Post/Author/DateTime	Post
SlanderPanic 01-26-07, 04:03 PM	I've tweaked this using feedback from my players and these boards. This class is, for the most part, geared toward psychic warriors. Though it can be entered via non-psionic means, psychic warriors have the easiest time of it, since they don't need to multiclass. That, and my respect for the psi-heads here, is why it's being posted here. This is, by no means, an attempt at outdoing Untapped Potential's Marksman class, either. (I haven't read the Marksman as of this writing; I'm ordering UTP next weekend.) ---------- This prestige class was inspired by my players in my homebrew setting, Land of Parma. Renaissance firearms are allowed in that setting, though they're highly under-represented. One player wanted a gun-focused version of the arcane archer and, after some deliberation, this is my second draft. I didn't want this to be a straight conversion of the arcane archer, since those bore me, but it certainly has its roots in that class. It also takes a few tricks from the Stargate: SG-1 RPG's sniper prestige and gets a few that I made up myself, along with a complete flavor overhaul and compatibility with both arcane casters and psionic manifesters. --------------------------- The Mystic Musketeer The invention of firearms is gradually changing the face of combat across Parma. In the era of relative peace following the Jionic War of Independence, idle warriors have found themselves with more time to devote to perfecting their arts and the luxury of dedicating themselves to the mastery of a single weapon, rather than the proficiency with many weapons required to survive large-scale battle. Some, inspired by the arcane archers of Myrna, have begun to fuse arcane and psionic power with the gnomish innovation of firearms, creating new techniques that even the arcane archers never dreamed of. Mystic musketeers are, most often, psychic warriors. Many mystic musketeers are also fighters who have dipped into a spellcasting or manifesting class to gain the understanding of mystical forces required to truly become one with their pistols and rifles. Rangers tend to make excellent mystic musketeers, but paladins tend to be too fond of melee to spend much time with firearms. The gnomes of Myrna are the originators of this class' techniques, but, under their tutelage, it has spread. Greenwood, in particular, is known for its squads of rifleman rangers. Maenads have also taken to firearms with a passion, seeing the weapons as representatives of themselves: Steely, complex, and capable of spectacular outbursts of violence. Hit Die: d8 Requirements To qualify to become a mystic musketeer, a character must fulfill all of the following criteria: Base Attack Bonus: +6 Feats: Exotic Weapon Proficiency (firearms), Point Blank Shot, Rapid Reload (firearms) Spellcasting/Manifesting: Must be able to cast 1st-level arcane spells or manifest 1st-level powers as a class feature. (Hidden Talent cannot be used to qualify for this class.) Special: Must be trained by another mystic musketeer. Class Skills: The mystic musketeer's class skills are Concentration, Craft, Hide, Listen, Move Silently, Ride, Spot, Survival, and Use Rope. Musketeers who begin as manifesters also gain Autohypnosis. Musketeers who begin as spellcasters gain Use Magic Device. Skill Points at Each Level: 4 + Int modifier Class Features All of the following are class features of the mystic musketeer: Base Attack Bonus: 1/level Saving Throws: Good Will and Reflex saves. Weapon and Armor Proficiency: Mystic musketeers are proficient with all simple weapons, light armor, and medium armor. Spells Per Day/Powers Known: When an odd-numbered mystic musketeer level is attained, the character gains new spells known and spells per day as if he had also attained a level in any one arcane spellcasting class he belonged to before he added the prestige class. Alternately, he gains additional power points per day and access to new powers as if he had also gained a level in any one manifesting class he belonged to previously. He does not, however, gain any other benefit a character of either class would have gained (bonus metamagic, metapsionic, or item creation feats, and so on). This essentially means that he adds the level of mystic musketeer to the level of whatever other arcane spellcasting class or manifesting class the character has, then determines spells per day, caster level, power points per day, powers known, and manifester level accordingly. If a character had more than one arcane spellcasting class or more than one manifesting class before he became a mystic musketeer, or both arcane spellcasting and manifesting classes, he must decide to which class he adds each level of musketeer for purpose of determining spells per day, caster level, power points per day, powers known, and manifester level. Crack Shot (Su): At 1st level, every mundane bullet a mystic musketeer fires is enhanced with magical or mental power, gaining a +1 enhancement bonus. Unlike magical or psionic weapons created by normal means, the musketeer need not spend gold or experience to accomplish this task. However, these bullets work only for him. For every two levels the character advances past 1st level in the prestige class, the enhanced bullets he creates gain +1 greater potency (+1 at 1st level, +2 at 3rd level, +3 at 5th level, +4 at 7th level, and +5 at 9th level). Empower Shot (Sp or Ps): At 2nd level, the mystic musketeer gains the ability to place an area spell or power on a bullet. When the bullet is fired, the spell's area is centered on where the bullet lands (or whom it hits), even if the effect could normally only be centered on the musketeer. This ability allows the musketeer to use his firearm's range, rather than the spell or power's range. It takes a standard action to cast or manifest the effect and to fire the shot. The shot must be used in the round the effect is placed or the effect is lost. Richochet (Ex): Once per day per mystic musketeer level, as a standard action, a musketeer of 4th level can bounce a shot off of one object or opponent and hit another object or opponent within 30 feet of the original target. The musketeer rolls his attack against the first opponent or object normally. If it hits, it deals normal damage against that opponent or object. The musketeer then makes an attack roll against any opponent or object within thirty feet of the first target, originating from that target's square. This second target must be known to the musketeer. As long as the first target has line-of-effect to the second target, the musketeer does not need it for the purposes of the ricochet attack. If this attack hits, it does damage as normal. This ability uses up only one round of ammunition. Penetrating Shot (Su): At 6th level, the musketeer has learned how to find the weak spots in cover and armor and punch a bullet right through them. Once per day, as a standard action, he can fire a shot at a target known to him within range, and the bullet travels to the target in a straight path, passing through any nonmystical barrier or wall in its way. (Any magical or psionic barrier stops the bullet.) This ability negates cover, concealment, and even armor modifiers (but not force effects, such as inertial armor or a shield spell,) but otherwise the attack is rolled normally. Blunderbuss (Sp or Ps): Once per day, as a full-attack action, a mystic musketeer of 8th level can overload his weapon, filling it with extra powder and shot, and fire a controlled explosion, doing 1d4 damage per musketeer level to everyone within a 30' cone. Half of this damage is fire and half is piercing. The musketeer's crack shot bonus applies to each die of damage. This attack uses a number of rounds of ammunition (powder and shot) equal to the number of damage dice it deals. A musketeer can choose to deal less damage dice than the maximum, using less ammunition in the process. A successful Reflex save (DC 10 + mystic musketeer level + the musketeer's key ability modifier for his primary spellcasting or manifesting class) halves the damage. One In A Million (Ex): A master mystic musketeer's timing and precision reach godlike levels, enabling him to make nearly impossible shots. Once per day, a mystic musketeer of 10th level can treat any one shot as if he'd rolled a natural 20 on the attack roll. This shot threatens a critical hit and the musketeer may roll to confirm. If the confirmation roll is also a natural 20, the target loses its head if it is a creature (and if it has a head.) If the target is an object, its hardness is ignored. See the vorpal (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/magicItems/magicWeapons.htm#vorpal) property for more information on the effects of decapitation.
Soahc 01-30-07, 07:52 AM	The one in a million ability is a little stronger, could you possibly considering removing the vorpal quality, or make the MM roll two consecutive 20s after. Not to mention the character will have great attack, 25, 25, 20, 15 (0nce per day) but still!
SlanderPanic 01-30-07, 10:33 AM	Thanks for the feedback. That was a point of concern for me, too, when I designed the effect. However, given that any character taking this class is going to be at least 16th level by the time he gets One In A Million, I think it's balanced fairly when compared to save-or-die effects and the more easily-triggered vorpal property. It's getting playtested now, so I'll drop the "head shot" effect if it turns out to be too lethal.
Tempest Stormwind 01-30-07, 10:53 AM	You're using the basic Renaissance firearms as presented in the DMG? I'm not concerned with this thing's power level. It's stronger than the arcane archer, but that needs 5/10 spellcasting progression anyway. You mentioned the marksman earlier; let's look at a 16th level marksman versus a marksman 6 / mystic musketeer 10. Pure marksman: +16 base attack, ML 16 (the progression is similar to the psychic rogue, to give you a ballpark estimate), free Point Blank Shot and Psionic Meditation, Wisdom-to-AC against mundane ranged attacks, 8-round duration on Wind Reader (Wisdom to ranged attack rolls for a short while after gaining psionic focus), Cover Fire (stagger opponent instead of damaging them), two bonus archery feats, and three Signature Style abilities (in the case of the closest equivalent style, the crossbow, you've got the ability to add +3d8 damage to a bolt by expending focus, the ability to make your bolts "cleave" through targets, and the ability to spend 1 round "sighting" a target to deliver a single auto-crit attack on the following round). The DC on Cover Fire is 18+Wisdom. Marksman/Musketeer: Same base attack, ML 11, the same PBS/PsiMed as before, Cover Fire (DC 13+Wisdom), Wis-to-AC against mundane attacks, 3-round duration on Wind Reader, no bonus archery feats, no Signature Style abilities, but all of this class' abilities. The biggest of these to this character would probably be Crack Shot, actually. Empower Shot is all but worthless as a marksman's powers almost entirely affect himself or his weapon. Note that One in a Million is a slightly better version of the marksman's third-tier crossbow signature style, which the marksman gets one level earlier (but can use an unlimited number of times per day, so long as he sights the shot first). Crack Shot is the superstrong ability in the hands of a marksman, and would be reason alone to look into this class. The other abilities make it interesting and worth the trip, in my eyes. I don't see the two as being significantly different on the balance scale, though, so I wouldn't be concerned about this class' strength. That reminds me... must write up gun styles for the marksman one of these days...
SlanderPanic 01-30-07, 11:21 AM	Wow, thanks for the review and build comparison, Tempest! Like I said, I haven't read the Marksman yet. I've been avoiding UTP spoilers, for the most part. (The less I know about what's in the book, the more surprises there are in store.) Yeah, he's built with Renaissance firearms in mind. To really take maximum advantage of the class, a character should probably have Quick Draw so he can do full attacks. I was thinking of designing an Improved Rapid Reload feat to help them out, too, but that might be too cheesy. Besides, it's not as cool a visual as someone with a bandolier full of flintlocks drawing and dropping a bunch of them in a round. As a fun NPC build, kineticist 12/mystic musketeer 2 lets you tag enemies with null psionics fields.
danzibr 03-07-07, 08:50 PM	This class looks neat. Not only would I consider playing it, but it gets flavor points (the Maenad example was great). But... although I'm no great judge of balance, I have to agree with Tempest Stormwind. Looks balanced to me. Dan
SlanderPanic 03-08-07, 11:26 AM	Thanks for the feedback! So far, one of my players has been having a good time with his musketeer, but he's not the best tactical thinker, so he hasn't put it to its best uses yet. But you should have seen how his eyes lit up when he hit level 8 and picked up blunderbuss. I look forward to eventually playing one myself.
The_One_Who_Walks 03-08-07, 02:49 PM	Though I too have not read Untapped Potential, Nor do I actually have any idea what it is, (though I hear it mentioned a lot on this board... I'm gonna have to start poking around proper game shops again [as opposed to places like B&N and Borders...], see if I can't find it and have a look.) I like this class a lot. it's enough like the Arcane Archer that neither should feel cheated by the exsistance of the other, but it manages to maintain it's own flavor. I have one question, though. Why is Blunderbuss Spell-like/Psi-like? It seems to me that it has less to do with Magical/Psionic skill, and more to do with a clever aplication of the device itself. that's jsut me. On a similar note, why is Richochet extraordinary? It seems to me that that would be the kind of thing that might be acomplished with a pinch of psionic/magical telekinesis, rather than some ability to do fancy trig calculations in your head in the heat of battle to bounce the shot mundainly (though that would certanly be Extraordinary, if that's how they do it! :P ) Anyway, those are my little thoughts, do with them as you will. over all, though, I like it very much. now if only I could con my DM into useing firearms...
SlanderPanic 03-08-07, 03:44 PM	Untapped Potential is available exclusively through Dreamscarred Press (http://dreamscarredpress.com). (My copy shipped yesterday, by the way!) Blunderbuss is (Sp) or (Ps) because it involves using your innate magical or psionic energy to focus and direct the destructive force of all that powder and shot, to keep it from destroying your weapon or backfiring and blowing your face off. Ricochet is (Ex) because it involves an intimate knowledge and awareness of trajectories and how bullets behave when striking different surfaces. It's pure skill, with no magic or psionics involved. I've seen skilled real-world sharpshooters bounce bullets in all sorts of impressive ways, often without having to think about it for longer than a fraction of a second. Ricochet's a standard action, which means the musketeer has to concentrate and aim for three seconds. One In A Million is extraordinary for the same reason: It's a feat of incredible concentration, possible only when a musketeer has obtained the highest level of skill and mental discipline. As for not allowing firearms... Why doesn't he? Renaissance-level firearms aren't unbalanced in the slightest. I really don't think they detract from the flavor of the game, either. In fact, I find that they add to it. (Besides... flaming burst pistols are radical.)
The_One_Who_Walks 03-08-07, 04:15 PM	:D Blunderbuss is (Sp) or (Ps) because it involves using your innate magical or psionic energy to focus and direct the destructive force of all that powder and shot, to keep it from destroying your weapon or backfiring and blowing your face off. Ricochet is (Ex) because it involves an intimate knowledge and awareness of trajectories and how bullets behave when striking different surfaces. It's pure skill, with no magic or psionics involved. I've seen skilled real-world sharpshooters bounce bullets in all sorts of impressive ways, often without having to think about it for longer than a fraction of a second. Ricochet's a standard action, which means the musketeer has to concentrate and aim for three seconds. That makes sence, I suppose. I didn't think about Blunderbuss like that, and I know exactly nothing about real-world sharpshooting, so I must say, I'm impressed such a thing really plausable outside a fantasy setting. As for not allowing firearms... Why doesn't he? Renaissance-level firearms aren't unbalanced in the slightest. I really don't think they detract from the flavor of the game, either. In fact, I find that they add to it. (Besides... flaming burst pistols are radical.) One of our players spent the better part of a year real-time (something like 10 or 12 years, game-time) trying more or less sucsessfully to instigate an indrustial revolution in our game world, and to curb his enthusiasum for black powder explosives and related seige tatics, he decided physics works slightly different in his world, and there's no such viable compound as gunpowder/black powder. not the solution I would have used, but... I also alow firearms when I run. I like em a lot too, but I go for shocking burst and/or brilliant energy :D
feraltibbit 04-02-07, 12:55 PM	Excellent Idea!!!!! I might use that, if you don't mind. Adding insult to the enemies' injury... (G)Rouge-Sorc10 (or Wiz/Clr/PsyWarr/Psion)/Marksman10 (World of Warcraft D20)/Mystic Marksman10! YAY!!!
SlanderPanic 04-02-07, 02:43 PM	Remember, the Musketeer requires arcane casting (or psionic manifesting) to qualify. You can't go straight into it from cleric and it won't increase your divine casting. You can, however, use Empower Shot with any spells you can cast.
Rhonin the Big 04-02-07, 02:59 PM	The only thing Im worried about is that psionic feat from Complete psionix in conjunction with One in A Million, 1/day auto critical threat then expend psionic focus to automatically confirm said critical hit. A muskett with several energy burst enhancements on top of that combo would be killer: 3d12+12d10 easily without rolling a damn thing. Other than that it's cool.
SlanderPanic 04-02-07, 03:54 PM	Given that a character's going to be at least 16th level by the time he can pull that off, he can only do it once a day, and he can only do it to one target, that combo really isn't as great as you think it is. There are plenty of much better ways for the Musketeer to dish out massive amounts of pain and inconvenience to his enemies. ...Tagging them with null psionics fields, for example. :devil:
SlanderPanic 04-23-07, 12:59 PM	I think it's time for a shameless nudge. The playtesting fighter/wizard/mystic musketeer has been going great so far. With a Heward's handy haversack and a variety of ammo types, he's been able to penetrate most any sort of damage reduction. He's also made a habit of shooting through locked doors and casting animate rope to set off traps. He still hasn't had any balance issues thus far. I'm pleased.