Carl
2013-08-09, 05:32 PM
Requirements:
Alignment: Any
Race: Any
BAB: 6+
Feats: Weapon Focus (any of the following: Crossbows, (light and heavy types), Slings, Longbow’s, Shortbows, Repeating Crossbows, (light and heavy types)), Point Blank Shot, Precise Shot.
Class Skill:s Spot, Listen, Heal, Knowledge (Architecture and Engineering), Knowledge (Dungeoneering)
Skills Points: 4 + Int
Hit Dice: D6
{table=head]Level|Base Attack Bonus|Fort Save|Ref Save|Will Save|Special
1st|+0|+0|+2|+0|Ranged Specialist
2nd|+1|+0|+3|+0|Precision Shooting
3rd|+1|+1|+3|+1|Improved Precise Shot
4th|+2|+1|+4|+1|Fletcher
5th|+2|+1|+4|+1|Instant Reload, Improved Shield Use
6th|+3|+2|+5|+2|Volley Fire
7th|+3|+2|+5|+2|Responsive Fire, Combat Reflexes
8th|+4|+2|+6|+2|Defensive Posture
9th|+4|+3|+6|+3|Piercing Shot
10th|+5|+3|+7|+3|Devastating Strikes
[/table]
Weapon & Armour Proficiencies: An Archer is proficient with Daggers, Light Maces, Handaxes, Shortswords, Crossbows, (light and heavy types), Slings, Longbow’s, Shortbows, and Repeating Crossbows, (light and heavy types). An Archer is also proficient with light armour, and all shield types, (including Tower Shields).
General Note: Any rule for the archer class which refers to ranged weapons should be treated as referring to only the non-throwing ranged weapons that are granted by the classes weapons proficiencies. Ranged weapons of other kinds are never affected by these rules.
Class Features:
Ranged Specialist (lv 1 Ex): An Archer is a ranged specialist and as such gains a bonus to all attack rolls equal to her level in the archer class. In addition so good is her control over her weapon that it is no longer affected by wind conditions, magical or otherwise, and as such is neither blocked by such things, nor do they impart any attack roll penalties.
Precision Shooting (lv 2 Ex): So precise are the Archers shots that she may add her Dexterity modifier to the damage of all ranged attacks. However if she does so she may not add her strength modifier, even if using a weapon, (e.g. composite Longbow), that would normally allow her to do so.
Improved Precise Shot (lv 3): At 3rd level an Archer gains the improved precise shot feat for free, even if she does not meet the prerequisites.
Fletcher (lv 4 Ex): Starting at 4th level, whenever an Archer uses her Craft Arms and Armour skill to craft any of her ranged weapons or any form of ammunition for them she may add her Archer level as a bonus to her skill check.
Instant Reload (lv 5 Ex): An Archer may now reload any ranged weapon she uses as a free action.
Improved Shield Use (lv 5 Ex): Over time an Archer comes to rely upon their shield as a potent defence against the attacks of her many and varied enemies. As a result she quickly becomes highly skilled in it’s use. An Archer who has not moved this round may now use a shield and fire her ranged weapon at the same time, even if the weapon requires two hands. Additionally, moving or not, shields, (including Tower shields), no longer inflict an armour check penalty upon an Archer, and she may ignore it’s weight for encumbrance purposes. Finally, tower shields no longer have a dexterity modifier cap, nor do they inflict an Attack Roll Penalty.
Volley Fire (lv 6 Ex):As a full round action an Archer may make a number of attacks with a ranged weapon equal to one half of her Archer level. These attacks are all resolved at her full BAB.
Responsive Fire (lv 7 Ex): An Archer who has not moved in her last round now threatens any square that is inside one range increment of her ranged weapon. As such she may respond to any action that would normally grant an attack of opportunity by firing her ranged weapon once, (she must of course have it in her hands to do so).
Combat Reflex’s (lv 7): At 7th level an Archer gains the Combat Reflexes feat for free, however she may only benefit from it’s effects with her ranged weapons.
Defensive Posture (lv 8 Ex): So long as she does not move that round an Archer wielding a Shield gains a bonus to her AC vs all attacks, (including touch attacks), equal to her Archer level. This bonus is lost if the archer is engaged in melee for more than one round.
Black Arrow (lv 9 Ex): An Archer may at the cost of 100GP per arrow and a DC20 crafting check craft specelised Black arrows.
Such is the power of these arrows that they are now able penetrate any Wall’s of force, Prismatic Walls, or Prismatic sphere’s. Such objects if struck are destroyed and the arrow’s flight continues un-impeded. Physical walls and other mundane sources of total cover 5ft or less in thickness may also be penetrated in the same manner, though you must of course be aware of the target to conduct attacks upon them.
Devastating Strikes (lv 10 Ex): When using any of her ranged weapons, the base number of damage dice are doubled. Note this is an increase to the base number and as such effects like critical hits will scale off this new number.
Author Notes:
Ok first up I’m suffering from cold as I’ve been writing this and I threw it together in an afternoon rather than my usual week+ development process so if I made a grievous error you know why. Also despite the name archer I’m actually arranging the class to cover all ammo consuming ranged weapons besides hand crossbows.
I flip flopped on the base vs prestige line a few times before going with this prestige class format, I just couldn’t come up with enough good stuff for a base class, but PrC worked ok if a littlie awkwardly with a couple of concepts.
I didn’t go overboard on either skills or skill points and I kept the HD modest, the aim was more creating an effective ranged weapon user than anything else.
Which leads me onto the BA progression and the first skill. Half BAB kept the melee progression down whilst the ranged specialist rule gave me the attack roll boost needed to make the class work. Going for double level was really required with the limited number of PrC levels available, but it does create some extreme scaling at the top end. The real reason though you want that 1st level of archer is the ability to go “screw you” at wind wall and the like.
Your next skill is really nice however, getting to forget your strength stat even exists whilst giving all ranged weapons a nice damage upgrade really helps put the hurt on, whilst not, (for the level), going overboard.
The next 4 skills in line aren’t quite so spectacular, but they help shore up specific area’s nicely. IPC gives you the ability to Support melee team-mates whilst getting round a number of otherwise negative effects, though of course it doesn’t help with invisible opponents. Fletcher helps you keep your weapons up to date and plenty of ammo on hand. And instant reload helps bring all Crossbows up to bow levels of utility. Improved Shield Use is mostly there for the sake of making shields a bit more appetising in the short term, so that when the big effect comes in a few levels later you’ve had a reason to be using one for a while.
Volley Fire a level later comes in just as a full BAB class would be getting it’s next iterative attack. With this not only do you get your third, but it’s more accurate too, and you’ll get more faster than anyone else from there, which should help deal with some of the issues vis a vis lower average damage with ranged weapons. The full BAB here helps too as it makes the latter attacks more accurate to boot.
Responsive Fire paired with combat reflex’s is the nod at the issue of melee fighters just trying to charge in and cut the Archer up. Trying is going to result in much pin-cushioning now.
Defensive posture is the real reason you’ll want to use a shield as an archer.. That AC bonus is going to muck up a charging melee character something fierce, giving you a bit more survival time, but the increase in touch AC will really help vs a wide range of spells.
Piercing shot for a supposedly non-magical ability is rather OTT, but it does what needs to be done, makes wizards unable to hide inside their safety walls, and it has some nice secondary utility vs cover to boot.
Devastating Strikes helps add that final extra bit of damage, particularly on criticals, that’s needed to keep the damage scaling up.
Overall I think I hit my main target of making a PRC that makes ranged weapons relatively useful. The higher average damage should bypass the DR issues and their tricks give them the ability to attack and defend despite the majority of magic user missile defences. It’s not perfect, greater invisibility and Enlarge spell on a long range spell can give the wizard some get out of jail free cards, and there is a selecting, even in core, of spells that require neither touch attacks nor allow reflex saves. But I wasn’t trying to create a wizard equivalent anyway, just an effective ranged weapon user, and against all but the most munchkinned spellcasters and the like I think I’ve got there.
EDIT1: Made some updates, put an only when stationery limit on Improved shield use and changed Defensive Posture to a straight fixed by level bonus. Also dropped the attack roll bonus down and replaced piercing shot with Black Arrow which gives the same capabilities but requires you to craft a modestly expensive arrow.
Alignment: Any
Race: Any
BAB: 6+
Feats: Weapon Focus (any of the following: Crossbows, (light and heavy types), Slings, Longbow’s, Shortbows, Repeating Crossbows, (light and heavy types)), Point Blank Shot, Precise Shot.
Class Skill:s Spot, Listen, Heal, Knowledge (Architecture and Engineering), Knowledge (Dungeoneering)
Skills Points: 4 + Int
Hit Dice: D6
{table=head]Level|Base Attack Bonus|Fort Save|Ref Save|Will Save|Special
1st|+0|+0|+2|+0|Ranged Specialist
2nd|+1|+0|+3|+0|Precision Shooting
3rd|+1|+1|+3|+1|Improved Precise Shot
4th|+2|+1|+4|+1|Fletcher
5th|+2|+1|+4|+1|Instant Reload, Improved Shield Use
6th|+3|+2|+5|+2|Volley Fire
7th|+3|+2|+5|+2|Responsive Fire, Combat Reflexes
8th|+4|+2|+6|+2|Defensive Posture
9th|+4|+3|+6|+3|Piercing Shot
10th|+5|+3|+7|+3|Devastating Strikes
[/table]
Weapon & Armour Proficiencies: An Archer is proficient with Daggers, Light Maces, Handaxes, Shortswords, Crossbows, (light and heavy types), Slings, Longbow’s, Shortbows, and Repeating Crossbows, (light and heavy types). An Archer is also proficient with light armour, and all shield types, (including Tower Shields).
General Note: Any rule for the archer class which refers to ranged weapons should be treated as referring to only the non-throwing ranged weapons that are granted by the classes weapons proficiencies. Ranged weapons of other kinds are never affected by these rules.
Class Features:
Ranged Specialist (lv 1 Ex): An Archer is a ranged specialist and as such gains a bonus to all attack rolls equal to her level in the archer class. In addition so good is her control over her weapon that it is no longer affected by wind conditions, magical or otherwise, and as such is neither blocked by such things, nor do they impart any attack roll penalties.
Precision Shooting (lv 2 Ex): So precise are the Archers shots that she may add her Dexterity modifier to the damage of all ranged attacks. However if she does so she may not add her strength modifier, even if using a weapon, (e.g. composite Longbow), that would normally allow her to do so.
Improved Precise Shot (lv 3): At 3rd level an Archer gains the improved precise shot feat for free, even if she does not meet the prerequisites.
Fletcher (lv 4 Ex): Starting at 4th level, whenever an Archer uses her Craft Arms and Armour skill to craft any of her ranged weapons or any form of ammunition for them she may add her Archer level as a bonus to her skill check.
Instant Reload (lv 5 Ex): An Archer may now reload any ranged weapon she uses as a free action.
Improved Shield Use (lv 5 Ex): Over time an Archer comes to rely upon their shield as a potent defence against the attacks of her many and varied enemies. As a result she quickly becomes highly skilled in it’s use. An Archer who has not moved this round may now use a shield and fire her ranged weapon at the same time, even if the weapon requires two hands. Additionally, moving or not, shields, (including Tower shields), no longer inflict an armour check penalty upon an Archer, and she may ignore it’s weight for encumbrance purposes. Finally, tower shields no longer have a dexterity modifier cap, nor do they inflict an Attack Roll Penalty.
Volley Fire (lv 6 Ex):As a full round action an Archer may make a number of attacks with a ranged weapon equal to one half of her Archer level. These attacks are all resolved at her full BAB.
Responsive Fire (lv 7 Ex): An Archer who has not moved in her last round now threatens any square that is inside one range increment of her ranged weapon. As such she may respond to any action that would normally grant an attack of opportunity by firing her ranged weapon once, (she must of course have it in her hands to do so).
Combat Reflex’s (lv 7): At 7th level an Archer gains the Combat Reflexes feat for free, however she may only benefit from it’s effects with her ranged weapons.
Defensive Posture (lv 8 Ex): So long as she does not move that round an Archer wielding a Shield gains a bonus to her AC vs all attacks, (including touch attacks), equal to her Archer level. This bonus is lost if the archer is engaged in melee for more than one round.
Black Arrow (lv 9 Ex): An Archer may at the cost of 100GP per arrow and a DC20 crafting check craft specelised Black arrows.
Such is the power of these arrows that they are now able penetrate any Wall’s of force, Prismatic Walls, or Prismatic sphere’s. Such objects if struck are destroyed and the arrow’s flight continues un-impeded. Physical walls and other mundane sources of total cover 5ft or less in thickness may also be penetrated in the same manner, though you must of course be aware of the target to conduct attacks upon them.
Devastating Strikes (lv 10 Ex): When using any of her ranged weapons, the base number of damage dice are doubled. Note this is an increase to the base number and as such effects like critical hits will scale off this new number.
Author Notes:
Ok first up I’m suffering from cold as I’ve been writing this and I threw it together in an afternoon rather than my usual week+ development process so if I made a grievous error you know why. Also despite the name archer I’m actually arranging the class to cover all ammo consuming ranged weapons besides hand crossbows.
I flip flopped on the base vs prestige line a few times before going with this prestige class format, I just couldn’t come up with enough good stuff for a base class, but PrC worked ok if a littlie awkwardly with a couple of concepts.
I didn’t go overboard on either skills or skill points and I kept the HD modest, the aim was more creating an effective ranged weapon user than anything else.
Which leads me onto the BA progression and the first skill. Half BAB kept the melee progression down whilst the ranged specialist rule gave me the attack roll boost needed to make the class work. Going for double level was really required with the limited number of PrC levels available, but it does create some extreme scaling at the top end. The real reason though you want that 1st level of archer is the ability to go “screw you” at wind wall and the like.
Your next skill is really nice however, getting to forget your strength stat even exists whilst giving all ranged weapons a nice damage upgrade really helps put the hurt on, whilst not, (for the level), going overboard.
The next 4 skills in line aren’t quite so spectacular, but they help shore up specific area’s nicely. IPC gives you the ability to Support melee team-mates whilst getting round a number of otherwise negative effects, though of course it doesn’t help with invisible opponents. Fletcher helps you keep your weapons up to date and plenty of ammo on hand. And instant reload helps bring all Crossbows up to bow levels of utility. Improved Shield Use is mostly there for the sake of making shields a bit more appetising in the short term, so that when the big effect comes in a few levels later you’ve had a reason to be using one for a while.
Volley Fire a level later comes in just as a full BAB class would be getting it’s next iterative attack. With this not only do you get your third, but it’s more accurate too, and you’ll get more faster than anyone else from there, which should help deal with some of the issues vis a vis lower average damage with ranged weapons. The full BAB here helps too as it makes the latter attacks more accurate to boot.
Responsive Fire paired with combat reflex’s is the nod at the issue of melee fighters just trying to charge in and cut the Archer up. Trying is going to result in much pin-cushioning now.
Defensive posture is the real reason you’ll want to use a shield as an archer.. That AC bonus is going to muck up a charging melee character something fierce, giving you a bit more survival time, but the increase in touch AC will really help vs a wide range of spells.
Piercing shot for a supposedly non-magical ability is rather OTT, but it does what needs to be done, makes wizards unable to hide inside their safety walls, and it has some nice secondary utility vs cover to boot.
Devastating Strikes helps add that final extra bit of damage, particularly on criticals, that’s needed to keep the damage scaling up.
Overall I think I hit my main target of making a PRC that makes ranged weapons relatively useful. The higher average damage should bypass the DR issues and their tricks give them the ability to attack and defend despite the majority of magic user missile defences. It’s not perfect, greater invisibility and Enlarge spell on a long range spell can give the wizard some get out of jail free cards, and there is a selecting, even in core, of spells that require neither touch attacks nor allow reflex saves. But I wasn’t trying to create a wizard equivalent anyway, just an effective ranged weapon user, and against all but the most munchkinned spellcasters and the like I think I’ve got there.
EDIT1: Made some updates, put an only when stationery limit on Improved shield use and changed Defensive Posture to a straight fixed by level bonus. Also dropped the attack roll bonus down and replaced piercing shot with Black Arrow which gives the same capabilities but requires you to craft a modestly expensive arrow.