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Archives of Nethys

Archives of Nethys

Pathfinder RPG (1st Edition) Pathfinder RPG (2nd Edition) Starfinder RPG

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Guns & Gears / Guns Equipment / Fantasy Firearms

Beast Guns

Source Guns & Gears pg. 154 2.0
Arcadia's history of gunsmithing goes back centuries, and Arcadia may very well have been the first continent on Golarion in which firearms were developed. While Arcadia's Deadshot Lands are famous for their rare and prestigious skymetal guns, patterned after the star guns of old, more common in other regions are beast guns, created as part of a long-standing rite of passage.

While they don't look much like ancient star guns and use a different kind of magic, beast guns are particularly notable in that, like star guns, they rely on magic rather than black powder. Beast guns can produce unique effects beyond simply damaging their targets.

Beast guns aren't loaded with the same ammunition as other guns, but they do still use ammunition, rather than shooting magical energy like a star gun. This ammunition comes as specially designed rounds, such as miniature tentacles fired from the tentacle gun or javelin-like spikes from the spike gun. Unless otherwise stated, these rounds come in packs of 10 that cost 1 sp and have light Bulk. The only weapon in this section that works significantly differently is the growth gun, which grows back a gob of its own ammunition once per round, ensuring you always have enough ammunition to fire a shot every round.

Monster hunters of all kinds roam Arcadia slaying beasts and harvesting their body parts to produce new beast guns, both new examples of established models and brand new types never seen or imagined before. Even after thousands of years, innovators expand the possibilities of what a beast gun can do.

The following pages contain a small sample of the many kinds of beast guns crafted in Arcadia. Each beast gun is a specific magic item. You can find more information on the ritual used in hunting the beasts to create a beast gun on page 130.

Related Rules

Weapons (Source Core Rulebook pg. 599 4.0)