OOC

[Jhaeman]

For the gunslinger: my personal opinion is that, since you're going up against Touch AC, you're not going to miss very often. Precise Shot is nice, but not necessary, if there's another feat you're burning to take. Pathfinder does have rules for Retraining, but they're an optional subsystem (not part of the Core Rulebook) and thus up to the GM whether to implement or not.

[Reawyn]

For the gunslinger:  my personal opinion is that, since you're going up against Touch AC, you're not going to miss very often.  Precise Shot is nice, but not necessary, if there's another feat you're burning to take.  Pathfinder does have rules for Retraining, but they're an optional subsystem (not part of the Core Rulebook) and thus up to the GM whether to implement or not.

Agreed, Point Blank shot and Rapid Reload seem like really good choices to me.  Being able to get reloaded quickly will have a much higher impact in game than precise shotat lower levels.  As we progress in levels perhaps Rapid reload may be worth less and retrainable.  That is if he gets multiple firearms to keep preloaded and Quick Draw, but even then it is a solid feat.

[Cin-Ezra Oovalli]

The precise shot is for ignoring penalties for firing into melee while Point Blank shot gives me +1 to hit within the first range increment.  Pistol range is 20' which sucks!!  But eventually I can trade out my old pistol for a Revolver which i believe has a capacity for 6 shots.  So rapid reload becomes less needed.  I also plan to eventually dual wield pistols.  

So for my first 2 feats the consensus is point blank shot and rapid reload?

[Reawyn]

The precise shot is for ignoring penalties for firing into melee while Point Blank shot gives me +1 to hit within the first range increment.  Pistol range is 20' which sucks!!  But eventually I can trade out my old pistol for a Revolver which i believe has a capacity for 6 shots.  So rapid reload becomes less needed.  I also plan to eventually dual wield pistols.  

So for my first 2 feats the consensus is point blank shot and rapid reload?

True but Point Blank is a prerequisite for precise shot so the point blank shot is not the feat you would be giving up for Precise shot. given that Range increment a feat that lets you shoot while threatened without provoking AoO might be more valuable later on than Precise shot even, .. don't think that is available to you yet

[Eva Morningtide]

I've not played a Magus before let alone the archer version so I'll probably take precise shot at level 3 and figure the rest out as I go.

[Ursk]

At the risk of getting way ahead of myself, I'm trying to think ahead on advancement, rage powers and feats. There are a few directions I can take Ursk. I'll likely decide after we see how we're working together, but just so that I have some food for thought, I have a couple questions:

1. Are there any conditions that, when imposed on an enemy, would give you extra advantages? For example, if I can stagger or confuse someone, aside from the obvious, does that give your character an extra advantage?
2. At the risk of metagaming (and, GM, feel free to shut me down on this one if you think it's too meta or min-max), do folks know if the Technic League or robots tends to be lawful in alignment? I could take a chaos totem and get some nice bonuses, but it's very situational.
3. Any sense as to whether Fire or Electricity damage is going to be more of an issue? Because if I go the tank route, I can get a rage power that gives me elemental resistance. Generally, fire is the way to go, but with robots... maybe electricity will be more in the forefront. I can take the power twice to get resistance against both, but there are other things it would be nice to spend it on, too.

Feat wise, I've got a bunch of options I'm considering. Input is welcome but I think it's going to depend a bit on how we shape up as a team. Options include:

• Toughness (tank; more likely I'll wait to take this until later as at 3rd lvl the benefit is still only +3 hp)
  
• Heavy Armor Proficiency (tank)
  
• Combat Reflexes (come get me, but probably better with enlarge person for 10' reach)
  
• Extra Rage Power (versatile)
  
• Weapon Focus (dps)
  
• Scale and Skin (tank; would be dependant on Enlarge Person, +1 AC when under )
  
• Improved Init (duh)
  
• Intimidating Prowess (I'm not the face and we've got a lot of skill monkeys, but... yeah)
  

Skill wise, I'm going to be putting a point every level into perception and intimidate, with other skills on an ad hoc basis.

[Jhaeman]

Does anyone know if there's an official rule about whether humans of particular ethnicities (like Kellid) gain the corresponding language (like Hallit) as an automatic language, or only as a potential bonus language if their Int is high enough?

[Ursk]

Yup. See James Jacobs' post here.

On the page counts, he's referring to the Inner Sea World Guide. Kellids are on page 16 and they get Common and Hallit as a starting language. This is the same result I get in Hero Lab (not always accurate but a helpful guide for me).

PS, I wish they would better optimize the pdf for that book. Absolutely kills my iPad and even my desktop has problems with it.

[Kaska of Red Talons]

I've not played a Magus before let alone the archer version so I'll probably take precise shot at level 3 and figure the rest out as I go.

I have a similar-ish character in a different campaign, Archaeologist Bard with Magus VMC who is an archer. From what I've seen of it, you'll want to take the standard archery progression. Without extra feats there isn't much room for the fancier archery feats. Also with your 3/4 BAB increases to accuracy will be better for you than increases to damage. Extra damage only applies when you hit. Also you have spells and arcane pool to help with damage. 

I would think feats like Rapid Shot and Many Shot would not be so useful to you as they are for other archers. Maybe things like Weapon Focus (boring as it is) might be more helpful.

Again my character is only similar, no ranged spellstrike for instance, and no casting and shooting in the same round, but she mostly operates as a controller caster who supports the other combatants with ranged attacks. With the bow's limited crit range you won't be able to produce the crazy damage spikes like a scimitar/shocking grasp magus can. If you think your damage is lacking as you go through a few levels you might want to try something similar with a few blasting spells thrown into the mix. Fireball and follow up arrows instead of ranged spellstrike gimmicks. Or debuff spells and arrows. You'll still have better action economy than my bard and she does very well.

[Kaska of Red Talons]

At the risk of getting way ahead of myself, I'm trying to think ahead on advancement, rage powers and feats. There are a few directions I can take Ursk. I'll likely decide after we see how we're working together, but just so that I have some food for thought, I have a couple questions:

1. Are there any conditions that, when imposed on an enemy, would give you extra advantages? For example, if I can stagger or confuse someone, aside from the obvious, does that give your character an extra advantage?
2. At the risk of metagaming (and, GM, feel free to shut me down on this one if you think it's too meta or min-max), do folks know if the Technic League or robots tends to be lawful in alignment? I could take a chaos totem and get some nice bonuses, but it's very situational.
3. Any sense as to whether Fire or Electricity damage is going to be more of an issue? Because if I go the tank route, I can get a rage power that gives me elemental resistance. Generally, fire is the way to go, but with robots... maybe electricity will be more in the forefront. I can take the power twice to get resistance against both, but there are other things it would be nice to spend it on, too.

Feat wise, I've got a bunch of options I'm considering. Input is welcome but I think it's going to depend a bit on how we shape up as a team. Options include:

• Toughness (tank; more likely I'll wait to take this until later as at 3rd lvl the benefit is still only +3 hp)
  
• Heavy Armor Proficiency (tank)
  
• Combat Reflexes (come get me, but probably better with enlarge person for 10' reach)
  
• Extra Rage Power (versatile)
  
• Weapon Focus (dps)
  
• Scale and Skin (tank; would be dependant on Enlarge Person, +1 AC when under )
  
• Improved Init (duh)
  
• Intimidating Prowess (I'm not the face and we've got a lot of skill monkeys, but... yeah)
  

Skill wise, I'm going to be putting a point every level into perception and intimidate, with other skills on an ad hoc basis.

Kaska's progression will be very meat-and-potatoes. Ranger style feats to archery. Other feats to two-handed melee. When she can afford it, she might switch to falchion since it looks like a better can opener than a greatsword.

In any case, she won't be won't anything fancy so Ursk should have room to experiment with feats and rage powers without having to worry about carrying the line all by himself. 

I'm not sure how Taijun will fit into the mix. I've never played a monk, and aside from a zen archer once, never had a monk character in a party with me. It'll be interesting to see what happens!