[3.5e]Ranged build for 6 man campaign

[Aerilith]

Hello,

I'm completely new to these forums, and rather new to the game in general, so please bear with me.

I'm making a character for a 6-man campaign, I want it to be ranged, either an archer or a caster (though being somewhat capable of melee would be alright for the archer path)
We'll be starting at level 1.

The books allowed are:
Player Handbooks
Dungeon Master guides
The 'Complete' series
Races of Stone (-Goliath, Chaos Gnome, Whisper Gnome and Feral Gargun)
Races of Wild (-Raptorans and Chapter 4)
Race of Destiny (-Chapter 3 and 4)

Rolls
18 18 15 14 12 12 These are quite good, so a class utilizing that would be nice.

Furthermore, I am required to be a goblinoid or kobold creature due to the story, as I am joining the campaign a little late.
Limitations on books do not apply to race-selection. (as long as it's goblinoid/kobold)

The remainder of the team are quite melee heavy, which is why I figured I'd go ranged:
Rogue
Barbarian
Druid
Cleric
Hexblade

None of the players are very experienced, so builds will probably not be very optimized.

So far, I have considered starting out as a Scout, Wizard/Sorcerer or a bard/buffer-sort of character.
I've mostly been looking at PrCs, in hopes of finding something interesting, and then picking a base class based on requirements.
I've never played an archer, and I've heard they were lacking in damage at times.
I considered an Initiate of the Seven Fold Veil at one point, but figured it might be too powerful for the party.

If some of you could please provide some inspiration along these lines, that would be much appreciated.
I realize it's quite an open question, and my considerations aren't very specific, but please feel free to ask for clarification.

Thank you in advance!

[SowZ]

I like Bard archers, honestly, if I am not shooting for the starts OP-wise. Too bad Drag Mag isn't allowed, you could multiclass to improve your arching ability and pick up chaos music. Ah, well. Scouts are nice, too. Any chance he would let you make a DC 40 Tumble check to get two free 5 foot moves in a turn? It is listed as one of the things tumble can do but not in any of the books you listed.

[TuggyNE]

Eldariel's Archery Handbook (http://web.archive.org/web/20100612195856/http://brilliantgameologists.com/boards/index.php?topic=642.0) is quite good, I believe, and certainly rather comprehensive.

Swift Hunter (Scout/Ranger) is a pretty decent setup if you can get enough movement, or if you can manage XPH's Greater Manyshot (which unfortunately doesn't seem to be on the list of books).

[Aerilith]

@tuggyne
Missing out on Greater Manyshot is one of the main reasons why I went from considering a scout, to considering a caster of some sort.
I'm not sure how detrimental it would be, but quite a few people certainly seem to think it's a key feat.

I'll take a look at the archery handbook, it seems very comprehensive.



@SowZ
The track-record of him allowing stuff outside the books he specified is not very good I'm afraid.
I will check with him once I get the chance, but would not having this ability be a reason not to get the class? It seems to me that a DC40 won't be possible for the early levels either way. (I realize later on it will have a larger impact)

[Tvtyrant]

So my usual suggestions for archery are Artificer (disallowed here) and Chameleon (you are level 1.) So with neither of those I would probably go Zen Archery cleric. This allows you to use your wisdom as your arrows to-hit. The next part depends on your DMs tolerance for cheese; ask about Divine Metamagic Persist for archery buffs.

If you stick to archery buffs it is not too OP, and when you go into Chameleon you can persist the phenomenal Ranger archery buffs. That will take advantage of your amazing skill set (you get tons of different abilities that key off of different things), and let you be a fair archer from level 1.

[Gwendol]

Seconding bard archer. Your inspire courage ability is likely to be the greatest source of damage in your party, what with the druid being an army of one from the start (and the cleric falling in line later on, once he/she starts to figure out how to use summons and other called creatures).
Furthermore, you don't have much arcane power, and with the right bard you will get one (look up Sublime Chord in Complete Arcane).

[Pilo]

You may try a kobold sorcerer, with a standard blaster/summoner build.

Archery will be hard for you as you will be short and have a big penality on strenght.

Stats as following:
Str: 12-4
Dex: 15+2
Con: 18-2
Int: 14
Wis: 12
Cha: 18

Your ranged attack bonus will be +4 so you can use rays.

Spell selection:

Lvl0(4):
Acid splash
Detect magic
Message
Mage hand

Lvl1:
Hypnotism/Color spray/Sleep
Magic missile

And you should buy a crossbow and 20 quarrels.

[Aerilith]

You may try a kobold sorcerer, with a standard blaster/summoner build.

That seems like a really interesting suggestion - though I'd think it wiser to go more for battlefield control, as we already have plenty of damage.
Would a sorcerer do this equally as well as a Wizard?

I do think the very limited amount of spells known would bother me at first though. Int just seems like a much better stat than Cha.

[limejuicepowder]

Well the travel domain is in complete champion, so that would be allowed, yes? Cleric 1/scout 4/ranger X build would be solid.

feats: point blank shot (1), precise shot (3), swift hunter (6), improved skirmish (9)

If you want to get improved skirmish sooner (it'll boost your damage considerably), take a 5th scout level and grab it with your 6th level feat. Then switch to ranger and get swift hunter at 9.

I'd try to have a 12 cha so your turning pool is 4. Convert all turns in to uses of travel devotion for 3 total uses per day.

[DEMON]

Well the travel domain is in complete champion, so that would be allowed, yes? Cleric 1/scout 4/ranger X build would be solid.

feats: point blank shot (1), precise shot (3), swift hunter (6), improved skirmish (9)

If you want to get improved skirmish sooner (it'll boost your damage considerably), take a 5th scout level and grab it with your 6th level feat. Then switch to ranger and get swift hunter at 9.

I'd try to have a 12 cha so your turning pool is 4. Convert all turns in to uses of travel devotion for 3 total uses per day.

Umm... Scout 4 gets a bonus feat so Clr 1/Sco 3/Rgr 2/Sco +1/Rgr +X will get him Swift Hunter at 6 and Imp. Skirmish at 7. You can get both feats at lvl 6 by pospoining 2nd level of Ranger but you'll postpone the Rapid Shot bonus feat as well.
Also there is a cleric domain that gives Extra Turning feat, the name eludes me right now, though...

[Aran Thule]

If your being forced to be a goblin or kobold i would see if you can use Races of the Dragon which has a whole section on Kobolds as well as Feats and PrC.
I would also suggest Bard or Sorc.

[Pilo]

Wizard are hard to play , you have to prepare spell before and as a new player, you will often find yourself thinking, "Too bad, I don't prepare this spell which would have been useful!", As a sorcerer, your option will be more limited (but still wide enough if you select your spell carefully) but almost always available.

But a wizard is almost always capable to do as good as a sorcerer.

[Darrin]

Hmm... is Air Goblin (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/races/elementalRacialVariants.htm#airGoblins) (Unearthed Arcana/SRD) available? Some groups consider the online SRD to be part of Core. If so:

Str 10 Dex 22 Con 16 Int 15 Wis 14 Cha 12
(Note: You can throw Dragonborn of Bahumat on there for Dex 20/Con 18, and then take the Heart aspect and swap Endurance/Track for Dragon Wings or Wings aspect and swap Endurance Track for Dragon Tail.)

Otherwise... does Kobold include the RotD Web Enhancements (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/we/20060420a)? If Unearthed Arcana/SRD is allowed, then maybe consider Earth Kobold (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/races/elementalRacialVariants.htm#earthKobolds):

Str 10 Dex 18 Con 16 Int 15 Wis 14 Cha 12

How about... Swift Hunter + Crossbow Sniper:

1) Ranger 1. Feat: PB Shot, Bonus: Track
2) Ranger 2. Bonus: Rapid Shot
3) Fighter 1. Feat: Travel Devotion. Bonus: Rapid Reload
4) Fighter 2. Bonus: WF Light Crossbow
5) Scout 1. Skirmish 1d6
6) Scout 2. Feat: Crossbow Sniper.
7) Scout 3. Skirmish 1d6AC+1
8) Scout 4. Bonus: Swift Hunter. Skirmish 2d6AC+1/4d6AC+3.
9) Ranger 3. Feat: Travel Devotion. Bonus: Endurance. Skirmish 2d6AC+2/4d6AC+4
10) Ranger 4.
11) Ranger 5. Skirmish 3d6AC+2/5d6AC+4
12) Ranger 6. Feat: Greater Manyshot. Bonus: Manyshot.
13) Dragon Devotee 1.
14) Dragon Devotee 2. Skirmish 4d6AC+2/6d6AC+4
15) Dragon Devotee 3. Feat: Imp. Rapid Shot. 1st level Sorcerer casting (get at least 2 divination spells)
16) Dragon Devotee 4. Skirmish 5d6AC+2/7d6AC+4
17) Unseen Seer 1. Skirmish 6d6AC+2/7d6AC+4
18) Unseen Seer 2. Feat: Travel Devotion. Advanced Learning: Hunter's Eye
19) Unseen Seer 3.
20) Unseen Seer 4. Skirmish 7d6AC+2/9d6AC+4

(Or you can finish off with Ranger 7-13/Highland Stalker 2 if you don't want to muck around with Sorcerer spells.)

[sleepyphoenixx]

Why not do it all?
Bard 7/Master Thrower 2/Druid 1/Sublime Chord 2/Fochlucan Lyrist 8 gets 16 BAB, 9th lvl arcane and 5th level divine spells and lvl 16 bard song.
It's rather tight on skill and feat requirements though so there's not a lot of room for customization.