Gun Witch (Spellburst Savant Archetype)

Though magicians of all stripes swear by the superiority of raw magic as a weapon, some mages find themselves preferring mechanisms and tools as implements of war. Gun witches are a particular type of martial mage who’ve decided to use physics to their advantage, stacking the ingenuity of mankind with the power of magic to fill their foes with lead in the most efficient manner possible.

Weapon and Armor Proficiencies

A gun witch is proficient with simple weapons, firearms, light armor, medium armor, and shields (except tower shields). This replaces the normal spellburst savant’s weapon and armor proficiencies.

Firearm Bond

A gun witch must choose a bonded item as her arcane bond. Her bonded item may be any firearm, and she begins play with either a blunderbuss, musket, or pistol as her bonded item. This starting firearm is battered, and only she knows how to use it properly. All other creatures treat her gun as if it had the broken condition. If the weapon already has the broken condition, it does not work at all for anyone else trying to use it. This starting weapon can only be sold for scrap (it’s worth 4d10 gp when sold).

In addition, the gun witch gains Gunsmithing as a bonus feat, and can use her class level in place of her base attack bonus for the purposes of meeting requirements and prerequisites. This ability alters arcane bond.

Shooting Star Cartridges (Su)

A gun witch has the ability to fill her guns with magic, conjuring elemental bullets. As a free action, she can expend her nova spell ability for the round to gain the following benefits:

• As a move action that does not provoke attacks of opportunity, the gun witch can load her firearms with motes of energy similar to those created by the starspray fundamental. This does not require a free hand, and reloads all of her wielded guns to full capacity simultaneously. When she does so, she creates bullets and propellant out of raw magical energy, rather than loading with normal bullets (though she may still gain the other benefits of this ability with real bullets, if she wishes). If the gun witch possesses the Rapid Reload feat, she can instead do this as a free action.
• The gun witch’s firearms cannot misfire.
• The gun witch deals acid, cold, electricity, fire, or sonic damage with her firearms, rather than the damage type the attacks would normally deal. She chooses the element of an attack as she makes the attack.

Starting at 4th level, when a gun witch activates this ability, she can apply additional effects to her guns, based on the metamagic feats she possesses. The maximum total adjustment she can apply to this ability is equal to her nova spell rank. Not all metamagic feats are represented here; at the GM’s option, a gun witch with a metamagic feat that is not on this list may apply the effect of a similar feat to her attacks. Dazing Spell may not be used with this ability, and unlike with a nova spell, effects that reduce metamagic adjustments do not apply to the feats when using this ability.

Some of these effects are noted as Limited Use. Such effects can only be used once during the duration of this ability, and can be activated as a free action when the gun witch meets the conditions of the effect (such as by hitting with a particular type of attack) before the start of her next turn. A gun witch can apply a Limited Use effect multiple times when using this ability, counting its metamagic adjustment again and gaining the ability to use it an additional time before her next turn for each time she does so (but still only once per attack).

Otherwise, the effects granted by this ability last until the start of the gun witch’s next turn (at which point she may activate it again, if she wishes), and function only for guns she wields. At the cost of a +1 metamagic adjustment, the gun witch gains a bonus on damage rolls with firearms equal to her Wisdom bonus (if any).

• Aquatic Spell (+1): The gun witch’s firearms can be fired underwater freely, and take no penalties for doing so.
• Bouncing Spell (+1, Limited Use): When the gun witch misses with an attack with a firearm, she can immediately reroll that attack against a different target she can attack within range.
• Catastrophic Spell (+6, Limited Use): The gun witch can charge a bullet with massive explosive energy. Instead of targeting a creature with the attack, she targets a point within her firearm’s maximum range, then rolls a single attack roll and compares it to the ACs of all other creatures within 1,200 feet of that point (even creatures behind cover; treat this effect as a spread for these purposes). She does not take penalties for attacking at multiple range increments with this effect, nor does she suffer from miss chances. She uses the same damage roll for each creature hit with the explosion.
• Concussive Spell (+2, Limited Use): When the gun witch hits with a firearm attack that deals sonic damage, she can inflict the penalty from the Concussive Spell feat to the target for 1 round.
• Consecrate Spell (+2): The gun witch automatically confirms critical hits with firearms against evil creatures and creatures with the evil subtype.
• Disruptive Spell (+1, Limited Use): When the gun witch hits with a firearm attack, she can inflict the effects of the Disruptive Spell feat on the target for 1 round. The concentration check DC prompted by this effect is equal to 10 + 1/2 the gun witch’s class level + the gun witch’s Wisdom modifier + the level of the spell being cast.
• Ectoplasmic Spell (+1): The gun witch’s firearms are treated as having the ghost touch weapon special ability.
• Empower Spell (+2): When making a full attack this round, the gun witch can make one extra attack with a firearm at her full base attack bonus. This does not stack with haste and similar effects.
• Enlarge Spell (+1): The gun witch halves the penalties for making firearm attacks at more than one range increment.
• Fearsome Spell (+2, Limited Use): When the gun witch hits with a firearm attack, the target becomes shaken for 1 round (no save). This effect does not stack with itself or other fear effects to create a stronger fear condition.
• Flaring Spell (+1): When the gun witch hits a creature with a bullet that deals electricity or fire damage, that creature becomes dazzled for 1 minute.
• Heighten Spell (+X): The gun witch gains a +X bonus on attack rolls with firearms.
• Invocation of Society (+0): Half the damage the gun witch deals with firearms is City damage. This effect can only be used within a settlement of Small Town size or larger.
• Maximize Spell (+3): The gun witch automatically confirms critical hits with firearms.
• Merciful Spell (+0): The gun witch’s firearm attacks deal nonlethal damage (including any additional damage they might gain from other abilities).
• Persistent Spell (+2, Limited Use): When the gun witch’s otherwise successful firearm attack is negated by an ability, it instead hits the target normally. This effect can only bypass one ability per attack (such as the Smash from the Air feat or a martial counter), and only functions if the attack would have otherwise hit.
• Reach Spell (+1/2/3): The gun witch treats her firearm targets as being 1, 2, or 3 (depending on the metamagic adjustment used) range increments closer for the purposes of determining the penalty from range increments (but not for determining whether or not an attack is made against touch AC).
• Rime Spell (+1, Limited Use): When the gun witch hits with a firearm attack that deals cold damage, can cause the target to become entangled for 1 round.
• Scarring Spell (+1, Limited Use): When the gun witch hits with a firearm attack, she can choose to deal no damage and instead inflict the penalties of the Scarring Spell feat to the target.
• Seeking Spell (+2): The gun witch’s firearms are treated as having the seeking weapon special ability.
• Sickening Spell (+2, Limited Use): When the gun witch hits with a firearm attack, the target becomes sickened for 1 round (no save).
• Silent Spell (+1): The gun witch’s firearm attacks make no noise.
• Snuffing Spell (+2, Limited Use): When the gun witch hits with a firearm attack, she snuffs out all non-magical light sources carried by the target.
• Thundering Spell (+1, Limited Use): When the gun witch hits with a firearm attack that deals sonic damage, she can cause the target to become deafened for 1 round.
• Toppling Spell (+1, Limited Use): When the gun witch hits with a firearm attack, she can make a trip attempt against the target as if she had damaged them with a Toppling Spell.

Nova Spell

The total number of levels that a gun witch can apply to her nova spells increases by 1 at 4th level and every three levels thereafter (+1 at 4th level, +2 at 7th level, +3 at 10th level, +4 at 13th level, +5 at 16th level, and +6 at 19th level), rather than the normal progression. This ability alters nova spell.

Bonus Feats

A gun witch can choose combat feats in addition to item creation and metamagic feats when she gains a spellburst savant bonus feat. This ability alters bonus feats, but does not cause the gun witch archetype to be incompatible with other archetypes that alter or replace the bonus feats class feature.

Mage-Piercing Rounds (Su)

Starting at 7th level, when a gun witch’s attack with a firearm would be blocked or otherwise caused to miss by the effect of a spell, spell-like ability, power, or psi-like ability, she can expend a 2nd-level or higher gun witch spell slot as an immediate action to attempt to dispel the effect, as if she had used a targeted dispel magic spell against it (regardless of the distance between her and the effect). Her caster level for this ability is equal to her gun witch caster level. If the effect in question granted an AC bonus, compare the gun witch’s attack against the target’s new AC. If it granted a miss chance, resolve the attack as if the attack had not been affected by it.

Emergency force sphere, wall of force, wind wall, and similar barriers can be dispelled with this ability; if the gun witch is successful, her attack continues through the now-nonexistent barrier towards her target. However, it does not work on effects that target or disable the gun witch herself (such as a penalty on attack rolls from a condition).

At 13th level, a gun witch can use this ability against magic armor and shields worn or wielded by the target, suppressing their effects as normal on a successful dispel check.

At 18th level, a gun witch can activate this ability as a free action (even if it isn’t her turn), rather than an immediate action. She may only use this ability once for any given attack.

A gun witch is entitled to a Knowledge (arcana) or Spellcraft check to identify an effect that blocked her attack (if one exists). The GM should roll this check secretly, then inform the gun witch of the effect’s existence if it succeeds, so she can decide whether or not to use this ability.

This ability replaces nova counter.

Supernova Shot (Su)

At 8th level, a gun witch gains the ability to charge a single shot with the power of a nova spell. As part of this ability, she casts a single spellburst savant spell she has prepared, as a nova spell.

This spell must be one that affects an area, and she must be wielding a firearm to use this ability.

A spell cast in this way uses its standard casting time and the spellburst savant shoots her firearm once as part of the casting. She can generate and load an elemental bullet as if by her shooting star cartridges class feature for this attack, if she wishes, and her firearm cannot misfire when taking the shot.

If the gun witch’s attack hits, the spell takes effect, centering its area on the attack’s target. This ability allows the gun witch to use her gun’s range rather than the spell’s range. If her attack misses, the spell is wasted.

If the gun witch uses this ability with a firearm that attacks an area (such as a blunderbuss), the spell instead affects the area of the firearm attack, rather than its normal area (even if it is smaller or larger than the spell would normally be).

This ability replaces the bonus feat gained at 8th level.