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One of my players wants to be an armorist in my Iron Gods campaign and I'm having some questions regarding their main ability, Summon Equipment, and how that would get along with the high-tech weaponry they will soon be coming across.
These items are obviously better then their non-technological counterpart but because they are tech items and not magical items, the armorist could just summon them and gain additional enchantment bonus on top of that, which would make that player's effective equipment wealth above and beyond the other party member's wealth. I don't want to say no as the rest of the class seems very thematic for a technological discovery and usage campaign but it seems natural to fret over stuff like this. Would there be any compromise that can be made for this player so that he can play the class without breaking the rest of the party balance?
There probably is a compromise. For example, you could probably say that what an armorist can summon or bind to themselves is limited by the cost of the item they would otherwise be able to bind. Thus for example a:
Level 1 Armorist: Can only bind or summon equipment which is worth 800gp or less (most masterwork equipment fall into this category)
Level 3 Armorist: Can only bind or summon equipment which is worth 2,800gp or less (most +1 equipment fall into this category)
Level 5 Armorist: Can only bind equipment which is worth 8,800gp or less (most +2 equipment fall into this category). At 6th level, the armorist may also summon equipment of this same worth.
Obviously, arsenal tricks that allow for other special materials or add an additional +1 may either increase the allowed worth, or be granted for free.
Using this compromise, a player wouldn't be able to have a laser torch bound till level 5, or summoned till level 6.
He can summon the equipment but still has to buy, find, or make batteries.
I would not allow it without them having the technologist feat and the appropriate crafting feat. People know how ordinary armor works. They need to understand how the technological armor works before they can create it.
Even then it would require batteries to charge it just like the original armor. If it's unsummoned, then those charges are lost.