Arcane Archer

Arcane Archer (Prestige Class)

Hit Die: d8

Base Attack Bonus: +1/level

Proficiencies: Light Armor Medium Armor Shields Simple Weapons Martial Weapons

Skill Points: 4 + INT modifier

Class Skills: Craft Armor Craft Trap Craft Weapon Heal Hide Listen Lore Move silently Spot

Primary Saving Throw(s): Fortitude Reflex

Description

Master of the elven warbands, the arcane archer is a warrior skilled in using magic to supplement their combat prowess. Fighters, rangers, paladins, and barbarians become arcane archers to add a little magic to their combat abilities. Conversely, wizards and sorcerers may take this prestige class to add combat capabilities to their repertoire.

Requirements

Base Attack Bonus: +6

Feats: Weapon Focus (Longbow or Shortbow), Point Blank Shot

Race: Elf (including Ghost Elf, Avariel, Drangonari) or Half-Elf

Note: Half-nymphs and half-dryads are not included since they can be either half-human or half-elf and so no way to determine if they have elf blood.

Spellcasting: Ability to cast Arcane spells (Bard, Sorcerer, Wizard)

Level Progression

Lvl	BAB	Saves			Feats	Arrow   enchantment	Imbued arrow   explosion damage
		Fort	Ref	Will
1st	+1	+2	+2	+0	Enchant Arrow	+1	-
2nd	+2	+3	+3	+0	Imbue Arrow	+1	10d6
3rd	+3	+3	+3	+1		+2	10d6
4th	+4	+4	+4	+1	Seeker Arrow 1x/day	+2	10d6
5th	+5	+4	+4	+1		+3	10d6
6th	+6	+5	+5	+2	seeker arrow 2x/day	+3	10d6
7th	+7	+5	+5	+2		+4	10d6
8th	+8	+6	+6	+2	Hail of Arrows	+4	10d6
9th	+9	+6	+6	+3		+5	10d6
10th	+10	+7	+7	+3	Arrow of Death	+5	10d6

Epic Progression

Lvl	Feats		Arrow   enchantment	Imbue arrow   explosion damage
11th			+6	10d6
12th			+6	11d6
13th			+7	11d6
14th	bonus feat		+7	12d6
15th			+8	12d6
16th			+8	13d6
17th			+9	13d6
18th	bonus feat		+9	14d6
19th			+10	14d6
20th			+10	15d6
21st			+11	15d6
22nd	bonus feat		+11	16d6
23rd			+12	16d6
24th			+12	17d6
25th			+13	17d6
26th	bonus feat		+13	18d6
27th			+14	18d6
28th			+14	19d6
29th			+15	19d6
30th	bonus feat		+15	20d6

Epic Bonus Feats: Devastating Critical (longbow, shortbow), Epic Prowess, Epic Reflexes, Epic Toughness, Epic Weapon Focus (longbow, shortbow), Great Dexterity, Improved Combat Casting, Overwhelming Critical (longbow, shortbow)

Notes

• Some documentation states that the ability to cast level 1 spells is required to be an Arcane Archer, but that is incorrect. Only a single level of any arcane class is needed. For example, Bards do not get level 1 spells until their second level, but only one Bard level is needed to become an AA. The same applies to Wizards with 10 or less Intelligence or to Sorcerers with 10 or less Charisma.

Arcane Archer Imbue Arrow: Avlis Modification

• Allows Arcane Archers (AAs) to imbue arrows with spells instead of just the default Fireball (more like PnP).
• You can cast the spell on either a single arrow or a stack. If on a stack, 1 is removed and you get a single arrow with the onHit property of the spell at the caster level of the PC. In both cases, the arrow is automatically equipped.
• Only works with arcane spells (not divine) and only those that make sense on an arrow. For example, no Magic Missile because the missile effects still come from the caster rather than the arrow and no Meteor Swarm because it centers on the caster and not the arrow.
• The duration is the number of Arcane Archer levels in rounds. Such an approach is stretching the PnP version a bit, which states that the arrow must be fired in the same round that the spell is cast. This is doable if you are quick, but the Avlis system went with rounds per level to give some time for planning. A level 10 AA would have a minute to fire their arrow with the spell active.