The Archer [3.5 Base Class], PEACH!

[Ninjadeadbeard]

I have no idea if this works, but I had to post it. Please PEACH!

The Archer

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"Sime Frostheart took another look around the tree whose branches he perched atop. No guards around. Barely any wildlife, just bugs and insects around.

Good. Nothing to give him away. He finally notched his longbow and with all the strength in his body he drew the bowstring back until the fletch touched his ear. Whispering a dark promise to the arrow, he let it fly.

Swiftly did the arrow fly, straight, silent and true between the branches around Sime and through those of the next tree over, and the one after that. It's terrible speed seemed not to falter at all as it passed through gusts of wind and great clusters of leaves and bird nests, never touching a single thing that may end it's flight.

Then, as swiftly as it had been let go, the arrow shot into a clearing and struck hard against King Heilnir's armor. With the sound of a mighty warhammer upon mail the King let out a gasp and fell dead. The camp was suddenly stilled, not a sound escaped their slackened jaws.

And over a thousand feet away, Sime Frostheart notched another arrow, and aimed downwind."

Archers are often misrepresented as peasants who can't afford real arms and armor. All an Archer knows is that armor slows you down, and it doesn't matter how far away a target is when you've got a bow by your side. Archers train in guerrilla tactics, becoming masters of surprise attacks. An Archer can deal a crushing blow to their enemy and then slip away without being detected. Archers who follow this method have a creed, "One Shot, One Kill", reflecting their ideal method of problem-solving.

Adventures: Archers often find themselves adventuring for a variety of reasons. He could be working as a mercenary, or perhaps he finds causes to fight for, or he merely seeks to better his skills in the field.
Characteristics: Archers are snipers in their hearts, and never wish to be too close to their enemy. Many of their abilities allow them to do remarkable damage to their foes while simultaneously escaping pursuit.
Alignment: Archers can be of any alignment, though many are chaotic due to the nature of their work being underhanded at times, and downright unfair at others.
Religion: Archers are neither particularly secular nor religious. At the extremes some believe that their skill is divinely inspired while others feel as though their ability to rain death from on high makes them gods. Most, however, are religiously neutral or agnostic.
Background: Most Archers gain their prowess through dogged determination and endless training as a youth. Military service often hones their abilities, as does banditry.
Races: Humans, lacking any real weakness, make great Archers. Elves and Halflings can make good use of their Dexterity and some of their skills as Archers. Half-Elf Archers also benefit with their racial skill bonuses. Dwarves can make decent Archers as well, though they lack any particular benefits. Half-Orcs and Gnomes are undesirable.
Classes: Archers tend to see Fighters, Barbarians, Paladins and other martial classes as meat-shields, though Archers recognize that meatshields are a good thing to have around. Rogues, Rangers and the like are far more preferable company, though they can also be seen as rivals. Magic-folk, such as the Sorcerer, Wizard, Druid and Cleric are sometimes seen as juicy targets for young Archers who don't know any better, and something best kept on one's side by the veterans.
Role: Archers try to deal as much damage as possible to one single foe, and then run distraction for the party while they set up their next shot. Bardic illusions and the like can help keep them out of harm's way as much as their own native slipperiness might.

{table=head]The Archer
{table=head]Level|BAB|Fort|Ref|Will|Special |0lvl|1st|2nd|3rd|4th|5th|6th

1st|+1|+0|+2|+2|Swift Movement 10, Hawkeye, Sniper, Bonus Feat|4|2|—|—|—|—|—

2nd|+2|+0|+3|+3|Overdraw 1, Bonus Feat|4|3|—|—|—|—|—

3rd|+3|+1|+3|+3|AC Bonus +1, Trickshot|4|4|2|—|—|—|—

4th|+4|+1|+4|+4|Magic Arrow, Bonus Feat|4|4|3|—|—|—|—

5th|+5|+1|+4|+4|Deadly Shot|4|4|4|—|—|—|—

6th|+6/+1|+2|+5|+5|AC Bonus +2, Swift Movement 20, Iterative Damage, Bonus Feat|4|4|4|2|—|—|—

7th|+7/+2|+2|+5|+5|RUN!, I See You|4|4|4|3|—|—|—

8th|+8/+3|+2|+6|+6|Overdraw 2, Bonus Feat|4|4|4|4|—|—|—

9th|+9/+4|+3|+6|+6|Critical Timing X1, AC Bonus +3, Flash Step|4|4|4|4|2|—|—

10th|+10/+5|+3|+7|+7|Freedom of Movement, Bonus Feat|4|4|4|4|3|—|—

11th|+11/+6/+1|+3|+7|+7|Swift Movement 30|4|4|4|4|4|—|—

12th|+12/+7/+2|+4|+8|+8|AC Bonus +4, Bonus Feat|4|4|4|4|4|2|—

13th|+13/+8/+3|+4|+8|+8|Blinding Speed|4|4|4|4|4|3|—

14th|+14/+9/+4|+4|+9|+9|Critical Timing X2, Overdraw 3, Bonus Feat|4|4|4|4|4|4|—

15th|+15/+10/+5|+5|+9|+9|AC Bonus +5|4|4|4|4|4|4|2

16th|+16/+11/+6/+1|+5|+10|+10|Swift Movement 40, Bonus Feat|4|4|4|4|4|4|3

17th|+17/+12/+7/+2|+5|+10|+10|Hide in Plain Sight|4|4|4|4|4|4|4

18th|+18/+13/+8/+3|+6|+11|+11|AC Bonus +6, Bonus Feat|4|4|4|4|4|4|4

19th|+19/+14/+9/+4|+6|+11|+11|Critical Timing X3|4|4|4|4|4|4|4

20th|+20/+15/+10/+5|+6|+12|+12|Swift as the Arrow Flies, Overdraw 4, Bonus Feat|4|4|4|4|4|4|4

[/table] [/table]

Alignment: Any
Hit Die: 1d6

Abilities: Wisdom is very important to an Archer, as is Dexterity. While Wisdom allows the Archer to target his foes, Dexterity is what allows him to do his job. Constitution is also good for any class.

Class Skills:
Climb (Str), Jump (Str), Balance (Dex), Escape Artist (Dex), Hide (Dex), Move Silently (Dex), Tumble (Dex), Use Rope (Dex), Concentration (Con), Appraise (Int), Craft (Int), Knowledge (Geography, Local, Nature) (Int), Search (Int), Heal (Int), Listen (Int), Spot (Int), Survival (Int), Sense Motive (Int), Bluff (Cha), Disguise (Cha), Handle Animal (Cha), Intimidate (Cha)

Skill Points at 1st Level: (6 + Int modifier) × 4
Skill Points at Each Additional Level: 6 + Int modifier

Class Features
Weapon and Armor Proficiency: The Archer is proficient with all Bows, simple weapons and light armor, but no shields.

Spells: An Archer casts arcane spells, which are drawn from the bard spell list. He can cast any spell he knows without preparing it ahead of time. An Archer ignores Verbal Components for spells. To learn or cast a spell, an Archer must have a Wisdom score equal to at least 10 + the spell. The Difficulty Class for a saving throw against an Archer's spell is 10 + the spell level + the Archer's Wisdom modifier.

The Archer's selection of spells is extremely limited. An Archer begins play knowing four 0-level spells of your choice. The Archer's spells known is the same as a bard's.

Upon reaching 5th level, and at every third Archer level after that (8th, 11th, and so on), an Archer can choose to learn a new spell in place of one he already knows. In effect, the Archer “loses” the old spell in exchange for the new one. The new spell’s level must be the same as that of the spell being exchanged, and it must be at least two levels lower than the highest-level Archer spell the Archer can cast. An Archer may swap only a single spell at any given level, and must choose whether or not to swap the spell at the same time that he gains new spells known for the level.

As noted above, an Archer need not prepare his spells in advance. He can cast any spell he knows at any time, assuming he has not yet used up his allotment of spells per day for the spell’s level.

Bonus Feat: At level 1 and every even-numbered level thereafter, the Archer may select a bonus feat of his or her choice. For any feat which requires a particular Base Attack Bonus, that requirement is waved, but all other requirements still apply.

Sniper (Ex): The Archer is adept at striking his opponents while they are too far away to strike back. While wielding a ranged weapon, the Archer's weapon's range is increased by 10ft per Archer level. The Archer bypasses X amount of Damage Reduction and Spell Resistance when using a ranged attack, where X is equal to the Archer's character level. In addition, the Archer's Spot and Listen Checks suffer no penalty up to this new range.

Swift Movement (Ex): Speed is the key, the Archer always says. At 1st, 6th, 11th, and 16th levels an Archer increases his total Movement by an additional 10ft. In addition, his superior reflexes allow the Archer to make an additional swift or immediate action per iterative attack he has gained through his base attack bonus.

Hawkeye (Ex): The Archer's vision and hearing border on the superhuman threshold. Add the higher of Spot or Listen to Attacks with a ranged weapon. In addition, the Archer uses his superior understanding of spatial relationships to add his Wisdom Modifier to ranged damage rolls, representing his unerring accuracy.

Overdraw (Ex): The Archer has learned to put some effort into his attacks. At levels 2, the Archer may subtract from his ranged attack up to his Base Attack Bonus, and add 1.5 times that number to damage. This bonus increases to 2 times the subtracted number at level 8, 3 times at level 14, and 4 times at level 20.

AC Bonus (Ex): The Archer is very difficult to pin down. He gains an untyped bonus at levels 3, 6, 9, 12, 15 and 18.

Trickshot (Ex): Because they're just that good, the Archer may use his or her swift or immediate action in order to make a Ranged Trip or Disarm Attempt. This is identical to the normal melee trip and disarm, except that for Tripping the Archer uses his or her Wisdom modifier if it is higher than their Dexterity.

Magic Arrow (Su): Simply put, there comes a time in a young Archer's life when he realizes that all that magic he's picked up along the way doesn't amount to a hill of beans if you can't hit anything with them. At 4th level an Archer may sacrifice a spellslot in order to enchant up to his Wisdom modifier in arrows with the effects of one spell he knows.

Deadly Shot (Ex): Once per day per Wisdom Modifier, the Archer may add 1d6 points of damage per every two character levels to any one attack.

Iterative Damage (Ex): One Shot, One Kill. As a standard action the Archer may sacrifice any or all of their iterative attacks gained by their Base Attack Bonus in order to increase the overall damage of their arrows. For each attack sacrificed this way, the final damage (after calculating any additional damage added on due to spells, spell-like-effects or other abilities) on a single attack is increased. A loss of 1 attack multiplies the final damage by 1.5 times. 2 lost attacks increase this to 2 times damage, and 3 lost attacks multiplies the final damage of the Archer's ranged attack by 4 times.

RUN! (Ex): As a swift or immediate action, the Archer may gain an additional Move Action that he takes immediately.

I See You (Su): The Archer's vision is keen and his arrows true. As a Swift Action, the Archer ignores Miss Chance for 1 full round.

Critical Timing (Ex): The Archer has perfected the art of striking exactly when his opponent least expects. At levels 9, 14 and 19 the Archer's Critical Threat Range with a bow doubles.

Flash Step (Sp): It's sometimes unreal how the Archer can just dive through enemy fire untouched. At 9th level the Archer automatically avoids attacks of opportunity caused by the Archer moving through threatened space.

Freedom of Movement (Sp): The Archer cannot be stopped. Starting at level 10 they are always under the effects of the Freedom of Movement spell.

Blinding Speed (Su): Sometimes you need another shot. A number of times per day equal to their Dexterity modifier, an Archer may use a swift action to gain a second Iterative Damage Attack. In effect, the Archer gains a Full-Attack Action that is subject to the same rules as the Iterative Damage ability.

Hide in Plain Sight (Su): As the Ranger, a 17th level Archer may use the Hide skill even while being observed.

Swift as the Arrow Flies (Sp): At level 20 the Archer becomes as swift as his own arrows. The Archer may select either his total Move Speed or his range with a bow. Whichever distance is further becomes the distance for both, allowing an Archer to keep up with his or her own arrow.

[toapat]

I think your intentions were good, but as far as actually making a viable sniper? Your mark is in a different castle.

basically the reason why Archery is useless is 3fold:

Boosting the damage is nigh impossible for an effective build (Pretty sure the Bard spell list doesnt help here)

Multiple attributes for combat (Unaddressed actually, you address this in the wrong way. You should never look at Frenzied berzerker as the balance point for a power attack)

Feat requirements (you pretty much dropkicked this out of the universe though)

[Ninjadeadbeard]

Boosting the damage is nigh impossible for an effective build (Pretty sure the Bard spell list doesnt help here)

Even with Hawkeye, Overdraw, Deadly Shot and Iterative Damage stacking?

Multiple attributes for combat (Unaddressed)

Wisdom is the primary stat, then Dexterity. Wisdom is added to damage via Hawkeye, and attack is boosted by Spot and Listen ranks. How is this unaddressed?

Feat requirements (you pretty much dropkicked this out of the universe though)

Thank you? Is...is that a good thing?

[toapat]

Even with Hawkeye, Overdraw, Deadly Shot and Iterative Damage stacking?

Hawkeye is Irrelevant, expecially for anyone taking Improved Precise Shot already (and anyone who i roll with this will have IPS at lvl 3), which RAW makes the best AC in the game only a 10 against you.

Overdraw is weak. It is powerful for what it is, but +1d6 scales faster.

Deadlyshot is outright useless because of how you limited it. I can without using Third party material (and anyone who says Pazio is third party doesnt understand the definition of third party.) make a character who gets 5 attacks in a round, and each which deal +10d6 bonus damage on each arrow and who has 2.5 times dex to damage. Without leaving Core + PHB2, i can do 10d6+ .5 dexmod to 4 attacks a round.

On a ranged build you dont want to be spending anything outside of dex.

[Ninjadeadbeard]

Hawkeye is Irrelevant, expecially for anyone taking Improved Precise Shot already (and anyone who i roll with this will have IPS at lvl 3), which RAW makes the best AC in the game only a 10 against you.

I'm not sure how those overlap. Hawkeye adds skillranks to attack. IPS bypasses cover.

Overdraw is weak. It is powerful for what it is, but +1d6 scales faster.

It was meant to be the archery-equivalent to Power Attack. Are you saying I should convert this ability to grant +1d6's?

Deadlyshot is outright useless because of how you limited it. I can without using Third party material (and anyone who says Pazio is third party doesnt understand the definition of third party.) make a character who gets 5 attacks in a round, and each which deal +10d6 bonus damage on each arrow and who has 2.5 times dex to damage. Without leaving Core + PHB2, i can do 10d6+ .5 dexmod to 4 attacks a round.

I think you mean Iterative Damage. Deadlyshot is the +1d6 per 2 levels power. The reason I removed Iterative attacks to power this ability is because I prefer the idea of "One shot one kill" snipers. I could just beef the multiplier up by a lot.

On a ranged build you dont want to be spending anything outside of dex.

I dislike classes that have exactly 1 attribute they need and 5 dumped ones (see: stereotyped wizard build). It just doesn't feel right.

[toapat]

I'm not sure how those overlap. Hawkeye adds skillranks to attack. IPS bypasses cover.

It was meant to be the archery-equivalent to Power Attack. Are you saying I should convert this ability to grant +1d6's?

I think you mean Iterative Damage. Deadlyshot is the +1d6 per 2 levels power. The reason I removed Iterative attacks to power this ability is because I prefer the idea of "One shot one kill" snipers. I could just beef the multiplier up by a lot.

I dislike classes that have exactly 1 attribute they need and 5 dumped ones (see: stereotyped wizard build). It just doesn't feel right.

1: Read the wording of IPS: It doesnt say Any Armor bonus from Cover less then total cover, it says It negates any Armor you are granted as a bonus. RAI it doesnt do what im saying it does, but that is RAI, not RAW. there is alot of RAI and RACSD that isnt actually true. RAW the only archery feat that comes close in power to this are crossbow sniper and improved rapid shot.

2: Power attack is really only good if you can make that attack count. The reason FB is rediculous? because you are stacking invulnerability, damage boosts, power attack multipliers, a two handed weapon, HP boosts, Charges, and attribute boosts. The reason why it is awesome is because you are getting effectively 2d3 of damage for every point of attack bonus you sacrifice.

3: No, i didnt. Deadly shot was made as a smite-esque ability. Normally that is fine, but for these things:
Smiting, like Powerattack, can be easily optimized for lots of power
10d6 5 times a day isnt worth it. i can get more out of a volley focused rogue.

Itterative damage on the other hand, can be reasonably used with ridiculous effects with rapid shot and improved rapid shot to get 4 attacks at 4x damage before critical.

4: You need to read up more on why Archery doesnt work. it comes from 3 things: There is no optimization for damage, you have to have so many points in so many different locations, and you have to invest a large number of feats.

in terms of tier, you effectively made an extremely high T4

[bobthe6th]

Slap a proper damage multiplier on it! Allow them to chose not to make more then one attack in a full attack/multi shot, and multiply the damage of the attack by the number of attacks. Perhaps have the single attack be at a penalty.

Boom, one shot, one kill... starting with rapid shot for 2x damage, to a full multi shot for 4x damage as a standard action.