I've been working on a custom archetype for a player in my campaign and am unsure if it's balanced or not as it's the first archetype I've ever made. I made a post about it before and got some helpful advice, so I'm making another to see if there are any further changes that need to be made. I'm mostly concerned about how broken Wreak Havoc seems. The archetype is meant to provide a viable way to use early scatter firearms (especially the blunderbuss) as that's what the player wanted to use. The reason I haven't used an existing archetype is because he's a relatively new player, and I felt like the Scatter Gunner and Siege Gunner would be a hassle for someone not well-versed with Pathfinder rules.
Marauder (Gunslinger Archetype)
Weapon and Armor Proficiency: A marauder is proficient in all medium armor.
Blackhorn: A marauder must take a blunderbuss or dragon pistol when selecting a battered firearm at first level.
Deeds: A marauder swaps a few deeds for the following.
Focused Blast (Ex): At 1st level, when using a firearm or siege engine that targets an area rather than a specific creature, the marauder can spend 1 grit point to attack creatures in a line rather than a cone. The line is the same length as the weapons cone and deals an additional 1d6 points of damage. This damage die increases by 1d6 for every 4 marauder levels (to a maximum of 6d6 at level 20). This deed replaces the deadeye deed.
Steady Hands (Ex): As long as a marauder has at least 1 grit point when making a scattering shot, they take a penalty equal to their Wisdom modifier on his attack rolls against any allies in the area. They can spend 1 grit point when making a scattering shot to automatically miss a number of creatures equal to their Wisdom modifier. This deed replaces the gunslinger’s dodge deed.
Relentless Ravager (Ex): At 3rd level, the marauder becomes an expert at maintaining pressure in combat. As long as they have 1 grit point, they get one of these benefits. If their firearm is two-handed, they may reload it as though it were one-handed and don’t provoke attacks of opportunity when firing. If their firearm is one-handed, they may wield a melee weapon in the other hand, fire their gun without provoking attacks of opportunity, and gain the Two-Weapon Fighting feat for the purposes of these two weapons. This deed replaces the utility shot deed.
Marauder’s Wrath (Ex): At 3rd level, as long as the marauder has at least 1 grit point, they remove the standard -2 penalty on attack rolls with a scatter weapon. In addition, their attack damage may be modified by precision damage or damage-increasing feats such as Vital Strike. Furthermore, if they have the Quick Draw feat, their hands are free and unrestrained, and the firearm is not hidden, they can draw a single firearm as a part of their initiative check. This deed replaces the gunslinger’s initiative deed.
Wreak Havoc (Ex): This ability functions the same as dead shot, except that it may affect scatter attacks when firing in a cone as well, and costs an additional grit point.
Menacing Presence (Ex): At 7th level, if the marauder has at least 1 grit point, they don’t provoke attacks of opportunity when reloading a firearm. Additionally, whenever they are wielding a firearm, they count as threatening an area around them as though they were wielding a melee weapon. If an opponent provokes an attack of opportunity from them, they can use the pistol-whip deed as their attack of opportunity, spending 1 grit point as normal. Alternatively, if their firearm is loaded, they can spend 1 grit point to fire their gun as their attack of opportunity. This deed replaces the targeting deed.
Raider’s Defense (Ex): Starting at 2nd level, a marauder reduces the armor check penalty of the armor they’re wearing by -1 and increases the maximum Dexterity bonus by +1. Every four levels thereafter, the check penalty reduces by another -1, and the max Dex increases by another +1 (to a maximum of -5, +5 at level 18). The armor check penalty cannot be brought below 0. In addition, they may still move at their full base speed in medium armor. This ability replaces nimble.
Scatter Adroit (Ex): Starting at 5th level, a marauder increases their skill with handling scattering firearms. They gain a bonus on scattering shot damage rolls equal to their dexterity modifier, and when they misfire with a scattering firearm, the misfire value increases by 2 instead of 4. Every four levels thereafter, the bonus on damage rolls increases by +1. At 13th level, a marauder never misfires when shooting a scattering shot. This replaces gun training 1, 2, 3, and 4.
Relentless ravager and scatter adroit mean that this is going to add up to a lot of damage on a regular basis (the abilities which cost grit add more on top of that, but won't show up all the time.) Be sure you're OK with that - the musket master gunslinger can break expectations and this will have a similar if differently focused effect.
Relentless ravager and scatter adroit mean that this is going to add up to a lot of damage on a regular basis (the abilities which cost grit add more on top of that, but won't show up all the time.) Be sure you're OK with that - the musket master gunslinger can break expectations and this will have a similar if differently focused effect.
I appreciate the advice, and I do think I'm okay with that given that everyone else in the party is playing min maxed casters anyways. Though I will probably tweak it slightly. Thanks for the help.