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"Double-Tap is practically a required feat; I can't imagine why anyone who plays a gunslinger wouldn't take it."

They would. They might not use it though.

"It seems to me that hitting vital spots is more accurately represented as increased chances of critical hits. It could also be that the real problem you're facing is the shortcomings of the Gunslinger advanced class."

Okay, but I did use bodyguards as an example. (And I could use covert agents, etc.) But yes, the Gunslinger is a big part of it. I keep wanting it boost its BAB and drop its hit points

"All in all, I'd say that bonuses to damage with firearms should be part of a talent tree, rather than feats, and that something that increases firearm accuracy should be a feat."

Do you think such talents should be part of an advanced class, or part of the Fast class?

I used (fairly widely spaced) BAB requirements for the feats because firearms do have a fairly strong advantage at low levels (at least if you're using point buy and all the PCs are human).

This version of the Gunslinger isn't complete yet, and I'd like some advice and feedback.

Unless stated otherwise, abilities are as the Gunslinger.

The Pistolero

Requirements: As Gunslinger. I might replace 6 ranks in Tumble with another skill. Any ideas?
Hit points: d8 per level.
BAB : +1 per level. Part of the rationale behind the high BAB is to make multiclassing easier, in addition to making the Pistolero an accurate shot.

Defense, Reputation, skills and bonus feats are the same.

Special abilities by level

Level one: Defensive position (as the gunslinger ability). I thought Close Combat Shot should be moved later into the progression, as it's not a beginner ability IMO. It was either that or Weapon Focus, and the latter could be bought with a regular feat.

Level two: Pistolero I (to make it short; if you're attacking with a single pistol or revolver, you deal +2 damage with it; if you're attacking with a pair of pistols or revolvers, you deal +1 damage per weapon). As the biggest ability change, this ability may need some feedback.

Level three: bonus feat (cool-sounding pistol feats like Mozambique Drill and El Presidente might get added to the list)

Level four: Close combat shot (as the gunslinger ability - I didn't think someone just starting their gunslinging career should have access to this ability)

Level five: Improved Critical (choose one pistol or revolver that you have Weapon Focus in. You increase the threat range by one.)

Level six: bonus feat.

Level seven: Sharpshooting (as the gunslinger ability)

Level eight: Pistolero II (as the above ability)

Level nine: bonus feat

Level ten: Bullseye, with minor differences.

At 10th level, a Pistolero becomes so adept at using the firearm to which he or she has applied Improved Critical that the pistolero's attacks with that firearm can deal extra damage. With an attack, before the dice are rolled, the pistolero can spend 1 action point to deal +3d6 points of damage.

This ability may need to be modified more. The Pistolero is already doing +4 damage with a single pistol; the bonus damage may need to be reduced. Forcing the AP to be spent before the attack roll was a deliberate change.

I did get the name from the Mexican word. I never heard another word for it other than gunslinger, which has already been taken.

"Looking over the class, I have a couple comments: 1. Excellent choice moving close combat shot. It always bugged me that was a 1st level ability. Granted, it's a key focus of the class, but man....

I'm worried that this class makes the soldier a little less interesting, even with my above comment.

The Gunslinger was about more shots"

That was something I had an issue with. Lots of real-life gunslingers (Shootout at OK Corral, Joe the Boss Masseria, etc), as well as many in novels and movies don't dual-wield. While Lightning Shot might have had a place in the class, I don't think we should push it too heavily towards two-weapon fighting. Lightning Shot, ironically, doesn't work well with Two-Weapon Fighting.

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and diving around a battlefield (cover abilities, light. shot, the implied twf nature).

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See above.

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The soldier was about better, more devasting shots (wf, weapon spec, imp crit, auto-crit on a threat).

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But why are these shots more devastating? (What is the flavor text explanation?) Why can't someone other than a soldier do more damage? For someone wielding a small pistol, this is a big issue. As for Improved Critical, some gunslingers (albeit usually fictional ones) can often shoot opponents in the throat or something. I don't want to introduce called shot rules, and even if I did, the old Gunslinger wouldn't be any good at it.

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You removed the greater weapon focus, which seemed out of place to me

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I had to. The increased BAB made it pointless (and possibly overpowered to leave it in).

"but you added improved crit, and weapon spec. That trues up with Bullseye as a high damage ability (which also seemed out of place to me)."

Hmmm... I was trying to get rid of that ability, but I didn't know what to replace it with. I ended up nerfing it (it is flavorful, in the "I shoot the rope" kind of way).

"But that leaves the soldier with his tactical aid type abilities, but they only get one of those. A pistolero 10 will do more damage with two pistols than a soldier with an automatic weapon."

Is that really a bad thing? The pistolero's attack bonus would come out to about the same (-2 to hit, no Greater Weapon Focus, but higher BAB) but his attacks have much less range, he has fewer hit points, and a lower Fort save. The Soldier has more options as well - you can build a Soldier using the Dedicated or any physical class, whereas building a Pistolero with anything other than Fast or Fast/Dedicated just doesn't work.

"I guess if you add the pistolero, I'd like to see a slightly modified soldier, who got some sort of extra abilities related to a battle field (suppressive fire, coordination, explosives, something like that?), rather than a damage increase. Maybe one that pulls a bit from the commando?"

Well, here's a problem I have with the Soldier. Tactical Aid. It's almost like a Soldier has to get promoted to Sergeant the moment they reach 4th-level in that class.

Enlisted men go from the rank of Private through Corporal through Sergeant (then Platoon Sergeant, then Top Sergeant, then Sergeant Major). Anything from Corporal upwards is NCO, but I got the impression you only really need leadership abilities once you reach the rank of Sergeant and up. Now I don't know exactly how this works in real life, but the US Army insists that you don't get promoted unless you show appropriate "acumen", for lack of a better word. (In practice, you might get the rank due solely to seniority or kissing up.)

This "acumen" involves smarts and leadership ability more than all-round ability.

The typical platoon sergeant gets his rank after serving 18 years in the Army. (I'm going to assume - completely unrealistically, of course - that every soldier gains levels at the same rate.) Not every soldier who serves that long reaches that rank; in theory, at least, most soldiers who remain that long won't even become sergeants. That's how you get the competent 20 year veteran Lance Corporal - someone who's got as many levels under their belt as the Platoon Sergeant, but due to lower Int and Cha they're not going to make good leaders.

(Now, in practice, most soldiers won't gain levels that fast, and won't reach the rank of Sergeant no matter how long they stick around, even if they've got the mental stats for it. A lot of these soldiers might leave once their term is up - they know they won't get promoted. Once you miss a promotion window, you'll never get promoted.)

So, to give a rough idea of how I might stat up ranks:

Corporal: any physical classes + Soldier levels. I don't have a problem with a Strong 3/Tough 3/Soldier 8 Lance Corporal - just because he has levels doesn't mean he get a promotion - except for some reason he has the Tactical Aid leadership ability when it doesn't really fit his concept.

Sergeant: as above. If he earned the position "properly", he probably has mental classes, too. Now tactical aid makes sense for this character.

Special note: most commandos seem to be sergeants, even though if they're not Green Berets leadership abilities aren't really part of their concept. (They'd make great small unit tactic advisors - more levels means more space for ranks in Knowledge [tactics]).

Officer: probably multi-classed with Smart and/or Charismatic (the Field Officer class works great on a ship, not in infantry, IMO) with physical class levels. Despite outranking the Sergeant, the Lieutenant may have fewer levels. He probably has fewer levels than the Platoon Sergeant (the highest ranked NCO directly underneath the Lieutenant), which isn't surprising because the Platoon Sergeant has at least double his experience in the actual military.

Have you read the pre- and post-errata versions of Tactical Aid? (The "errata" are in a stickied threat at the WotC website.) TA got nerfed to the point that it's nearly useless (only +1 bonus, requires action points), but I actually supported the nerf. I didn't think Tactical Aid should be better than Plan, but it clearly was. If you want to the good planner, I would suggest multi-classing with Smart, or if that doesn't work, a new Military Officer class*. I think the Soldier should be about "kicking arse" (basically the Lance Corporal) and anyone who has a character concept that includes things like co-ordination, leadership, planning, etc, should multi-class.

I would actually prefer removing Tactical Aid from the Soldier class and replacing it with something else, or at least movoing it later into the progression.

* I would expect a Military Officer class to have weaker combat stats than the Soldier class. It might get 3/4 BAB and 1/2 Defense, but it should definitely get fewer hit points and maybe not have a good Fort save. Instead of arse-kicking abilities, it would have something like Plan, but flavored towards military operations (eg a version called "Maneuver and Fire" that gives a small bonus to hit AND Defense and one called "Ambush Tactics" that lets the Officer hide the whole team, etc.). Or you could even call it "Combat Leader" and expect anyone ranked Sergeant or above to take levels in it (with Officers probably taking more levels in it and the Sergeant probably multi-classing it with Soldier).