Muzzle Roarer (Legendary Gunslinger Archetype)

Those born under a truly bad sign, often marked by physical deformity and wracked with pain of mind, body, and spirit, give themselves over beyond despair to grim, nihilistic abandon in service to an apocalyptic entity of doom and destruction. Such a Great Beast, whatever its nature, may be a sinister and eldritch being, or an unthinking king of disaster and base ruin, yet is the foredestined master over times yet to be and the strange dawns of bleak and cruel tomorrows as creation awaits its devourer. Muzzle roarers herald his advent, and indeed seek to hurry it along with gun in hand, as they hear the great Unmaker’s rage echoed in every cannon-blast and every crying widow, as they carve a morbid path to doomsday.

#### **Alignment and Patron Deity**

A muzzle roarer cannot be lawful or good-aligned, and must choose a patron deity that grants the Destruction domain, or is a demon lord, daemonic horseman of the apocalypse, great old one, or similar malign being of chaotic neutral, neutral evil, or chaotic evil alignment.

#### **Weapon and Armor Proficiency**

A muzzle roarer is proficient with all simple weapons and all firearms. Muzzle roarers often learn the down and dirty skills of back-alley knifing and barroom brawling, and may select one of the following as a bonus feat: Catch Off-Guard, Improved Dirty Trick, Improved Sunder, Improved Unarmed Strike. The muzzle roarer need not meet prerequisites for this feat. This alters weapon and armor proficiency.Skills: A muzzle roarer’s number of skill points per level is reduced by 2. In addition, Acrobatics, Heal, and Knowledge (engineering) are not class skills for a muzzle roarer.

This alters skills.

#### **Unwholesome Aura**

A muzzle roarer has an aura of chaos and evil that can be detected by detect chaos, detect evil, and similar spells as if she were a cleric or paladin of her class level.

#### **Cursed Countenance (Su)**

All those who ride, ravage, hunt, and howl under the baleful eyes of the World-Breaker bear some accursed sign, be it mark, malformation, mutilation, or madness. At 1st level, a muzzle roarer gains a curse as an oracle of equal level. If a benefit of his curse would add spells to his spell list, the muzzle roarer can instead duplicate the effect of any of those spells as spell-like abilities by expending a number of grit points equal to one-half the spell level of the effect (rounding up). She treats her gunslinger level as her caster level for these abilities, using her Wisdom modifier on concentration checks. The save DC for such abilities is equal to 10 + 1/2 her gunslinger level + her Wisdom modifier.

This replaces nimble.

#### **Blasted Clear to Hell (Ex)**

The booming hand-cannons wielded by a muzzle roarer knock men from their feet, flinging their targets through walls, windows and doors like the reaping of a whirlwind, sending both brave and cowardly alike crashing to the ground in a spray of iron, thunder, blood, and splintered glass. At 3rd level, when a muzzle roarer hits an unattended inanimate object with a firearm attack, she can spend 2 grit points as a free action to affect that object as shatter. When she strikes a living creature with a firearm attack, she can spend 2 grit points as a free action to attempt a bull rush combat maneuver against the target (using Dexterity in place of Strength to determine her CMB). If successful, she may immediately spend 1 additional point of grit to attempt a trip combat maneuver in similar fashion against the same opponent.

This replaces the utility shot deed.

#### **Dirty Bastard, Ugly Fighter (Ex)**

There are few so treacherous, desperate, savage and conniving as a muzzle roarer with her back against the wall, stuck in a knock-down, stand-up fight – although a trapped rat, starving dog or rabid coyote might come close. At 4th level, a muzzle roarer may choose any rogue talent or ninja trick for which she qualifies in place of a gun mastery. Any ability so gained requiring ki points may instead be activated by expending an equal number of grit points.

**Special:** A muzzle roarer using the standard gunslinger class may choose any rogue talent or ninja trick in place of a bonus combat feat or grit feat gained at 4th, 8th, 12th, 16th and 20th level.

This alters gun mastery (or bonus feats).

#### **Roar of the Gun (Ex)**

A muzzle roarer’s weapons erupt with a deafening bang with every shot. The Perception penalty to hear her gunshots at a distance is reduced to -1 per 50 feet. Any creature struck by a shot from her firearm is deafened for 1 round (1 minute on a critical hit) unless it succeeds on a Fortitude save (DC 10 + 1/2 her gunslinger level + her Wisdom modifier). The duration from multiple failed saves stacks. In addition, as long as the muzzle roarer has at least 1 grit point, any enemy adjacent to her when she shoots her firearm must save or be deafened for 1 round as well. The muzzle roarer cannot be deafened by her own gunshots.

This deafening sound is highly distracting and frightening, granting the muzzle roarer a +2 circumstance bonus on Intimidate checks made within 1 round of shooting her firearm. This bonus increases by 2 at 5th level and every 5 levels thereafter. A muzzle roarer can expend 1 grit point to make an Intimidate check as a swift action after shooting her firearm.

At 7th level, a muzzle roarer can expend grit when firing her weapon to dispel a magical silence effect (as a targeted dispel magic) or to duplicate the effect of piercing shriek or screech. At 15th level, she also can duplicate primal scream or sonic thrust. Creating these effects functions as spell-like abilities from her cursed countenance ability above, and she also must expend one shot of powder and ammunition with no chance of misfire (or one shot for each creature or object, if affecting multiple targets with sonic thrust).

This replaces evasion and improved evasion.

**Special:** A muzzle roarer using the standard gunslinger classes replaces the gunslinger’s dodge and evasive deeds.

#### **Bad Deeds**

A muzzle roarer gains access to the following unique deeds, which she may learn in place of one of her normal deeds. Any effects that duplicate spells follow the same limitations as cursed countenance spell-like abilities described above.

##### **Branding Barrel**

As long as muzzle roarer has at least 1 grit point, she can make a firearm attack and then use the hot barrel to halt a bleed effect on herself or an adjacent creature. This does not require an attack roll. Alternatively, she can make a melee touch attack with the hot barrel as a move action, affecting the target as brand. At 10th level and above, she can expend 2 grit points to make a melee touch attack with the hot barrel as a move action, affecting the target as greater brand. instead. Alternatively, the muzzle roarer can expend 1 additional grit point as a swift action to use this brand or greater brand ability against a creature she has just hit with her firearm attack.

##### **Doomwalker**

A muzzle roarer walks with callous certainty in the utter and awful end of all things, blunting attempts to manipulate their emotions. She gains a +2 circumstance bonus on saving throws against fear and other emotion effects, as well as curses. In addition, whenever she would be affected by a fear effect, she can expend 1 point of grit as a free action to reduce the effect of that fear by one step: panicked, cowering, or paralyzed becomes frightened; frightened becomes shaken; shaken becomes unaffected. This does not affect other types of fear effects, such as phantasmal killer.

##### **Where’er Ruin Blows**

A muzzle roarer always seems to be right around the corner from a nasty storm, riding into town as a gang-war is brewing, or otherwise eternally in the wrong place at the right time. At 1st level, once per week as long as she has at least 1 grit point, a muzzle roarer may perform a ritual action taking 1 round that will set her on the road towards money, blood and terror. This often takes the form of flipping a coin, drawing a card, casting dice or spinning an empty bottle of whiskey at a crossroads, allowing her to duplicate one of the following spells: anticipate peril (self only), augury, deathwatch. She can use this ability more than once per week by spending 1 grit point. At 5th level, she can perform a longer ritual, taking 1 minute and requiring her to expend 2 grit points and 20 gp worth of gunpowder, in order to duplicate one of the following spells: blood biography, create treasure map, locate creature.