance to get another archetype if I give up trench fighter.

The GM said the Gun Twirling thing is ok, he checked the feats himself

[Bober]

I was looking at more stuff, and I ran into the Spellslinger. How useful could a simple 1 level dip be in such a class?