The crossbow sniper PrC(PEACH)

[The Underlord]

Since their does not seem too many options for crossbow users I thought of this class.

Requirements

Skills: Hide 8, Move Silently 5, Spot 5, Listen 3.
Feats: Weapon focus(Any Crossbow), rapid reload and crossbow sniper OR Hand crossbow focus and crossbow sniper
Special: Sneak Attack 2d6

Design notes

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The skill requirements are because a sniper should be sneaky but also be able to motice things and pick them out.

{table=head]Level|BAB|Fort|Ref|Will|Special

1st|+1|+2|+0|+0|Crossbow Expertise, Sniping, Sneak Attack 1d6

2nd|+2|+3|+0|+0|Aim

3rd|+3|+3|+1|+1|Sneak Attack 2d6, Hidden Master

4th|+4|+4|+1|+1|Quicker Firing

5th|+5|+4|+1|+1|Sneak Attack 3d6

6th|+6|+5|+2|+2|Quickened Snipe, Piercing shot

7th|+7|+5|+2|+2|Sneak Attack 4d6, Camoflauge

8th|+8|+6|+2|+2|Improved Aim, Master Crossbow Expertise

9th|+9|+6|+3|+3|Sneak Attack 5d6

10th|+10|+7|+3|+3|Always Prepared, Hide in Plain Sight

[/table]
Hit Die: d6

Class Skills:
Class Skills: Appraise (Int), Balance (Dex), Bluff (Cha), Climb (Str), Craft (Int), Decipher Script (Int), Diplomacy (Cha), Disable Device (Int), Disguise (Cha), Escape Artist (Dex), Forgery (Int), Gather Information (Cha), Hide (Dex), Intimidate (Cha), Jump (Str), Knowledge (local) (Int), Listen (Wis), Move Silently (Dex), Open Lock (Dex), Perform (Cha), Profession (Wis), Search (Int), Sense Motive (Wis), Sleight of Hand (Dex), Spot (Wis), Swim (Str), Tumble (Dex), Use Magic Device (Cha), and Use Rope (Dex).


Skill Points at Each Level: 6 + Int modifier

Weapon and Armor Profiencies: The crossbow sniper gains profiency with any crossbow he was not proficent with.

Class Features

Sneak Attack This is exactly like the rogue ability of the same name with one difference. The sneak attack damage gained from this class only applies when using a crossbow. The extra damage dealt increases by +1d6 every other level (1st, 3rd, 5th, 7th, and 9th). If an crossbow sniper gets a sneak attack bonus from another source the bonuses on damage stack.

Design notes

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This prevents dipping to get full BAB andd full sneak attack progression.

Crossbow Expertise When using crossbows, you apply your dexterity bonus to damage rolls when using a crossbow. This does not stack with the bonus from the feat crossbow sniper, it replaces it.

Sniping
The basic ability of a crossbow sniper is to snipe. If he is hidden, he may spend one round "aiming"(this has nothing to do with the aim ability)which provokes oportunity attacks. If you are attacked while "aiming" you must make a concentration check(DC=Damage Dealt) or lose your "aim". It is also ruined if the target moves more than 15 feet while aiming. At the beginning of the turn after you aimed, you must make a spot checek(DC=AC of the oppenent you are aiming at), if you succeed, you may make an attack as a full round action to make a ranged attack with a crossbow. The aim is lost if you do not use it the round after you take aim. If the attack hits, you automatically critical and automatically confir,. This critical also multiplies sneak attack damage.
This ability can not be used with the aim ability
At level 6, You can do the aiming process and the shooting as 1 full-round action.
Design Notes

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Sniping doesnt really beceome an option until level 6 because of the time it takes to pull it off, but once you do reack level 6 it becomes viable, especially once you get hide in plain sight,

Aim
As a move action you may aim at an opponent. This is different then the "aiming" of the sniping ability. After aiming at an oppenent, your next atttack against hims is resolved using his touch armor. You may use this a number of times equal to your crossbow sniper levle
At Level 8 You may use this ability as swift action and gain an additionall number of uses per day equal to your dexterity modifier(minimum +0).

Hidden Master
At level 3 a crossbow sniper no longer takes hide check penalties for attacking with a crossbow

Quicker firing
At level 4, a crossbow shooter now reload heay crossbows as a free action, allowing you to shoot at your full BAB and you may reload hand crossbows and light crossbows with the hand you wield them, allowing you to reload them while you have something in your other hand, even another crossbow.

Design Notes

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Now you don't have to jump through hoops to dual wield crossbows.

Piercing shot
As a swift action a crossbow sniper may spend 1 use of his aim ability to make sneak attacks with a crossbow against creatures he couldn't normalily sneack attacck. They must still be eligable for a sneak attack.

Camoflauge
This ability is the same as the ranger ability of the same name except you do not need to be in natural terraiin.

Crossbow Mastery
At level 8, all crossbows used by a crossbow sniper increase their damage die by 1 step. In addition, when wielding a crossbow, a crossbow sninper applies one and a half times their dexterity modifier to damage. This replaces crossbow expertise.
Hide in Plain Sight
This is exactly like the ranger ability of the same name, but may be used anywhere, not just in natural terrian

Always Prepared
At level 10, a crossbow sniper always has weapons on him. As a full round action, he may create a nonmagical masterwork crossbow of any kind. As a move action he may create 50 nonmagical crossbow bolts. A crossbow sniper can perform an hour long ritiual in which he attunes with a crossbow. This process costs a crossbow sniper 1,000 experience. Oncethe ritual is complete he may create the attuned crossbow as he does nonmagical masterwork crossbows even if the attuned crossbow is magical. He may crate them interchangably. The magical crossbows he creates are only magical in his hand and to anybody else they appear to be nonmagical, even if they use magic to observe it.
Design Notes

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Now you don't hhave to pay for arrows anymore. Dual wielding crossbow user also only have to pay for 1 crossbow.

Changelog

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Added Camoflauge, and the hidden Sniper feature-thanks to Yitsi

Comments?

[The Underlord]

Feats

Ranged Advantage
Prerequisite
15 Dexterity, Point Blank Shot
Benefit
When making ranged attacks, you are treated as flanking any opppenent your allies are flanking.

Sublime Archer
Prerequisite
17 Dexterity, Profiency with one ranged weapon. 2 first level maneuvers
Benefit
Anytime a maneuver asks for a melee attack, you may subsitute it for a ranged attack

Richotet Arrow
Prerequistes
Power Arrow,
Benefit
If you deal a creature enough damage to make it drop (typically by dropping it to below 0 hit points or killing it), you get an immediate, extra ranged attack against another creature within the same range. You can take a 5-foot step before making this extra attack. The extra attack is with the same weapon and at the same bonus as the attack that dropped the previous creature. You can use this ability once per round.
Special
This feat counts as the Cleave feat for Prerequistes

Shot-on-the-run
Prerequisites
Point Blank Shot, BAB 8
Benefit
When taking 5-foot step in between ranged attacks, you may move 10 ft instead.

Brutal Arrow
Prerequisites
Strength 15, Point Blank Shot
Benefit
You may use strength instead of dexterity for ranged attack rolls.
Special
If you gain dexterity to damage for ranged weapons, you may use your strength modifier. You may also use strength instead of dexterity for meeting prerequisites for feats that have Point Blank Shot as a prerequisites.

Power Arrow
Prerequisites
Dexterity 13
Benefit

On your action, before making attack rolls for a round, you may choose to subtract a number from all ranged attack rolls and add the same number to all ranged damage rolls. This number may not exceed your base attack bonus. The penalty on attacks and bonus on damage apply until your next turn.

Special
This feat counts as both Power attack and point blank shot for prerequisites.

[Spiryt]

Pretty neat, although making specific crossbow classes didn't ever seem like most elegant way to give crossbows more option - fixing the weapon itself would be better start.

Anyway, class seems nice, I like the Sniping quite a bit.

I don't like quicker firing - no real synergy with sniping, and rather wonky image of completely unimaginably quickly reloaded crossbow - same with dual crossbow wielding.

The later is though obviously my personal preference, so that can not be an issue at all.

[Domriso]

I like the idea, but I feel like the Snipe ability is way too overpowered. One round to aim, and then you get an auto-critical? That includes sneak attack die? You're at least at 3d6 sneak attack by the time you get snipe, and crossbows do 1d8 to 1d10 damage, depending on if it's light or heavy, meaning you're doing a hell of a lot of damage with a single blow (2d10+6d6 at sixth level?).

I love the idea, I just feel like that ability needs to be toned down a bit.

[Spiryt]

That includes sneak attack die? You're at least at 3d6 sneak attack by the time you get snipe, and crossbows do 1d8 to 1d10 damage, depending on if it's light or heavy, meaning you're doing a hell of a lot of damage with a single blow (2d10+6d6 at sixth level?).

That's ~ 40-some damage at pretty high level in for 2 full round actions - amount that can be ridiculously easy done with sword even earlier, with often quite a few attacks in those 2 rounds.

So that doesn't really seem very broken to me, considering fuss required.

[Yitzi]

A few things:

1. Sneak Attack surprisingly actually doesn't work too well for snipers, as when sniping you want some distance (both for the penalty to spot and so they can't move to negate your cover), and sneak attack is within 30' only.

2. While Hide in Plain Sight is useful, it's far far more useful when combined with the ability to hide without cover or concealment.

3. Maybe he should get a reduction to the hide penalty when sniping?

[The Underlord]

1. I plan on having a feat for this, also crossbow sniper feeat extends this to 60 feet.
2. I forgot about that, I will add that
3. I should have checked the hide skill before maing this class.
About sniping, the reason it multplies sneak attack damage is that I felt that, after all the effort you have to go through to use sniping that you should get more damage out of it(with an awesomesauce crit table this changes).

[Ashtagon]

I never really understood why every crossbow-fix prestige class includes stuff for dual-wielding the things. All the more so with the concept of a sniper, which inherently should be emphasising single carefully aimed shots, rather than shooting fastest with the mostest.

[The Underlord]

I never really understood why every crossbow-fix prestige class includes stuff for dual-wielding the things. All the more so with the concept of a sniper, which inherently should be emphasising single carefully aimed shots, rather than shooting fastest with the mostest.

some people like dual-wielding crossbows so I added that when I was adding the speed increase for the heavy crossbow.. Plus this is more of a general crossbow class ina addition to a sniper class.

[Yitzi]

1. I plan on having a feat for this, also crossbow sniper feeat extends this to 60 feet.

Ah, that makes sense. (This is the first I've heard of that feat.)

This is a now a must-have class for anyone who plans to snipe and is willing to use a crossbow to do it.

[The Underlord]

So any comments on the feats?

[Yitzi]

They look like a pretty straightforward "ranged character pretends to be melee" set.