The Hex Gunner Bundle

Times are tough, so we at the Flying Pincushion will help where we can by providing bundles.

Here's a link to what we are calling the hex gunner bundle which includes our witch and gunslinger books!

http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/product/132924/The-Hex-Gunner-Bundle-BUNDLE

Behind the Scenes: TFPC and Friends

 By Richard Litzkow

What makes a kickstarter successful, is it the idea being pitched, the person or team behind the idea, or some combination of both?

I got to wondering about this as I watched the Potato Salad kickstarter reach 11 days left having raised $61k. It seemed remarkable that this kickstarter; created as a joke, could raise so much money. But other kickstarters like Non-Player Cards with much longer term use only just having reached 60% of it’s target goal.

I stumbled onto the Non-Player Cards kickstarter by accident while searching the RPG section of kickstarter. As a game master by day and developer for The Flying Pincushion by night i’m always on the hunt for tools that enhance my ability to provide immersive, detailed games for my players. This, of course, also helps inspire my writing. I’m used to using tables to find random personality traits, but a kickstarter that promised to bundle decks of cards into categories like Name, Profession, Personality, Traits and so on sounded fascinating. With one draw from each deck a unique NPC for any occasion can emerge ready for use in any fantasy setting.

But I was wary, i’ve backed RPG kickstarters before and for all the love poured into them by their creators, many fall to pieces when exposed to the reality of deadlines and logistics. I’ve backed indie RPG bundles by auteur developers that i’ve had to pay for postage twice for and still not received the full pledge, i’ve backed other games where i’ve worked with artists to have scenes drawn from my games - but never seen more than the finished pdf, there have been RPGs i’ve backed by veterans of the industry that due to bad luck have fallen through and ruined their creator’s lives. Kickstarter is harsh, the products that make it through do so on the strength of their creator’s planning and preparation.

The only way to find out whether the creators of the Non-Player Cards kickstarter had the wherewithal to see the project to completion was to look for transparency. So I sent Andreas Walters the project lead of Non-Player Cards a message and asked a few questions.

I wanted to know what sort of team he commanded, the sort of professional skills he was bringing to the table and what plans he had for logistics if the project saw fruition.

Andreas was kind enough to answer my questions; as it turns out he works by day in local government for the San Francisco Transportation Agency, specifically on accounts and planning. A job he explains that is one part cat herding to several parts logistics and systems maintenance.

But he stresses, that he is also a gamer, specifically a GM who loves D&D and still reminisces about 3.5. He explained that he prefers to run intricate games, heavy on plot and character with unexpected twists added liberally for good measure. The idea for a card based system to create quick NPCs came to friend and him whilst they were plotting out a new set of tables, and after much discussion and planning they decided that the idea was worth pitching to the public - Non-Player Cards.

He hopes that the project will, if it gets it’s funding, see the light of day and be available to order online, as well as be available to retailers down the track. But the funding goal is to establish the groundwork, create the product and manufacture it small scale before expanding it.

When the group did the budget for the kickstarter they investigated closely the process of printing and shipping as well as the associated costs. A professional skill, Andreas informs me, is key to his real life job.

This is frankly the sort of thing I want to hear from a kickstarter creator, it’s not enough that they have a love of their project, but that they have the business skills to plan ahead. It also doesn’t hurt to be willing to engage in discussion with members of the public who are on the fence about backing the project.

While only time will tell how the Non-Player Cards project turns out, they have my money and support. If you think the project is worth investigating I suggest looking it up here https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/metalweavedesigns/non-player-cards-npc-a-card-based-npc-generator

From the Vault: From our cold dead hands

Forward:

Presented here is an alternate rules system for firearms that address some of the more common gripes with the Gunslinger class. The leadership here at Flying Pincushion Games acknowledge that there is some controversy with the rules particularly the “touch AC” rule. Some of us are of the opinion that it ain’t broken, so we did not include it in Into the Breach Gunslinger.

That said, the rules here are carefully balanced and well executed. Our editor Taylor Hubler did a fine job and we believe these rules deserve consideration, particularly if your GM doesn’t allow the normal rules and as a player you would like to stick to your guns.

To put it bluntly from this editor magic still wins...

-Frank Gori, Creative Director of Flying Pincushion Games

Alternative Firearm Rules

By: Taylor Hubler

Not everyone believes the firearm rules in Pathfinder are balanced, and there is some evidence that this is true. For example, touch attack armor class doesn’t scale in level while the base attack bonus does, and there are some issues with action economy. As a result there are some people looking for alternative rules, which we are providing here.

The following places firearms at about the same level as other ranged weapons. The bow is still the king of the full attack, but firearms should out perform them as single shot weapons. This is going to be especially true once the dead shot deed is available. There are wide variety of suggested changes to the rules, but they don’t need to be taken as a whole. GMs should feel free to pick and choose which alternative rules to use with their game.

Firearm Rules

Firearms work differently from other ranged projectile weapons—they instead use the following rules.

Firearm Proficiency: Those not proficient with firearms only have a -2 penalty to attack with firearms but take twice as long to reload them. If they reload a firearm, the misfire value increases by 4.

Capacity: This works as laid out in the original rules with one exception. If an early firearm has multiple barrels it takes an attack action to fire each one individually. Advanced firearms that have multiple barrels that can be fired together will say so in their individual weapon descriptions.

Range and Penetration: Defenses, whether manufactured or natural, provides less of a protection against the force of a bullet at short range.

Early Firearms: Those proficient with early firearms treat range increments differently from normal. The first range increment for a one handed firearm gains a +2 to attack, while a two-handed gains a +4, with a cumulative –2 penalty for each full-range increment after that. Thus the second increment for a one handed would have no bonus to attack, the third a -2 penalty, and so on. Early firearms have a maximum range of 5 increments.

Advanced Firearms: Those proficient with advanced firearms treat range increments differently from normal. In the first range increment a one handed firearm gains a +4 to attack, while a two-handed firearm gains a +6, with a cumulative –2 penalty for each full-range increment after that. Thus the second for a one handed would have a +2 bonus to attack, the third no bonus, and so on. Advanced firearms have a maximum range of 10 increments.

Loading a Firearm: The basics here are the same as the rules already established.

Early Firearms: Early firearms are muzzle-loaded, requiring bullets or pellets and black powder to be rammed down the muzzle. If an early firearm has multiple barrels, each barrel must be loaded separately. It is a standard action to load each barrel of a one-handed early firearm and a full-round action to load each barrel of a two-handed early firearm. It takes three full-round actions by one person to load a siege firearm. This can be reduced to two full-round actions if more than one person is loading the cannon.

Fire while Prone: This is the same as established in the rules with the exception that you gain a +2 circumstance bonus to ranged attacks with a firearm. (Crossbows should probably also gain this bonus.)

Criticals: Change firearm critical ranges/multipliers to 19-20/x3.

Alchemical Cartridges: The the change in reload time would have the move action changed to a

swift action.

Double Barreled Pistols and Muskets: For these early firearms, it takes an attack action to fire each barrel. The barrels cannot be fired together in the same shot.

Dead Shot Deed(I suggest making this into a feat that works in the following way.)
With steady aim and a keen eye you are able to make every shot count.

Prerequisite: grit class feature or the Amateur Gunslinger feat, Point Blank Shot, base attack bonus +7.

Benefit: At 7th level, as a standard action, you can take careful aim and pool all of your attacks potential into a single, deadly shot. When you do this, you shoot the firearm at a single target, but make as many attack rolls as you can, based on your base attack bonus plus any extra attacks you gain from feats, spells, or abilities. You make the attack rolls in order from highest bonus to lowest, as if you were making a full attack. If any of the attack rolls hit the target, your single attack is considered to have hit. For each additional successful attack roll beyond the first, you increase the damage of the shot by the base damage dice of the firearm. For instance, if a 7th-level gunslinger firing a musket hits with both attacks, she does 2d12 points of damage with the shot, instead of 1d12 points of damage, before adding any damage modifiers. Precision damage and extra damage from weapon special abilities (such as flaming) are added with damage modifiers and are not increased by this deed. If one or more rolls are critical threats, you confirm the critical once using your highest base attack bonus –5. For each critical threat beyond the first, you reduce this penalty by 1 (to a maximum of 0). You only misfire on a dead shot if all the attack rolls are misfires. You cannot perform this deed with a blunderbuss or other scatter weapon when attacking creatures in a cone. You must spend 1 grit point to perform this deed.

Improved Dead Shot Deed

With greater concentration you are able to really make your shots count, hitting your target exactly where you need to.

Prerequisite: Dead Shot Deed feat, base attack bonus +12

Benefit: When you use the dead shot deed you can spend more grit to multiply the damage modifier by the number of successful hits with this deed. The cost to use Dead Shot increases to 2 when it is used in this way.

Greater Dead Shot Deed

You are a master of the single shot, using impressive aim to hit the most damaging locations of your target.

Prerequisite: Improved Dead Shot Deed feat, base attack bonus +17

Benefit: When you use the dead shot deed you can increase the grit cost to multiply precision damage and extra damage from weapon qualities by the number of successful attacks. The grit costs to use Dead Shot increases to 4 when it is used this way.

Far Reaching Sight

Instead of having the attacks resolve against touch attacks AC, if you use a full-round action to attack with the dead shot deed you gain a +2 bonus to each attack and a +4 bonus to damage for each success.

Questions about Class: The Gunslinger

Image by Frederic Remington

Welcome back readers! Here is another entry in our Questions about Class series, this time focusing on the Gunslinger. As you may (or may not) know, Flying Pincushion Games has released the next book, Into the Breach: The Gunslinger so we thought it was a good time that I, Kiel Howell, sit down with fellow Pincushioneer Jason Linker to talk about the class.

KH: First of all, thank you for taking the time to sit down and answer these questions!

JL: Happy to help, as always.

KH: Can you give the readers a little about yourself and your role at The Flying Pincushion?

JL: I’m the balance and mechanics editor, I write when ideas strike me, and I was the lead developer for our gunslinger book. I’m also a husband, father, and have some shiney degrees but that’s boring.

KH: It’s time to get to the tough stuff. The Gunslinger. I’m not sure there’s a more heated debate than guns and fantasy...except maybe the Eastern vs. Western thing. What is this class and what is your stance on guns in the fantasy world?

JL: The gunslinger is the consummate firearms professional with a big splash of spaghetti western tossed in, anachronistic though it may be. I’m not at all hacked off about guns in my fantasy like some people are. Looking at it from a societal point of view, it had to happen. Certainly in a society with magic scientific research is going to be stifled somewhat but it won’t be eliminated. There are bound to be those who don’t have access to magic because of geography (mana wastes and other magical dead zones) or because of a lack of aptitude but that doesn’t mean that they’ll be stupid or lack initiative or skill. Guns are bound to be created even in a fantasy world for the same reasons there were created in our world.

KH: Why does it require a new class to make this work? Would it have been better to make stats for guns and an archetype of the fighter (complete with grit feature) rather than a whole new class?

JL: That’s like saying why have a ranger when you can make a fighter archetype with a pet dog. But it is interesting because gunslinger was almost an alternate class of fighter. For those that weren’t around during playtesting, that’s how it was first presented. There’s a certain point when you’ve replaced so many abilities with an archetype that it’s a new class and a certain point where you’ve replaced so much that you can’t even call it an alternate class anymore. I think this is one of those instances.

KH: What exactly is the grit pool?

JL: The grit pool is a recharging bunch of points that let you do some of the swankiest things in the class. The fact that they recharge when you kill an enemy or score a critical hit means that you don’t have to hoard them all day but you don’t usually have so many that you can nova every fight either. Pool mechanics are a good limiter of powerful abilities and the number of points you get or how they do or do not come back helps to balance particularly powerful abilities.

KH: Deeds are interesting, and I can see what they are. As basically extraordinary abilities...aren’t these a little limiting in the types of Gunslinger characters there can be?

JL: I don’t disagree with that. Mostly we followed Paizo’s lead here and stuck with extraordinary abilities, especially in deeds but just because you’re shooting a gun doesn’t mean you shouldn’t have supernatural or spell-like abilities. The black powder knight has lay on hands and divine bond like a paladin. The wyrd hunter gets some supernatural deeds and two of our three prestige classes are designed to blend spell casting and guns.

KH: I’ll ask the dreaded question, what are your thoughts about targeting touch AC? Would you change it?

JL: It’s not an easy call. Guns are different from bows in fairly fundamental ways and deserve to have their own mechanic. I’m not 100% certain that this mechanic is the best one but I also couldn’t point to another that makes me happy.

KH: I know a lot of folks point to armors as being an important thing in stopping bullets…

JL: I did a substantial amount of research on the force and penetrative power of early guns back when we started this book. Period armor generally maxed out around 2mm thick and half that in some areas of the plate. It couldn’t be thicker without increasing the weight beyond what was comfortable (or at least as comfortable as plate ever got). Wheellock, flintlock, and matchlock weapons all were capable of penetrating 2mm or more of steel from as far away as 30 meters or nearly 100 feet. Some were even capable of piercing 2mm of steel from 100 meters away. Early bulletproof armor from the mid-1600 had to be made from two or more layers of steel.

KH: Would you have added more types of firearms, instead of just having simple and advanced? Aren’t there some in-between steps?

JL: Why didn’t you pitch that idea before we went to print? There are definitely tables out there that accept guns but only the early ones. The number of early guns and the lack of diversity of tech level doesn’t allow for a lot of advancement.

KH: The class in and of itself seems pretty simple. Not very many class abilities aside from deeds, but they are a full BAB progression. Does full BAB make sense for this class?

JL: It garners you more iterative attacks and when you strike against touch AC, even a small bonus gets you dividends. But it’s not a requirement by any stretch. Our alternate class the gungineer has 3/4 BAB and classes like bard and inquisitor can rock a gun pretty nicely, too.

KH: Back to the guns themselves. The Gunslinger starts with a battered gun...but why? What is that supposed to represent?

JL: Balance. It’s so that you don’t start with something you can sell for a bundle of loot. Sort of silly way to go about it but I guess all level 1 characters should be a bit battered at that point.

KH: You have some metallurgic experience in real life, right? How does the class and treatment of guns in Pathfinder sit with you overall?

JL: Not a bit of experience but you don’t get a masters degree without picking up some tricks on good researching. Guns in Pathfinder are not meant to make a simulationist happy. Early firearms were complicated and finicky and frequently quite inaccurate. But that’s not terribly fun. Who wants to hire a guy to stand next to you with a parasol in case it rains? Who wants to spend 50% of their turns missing completely?

If I was going to make any changes I’d probably assess a penalty on shots after the first one to represent recoil and make bullets and gunpowder cheaper.

KH: Have you ever had to ban or have you seen the class banned at a table?

JL: We don’t ban the class at our table but I know it gets banned by other folks. Some people are allergic to peanuts. You can’t blame them for not wanting peanut butter in their chocolate.

KH: What is your advice for building a successful Gunslinger?

JL: Use one the of archetypes or prestige classes in our book! Seriously, though, I’d say not to trust too much in your d10 hit die and make some point buy available for Constitution. The effective range of your gun is also within the effective range of a severe beating so make sure you can weather it. Spend a fortune on Dexterity since it goes to your attacks and damage, not to mention AC and skills. You can get by with just a 14 in Wisdom in a 20 point buy or even a 12 if you’re being raked over the coals in a 15 point buy. But do be sure to snag a headband when you can. Grit has lots of useful functions and it’s fun to shoot the sword out of someone’s hand with the targeting deed or blast your way through a locked door with Utility Shot.

KH: Thank you for taking the time to have this chat, Jason!

JL: My pleasure, Kiel.


You can find our Gunslinger book for sale at Paizo, and it should be up soon on d20 and DrivethruRPG.

From the Vault: Shank You Very Much Ser......

This was an excellent submission for our very soon to be released Gunslinger Book. I feel this could pair well with say a level or three of the knife master rogue archetype for a particularly fun character. I personally think of this guy.

Somehow, some way this awesome submission which was accepted for the book ended up missing when it went to layout. Only after the meticulous work of our layout guy had already been done did we discover the issue. We decided to give this to you the fans as a teaser. 

The gun can add a very intriguing flavor to fantasy but this is one of two archetypes that lets you play a gunslinger even if there is no gun. I hope you enjoy.

~Frank Gori Creative Director of Flying Pincushion Games.

Shankslinger

By Matt Medeiros

Many would say bringing a knife to a gunfight is a bad idea, some would disagree. These few, lethally dextrous individuals are called shankslingers. Their skills speak for them – any who would draw upon a shankslinger is pincushioned before getting off more than a shot or two.

Deeds

A shankslinger trades the devastation of a single, horrible shot for a torrent of blades. They accomplish this by learning deeds that a typical gunslinger would not, listed below. Each deed states which deed it replaces. If a deed is not replaced, then anything that would affect a gun/shot can instead be used to affect a light throwing weapon (typically a dagger, dart, or shuriken).

Shanksharpen (Ex): At 1st level, the shankslinger can craft an improvised piercing weapon called a “shank” given a minute and something to sharpen. This results in a one-use weapon that deals 1d4+strength modifier damage. In addition, if a shankslinger crafts a dart or dagger, their experience honing edges (and constant attention to their weapons) increases the damage die by 1 step (a 1d4 weapon deals 1d6.) This ability is in effect so long as the shankslinger has at least 1 grit point. This deed replaces Deadeye.

Twinned Hands (Ex): At 1st level, a shankslinger gains the Two-Weapon Fighting, Quickdraw and Rapid Shot feats as bonus feats but only with throwing weapons and so long as the shankslinger has at least 1 grit point. This deed replaces Quick Clear.

Shankslinger Initiative (Ex): At 3rd level, as long as the gunslinger has at least 1 grit point, she gains the following benefits. First, she gains a +2 bonus on initiative check. Furthermore, if she has the Quick Draw feat, her hands are free and unrestrained, and a light, thrown weapon is not hidden, she can draw and throw as a part of the initiative check. This deed replaces Gunslinger Initiative.

Impale (Ex): At 3rd level, the shankslinger's thrown weapons strike with such force that one weapon a round can impale the target, dealing weapon damage every round (including critically multiplied damage). This additional damage is bleed damage. Removing the impaled weapon also deals weapon damage unless a successful Heal check (DC 20) is made. This deed replaces Pistol-Whip.

Trick Throws (Ex): At 3rd level, if the shankslinger has at least 1 grit point, she can perform all of the following trick throws. Each trick throw can be applied to any single attack with a firearm, but the shankslinger must declare the trick throw she is using before making the attack.

• Lob: The shankslinger must have 20 feet of overhead clearance to use this trick. When this trick is used, the shankslinger takes a -2 penalty on their attack roll but the opponent is caught flat-footed and denied any cover that doesn't cover their head.
• To the hilt: The shankslinger can make a ranged disarm attempt as a standard action. This attempt takes a -2 penalty but if the disarm attempt it successful the item is flung back 5 feet plus an additional 5 feet per 5 the target's CMD is beaten by.
• Distracting Throw: The shankslinger can make a ranged attack as a standard action. This attack doesn't deal damage, it only distracts the enemy enough that they are counted as being flanked by the shankslinger from that direction until the shankslinger's next turn.

This deed replaces Utility Shot.

Powerful Projectile (Ex): At 7th level, a shankslinger with at least 1 grit can choose to use Strength instead of Dexterity on attack rolls with thrown weapons. In addition, as a full-round action the shankslinger can throw one well-placed projectile that not only deals double damage dice (as vital strike), the target must also make a Fortitude check (DC 14+1/2 shankslinger's level) or be stunned for the round. The shankslinger must spend 1 grit point to perform this secondary function of this deed. This deed replaces Dead Shot.

Mystic Resonance (Su): At 11th level, a shankslinger can cause thrown weapons to be a magical replica of a similar magical weapon on their person. By spending 1 grit point and designating a throwing weapon on her person, the shankslinger can have all similar throwing weapons have likewise effects (a +1 flaming returning dagger designated by this abilities bestows the +1 flaming, and returning qualities on all other weapons thrown that turn). This only affects weapons thrown, specifically. This deed replaces Expert Loading.

Bouncing Blades (Ex): At 11th level, a shankslinger can have all throwing weapons function as though benefitting from the returning quality so long as she has 1 grit point remaining. A secondary effect to this deed is that a shankslinger's blades can ricochet to a single adjacent enemy before returning at the cost of 2 grit points per round. In addition, this deed allows her to catch and sheath weapons as a free action. This deed replaces Lightning Reload.

Multiplicity (Su): At 15th level, a shankslinger can throw two light throwing weapons with one attack roll. Throwing the first extra weapon can be used so long as 1 grit remains. For each additional thrown weapon on the same attack roll, spend an additional grit point. This deed replaces Menacing Shot.

Shankslinger Shield (Ex): At 19th level, before a shankslinger rolls an attack roll, she can spend 2 grit points to threaten the area within 30 feet of her. She gains the Combat Reflexes feat if she doesn't already have it and may make attacks of opportunity on anyone who approaches or passes through this area. Anyone she successfully hits with an attack of opportunity suffers a -2 penalty on attack and weapon damage rolls against her for that round. This deed replaces Stunning Shot.

Thrown Training (Ex) Starting at 5th level, a shankslinger gains Weapon Training with thrown weapons as per the fighter class feature. They only gain thrown weapon training.


Check out our Into the Breach: The Gunslinger here!