So the crossbow mastery feat:
The time required for you to reload any type of crossbow is reduced to a free action, regardless of the type of crossbow used.
Reduces the loading time of a crossbow to a free action and the inexplicable reload deed of the bolt ace:
At 11th level, loading a crossbow becomes unthinking and automatic for a bolt ace. As long as she has at least 1 grit point, she always starts each round of combat (even a surprise round) with her crossbow loaded. Also the amount of time needed to reload a crossbow decreases by one step: a standard action becomes a move action, a move action becomes a swift action, a swift action becomes a free action, and a free action becomes not an action.
Makes it not an action.
So my question is this: Can I now reload while unconcious?
Haha, I guess so.
Can you do it with no hands now as well?
(I think technically the difference is that Free Actions are supposed to be done on your turn, so this would mean you can reload off-turn. From memory though this is already covered by the rules for reloading weapons as a free action, but I'm not 100% sure on that - I'll try to check in the morning when I'm more awake.)
I built up a gunslinger (Hand crossbow build) that used 2 hand crossbows. at a certain point he can reload for free, but there seemed to be quite a bit of debate on how you can do a free reload with both hands full....
I built up a gunslinger (Hand crossbow build) that used 2 hand crossbows. at a certain point he can reload for free, but there seemed to be quite a bit of debate on how you can do a free reload with both hands full....
I think you're confusing rule words with real-life words; the rules say "both hands full", but you shouldn't interpret that as literally having both your hands completely occupied with holding the hand crossbows. You still have wiggle-room with your fingers and holding things slightly different in real-life.
Having a hand full is just a rules-text that is meant to avoid a character wielding 2 items simultaneously to avoid being overpowered. It does not literally mean you have an immovable grip without being able to do anything else with your hands, especially if the rules allow it, as in this case.
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I built up a gunslinger (Hand crossbow build) that used 2 hand crossbows. at a certain point he can reload for free, but there seemed to be quite a bit of debate on how you can do a free reload with both hands full....
I'm not sure how this became a debate, the rules are clear on this. You can't reload a crossbow unless you have an available hand. Action types, such as "free action," define how much time and effort an action takes. A "free action" doesn't mean it magically happens without any work by the PC, just that it's really quick to do.
Action Types An action’s type essentially tells you how long the action takes to perform (within the framework of the 6-second combat round) and how movement is treated. There are six types of actions: standard actions, move actions, full-round actions, swift actions, immediate actions, and free actions.
Free Action: Free actions consume a very small amount of time and effort.
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As for the original question: no. Again, "not an action" doesn't mean it happens automatically, just that the effort is minuscule.
Not an Action: Some activities are so minor that they are not even considered free actions. They literally don’t take any time at all to do and are considered an inherent part of doing something else, such as nocking an arrow as part of an attack with a bow.
In the particular case of Inexplicable Reload, it's probably because there can be limits on free actions.
You can perform one or more free actions while taking another action normally. However, there are reasonable limits on what you can really do for free, as decided by the GM.
At one point there was a FAQ that seemed to say that players should be limited to 5 free actions a turn, or 3 if they took the same action more than once. It was quickly decried as absolutely insane and revoked within a week. But if loading is "not an action" there are definitively no limits on how many times you can reload.
There never has been a cap on many times you can reload. Reload as many times as you have actions for, so long as you have the required hands to perform those aforementioned actions.
The amount of time, or even effort, an action takes is completely irrelevant and equally unrelated to how many hands you have capable of performing actions.
In short, Crossbow Mastery and Inexplicable Reload still doesn't allow one to dual wield hand crossbows without extra hands (Kasatha, Alchemist, prehensile tails, etc) or some other class feature (Combat Juggling).
I built up a gunslinger (Hand crossbow build) that used 2 hand crossbows. at a certain point he can reload for free, but there seemed to be quite a bit of debate on how you can do a free reload with both hands full....I'm not sure how this became a debate, the rules are clear on this. You can't reload a crossbow unless you have an available hand. Action types, such as "free action," define how much time and effort an action takes. A "free action" doesn't mean it magically happens without any work by the PC, just that it's really quick to do.
Action Types An action’s type essentially tells you how long the action takes to perform (within the framework of the 6-second combat round) and how movement is treated. There are six types of actions: standard actions, move actions, full-round actions, swift actions, immediate actions, and free actions.Free Action: Free actions consume a very small amount of time and effort.
see, 2 posts, 2 different answers....