ShneekeyTheLost
2008-02-05, 09:01 PM
Okay, we all know the Core Arcane Archer... well... stinks. It's an arcane class that doesn't have any caster level progression. Furthermore, it's primary claim to fame can be reproduced with a single 3rd level spell (Greater Magic Weapon). It's other abilities are similarly uninteresting.
Imbue Arrow... yea, if you actually had any spells you could load up, it might have been worth something. As it is? Not so much.
Seeker Arrow... Greater Precise Shot does this, only doesn't require a Standard Action to pull it off, and unlimited number of times per day.
Phase Arrow... if it were more than 1/day, or actually do something useful, it might be worth it...
Hail of Arrows... Well, let's see... if I had to describe this ability in one word, I'd probably choose... pointless. If you've got a mob of mooks, you're not wanting to shoot one arrow at each, and why bother with a 1/day ability that ONLY has use against common mobs of mooks? Good idea, poor implementation.
Arrow of Death. Never did like Save or Die as class abilities. They either shortcut a BBEG fight or are completely worthless. The fixed DC also makes this ability fall in to the 'made of fail' category.
So, let's clean this up a bit, eh?
Highlights to the change:
Imbue Arrow. Changed it to any area spell to just any spell. If it's an Area Effect, it's centered on the arrow. If it's a touch/ranged touch, the spell is considered to have hit the target if the arrow does.
Elemental arrow. Fire, Ice, or Lightning, pick your flavor of 1d6 damage. Swift action to change it around.
Phase Arrow. No longer simply going through obstacles, it now gives all arrows the Ghost Touch ability, far more useful, IMO.
Arrow Storm. I figure if someone needs to chunk a whole lot of arrows, it's likely going to be only at one or two targets, who need to get dead fast. So, here's my idea: either 1/day can shoot a number of arrows equal to AA level, at highest BAB, as full-round action, with no restriction on what you can target; or it increases the number of arrows shot with Rapid Shot to 2 and negates the -2 penalty... kinda like Monk Flurry, but with arrows.
Arcane Shot. Add casting stat as damage to all arrows. Sure, it's powerful, but hey, it's also a capstone, and probably a hell of a lot more useful than 1/day save or die.
Prerequsites:
BAB +5
Skills: Knowledge (Arcana) 5 ranks, Spellcraft 5 ranks
Feats: Point Blank Shot, Rapid Shot, Precise Shot
Spells: Caster level 3rd
{table="head"]Level | BAB | Ref | Fort | Will | Special Abilities | Spellcasting
1 | +1 | +0 | +2 | +2 | Enhance Arrow +1 | -
2 | +2 | +0 | +3 | +3 | Imbue Arrow | +1 Arcane Caster Level
3 | +3 | +1 | +3 | +3 | Enhance Arrow +2 | -
4 | +4 | +1 | +4 | +4 | Elemental Arrow | +1 Arcane Caster Level
5 | +5 | +1 | +4 | +4 | Enhance Arrow +3 | -
6 | +6 | +2 | +5 | +5 | Phase Arrow | +1 Arcane Caster Level
7 | +7 | +2 | +5 | +5 | Enhance Arrow +4 | -
8 | +8 | +2 | +6 | +6 | Arrow Storm | +1 Arcane Caster Level
9 | +9 | +3 | +6 | +6 | Enhance Arrow +5
10 | +10 | +3 | +7 | +7 | Arcane Shot | +1 Arcane Caster Level[/table]
Enhance Arrow (Su)
At 1st level, every nonmagical arrow an arcane archer nocks and lets fly becomes magical, gaining a +1 enhancement bonus. Unlike magic weapons created by normal means, the archer need not spend experience points or gold pieces to accomplish this task. However, an archer’s magic arrows only function for her. For every two levels the character advances past 1st level in the prestige class, the magic arrows she creates gain +1 greater potency (+1 at 1st level, +2 at 3rd level, +3 at 5th level, +4 at 7th level, and +5 at 9th level).
Imbue Arrow (Sp)
At 2nd level, an arcane archer gains the ability to place a spell upon an arrow. When the arrow is fired, the spell’s area is centered on where the arrow lands, even if the spell could normally be centered only on the caster. This ability allows the archer to use the bow’s range rather than the spell’s range. It takes a standard action to cast the spell and fire the arrow. The arrow must be fired in the round the spell is cast, or the spell is wasted. If the spell is a touch attack or ranged touch attack, the spell is considered to have hit if the arrow hits.
Elemental Arrow (Su)
At 4th level, an arcane archer gains the ability to imbue their arrows with an element. He can choose fire, ice, or lightning. Each arrow fired deals an extra 1d6 elemental damage of the appropriate flavor. You can change which elemental flavor is used as a swift action during your turn.
Phase Arrow (Su)
At 6th level, an arcane archer gains a deeper and more intuitive understanding of the astral and ethereal planes of existance. Every arrow he shoots is considered to have the Ghost Touch ability in addition to any other enchantments or abilities on the weapon.
Arrow Storm (Su)
At 8th level, an arcane archer gains an improved understanding of archery. He increases the number of arrows he may shoot in a full attack by one, at the highest base attack bonus, and negates any penalties from the Rapid Shot feat.
Arcane Shot (Ex)
At 10th level, an Arcane Archer gains the intuitive knowledge of archery and how magic can affect it. He gets to add his primary casting stat of the arcane prestige class used to qualify for this PrC to the damage of all arrows he shoots.
Imbue Arrow... yea, if you actually had any spells you could load up, it might have been worth something. As it is? Not so much.
Seeker Arrow... Greater Precise Shot does this, only doesn't require a Standard Action to pull it off, and unlimited number of times per day.
Phase Arrow... if it were more than 1/day, or actually do something useful, it might be worth it...
Hail of Arrows... Well, let's see... if I had to describe this ability in one word, I'd probably choose... pointless. If you've got a mob of mooks, you're not wanting to shoot one arrow at each, and why bother with a 1/day ability that ONLY has use against common mobs of mooks? Good idea, poor implementation.
Arrow of Death. Never did like Save or Die as class abilities. They either shortcut a BBEG fight or are completely worthless. The fixed DC also makes this ability fall in to the 'made of fail' category.
So, let's clean this up a bit, eh?
Highlights to the change:
Imbue Arrow. Changed it to any area spell to just any spell. If it's an Area Effect, it's centered on the arrow. If it's a touch/ranged touch, the spell is considered to have hit the target if the arrow does.
Elemental arrow. Fire, Ice, or Lightning, pick your flavor of 1d6 damage. Swift action to change it around.
Phase Arrow. No longer simply going through obstacles, it now gives all arrows the Ghost Touch ability, far more useful, IMO.
Arrow Storm. I figure if someone needs to chunk a whole lot of arrows, it's likely going to be only at one or two targets, who need to get dead fast. So, here's my idea: either 1/day can shoot a number of arrows equal to AA level, at highest BAB, as full-round action, with no restriction on what you can target; or it increases the number of arrows shot with Rapid Shot to 2 and negates the -2 penalty... kinda like Monk Flurry, but with arrows.
Arcane Shot. Add casting stat as damage to all arrows. Sure, it's powerful, but hey, it's also a capstone, and probably a hell of a lot more useful than 1/day save or die.
Prerequsites:
BAB +5
Skills: Knowledge (Arcana) 5 ranks, Spellcraft 5 ranks
Feats: Point Blank Shot, Rapid Shot, Precise Shot
Spells: Caster level 3rd
{table="head"]Level | BAB | Ref | Fort | Will | Special Abilities | Spellcasting
1 | +1 | +0 | +2 | +2 | Enhance Arrow +1 | -
2 | +2 | +0 | +3 | +3 | Imbue Arrow | +1 Arcane Caster Level
3 | +3 | +1 | +3 | +3 | Enhance Arrow +2 | -
4 | +4 | +1 | +4 | +4 | Elemental Arrow | +1 Arcane Caster Level
5 | +5 | +1 | +4 | +4 | Enhance Arrow +3 | -
6 | +6 | +2 | +5 | +5 | Phase Arrow | +1 Arcane Caster Level
7 | +7 | +2 | +5 | +5 | Enhance Arrow +4 | -
8 | +8 | +2 | +6 | +6 | Arrow Storm | +1 Arcane Caster Level
9 | +9 | +3 | +6 | +6 | Enhance Arrow +5
10 | +10 | +3 | +7 | +7 | Arcane Shot | +1 Arcane Caster Level[/table]
Enhance Arrow (Su)
At 1st level, every nonmagical arrow an arcane archer nocks and lets fly becomes magical, gaining a +1 enhancement bonus. Unlike magic weapons created by normal means, the archer need not spend experience points or gold pieces to accomplish this task. However, an archer’s magic arrows only function for her. For every two levels the character advances past 1st level in the prestige class, the magic arrows she creates gain +1 greater potency (+1 at 1st level, +2 at 3rd level, +3 at 5th level, +4 at 7th level, and +5 at 9th level).
Imbue Arrow (Sp)
At 2nd level, an arcane archer gains the ability to place a spell upon an arrow. When the arrow is fired, the spell’s area is centered on where the arrow lands, even if the spell could normally be centered only on the caster. This ability allows the archer to use the bow’s range rather than the spell’s range. It takes a standard action to cast the spell and fire the arrow. The arrow must be fired in the round the spell is cast, or the spell is wasted. If the spell is a touch attack or ranged touch attack, the spell is considered to have hit if the arrow hits.
Elemental Arrow (Su)
At 4th level, an arcane archer gains the ability to imbue their arrows with an element. He can choose fire, ice, or lightning. Each arrow fired deals an extra 1d6 elemental damage of the appropriate flavor. You can change which elemental flavor is used as a swift action during your turn.
Phase Arrow (Su)
At 6th level, an arcane archer gains a deeper and more intuitive understanding of the astral and ethereal planes of existance. Every arrow he shoots is considered to have the Ghost Touch ability in addition to any other enchantments or abilities on the weapon.
Arrow Storm (Su)
At 8th level, an arcane archer gains an improved understanding of archery. He increases the number of arrows he may shoot in a full attack by one, at the highest base attack bonus, and negates any penalties from the Rapid Shot feat.
Arcane Shot (Ex)
At 10th level, an Arcane Archer gains the intuitive knowledge of archery and how magic can affect it. He gets to add his primary casting stat of the arcane prestige class used to qualify for this PrC to the damage of all arrows he shoots.