ARCHER (on the design of the new class)
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Designer's Notes:
The Archer Class is a medium modification of the Fighter Class to emphasize the abilities with the bow, and to make an impressive archer at lower levels. Additionally, there are new feats that realistically, only the Archer can receive. If you find this a hard pill to swallow, consider the Archer a fighter/ranger hybrid mix, taking abilities from both - the skirmish abilities from the Ranger, the martial prowess from the fighter.
Modifications:
In exchange for many of the weapon proficiencies, a restriction of the bonus feats (below), and the lower hit die (d8 instead of d10) the Archer gains good Reflex saves as well as more Skill Points and more Class Skills.
I believe the good reflex saves will be the most controversial change to the class. It seems fitting to me because an Archer, who is skilled at ranged combat, would be exceptionally good at avoiding ranged attacks of all kinds, which require a Reflex save.
Just because it makes sense for the Archer, she has access to Mounted Archery feat without Mounted Combat. (Some have argued this is illogical. It makes good sense because the ride skill allows you to control a mount in combat, and the Mounted Combat skill helps you avoid hits to your mount in melee.)
The Archer's Bonus Feats choice list has been restricted, the new feats are available to everyone and would ALSO be on a fighter's bonus feat choice list.
Fighters do not gain access to the Knowledge Skills; only characters that can access all Knowledge skills would be able to access them besides the Archers.
In exchange for Heavy Armor and Shield Proficiency the Archer gains free Dodge and Mobility Feats at first level, but these can only be used when wearing light or medium armor.
Point Blank Shot is written as the required bonus feat at 1st level.
The Archer's Combat modifiers are decreased for Melee, increased for Ranged. Although the archer gets an extra attack, this is probably balanced, because the damage potential of arrows does not compare to that of many fighter's melee weapons, especially when including the strength bonus. Even with a Mighty Composite Bow, an Archer could not gain extra attacks with a second weapon (a fighter could get the same number this way as an Archer with the Improved Rapid Shot, with nearly equal Base Attack Bonuses). I am not arguing these two are equivalent, only that they are analogues and nearly equivalent.
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ARCHER
An Expert Marksman, a dedicated watchman, the leader of castle guard, a great hunter, a scout for the army, and siege commander - all are Archers. Archers are dedicated to learning the use of the Bow, and employing its use in combat. They are amazing in their martial prowess with the bow, both in accuracy and rate of fire. An Archer will play the same roles as a fighter - stalwart defenders, cruel marauders, or gutsy adventurers. Archers often hail from the country-side, where archery contests are often held and a man's value is determined by his hunting ability. Archers are often found in the employ of the military as well. They make excellent commanders for units of archers, siege weapons, and flying units. Archers are also very good scouts, because they are trained to keep a keen eye on the lookout when on watch. Even when others charge into parlay with swords drawn, an archer will stand back and pick off targets with equal skill.
Adventures: Most Archers seek adventure to improve their skills; like fighters, they are often for hire. Unlike their brazen cousins, the fighters, Archers prefer strategy, tactics, and ambush to charging first and asking questions later. Archers are often haughty towards fighters, saying, "There is a difference between having faith in your abilities and counting on them to save your life." Archers may be mercenaries, personal guards, or adventure in hopes of treasure. Certainly, they are free to adventure for any reason.
Characteristics: Of all classes, Archers have the best skill with Martial Ranged weapons. They prefer less constraining armors types, allowing them full use of dexterity for defense and aiming. An Archer always trains to improve his abilities to decimate the battlefield with his bow and quiver full of arrows. Archers prefer to sneak up on their enemies and surprise them in a tactically superior situation.
Alignment: Archers may be any alignment. Archers who have a military will tend to be either Lawful if working for a Prince, Noble, or King or evil if working for an evil taskmaster. Chaotic Archer usually hail from the countryside, where the way of life is less structured. Lawful Archers are usually peaceful and champions of justice. A Chaotic Archer usually is a traveler, looking to see new things. Neutral Good or Evil Archers are probably nomadic, looking to help others or for personal gain.
Background: Archers may come from formal military training. They may be freelance archers, who have gained their skills in competitions and in trade (hunting). Archers may be entertainers as well, performing many trickshots. An Archer may be an Assassin who ambushes his victims from a high point near a road. Rebels often take to bows and trees to defeat the law with superior tactics and by gaining a powerful first strike. An Archer could serve as part of a monster strike team, where commoners would have to form a 'possy to round up obnoxious monsters from time to time.
Races: Archers often come from races where there is an organized society. Archers are rarely small-sized. Archers can also hail from rural areas, where nearly anyone would know the use of a bow. Elves pride themselves in archery and need archers to always keep watch against their many enemies. Humans have fewer Archers in the military, but they are valuable nonetheless in battle.
Other Classes: The Archer makes a good scout in the wilderness and makes good support for anyone in combat. On a team, the Archer needs someone to stand between the enemy and himself, usually a barbarian or fighter. The Archer's main task is to turn the tide of battle by taking down opponents wherever they are most vulnerable or threatening to the team.
GAME RULE INFORMATION
Archers have the following game statistics.
Abilities: Dexterity is very important to the Archer for aiming his bow and for sneaking up on his opponents. Many Archery-related feats require a Dexterity of 13 or greater. Archers do not wear heavier armors that reduce their dexterity bonuses. Strength will help an Archer deal more damage with a mighty composite bow, as well as help out in sticky situations that are too tight for a bow. Constitution makes the Archer tougher. However, archers also value intelligence; for they pride themselves on the ability to make good battle plans. A high wisdom will also make an Archer a better guardsman (listen, spot checks) and hunter (wilderness lore).
Alignment: Any
Hit Dice: d8
Class Skills
The Archer's class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are
Climb (Str), Craft (Int), Handle Animal (Cha), Hide (Dex), Knowledge: Siege Weapons (Int), Knowledge: Tactics (Int), Jump (Str), Listen (Wis), Move Silently (Dex), Ride (Dex), Spot (Wis), Swim (Str), and Wilderness Lore (Wis).
(Perform: Trickshot is not a class skill, but commonly taken by Archers. Perform Rank 1 is all that is needed to use this subskill.)
Skill Points at 1st level: (4 + Int modifier) x 4
Skill Points at Each Additional Level: 4 + Int modifier
Class Features
All of the following are class features of the fighter.
Weapon and Armor Proficiency: The Archer is proficient in the use of all simple melee and small melee martial weapons, all ranged martial weapons, and medium and light armors. Note that armor check penalties for armor heavier than leather apply to the skills Balance, Climb, Escape Artist, Hide, Jump, Move Silently, Pick Pocket, and Tumble. Also swim checks suffer a -1 penalty for every 5 pounds of armor and equipment carried.
Bonus Feats: At 1st level, the Archer gets the feats Dodge, Mobility, and Point Blank Shot for free. At 2nd level and every two levels after that, the Archer receives a bonus feat selected from the following list (these are in addition to feats normally gained for every three levels advanced):
Combat Reflexes, Far Shot (Improved Far Shot*), Improved Critical, Improved Initiative, Improved Mobility, Lucky Shot* (Greater Lucky Shot*), Mounted Archery** (Improved Mounted Archery*), Penetration, Precise Shot (Improved Precise Shot*), Rapid Shot (Improved Rapid Shot*), Shot on the Run (Improved Shot on the Run*), Weapon Focus, Weapon Specialization***.
* New Feats, Descriptions Included Below
** You may take this feat without the Mounted Combat prerequisite
*** You must be at least fourth level to take this feat
Table 3-0: The Archer
Melee Base Range Base Fort Ref Will
Level Attack Bonus Attack Bonus Save Save Save Special
1 +0 +1 +2 +2 +0 Dodge*, Mobility*,
Point Blank Shot
2 +1 +2 +3 +3 +0 Bonus Feat
3 +2 +3 +3 +3 +1 --
4 +3 +4 +4 +4 +1 Bonus Feat
5 +3 +5/+1 +4 +4 +1 --
6 +4 +6/+2 +5 +5 +2 Bonus Feat
7 +5 +7/+3 +5 +5 +2 --
8 +6/+1 +8/+4 +6 +6 +2 Bonus Feat
9 +6/+1 +9/+5/+1 +6 +6 +3 --
10 +7/+2 +10/+6/+2 +7 +7 +3 Bonus Feat
11 +8/+3 +11/+7/+3 +7 +7 +3 --
12 +9/+4 +12/+8/+4 +8 +8 +4 Bonus Feat
13 +9/+4 +13/+9/+5/+1 +8 +8 +4 --
14 +10/+5 +14/+10/+6/+2 +9 +9 +4 Bonus Feat
15 +11/+6/+1 +15/+11/+7/+3 +9 +9 +5 --
16 +12/+7/+2 +16/+12/+8/+4 +10 +10 +5 Bonus Feat
17 +12/+7/+2 +17/+13/+9/+5/+1 +10 +10 +5 --
18 +13/+8/+3 +18/+14/+10/+6/+2 +11 +11 +6 Bonus Feat
19 +14/+9/+4 +19/+15/+11/+7/+3 +11 +11 +6 --
20 +15/+10/+5 +20/+16/+12/+8/+4 +12 +12 +6 Bonus Feat
* may not be used when wearing heavy armor
New Skill and Feat Descriptions
Skills
Knowledge: Siege Weapons (Int; Trained Only)
This skill gives the character the ability to supervise construction of Siege Weapons (the design of a siege weapon is important; it takes little crafting skill to build them.)
Supervising the construction of Siege Weapons has a DC 13. The character must have ample supplies of wood and access to a blacksmith. If one fellow worker has Craft: Carpentry, you get a +2 circumstance bonus. Master Work Siege Weapons requires a worker with Craft: Carpentry 5 ranks, Craft: Blacksmithing 5 ranks, and has a DC of 20, without the circumstance bonus.
The character also knows how to correctly employ siege weapons, both in operating them and positioning them advantageously (as per the Knowledge: Tactics skill below). Use of siege engines can be trained in others with a day of training.
Check: Answering a question about Siege Weapons, their construction, and their use has a DC of 10 (really easy questions), 15 (basic questions), 20 to 30 (for difficult to very difficult questions).
Retry: Yes. However, if a check fails when constructing Siege Weapons, the time, materials, and effort are wasted.
Knowledge: Tactics (Int; Trained Only)
This gives the character knowledge of both skirmish and battlefield tactics, famous tactics throughout history, famous battles, etc. The character may use this skill to lead armies as a general or to set up ambushes. (DC depending upon terrain available.)
Check: Answering a question about Tactics has a DC of 10 (really easy questions), 15 (basic questions), 20 to 30 (for difficult to very difficult questions). To use tactics, the situation depends upon the terrain available and the resources available (a DC of 5 set up an ambush in a cave full of rock formations, for example).
Retry: No. If a check fails, the character will only find out when the tide of battle turns against him.
Perform: Trickshot (Cha)
Trickshot is a "sub-skill", one of the performance modes that can be selected when one gains a rank in perform. The character may use trickshot to perform difficult shots with a ranged weapon and make a performance out of it. The character must still make an attack role for each shot, but can take 10 since it is not combat. Most trick shots have an AC of 14 or 16; splitting an arrow down the middle with another is 14, 10 + 4 (diminutive size). Make the perform roll after the attack roll. A character may pretend that a miss was intentional at a -5 penalty.
Check: Same as Perform.
Retry: Yes, but a miss and the consequences of missing, such as angering the crowd, still apply.
Feats
IMPROVED FAR SHOT [General]
You are penalized less for ranged shots.
Prerequisite: Dex 13+, Point Blank Shot, Far Shot
Benefit: For every range increment penalty you incur, you are penalized -1. See Range Increment, p97 PHB.
Normal: You are penalized -2 for every range increment.
IMPROVED MOBILITY [General]
You are skilled at dodging opponents while using ranged attacks.
Prerequisite: Dodge, Mobility, Point Blank Shot, Weapon Focus: (any ranged weapon)
Benefit: Using a bow with which you have weapon focus, you do not draw attacks of opportunity when using that weapon. A condition which makes you lose your Dexterity bonus to Armor Class also prevents you from using this feat.
Special: You do NOT need to take this feat multiple times for multiple ranged weapon types. You need this feat once, but must take the Weapon Focus feat multiple times to use this feat with multiple weapons.
IMPROVED MOUNTED ARCHERY [General]
You are very skilled at using your bow while mounted.
Prerequisite: Dex 13+, Ride Skill (5 ranks), Mounted Archery, Mounted Combat (Archers need not have Mounted Combat to take this feat).