Monster Archer

[Uhtred]

My buddy just died, again, for the third time in our campaign and is debating building a new character. Our DM has house-ruled out Monster Hit Die, but not Level Adjustment, so my Centaur, for example, is an (extremely overpowered for the price) LA 2, no monster hit dice paid, just the starting stats in the MM plus class levels, so at ECL 5 he was a Centaur 2/Fighter 3. Keeping that in mind, my buddy is currently playing a (Dead) Harsaff 4/Ranger 2/Fighter 4/Order of the Bow Initiate 1, and is looking to build another archer, and our DM's letting him build a character at the same level, ECL 11. He asked my advice and I'm too tired to comb the Monster Manuals and other sourcebooks for a new race, so does anyone know of a race that's particularly suited to being an archer? We're probably going to give him Hank's Energy Bow, from the D&D cartoon show that Wizards came up with stats for, so keep that in mind, too. Favored class/multiclassing penalties also do not apply, but our DM is wary of any cheesy super-multiclassed builds. So no Ranger2/Rogue 2/Fighter 2/Barbarian 2/Wizard 2/Bard 1 sort of things. He did, however, say all the books were open for race selection, but we're going to try to keep his LA underneath 5 if we can manage it.

[Thurbane]

I don't think there's any better monster race at archery than the Arrow Demon (MM3, p.34). Without LA, it's still 10 RHD, though. Still, it is a truly imposing archer.

Oops, misread. Without RHD, the Arrow Demon is LA +8. Pretty high.

[Eloel]

For an archer, if going monstrous is an option, try to find a race with many arms, and go MWF. Volley archery is pretty much the only way for archery to stay viable, so you might as well go all the way.


I don't think there's any better monster race at archery than the Arrow Demon (MM3, p.34). Without LA, it's still 10 RHD, though. Still, it is a truly imposing archer.

They're doing it the other way around - no RHD, LA is in play, if I understood correctly.

[IthroZada]

Anthropomorphic Cheetah, based on stats alone as opposed to any special range bonuses.
+2 LA, +6 Str, +8 Dex, +4 Con, +4 Wis, +1 Natural Armor, 40 speed
Or Leopard, it's the exact same stats with 10 less speed.

[Feytalist]

For an archer, if going monstrous is an option, try to find a race with many arms, and go MWF. Volley archery is pretty much the only way for archery to stay viable, so you might as well go all the way.

Heh, three-kreen with 4 self-loading hand crossbows?

[Uhtred]

That Anthropomorphic Cheetah sounds like it may be the way to go. We had a guy play a Thri-Kreen Monk in a previous campaign and our DM was on the verge of screaming bull**** the entire time; I feel like it would be pushing his limits to go for a volley archer. Still, at 11, keeping to classes with a good BAB progression, he'll have his third iterative attack. Enchant the Energy Bow with Speed and he'll be doing force-based greatsword damage four times a round from a distance of a hundred and ten feet. Not too bad. What book is the Cheetah in? Savage Species?

[IthroZada]

What book is the Cheetah in? Savage Species?

It is indeed. Go ahead and look through the other anthropomorphic animals in there, I pretty much just picked the one with the highest dex.

[Uhtred]

And it has a nice strength bonus to boot. Well, if he decides to build anew, I think that's how we'll do it, with maybe a couple more Ranger levels (Or maybe Rogue? Evasion could really help this guy I think) to replace the other +2 levels in the build if we drop Harsaff. Thanks for the help! Any better races out there, under 5 LA, I'm willing to hear them. He may screech and moan about the loss of his SLA's, but the boosted movement and wisdom scores should ease the pain a little, especially when the pot is sweetened with shiny new class abilities. :)

[Xanmyral]

This might help if you want better survivability. Take one of those anthropomorphic races, dash in some necropolitan, and stir in some spell stitching of various helpful spells, with special attention payed to inflict spells for self healing capabilities. Just make sure to have a good-ish wisdom to get the most out of spell stitch. Since it seems like you can do this from character generation, you can dump constitution due to the fact that it will be "-" from being undead via necropolitan. Snag a nice d12 hit die, self healing, immunity to criticals, disease, poison, basically anything that requires a fort save that doesn't effect objects. It never states, as far as I've seen, in the spell stitching description that you specifically need to be able to cast the spell yourself, so you can have fun with the self healing and various other nice stuff you may be able to get out of it. It a chunk of exp and gold, but it should more then enough make up for it.

Edit - Some clarification. A wizard or sorcerer needs to spell stitch you, but it doesn't have to be you so you can pay someone or etcetera. Inflict spells fall under the school of necromancy, so while an arcane caster may not be able to specifically cast it, an arcane, divine hybrid caster could. I will admit, this is reaching into the realms of sketchy though.

[Darrin]

Heh, three-kreen with 4 self-loading hand crossbows?

Try the Tako (Oriental Adventures). 7 self-loading crossbows, or 3 composite longbows. I have no idea what the LA would be.

[Feytalist]

Try the Tako (Oriental Adventures). 7 self-loading crossbows, or 3 composite longbows. I have no idea what the LA would be.

With 3 longbows, I can only imagine what the odd hand will do. Throwing knives, perhaps?

[Eloel]

Or you could go with 6 hand crossbows, using the 7th to reload them?