How to build a better Gunslinger for PFS

Well not really. More like MY TAKE on how to make a gunslinger for PFS. Or guidelines even.

Vital points to remember.

• There two very essential statistics to consider when building a Gunslinger. Dexterity because you are primarily a ranged character. To get the maximum effect you need a high Dexterity. Then you need Wisdom to get the second vital point of a Gunslinger. Grit.  The only exception is for a Mysterious Stranger, for which you substitute Charisma for Wisdom.
• Secondary Characteristics: You need a good constitution, HPs are definitely a vital point to anyone who is playing. Never go be a 12 and try for a 14 if you can. Intelligence can help, skills help in PFS play. You need a crew of players with knowledges, every character needs some social skill (Bluff, Diplomacy, and/or Intimidate), and a gunslinger (particularly the pistol types) needs Acrobatics and EVERYONE needs Perception. 
• Feat Economy. A gunslinger has SOME bonus feats but it is a very feat intensive class. There will be more on this later. 
• Favored Class abilities: Beside from the standard HP/Skill point bonuses, some races bonuses are pretty handy.  Extra Grit (1 every 4 levels), reduced misfire to a one type of gun, ect. Research your race. 
• Your weapon. This is the centerpiece of your character. More than any other class, Gunslingers are defined by their weapons. Build on your role. Going to be close in? Maybe melee & gun? Get a pistol of some flavor and pick your feats on it. Long range/crowd control? Get a 2handed gun and work from it. It WILL become your signature weapon. Maybe, if you're lucky, it will be from the very beginning with your starting pistol/musket/blunderbuss; or perhaps you'll have to scrimp and save for the gun(s) you want. Guns cost money. So you won't have a lot. 

Starting off with the concept of how you're playing. I have 3 basic concepts that I see coming up. 

• Pistol-man. The up-close and personal types. Typically you'll see a pistol user play pistolero or mysterious stranger. They move in close, hammer in from 30 feet or so. (20 ft typically to get the optimum hits). 
• Rifleman. You pick your shots, put them in from 40 feet or so. Or further if you got Distance enchantment or Far Shot. Typically built down to the one shot one kill concept. 
• The Gunthug. This one is still in building. Scattergun user. Keep in close, use scatter attacks. This gives you the ability to hammer multiple targets and use specialty ammo. This one needs to be able to mix in melee attacks with the gun. 

Feats:

• Point Blank/Precise Shot. A staple for ANY gunslinger. You CAN live without them but it is INFINITELY easier to live with it. 
• Rapid Reload. Pick your signature weapon and get it for that. It WILL help you in a fight.
• Deadly Shot. The ranged version of Power Blow. Absolutely essential in my opinion. You trade off some hit for a bigger bite. With ranged touch attacks it's a no brainer. 
• Far Shot. Something to consider for snipers. 
• Quick Draw. Definitely helpful for the Pistol-Man. Pull and switch pistols a la Jose Wales. 
• Vital Strike. Helpful. I use it on my Sniper to conserve ammo and use my iterative attacks on a standard action. Makes it easier to run&gun. 
• Deeds. Some of the deed feats can be useful. For example, a Pistol-man could definitely get pay off Deft Shootist Deed, allows them to reload and shoot up close without drawing AoOs. Signature Deed is a great way to minimize grit cost. For example. Reducing Up Close & Personal from 1 point a use to 0. Or using the Extended Range deed of a Musket Master at medium range at will and reducing the cost by 1 for further increment. 
• Extra Grit. Results might vary, but depending on Grit requirements this might be of use.
• Rapid Shot. Shoot twice. Good for low level Gunslingers. If thats' your build. In my opinion better than shooting twice with a double-barrel fire arm but I'm not too eager to use them.

Gear: Things you should get.

• Ammo. Specialty ammo, be it paper cartridges or bullets, can be useful. Adamantine, Cold Iron and Silver are all clear choices but if you have Ultimate Equipment check out Elysian Bronze.  Alchemical blanches are another good thing to look into. Ghost salt when you expect incorporeal creatures.
• Guns. Normally materials don't do that much for the guns. Bullets yes, guns not so much. Mithril is good for weight reduction, protection vs rust attacks. Or Adamantine if you're scared of sundering. 
• Magic items.  Armor and weapons aside, there are a few items to get. Endless Bandolier, Efficient Quiver, Handy Haversacks and Bags of Holding are all good things to lower your encumbrance. Any of the dozen or so sensory enhancing magics are good choices. 

<More to come>

Building a (possibly better) Pathfinder Society Gunslinger.

I won't lie. I'm a terrible person. I like guns in my swords and sorcery. Some folks think that is an alien thing or that it 'violates' some fundamental physical law of the genre. You simply, according to these folks, have a world where magic AND guns work. It's just not done.

I don't buy it. Sorry. If you can have 'mind powers' and sorcery, you can pull a 'thunder rod' from your belt and pop a cap in Thulsa Doom just as easy.

So right off the bat, I was looking at a mini I got. My friend Stacie just finished painting her and I have to admit that I'm looking forward to trying a gunslinger of the pistol weilding flavor, despite my reservations.

Some of the things I KNOW that are different between Kyrie (my musket master/grenadier) is that you are not as far off. That means I HAVE to be within 30 feet to get optimum performance out of the pistolero. Up Close and Personal is like a ranged sneak attack with the perk of you do damage even if you MISS.  But like most precision attacks, it requires you to stay close.

That means mobility and speed are an must. That eliminates the smaller races and dwarves. 20 foot movement will be bad for a 'fast mover'. It also means that the gunslinger will HAVE to be as lightly encumbered as possible.

Of course, with the perk of things like Endless Bandoliers, Bags of Holding/Handy Haversacks and Efficient Quivers encumberance is a non-issue after a certain point.

The big issue is picking a gun to work around since Rapid Reload is item specific now. Either double barrel pistol or pepperbox. With DB Pistols you get a cheaper price, with Pepperbox you get to hold off on RR for a while.