[3.5/PF] sword and pistol user

[MrOmNomNom]

I'm working on a character for an upcoming campaign and have decided to go for either a Ranger (pathfinder) or Inquisitor. For either class I was wondering if there was a way to effectively fight with a sword and firearm. While it clearly has many hurdles, like reloading without a free hand, I would like to try to make it work. The character concept is similar to the Witch Hunters from Warhammer.

I think this could be done with some combination of Gunslinger, Black Powder Inquisition, or Trophy Hunter with Versatile Combatant (allowing pistols in place of hand crossbows) I would like to keep some sort of Bane/Favoured Enemy abilities, as well as some spells and tracking. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Searching the forums brought up this Gunslinger Melee which may be what I do if there is no other way.

[SleepyShadow]

EDIT: Sorry, missed that you already had Versatile Combatant.

Perhaps Hand Crossbow Focus, but replace it with handguns?

[Ravens_cry]

Beyond the basic two weapon fighting line, Opening Volley and Sword and Pistol could help.
For reloading on the fly, weapon cord and a revolver might work. Drop sword as a free action, reload as a move (or free action depending on how you read rapid reload for revolvers), recover sword as a swift action. If you can get the latter interpretation of rapid reload, you can full attack with sword and pistol without attacks of opportunity.

[MrOmNomNom]

Well that was easy. The weapon cord would also be nice for spell casting. Especially if I could manage a quickened true strike in there somewhere.

Should I stick with Dex an my main stat, or is there a way to use Wis for melee weapons?

[MrOmNomNom]

Double post...

Well I guess I can put an edit here. Sword and Pistol looks to be expensive feat wise. Two levels of Fighter mixed in with Ranger levels might help with that. I could get the Two-Weapon fighting or archery feats from Ranger, but then I would still need proficiency with the pistols, hmm... I'll have to see how that works out.

[Ravens_cry]

Well that was easy. The weapon cord would also be nice for spell casting. Especially if I could manage a quickened true strike in there somewhere.

Should I stick with Dex an my main stat, or is there a way to use Wis for melee weapons?

There is the Guided weapon property, but read this disclaimer first.

[Snowbluff]

Aptitude Weapon from ToB

Lightning Maces from CW (You have TWF anyway, it singles out Light Mace, so it should work).

Imp Crit (Wahtever weapon, Apt Weap is OP sometimes).

Score a Crit Threat, get another attack.

Also, there is an [Exalted] Feat from BoED called Intuitive Attack. It replace Str with Wis for melee attack rolls.

[Ravens_cry]

Also, there is an [Exalted] Feat from BoED called Intuitive Attack. It replace Str with Wis for melee attack rolls.

There is also Guided Hand feat that basically does the same thing, but since it is pathfinder is not Exalted. It only works with one weapon type though.

[Snowbluff]

There is also Guided Hand feat that basically does the same thing, but since it is pathfinder is not Exalted. It only works with one weapon type though.

Ah! Too bad about the Deity's Favored Weapon thing. How does PF or your DM feel about Polytheism?

[Ravens_cry]

Ah! Too bad about the Deity's Favored Weapon thing. How does PF or your DM feel about Polytheism?

I'm OK with it as a fluff thing. In fact, all my Good religious characters venerate the gods of Good and honour the Neutral ones to some degree.
But for crunch? It, to the best of my knowledge, does not work.

[Cieyrin]

There is the Guided weapon property, but read this disclaimer first.

As has been pointed out to me about Guided, it's not very ranged friendly, since it says replace Str with Wis, not Str or Dex, which implies either it's poorly written or was intended as melee-only.

[Snowbluff]

As has been pointed out to me about Guided, it's not very ranged friendly, since it says replace Str with Wis, not Str or Dex, which implies either it's poorly written or was intended as melee-only.

Zen Archery. Ask if it will affect guns. Or just dump Cha, Int, Str to avoid MAD. >.>

[Spiryt]

I first produced my pistol
and then produced my rapier.
I said:
Stand and deliver

Sorry, don't have that much to say, but before everything else, old highwaymen method of carrying few pistols more or less ready to fire may always come handy.

[ericgrau]

Hmm, some strength but dex focus, weapon finesse, TWF (or whatever way to get one ability score to attack roles). You become a standard TWF damage dealer attacking with your sword first. If there's no foe in range or if you drop a foe with the sword and then there's no foe in range you can unload on something farther away. If still in melee, you 5 foot step or use a fire into melee feat to shoot into melee as normal. More damage than a shooter, more versatile then melee.

Preload different pistols with various bane bullets and bullets of different metal types, some +1 to get past DR/magic. Quick draw might be handy. Meanwhile you focus your magical enchants on the sword so you can hit hard with it, especially when you move in and only get a single attack.

[Cieyrin]

Zen Archery. Ask if it will affect guns. Or just dump Cha, Int, Str to avoid MAD. >.>

Since we're talking 3.P, taking the Zen Archery feat (which doesn't give a flip what you're using to make said ranged attack) would probably be the better path anyways. Though, on the other hand, since this build also involves TWF, it may be better to stick closer to Dex, since all your archery and TWFing requires having a modicum of Dex to support them. You'll need at least a 13 but you'll want to get up to 15 or 17 and then look into Agile weapons to get Dex to damage on melee, which would require Weapon Finesse, which may be a good idea instead of Zen Archery anyways so you can focus on Dex as your exclusive damage stat, as opposed to having to worry about Str.

[Snowbluff]

Since we're talking 3.P, taking the Zen Archery feat (which doesn't give a flip what you're using to make said ranged attack) would probably be the better path anyways. Though, on the other hand, since this build also involves TWF, it may be better to stick closer to Dex, since all your archery and TWFing requires having a modicum of Dex to support them. You'll need at least a 13 but you'll want to get up to 15 or 17 and then look into Agile weapons to get Dex to damage on melee, which would require Weapon Finesse, which may be a good idea instead of Zen Archery anyways so you can focus on Dex as your exclusive damage stat, as opposed to having to worry about Str.

Seconded. Dex is a much less Feat intensive method of doing this.

[ericgrau]

Ooh and then gunslinger 5 gives dex to damage on range too.

[Snowbluff]

Ooh and then gunslinger 5 gives dex to damage on range too.

The Shadow Blade feat can give Dex as damage for your melee weapon :3

[MrOmNomNom]

Looking over everything, DEX seems to be the way to go. I only need enough WIS to cast the spells anyway. While I feel that Ranger/Gunslinger would be better, I still like the idea of an Inquisitor with Fighter levels for the feats. I will just have to see how to manage all the feats.