Gun Mage

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Guns are awesome. Magic is awesome. So, why not combine the two and have a guy who uses magic and guns? Enter the Gun Mage, an archetype that has traditionally been more the field of anime and manga than it has been for tabletop gaming. It's essentially the ranged combat counterpart to the gish, and the "higher tech" version of the Arcane Archer.

Gun Mages of the Iron Kingdoms

You've gotta ask yourself one question: "Do I feel lucky?" Well, do ya, punk?

The biggest /tg/ depiction of this archetype is the Gun Mages of the Iron Kingdoms, popularized by Warmahordes. Half gunslinger and half wizard, Gun Mages use rune-etched ammo that can serve as a conduit for magical energy, allowing them to imprint magical effects onto their shots. This has the downside of requiring specially constructed and reinforced guns, colloquially known as "Magelocks", because ordinary guns tend to blow up under the strain of channeling magic.

Every human nation has Gun Mages, and they are naturally highly integrated into the military. They're one of the few units who can be considered as exceptional as the Warcaster, both in-universe and out.

Gun Mages in 5e

When Iron Kingdoms made the transition into Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition, naturally, the Gun Mage came along as a fully fledged class for the setting, alongside the Gunfighter, Mekanik and Warcaster.

Mechanically, it's surprisingly simple compared to what you'd expect. At its core, a gun mage is a Charisma-based Half Caster, reaching spells of up to 6th level. With a d8 hit dice and free proficiency in Light Armor, it's a little tankier than your average Wizard, but don't be careless; these guys ain't meant to be meatshields.

They are "spells known" type casters, similar to Sorcerers, but compensate for their small spell pools with their wide variety of Rune Shots, which we'll cover in a moment. They can use magelocks and bonded guns as spellcasting focuses.

At 2nd level, the gun mage chooses a fighting style; Defense (+1 to AC when wearing armor), Keen Shot (+2 damage to two-handed ranged weapons) or Pistol Dueling (+2 to damage with pistols when used as "solo weapons" - that is, you're using a one-handd pistol and nothing else).

At 3rd level, they gain the Weapon Bond feature, which lets them spend an hour to inscribe mystic runes on a firearm of their choice to bond them to it. A bonded weapon counts as an attuned magic item, but has two major bonuses. Firstly, shots from it always count as magical for damage resistance and immunity. Secondly, it can fire rune shots as if it were a mage lock.

The feature "Extra Rune Shot" is gained at levels 11, 13, 15 and 17. Each time it's gained, the gun mage both learns a new Rune Shot option and can use a Rune Shot attack +1 time between rests - so 3/rest for 11th level up to 6/rest at 17th level.

At 11th level, they gain the Multiple Runes feature, which lets them apply two Rune Shot options to a single shot once per long rest.

Their ultimate ability, gained at level 20, is Arcane Precision. If an attack with Rune Shot (regular or Multiple Runes) would miss, normally that wastes your magical power. Gun Mages with this feature can choose not to expend the Rune Shot on a miss once per rest.

Now, let's talk Rune Shots. These are the metamagic of the gun mage; special arcane riders that can be applied to specific shots. This is done before making the attack roll, so if the attack misses, you spent a Rune Shot for nothing. You get 2 Rune Shots per rest by default, but an expend spell slots to recharge the feature - each level of the expended spell slot recharges 1 use of Rune Shot, so a level 2 spell restores 2 uses of Rune Shot, etc. Any bullet fired with a Rune Shot effect counts as a magical attack, obviously. Rune Shots that have saving throws use the gun mage's Spell Save DC.

The drawback to firing bullets charged with magical energy is that they put a lot of stress on the gun. Unless being used with a magelock or a Bonded Weapon, each time a gun fires a Rune Shot, they gain +1 level of the Misfire property, even if they don't normally have that property - this represents the magic corroding the gun from the inside out. Any gun which reaches Misfire (5) because of a Rune Shot is immediately destroyed; it just can't take the strain anymore!

A gun mage starts known two specific Rune Shots from the following list.

• Accuracy: Shot is made with Advantage on the attack roll.
• Black Penny: You don't suffer Disadvantage on shooting a target within 5 feet.
• Brutal: Shot deals +2d6 damage and Crits on a 19-20.
• Detonator: Target takes +2d6 Force damage, all creatures within 10 feet take 2d6 Force damage.
• Earth Shaker: Target and all creatures within 20 feet must pass a Strength test or be knocked prone.
• Electro Leap: Target takes +2d6 Electric damage, one creature within 15 feet of target takes 2d6 Electric damage.
• Fire Beacon: Target cannot benefit from cover and grants Advantage to all attack rolls against it until the start of your next turn.
• Freeze Fire: Shot deals +2d6 Cold damage and target must pass a Constitution save or suffer -10 feet speed until the start of your next turn.
• Heart Stopper: Shot deals +2d6 Necrotic damage and target must pass a Constitution save or be unable to regain hit points until the sstart of your next turn. Doesn't affect constructs or undead.
• Iron Rot: Only affects steamjacks and targets wearing nonmagical metal armor. Target suffers a permanent, cumulative -1 AC; if AC is dropped to 10, the armor is destroyed. Can instantly destroy any nonmagical item of 20 pounds or less that is hit whilst not being worn or carried. Damaged armor can be fixed with tinker's tools - takes 1 hour and a successful DC 15 Intelligence check.
• Molten Shot: Shot deals +2d6 Fire damage, target takes 1d6 Fire damage at the start of your next turn, ignites flammable objects.
• Phantom Seeker: Instead of a normal to hit roll, pick a target within gun's range. Target must take a Dexterity save; failure sees them take full shot damage + 1d6 Force damage, success halves the damage. You can shoot a target you can't see when using this Rune Shot.
• Silencer: Shot is silent. Target is silenced until the start of your next turn.
• Thunderbolt: Shot deals +2d6 Thunder damage, target must pass a Strength save or be pushed 20 feet.
• Trick Shot: After hitting the initial target, make an attack roll against a second target within 30 feet of the first; success means your bullet ricochets and hits them, with normal damage and all other riders except the Trick Shot itself.

The Iron Kingdoms 5e corebook has three Gun Mage subclasses; the Order of the Arcane Tempest, the Order of the Thorn, and the Order of the Lone Gun.

Each subclass comes with the feature "Order Rune Shot", which gives the Gun Mage an automatic bonus rune shot in addition to the 6 they will develop over leveling up in the core class.

Order of the Arcane Tempest

• Order Rune Shot: Thunderbolt
• 1st Level: Gunfighter - you can use pistols and carbines on targets within 5 feet without Disadvantage.
• 6th Level: Reciprocate - One per short rest, when missed by a ranged attack, you can use your Reaction to shoot the attacker with a bonded firearm.
• 10th Level: Runesmith - You can channel Rune Shots through the guns of steamjacks under your control. This only works for solid shot guns, and these guns do not count as magelocks.
• 14th level: Moment of Clarity - Once per short rest, you can use a bonus action to gain Truesight up to the distance of your bonded firearm's normal range until the start of your next turn, and to deal +3d6 weapon damage on the first Rune Shot attack you make during your turn.

Order of the Thorn

• Order Rune Shot: Silencer
• 1st Level: Ambusher - You have Advantage on Initiative rolls, and during the first round of combat can Dash or Hide as a bonus action.
• 6th Level: Martyr of the Resistance - Once per short rest, you can spend a Hit Dice and add the results to the total of an ability check or saving throw.
• 10th Level: Slayer of Tyrants - The first Rune Shot you fire each turn does an irresistible +1d10 Force damage.
• 14th level: Emergency Rune Shots - 1/day, if you roll Initiative with no Rune Shot uses remaining, you regain all Rune Shots.

Order of the Lone Gun

• Order Rune Shot: Trick Shot
• 1st Level: Wild Shot - Expend a gun mage spell slot when shooting to deal +1d8 random energy damage. Roll a d8 for the result: 1/Acid, 2/Cold, 3/Fire, 4/Force, 5/Lightning, 6/Necrotic, 7/Poison, 8/Thunder.
• 6th Level: Extra Attack
• 10th Level: A Few More Shots - 1/day, when expending a spell slot to replenish Rune Shots, you can treat its spell level as +1.
• 14th level: Runic Improvisation - 1/day, you can use a Rune Shot that is not on your list of Rune Shots known.

Gun Mages of Midgard

Having gladly accepted its status as a kitchen sink setting, Midgard has naturally tried to add guns to its fantasy elements since the beginning, which ultimately evolved into it gaining three dedicated Gun Mages (one Divine, two Arcane), plus the ability for Paladins to take Gunfighting as their Fighting Style and the Gunslinger subclass for Rangers, which is less a proper Gun Mage and more a Gunslinger who just happens to be able to cast some spells.

The Black Powder Cleric Domain is the Divine Gun Mage of Midgard, being a Cleric who lives by the maxim "Praise the Lord, and pass the ammo!" This Domain is largely associated with Gods whose portfolios encompass war, destruction or alchemy. Whilst they do gain proficiency with firearms, the mechanics of this subclass focus more on the explosive properties of black powder, with features that let them turn ordinary objects into makeshift bombs as well as buffing the firearms being wielded by themselves and their allies.

Black Powder Sorcery is the Sorcerous Origin option for Gun Mages, and functions under the principle "One gun good; many guns better!" The cornerstone of this subclass is the ability to use Mage Hand to handle a pistol in concert with your own hands, to the point you actually get more Mage Hands as you level up that can all be used to handle their own pistols. A 20th level Black Powder Sorcerer can shoot seven pistols at once, treats their bullets as magical for hurting enemies, can cast and shoot simultaneously, and can even "eat" black powder to replenish their spell slots.

The School of Black Powder is the Wizard take on the Gun Mage, and focuses on using a gun as an arcane focus, gaining access to magical trick shots like being able to boost the speed of or remove exhaustion from allies by shooting them (without even hurting them in the process), as well as deploying melee spells through your bullets.

Gun Mages in Pathfinder 1e

Aside from just multiclassing as a Gunslinger and... well, whatever arcanist floats your boat, Pathfinder 1e does feature a Gun Mage archetype in Ultimate Combat in the form of the Spellslinger.

This is a Wizard arcehtype that practices the "School of the Gun", which requires them to sacrifice four schools of magic for the ability to wield firearms from level 1. Their first signature ability is "Arcane Gun", which lets them attune to a firearm in their possession at the start ofe ach day and use it as a conduit for any spell with the Ranged Touch Attack, Cone, Line or Ray targeting designations... on the downside that if the spellslinger rolls a 1 on the attack roll, or the target rolls a 20 on their save against this spell, then they suffer backlash. If the gun wasn't broken before, it is now - and if it was broken, then it explodes in a burst of force (or acid, cold, electricity or sonic, if the spell would have done those damage types)! Spellslingers choose at level 1 if they're going to be able to attune to two guns simultaneously or just one; attuning two guns lets them fire two spell-shots at a time, whilst attuning to just one gives their spell-shots an X3 critical hit multiplier. This replaces the normal "Arcane Bond" feature for PF1e wizards.

Their second signature ability, "Mage Bullets", lets them sacrifice a prepared spell to instead apply an enhancement bonus (up to +5) and/or an enchantment chosen from this list> Dancing, Defending, Distance, Flaming, Flaming Burst, Frost, Ghost Touch, Icy Burst, Merciful, Seeking, Shock, Shocking Burst, Spell Storing, Thundering, Vicious and Wounding. Only 2 bonus can be applied to a single arcane gun each time this ability is used, and it lasts for minutes equal to the spell level of the spell sacrificed. To get this ability, the spellslinger has to sacrifice all cantrips except for Detect Magic & Read Magic, which they cast as 1st level spells.

Oh, and they give up the Scribe Scroll feature for the Gunsmith feature, which gives them Gunsmithing as a bonus feat and lets them start play with a battered gun, just like a gunslinger.