So I’ve had a horrendous idea and I’m curious about where people would go with this. Basic idea is this:
A Phalanx Soldier gets the ability to treat polearms as 1-handed weapons at 3rd level, provided they are wielding a shield of some kind in their other hand.
A Picaroon gets Two-Weapon Finesse if they have a 1-handed piercing weapon in one hand and a firearm in the other hand.
The Buckler Gun is a thing.
The Beneficial Bandolier is a thing.
What are our thoughts on this? Could this work out to be an awesome build (perhaps with a polearm with a high Crit range, like the fauchard)? Is this the sort of thing that’s destined to be terrible no matter how you build it?
EDIT: on second thought, technically there’s no specific need for it to be a Picaroon. Any Swashbuckler archetypes (including default) work especially well?
Savage technologist barbarian might be better than any swashbuckler here. I suppose you could do both.
Is this the sort of thing that’s destined to be terrible no matter how you build it?
Probably. These are not very strong archetypes to begin with, and are actually really good case studies of the principle that "just because you can do something, doesn't mean you're good at doing that thing". As avr mentions, the Savage Technologist is probably a better bet since that archetype does the "sword and gun" concept much better, but taking a 3 level dip in phalanx fighting is going to hurt a lot more than it will help.
Pure ST barbarian might use a dragoon pistol and a rapier, agile when you can afford it. Keep the bandolier. The melee weapon's worse, the pistol's better to the same degree; that's a wash. Focus on dex. Get the opening volley feat. You might stick with barbarian or you might leave it at 5th-6th, or even at 2nd. There are many options.
I'm pretty sure it works better than a phalanx fighter / picaroon multiclass.
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Well, you're gonna suffer the -4/-4 penalties for TWF, since neither guns or polearms are light weapons.
I'd also try to invest into the Shadowshooting property so you can fire several times per round.
Well, you're gonna suffer the -4/-4 penalties for TWF, since neither guns or polearms are light weapons.
I'd also try to invest into the Shadowshooting property so you can fire several times per round.
I’ve actually never heard of Shadowshooting, and now that I’m aware of it I have a couple of characters that can benefit from that in the future. Excellent :D
But yeah, the TWF issue is an Issue, but I tend to spec my Phalanx soldiers for defense anyway. With guns targeting touch AC and a high-DEX build, we might be fine with the buckler gun. If our theoretical character is an elf, they could grab an Elven Branch Spear and use Finesse on it.
To the OP: the Bladed Brush feat might do what you are looking for...it has Weapon Focus (glaive) and worshiper of Shelyn as pre-reqs, though. It does allow for one-handed use and applying Dex to attack rolls.
Can be found in Player Companion: Paths of the Righteous (one of the best resources for useful/cool prestige classes!).
To the OP: the Bladed Brush feat might do what you are looking for...it has Weapon Focus (glaive) and worshiper of Shelyn as pre-reqs, though. It does allow for one-handed use and applying Dex to attack rolls.
Can be found in Player Companion: Paths of the Righteous (one of the best resources for useful/cool prestige classes!).
That's... actually awesome? I'd never seen this before.
Bladed Brush doesn't actually work that way. It's really easy to misread this feat (I did it myself), so let me break down the relevant rule:
When wielding a glaive, you can treat it as a one-handed piercing or slashing melee weapon and as if you were not making attacks with your off-hand for all feats and class abilities that require such a weapon (such as a duelist’s or swashbuckler’s precise strike).
What most people is read is "When wielding a glaive, you can treat it as a one-handed piercing or slashing melee weapon", and stop right there and conclude that you can wield the glaive in one hand. Sadly this is not the case if you read the sentence carefully, because of the last part of the sentence: "for all feats and class abilities that require such a weapon (such as a duelist’s or swashbuckler’s precise strike)."
If we remove all the words in the middle to clarify what the feat is saying, it reads: "you can treat it as a one-handed piercing or slashing melee weapon for all feats and class features that require such a weapon". In other words, this power doesn't actually wield a glaive in one hand. It just lets you use a glaive with feats and class features that normally only work with one-handed weapons, or require a free hand. It doesn't actually free up your off-hand to carry other equipment or use a shield.
It's still a superb feat for making a glaive finessable, but it doesn't make it one-handed.
Interesting! Most people, I assume, stop reading at "and" and assume that it's two separate statements:
1. You can treat it as one-handed.
2. You are not considered as making attacks with your off-hand.
But you're right, the sentence doesn't make sense as two separate statements because if you're using it one-handed then you wouldn't even assume anything about your other hand.
Good catch!
Oh, I fell for the same trap when I first read the feat, and someone informed me of my error much as I am now doing for you ;-)
That being said...
Being able to take a Glaive, make it Finesse-capable and Swashbuckler-friendly, wield it with a pistol buckler (since bucklers can be wielded "no-handed"), and keep us from having to have too much MAD ain't bad.
I know that you've said the picaroon archetype isn't necessary, but I think the problems with that archetype might still apply here.
The first is that you can't reload while dual-wielding unless you're going to get very creative or be willing to give up attack actions to do so. I've seen people try and get around this using various juggling feats or a bard archetype, but those have questionable legality for reloading a weapon.
EDIT: Recognizing the Shadowshooting ability that I'd never heard of before this thread. Very nice.
Second, is that you can't use the swashbuckler's precise strike deed if you're using your off-hand to attack. Yes, you can use this "buckler gun," but you can't attack with it without penalizing a swashbuckler's main-hand attack damage. Again, there are creative ways that people have tried to get around it, but all in all dual-wielding a gun and weapon is usually too feat or level-dip intensive to be worth it.
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It's still a superb feat for making a glaive finessable, but it doesn't make it one-handed.
But what does make it one handed is Spear Dancing Spiral and Quarterstaff Mastery. So for the low low price of (checks notes) 7 feats you can one handed finesse a glaive and take the 8th feat to slash some grace.
Now, for the fun part. If you also get Amateur Gunslinger (or maybe just take a level of gunslinger, whichevers easier), weapon focus with a gun, Dazzling Display, Quickdraw, and Gun Twirling you can "dual wield" a glaive and a gun without getting bogged down in the TWF rules or the swashbucklers aversion to off handed shenanigans since you can draw and holster the gun as free actions.Granted thats another... 5 feats which means a human fighter could have all of this online at level 10 I think
That sounds like a load of barnacles and I love it! The visual of someone dancing around with a spear and then occasionally popping out a gun is almost as stupid as my original concept. Gold star! I'm going to make a character that does this some day.
You'd also need to add Precise Shot and Point Blank Shot, and as a practical matter would likely need Rapid Shot and Deadly Aim to your list of feats. So this wouldn't really come online until around 15th level, but it does look doable if you reach those levels. Whether it's good is another matter, but you're not locked into any specific archetype so you have a lot of flexibility there.