Help me build a sniper

[MerakSpielman]

I just need something to get my mind going here...

This character is going to be a specialist in an evil-heavy party. We are building a rep as an D&D version of an elite SWAT team. We get a mission, are inserted, achieve our goals, and get out.

My characters speciality is going to be long-range sniping from the cover of darkness. He can start at 5th level. PrCs are acceptible at the approval of the DM, but I don't have any splatbooks. If you can think of one, please recommend a good PrC that doesn't require me to go and buy something.

His goal is to be able to, within a few levels, be able to take out low-level targets unseen from a moderate distance with a single shot. Is this possible?

 

[clark411]

Well, without reaaally magical arrows it'll be neigh impossible to go for the "kill with one shot" theme through damage. That leaves a couple options, the most blatent being the death attack compliments of the Assassin class. If you don't mind using a peppering method of archery- where you're cranking out arrows by the quiver per round, options open up.

Cover of darkness sounds a lot like the Deepwood Sniper, but again, dealing 1d8+4 with a single shot, irregardless of how far it is, will kill your average 1st level commoner... but not the kind of person, low level or not, that you'll probably be inserted to handle.. or their lackeys.... Soooo... sounds like Assassin. From a distance you just watch your opponents, and then pick them off.

Alternatively, have access to the feat / spells required to make arrows of slaying. That always does the trick too.

 

[hong]

I just need something to get my mind going here...

This character is going to be a specialist in an evil-heavy party. We are building a rep as an D&D version of an elite SWAT team. We get a mission, are inserted, achieve our goals, and get out.

My characters speciality is going to be long-range sniping from the cover of darkness. He can start at 5th level. PrCs are acceptible at the approval of the DM, but I don't have any splatbooks. If you can think of one, please recommend a good PrC that doesn't require me to go and buy something.

His goal is to be able to, within a few levels, be able to take out low-level targets unseen from a moderate distance with a single shot. Is this possible?

Coincidentally, I made up a shadow sniper PrC that has exactly this as its schtick, just a couple of months ago. Ranged sneak attacks from ~300 feet away is fun.

http://www.zipworld.com.au/~hong/dnd/shadow_sniper.htm

 

[Henry]

Moved to Rules Forum.

 

[DiFier]

In the quintessencial rogue there is a PrC called commando. I don't remember the requirements but it gives advantages to sniping attacks. Check it out.

 

[MerakSpielman]

Re: Re: Help me build a sniper

Coincidentally, I made up a shadow sniper PrC that has exactly this as its schtick, just a couple of months ago. Ranged sneak attacks from ~300 feet away is fun.

http://www.zipworld.com.au/~hong/dnd/shadow_sniper.htm

This could be what I'm looking for! Thanks! Just need to tweak it a bit.... But in a nutshell, it's great!

 

[Tetsubo]

Nice work Hong.

 

[LokiDR]

A wizard really fits the concept of a sniper better than an archer. The "one shot, one kill" can be done with save or die spells at range. The wizard has fly for menuverablilty, and invis for concealment. Divinations allow for tracking the enemy, sighting, and verification of a kill.

Then again, I think wizards are broken

Honestly, arrows of slaying are good. 2-ball bolas are also a good enhancement to your arsenal. If you want to make the concept work effectively, you need some why to get long range sneak attack, like Hong's class. A player in my game (which includes guns) told me he wanted a sniper scope. When I playtested his design at 14th level, it wasn't amazing, but it included spending a full round sighting a target before you get sneak attack at range.

 

[Skullfyre]

Don't forget the sniper prestige class from 3 Arrows for the king

 

[Hypersmurf]

Re: Re: Help me build a sniper

Coincidentally, I made up a shadow sniper PrC that has exactly this as its schtick, just a couple of months ago.

Concealment Reduction (Ex): An opponent with a 0% miss chance is no longer concealed.

How have you found that works out in testing?

Especially since it's not limited to ranged weapons, it means a RogX/ShS6 can melee sneak attack people with Blur spells up, for example.

I'm not sure why a Shadow Sniper should be better at sticking a sword in a Blurred vital spot than a straight-class Rogue of the same level...?

-Hyp.