Wednesday, September 25, 2019

Gunmages in 5e D&D

For better or worse, the idea of the gunmage--a character who uses magic to enhance their skill and deadliness with a firearm--is fairly well established at this point. And yet, partially due to some weird hang-ups in the fanbase I do not fully understand, the archetype hasn't really been explored as a mechanical option at this point.

There are some natural reskinning options: rangers can use their hunter's mark spell to good effect with pistols and rifles; a battle master fighter's superiority dice could be re-flavored as magic that helps them pull of feats of accuracy and trick shots; a kensei monk could focus on the pistol as one of their favored weapons; you could have a warlock who uses a pistol as the implement through which they cast eldrtich blast; hexblade warlocks might be able to work a firearm into their empowered weapon shtick. 

Here's a few house rules I use to expand the "gunmage" options:

Arcane Archer Ranged Weapons

The abilities of the Arcane Archer fighter archetype that apply to arrows, such as Arcane Shot, Magic Arrow, and Curving Shot,  also apply to crossbow bolts and firearm ammunition.

Paladin Ranged Smite

You can use a paladin's Divine Smite feature with ranged weapons, and the archery fighting style is available to paladins.

Warlock Improved Pact Weapon

The Improved Pact Weapon invocation can also conjure hand crossbows and firearms.