Fusilier (5A)

Just a dark silhouette against the sulfurous smoke, the fusilier aims, keeping a group of enemies down with mere presence. One enemy takes the initiative, moving out of cover to charge and is promptly shot down. "Who will be the next to die?" taunts the fusilier, cowing the entire group with a single, slow loading firearm.

Fusiliers are expert marksmen with firearms. Early firearms are slow to load. Rather than wasting gunpowder on a succession of rapid shots, a fusilier squeezes every ounce of power out of each shot.

Greyhawk Fusiliers are the elite forces of rich or militarily progressive states like the Cosmopolitan city-states and Ahlissa. A vast majority of fusiliers are humans or demi-humans well integrated into human society. A few dwarfs, gnomes, and goblins are know to practice the art, but have to be self-sufficient to do so. Only among humans are guns and powder readily available, and only in some lands.

Class Profile

Hit Points

Hit Dice: 1d10 per fusilier level

Hit Points at 1st Level: 10 + your Constitution modifier

Hit Points at Higher Levels: 1d10 (or 6) + your Constitution modifier per fusilier level after 1st

Proficiencies

Armor: Light armor, medium armor

Weapons: Simple weapons, martial melee weapons, firearms

Tools: None.

Saving Throws: Dexterity, Charisma

Skills: Choose two skills from Acrobatics, Animal Handling, Athletics, History, Insight, Intimidation, Perception, Sleight of Hand, and Survival

Equipment

You start with the following equipment, in addition to the equipment granted by your background:

(a) chain mail or (b) studded leather armor

(a) a rapier or (b) a scimitar or (c) a pistol

(a) an arquebus, musket, pistol, cavalry pistol, dragon, or blunderbuss

(a) a dungeoneer's pack or (b) an explorer's pack

Alternatively you can start with 8d4 x10 gp or 200 gp.

Multiclassing

You must have a Dexterity of 13 to multiclass into or out of this class. Multiclassing into the class gives you proficiency with light armor, simple weapons, and firearms. Fusilier multiclassing gives no spellcasing progression, or one-third progression if you have a subclass with spell progression such as the Gun Mage.

Fusilier Table

Level	Proficiency Bonus	Devastation	Features
1st	+2	—	Gunsmoke, Piercing Shot 19-20
2nd	+2	—	Stand and Deliver
3rd	+2	—	Fusilier Style
4th	+2	—	Ability Score Improvement
5th	+3	1 die	Devastation
6th	+3	1 die	Fusilier Style Feature
7th	+3	2 dice	Step and Deliver
8th	+3	2 dice	Ability Score Improvement
9th	+4	3 dice	Pinning Shot
10th	+4	3 dice	Fusilier Style Feature
11th	+4	4 dice	Fields of Fire
12th	+4	4 dice	Ability Score Improvement
13th	+5	5 dice	Shock and Awe
14th	+5	5 dice	Piercing Shot 18-20
15th	+5	6 dice	Fusilier Style Feature
16th	+5	6 dice	Ability Score Improvement
17th	+6	7 dice	Smoke Eye
18th	+6	7 dice	Stonewall
19th	+6	8 dice	Ability Score Improvement
20th	+6	8 dice	Bonus Shot

Class Features

As a fusilier, you gain the following class features.

Gunsmoke

When you shoot a firearm you are surrounded by an obscuring cloud of smoke. This provides you with the benefits of half cover, you gain a +2 bonus on AC and a +2 bonus on Dexterity saving throws. Gunsmoke does not provide enough concealment to use the Hide action. This lasts until you move away from the spot where you fired your firearm or until the start of your next turn. A strong wind blows gunsmoke away immediately, negating the ability. Bombs and grenades do not cause gunsmoke.

Piercing Shot

Your attacks with firearms score a critical hit on a roll of 19 or 20, and a die roll in this range is always a hit, regardless of the target's Armor Class. At 14th level, your attacks with firearms score a critical hit and auto-hit on a roll of 18, 19, or 20.

Stand and Deliver

At 2nd level you can give yourself advantage on your next attack roll with a firearm on the current turn. You can use this only if you haven't moved during this turn, and your speed becomes 0 until the end of the current turn. If you are on a mount or piloting a vehicle, the mount or vehicle must also obey these restrictions if you are to use Stand and Deliver.

Fusilier Style

At 3rd level, you choose a fusilier style with which you fight. The fusilier style you choose grants you features at 3rd level and again at 6th, 10th, and 15th level.

**Fusilier Styles**
Ace Bushwacker Grenadier Gun Mage Musketeer Pistolieer Sharpshooter

Ability Score Improvement

When you reach 4th level, and again at 8th, 10th, 16th, and 19th level, you can increase one ability score of your choice by 2, or you can increase two ability scores of your choice by 1. As normal, you can't increase an ability score above 20 using this feature.

Devastation

At 5th level, firearms become even more lethal in your hands. Once per turn you can add an additional die of the same type the weapon already does to the damage of an attack. The number of extra damage dice increases as you gain levels in this class, as shown in the Devastation column of the Fusilier table. In the case of bombs and grenades, devastation damage applies against all targets.

Step and Deliver

At 7th level, when you use Stand and Deliver, your speed is reduced to 10 feet rather than being reduced to 0 and you can move up to 10 feet before you attack and still gain advantage.

Pinning Shot

At 9th level when you miss a creature with a firearm attack, you can force that creature to make a Wisdom saving throw with a DC 10 + your Proficiency bonus or become frightened until the end of your turn. A creature that is frightened this way also falls prone.

Note that this is more effective when used outside your turn, as the frightened effect ends at the end of your turn.

Fields of Fire

At 11th level you are always ready to shoot an advancing enemy. As a reaction when you have a ready firearm and see a creature that is moving and not in cover or concealment of any kind, you can make an attack against that creature with a ready firearm. This is the equivalent of a ranged attack of opportunity, and any effect that affects attacks of opportunity also affects Fields of Fire. After this shot you can reload your firearm as a part of the same reaction.

Shock and Awe

At 13th level, when you reduce an enemy to 0 hit points with a firearms attack, all enemies within 10 feet of the defeated enemy are affected by your Pinning Shot ability. If this happens on the first round after initiative is rolled, it affects all enemies within 30 feet of the target.

Smoke Eye

At 17th level, your vision is not hindered by smoke, fog, or gasses.

Stonewall

Beginning at 18th level, you can resist damage that allows a saving throw, such as a red dragon's fiery breath or a Cone of Cold spell. When you are subjected to an effect that allows you to make a saving throw to take only half damage, you instead take no damage if you succeed on the saving throw, and only half damage if you fail.

Bonus Shot

At 20th level you can use a bonus action to load a firearm and take the Attack action with that Firearm.

Designer's Notes

Fusilier is not a perfect name. It derives from the latin for flint, used with flintlocks from the 17th century. The class works with older guns that do not use flintlocks, such as matchlocks and wheellocks. Still, it is a general term that does not point out a specific type of gun. An earlier name was for the class was gunslinger, which to me sounds like a 19C role for someone who shoots a lot, while the fusilier given here uses a slow-loading firearm and only very slowly gains more attacks.