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3.5 Arcane Archer Rebuild
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<blockquote data-quote="DrSpunj" data-source="post: 1185836" data-attributes="member: 994"><p>Okay, you've pushed this point twice now, but I don't see you elaborating on any ideas here. <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f609.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=";)" title="Wink ;)" data-smilie="2"data-shortname=";)" /></p><p> </p><p>It's a good idea, getting back to the Core concept. What does that mean to you?</p><p> </p><p>To me it means possibly one of two things: 1) an archer who casts arcane spells with their bow & arrows OR 2) an archer who can arcanely enhance his bow & arrows with nifty abilities.</p><p> </p><p>Either way, I think the class should have full BAB or at least full BAB with bow attacks. Borrowing from Monte's AU & the Mageblade, that core class starts at first level with a +1 weapon called an athame, any mundane bladed weapon the Mageblade spends some ceremony time with. In his hands its a +1 weapon, and every 4 levels its enhancement increases by an additional +1. They only get 3/4 BAB progression, but with their athame they actually equal full BAB 3 levels out of 4, and surpass it by +1 every 4th level. It's a neat trick to signify a special affinity with their chosen weapon, while at the same time lessening their combat prowess with any other weapon. (BTW, if the athame is destroyed, lost, or they find something they like better it's a simple ceremony to designate a new one, though the old is automatically destroyed IIRC). I think that could be put to good effect here, with the Arcane Archer's chosen bow.</p><p> </p><p>To borrow further from the Mageblade, they only get half the spellcasting ability compared to "full" casters (ie. Magisters & Wiz/Sorcs). To simulate that here I'd probably go with "+1 level of existing arcane spellcasting class" every other level.</p><p> </p><p>If Imbue Arrow applied to ALL spells (after all, if you allow it to work on Area & Touch spells, there aren't that many left you're excluding) from 1st level, then it would be a very useful ability. I'm not sure if that's too powerful or not, but it's easy enough to say that you can only use Imbue Arrow with spell levels less than or equal to your AA class level. That is, a 1st level Arcane Archer could only use Imbue Arrow with Cantrips & 1st level arcane spells; a 2nd level AA could use 0, 1st & 2nd spells with Imbue Arrow; etc. (This latter part is somewhat borrowed from the Spellsword's channeling ability, but I always thought that was a bit clunky. YMMV but I think this is a bit more elegant). That means even if they had access to higher level spells, they couldn't use them with Imbue Arrow unless they were of higher AA level. I think this would help prevent dipping into the class for just a single level to pick up Imbue Arrow.</p><p> </p><p>I don't have my AU with me now, but there are other abilities that might be borrowed from the Mageblade. I think they can summon their weapon to them and do some other nifty things that might also work here.</p><p> </p><p>Also, I'm still really keen on allowing the Arcane Archer to enhance his bow and/or arrows with magic weapon special abilities (of course these would only function for the AA). Being able to add the Flaming ability (or Bane, Shock, Frost, Seeking, Distance, Thundering, etc.; which are all +1 Ranged Weapon abilities) would be really cool, and to me further separates the AA from just being a Ftr/Wiz multiclass. I'm thinking of something that would be selected in the morning, like a Wizard memorizing their spells, but if that's deemed too powerful it could also be something the character chooses permanently when gaining the designated AA level.</p><p>Looking over the Ranged Weapon Special Ability list Speed at +3 and Brilliant at +4 could easily be left off the potential list, leaving all the +1 and +2 abilities. Maybe a +1 ability at 3rd level & 5th and a +2 at 7th & 9th?</p><p> </p><p>Finally, because Sundering an AA's chosen bow would be so devastating (and it's a fairly common tactic against archers), I think one minor ability that would be cool is making it a bit tougher while in the hands of the AA, so it's more resistant to damage. It already gets some of that by being designated a magical weapon, and maybe that's enough. I'll have to review those rules as I haven't really read them recently.</p><p> </p><p>Anyway, putting that all together I come up with the following:</p><p> </p><p>BAB - 3/4</p><p> </p><p>Class Abilities:</p><p>1st - Athame-like Bow, Imbue Arrow</p><p>2nd - Spells per day +1 level of existing arcane class</p><p>3rd - Enhance Bow w/+1 bonus special ability</p><p>4th - Spells per day +1 level of existing arcane class</p><p>5th - Enhance Bow w/+1 bonus special ability</p><p>6th - Spells per day +1 level of existing arcane class </p><p>7th - Enhance Bow w/+2 bonus special ability</p><p>8th - Spells per day +1 level of existing arcane class</p><p>9th - Enhance Bow w/+2 bonus special ability</p><p>10th - Spells per day +1 level of existing arcane class</p><p></p><p>What about that guys?</p><p> </p><p>BTW, thanks for everyone's input on this! <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile :)" data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" /></p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="DrSpunj, post: 1185836, member: 994"] Okay, you've pushed this point twice now, but I don't see you elaborating on any ideas here. ;) It's a good idea, getting back to the Core concept. What does that mean to you? To me it means possibly one of two things: 1) an archer who casts arcane spells with their bow & arrows OR 2) an archer who can arcanely enhance his bow & arrows with nifty abilities. Either way, I think the class should have full BAB or at least full BAB with bow attacks. Borrowing from Monte's AU & the Mageblade, that core class starts at first level with a +1 weapon called an athame, any mundane bladed weapon the Mageblade spends some ceremony time with. In his hands its a +1 weapon, and every 4 levels its enhancement increases by an additional +1. They only get 3/4 BAB progression, but with their athame they actually equal full BAB 3 levels out of 4, and surpass it by +1 every 4th level. It's a neat trick to signify a special affinity with their chosen weapon, while at the same time lessening their combat prowess with any other weapon. (BTW, if the athame is destroyed, lost, or they find something they like better it's a simple ceremony to designate a new one, though the old is automatically destroyed IIRC). I think that could be put to good effect here, with the Arcane Archer's chosen bow. To borrow further from the Mageblade, they only get half the spellcasting ability compared to "full" casters (ie. Magisters & Wiz/Sorcs). To simulate that here I'd probably go with "+1 level of existing arcane spellcasting class" every other level. If Imbue Arrow applied to ALL spells (after all, if you allow it to work on Area & Touch spells, there aren't that many left you're excluding) from 1st level, then it would be a very useful ability. I'm not sure if that's too powerful or not, but it's easy enough to say that you can only use Imbue Arrow with spell levels less than or equal to your AA class level. That is, a 1st level Arcane Archer could only use Imbue Arrow with Cantrips & 1st level arcane spells; a 2nd level AA could use 0, 1st & 2nd spells with Imbue Arrow; etc. (This latter part is somewhat borrowed from the Spellsword's channeling ability, but I always thought that was a bit clunky. YMMV but I think this is a bit more elegant). That means even if they had access to higher level spells, they couldn't use them with Imbue Arrow unless they were of higher AA level. I think this would help prevent dipping into the class for just a single level to pick up Imbue Arrow. I don't have my AU with me now, but there are other abilities that might be borrowed from the Mageblade. I think they can summon their weapon to them and do some other nifty things that might also work here. Also, I'm still really keen on allowing the Arcane Archer to enhance his bow and/or arrows with magic weapon special abilities (of course these would only function for the AA). Being able to add the Flaming ability (or Bane, Shock, Frost, Seeking, Distance, Thundering, etc.; which are all +1 Ranged Weapon abilities) would be really cool, and to me further separates the AA from just being a Ftr/Wiz multiclass. I'm thinking of something that would be selected in the morning, like a Wizard memorizing their spells, but if that's deemed too powerful it could also be something the character chooses permanently when gaining the designated AA level. Looking over the Ranged Weapon Special Ability list Speed at +3 and Brilliant at +4 could easily be left off the potential list, leaving all the +1 and +2 abilities. Maybe a +1 ability at 3rd level & 5th and a +2 at 7th & 9th? Finally, because Sundering an AA's chosen bow would be so devastating (and it's a fairly common tactic against archers), I think one minor ability that would be cool is making it a bit tougher while in the hands of the AA, so it's more resistant to damage. It already gets some of that by being designated a magical weapon, and maybe that's enough. I'll have to review those rules as I haven't really read them recently. Anyway, putting that all together I come up with the following: BAB - 3/4 Class Abilities: 1st - Athame-like Bow, Imbue Arrow 2nd - Spells per day +1 level of existing arcane class 3rd - Enhance Bow w/+1 bonus special ability 4th - Spells per day +1 level of existing arcane class 5th - Enhance Bow w/+1 bonus special ability 6th - Spells per day +1 level of existing arcane class 7th - Enhance Bow w/+2 bonus special ability 8th - Spells per day +1 level of existing arcane class 9th - Enhance Bow w/+2 bonus special ability 10th - Spells per day +1 level of existing arcane class What about that guys? BTW, thanks for everyone's input on this! :) [/QUOTE]
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