Sunday, November 12, 2017

D&D 5e Gunslinger

     I recently got into D&D. Spent about $200 on the books, and another $130 on some furniture. The initial high of finding a new activity you enjoy was well above normal for me. So much so, I haven't resumed doing most of my normal hobbies or downtime activities. I spend a lot of time googling and youtubing D&D stuff, where I discovered a show called CriticalRoll. I didn't think much of one of the characters using a gun at that time, but while I was reading the DM Handbook, I found the page that gave stats to firearms and was mind blown. I spent an entire Sunday, shit you not, working on my own gunslinger home-brew class. Midway through, it occurred to me that maybe someone already did this, and what if they did it better, and there's no need for me to make one. I found some home-brew gunslinger class and some sort of Pathfinder gunslinger class that more or less did what I was doing. Later, I found Matthew Mercers' Gunlinger PDF, and I didn't like it.
     So, here's mine:

<class information begin>
"Gunslinger

The intelligent and the creative have discovered how a combination of unrelated inventions can make a single new weapon. Due to the complexity of these weapons, few people can produce them. There is also a steep learning curve to becoming proficient with these weapons, and few people have the resources for the training. Is the face of war about to change, or is this new class of warrior too dependent on the inconsistent skill of a new and rare type of craftsman and uncommon resources to endure?

The gunslinger is a rare and unique warrior that could be mistaken by wizards by those not in the know. Because of the rarity of guns, and the rarity and expense of the ammunition, gaining competent skill and knowledge with firearms probably means you had very unique circumstances in your background. You don't have to be strong or smart to fire a gun well, but coordination and practice are key. You must also know how to clean and maintain your weapon, and make time to do so often. Skilled marksmen have learned to compensate for the unique inaccuracy of each handmade gun.

Class Features
As a gunslinger, you gain the following features.

Hit Points
Hit Dice: 1d8 or 5 + Con per marksman level

Proficiencies
Armor: Light armor, Medium Armor
Weapons: Pistols, Muskets, Dynamite
Tools: Bullet Casting Tools or Tinkers Tools
Saving Throws: Dexterity, Wisdom
Skills: Choose 3 from: Acrobatics, Insight, Intimidation, Perception, Stealth, Slight of Hand

Equipment
You begin with the following equipment, in addition to to equipment provided by your background.
(a)A Pistol or (b) a Musket
A horn of gunpowder
20 Bullets
(a) Padded Armor and 1x dagger or 1x hand ax or (b) Leather Armor
An Explorers Pack
Bullet Casting Tools
10 lbs. of copper (or lead)
1 Flask of Oil, 1x Cotton Clothe, 1x Barrel Rod

Renaissance Item Cost Damage Weight Properties
Martial Ranged Weapons
Pistol 250 gp 1d10 Piercing 3 lbs. Ammunition (range 30/90), loading,
Musket 500 gp 1d12 Piercing 10 lbs. Ammunition (40/120), loading, two-handed
Double Barrel
Pistol
700 gp 1d10 Piercing 5 lbs. Ammunition (range 30/90), loading,
Double Barrel
Musket
1250 gp 1d12 Piercing 15 lbs Ammunition (40/120), loading, two-handed
Ammunition
Ball Shot 3 gp - 2 lbs. -
Cone Shot 12 gp +1/+1 2 lbs. Range increases by +5/+10
Silver Shot 100 gp

2 lbs. Silvered, Can be either Ball or Cone Shot
  • Cone Shot is more aerodynamic. It adds +1 to your attack and damage rolls, increases your normal range by 5 and your long range by 10. You can craft or purchase bullet casting tools specifically for making cone shot if or buy cone shot.
  • Silver Shot or Silvered Shot is the only way for marksmen to fight monsters with resistance to nonmagical damage.
  • The double barreled weapons allow for shooters to take up to two attacks before reloading. This will be beneficial if they have a bonus action or an extra attack 
  • This should go without saying, but using your guns as improvised bludgeoning weapons does 1d4+Str mod damage, but it doesn't sound like a good idea to make a habit of pistol whipping and clubbing creatures with a precision instrument that has intricate parts. You don't have proficiency to firearms when you used them like this.


Fire while Prone
At 1st level, you can attack with firearms while prone.

Announce
At 1st level, you can announce your presence with a gunshot once per encounter. Roll a Charisma or an Intimidate Check. Creatures within 50 feet must make Wis save or become intimidated for one round. If they succeed by more than 5, they may become provoked at DMs discretion. Nonmagic creatures who roll a 1 or a 2 will be intimidated by you for 24 hours.

Quick Draw
At 2nd level, you can draw or holster a 1 handed firearm as a free action.

Muzzle Flash
At 3rd level, you can declare that you load your firearm with only gunpowder and no ammunition, and your intent to blind one creature within 5 ft of you. Succeed on an attack roll without disadvantage and you can blind 1 creature and do 1d4 fire damage.

Improve Ability Score
At level 4th, 8th, 12th, 16th, and 19th level, you can improve your choice of one ability score by +2 or two ability scores by +1.

Disable Target
At level 5, you can attempt to disable a target with a well placed shot to a leg or an arm. Subtract 5 from your attack roll. Target must make a dex saving throw for a DC15 to avoid taking this disable penalty. If a creature succeeds its saving throw, your shot missed entirely. If you hit, you divide your damage by 2. You can choose to aim for an arm or a leg. If you disable a targets leg, you reduce it's speed by 10. If your disable it's arm, you impose disadvantage against it's attack rolls with melee or ranged weapons. It cannot recover from disability until it recovers at least 1 HP. This skill does not work against creatures 2 sizes larger or smaller than medium.

Crack Shot
At level 6, you can re-roll an attack roll. You can use this feature this your marksman level/3 times rounded down per day. You recover one use of crack shot every short rest and all uses after a long rest.

Trick Shot
On 7th level, you can toss a coin in the air and put a hole in it. With that kind of skill, you are no longer disadvantaged on attack rolls for creatures within 5 ft.

Shooters Position
At level 9, at the cost of half your speed, you take a knee to stabilize your weapon. You can gain a +3 to your attack roll for enemies in you normal range and +2 to enemies in your long range.

Fast Reflexes
As of level 10, if you're surprised by an encounter, you get one attack on your first turn if you're using a pistol and if you're using a musket, you can make your attack at the end of the round.

Execution
At level 11, if a creature is prone and you are within 5 ft, you can attempt to instantly kill it on a successful attack roll. If the target has more than 50 hit points, it can not be instantly killed. If you fail your attack roll by 5 or less, you do 3d6 damage with a pistol or 4d6 damage with a musket or you miss.

Eagle Eye
At level 13, your ability to track and follow a moving target from a distance reaches a new peak. Your normal range doubles with pistols and you can ignore the long range disadvantage using a musket.

Improved Critical Range
As of level 14, your critical range with firearms is 19-20.

Rapid Reload
On level 15, you can reload your weapon right after making an attack of opportunity so that you can still attack on your next turn. This can be used only once per round.

Still Beat
At level 17, you slow your heart rate and exhale slowly to take shots in between your heartbeats and breathes. You can aim and concentrate on specific points of your target. Add a 1d4 to your attack and damage rolls if you're using a pistol or a 1d6 if your using a musket. You can use this ability your Marksman Level/4 times per day. You recover 1 use per short rest.

Improved Critical Range
As of level 20, your critical range with firearms is 18-20.

Gunslinger Table
Level Proficiency Feature
1st +2 Fire While Prone, Announce
2nd +2 Quickdraw
3rd +2 Muzzle Flash
4th +2 Improved Ability Score
5th +3 Disable Target
6th +3 Crack Shot
7th +3 Trick Shot
8th +3 Improved Ability Score
9th +4 Shooters Position
10th +4 Fast Reflexes
11th +4 Execute
12th +4 Improved Ability Score
13th +5 Eagle Eye
14th +5 Improved Critical
15th +5 Rapid Reload
16th +5 Improved Ability Score
17th +6 Still Beat
18th +6 -
19th +6 Improved Ability Score
20th +6 Improved Critical

Tool Proficiency: Bullet Casting Tools
You can make your own bullets during short rests, long rests, or during down time. You require bullet casting tools and materials such as copper, iron, or silver. You have to melt 2 lbs. of material down and pour it into a bullet mold. This requires a campfire or a stove. You also need gunpowder which is made from charcoal, sulfur, and saltpeter. You can make 10 bullets in a 1 hour short rest.

Critical Failure
If you roll a 1 on an attack roll, re-roll the d20. If the roll is 10 or above, the bullet has strayed from its trajectory significantly due to minute inconsistencies in the production of each handmade bullet and you automatically miss. If the result of the re-roll is below 10, the gun has misfired due to a faulty cartridge. If misfire occurs, the character is blinded for 1 turn and loading that gun requires an extra action, either a bonus action, an extra attack, or another turn, to clear the bad cartridge and purge the bad round from the gun barrel. Characters who are proficient with firearms can reload a gun while blinded.

Muzzle Flash
The muzzle flash can be blinding or deafening, you immediately give yourself away if you're hiding."
 <end of class information>

     What can I improve on? Well, I'm not sure my Gunslinger has enough defensive abilities, and the improve crit range bonuses might be redundant and less than interesting.  Maybe there's a cooler ability I could get? Sniping damage or something? The idea here is that the gunslinger class is a rare and underdeveloped class in a typical D&D setting. You're using primitive firearms and have a real problem with resources. A first generation D&D gunslinger is something of a betatester of his/her trade. I think it needs an additional rule to give you something extra to think about when choosing a pistol or a musket.

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