Traditional melee weapons that are outfitted with a gun arm attachment or other trigger mechanism technology that requires ammo is known as Gun Arms. These special weapons enhance the melee capabilities of a weapon with ammo. To use such weapons, one must be proficient with the specific gun arm to use it properly. The Gunsmithing feat treats gun arms as firearms for the purpose of crafting gun arms and ammo for gun arms as well as repairing them.
Feats that affect ranged attacks with firearms affect the firearm but not those with a trigger attack.
Feats and Features: Gun Arms do not count as their separate parts for proficiency, nor for using in class features, feats, or abilities. For example, Weapon Focus (Katana) would not affect a guntana, nor would Weapon Focus (Guntana) affect a katana, nor can a guntana be used for the Samurai’s features that state katana.
Traditional melee weapons that are outfitted with a gun arm attachment or other trigger mechanism technology that requires ammo is known as Gun Arms. These special weapons either enhance the melee capabilities of a weapon with ammo or allow the user to have a melee weapon than can also be used at range when the fights are more spread out. To use such weapons, one must be proficient with the specific gun arm to use it properly. The Gunsmithing feat treats gun arms as firearms for the purpose crafting gun arms and ammo for gun arms as well as repairing them.
Abilities and feats, such as chosen weapon and weapon focus, that increase statistics of a gun arm only increase the melee part of part of a gun arm unless otherwise noted. Feats that affect ranged attacks with firearms effect the firearm but not those with a trigger attack. When enhancing a gun arm, they must be enhanced separately much like a double weapon. Lastly, weapons with the trigger attack special cannot have their firearm part enhanced.
- Capacity: A gun arm’s capacity is the number of shots it can hold at one time. When making a full-attack action, you may fire a gun arm as many times in a round as you have attacks, up to this limit.
- Loading a gun arm: You need at least one hand free to load one-handed and two-handed gun arms. In the case of two-handed gun arms, you hold the weapon in one hand and load it with the other—you only need to hold it in two hands to aim and shoot the gun arm. Loading any gun arm is standard action that provokes attacks of opportunity. The Rapid Reload feat lowers this to a move action. If using a gun arm that already reloads as a move action, such as the standard gunblade or light gunblade, Rapid Reload instead allows you to reload it as a free action.
- Misfires: All gun arms except those with a trigger attack misfire on a natural roll of 1 and that shot misses, even if you would have otherwise hit the target. When a gun arm’s firearm misfires, it gains the broken condition, suffering the normal penalties and its misfire value increases by 4. This broken condition only effects the firearm part of the gun arm.
- Range and Penetration: Gun arm’s firearm’s resolve their attacks against touch AC when the target is within the first five range increments, but this type of attack is not considered a touch attack for the purposes of feats such as Deadly Aim. At higher range increments, the attack resolves normally, including taking the normal cumulative –2 penalty for each full-range increment.
- Rate of Fire: Gun arms all have a rate of fire of 1, meaning they can only be fired once per attack like regular firearms. Some gun arms may have a special case to change their rate of fire.
- Form Switch: Some gun arms can change from its melee form into a firearm form. Changing forms require a standard action that doesn’t provoke attacks of opportunity.
- Trigger Attack: Some gun arms have what is known as a trigger attack. These gun arms fire their firearm as part of the melee attack to deal extra damage instead of firing at range and thus cannot make ranged attacks. A trigger attack works like regular melee attacks but must be declared before doing so and invokes a -2 penalty on the attack roll. Successful melee attacks deal melee damage as normal and includes the gun arm’s firearm damage as part of the attack and consumes a bullet. Missing the attack still discharges the attack and consumes a bullet. Performing a trigger attack does not provoke attacks of opportunity. This extra damage is not multiplied on a critical hit.
- Scatter Weapon Quality: A weapon with the scatter weapon quality can shoot two different types of ammunition. It can fire normal bullets that target one creature, or it can make a scattering shot, attacking all creatures within a cone. When a scatter weapon attacks all creatures within a cone, it makes a separate attack roll against each creature within the cone. Each attack roll takes a –2 penalty, and its attack damage cannot be modified by precision damage or damage-increasing feats such as Vital Strike. Effects that grant concealment, such as fog or smoke, or the blur, vanish, or mirror image spells, do not foil a scatter attack. If any of the attack rolls threaten a critical, confirm the critical for that attack roll alone. A firearm that makes a scatter shot misfires only if all of the attack rolls made misfire. If a scatter weapon explodes on a misfire, it deals triple its damage to all creatures within the misfire radius.
- Inappropriately-Sized Gun Arms: A gun arm that is not suited to the size of its wielder is more difficult for that creature to use. A cumulative –2 penalty applies on attack rolls for each size category of difference between the size of its intended wielder and the size of its actual wielder. If the creature isn’t proficient with the gun arm, a –4 nonproficiency penalty also applies. The measure of how much effort it takes to use a gun arm (whether the gun arm is designated as a small, medium, large, or huge gun arm for a particular wielder) is altered by one step for each size category of difference between the wielder’s size and the size of the creature for which the gun arm was designed. For example, a Small creature would treat a medium gun arm built for a medium creature as a large gun arm. If a gun arm’s designation would be changed to something other than small, medium, large, or huge by this alteration, the creature can’t wield the gun arm at all.
- Gun Arm Ammunition: Ammunition for a gun arms firearm is covered below. Gun arms that deal elemental damage can have the element changed but at a 10 gil increase.
Table: Ammunition Type
| Ammunition Types (Quantity) | Cost | Weight per bullet (lbs) | Weight per amount listed (lbs) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gunblade (Standard) (50) | 20 gil | 0.02 | 1 |
| Gunblade (Assault) (50) | 15 gil | 0.02 | 1 |
| Gunblade (Double) (50) | 15 gil | 0.04 | 2 |
| Gunblade (Light) (50) | 10 gil | 0.02 | 1 |
| Gunblade (Magitek) (50) | 25 gil | 0.06 | 3 |
| Gunaxe Ammo (20) | 20 gil | 0.08 | 1.6 |
| Gunbaghnakh (50) | 15 gil | 0.08 | 4 |
| Gunhammer Ammo (50) | 30 gil | 0.08 | 4 |
| Gunhalberd Ammo (50) | 15 gil | 0.06 | 3 |
| Gunknife Ammo (50) | 10 gil | 0.02 | 1 |
| Gunlance Ammo (50) | 15 gil | 0.11 | 5.5 |
| Gunshield (50) | 15 gil | 0.08 | 4 |
| Guntana (50) | 25 gil | 0.02 | 1 |
Gun Arms
Gun arms are described by a number of statistics, as these weapons are a mix of melee weapons and firearms, there are 3 different tables, one for one handed, and two handed. The firearm tables are part of a single table.
- Damage: The damage the weapon deals on a successful hit.
- Critical: The threat range for a critical hit.
- Damage Type: The type of damage the weapon deals.
- Capacity: The weapon’s magazine capacity and type are given in this column. Ammunition comes in special cartridges fitted specifically for the gun arm.
- Range: The firearm attacks of a gun arm are against the target’s touch AC for the first 5 range increments and have a full 10 range increments.
- Weight: This column gives the weapon’s weight when fully loaded.
- Cost: This is the purchase cost to acquire the weapon.
Table: Gun Arm Weapons (Light)
| Weapon | Cost | Dmg (S) | Dmg (M) | Critical | Type | Weight | Special |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gunblade (Assault) | 900 gil | 1d4 | 1d6 | 19-20/x2 | Slashing | 9 lbs. | Gun Arm, Form-Switch |
| Gunblade (Light) | 475 gil | 1d3 | 1d4 | 19-20/x2 | Piercing and Slashing | 5 lbs. | Gun Arm, Trigger Attack |
| Gunbaghnakh | 430 gil | 1d3 | 1d4 | x3 | Slashing | 6 lbs. | Gun Arm, Blocking, Disarm |
| Gunknife | 310 gil | 1d3 | 1d4 | 18-20/x2 | Piercing and Slashing | 4 lbs. | Gun Arm, Form-Switch |
Table: Gun Arm Weapons (Melee One-Handed)
| Weapon | Cost | Dmg (S) | Dmg (M) | Critical | Type | Weight | Special |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gunblade (Standard) | 550 gil | 1d4 | 1d6 | 19-20/x2 | Slashing | 7 lbs. | Gun Arm, Trigger Attack |
| Gunblade (Magitek) | 675 gil | 1d6 | 1d8 | 19-20/x2 | Slashing | 8 lbs. | Gun Arm |
| Gunshield | 670 gil | — | — | — | — | 40 lbs. | Gun Arm (See Text), Scatter |
Table: Gun Arm Weapons (Melee Two-Handed)
| Weapon | Cost | Dmg (S) | Dmg (M) | Critical | Type | Weight | Special |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gunaxe | 930 gil | 1d8 | 1d10 | x3 | Slashing | 15 lbs. | Gun Arm, Scatter |
| Gunblade (Double) | 760 gil | 1d6/1d6 | 1d8/1d8 | 19-20/x2 | Slashing | 11 lbs. | Gun Arm, Double |
| Gunhammer | 1,020 gil | 1d8 | 1d10 | x3 | Bludgeoning | 38 lbs. | Gun Arm, Trigger Attack |
| Gunhalberd | 920 gil | 1d8 | 1d10 | x3 | Piercing and Slashing | 12 lbs. | Gun Arm, Brace, Trip |
| Gunlance | 850 gil | 2d3 | 2d4 | x3 | Piercing | 10 lbs. | Gun Arm, Reach |
| Guntana | 850 gil | 1d6 | 1d8 | 18-20/x2 | Slashing | 10 lbs. | Gun Arm, Trigger Attack |
Table: Gun Arm Weapons (Trigger Attacks)
| Weapon | Dmg (S) | Dmg (M) | Crit Range | Range Increment | Capacity | Type | Special |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gunblade (Standard) | 1d4 | 1d6 | — | — | 6 cyl. | Fire | Trigger Attack |
| Gunblade (Assault) | 1d4 | 1d6 | 19-20/x2 | 60 ft. | 30 box. | Piercing | Form-Switch |
| Gunblade (Double) | 1d6 | 1d8 | 19-20/x2 | 30 ft. | 15 box. | Piercing | — |
| Gunblade (Light) | 1d3 | 1d4 | 19-20/x2 | — | 6 cyl. | Fire | Trigger Attack |
| Gunblade (Magitek) | 1d8 | 1d10 | 19-20/x2 | 60 ft. | 20 box. | Piercing | — |
| Gunaxe | 1d4 | 1d6 | 19-20/x2 | 20 ft. | 2 int. | Bludgeoning and Piercing | — |
| Gunbaghnakh | 1d3 | 1d4 | 19-20/x2 | 15 ft. | 8 int. | Piercing | Scatter |
| Gunhalberd | 1d6 | 1d8 | 19-20/x2 | 30 ft. | 15 box. | Piercing | — |
| Gunhammer | 1d4 | 1d6 | — | — | 6 cyl. | Fire | Trigger Attack |
| Gunknife | 1d3 | 1d4 | 19-20/x2 | 45 ft. | 6 cyl. | Piercing | Form-Switch |
| Gunlance | 2d3 | 2d4 | 19-20/x2 | 50 ft. | 10 box. | Piercing | — |
| Guntana | 1d4 | 1d6 | — | — | 6 cyl. | Fire | Trigger Attack |
| Gunshield | 2d3 | 2d4 | 19-20/x2 | 20 ft. | 6 int. | Bludgeoning and Piercing | Scatter |
Gun Arm Types
Gunblade (Standard)
The standard gunblade is a sword outfitted with a trigger mechanic at the hilt, usually the hilt itself resembles a revolver, with a long blade attached to the end. This gunblade focuses on the use of elemental cartridges that load at the hilt, and when the trigger is pulled, releases energy from the cartridge within the inner barrel of the blade causing a small explosion at the edge of the blade. This weapon is a combination of sword and revolver, requiring a move action to reload.
Gunblade (Assault)
This gunblade is a short sword with a small trigger mechanism at the hilt, but less unwieldy as the standard gunblade. Its bullets pack more of a punch and fires at range. Though whats remarkable about this gunblade is that it can form switch into an Assault Rifle. This functions as a normal Assault Rifle except the damage and critical threat range remain the same as the gunblade’s and can be fired with one hand even with automatic fire. The melee attack cannot be used while the gunblade is in the assault rifle form. Those who are proficient with Gunblade (Assault) are also proficient with Assault Rifles but not vice versa. However, ones who have proficient with Assault Rifles can use the Assault Rifle form normally.
Gunblade (Double)
This special gun arm is a double blade weapon with a small barrel and trigger attached to the long hilt that connects the two curved blades forming a bow. This weapon can be used normally in melee as a double weapon and utilize the firearm to fire from range. Those proficient with double blades can use this weapon in melee as if proficient with it but is not proficient with the firearm.
Gunblade (Light)
This light gunblade is a small sword with a trigger mechanic at the hilt, usually the hilt itself resembles a revolver, with the short blade attached to the end. This gunblade focuses on the use of elemental cartridges that load at the hilt, and when the trigger is pulled, releases energy from the cartridge within the inner barrel of the blade causing a small explosion at the edge of the blade. This weapon is a combination of a wakizashi and revolver, requiring a move action to reload.
Gunblade (Magitek)
This high-tech gun arm is a long sword with the hilt of a firearm however, the barrel is attached to the outside of the blade instead of inside. This gunblade utilizes powerful magitek bullets to fire at range and is often used by high ranking officers.
Gunaxe
This two-handed gun arm resembles a large axe with the firearm trigger and twin barrels attached to the shaft where axes are normally held. The gunaxe can be held upright to fire the gun arm down range. This weapon is a favorite of pirates. Both barrels can be fired independently as separate attacks, or both can be fired at once as a standard action (the attack action). A double shot that fires bullets is inaccurate, and takes a –4 penalty on both attacks in addition to the kick. A double shot that fires bullets targets only a single creature and increases the damage of each barrel to 2d6 points (Small) or 2d8 points (Medium) for a total of 4d6 or 4d8 points.
Gunbaghnakh
This special gun arm is a gauntlet with large barrel attached to the forearm with a blade attached further on the barrels that curves outward from the wielders arm, almost like a tonfa. While the blade is small and makes for quick strikes with the arm, the firearm however has a short but powerful range. When wielding this weapon the wielder hand is considered free but to use the gun arm either for melee or range the hand must be empty. This weapon is considered a light weapon for the purpose of determining bonuses to two weapon fighting.
Gunknife
This gun arm has a curved handle and a short curved blade. The small, sleek barrel resides on top of the blade. This versatile weapon can form switch into a Pistol. This functions as a normal Pistol. The melee attack cannot be used while the gunblade is in the pistol form. Those who are proficient with Gunknives are also proficient with Pistols but not vice versa. However, ones who have proficiency with Pistols can use the Pistol form normally.
Gunhalberd
This gun arm is a polearm usually resembling a type of halberd that has its barrel along the inside or outside of the shaft leading up to the tip, with the trigger mechanism located in the middle of the shaft. When used to fire at range, the shaft is braced onto the wielder’s shoulder much like a rifle and the spear is used to help aim at targets.
Gunhammer
This large high-tech gun arm is a long shaft with a hammer at the end, the trigger and chamber is based in the middle of the shaft and is fires through the shaft to erupt an explosion along the outside rim of the hammer when swung. This weapon is a combination of hammer and shotgun, requiring a move action to reload.
Gunlance
This gun arm is a long, well-built staff with a large, steel tip on the end. The barrel resides in the tip section, with the trigger mechanism located in the middle of the shaft. When used to fire at range, the shaft is braced onto the wielder’s shoulder much like a rifle and the spear is used to help aim at targets. A gunlance deals double damage when used from the back of a charging mount. While mounted, you can wield a gunlance with one hand.
Gunshield
This large shield is a tower shield outfitted with a firearm at the bottom of the shield. The gun arm itself cannot be used in melee but can be used as a shield. When a ranged attack is made with this shield, the wielder does not lose the AC bonus from the shield. For the purpose of acting as a shield, the gunshield functions exactly as a tower shield. Therefore the penalty from the encumbrance of tower shields apply to the ranged attack of the gunshield. Those proficient with tower shields is proficient with the gunshield as a shield but not with its firearm.
Guntana
This gun arm is a sword noted for their wickedly sharp yet slender, gently curved blades, designed to make graceful hacking strokes capable of severing opponents’ heads and limbs. A trigger mechanic is located at the hilt that fires an elemental cartridge, causing a small explosion at the edge of the blade. Those who are proficient with Guntanas are also proficient with Katanas but not vice versa.
