Help me build an 8th level character..Please

First off I would like to say hello, this is my first post.

Now, we are going back to a game we had been playing for awhile this sunday, and I have no desire to play the character I was previously playing so I want to try something else out, I am not sure what though, my first thought was a

Rgr1/Ftr2/Deepwood Sniper5

I do like that but im not sure if once we get started I will, do you have any better Ideas for archers?(Personally I think The Sniper is superior to Arcane Archer.) Here is a rundown of the party.

Human Priest of Mystra
Human Sorceror
Elven Magekiller
Human Fighter
Dwarven Barbarian
???(someone who is new to this campaign that does not know what he will be playing)

Based on this information I liked some form of archer, BUT there is no thief which can be bad in some situations. Personally I am VERY fond of Magic users. I dont really think I want to play a thief but if you can provide an interesting PrC I will consider it, so please give me any opinions. Thanks in advance.

First of all, welcome to the boards!

I like the archer with rogue concept as a character. I think if you'll look more closely at the Deepwood Sniper PRC you will find that you're going to need some more levels of core classes in order to meet all of the requirements to take DWS. I don't have it in front of me so I don't know if this will get all the prereqs in but consider doing something like F4/ Rog2/ DWS2. Also keep in mind that you can take a few levels of Deepwoodsniper and then take more fighter levels or rogue levels later if the party's needs change.

Ok, I actually already rolled that character I posted in front of the DM for if I DID decide to play him, and Making him a Wood elf and getting the +2 str bonus with an 17 I had the +5 base attack required, Another reason i took ranger so I could get the required feats(Point blank shot, Far Shot, and weapon focus) and the 4 ranks in Hide, Spot, and Move silently. Ive also considered taking the first level of rogue to get more skill points, then a few fighter levels then jumping into DWS quick. SOmething else ive considered, but dont know if it would work would be:

Rgr1/Ftr1/Wis2/ArcaneArcher2/DWS2

But not too sure(almost not sure at all if that would work.

Hey DB, greetings and welcome to the boards!!!

I don't suppose you could post all of the stat numbers for us. It would make it easier for me at least.

Doom Bringer said:

Ok, I actually already rolled that character I posted in front of the DM for if I DID decide to play him, and Making him a Wood elf and getting the +2 str bonus with an 17 I had the +5 base attack required,

Click to expand...

That +5 is your Attack bonus. A first level Ranger has a Base Attack Bonus of +1.

You'll need a minimum of 5 levels of a fighting class (Barbarian, Fighter, Ranger, or Paladin) to get a Base Attack Bonus of +5.

My rolls were: 18,17,16,14,14,12

So your Str modifyer has no affect on your base attack bonus?

Doom Bringer said:

My rolls were: 18,17,16,14,14,12

So your Str modifyer has no affect on your base attack bonus?

Click to expand...

That is correct. The BAB (Base Attack Bonus) only goes up with levels. The strength bonus helps with your overall to hit odds, with melee weapons.


Regards,
Airwolf

Here is what I tossed together in a few minutes. I know it doesn't get you to level 5 DWS but it won't break the rules. It makes a great archer.

Stat Block
Elf(Wood), Ftr2/Rgr3/Snp3;
CR 8; Medium Humanoid; 5'x5'/5';
HD 3d8+5d10+16; hp 64;
Init +4; Spd 30 ft/x4;
AC 20(+6 armor, +4 dex);
Atk +14/+9 Must be 2-handed (1d8+5,19-20/×3, Mighty composite longbow +1 (+4 Str bonus)), +14/+9 One-handed (1d8+5/19-20/×2, Masterwork longsword);
SV Fort +9, Ref +8, Will +4; AL LG;
Str 20(+5), Dex 19(+4), Con 14(+2), Int 14(+2), Wis 14(+2), Cha 10(+0);
Skills & Feats: Climb¹ +10, Hide¹ +14, Listen¹ +14, Move Silently¹ +14, Ride¹ +9, Spot¹ +9, Swim¹ +10.
Improved Critical(Composite Longbow), Point Blank Shot, Far Shot, Precise Shot, Weapon Focus(Composite Longbow)

-Edit-
Equipment: Composite Longbow(+1) - Mighty +4, Longsword - Masterwork, Chain Shirt +2, Efficient Quiver.

If I did my math right this will leave you with about 290 gp to buy some mundain items.
-Edit-

With your will save being the lowest, you could replace precise shot or improved critical for iron will, if you were worried about that.

I also didn't put any equipment or magic items on since I didn't know what you and your DM have worked out. If you can get a 'mighty' bow this character should really kick some butt.

- EDIT - I added the equipment into this post.

Regards,
Airwolf

Hmm.. That looks good.

BTW as far as items go the DM said we can get 10,000gp to buy magical items,etc, but no artifacts, what items would you recomend?

If you can persuade your DM to let you use either an Archer Varient Ranger or Monte Cook's ranger. They work extremely well for filling the DWS req. Your party is rather melee oriented though and only has two casters. That is going to hurt at higher levels, especially if one gets taken out. I'm assuming that the Magekiller is some kind of fighter class though. At a minimum you are going to have to get the new guy to run a rogue. Any adventuring party HAS to have one.

Personally, I would recomend adding at least 2 lvs of Order of the Bow Initiate (OoBI) at some point to get the Combat Shot (Does not draw an AoO when firing a bow in a threatened area). The class complements DWS very well.

I'm not sure if you can get Imp Crit until 9th, one of the req is an 8+ BAB. Since you can't take a feat until AFTER the req are satisfied. IE. you don't have an 8 BAB until after you've leveled meaning that when you are selecting an 8th lvl feat you've really only got a BAB of 7. That is an odd level to get a feat at (Lvl 4 fighter feat perhaps?) though. So that would make 9th the, if I understand things correctly. Your DM may also interpret things differently.

RE: Magic items.

Hewlet's Handy Haversack is easily one of the best magic items for a character period. It essentially eliminates problems with encumberance since it can hold a total of 120 lb of stuff while only weighing 5lb. Also it enables you to stick a ton of full quivers in there, since the limits are by weight not space. So you don't have to worry about running out of arrows.

Bracers of Archery are another absolute necessity. Giving +2 to hit, also +1 to damage if within 30'. A steal at 5,100 gp.

I don't know if your DM counts these as magic items, but a Mythril Chain shirt is almost certainly your best option for armor. I think those go for about 2,000 gold.

A Quiver of Elhona is very nice at 1,800 gp and certainly minimized problems if you have a large number of different types of arrows. Since it automatically suplies you with the desired arrow. If you go with the HHH, then it is not as important, but you will want at least one later on.

Hat of Disguise, Horn of Fog (for breaking contact and running away) or Glove of storing (to keep your melee weapon in for when you get forced into Melee) as well as boots or cloak of elvenkind can be useful depending on how you want your character to work. They all run about 2k gold (2,200 for the glove of storing).

This thread has a lot of useful suggestions on running an archer as well

http://enworld.cyberstreet.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=43136