Playing a wizard in Iron Gods, we have a Gunslinger, so I picked up Ricochet Shot to support him.
As we move forward, Ricochet Shot is remaining a good spell, and will get better, and I'm looking into other things like Named Bullet. Our gunslinger is picking up fun things like Arc Pistols and Laser Rifles. Can these spells still influence tech-weapons?
GM has ruled some. The Arc Pistol: Electricity arcs, why not? But even I was like "I don't think you can just bounce a laser." For the Laser Rifle. Named Bullet we're not sure if I can write a name on a Battery for the one shot...
I figured to try for a professional opinion. Firearm/Ammunition magics and if they can work with Tech.
Ricochet Shot says, "Target one projectile weapon." Named Bullet says, "Target one piece of ammunition or one thrown weapon". Arc pistols and laser rifles are not projectile weapons. They are beam weapons. And they don't use ammunition. Battery charges are not ammunition.
However, some technological weapons, such as the Dart Gun and Inferno Pistol, are projectile weapons that use ammunition. They make their projectiles internally with material from a nanite canister, so Named Bullet would have to be cast on the weapon itself to reach the projectile inside. A special projectile weapon is the autograpnel, whose projectile is the adamantine spike at its tip that can be reeled back with its cable.
My gunslinging bloodrager likes to cast Greater Magic Weapon on her laser pistol. But she likes her regular pistol even more, because the magus casts Heart of the Metal on her bullets when they face robots with hardness. I ruled that the spell will count 50 pieces of identical ammunition as one weapon.
Well. You can absolutely bounce a laser off of a reflective enough surface. Mirrors would be best, but in a pinch less perfect surfaces could do. Some dude's shiny plate, for example.
If there were to be a problem with that, it would be that the spell refers to "a projectile", which a beam of light isn't, strictly speaking. Nor is the gun's battery.
Cold or gravity though ... Not as easy, indeed.
But : Magic.
On a more serious note (it's 3 am, apologies) : Ricochet Shot targets the weapon itself, so I'd say you're fine. Admittedly not RAW but shouldn't be a big deal. Can lead to weird things, admittedly : bouncing a ray is one thing, bouncing a rocket should not allow it to explode twice. Your GM's common sense should sort through those cases easily enough.
Named Bullet now, as per its name, targets a piece of ammo, which isn't great when you're using batteries. You can't exactly prepare a laser shot an hour or two ahead of time the same way you would an arrow or a bullet. Short of changing the way the spell works (like say, making so the next first shot gains the benefit), it shouldn't be usable on a battery-based weapon. Previously mentioned rocket, however ... Maybe ?
Those spells were not made with tech guns in mind, so you and your GM are gonna have to improvise.
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Well. You can absolutely bounce a laser off of a reflective enough surface. Mirrors would be best, but in a pinch less perfect surfaces could do. Some dude's shiny plate, for example.
The in game "lasers" do stuff that real lasers can't do and have difficulties with thing that real lasers can do (seriously damaging someone with a laser is difficult, blinding him is easy). In any instance, bouncing a laser on a reflecting surface require one with very specific characteristics. Medieval or renaissance mirrors don't qualify. Armor even less (lasers are used to cut metal).
If there were to be a problem with that, it would be that the spell refers to "a projectile", which a beam of light isn't, strictly speaking.
Exactly, a beam isn't a projectile, like a ray isn't one.
Your GM could houserule that Ricochet Shot also works on beam weapons. A beam can reflect off of dull iron armor as easily as a bullet can ricochet off of supple leather armor: it's magic. Perhaps Ricochet Shot says "Projectile weapon" instead of "Projectile or beam weapon" merely because beam weapons had not been added to the Pathfinder rules yet. As a GM, I like to make things more flexible for the players, especially for teamwork.
Differentiating beam weapon from projectile actually works out. Means no more lightning arcs, but it is a standardized rule rather than thinking of each weapon as a unique case. It also answers my Named Bullet conundrum, as I hadn't taken it yet, in favor of other synergies like Brow Gasher for our slashing focus melee combatants, or Draconic Resevoir to work well with our alchemist's bombs.