Introduction
Guns & Gears Remastered is the Pathfinder 2e book for black powder, clockwork, weird machinery, and the kind of equipment that makes a GM quietly ask, "How many hands are you using right now?"
It adds the Inventor, Gunslinger, Automaton, firearms, gadgets, combination weapons, vehicles, siege weapons, technology archetypes, and a setting framework for deciding where any of that actually belongs.
This hub is the review and routing page. Use it with the broader PF2e guide hub, classes, ancestry guides, archetypes, equipment, combat, rules, skills, GM guidance, and monster guidance.
Guns & Gears Guide Index
| Guide | Use it for |
|---|---|
| Inventor Class Guide | Innovations, Overdrive, unstable actions, Crafting, gadgets, construct companions, armor innovation, and weapon innovation |
| Gunslinger Class Guide | Firearms, crossbows, reload economy, ways, range, critical hits, ammunition, and class feat planning |
| Automaton Ancestry Guide | Construct-bodied PCs, ancient technology identity, rare ancestry access, ancestry feats, and campaign permission |
| Inventor Feat Guide | Innovation support, unstable actions, construct play, gadget support, and action-economy planning |
| Gunslinger Feat Guide | Reload fixes, firearm stance play, crossbow support, reaction timing, and feat chains |
| Firearms Equipment Guide | Classic firearms, fantasy firearms, ammunition, fatal crit profile, Reload pressure, and access |
| Combination Weapons Guide | Firearm-melee hybrid weapons, mode switching, hand economy, runes, and class fit |
| Gadgets Guide | Consumable technology, formulas, Crafting, action costs, treasure placement, and table expectations |
| Guns & Gears Archetypes | Inventor multiclass, Gunslinger multiclass, Artillerist, Beast Gunner, Overwatch, Sterling Dynamo, Trapsmith, Trick Driver, and Vehicle Mechanic |
| Technology In Campaigns | Deciding whether guns, gears, vehicles, automatons, gadgets, and clockwork tech fit your table |
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What Guns & Gears Adds
| Layer | What it adds | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Classes | Inventor and Gunslinger | One turns a personal invention into a build engine; the other makes Reload, firearm traits, and crossbow rhythm worth building around. |
| Ancestry | Automaton | A living construct ancestry with ancient technology themes and a strong need for GM buy-in. |
| Equipment | Firearms, combination weapons, beast guns, cobbled firearms, accessories, gadgets, vehicles, and siege weapons | This is the equipment book for action costs, hands, ammunition, repairs, and table-facing logistics. |
| Archetypes | Gun, gear, artillery, beast gun, trap, overwatch, vehicle, and clockwork body options | Non-Inventors and non-Gunslingers can borrow the book's themes without changing class. |
| Setting | The Rotating Gear and regional technology guidance | Gives GMs reasons for technology to be common, uncommon, rare, controversial, illegal, sacred, or just expensive enough to make players blink. |
Who Should Care
| Reader | Best use |
|---|---|
| Players who want a tech-forward class | Start with Inventor or Gunslinger. |
| Players who want a single gun or gadget | Start with firearms, ranged weapons, gadgets, or dedication feats. |
| GMs running Alkenstar-style tech | Read this hub, then technology in campaigns, session zero, and treasure by level. |
| GMs running classic fantasy | Use the book selectively for rare NPCs, treasure, siege scenes, ruins, automatons, and specialist villains. |
| Optimizers | Study Reload, hands, item activation, Crafting, and three-action economy before buying the fanciest nonsense in the catalog. |
Guns, Gears, Or Both
The most useful thing in Guns & Gears is not any single firearm. It is the permission model.
| Table model | What it means |
|---|---|
| Guns only | Firearms, black powder, Gunslinger, firearm accessories, artillery, and gun archetypes are available. |
| Gears only | Inventor, Automaton, gadgets, clockworks, vehicles, traps, and invention-facing archetypes are available. |
| Both | The campaign supports black powder and clockwork technology together. This works best when the world has visible infrastructure for both. |
| Regional technology | Options are tied to origin, training, patronage, treasure, downtime contacts, or travel. |
| Rare story technology | Technology appears as special treasure, NPC gear, ancient ruins, faction secrets, or campaign set pieces. |
Hot take: "Everything is available at every shop" is the dullest possible version of this book. Guns & Gears gets better when access says something about the world.
Player Options Review
Inventor
Inventor is the book's cleanest "gears" class. It is not a Wizard in goggles. It is a martial problem-solver whose identity comes from an innovation, Overdrive, unstable actions, Crafting, and a tolerance for occasionally discovering that science has consequences.
| Build axis | What to watch |
|---|---|
| Armor innovation | Durable and self-contained. Great for players who want tech flavor without managing a companion. |
| Construct innovation | Strong table presence, but it adds positioning, commands, repairs, and companion planning. Check companions and familiars. |
| Weapon innovation | The most direct offense path, but it asks you to understand weapon traits, runes, and action flow. Pair it with weapons and runes. |
| Crafting support | Crafting is not optional flavor. It is the skill that keeps the concept feeling real. |
| Gadgets | Gadgets are best when the campaign gives you formulas, downtime, and reasons to prepare tools before a scene. |
Best links: Inventor class, Inventor feats, Crafting, gadgets, adventuring gear and tools, and construct traits.
Gunslinger
Gunslinger is the book's "guns" class, but the actual class lesson is action economy. Firearms and crossbows can hit hard, especially on crits, but Reload is a bill that comes due every round unless your build plans around it.
| Build axis | What to watch |
|---|---|
| Firearms | Strong crit identity, real reload pressure, and a very different rhythm from bows. |
| Crossbows | Less flashy than guns, but more campaign-friendly when black powder access is limited. |
| Ways | Your way shapes how you move, reload, threaten space, talk, snipe, or fight up close. |
| Range and cover | Gunslingers need maps that care about distance, cover, doors, elevation, and sight lines. |
| Reactions | Firearm builds often care about timing, triggers, and whether the GM runs enemies intelligently. |
Best links: Gunslinger class, Gunslinger feats, firearms, ranged weapons, reactions, and action compression feats.
Automaton
Automaton is not just "robot person." It is a rare, story-facing ancestry built around an artificial body and a living soul. That means it works best when the campaign has room for ancient technology, lost civilizations, unusual origins, or a GM who wants ancestry choice to matter.
| Question | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| Where did the automaton come from? | The ancestry implies history, not just a body type. |
| How does the setting react? | Some regions treat walking ancient technology as a miracle, weapon, relic, or problem. |
| Are construct themes common? | Automaton feels different in a tech campaign than in a rural goblin-and-ghoul crawl. |
| What does the ancestry do for the class? | Automaton pairs naturally with Inventor, but it can also give any class a strong visual and narrative hook. |
Best links: Automaton ancestry, ancestry guides, heritage guide, character creation, and session zero.
Archetypes
Guns & Gears archetypes are at their best when they solve a specific campaign problem instead of simply adding a costume.
| Archetype family | Best use |
|---|---|
| Inventor and Gunslinger multiclass | Borrow the class engine without changing your whole character plan. |
| Artillerist and siege options | Campaigns with fortifications, vehicles, ship fights, battlefield weapons, or military objectives. |
| Beast Gunner | A weird magic-firearm lane that wants explicit GM approval and a campaign that enjoys rare weapons. |
| Overwatch | Tactical support for scouting, coordination, and team positioning. |
| Sterling Dynamo | A clockwork body-part fantasy for characters who want the tech to be physically obvious. |
| Trapsmith | Great when hazards, preparation, and battlefield setup are real parts of play. |
| Trick Driver and Vehicle Mechanic | Only worth it when vehicles are more than background props. |
Start with Guns & Gears archetypes, free archetype, archetype combinations, hazards, and subsystems.
Equipment Review
Firearms
Firearms are not modern weapons. They are early black powder and fantasy firearms balanced around Reload, traits, access, and critical hit identity. They feel best when maps reward range and cover but punish standing still forever.
| Strength | Cost |
|---|---|
| Big crit profile | You still need accuracy, teamwork, and setup. |
| Distinct weapon identity | You pay in Reload, hands, ammunition, and access. |
| Strong cinematic flavor | The GM has to decide how common black powder is. |
| Good class support | Gunslinger gets more from them than a random character with one pistol and a dream. |
Hot take: firearms are not overpowered by default. Bad encounter maps make them look better or worse than they are.
Combination Weapons
Combination weapons are for players who enjoy mode management. They can be stylish, but they make you care about which form you are using, whether you need to reload, how your runes apply, and how many actions your turn actually has.
Use them when the table enjoys tactical equipment. Avoid them when a player already struggles with basic actions and activities. The coolest weapon in the room is still bad if it takes three actions to explain.
Gadgets
Gadgets are consumable technology. They are strongest when the campaign rewards preparation, Crafting, formulas, workshops, scouting, and gear planning.
They are weaker in tables that hand-wave inventory, downtime, and shopping. That is not a moral failure. It just means gadgets may become expensive confetti.
Vehicles And Siege Weapons
Siege weapons and battle vehicles are scene tools, not casual shopping items. Use them for fort assaults, ship battles, road chases, military campaigns, boss set pieces, and large-scale objectives. If the party never has space, crew, targets, or routes, a vehicle is just an expensive paragraph.
For war-facing play, cross-link this with Battlecry, encounter building, movement actions, and flanking and positioning.
GM Options Review
Technology Access
Guns & Gears needs a better answer than "sure, buy whatever." Use GM Core rarity and access tools to decide what characters can start with, buy later, craft, earn from factions, or find as treasure.
| Access style | Best for |
|---|---|
| Common campaign tech | Alkenstar-style games, military technology campaigns, or full tech-fantasy parties. |
| Uncommon regional tech | Most campaigns. The option exists, but origin and story matter. |
| Rare story tech | Ancient automatons, beast guns, prototype weapons, strange vehicles, and faction secrets. |
| NPC-only tech | Villains, elite guards, monster hunters, inventors, battlefield set pieces, and treasure hooks. |
Regional Tone
The book gives many examples of technology living in specific places instead of floating around the setting like a universal shopping app. Alkenstar and Dongun Hold explain why firearms are prominent in the Mana Wastes. Other regions use black powder, clockwork, artillery, and invention in different cultural, legal, military, or occult ways. Numeria-style science fantasy is a different lane from the clockwork and black powder focus here.
Review-level takeaway: decide whether technology is industrial, military, ceremonial, illegal, experimental, inherited, factional, or weird. That choice does more for the campaign than listing every gun.
Encounter Design
Technology changes encounters when the GM builds scenes for it.
| Encounter element | What to include |
|---|---|
| Firearms | Cover, line of sight, elevation, reload windows, noise, smoke, and enemies who reposition. |
| Inventors | Objects to repair, hazards to disable, devices to improvise around, and enemies who threaten the innovation. |
| Automatons | NPC reactions, ancient ruins, construct enemies, and questions about repair, identity, and age. |
| Gadgets | Pre-mission information, scouting, downtime, formula access, and reasons preparation pays off. |
| Vehicles | Routes, crew roles, hazards, chase clocks, repairs, and objectives beyond "kill everything." |
| Siege weapons | Fortifications, distance, crews, cover, collateral, reload time, and battlefield stakes. |
Use hazards, custom monsters, creature traits, stat blocks, and encounter use to make these scenes feel like Pathfinder rather than a shopping list.
Core Book Context
| Source | Why it matters here |
|---|---|
| Player Core | Actions, Interact, item use, weapon traits, conditions, Crafting, Repair, and the math assumptions underneath every firearm and gadget. |
| Player Core 2 | Alchemist, Investigator, Ranger, Fighter, Monk, Swashbuckler, and other classes help compare item-heavy, action-heavy, and precision-heavy builds. |
| GM Core | Rarity, access, treasure, downtime, DCs, hazards, vehicles, and campaign tone decide whether this book sings or just clanks. |
| Monster Core | Constructs, clockworks, resistances, weaknesses, encounter roles, and creature traits help technology scenes land cleanly. |
Best Starting Paths
| Goal | Start here |
|---|---|
| I want to play the tech class | Inventor, then Inventor feats, Crafting, and gadgets. |
| I want to play the gun class | Gunslinger, then Gunslinger feats, firearms, and action compression. |
| I want a construct ancestry | Automaton, then ancestry guides, heritage guide, and session zero. |
| I want only a splash of tech | Guns & Gears archetypes, dedication feats ranked, and equipment. |
| I am the GM | Technology in campaigns, session zero, treasure by level, and encounter building. |
What To Skip Or Delay
| Option | Delay it when |
|---|---|
| Beast guns | The table has not agreed to rare fantasy firearms or monster-derived weapons. |
| Vehicles | The adventure has no travel routes, chases, crews, battlefield objectives, or repair pressure. |
| Siege weapons | The campaign has no forts, ships, armies, walls, or large-scale targets. |
| Combination weapons | The player does not want mode switching, reload management, and rune questions. |
| Gadget-heavy play | The campaign ignores formulas, downtime, inventory, and preparation. |
| Full tech access | The campaign tone is supposed to feel remote, mythic, primal, or low-infrastructure. |
Hot take: "Can I buy it?" is the wrong first question. Ask "Will the campaign make this fun after session one?"
Common Mistakes
| Mistake | Better approach |
|---|---|
| Assuming firearms replace bows | Treat them as different weapons with different costs, not straight upgrades. |
| Forgetting Reload | Reload is part of the balance. Do not erase it unless the class or feat explicitly earns that efficiency. |
| Treating Inventor as pure flavor | The class needs scenes where Crafting, repairs, devices, and problem-solving matter. |
| Approving Automaton without setting context | Rare ancestry permission should include a story answer, not just a character sheet checkbox. |
| Giving vehicles no vehicle scenes | If the party owns a vehicle, build routes, hazards, crews, enemies, and repairs around it. |
| Using siege weapons as normal weapons | Siege equipment belongs to battlefield, fortification, ship, and set-piece play. |
| Making every tech item common | Rarity and access are your friends. Let the world have texture. |
Hot Takes
Guns & Gears is at its best when it is not just "Pathfinder, but with guns." It is a worldbuilding book disguised as an equipment book.
Inventor is the stronger table test than Gunslinger. A firearm mostly asks whether Reload and access work. Inventor asks whether the campaign actually has room for engineering, repairs, gadgets, and invention-based problem solving.
Combination weapons are cool, but cool is not a build plan. If the player does not enjoy fiddly action economy, hand management, and weapon traits, give them a normal weapon and let them be happy.
Vehicles and siege weapons should be treated like adventure structure. If they are not shaping the scene, they are probably clutter.
Final Notes
Use Guns & Gears when technology should change character options, treasure, maps, and campaign tone. Use it carefully when the campaign only wants a little black powder flavor.
