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ShneekeyTheLost
2006-07-28, 03:15 AM
Shadow Sniper v2.0
The most dangerous attack is the one you never saw comming...
-Anonymous, quoted by every Armsmaster worth his pay
This is a Shadowdancer variant which I find much more to my tastes. It's a more sniper-oriented version, with some parts inspired from other PrC's I've read about here on various forums.
Hit Die: d6
Requirements:
To qualify to become Shadow Sniper, a character must fulfill the following criteria:
Skills: Move Silently 9 ranks, Hide 9 ranks, Spot 9 ranks
Feats: Point Blank Shot, Precise Shot
Special: Evasion, Sneak Attack +3d6, must have made peaceful contact with a denizen of the Plane of Shadow
Class Skills:
Shadow Sniper class skills (and key attribute for each) are Balance (Dex), Bluff (Cha), Concentration (Con), Disguise (Cha), Escape Artist (Dex), Hide (Dex), Jump (Str), Listen (Wis), Move Silently (Dex), Profession (Wis), Search (Int), Sleight of Hand (Dex),Search (Int), Spot (Wis), Tumble (Dex), and Use Rope (Dex).
Skill Points at Each Level: 6 + Int modifier.
{table="head"]Level | BAB | Ref | Fort | Will | Special Abilities
1 | +0 | +2 | +0 | +0 | Sniper's Eye
2 | +1 | +3 | +0 | +0 | Darkvision, Uncanny Dodge
3 | +2 | +3 | +1 | +1 | Shadow Illusion, Sneak Attack +1d6
4 | +3 | +4 | +1 | +1 | Shadow Jump 20 ft, Cloak of Shadow
5 | +3 | +4 | +1 | +1 | Take Aim, Silent Shadow
6 | +4 | +5 | +2 | +2 | Shadow Jump 40 ft, Sneak Attack +2d6, Summon Darkness
7 | +5 | +5 | +2 | +2 | Shadow Meld
8 | +6 | +6 | +2 | +2 | Shadow Jump 80 Ft, Improved Sniper's Eye
9 | +6 | +6 | +3 | +3 | Sneak Attack +3d6, Improved Darkvision
10 | +7 | +7 | +3 | +3 | Shadow Jump 160 ft, Improved Evasion, Summon Deeper Darkness[/table]

Class Features:
Weapon and Armor Proficiency: None additional.
Sniper's Eye (Ex): At 1st level, the Shadow Sniper can sneak attack enemies from the safety of distance with deadly accuracy. The shadow sniper becomes able to inflict ranged sneak attack damage against targets within 60 feet.
Darkvision(Ex): At 2nd level, a Shadow Sniper gains darkvision of 60'
Uncanny Dodge(Ex): Starting at 2nd level, a Shadow Sniper retains his Dexterity bonus to AC (if any) regardless of being caught flat-footed or struck by an invisible attacker. (He still loses any Dexterity bonus to AC if immobilized.)
If a character gains uncanny dodge from a second class, the character automatically gains improved uncanny dodge, and their levels stack to determine the required level rogue to flank them.
Shadow Illusion (Sp): When a shadowdancer reaches 3rd level, she can create visual illusions. This ability's effect is identical to that of the arcane spell silent image and may be employed once per day.
Sneak Attack This is exactly like the rogue ability of the same name. The extra damage dealt increases by +1d6 every three levels (3rd, 6th, and 9th). If a shadow sniper gets a sneak attack bonus from another source the bonuses on damage stack.
Shadow Jump (Su): At 4th level, a Shadow Sniper gains the ability to travel between shadows as if by means of a dimension door spell. The limitation is that the magical transport must begin and end in an area with at least some shadow. A Shadow Sniper can jump up to a total of 20 feet each day in this way; this may be a single jump of 20 feet or two jumps of 10 feet each. Every two levels higher than 4th, the distance a shadowdancer can jump each day doubles (40 feet at 6th, 80 feet at 8th, and 160 feet at 10th). This amount can be split among many jumps, but each one, no matter how small, counts as a 10-foot increment.
Cloak of Shadow(Ex): At 4th level, a Shadow Sniper's affinity with shadow lets him blend in with shadows. As long as he is within 10' of some sort of deep shadow, a Shadow Sniper is considered to have Concealment. He may not hide in his own shadow.
Silent Shadow (Ex): At 5th level, a Shadow Sniper's affinity with shadows allows them to move at their full speed while Moving Silently without penalty.
Take Aim (Ex): By aiming carefully at a stationary target, the shadow sniper can increase his chances of striking that target with a single ranged attack. The sniper can opt to forego his regular attacks that round and Take Aim at the target with a single ranged weapon, a full-round action that grants him a +4 circumstance bonus to her attack roll. He can choose to continue to Take Aim for an additional number of rounds equal to his sniper level. Each additional round spent Taking Aim requires a Concentration check (DC 15); success adds another +2 bonus to her attack roll with the pending missile; failure requires him to let loose his missile that round or lose any accumulated bonuses. The shadow sniper can accumulate a maximum Take Aim bonus no higher than 4 + his sniper level.
Summon Darkness (Su): At 6th level, a shadow sniper can call forth darkness from the Plane of Shadow. This has the same effect as the darkness spell. This ability is usable once per day. Use the number of shadow sniper levels as the number of spellcaster levels to determine effect.
At 10th level, the Shadow Sniper's summon darkness ability acts as a deeper darkness spell for the effects of range, but duration stays at 10 min/level of shadowdancer.
Shadow Meld (Su): At 7th level, the Shadow Sniper's affinity with the Plane of Shadow becomes great enough that he can slip into a pocket dimension between the prime material plane and the plane of shadow. To use this ability, the shadow sniper must be completely in shadow or darkness, and if the area ever becomes illuminated, the shadow sniper is ejected from this pocket and must make a concentration check (DC 15) or be stunned for one round.While the sniper is in the pocket, he cannot move, but is effectively ethereal, and not affected by anything from the material plane. Likewise, he cannot affect the material plane whatsoever. He cannot be seen by any means short of True Sight, however he can see out of his pocket just fine. He can maintain the Shadow Meld for as long as he can maintain his concentration and as long as the shadow or darkness lasts. Any distractions will cause him to make a Concentration check of appropriate difficulty. If he falls asleep, however, he automatically fails to maintain concentration and has a 25% chance of slipping into the Plane of Shadow rather than falling back to the Material Plane.
Improved Sniper's Eye (Ex) At 8th level, the Shadow Sniper's accuracy with his ranged weapon becomes nearly ledgendary. Any target he uses his Take Aim ability on and otherwise qualifies for a Sneak Attack may be hit with a Sneak Attack out to his first range increment (taking into account things which modify the range increment such as Far Shot). This ability may only be used on a target which he is using Take Aim on.
Improved Darkvision (Su): At 9th level, a shadow sniper's darkvision can see through even magical darkness.
Improved Evasion (Ex): This ability, gained at 10th level, allows a shadow Sniper to take no damage at all on successful saving throws against attacks that allow a Reflex saving throw for half damage. What's more, she takes only half damage even if she fails her saving throw.

TheOOB
2006-07-28, 03:25 AM
The class is good, but I think a few things should be changed.

First, hide in plan sight should be givin at a later level, otherwise you'll get too many people splashing a level in this class.

Improved Snipers eye is way too powerful, with it you could sneak attack from hundreds of feat away which just isn't right. I would limit the range to between 90-120 ft which would still allow you to make really long sneak attacks, but not kill an opposing general from across the battlefield.

Make evasion a prereq for the class if your giving it improved evasion.

ShneekeyTheLost
2006-07-28, 03:31 AM
The class is good, but I think a few things should be changed.

First, hide in plan sight should be givin at a later level, otherwise you'll get too many people splashing a level in this class.

Why not? Shadowdancer in PhB 3.5 does as well.


Improved Snipers eye is way too powerful, with it you could sneak attack from hundreds of feat away which just isn't right. I would limit the range to between 90-120 ft which would still allow you to make really long sneak attacks, but not kill an opposing general from across the battlefield.

Changed it to the first range increment. That'll give you typically 120 for composite longbow, or out to 240 if someone has Far Shot. Keep in mind, you'd have to already be aiming at the guy for a full round before launching your shot at him, so it's not exactly something you're going to be using multiple times in one round.


Make evasion a prereq for the class if your giving it improved evasion.

Done. I don't see how someone could qualify for this class without it, seeing as how Rogue is needed for Sneak Attack +3d6 and gets Evasion well before, but just so everyone is clear, I put in Evasion as a prerequsite.

TheOOB
2006-07-28, 03:51 AM
Shadowdancer does get hide in plan sight at first level, but it really shouldn't. As it stands almost every rogue takes one level of shadowdancer, which really doesn't make sense.

Just because its a WotC PrC doesn't mean its perfect.

Your other changes are good, the though of someone sneak attacking someone 500ft (or more away) and still having a good chance of hitting was scary.

martyboy74
2006-07-28, 07:57 AM
I like it; he concept is much better than the Shadow Dancer's. It looks pretty balanced. I'm sure it could be broken, but that'd be on the CO boards.

Fax Celestis
2006-07-28, 12:46 PM
Done. I don't see how someone could qualify for this class without it, seeing as how Rogue is needed for Sneak Attack +3d6 and gets Evasion well before, but just so everyone is clear, I put in Evasion as a prerequsite.
Well, I could get Sneak Attack +3d6 from a number of sources that don't give evasion: Blackguard, for one, even if the progression is slow. Assassin for another. Spellthief, Dread Commando, Daggerspell Mage, Daggerspell Shaper, Scout, Highland Stalker, Shadowbane Stalker, Shadowmind, Spymaster...there's more too, especially since things like Sudden Strike and Skirmish count as Sneak Attacks for the purpose of qualification.

ShneekeyTheLost
2006-07-30, 10:44 PM
So with the changes made, it looks pretty much good to go as a ranged variant on the ShadowDancer?

Hario
2006-07-31, 01:09 AM
I'd say give it deft strike from the draconomicon, basically it nulls any armor/natural armor bonus when you beat a spot check vs. targets AC...

Steward
2006-07-31, 01:56 AM
You might want to edit 'PrC Name' to 'Shadow Sniper'.