D&D 4E New 4E Class: Gunner?

[Filcher]

The GSL says that gunslingers are not D&D. Didn't you get the memo?

Personal tastes aside, a "Split the Tree" power would work for a gunslinger w/ 2 pistols.

Perhaps as the PC went up in power, the multiple shot thing could increase in power. (Though who the heck knows given we seem to know nothing certain about 2 weapon combat in 4E.)

 

[malraux]

"Split the Tree" becomes "Feather the Hammer".

 

[TwinBahamut]

Aside from the fact that FFXII's storyline doesn't seem to occur at the same time as the War of the Lions, Balthier done up in FFT-style art is awesome.

Also, there were guns in FFT, so it's not like his appearance breaks the versimilitude of the setting.

You misunderstand me. I dislike Balthier in FFT not so much because I hate Balthier or thing guns are out of place in FFT, but rather because I hate FFXII and think it is a game which completely wrecks the great unique identity of Ivalice. FFXII tries to replace FFT's Ivalice, a great setting based on a grim setting based on the terrible ages of real world decades-long war, civil unrest, and religious intolerance on a backdrop of manipulative forgotten evil and the terrible, unknowable might of "the Dark", with a poorly-designed setting that plays out like a cheap imitation of Star Wars. Not to mention FFXII is such a boring and poorly plotted out game... It just annoys me that they are trying to portray FFT, one of the best videogame tactical RPGs of all time, as a kind of tag-along game for one of the most spectacular failures of a videogame ever.

Urg, sorry. I will stop ranting now. I promise.

Anyways, I think this whole discussion just shows that guns are not all that uncommon in fantasy anymore, and I think adding guns to D&D would not be a big problem. That said, I don't think renaming a Ranger as a Gunner is necessary. Just say that he is a Ranger who uses a gun, and you get the exact same effect without any problem. I never saw the need to limit guns to dedicated Gunner classes.

 

[MaelStorm]

That is so anime!

 

[cr0m]

"Split the Tree" becomes "Feather the Hammer".

I like!

 

[Nightson]

Calling the ability 'Ricochet' would probably make it easier to swallow.

 

[RandomCitizenX]

I like the concept of a gunslinger, and this one does seem like a good start, even though it is very similar to the ranger. May want to give it something other than Hunter's Quarry to make it stand out (even if you keep it with the same exploits)

 

[Dragon Vindaloo]

A gun using class would be a fantastic addition to the D&D game IMO.

 

[KidSnide]

It doesn't have to be, but it sure is for me. Guns in D&D leave me absolutely cold.

I think I’ll disagree with the esteemed PirateCat on this point, but my D&D games tend more towards nation-states and colonial policy than delving for treasure and experience. In any case, I strongly suspect that guns (at least muskets) are better modeled with crossbow mechanics. It is hard to ignore the fact that loading a gun is a big deal, whereas nocking an arrow is a pretty ignorable event (except maybe in GURPS).

In my mind the real question is whether or not a crossbow-based ranger is a viable character. I hope so, because dwarf rangers (err… “wayfinders”) are awesome and I can’t think of a self-respecting dwarf that uses a crossless-bow. If a crossbow ranger is viable, then a gun-ranger is a trivial conversion. If not, I think we’ll be revisiting this class in June.

 

[Archives]

Thanks everybody for commenting!

This really is just the ranger class minus a few typos. I just thought it would be easy to give a ranger a gun and change his name. Mourn is right though. Its not needed to create a new class or rehash the ranger.

However if a few more minor changes where implemented, such as changes to class features, it might be nesseccary to change the name.

I enjoyed the idea for comparing crossbows to firearms too. At least they seem to have more in common as far as armor penetration, bolt production, cost and reload time.

Again thank you for all the replies to a silly post. I hope this has at least given some folks new ideas or maybe just solidified old ones.

Good luck!