The Mighty Bow... sort of...

[geflin]

okay, welcome to my first post! i have a slight problem...

my fiance' is new to the world of gaming, and i have just "upgraded" to d&d 3.0... she plays a ranger and i play an artifacer... she is absolutely killer with a bow... the only problem is she only criticals on a natural 20... with feats being few and far between, she doesn't want to burn one on the improved critical for only a one point improvement... as an artifacer and weaponsmith, is there anything that my character can build (magical or mundane) to help improve upon this? i know that i can help with it by making keen arrows, but is there anything else that will help improve the citical threat range of a bow? thanks in advance for any good advice!

-geflin

 

[Crothian]

Welcome Yoober!!! I think I spelled that right.

Improved Critical is a good feat, it increases the chance of a threat from 5% to !0%, it makes a differnce. Keen is really the only other way to do it. A keen bow or Keen arrows will work, and in 3.0 they stack with improved critical making it 18-20/x3

 

[Apollo's WIll]

Greetings Geflin

Firstly (and I'm just following the rules strictly, which of course can be changed as the group wishes ): Keen is only for Melee weapons. Ammunition belongs under range. Secondly in Version 3.0 keen can only be placed on Slashing weapons. In version 3.5 it is also allowed on Piercing. So if your DM follows the rules strictly Keen is not an option. So what could you do?



Critical is basically just a triple damage rarely, whatever you can do it on only a 20 or a 19-20. With a chance on 10% (not including that you actually have to roll once more and beat the opponent's AC again), I think you would be better of, taking another approach.



Why not add some damage bonus to the bow, such as Shock or Frost. They add +d6 damage to every hit. Her overall damage would be far better than with Keen or Improve Critical.



And when time is, and she reaches the level to take Improve Critical, she will really be able to deal out some good ol' damage.

 

[Darkness]

i have just "upgraded" to d&d 3.0... she plays a ranger and i play an artifacer...

3.0 or 3.5? 'cause if you mean the Eberron artificer, that's a 3.5 class.

 

[Rackhir]

Well taking 2 levels of fighter would give you 2 more feats. Alternatively/In addition, she could take Deep Woods Sniper from the old splat book "Masters of the Wild". It would give her the Keen Arrows ability for the extended crit range (19-20) and increaces the crit multiple to a maximum of x5.

 

[Abraxas]

Its Yooper, not Yoober
and all us that live below the bridge are trolls.

 

[Kae'Yoss]

Welcome to the boards!

okay, welcome to my first post! i have a slight problem...

my fiance' is new to the world of gaming, and i have just "upgraded" to d&d 3.0... she plays a ranger and i play an artifacer... she is absolutely killer with a bow... the only problem is she only criticals on a natural 20... with feats being few and far between, she doesn't want to burn one on the improved critical for only a one point improvement... as an artifacer and weaponsmith, is there anything that my character can build (magical or mundane) to help improve upon this? i know that i can help with it by making keen arrows, but is there anything else that will help improve the citical threat range of a bow? thanks in advance for any good advice!

-geflin

Deepwood Sniper has already been pointed out, and Improved Critical isn't to be spit at, either. There are also a couple of ranger spells that deal with criticals.

On the other hand, a threat range of 20 (or 19-20) might not be that stellar, but the x3 isn't so bad. And if she's already killer with the bow, she doesn't really need frequent criticals. Chances are she already makes twice as many attacks as the other fighter types.

Oh, take a look at the 3.5 version of the ranger (it's in the SRD). Even if you don't play 3.5 per se, you should use the 3.5 ranger.

 

[CRGreathouse]

Firstly (and I'm just following the rules strictly, which of course can be changed as the group wishes ): Keen is only for Melee weapons. Ammunition belongs under range. Secondly in Version 3.0 keen can only be placed on Slashing weapons. In version 3.5 it is also allowed on Piercing. So if your DM follows the rules strictly Keen is not an option. So what could you do?

In 3.0 keen could be placed on piercing or slashing weapons; it's in the errata. The weapon ability is supposed to mirror the spell. Of course, that doesn't change the ranged/melee nature of the ability. Does the spell also restrict itsef to melee weapons? I can't remember.

 

[geflin]

a large reply...

thank you all for taking the time to read and reply to my dilemma... i do have a couple of quick questions...

1. KaeYoss (cool name by the way, what's it stand for?) you mentioned a 3.5 ranger in the "SRD" what exactly is the SRD? and where can i find it? (forgive my squirlly ignorance, but i'm still adapting to the 3.0+ world... )

2. thank you Abraxas, it is yooper! although i do appreciate you trying to make me feel welcome, Crothian! the term "yooper" comes from the shortened Upper Penninsula of Michigan or U.P. thus those living here became known as "U.P.er's" or as the finlanders in the western end of the U.P. have taken to spelling it yooper. i have lived here the better portion of my life, although i did do time in various other local's around the country such as chicago, ft. lauderdale, l.a. and detroit.

3. several people metioned a spell regarding keen. i take it that it is the "keen edge" spell listed in the PHP. i'm still learning how to build enchanted weapons and such. does it mean if i place the spell on the bow, it will bestow its enchantment on the missles it throws?

4. Darkness, we use mostly 3.0 but the GM adds new stuff as he sees fit. i originally started out as a fighter and was going to take a couple of wizrad levels so i could craft magical weapons. then i found the artifacer, and the rest is as they say history!

5. Rackhir, the only problem with taking a couple of fighter levels is that whole uneven levels rule. by adding the fighter she would lose the 20% exp because she's elven (sorry i didn't put that in the original post).

 

[Shadeus]

thank you all for taking the time to read and reply to my dilemma... i do have a couple of quick questions...

1. KaeYoss (cool name by the way, what's it stand for?) you mentioned a 3.5 ranger in the "SRD" what exactly is the SRD? and where can i find it? (forgive my squirlly ignorance, but i'm still adapting to the 3.0+ world... )

SRD = System Reference Document. It's the Open Gaming Content that all d20 publishers use to base their products off of. A copy of it is on the wizard's website, but this is the one I usually use: here

2. thank you Abraxas, it is yooper! although i do appreciate you trying to make me feel welcome, Crothian! the term "yooper" comes from the shortened Upper Penninsula of Michigan or U.P. thus those living here became known as "U.P.er's" or as the finlanders in the western end of the U.P. have taken to spelling it yooper. i have lived here the better portion of my life, although i did do time in various other local's around the country such as chicago, ft. lauderdale, l.a. and detroit.

3. several people metioned a spell regarding keen. i take it that it is the "keen edge" spell listed in the PHP. i'm still learning how to build enchanted weapons and such. does it mean if i place the spell on the bow, it will bestow its enchantment on the missles it throws?

I'm not sure on this one. I believe you need to cast the spell on the projectiles. A bow itself is not a slashing or piercing weapon. That's a slippery slope though. You are right about the spell being keen edge