Class: Archer

The Archer
		Maneuvers
Level	Special	Aim Acquisition	Max Aim	Max Grade	Schools	Known
1	Precision	Standard	2	Basic	1	4
2	Toxophilite	Standard	2	Basic	1	6
3		Standard	3	Lesser	1	7
4	Toxophilite	Standard	3	Lesser	1	8
5		Standard	4	Lesser	2	10
6	Toxophilite	Improved	4	Lesser	2	11
7		Improved	5	Lesser	2	12
8	Toxophilite	Improved	5	Expert	2	14
9		Improved	6	Expert	2	15
10	Archer Talent	Improved	6	Expert	2	16
11		Improved	7	Expert	3	18
12	Archer Talent	Improved	7	Expert	3	19
13		Improved	8	Greater	3	20
14	Archer Talent	Supreme	8	Greater	3	22
15		Supreme	9	Greater	3	23
16	Archer Talent	Supreme	9	Greater	3	24
17		Supreme	10	Greater	3	26
18	Archer Talent	Supreme	10	Master	3	27
19		Supreme	11	Master	3	28
20	Archer Talent	Supreme	11	Master	3	30

 

Archer

Silaqui, iconic archer

"Quieter than a gun, better range than a sword."

The archer excels in combat at a distance, using skill, speed, and accuracy to deadly effect. While other combatants traditionally focus on melee weapons, the archer is an expert in bows, slings, and crossbows. Due to their focus on agility and need to maintain distance, archers have little use for the typical trappings of warriors, often wearing light - if any - armor, and few carry no more than a dagger for personal defense when the chips are down.

Archers in Trinity have a somewhat unusual pedigree. While guns and other more powerful ranged weaponry exist, almost all of them eventually fall under the purview of a Force, making their reliability against all foes somewhat suspect. Bows, meanwhile, are sufficiently simple for the world to not consider them part of the Force of Technology, meaning that bows can be used in all situations against all creatures. That they are quieter and significantly easier to maintain is simply an added bonus.

That said, some archers - somewhat paradoxically - make use of guns. The nature of ranged weapons is such that the basic concepts still apply, though not all archers are comfortable with the transition to weapons that do not need to arc to hit their targets. This is a somewhat more unusual path, however, and often requires the archer to step outside of standard archery training to pick up the way of the gun. Other more exotic ranged weapons - such as blowguns or boomerangs - are also possible, but significantly less common than archers who choose bows or even guns.

The archer's primary focus in combat is on range, and on maintaining it. Given sufficient distance, she can - eventually - fell any creature. However, should she become engaged in melee combat, she is at a distinct disadvantage, and will most likely fall. As such, archers prefer to attack from the rear, and while some charge in head-first alongside more melee-oriented combatants, most prefer someone screen for them against their assailants.

Game Rule Information

Archers have the following game statistics.

Force Alignment: None.

Force Resistances: None.

Abilities: At least one of Dexterity, Wisdom, and Perception is absolutely vital to an archer. Constitution increases your chances of surviving in melee and also lets you keep aiming longer.

Starting Age: Simple.

T20

Hit Points at 1st Level: 10 + Con score.

Hit Points at Each Additional Level: 7 + Con modifier.

Healing Surges: 8 + Con modifier.

Defenses: Fort +0; Ref +4; Will +0; Det +2.

Pathfinder

Hit Die: d8.

BAB: Good.

Saving Throws: Fort (Poor); Ref (Good); Will (Poor).

Skill Points: 4 + Int modifier.

Class Skills: Acrobatics (Dex), Climb (Str), Craft (Int), Escape Artist (Dex), Perception (Wis), Profession (Wis), Ride (Dex), Sleight of Hand (Dex), Stealth (Dex), Survival (Wis), and Swim (Str).

Class Features

All of the following are class features of the archer.

Proficiencies

Weapons: Bows, any three ranged, any one melee, any one.

Armor: Light.

Implements: None.

Maneuvers

Archers are warriors, and as such make use of maneuvers, specific attacks or other abilities attained through rigorous training.

To use maneuvers, archers must expend aim, which they gain through spending actions.

 

Archer Schools
School	Primary Ability	Description
Awareness	Wis	Awareness of the battlefield is paramount to an archer, and this school focuses on honing intuition and sixth sense to an art form.
Mobility	Dex	Focused on movement and unpredictability, the mobility school focuses on attacking on the run.
Sniping	Per	Sniping is the art of taking out foes in a single shot, be it by debilitating them or outright ending them in a single decisive blow.

 

Maneuvers are almost universally completely physical in nature and have no Force components; they are expressions of the mortal body pushed to its limits. Maneuvers are divided into schools, which represent particular thoughts and approaches to combat, training, and martial abilities. The aim cost and minimum primary ability needed to use a maneuver are indicated on the table to the right.

Maneuver Stats by Grade
Grade	Minimum Primary Ability	Aim Cost
Basic	10	1
Lesser	12	2
Expert	14	3
Greater	16	5
Master	18	8
Epic	20	11

The archer has a maximum amount of aim, based upon her class level. You gain a bonus to this amount equal to the highest of your Dexterity, Wisdom, and Perception modifiers; this bonus is limited to half your class level, rounded down.

During your turn, you can take an action to generate aim. You can generate aim as a swift, move, standard, or full action, but can only do so once on each of your turns; the amount of aim you can generate is dependent upon your archer level and the action you spend to generate it. In addition, if you have designated a quarry (see the precision ability, below), you gain a bonus to this amount equal to the half of the highest of your Dexterity, Wisdom, and Perception modifiers (rounded down); this bonus is limited to half your class level, rounded down.

In addition, if you have designated a quarry, at the beginning of your turn, if that creature has not moved since your last turn, you gain additional aim. This additional aim is unaffected by strain (see below).

Your current amount of aim cannot exceed your max. After a short rest or long rest, your aim is reset to 0. If you have designated a quarry and lose sight of that creature, if that creature dies, or if you designate a new quarry, you automatically lose all of your aim.

In addition, the act of such intense aiming with a weapon is stressful and straining on the eyes. At the beginning of your turn, if you have any aim, you gain 1 point of strain. For every point of strain you have, you suffer a -1 penalty to all aim rolls (to a minimum of 0); if you have more strain than your Constitution modifier, you also suffer your total amount of strain as a penalty to all ranged attack rolls and lose that amount of aim at the end of each of your turns. If at any time you have no aim, you immediately lose all accrued strain.

At the end of your turn, you can willingly lose all your remaining aim as a non-action.

To use a maneuver, you must expend some amount of aim. If you have designated a quarry, maneuvers that target a creature must at least target your quarry, and maneuvers that target an area must include your quarry in the area.

The archer begins with four known maneuvers. She gains knowledge of additional maneuvers each level, as per the class table, above. At fourth level and every four levels after, she can trade out up to two maneuvers for new maneuvers from any school she can access, of any grade she can access.

 

Archery: Aim Acquisition
	Aim Acquisition Grade
Action Taken	Standard	Improved	Supreme
Swift	1	1d2	1d3
Move	1d2	1d4	1d8
Standard	1d4	1d8	1d12
Full	2d3	2d6	2d10
Quarry standing still	1	2	4

 

If you would gain access to a school, you can choose to instead gain a bonus feat, which must be a feat for which you qualify. If you would gain access to a school and already have access to three schools, you gain a bonus feat instead.

The archer's key ability for her physical attacks is dependent upon the weapon she wields; when using a maneuver, if her primary ability score for the maneuver's school is greater than the ability score she would use for her weapon, she can use that instead.

Precision

The archer has trained to hone her eyes and her mind to focus on a single target, able to tune out everything else.

As a free action on your turn, you can designate a creature you can see as your quarry.

When you make a basic ranged attack against your quarry, you gain a feat bonus to the attack roll equal to your aim.

You do not provoke opportunity attacks from your quarry for making ranged attacks against it.

Toxophilite

The archer's skill with ranged weapons improves, putting her a cut above those who simply use them as they would any weapon.

At each of the listed levels, choose one of the abilities below. Unless otherwise specified, each ability can be taken only once.

You ignore all prerequisites for feats referenced by these abilities.

▶ Ammo Conservation

Whenever you roll a 1 on an ammo die, instead of depleting that ammunition, reduce the size of its ammo die by 1. This effect can only occur once per unit of ammunition.

d12 -> d10 -> d8 -> d6 -> d4 -> d3

At the beginning of your turn, if this feature was triggered on your last turn, you gain aim equal to half the original die size of the ammunition (so if you were using ammunition with an ammo die of d10, you would gain five aim; if the ammo die were a d4, you would gain two aim).

▶ Close-Quarters Archery

You no longer provoke opportunity attacks when using a ranged weapon within a threatened square.

At the beginning of your turn, if your quarry is threatening you with a melee weapon, you gain two aim.

▶ Far Shot

You gain the Far Shot feat.

When you spend a move action to gain aim, you gain one additional aim; if you spend at least a standard action to gain aim, you instead gain two additional aim.

▶ Nimble Archery

You gain a +10 feat bonus to Defenses against opportunity attacks due to moving into or out of a threatened area, if you have a ranged weapon in hand.

Whenever your quarry makes an opportunity attack against you, you gain two aim.

▶ Precise Shot

You gain the Precise Shot feat.

At the beginning of your turn, you gain one aim for each ally that is threatening your quarry.

▶ Point Blank Shot

You gain a +1 feat bonus to ranged attack rolls and a +1 feat bonus to your damage potency with ranged weapons against creatures within 30 feet.

At the beginning of your turn, if your quarry is within 30 feet of you and within your line of sight, you gain one aim.

▶ Rapid Shot

Whenever you make a basic ranged attack, you can instead make two basic ranged attacks, each at a -5 penalty.

At the beginning of your turn, if there are at least two enemies within range of a ranged weapon you wield and are within your line of sight, you gain one aim.

▶ Shot on the Run

You gain the Shot on the Run feat.

At the beginning of your turn, if you made a ranged attack against your quarry while moving on your last turn, you gain one aim.

Maneuvers

The following is the archer maneuver list, ordered by school, then by grade.

Awareness School

Awareness Basic Stance
Maneuver Name	Action	Type	Effect
Hawk's Eyes	Free	Stance	Increase the max range and accuracy of your ranged weapons.

 

Awareness Basic Maneuvers
Maneuver Name	Action	Type	Effect
Blindside	Standard	Strike	Make a ranged attack against a creature; if you hit, the target grants combat advantage to you and allies until the end of your next turn.
Intercepting Shade	Reaction	Counter	Make an opposed attack against an incoming attack against you or nearby ally, success negates the attack.
Manyshot	Standard	Strike	Make two ranged attacks, each at -2 penalty.
Pierce the Shadows	Swift	Boost	You can see invisible and ethereal creatures and objects for 1 round.
Point Blank Threat	Reaction	Strike	Make a ranged attack against a creature that provoked an opportunity attack from an ally.
???	???	???	???
???	???	???	???
???	???	???	???

 

Mobility School

Mobility Basic Stance
Maneuver Name	Action	Type	Effect
???	???	???	???

 

Mobility Basic Maneuvers
Maneuver Name	Action	Type	Effect
Arc of Mobility	Full	Strike	Move up to your speed, make two basic ranged attacks during your movement.
???	???	???	???
???	???	???	???
???	???	???	???
???	???	???	???
???	???	???	???
???	???	???	???
???	???	???	???

 

Sniping School

Sniping Basic Stance
Maneuver Name	Action	Type	Effect
Hunter's Eyes	Free	Stance	You gain a +2 power bonus to damage potency to targeted attacks against your quarry.

 

Sniping Basic Maneuvers
Maneuver Name	Action	Type	Effect
Called Shot	Standard	Strike	Make a ranged attack with +2 damage potency against a non-amorphous creature.
Distant Reaper	Swift	Boost	After dropping a creature, make another ranged attack at an adjacent creature.
Feel the Wind	Swift	Boost	Overcome environmental difficulties for ranged combat.
Hammerblow Shot	Standard	Strike	Make a ranged attack with +1 damage potency, push the target.
Hidden Thorn	Swift	Strike	Make a ranged attack against a creature.
Hobbling Shot	Standard	Strike	Make a ranged attack against a creature; if you hit, also hobble the target.
Marksman's Shot	Standard	Strike	Make a ranged attack with +1 damage potency with reduced penalties for extreme range.
Steady Hand	Swift	Boost	Extend a ranged weapon's first range increment by 30 feet for next attack.

 

Feats

The following are a selection of feats that are relevant to archers.

 

ADVANCED STUDY [Martial]
You've delved deeper into your martial learning to find new skills.
Benefit: You may select two maneuvers from your class's list and add them to your known maneuvers.
Special: You may select this feat multiple times.

 

DODGE [General]
Your training and reflexes allow you to react swiftly to avoid an opponents' attacks.
Prerequisites: Dex 13.
Benefit: You gain a +1 dodge bonus to your AC. A condition that makes you lose your Dex bonus to AC also makes you lose the benefits of this feat.

 

EXTRA AIM TOKENS [Martial]
You have learned how to increase your ability to retain your aim on a quarry.
Benefit: Select an initiator class that uses aim tokens that you have levels in. The size of your aim token pool increases by +2.
Special: You may select this feat multiple times, applying it to multiple classes (if you possess multiple initiator classes) or multiple times to single class. If applied to the same class, increase the bonus by the number of times you have previously taken this feat and applied it to that class.

 

EXTRAORDINARY TALENT [Epic]
You are more talented than your experience would otherwise suggest.
Prerequisites: Character level 21st+.
Benefit: You gain a talent from the talent list of one of your classes.

 

LIGHTNING RELOAD [Martial]
You can reload firearms lightning-fast.
Prerequisites: BAB +1, Basic Firearm Proficiency.
Benefit: When you reload a firearm as a move action, you can load an amount of ammunition equal to double the number of attacks allowed by your BAB.
When you reload a firearm with a full action, you can load an amount of ammunition equal to double your BAB.
Normal: When you reload a firearm with a move action, you can load an amount of ammunition equal to the number of attacks allowed by your BAB.
When you reload a firearm with a full action, you can load an amount of ammunition equal to your BAB.

 

QUICK DRAW [General]
You can draw weapons faster than most.
Prerequisites: BAB +1.
Benefit: You can draw a weapon as a free action instead of as a move action. You can draw a hidden weapon as a move action.
A character who has selected this feat may throw weapons at his full normal rate of attacks (much like a character with a bow).
You can also use this feat to quickly draw alchemical items, potions, scrolls, wands, or items of similar such size, provided they are in a holster, bandolier, or other readily-accessible holder.

 

Design Notes

Full rebuild, t20 v4.

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