Myrrh, Frankincense, and Steel: Kurald Galain's Guide to the Magus

[upho]

At that level, your default ranged option should be Dimension Door

Heh, yes, that would probably be pretty spot on in most cases, I think. But I'd like to stay clear of the frontline this time, mostly because I haven't played a PC focused on ranged combat in years, and never one using guns (in 3e/PF). Since I also rarely get a chance to play anything besides NPCs, I'd like to take the opportunity to try out something I haven't really done before. And also because although the party may be small in terms of the number of members, in combat I've gathered it's typically everything but in terms of "total weight" and "frontline volume occupied".

Meaning the other two PCs are both veritable mountains of metal-clad melee muscle; the battle templar "divine tank" is usually Large and sometimes Huge, and the scary combat maneuver specialist "psionic rager" (whose combat "style" has earned her the acronym "BDFO", ie "Big Dirty [CENSORED] Opportunist") will regularly grow Gargantuan if the environment permits it. Seems like the perfect partners for a small sneaky gun magus to hide behind while plugging enemies full of led and ice, especially since neither of the muscle guys are supposedly very good at dealing damage, while their control shenanigans were largely built to protect a squishier ally and to serve up softened targets for a ranged "striker" to turn into frozen meat colanders...

That said, I guess something like a bladebound magus 6/crimson countess harbinger 2/bladecaster 7 could be even more effective in this party, for example by being more able to take advantage of the many AoOs the two control guys likely generate.

Yes, it's been on my to-add list for some time. If you have other nifty stuff in mind, please share.

Nothing that you aren't already aware of, I believe. The only thing I think you definitely should add to the guide besides Urea and perhaps a couple of other alchemical power components is the Monkey Belt. Possibly also the miserable magic weapon special ability, but it's maybe too niche to be worth mentioning.

Oh, and for some reason the compsognathus isn't on the list of recommended familiars - I think it's great since it can grasp stuff (wands!) and gives +4 initiative. Was this omission intentional?

Well 10d6 is nothing to sneeze at, pun intended.

Ha ha! You even managed a cool double-pun, albeit a somewhat far fetched ranged one, since snowball might just have your enemies catch a cold. Intense dude, intense...

Though the damage is nice, an average +35 on a full attack is also decidedly unimpressive at 15th, especially since crit-fishing isn't really an option with "snowball gunning". And my hope was to find a way to be able to drastically increase the DC of other spells (especially dispel magic) a few times per day. But I think I'll manage, since I can use martial boosts to further increase damage if needed.

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I've talked to the GM about RSC and MWF not working according to RAW, and since the costs (in terms of accuracy penalties and especially feats and items) would be so significant and therefore limit the power of the combo anyways, he suggested a house rule for allowing it, but with two important restrictions:

1. No iterative attacks with any off-hand weapons (meaning Improved and Greater TWF would only be useful when making regular full attacks).
2. One off-hand attack less than available hands (so four attacks at the highest bab when using spellstrike with RSC and MWF, same as when making a regular full attack with all four hands).

We both thought this could be reasonable, but please let me know if we're missing something vital here which makes this problematic.

Provided we don't find any issues with the above house rule, this what my build looks like so far (comments in red):

Spoiler: Gilda "Frosty-Fins" Fengonir - Concept and Objectives

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Gilda's primary combat role is to be a ranged damage dealer, and I've tried to find the options which makes the basic concept "initiating machine gun magus" shine with that role. In short, I had five mechanical objectives I wanted Gilda to meet:

1. Able to one-shot an average CR 15 foe in most rounds - including the first - of every combat, without any pre-combat prep (aside from stuff which can be expected to be always active).
2. Able to one-shot an average CR 17 foe with prep time.
3. Able to really step up her game and remain effective also against truly dangerous higher CR foes during at least a couple of rounds per day.
4. Bring more than DPR and a few utility spells to the party, especially some debuffing power and staple arcane buffs, and the ability to act as party scout and general skill monkey and sage.
5. Have a decent chance of surviving also very challenging high CR combats, which most notably means no weak saves (as powerful spells are likely to pose the most serious threat to a ranged gish).

The two most difficult objectives by far were #2 and #3, since ranged DPR generally has a much lower cap than melee, and the magus' offensive spells are increasingly difficult to boost sufficiently for use against higher level foes. Besides simply trying to get as many decently accurate and damaging gun attacks as possible into a Ranged Spell Combat full-round for good basic DPR, I decided to heavily prioritize options and combos which builds upon and expands the action economy advantage and combat versatility the magus and martial maneuvers can bring. And after quite a bit of head-scratching, searching and puzzling, I think the action economy and debuff shenanigans I've managed to squeeze into the build should mean Gilda is up to the challenge of facing truly epic threats, thankfully without having turned into some crazy tarrasque killer like more optimized melee builds have a tendency to be at this level.

Flavor-wise, since the half-sahuaging race as well as the gun-wielding magus concept are rather odd and exotic while both have such great mechanical impact on the build, I decided to embrace the weirdness and really emphasize the "good-natured and perceptive but socially awkward and ugly fish-woman in stylish clothes" and "water-cold-pirate-ish" elements. Thankfully this also got some great support from the GM, most notably in the form of a homebrew half-sahuagin spellcaster guild which I believe fits perfectly with the race, the campaign and the character concept, both in terms of flavor and in terms of mechanics.

Spoiler: Gilda "Frosty-Fins" Fengonir - Build Summary

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"Ole Frosty-Fins is wha' crawled ashore afta' "the ancient cold magic o' the silent depths o' the Steaming Sea" got ta share bunk with "the revolutionary booming technology o' the fiery Mana Wastes". Damn freak bred by some unholy 'liance o' cold-blooded shark people witches an' crazy 'hot-'eaded landlubber inventors I tell ya, with contrasts plenty an' stark 'nough ta make Nethys cry with envy... Ugly as sin an' voice like a croc who's 'ad a gallon o' bad rum, but the gal's got a mind sharper than a shark's tooth an' hands quicker than a whore in Absalom - an' she's got four of 'em!

Yep, could've made it big an' ruled the seas hadn't her heart been so bloody soft!" - Captain Bordinius "Twelve-Toes" Riddhorne, "Inner Sea Privateer", about his old friend of Gilda Fengonir.


All following values while in Broken Blade Stance, using arcane pool for +2 enhancement to bonded weapon, and under the effects of overland flight, haste and reduce person.

Half-Sahuagin Eldritch Archer Magus 6, Myrmidon Trench Fighter 3, Privateer Warlord 1, Bladecaster 5
NG Small female humanoid (aquatic, crossblood, human)

Initiative +16; Senses low-light vision, scent; Perception +29

DEFENSE
AC 35, touch 23, flat-footed 25 (9 armor, 3 shield, 9 dex, 2 deflection, 1 dodge, 1 size)
HP 112 (10+6d8+8d10 hit dice, 30 con, 1 favored class)
Fort +21, Ref +20, Will +18; +2 to Will vs compulsion and fear
Defensive Abilities arcane steel (casting grants THP = 2 x spell level), constant endure elements (Ex), unbreakable (spend 1 grit as immediate for +4 to one save); Resist cold 5


OFFENSE
Speed 40 ft., fly 90 ft., swim 60 ft.
Ranged spellstrike w. Deadly Aim: doomfrost +18/+18/+18/+18/+18/+13/+8 (1d6+23 plus 2d6 vs evil and 1d6 cold), demon-chiller +16/+16 (1d6+21 plus miserable) and trusty +16 (1d6+21) Machine gunning!
Space 5 ft., Reach 5 ft.
Attack Abilities and Special Attacks arcane ruin (foe damaged by strike take -2 AC and saves vs spells until maneuver recovery), battlecaster's strike 5/day (cast touch as swift against target of strike), ranged spell combat, ranged spellstrike, sea combat (melee with pistols, pistols treated as light weapons, reload w/o free hand or provoking), Steaming Sea surge 3/day (free action at start of turn, all damage dealt during 1 round changed to cold)

Animus 2 at combat start, +1 per round, +1 per round in which maneuver was used, max 2 per maneuver
Arcane Pool 9/day
Grit 6 at start of day and max, +1 per crit or kill with firearm
Deeds deadeye, man of action, ready for trouble, ricochet shot, utility trick These are only the deeds not fully accounted for elsewhere.

Myrmidon/Bladecaster Stances and Readied Maneuvers IL 13, 7 known (Broken Blade, Elemental Flux, Glacial Frost, Riven Hourglass, Tempest Gale)
Stances Dancing Winds Stance^TG5, Sniper’s Eye Stance^TG1, Stance of Arcane Steel³
Boosts Shatter Resistance^EF6
Counters Beat the Clock^RH7, Temporal Body Adjustment^RH4
Strikes Elemental Vortex^EF5
Glacial Frost (from PoW:E) is the cold-based version of Solar Wind.

Warlord Stances and Readied Maneuvers IL 7, 6 known (Broken Blade, Glacial Frost, Riven Hourglass, Tempest Gale)
Stances Broken Blade Stance^BB3
Boosts Iron Knuckle^BB4, Searing Break^GF4
Counters Deflecting Shot^TG2
Strikes Dazzling Solar Flare^GF3

Maneuver Recovery
Myrmidon full-round: recover 5, each attack vs Gilda grant AoO and 5-foot step Used if out of maneuvers and no foe can be attacked, so hopefully not in combat.
Privateer full-round: recover 2, check to demoralize all opponents within 30 ft. No, don't think so. Listed only for completeness sake.
Daring Gambit swift: perform pinhole gambit, allies within 30 ft. recover 1 on success Go-to method: swift, class independent and allows everyone to recover.
Heroic Recovery swift: spend 1 grit to recover 1 maneuver Secondary method, used if pinhole gambit isn't an option or seems likely to fail.
Arcane Recovery free: expend prepared spell to recover maneuver of up to same level and gain +2 CL to next spell cast within 1 min. Rarely worth the cost, but a free action recover (even of a maneuver used in same turn) and CL boost can be exactly what the doctor ordered vs truly bad-ass BBEGs (or would that be "BTBAEGs"? ).

Magus Spells Prepared CL 15 (spells/day as 14th level magus), concentration +21
5th—corrosive consumption, overland flight, wall of force
4th—dimension door, named bullet (2), pyrotechnic eruption, ward shield
3rd—dispel magic, displacement, irradiate, sleet storm, vampiric touch
2nd—defending bone, glitterdust, frigid touch (2), invisibility (2)
1st—abundant ammunition (2), snowball (4), true skill
0th (at will)—detect magic, light, mage hand, prestidigitation, ray of frost


STATISTICS

Ability Scores 20 point-buy
Str 7 7 base, 2 enhancement, -2 size
Dex 28 16 base, 2 race, 2 level, 6 enhancement, 2 size
Con 14 12 base, 2 enhancement
Int 20 15 base, 1 level, 4 enhancement
Wis 18 14 base, 2 race, 2 enhancement Primary initiation modifier. Seems there are no good ways to combine Int-based initiating with firearms.
Cha 8 10 base, -2 race
Yeah, she's about as MAD as Alfred E. Neuman. Especially her Con suffers for it, but thanks to her good Fort progression, not being on the frontline and having several good defensive abilities I think she'll manage. And at least her relatively high Wis also improves her otherwise rather mediocre Will.

Class and Feat Progression The order of the feats should be reasonable and not require retraining, but doesn't otherwise matter.
1 Fighter 1: Combat Reflexes^B, Deadly Aim^B, Precise Point-Blank Shot Precise Shot and Point-Blank Shot is house ruled into one feat.
2 Magus 1: -
3 Magus 2: Combat Casting This is unfortunately a requirement for bladecaster.
4 Magus 3: -
5 Magus 4: Improved Counterspell This is unfortunately a requirement for bladecaster.
6 Magus 5: Tap Animus^B
7 Fighter 2: Elemental Focus (water)
8 Fighter 3: - Dex to damage with guns, and it's compatible with the myrmidon archetype. Thank you DSP!
9 Bladecaster 1: Rapid Shot Bladecaster is weak compared to the Battle Templar and Awakened Blade, but the only PrC for arcane and initiating progression.
10 Bladecaster 2: -
11 Bladecaster 3: Weapon Group Adaptation (firearms) Broken Blade Stance with multiple guns? Hell yeah!
12 Bladecaster 4: -
13 Warlord 1: Amateur Gunslinger^B, Rapid Reload (pistol), Gunsmithing^B, Ricochet Shot Deed^B
14 Bladecaster 5: -
15 Magus 6: Multiweapon Fighting This final level of Magus is taken late in order to increase choices for Spell Blending.
Familiar: Alertness
Incandescent Blue Sphere in wayfinder: Blind-Fight
Lord of the Wheel: Lurker in Darkness
The reason for going warlord privateer rather than stalker privateer, despite a good Wis and a bad Cha, is the huge pile of gun related stuff which can be gained with a mere 1-level dip. Besides the bonus gun feats listed here, the warlord version also grants Gilda the very useful Sea Combat ploy and her main maneuver recovery method. As a comparison, no less than seven levels of stalker privateer would've been needed to gain the three ploys Gilda now gets through her one-level dip. I don't think a single level of any other class grants even remotely as much to a gun wielder.

Miscellaneous
Skills Acrobatics +13, Disable Device +29, Fly +30, Knowledge (arcane, planes) +23, Knowledge (dungeoneering, history) +9, Perception +29, Sense Motive +26, Sleight of Hand +34, Spellcraft +23, Stealth +33, Swim +21, Use Magic Device +17 The boosted SoH is primarily because Tempest Gale maneuvers make heavy use of it. A few skill points still remain to be placed.
Languages Abyssal, Aklo, Aquan, Common, Elven, Giant, Goblin, Halfling, Undercommon

Magus Arcana Familiar (Bertus, compsognathus), Spell Blending (abundant ammunition, named bullet); SQ Amphibious
Alternate Racial Traits Four-Armed Freak; Traits Magic Knack, Practiced Initiator
Martial Traditions Acolytes of the Arrow, Lords of the Wheel; Spellcaster Guild Cold Cave Laboratories Guild designed by the GM, prestige points grants the cold resistance and the Steaming Sea surge ability.

Gear doomfrost (+1 greater reliable holy frost pistol, bonded item), demon-chiller (+1 greater reliable miserable (evil outsiders) pistol), trusty (+1 greater reliable pistol), mithral celestial armor of +2 deflection and +5 resistance, +2 buckler, beneficial monkey belt (+6 dex, +2 str, con), buffering cap of the cool mind (+4 int, +2 wis), eyes of the eagle, deft gloves (+5 sleight of hand), scarf of manipulation (+7 use magic device, worn by Bertus), steelwalker's boots, familiar satchel, muleback cords, power charm of the empowered on bracelet of charms, cracked incandescent blue sphere in wayfinder, mwk thieves' tools, gunsmith's kit, pearls of power (two 1st level, two 2nd level, one 3rd level), lesser intensified metamagic rod (2), lesser rime metamagic rod, wands of contingent action (10 charges, carried by Bertus), haste (carried by Bertus), mirror image and reduce person (carried by Bertus), dweomer's essence (2), oil of silence (6), myrrh (25 castings), urea (100 castings), alchemical cartridges (200), 1,350 gp The game uses the Steelforge item rules, i.e. tax-free stacking of big six and skill competence bonuses onto any slotted item. The GM gave me an extra 60 grand (25% of WBL due to bonded item and crafting feats of allies) on the condition that the market price of my bonded gun would be at least equal to this amount.

Spoiler: Basic Combos and Tricks

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The damage values in parenthesis below isn't DPR, just the average damage if all attacks hit, none crit, and the target is evil and has no DR or cold resistance.

Familiar Wand Wielding
Bertus can use wands with 100% success chance, effectively almost doubling up on buff actions.

Spell Combat Turn (507.5 damage)
1. Swift - Iron Knuckle (+14 average damage to all attacks for 1 round)
2. Full-round - spell combat with spellstrike:

2a. may move total distance of up to 45 ft. before, after or between attacks (steelwalker's boots)
2b. casts intensified snowball (using rod)
2c. spellstrike to deliver snowball via attack (+18) with doomfrost (86 damage)
2d. attack granted by haste (+18) with doomfrost (51 damage on hit)
2e. attack granted by Rapid Shot (+18) with doomfrost (51 damage on hit)
2f. main hand attack granted by Broken Blade Stance (+18) with doomfrost (51 damage)
2g. regular attack (+18) with doomfrost (51 damage vs evil opponent)
2h. off-hand attack granted by Broken Blade Stance (+16) with demon-chiller (38.5 damage)
2i. regular off-hand attack (+16) with demon-chiller (38.5 damage)
2j. regular off-hand attack (+16) with trusty (38.5 damage)
2k. first regular iterative attack (+13) with doomfrost (51 damage)
2l. second regular iterative attack (+8) with doomfrost (51 damage)

3. Turn ends - gains 2 points of animus

Machine Gun Action Round (658.5 damage, target may also be entangled and/or dazed or dazzled)
1. Bertus casts contingent action (using wand) on Gilda during his turn or before combat
2. Swift - Iron Knuckle (+14 damage to all attacks for 1 round)
3. Free - contingent action triggered: Elemental Vortex (+18) with doomfrost augment 2 (86 damage, Fort DC 21 or entangled 4 rounds)
4. Full-round - spell combat with spellstrike, as above
5. Turn ends - gains 2 points of animus
6. Immediate - Beat the Clock directly after turn: Dazzling Solar Flare (+18) with doomfrost (65 damage, Fort DC 18 dazzled 1 round or dazed 2.5 rounds)

Auto-Cannon (up to +822 additional damage with Spell Combat Turn as above)
This is only for when prep is possible and the enemy type and/or name is known.
1. Casts Abundant Ammunition on Beneficial Bandolier
2. Casts Named Bullet on one alchemical cartridge in Beneficial Bandolier
3. Fires free auto-threatening bullets and adding 15 damage to crits against chosen enemy type within 30 ft. during next 15 minutes (x4 crit weapons have their uses...)

Deep Freeze Turn (enemy takes additional damage and -10 SR for 1 round)
If a particularly annoying enemy seems to be suffering from a bad case of SR and/or cold resistance/immunity
1. Free - uses Steaming Sea surge (all damage is cold damage for 1 round)
2. Swift - Shatter Resistance augment 2 (attacks gain +14 damage, ignore energy resistance, SR of creature damaged is lowered by 10 for 1 round)
4. Full-round - spell combat with spellstrike, as above but with rime corrosive consumption/pyrotechnic eruption/irradiate (using rod) instead of snowball (plus Urea or Dweomer's Essence if deemed necessary)
5. Turn ends - gains 2 points of animus

Improvement suggestions most welcome!