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WhiteShark
2010-11-02, 09:17 PM
The Gunslinger

http://hotsauceandsalsa.com/images/gunslinger.jpg

Alignment
Any.

Hit Die
d8.

Class Skills
The gunslinger's class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are Craft (Int), Gather Information (Cha), Handle Animal (Cha), Intimidate (Cha), Knowledge (local) (Int), Martial Lore (Int), Profession (Wis), Ride (Dex), Search (Int), Sleight of Hand (Dex), Spot (Wis), Survival (Wis), and Use Rope (Dex).

Artful Adaptation and Class Skills
A gunslinger who chooses the Sapphire Bullets adaptation adds Concentration (Con) to the skill list. A gunslinger who chooses the Furious Barrage adaptation adds Jump (Str) to the skill list. A gunslinger who chooses the Shadow Sniper adaptation adds Hide and Move Silently (Dex) to the skill list. A gunslinger who chooses the Heavenly Salvo adaptation adds Diplomacy (Cha) to the skill list.

Skill Points at 1st Level
(4 + Int modifier) x 4.

Skill Points at Each Additional Level
4 + Int modifier.

Table: The Gunslinger
{table=head]Level|Base Attack Bonus|Fort Save|Ref Save|Will Save|Special|Maneuvers Known|Maneuvers Readied|Stances Known
1|+1|+0|+2|+0|Gunstyle, Artful Adaptation|3|3|1
2|+2|+0|+3|+0|Fast Draw|4|3|1
3|+3|+1|+3|+1|Shootist's Instinct|5|3|1
4|+4|+1|+4|+1|Gunslinger's Reputation|5|4|2
5|+5|+1|+4|+1|Bonus Feat|6|4|2
6|+6/+1|+2|+5|+2|Shoot From the Hip +1, Improved Gunstyle|6|4|2
7|+7/+2|+2|+5|+2|-|7|4|2
8|+8/+3|+2|+6|+2|Evasion|7|4|2
9|+9/+4|+3|+6|+3|Bonus Feat|8|4|2
10|+10/+5|+3|+7|+3|Shoot From the Hip +2|8|5|3
11|+11/+6/+1|+3|+7|+3|Advanced Gunstyle|9|5|3
12|+12/+7/+2|+4|+8|+4|True Grit 1/day|9|5|3
13|+13/+8/+3|+4|+8|+4|Bonus Feat|10|5|3
14|+14/+9/+4|+4|+9|+4|Shoot From the Hip +3|10|5|3
15|+15/+10/+5|+5|+9|+5|-|11|6|3
16|+16/+11/+6/+1|+5|+10|+5|Supreme Gunstyle|11|6|4
17|+17/+12/+7/+2|+5|+10|+5|Bonus Feat|12|6|4
18|+18/+13/+8/+3|+6|+11|+6|Shoot From the Hip +4|12|6|4
19|+19/+14/+9/+4|+6|+11|+6|True Grit 2/day|13|6|4
20|+20/+15/+10/+5|+6|+12|+6|Blaze of Glory 1/day|13|7|4[/table]

Class Features
All of the following are class features of the gunslinger.

Weapon and Armor Proficiency
A gunslinger is proficient with simple weapons, all firearms, and with light armor.

Maneuvers

You begin your career with knowledge of three martial maneuvers. The disciplines available to you are Black Rain (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?p=5471518), Falcon's Eye (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?p=8103296#post8103296), Iron Rain (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?p=8103297#post8103297), and Nightingale Feather (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?p=8103306#post8103306).

Once you know a maneuver, you must ready it before you can use it (see Maneuvers Readied, below). A maneuver usable by gunslingers is considered an extraordinary ability unless otherwise noted in its description. Your maneuvers are not affected by spell resistance, and you do not provoke attacks of opportunity when you initiate one.

You learn additional maneuvers at higher levels, as shown on the table above. You must meet a maneuver’s prerequisite to learn it.

Upon reaching 4th level, and at every even-numbered gunslinger level after that (6th, 8th, 10th, and so on), you can choose to learn a new maneuver in place of one you already know. In effect, you lose the old maneuver in exchange for the new one. You can choose a new maneuver of any level you like, as long as you observe your restriction on the highest-level maneuvers you know; you need not replace the old maneuver with a maneuver of the same level. For example, upon reaching 10th level, you could trade in a single 1st-, 2nd-, 3rd- or 4th-level maneuver for a maneuver of 5th level or lower, as long as you meet the prerequisite of the new maneuver. You can swap only a single maneuver at any given level.

/Notes: Any references to arrows or bows in the aforementioned disciplines are purely descriptive and as such also apply to bullets and guns.

Maneuvers Readied

You can ready all three of the maneuvers you know at 1st level, but as you advance in level and learn more maneuvers, you must choose which maneuvers to ready. You ready your maneuvers by exercising for 5 minutes. The maneuvers you choose remain readied until you decide to exercise again and change them. You need not sleep or rest for any long period of time to ready your maneuvers; any time you spend 5 minutes in practice, you can change your readied maneuvers.

You begin an encounter with all your readied maneuvers unexpended, regardless of how many times you might have already used them since you chose them. When you initiate a maneuver, you expend it for the current encounter, so each of your readied maneuvers can be used once per encounter (until you recover them, as described below).

You can recover all expended maneuvers with a single swift action, which must be immediately followed in the same round with a ranged attack or using a standard action to do nothing else in the round (such as executing a quick, harmless flourish with your weapon). You cannot initiate a maneuver or change your stance while you are recovering your expended maneuvers, but you can remain in a stance in which you began your turn.

Stances Known

You begin play with knowledge of one 1st-level stance from any discipline open to gunslingers. At 4th, 10th, and 16th level, you can choose additional stances. Unlike maneuvers, stances are not expended, and you do not have to ready them. All the stances you know are available to you at all times, and you can change the stance you are currently using as a swift action. A stance is an extraordinary ability unless otherwise stated in the
stance description.

Unlike with maneuvers, you cannot learn a new stance at higher levels in place of one you already know.

Gunstyle (Ex)

The art of gunfighting presents two different paths to gunslingers: that of the twitch gunman and that of the precision shootist. You must choose one of these at 1st level.

Twitch: A twitch style gunslinger hones his reflexes to perfection, wielding two guns simultaneously and reacting faster than the human eye can follow. A gunslinger who chooses this style may treat pistols as light weapons. In addition, he gains the Two-Weapon Fighting and its benefits even if he could not ordinarily qualify for it.

Precision: The precision shootist takes his time, aiming slowly and deliberately to deliver a single, fatal shot. You may add half your Dexterity bonus to damage for ranged attacks. This ability stacks with the Deadeye feat. These benefits only apply when using a single firearm.
The benefits of a gunslinger's chosen style only apply when wielding firearms and wearing light or no armor. He loses all benefits of his gunstyle when wearing medium or heavy armor or when using a shield.

Artful Adaptation (Ex)

Gunslingers disdain the up-close melee combat of their brethren martial adepts, but they recognize the power behind it; therefore each and every gunslinger adapts one of the disciplines of the Sublime Way to fit ranged combat. At 1st level you take one of the following artful adaptations and gain the benefits thereof. You may use the added discipline with ranged attacks, as noted below. Once this choice has been made it cannot be changed.

Sapphire Bullets: You know how to stay calm and focused in the heat of battle, maintaining a cool and collected attitude envied by all. You may learn stances and maneuvers from the Diamond Mind discipline. In addition, add Concentration to your gunslinger class skills.
Furious Barrage: You are fearless and bloodthirsty, flying into a frenzy at the drop of a hat. You may learn maneuvers and stances from the Tiger Claw discipline. In addition, add Jump to your gunslinger class skills.
Shadow Sniper: You are deceptive and tricky, using guile and wit to outsmart your opponents. You may learn maneuvers and stances from the Shadow Hand discipline. In addition, add Hide and Move Silently to your gunslinger class skills.
Heavenly Salvo: You are as pious as you are skilled. You know that there are powers above you, and you draw strength from them. You may learn maneuvers and stances from the Devoted Spirit discipline. In addition, add Diplomacy to your gunslinger class skills.

Fast Draw (Ex)

Gunslingers can expect danger around every corner but it's not always feasible to carry their weapons openly. Therefore gunslingers master the art of the fast draw. At 2nd level you gain the ability to draw any firearm as a free action, even if it is hidden. In addition, you may also sheathe any firearm as a free action. If you have the Quick Draw feat, you may immediately replace it with any other feat that you qualify for from the bonus feat list.

Shootist's Instinct (Ex)

A gunslinger is a survivalist, and for a gunslinger survival means shooting first. His senses allow him to act faster than other's in combat. At 3rd level, you add your Wisdom bonus to initiative checks. A gunslinger loses this ability while wearing medium or heavy armor or using a shield.

Gunslinger's Reputation (Ex)

Women and children retreat to their homes when you're in town. Other gunslingers avoid you, fearing confrontation. You've developed a reputation. At 4th level you receive a bonus to intimidate and gather information checks equal to half your gunslinger class level.

Bonus Feat

At 5th level, you gain the feat Deadeye*. If you already have this feat you may select a feat from the list given below. You must meet the prerequisite for the feat you select. Every four levels thereafter (at 9th, 13th, and 17th level), you choose another bonus feat from the list.

Bonus Feat List: Adaptive Style, Far Shot, Improved Initiative, Improved Precise Shot, Point Blank Shot, Power Shot*, Precise Shot, Ranged Disarm, Rapid Reload, Rapid Shot, Shot on the Run, Track, Woodland Archer.
*Denotes a new or revised feat, see feats below.

Shoot From the Hip (Ex)

A gunslinger's natural awareness and reflexes can only carry him so far; eventually he must trains himself to be fastest combatant possible. At 6th level and every 4 levels thereafter (10th, 14th, and 18th) you receive a +1 bonus to initiative checks.

Improved Gunstyle (Ex)
A respected gunslinger knows how to use his chosen style effectively and efficiently. At 6th level he exemplifies the fundamentals of gunslinging. If he selected Twitch at 1st level, he gains the Improved Dual-Wielding ability. If he selected Precision at 1st level, he gains the Sharpshooting ability.

Improved Dual-Wielding: The penalty you take for fighting with two weapons is reduced to -1. In addition, you gain the Improved Two-Weapon Fighting feat and its benefits even if you could not ordinarily qualify for it.
Sharpshooting: Any time you would be entitled to make multiple attacks, you may instead make a single attack at your full base attack bonus. If the attack hits, it automatically threatens a critical. Furthermore, you add the number of extra attacks to which you were otherwise entitled to your weapon's critical hit multiplier. These benefits only apply when using a single firearm.
The benefits of a gunslinger's chosen style only apply when wielding firearms and wearing light or no armor. He loses all benefits of his gunstyle when wearing medium or heavy armor or when using a shield.

Evasion (Ex)

At 8th level, a gunslinger can avoid even magical and unusual attacks with great agility. If he makes a successful Reflex saving throw against an attack that normally deals half damage on a successful save, he instead takes no damage. Evasion can be used only if the gunslinger is wearing light armor or no armor. A helpless gunslinger does not gain the benefit of evasion.

Advanced Gunstyle (Ex)

The experienced gunslinger continues improving his skills at a tremendous rate. At 11th level the expertise he displays in his chosen path is unmatched. If he selected twitch at 1st level, he gains the Advanced Dual-Wielding ability. If he selected Precision at 1st level, he gains the Deadly Aim ability.

Advanced Dual-Wielding: You no longer take any penalty on attack rolls for fighting with two weapons. In addition, you gain the Greater Two-Weapon Fighting feat and its benefits even if you could not ordinarily qualify for it.
Deadly Aim: The critical multiplier of your weapon is increased by 1. In addition, you gain the Power Critical feat and its benefits even if you could not ordinarily qualify for it. These benefits only apply when using a single firearm.
The benefits of a gunslinger's chosen style only apply when wielding firearms and wearing light or no armor. He loses all benefits of his gunstyle when wearing medium or heavy armor or when using a shield.

True Grit (Ex)

Gunslingers have what it takes to survive because, without it, they wouldn't. Once per day at 12th level, you may reroll a failed save. You must take the result of the reroll even if it's worse than the original roll. This ability increases to twice per day at 18th level.

Supreme Gunstyle (Ex)

A master gunslinger approaches the apex of perfect shooting. At 16th level he is an undisputed master of his gunstyle. If he selected Twitch at 1st level, he gains the the Bullet Storm ability. If he selected Precision at 1st level, he gains the One Shot, One Kill ability.
Bullet Storm: Whenever you make a full attack with two weapons you may expend a maneuver of any level before making attack rolls. If 2 or more of your attacks hit the same target, the target must make a Fortitude save with a DC of 10 + the expended maneuver's level + your Dexterity modifier. If the target fails its save suffers from effects depending on how many of your shots hit. If 2 attacks hit, the target is dazed. If 4 attacks hit, the target is stunned. If 6 attacks hit, the target is stunned and knocked down. If 8 attacks hit, the target is stunned, knocked prone, and paralyzed. These effect lasts for a number of rounds equal to half the expended maneuver's level. If the target would be immune to an effect caused by this ability, they take 1d6 points of damage per level of the expended maneuver instead of that particular effect. The other effects of this ability still apply. In addition, you may make a fourth attack with your off-hand weapon in any full attack, albeit at a -15 penalty.
One Shot, One Kill: Whenever you use the Sharpshooting ability, you may expend a maneuver of any level before you make your attack roll. If you hit, the target of your attack must make a Fortitude save with a DC of 10 + the expended maneuver's level + your Dexterity modifier. If the target fails its save, it dies instantly. Otherwise it takes damage as normal from Sharpshooting. These benefits only apply when using a single firearm.
The benefits of a gunslinger's chosen style only apply when wielding firearms and wearing light or no armor. He loses all benefits of his gunstyle when wearing medium or heavy armor or when using a shield.

Blaze of Glory (Ex)

When faced with death a master gunslinger push himself beyond the limits of ordinary mortals to take his foes down with him and possibly defy his fate. Once per day at 20th level, if you would normally be dropped by an attack, you may instead enter a Blaze of Glory. Your maneuvers are all refreshed, you gain the benefits of a haste spell, and damage can't kill you or knock you unconscious for the next 3 rounds. During these three rounds your maneuvers are not expended when used. The haste effect stacks with the haste spell. At the end of the Blaze of Glory, if you have less than -10 health, you die instantly. Otherwise you immediately drop to -9 health, unconscious but stable.


New Feats

Power Shot

Prerequisite
Dex 13.

Benefit
On your action, before making attack rolls for a round, you may choose to subtract a number from all ranged attack rolls and add the same number to all ranged damage rolls. This number may not exceed your base attack bonus. The penalty on attacks and bonus on damage apply until your next turn.

Special
Power Shot counts as Point Blank Shot for the purposes of feat prerequisites.


Revised Feats

Deadeye

Prerequisite
Dex 13 or Wis 13.

Benefit
When making a ranged attack you may add either your Dexterity bonus or your Wisdom bonus to the damage roll. This choice is made upon taking the feat and cannot be changed later.


Zen Archery

Prerequisite
Wis 13, BAB +1.

Benefit
You can use your Wisdom modifier instead of your Dexterity modifier when making a ranged attack roll.

Special
You may use your Wisdom score rather than your Dexterity score to qualify for feats related to ranged combat (but not two-weapon fighting). You may not use this feat on attacks with two weapons.



Special Thanks to:

DragoonWraith, for offering tons of good ideas and criticisms, loads of which I incorporated.

GralaminShieldheart, for giving me initial feedback on this project.

Roc Ness, for constructive criticism.

Decimator, for helping me redo Blaze of Glory.

Fax, for giving me ideas for Advanced and Supreme Gunstyle.

Person_Man, for helping me tone down the power level of the class as a whole.

Gralamin
2010-11-02, 09:36 PM
You might need more skills for 6+int mod.

HD is a bit big for a ranged character, d6 would probably be fine.

Zen Archery is very strong for first level, probably too strong.

I'm not sure Artful Adaptation works by RAW (Stirkes have the melee requirement, not disciplines), but it's meaning is clear.

Blaze of Glory is too strong. Double boost is strong on Swordsages. Double Stance on Warblade is very strong. Double Strike on a ranged character calibrated to work without it? Probably too much.

WhiteShark
2010-11-02, 10:00 PM
More class skills: Suggestions?

HD: Pending. I modeled it after the ranger.

Zen Archery and TWF at first level has been reworded to only work with firearms.

Artful Adaptation: How should I reword it so that by RAW it works?

Blaze of Glory: I'll have to redo it, I suppose. Suggestions for different capstone-ish abilities?

EDIT: It has also been recommended that I fill in the dead levels before 20, which I agree with, but I'm having a hard time coming up with stuff.

EDIT THE SECOND: Lol, I just realized that three of the base disciplines available to the gunslinger have the same associated skill: Spot. That makes Self Improvement just about useless unless it stacks, but if it stacks it would be ridiculous. Perhaps a change is in order for that too?

Aran Banks
2010-11-02, 11:06 PM
That capstone... it's... not interesting.

Honestly, the last 5 levels aren't interesting. I mean, I might take the class to level 17 for that bonus feat (or 16 for a 4th stance), but there's nothing to look forward to past that.

Something needs to be in there for level 18 or 19... something cool. I don't know what.

And then the capstone should be 3/day, ANY 2 non-stance maneuvers. Because it's level 20, and you're fighting Balors.

WhiteShark
2010-11-02, 11:09 PM
Yeah, I need some stuff to fill in the later levels. Gral thinks the capstone is OP, and I might agree with him. I'm probably gonna redo Blaze of Glory but keep the name. If it were ANY 2 non-stance maneuvers it would be strictly better than the swordsage capstone, Dual Boost. As it is I'm gonna have to think of something different for it to do.

EDIT: Added in True Grit, lets you reroll failed saves. Helps fill in a couple dead levels. Too good? Should I restrict it to Fort only?

Gralamin
2010-11-03, 12:44 AM
Yeah, I need some stuff to fill in the later levels. Gral thinks the capstone is OP, and I might agree with him. I'm probably gonna redo Blaze of Glory but keep the name. If it were ANY 2 non-stance maneuvers it would be strictly better than the swordsage capstone, Dual Boost. As it is I'm gonna have to think of something different for it to do.

Well, It's OP Compared to similar class features. If you want to compare to Wizards, it isn't. But my Balance point is about tier 3 :smallwink:

Aran Banks
2010-11-03, 12:53 AM
Dual Boost is obnoxiously unhelpful. Two strikes is nice... but not all that good either. Of course, I'm thinking about balancing it to an equal-CR monster. If you're up for balancing it to the other ToB classes (which I suppose makes total sense), then Blaze of Glory is fine as-is.

My biggest problem, looking at the class right now, is that the only gun-related abilities you get are the "shootist" thingy and your maneuvers. Your class abilities should have a little more gunslinging in them.

.... y'know, you could add in a whole thing about giving them Quick Draw, and good class abilities (better than that "+X on skills" piece of crap) could involve dodge bonuses (bonus feat: Dodge? that's good for some other feat prereqs). An awesome capstone could be "x/day, ignore the effects of any one... thing... that requires a saving throw or attack roll. The effect is only negated for you; no one else". That would really play up to the "I dodge bullets" thing... except it'd be more like "I dodge temporal stasis" because you're level 20.

WhiteShark
2010-11-03, 12:56 AM
Dual Boost is obnoxiously unhelpful. Two strikes is nice... but not all that good either. Of course, I'm thinking about balancing it to an equal-CR monster. If you're up for balancing it to the other ToB classes (which I suppose makes total sense), then Blaze of Glory is fine as-is.

My biggest problem, looking at the class right now, is that the only gun-related abilities you get are the "shootist" thingy and your maneuvers. Your class abilities should have a little more gunslinging in them.

.... y'know, you could add in a whole thing about giving them Quick Draw, and good class abilities (better than that "+X on skills" piece of crap) could involve dodge bonuses (bonus feat: Dodge? that's good for some other feat prereqs). An awesome capstone could be "x/day, ignore the effects of any one... thing... that requires a saving throw or attack roll. The effect is only negated for you; no one else". That would really play up to the "I dodge bullets" thing... except it'd be more like "I dodge temporal stasis" because you're level 20.

Haha, the skill thing was total filler. I was running out of ideas. The issue with having a lot of gunslinging in class features was that it was mostly all covered by the Black Rain discipline. Examining the melee adepts in the ToB revealed that they had not that much related to attack themes, allowing them to be covered by their disciplines.

EDIT: Removed Self Improvement, knocked Fast Draw down to level 4, staring at a bunch of dead levels. :smallconfused:

EDIT: Cleaned up some wording about Gunstyle.

EDIT: To-do List: Possibly Redo Blaze of Glory, fill in dead levels (Perhaps another advancement to Gunstyle? If so, what?), Find more applicable skills

EDIT ONCE MORE FOR GREAT JUSTICE: What do you guys think of this incarnation? Should I still redo Blaze of Glory? Do I need more skills? More Gunstyle advancements?

Roc Ness
2010-11-03, 06:30 AM
Whoop, I left it too long, and somebody beat me to it... :smallsigh: So, that having been said, I will do my utmost to help you make this a success. :smallbiggrin:

Okay, my attempt to address some of your questions in the above most:
1) I don't understand exactly what is up with the Will Save. How about only giving the Gunslinger only a definite good Reflex Save, and a good Will or Fort save depending on their Gun Style? Also, as is, I find the class seems too combat focused; although it does have a large amount of skills, it doesn't really have anything unique and flavourful to do with them and a Gunslinger caught outside of combat may become boring, even if he is still useful.
2) Yes. Make it worth the full 20 levels required to get it. Fill it with Crowning Moment of Awesome potential. If this class had any PRCs, not a lot of people would have stayed straight 20 Gunslinger, even with save reroll.
3) If you need more skills, you could probably add them to your Gunstyle Advancements, or simply as different class features. As is, the skills, BAB and Saves are very good; I think only the Ranger gets this sort of chasis, and that poor class generally has poor abilities overall.
4) YES! More Gunstyle (paths and abilities)! Right now, that class ability simply gives the whole class a "ranger remake" feel (accentuated by the bonus feats). They don't seem all that important, just fixed feats; simply giving the Gunslinger a bonus feat would give it more. Artful Adaptation seems more Gunstylish than Gunstyle.

WhiteShark
2010-11-03, 01:03 PM
Will save lowered to a bad progression.

Added Gunslinger's Reputation: grants a bonus to intimidate and gather information checks equal to half your gunslinger class level. Flavor ability.

Planning to add a Supreme Gunstyle ability for 15th level, having trouble coming up with ideas.

Also considering adding an Int based path for gunstyle.

al'raith
2010-11-03, 02:03 PM
Just want you to know you are a greater god :smallbiggrin:

WhiteShark
2010-11-03, 03:02 PM
Just want you to know you are a greater god :smallbiggrin:

Thank you!

Major alteration to Advanced Gunstyle: Intuitive Gunslingers now get the ability to use a full round action to deliver a single ranged attack at their highest BAB. If the attack hits it automatically threatens critical; if the critical is confirmed the gunslinger adds one to the multiplier for every attack he could have made with a full attack.

Example: Roland, a level 20 Gunslinger who has chosen the intuitive gunstyle, decides to make an impulse shot. Before hand he declares his use of the rapid shot ability, giving himself a -2 to attack and an extra attack. He rolls and 18; his impulse shot connects! He rolls again to confirm: 15! A confirmation. He criticals with a multiplier of 3 (for his weapon) + 5 (4 attacks from BAB, 1 from rapid shot); that is, a multiplier of x8.

Thoughts? Comments? I thought this was a good and flavorful way for an intuitive gunslinger to keep up with the damage output of a twitch gunslinger. It has issues with beings immune to criticals, which is lame, but that's a problem inherent to 3.5 and can probably be solved with a truedeath crystal.

EDIT: More skills have been added as well as a note that Artful Adaptation adds to the skill list. Improved Evasion is being moved to 16th level to make way for a Supreme Gunstyle, abilities undetermined as of yet.

EDIT 2: Supreme Gunstyle still not yet implemented, having trouble deciding what to do. Added a clause to the Twitch gunstyle making pistols count as light weapons for twf'ing.

EDIT 3: Fast Draw bumped down to level 2.

EDIT THE SECOND TO LAST (HOPEFULLY): Blaze of Glory has been completely redone, it's a totally different ability now. Flavorful and suitably capstone-ish, I think.

Roc Ness
2010-11-04, 12:44 AM
... Is there a reason you named him Roland? :smalltongue:

I don't have time yet right now to fully review all the changes you have made (how do you work that fast? :smallwink:), but I have to say, the new Blaze of Glory is very suitably epic. It'll rarely come into play (unless set up), but even if it is set up it is the stuff of in-character awesome. :smallbiggrin:

WhiteShark
2010-11-04, 01:53 AM
... Is there a reason you named him Roland? :smalltongue:

I don't have time yet right now to fully review all the changes you have made (how do you work that fast? :smallwink:), but I have to say, the new Blaze of Glory is very suitably epic. It'll rarely come into play (unless set up), but even if it is set up it is the stuff of in-character awesome. :smallbiggrin:

No, no reason at all! :smallbiggrin: There are a ton of changes, mostly because I have lots and lots of time to work on things like this. Likely there will be even more changes between me posting this and you getting to check on it.

I must give credit where credit's due: DragoonWraith and Decimator helped me figure out the new Blaze of Glory. I do like it a lot, very flavorful.

Now, again, lots has changed. Let me try to summarize it:

1) The Gunslinger can no longer function off of Wis. The Intuitive side has been reworked to represent dex based sharpshooting and the AC Bonus has been removed. A Wis-based Sniper PrC is likely forthcoming.

2) As you mentioned Roc Ness, Blaze of Glory has been completely redone.

3) There are now four Gunstyle abilities in total: one at 1st, 6th, 11th, and 16th. These coincide with increases in iterative attacks to make sure the Twitch side gets the TWF feats at the right level as well as also other bonuses.

4) Fast Draw now allows you to sheathe a weapon as a free action in addition to its other benefits.

5) Gunslinger's Reputation was added as a flavor ability: half class level to Intimidate and Gather Information checks.

6) The generic initiative bonus ability had its name changed to "Fire From the Hip".

Now, my To-do List:

1) Finish the Intuitive path.

2) Add something to the Supreme Gunstyle for the Twitch side other than another off-hand attack.

3) Possible removal of Bonus Feats due to overload of class features.

4) Possible change in how the Gunslinger recovers maneuvers.

EDIT: Forgot to mention that Improved evasion was moved back down to 15th level and Supreme Gunstyle was moved up to 16th.

AustontheGreat1
2010-11-04, 02:03 AM
Hello, just like to say I'm a fan of this and will probably be using this in the future. Sorry I can't give you any criticism but any advice I give would probably do more damage than help.

Dead_Jester
2010-11-04, 09:31 AM
Very nice class, and the new capstone is pretty good.

One small nitpick, the Power Shot feat gives a penalty to melee attack rolls, and I don't think that was intended :smallwink:

Looking forward to the Sniper Prc, and was wondering if you had any good gun stats for this class?

EDIT : Oh, and the bonus feats are fine, dead levels just suck (maybe and extra fluff ability at level 8 to fill it up?)

WhiteShark
2010-11-04, 11:40 AM
Hello, just like to say I'm a fan of this and will probably be using this in the future. Sorry I can't give you any criticism but any advice I give would probably do more damage than help.

Awesome, I'm glad other people are interested. Thanks for the appreciation!


Very nice class, and the new capstone is pretty good.

One small nitpick, the Power Shot feat gives a penalty to melee attack rolls, and I don't think that was intended

Looking forward to the Sniper Prc, and was wondering if you had any good gun stats for this class?

EDIT : Oh, and the bonus feats are fine, dead levels just suck (maybe and extra fluff ability at level 8 to fill it up?)

Power Shot has been fixed. That's what I get for making liberal use of copy pasta. :smalltongue:

There are some gun stats in the DMG, pages 145-146. This class is made to function with any guns, however, so feel free to homebrew, take guns from d20 Modern, or whatever else. Any issues with reloading for older pistols are taken care of by the Black Rain discipline. This is hard to give broad advice for since some campaigns don't use guns at all and others use very specific guns, so just find something your DM approves of and roll with it.

I will try and think up a flavor ability for level 8, then. It's second in priority to finishing the Gunstyle advancements, but hey, more flavor can never hurt.

Minor change: "Fire From the Hip" has been changed to "Shoot From the Hip". I suddenly decided I liked "shoot" better for some reason.

Thanks for all the support, guys! I'll work more on this later today.

strawberryman
2010-11-04, 01:38 PM
Advanced Gunstyle (Ex)

The experienced gunslinger continues improving his skills at a tremendous rate. At 11th level the expertise he displays in his chosen path is unmatched. If he selected twitch at 1st level, he gains the Greater Two-Gun Shooting ability. If he selected intuitive at 1st level, he gains the Ability ability.

Greater Two-Gun Shooting: You no longer take any penalty on attack rolls for fighting with two weapons. In addition, you gain the Greater Two-Weapon Fighting feat and its benefits even if you could not ordinarily qualify for it.
Ability: Stuff
The benefits of a gunslinger's chosen style only apply when wielding firearms and wearing light or no armor. He loses all benefits of his gunstyle when wearing medium or heavy armor or when using a shield.

I skimmed, is there a reason for the missing Intuitive Gunslinger ability? :smalltongue:

WhiteShark
2010-11-04, 01:51 PM
I skimmed, is there a reason for the missing Intuitive Gunslinger ability? :smalltongue:

Yeah, I just hadn't come up with one yet. I am hopefully going to finish the intuitive side today.

Gunstyle is now complete through Advanced. All that's left is to finish Supreme Gunstyle. Also, it is likely that the intuitive side will have its name changed. It's an artifact from when it was based on Wisdom.

absolmorph
2010-11-04, 02:36 PM
Perhaps you could rename it to Precise?
Other than that, this looks pretty solid overall. I like One Shot, One Kill.

EDIT: You have Sharpshooting, Deadly Aim and One Shot, One Kill as the higher abilities. I think Precise/Precision works well.

WhiteShark
2010-11-04, 02:57 PM
Perhaps you could rename it to Precise?
Other than that, this looks pretty solid overall. I like One Shot, One Kill.

EDIT: You have Sharpshooting, Deadly Aim and One Shot, One Kill as the higher abilities. I think Precise/Precision works well.

I like Precision. It has been implemented.

Glad you like One Shot, One Kill. Many thanks goes to Fax for helping me develop it.

EDIT: As far as I can tell the class is almost done. All that remains is finishing the Supreme Gunstyle ability for the Twitch path. A 4th off-hand attack is nice, but it's not enough. I will contemplate this.

Person_Man
2010-11-04, 03:46 PM
Sapphire Bullets (http://tmbw.net/wiki/Sapphire_Bullets), bullets offffff, pure looooove....

Sorry, couldn't resist the (perhaps unintentional) They Might Be Giants allusion.

Anywho, in terms of balance, it seems like a VERY strong Tier 3 choice, with a very front loaded progression. You basically put together the best parts of:

Melee: Full BAB, d8 hit die, bonus feats, True Grit, Blaze of Glory.
Tome of Battle: Excellent maneuvers and stances with Warblade progression and refresh mechanic.
Skill Monkeys: Excellent class Skills, Skill points, class abilities which boost Skills, Evasion, Improved Evasion, ridiculously high Initiative.


You're also Wis SAD with only 1 feat, which is a huge. Every other Tome of Battle class is Str or Dex + Int or Wis or Cha + non-dumped Con. If you think the Warblade is too weak, and thus wanted to bump him up to something greater, then you can ignore my criticism.

But if you want it to be balanced with the rest of ToB, then I would suggest NOT making guns usable with Zen Archery, and toning down the Melee or Skill Monkey aspects. Reduce it down to 3/4 BAB, d6 hit die, reduce the number of bonus feats and replace True Grit and Blaze of Glory, OR go down to 4 Skill points per level, fewer class Skills (dumping Tumble and scouting), delay Evasion, remove Improved Evasion, and tone down the Initiative bonuses.

WhiteShark
2010-11-04, 03:52 PM
Sapphire Bullets (http://tmbw.net/wiki/Sapphire_Bullets), bullets offffff, pure looooove....

Sorry, couldn't resist the (perhaps unintentional) They Might Be Giants allusion.

Anywho, in terms of balance, it seems like a VERY strong Tier 3 choice, with a very front loaded progression. You basically put together the best parts of:

Melee: Full BAB, d8 hit die, bonus feats, True Grit, Blaze of Glory.
Tome of Battle: Excellent maneuvers and stances with Warblade progression and refresh mechanic.
Skill Monkeys: Excellent class Skills, Skill points, class abilities which boost Skills, Evasion, Improved Evasion, ridiculously high Initiative.


You're also Wis SAD with only 1 feat, which is a huge. Every other Tome of Battle class is Str or Dex + Int or Wis or Cha + non-dumped Con. If you think the Warblade is too weak, and thus wanted to bump him up to something greater, then you can ignore my criticism.

But if you want it to be balanced with the rest of ToB, then I would suggest NOT making guns usable with Zen Archery, and toning down the Melee or Skill Monkey aspects. Reduce it down to 3/4 BAB, d6 hit die, reduce the number of bonus feats and replace True Grit and Blaze of Glory, OR go down to 4 Skill points per level, fewer class Skills (dumping Tumble and scouting), delay Evasion, remove Improved Evasion, and tone down the Initiative bonuses.

The allusion was actually entirely intentional. Glad somebody noticed. :smallbiggrin:

I might get rid of the Zen Archery revision then. Sort of an artifact from previous form to this class. I don't really want to tone down the BAB/hit die/etc. because this class is supposed to be good at combat, sort of ranger-esque. Initiative bonuses are very thematic with the class (Han shot first!) and I would rather not remove them. However, I will heavily consider toning down skill points / skill list and evasion.

EDIT: Skill points have been reduced to 4 + int per level. Evasion has been delayed to level 8 (still one level earlier than the ranger but I didn't want two dead levels in a row). Improved Evasion has been removed.

EDIT: Oh, and the skill list has also been shortened, though possibly not by enough.

EDIT: Zen Archery has been qualified to not work with TWF, period.

EDIT ONCE MORE: Forgot to mention that I had to keep Search because it's an important skill for one the disciplines the gunslinger has access too.

EDIT AGAIN (THIS MIGHT BE A BAD HABIT): Pondering bumping HD down to d6. Would that appease you along with the above changes, Person_Man?

WhiteShark
2010-11-04, 06:50 PM
The Gunslinger is... done? The abilities seem to all be in order, and I think I've trimmed him down to balanced. If people still think he's too good (compared to the ToB classes) then I will probably drop the HD to a d6, but other than that I think I'm in the clear.

With that said, any other comments? Criticisms? Advice? Ideas? I want to make this the best I can.

EDIT: Bullet Storm changed to have tiering status effects.

Dead_Jester
2010-11-04, 09:23 PM
I think the hit-dice should stay as-is.

This is like a ToB Ranger, and like all ToB classes, should be better than the original, and with the fact that it isn't so SAD as your first iteration and that it gets less skills, I think this class is fine.

WhiteShark
2010-11-04, 09:27 PM
I think the hit-dice should stay as-is.

This is like a ToB Ranger, and like all ToB classes, should be better than the original, and with the fact that it isn't so SAD as your first iteration and that it gets less skills, I think this class is fine.

That was my thinking, but I just wanted to put it out there as a possibility if enough people thought it was > ToB classes.

EDIT: Bullet Storm has been changed. Now if your target is immune to one of the effects of Bullet Storm they take Xd6 points of damage instead of that effect, where X is the level of the maneuver expended. So, for example, if you sacrificed a level 9 maneuver and landed all 8 hits, but your target was an undead, they would take 9d6 points of damage (because they're immune to stunning), be knocked prone, and take another 9d6 points of damage (because they're immune to paralysis).

EDIT: Cleaned up the wording on Bullet Storm's new functionality.

Aran Banks
2010-11-05, 01:44 AM
Sapphire Bullets (http://tmbw.net/wiki/Sapphire_Bullets), bullets offffff, pure looooove....

Sorry, couldn't resist the (perhaps unintentional) They Might Be Giants allusion.


YOU ARE SO AMAZING

The Antigamer
2010-11-05, 04:22 AM
I like the class, never enough gunslinger love. But I feel like some of the abilities are lackluster, and I hate seeing dead levels.

Lix Lorn
2010-11-05, 08:13 AM
I like it! I'm sad you couldn't fit in more disciplines... no Gunslingers tapping the natural power of fire to launch FLAMING BULLETS OF FIRE?! xD

Also, the idea of a Gunslinger feels Cha to me. Then again, I hate Wis. XD

Dead_Jester
2010-11-05, 12:25 PM
I like it! I'm sad you couldn't fit in more disciplines... no Gunslingers tapping the natural power of fire to launch FLAMING BULLETS OF FIRE?! xD

... that wouldn't do anything against half of the monsters in existence :smallwink:

EDIT : And btw, the modified version of bullet storm is a good idea.

Person_Man
2010-11-05, 12:54 PM
Keeping the d8 hit die isn't that big of a deal. But I would still slow down and thin out the ability progression. For comparison, here is the Warblade (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/ex/20060802a&page=2)'s progression:

1: Int to Reflex Saves, Weapon Aptitude (fixed Weapon Focus)
2: Uncanny Dodge
3: Int to Crit Confirm
4: -
5: Bonus Feat
6: Imp Uncanny Dodge
7: Int to Damage against Flat Footed and Flanked
8: -
9: Bonus Feat
10: -
11: Int to Bull Rush, Trip, Disarm, Feint, Overrun, and Sunder.
12: -
13: Bonus Feat
14: -
15: Int to Hit and Damage on AoO
16: -
17: Bonus Feat
18: -
19: -
20: Capstone (2 stances at once)

So 5 bonus feats (including the limited Weapon Mastery), Uncanny + Imp Uncanny Dodge (weaker then Evasion), Int to various things (but notably not to-hit or damage in most circumstances or Initiative, which is even more powerful), and a very useful Capstone.

Note that levels 1-3 are all minor abilities, and 4th level is dead. It's not until level 11 that you're getting anything "really" good. That's because the "meat" of the class are the manuvers and stances, which are quite awesome. Everything else is just enough useful crunch that you don't automatically enter a PrC.

In comparison, the Gunslinger gets 9 bonus feats (including Gunstyles and Fast Draw), plus 5 very useful class abilities, and a very useful capstone.

Now like you, I HATE dead levels. But if you want to fill those levels in without making the Gunslinger more powerful then the Warblade, the abilities need to be mostly minor and fluffy, and you need to thin out and pace the abilities.

As I said before, if you think that the Warblade is too weak, then by all means ignore me. I just thought it was worth discussing.

absolmorph
2010-11-05, 01:30 PM
On the flip side, Person_Man, Warblades can use any weapon for their class features (or just melee weapons for maneuvers), but the Gunslinger is limited to a single weapon type unless he wants to lose the benefit of all the Gunstyle features, as well as Fast Draw. Most of the maneuvers available to him don't even work with melee weapons.
You've got a point, though.

Lix Lorn
2010-11-05, 04:51 PM
But, more importantly, it would be awesome.

WhiteShark
2010-11-05, 05:00 PM
I like it! I'm sad you couldn't fit in more disciplines... no Gunslingers tapping the natural power of fire to launch FLAMING BULLETS OF FIRE?! xD

Also, the idea of a Gunslinger feels Cha to me. Then again, I hate Wis. XD

I'm pretty sure the Nightingale Feather discipline takes care of this, don't worry. :smallwink: Being Cha based wouldn't be hard to do as a variant, just make the Shootist's Intuition function off of Cha, slightly modify the skill list, and bam! Cha gunslinger.

As to your observations Person_Man, yes, the Gunslinger does get many more bonus feats than the Warblade. However, Ranged combatants traditionally have issues keeping up with their melee counterparts damage wise and suffer heavy feat taxes. TWF itself is 3 feats and is generally considered sub-par, the various ranged feats sure add up, and the two together are a lot of feats burned. I'm trying my best to make a dual-wielding ranged combat character work. Maybe I've gone overboard, but I think I would playtest it before calling it strictly better than the warblade. Also, the warblade gets Stormguard Warrior; the Gunslinger doesn't really have anything like that.

@Dead_Jester: Credit goes to Fax for giving me the idea of tiering status effects. Glad you approve.

EDIT: I just want you to know Person_Man, I am not dismissing your argument out of hand. I'm just worried that without somewhat better class abilities a ranged character would fall behind a melee character quickly. Perhaps with maneuvers that wouldn't be the case; still I would rather playtest it before removing any more of the abilities.

EDIT: One last thought on Gunslinger vs. Warblade. Almost no one sticks to straight Warblade, whereas the Gunslinger was designed for people to want to stay with it for all 20 levels.

absolmorph
2010-11-05, 06:41 PM
Oh, right. I almost forgot that melee gets all the goodies for mundane combat.

Lix Lorn
2010-11-05, 07:19 PM
I got into a huge argument over how melee beats archery. I'd heard from everyone that archery sucks more, and when it came down to it I HAD NO PROOF. Argh.

WhiteShark
2010-11-05, 07:25 PM
I got into a huge argument over how melee beats archery. I'd heard from everyone that archery sucks more, and when it came down to it I HAD NO PROOF. Argh.

No Power Attack, no charging, giant feat trees, MAD (dex to hit but str to damage (and only if you're using a bow)), low damage per shot means DR ruins your day... yeah. Without revisions like mine it's extremely hard to be a ranged character on par with a melee character.

Lix Lorn
2010-11-05, 07:36 PM
(nodnod)
Makes sense.

The Antigamer
2010-11-05, 08:36 PM
I disagree with Person_man, when making martial classes I like to go a little above the ToB classes. And, as-is, this class is not above a ToB class. Like Whiteshark is saying, he gets more feats because the feats he get don't make him better at something, they make him less sucky. I feel more power needs to be injected here, not siphoned away. Although I must admit I have not looked through the maneuver disciplines since I'm busy, but two of them are Demented_ones, so they're gonna be pretty balanced. And that's another thing, dual-wielding gunslingers are going to be penalized for specializing in dual-wielding since most maneuvers are standard actions.

marius\tobius
2010-11-06, 05:36 PM
would you consider giving this class an eijitsu-esk type death attack ? that might work well but try to make it as difficult to use as the samari eijitsu duel

WhiteShark
2010-11-06, 07:38 PM
would you consider giving this class an eijitsu-esk type death attack ? that might work well but try to make it as difficult to use as the samari eijitsu duel

The precision gunstyle ends in a death attack, if that's what you mean. Are you referring to the OA samurai? I don't have that book so I don't know what the iaijutsu death attack is.

WhiteShark
2010-11-07, 03:36 PM
I'm considering making a gunslinging preacher kinda PrC to build off of this. It would be a dual progression PrC, advancing maneuvers and divine casting simultaneously. What do you guys think?

Lix Lorn
2010-11-07, 03:37 PM
Name him Jon Shannow. PLEASE.

WhiteShark
2010-11-07, 03:40 PM
All I can find from google is that he's a protagonist in a series set in a post-apocalyptic world, but nothing more. I assume he's a gunslinging preacher type then?

Lix Lorn
2010-11-07, 03:41 PM
He has two pistols, and quotes the bible. A LOT.