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View Full Version : [PF] Carlos Santiago: Half-Orc gunslinging wizard



oxybe
2010-03-09, 07:46 AM
So we wrapped up the Savage Tide AP about a month ago and i'm looking over the options for our upcoming PF game with my two roommates while one of them is rolling up a PC (my original character was a dwarf cleric).

i'm reading up the wizard entry and out of boredom i start writing down numbers & ideas in the side margins of a fresh character sheet and my roommate brings out the setting guide (we'll be playing in the Council of Thieves AP) and i see guns.

now i was originally thinking of rolling up a diviner but then my flare for the ridiculous and outrageous caught me:

half orc wizard. arcane bond with a revolver. shooting rays & missiles at people.

so he're my idea for Carlos Santiago, the half-orc gunslinging mage.

born as a slave & sold at the age of 10 to the Alkenstar Gunworks for cheap guard labor, he found their use of firearms fascinating. they noticed his interest & ability to quickly grasp the basic concepts of math & science and thought that he would better serve mixing gunpowder then guarding it (considering his small frame, he's only 5'3" with a Str of 8, this was a good choice).

after sustaining several injuries due to sub-standard hand-me-down protective gear, he finally got the hang of correctly mixing the different ingredients needed to make good gunpowder. the head designers & builders decided to have him try his scarred hands at making the various firearms & ammunition.

though it took a bit longer due to the complex techniques used, he managed to achieve some success at the trade. he used the money he earned from his crafting & his secondary job as errand boy to pay for learning materials and learned proper engineering during his spare time with help from the others.

at the age of 20, while on a delivery to a client in the neighboring nation of Nex, him & his group of couriers were ambushed by thieves wanting the valuable gun for themselves. though he valued the time spent with the machinists & alchemists he saw this as a chance for real freedom and during the scuffle he took the revolver for his own and ran off to Quantium where he set sail for Totra in Osirian. from there he took a Caravan to Merab in Thuvia, pawned the rest of his possessions and goods he stole during the fight & crossed the Inner Sea to Westcrown in Cheliax.

for the next 6 years he lived in the basement of a hedge mage's alchemy shop learning the basics of magic (something he never really saw before in the dead magic zone of Alkenstar) & helping him brew potions & making scrolls, where during this time he bonded himself with his firearm, using it to cast his spells. his view of magic is more of a practical one: magic can be used to quickly & inventively solve problems where physical limits could stop normally you.

Carlos is scarred from mishandling chemicals during his youth so he often wears thick gloves & a long scarf covering most of his face. he wears a pair of glasses to supplement his bad eyesight. when about the town he's usually in his duster jacket, cowboy hat and thick leather boots & gloves. his revolver is held in a side holster inside his jacket and he carries 20 rounds on himself, 15 in his spell component pouch and 5 loaded in the revolver.

while he generally keeps to himself, he can be a bit chatty when the subject of science or magic are brought up, especially alchemy or manufacturing of equipment & machinery.
mechanically his stats are:

Str - 7
Dex - 14
Con -10
Int - 18 (16+racial)
Wis - 9
Cha - 14

his 7 skills (2 for wizard, 4 for int, 1 for favored class), each with 1 point, are:
Craft (gunsmith)
Craft (alchemy)
Know: Arcana
Know: Engineering
Know: History
Know: Nobility
Spellcraft

languages:
Orc
Common
Draconic
Elven
Dwarven
Aklo

his level 1 feat i'm still undecided... i'm debating either weapon prof (revolver) or weapon focus (ray) to better fit the character, but i would like a second opinion. i also have the wizard default: scribe scroll.

i was thinking of making him an Evoker, and yes i know it's one of the weakest schools but it does fit his gunslinging style, effectively minoring in conjuration/transmutation for creation/modification type spells. i don't have a proper spell list for him yet. he's banned the Enchantment & Illusion schools.


anyone care to comment on him or give me some help fleshing him out a bit?

Harperfan7
2010-03-09, 10:11 AM
I was going to say take a level of swordsage, get unnerving calm + improved initiative, but I noticed the PF tag.

I wouldn't give up illusion if I were you, you'll miss mirror image and invisbility as a shooter.

Also, you are a shooter with poor wisdom and no perception. :smallmad:

Don't bother with WF:Ray, +1 to ranged touch is not worth a feat.

You may want to consider going two weapon fighting, but I don't know how that arcane whatsit works. Get quicken spell so you can pump out two spells in a round (three if that two weapon thing works).

Dont forget quick draw.

oxybe
2010-03-09, 11:37 AM
i should note he's not a "real" shooter. the gun itself is mostly for show and aesthetics. as a wizard, i don't have much faith in my ability to hit ACs with accuracy often with ranged attacks... i'll mostly rely on ranged touch attacks or stuff that hits without needing to roll. i just have the gun loaded in a "worst case scenario" that i need something to defend myself with or show off. either way works fine.

arcane bond with the weapon effectively forces me to cast using the gun (the gun is to me is kinda what a holy symbol is to a cleric), should i lose it i need to succeed a Caster Lvl + Int check of DC 20+spell level to properly cast spells (he doesn't have a precedent of sundering or disarming last game's wanna be Clericzilla, but i guess he could surprise me). in return it allows me one free floating spontaneous casting spell slot per day of any level from my spellbook. essentially a "get out of jail free card".

i'll definitely get the various metamagics like quicken at a later date. PF is more generous with feats then standard 3rd ed, getting a feat at every uneven level (so 10 at 20 instead of 6). empower & quicken for sure. it's a PF core-only game so my choices of metamagic reducers are VERY limited... if any.

PF banned schools isn't like your standard 3.5 banned. i can still learn and cast illusion & enchantment spells, memorizing them just costs 2 spell slots instead of one.

as for ToNS, i've never even seen a physical copy of the book in the FLGS... no one owns one in the group. plus, like i said, we're playing Core PF only... DM kinda got tired of the shenanigans our wizard was doing in the last campaign with his multi-sourcebook stuff.

for the stats i'll probably swap Cha/Wis around to get some bonus out of it. either works fine for the character, i just tend to like a good Cha in case i need to converse with people.