Iron Kingdoms - Gun Mage.pdf - Iron kingdoms and War Machine - lcrpg

The Gun Mage

A new class for the Iron Kingdoms ™ d20 RPG setting

By Brian Gute with Brett Huffman

The Fraternal Order? Hah! Don’t get me started. Those wankers think they know everything what there is ta know about

magic. Well, let me tell ya, me mucker, there’s a thing or three those ponces don’t know…only they’re not smart enough ta see it.

Always faffin’ about with musty old tomes, they just don’t get it. Magic is here and now. It’s not about the past, it’s about action

and change, but some of ‘em just can’t see past the spectacles on the ends o’ their noses. Ya don’t need books, ya don’t need

highfalutin’ sigils and passwords and handshakes and all that cack. Magic’s everywhere, ya just need ta feel it, shape it, and

make it do what ya want.

When I was a wee lad, me pappy showed me ‘is pistol. It warn’t nothin’ fancy, but it was ‘is and ‘e was proud of it. And then ‘e let

me touch it, and it sent chills through me. I didn’t know what it was about that pistol, but I knew that someday I had to have

one. I snuck glances at it whenever I could, and snuck in and touched it when ‘e warn’t around. The day ‘e finally let me shoot

it…well, it was like somebody’d done lifted a veil from over me eyes and I was seeing fer the first time. It did somethin’ ta me and

I knew, I just knew, how ta make that pistol do…more.

When ‘e let me fire another shot, I just sorta pushed when I pulled on the trigger. Not like with me arms or fingers, but with

me…soul. And flames, like nothin’ I’d ever seen before shot outta that pistol. Well, a course ‘e’d never let me touch it again, but I

‘ad to ‘ave it. So I lit out the next night, stole it right from under ‘is nose and I ain’t never looked back again. Me poor ole pappy,

‘e just didn’t understand it any better then those mucky-mucks of the Fraternal Order. A pistol and soul, that’s what it takes to

make magic.

—Roderick Bannon, gun mage, Five Fingers

Description

Gun mages are wild cards, their magic

comes in fits-and-starts, and few truly

understand the strange bond they form with

their pistols. Like sorcerers, gun mages seem

to be born with this talent, but it is one that

requires intense training and practice. Due

to their strong desire to wield pistols and

their hours of training with them, their

magic is more limited than that of the

sorcerer or wizard. However, they are far

better combatants, though their emphasis

on the pistol has limited their knowledge of

other weapons.

Almost all of them have been exposed to

pistols during their childhood and have

formed a strange predilection for the costly

weapons. Instinctively, they begin to

scratch mystic runes into the pistol grip and

along the metal frame and barrel, mystically

reinforcing the pistol for use with their

arcane talent. Through hours of intense

mental focus and training, they form a

strange kinship with the pistol, developing

their own unique, arcane magic that incorporates this firearm. The process by which the gun mage

channels magical energy through the pistol becomes obvious to this gifted individual, and gun mages have

The Gun Mage • A new class for the Iron Kingdoms™ d20 RPG setting

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a hard time understanding why others find this idea and practice so completely foreign. As the young gun

mage grows and develops, through constant practice he learns the limitations of simple steel and comes to

understand how to reinforce the metal to withstand potent arcane energies. Through this training and

dedication, the pistol becomes an extension of the man.

Many gun mages are loners, misunderstood or feared for the strange powers that they manifest. And this

tendency, coupled with the free-spirited nature of many gun mages, leads them into trouble more often

than not. Some become little more than hired guns or brigands, but others continue to push and develop

their talents. And if they are lucky they find their way, or find someone to take them, to one of the new

military orders that have begun to recruit and train these individuals.

Gun mages are most at home amongst other free-spirited folk. Scholars and bookish sorts tend to be too

stuffy for the gun mage’s liking, and they regularly find themselves at odds with more lawfully minded

persons, such as clerics of lawful deities, paladins, and monks. Wizards, in particular, tend to look

condescendingly on gun mages. They have been heard to say that the gun mage’s reliance on a physical

weapon is a crutch and that they are simply crippled sorcerers, forever in need of a physical focus in order

to manifest their powers. Gun mages, in turn, have been heard to say that their arcane fellows are simply

jealous of their abilities and their intuitive knack for magic.

Adventurers: Many gun mages adventure to test their skill and abilities, for only through constant

training and trial-and-error can one expand his skills and develop the mental focus necessary for this

demanding form of wizardry. They also adventure for profit. Many of them long to feel the cold, weighty

reassurance of the grip of a magelock pistol, for the odd steel of these weapons is well-suited to their form

of magic and are able to withstand greater arcane forces than common steel.

Alignment: Gun mages tend to be free spirits. Their magic is a talent, a passion. It is not the bookish

training common to the wizard orders, or even the intuitive art of the sorcerer. It requires focus and

intense training, but also a quickness of mind and sureness of purpose that only comes from complete

confidence in one’s ability. They tend to be less rigidly ordered and far more chaotic than their arcane

brethren.

Gun Mages in the Iron Kingdoms

Gun mages are a fairly new breed in western Immoren. They are folk gifted—or cursed—with the power of

sorcery and a strange affinity for pistols. Thus far, gun mages have primarily been seen in Cygnar and Llael,

and the folk of these countries seem to take most easily to this strange art, but it’s only a matter of time

before Khadoran gun mages are seen strutting along the streets of Korsk.

It is most likely that they have sprung up in Cygnar and Llael due to the preference of many of the people

of these nations for pistols. In particular, known gun mages tend to be of Rynnish, Thurian, and Umbrean

stock. These wild young men and women generally seek to make their own way in the world, without

relying on others. While dwarven and elven gun mages very likely exist, none have been recognized as such

within the human kingdoms. Of the other races, only gobbers are likely to show any inclination for this

odd form of sorcery.

Game Rule Information

Abilities: Charisma determines how powerful a spell a gun mage can cast, how many spells the gun mage

can cast per day, and how hard those spells are to resist. To cast a spell, a gun mage must have a Charisma

score of 10 + spell’s level. A gun mage gets bonus spells based on Charisma. The Difficulty Class of a saving

throw against a gun mage’s spell is 10 + the spell’s level + the gun mage’s Charisma modifier. Charisma and

Intelligence are both important for many of the gun mage’s class skills (see below).

Alignment: Any.

Hit Die: d6.

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Class Skills

The gun mage’s class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are Bluff (Cha), Climb (Str), Concentration

(Con), Craft (Int), Craft (small arms) (Int), Intimidate (Cha), Jump (Str), Knowledge (arcana) (Int),

Listen (Wis), Perform (Dex), Profession (Wis), Spellcraft (Int), Spot (Wis), and Swim (Str). See the PHB

for skill descriptions.

Skill Points at 1st Level: (2 + Int modifier) x 4.

Skill Points at Each Additional Level: 2 + Int modifier.

Table 1–5: THE GUN MAGE

Level

Base Attack

Bonus

Fort

Save

Ref

Save

Will

Save

Special

Spells per Day

0 1 2 3 4 5 6

Arcane focus, bond with magelock

pistol

2 – – – – – –

Reinforcing runes

3 0 – – – – –

Cast rune bullet

3 1 – – – – –

3 2 0 – – – –

Bonus feat

3 3 1 – – – –

3 3 2 – – – –

3 3 2 0 – – –

+6/+1

3 3 3 1 – – –

+6/+1

3 3 3 2 – – –

+7/+2

Bonus feat

3 3 3 2 0 – –

+8/+3

3 3 3 3 1 – –

+9/+4

3 3 3 3 2 – –

+9/+4

3 3 3 3 2 0 –

+10/+5

4 3 3 3 3 1 –

+11/+6/+1

Bonus feat

4 4 3 3 3 2 –

+12/+7/+2

+10

4 4 4 3 3 2 0

+12/+7/+2

+10

4 4 4 4 3 3 1

+13/+8/+3

+11

4 4 4 4 4 3 2

+14/+9/+4

+11

4 4 4 4 4 4 3

+15/+10/+5

+12

Bonus feat

4 4 4 4 4 4 4

Table 1–6: Gun Mage Known Spells

Spells Known

Level 0 1 2 3 4 5 6

1 4 – – – – – –

2 5 2* – – – – –

3 6 3 – – – – –

4 6 3 2* – – – –

5 6 4 3 – – – –

6 6 4 3 – – – –

7 6 4 4 2* – – –

8 6 4 4 3 – – –

9 6 4 4 3 – – –

10 6 4 4 4 2* – –

11 6 4 4 4 3 – –

12 6 4 4 4 3 – –

13 6 4 4 4 4 2* –

14 6 4 4 4 4 3 –

15 6 4 4 4 4 3 –

16 6 5 4 4 4 4 2*

17 6 5 5 4 4 4 3

18 6 5 5 5 4 4 3

19 6 5 5 5 5 4 4

20 6 5 5 5 5 5 4

*If the gun mage’s Charisma is high enough to grant a bonus spell of this level.

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Class Features

All the following are class features of the gun mage.

Weapon and Armor Proficiency : A gun mage is proficient with all simple weapons. Additionally, a gun

mage is proficient with all pistols. Gun mages are proficient with light armor, but not with any shields.

Arcane Focus: A gun mage is capable of channeling arcane magic through a pistol. With a functioning

pistol, the gun mage always has the arcane focus necessary to cast his spells. He can also make due without

inexpensive material components, though any component worth 100 gp or more must be supplied by the

gun mage.

Additionally, any ray spells cast by the gun mage are focused through the barrel of his pistol, allowing him

to use his pistol ranged attack bonus (and any ensuing bonuses from Weapon Focus or other feats) to

determine the ranged touch attack bonuses for resolving the ray spell. Unfortunately, normal pistols are

not built to withstand the arcane forces channeled in this way by a gun mage. For every two spell levels

cast through the pistol, it loses one point of hardness, rounding up for odd level spells. When the pistol’s

hardness reaches 0 it is destroyed, consumed by the arcane forces channeled through it. A common pistol

has a hardness of 10 and 5 hit points. This damage only applies to ray spells and spells linked to rune

bullets. Magelock pistols are immune to this damage.

Bond with Magelock Pistol: A gun mage is capable of bonding with the strange metal used to create

magelock pistols. Doing so takes a full day and uses up alchemical materials costing 100 gp. The bonded

weapon becomes an extension of the gun mage, and while many gun mages carry a second, third or even

fourth pistol, not all of them can bond to multiple magelock pistols. A gun mage can only bond to a number

of magelock pistols equal to his Charisma ability modifer.

Spells: Gun mages cast arcane spells like sorcerers, but they have their own spell list (provided below).

Gun mages are limited in the number of spells they can cast per day and the number of spells they can learn

according to Table 1–4: The Gun Mage and Table 1–5: Gun Mage Spells Known, respectively. The gun

mage casts these spells without needing to memorize them beforehand or keep a spellbook. The gun

mage’s pistol can substitute as an arcane spell focus for any spell requiring a focus. Gun mages receive

bonus spells for high Charisma, and to cast a spell a gun mage must have a Charisma score at least equal to

10 + the level of the spell. The Difficulty Class for a saving throw against a gun mage's spell is 10 + the

spell's level + the gun mage's Charisma modifier.

Reinforcing Runes: As a gun mage’s power begins to grow, he learns arcane secrets for reinforcing his

pistols to withstand some of the punishment of channeling magical energies, increasing the hardness or hit

points of the pistol. For every 50 gp in materials and one day spent carefully carving runes into a pistol, the

gun mage can increase the pistol’s hardness by 1 point to a maximum hardness of 15. For every 100 gp and

one day’s time, the pistol’s hit points can be increased by 1 point to a maximum of 16. These reinforcing

runes stack with the bonuses to a bonded magelock pistol.

Cast Rune Bullet: At 3rd level, the gun mage learns how to craft special bullets that channel spell energy.

When firing a rune-cast bullet, the gun mage can, as a free action, channel a spell into the bullet. If the

bullet hits its target, it does an additional +1d6 force damage per level of the spell channeled into the bullet.

Cantrips only add +1d3 damage.

In addition, upon reaching 6th level, the gun mage’s rune-cast bullets are treated as having a +1

enhancement bonus when spell levels are channeled into the bullet, allowing it to overcome resistances to

non-magical weapons, as well as dealing the additional damage bonus. This bonus increases by +1 for every

6 levels in the gun mage class; +2 at 12th level, +3 at 18th level.

Casting rune bullets is a very intensive process, requiring molten and powdered metals and meticulous

spellwork. Casting rune bullets requires a properly equipped gunner’s kit and the appropriate skill check

(see Craft [small arms] in Feats & Skills). The material cost, in addition to the standard pistol charge cost,

is 1 gp for each rune-cast bullet, which are regularly lead and gold shavings or dust—indispensable for its

conductive properties. Once the lead is liquefied, the gold is sprinkled into the molten metal and, as the

rounds cool, manifests as flecks. Thereupon the caster etches his signature mark—a runic glyph—with

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gold shavings onto the bullet. This mark acts as the receiving point for the gun mage’s spells, and the flecks

carry the spell throughout the bullet.

Gun mages normally are able to cast and etch 5 bullets per hour, but the cost is exacting and requires

focus. Every hour after the first, a gun mage must make a Concentration check (DC 12). If the check fails,

the gun mage is fatigued and must wait a full day before attempting to cast more bullets. Magnifying

glasses and superior etching tools can lower this DC at the DM’s discretion.

Etching the very precise runes is meticulous, especially difficult on the eyes even under the best lighting. A

bleary eyed gun mage takes a temporary penalty of -1 to all ranged touch attacks per hour spent casting

rune bullets. These points are recovered at a rate of 1 point every 2 hours provided the gun mage is no

longer etching runes.

Bonus Feat: Every five levels, a gun mage gains a bonus feat. These must be chosen from the following list:

any Metamagic feat, Combat Casting, Combat Loading (Improved Combat Loading), Dodge (Mobility),

Improved Initiative, Point Blank Shot (Far Shot, Improved Precise Shot, Precise Shot, Rapid Shot, Shot on

the Run), Quick Draw, Skill Focus (Craft [small arms]), Spell Focus (Greater Spell Focus), Spell

Penetration (Greater Spell Penetration), Weapon Focus (pistol).

The Gun Mage’s Bonded Magelock Pistol

While the gun mage is capable of many spectacular feats with any firearm, he is most impressive when he

holds a bonded magelock pistol in his hand. This is a very special sort of firearm. Every budding gun mage

seeks to possess at least one of these weapons. The magelock is of dwarven make, created from rare metals

in a casting process refined by elite Rhulic craftsmen and have properties attuned to, for lack of a better

term among the dwarves, “the haphazard sorceries of manfolk.” Gun mages who have polished their

magical abilities are adept at weaving spells into and through these weapons for an assortment of fantastic

effects, and once a gun mage has bonded with a magelock, it is as if the weapon becomes a physical

extension of its master.

As the master’s levels in the gun mage class increase, the magelock pistol also increases in power. However,

levels of sorcerer, wizard, warcaster, or any other arcane spellcasting class do not stack for purposes of

determining the master’s level unless the class specifically states that it does stack for determining levels

for a bonded magelock pistol.

If the bonded pistol is destroyed, the master must attempt a Fortitude saving throw (DC 15). If the saving

throw fails, the master loses 200 experience points per class level. A successful saving throw reduces the

loss to half of that amount. However, a master's experience point total can never go below zero as the

result of the destruction of a bonded pistol.

Table 1–7: Bonded Magelock Pistol Special Abilities

Gun Mage

Level

Hardness

Hit

Points

Special

1-2

Alertness, spell link

3-4

Ranged touch

5-6

Touch

7-8

Sighting link

9-10

+10

Call pistol

11-12

+12

13-14

+14

Scry

15-16

+16

17-18

+18

19-20

+10

+20

Hardness: As a gun mage increases in level, his bonded magelock pistol becomes more durable. A standard

magelock pistol begins with a hardness of 10; this increases by +1 for every two levels of the pistol’s master.

The Gun Mage • A new class for the Iron Kingdoms™ d20 RPG setting

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