Arcane Archer
Description: (Prestige Class)
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.
Hit Dice: d8
Proficiencies: Armor (Light, Medium), Shields, Weapons (Martial, Simple)
Skill Points: 4 + Int mod
Skills: Craft Armor, Craft Trap, Craft Weapon, Heal, Hide, Listen, Lore, Move silently, Spot
Selectable Class Feats: Ambidexterity, Two-Weapon Fighting, Weapon Proficiency (Exotic)
Primary Saving Throw(s): Fortitude, Reflex
Requirements
Feats: Weapon Focus (Longbow or Shortbow), Point Blank Shot
Race: Elf (including Ghost Elf, Avariel, Drangonari, Sereg'wethrin) 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)
Special Abilities & Feats
- Level 1 Enchant Arrow I
- Level 2 Imbue Arrow
- Level 3 Enchant Arrow II
- Level 4 Seeker Arrow I
- Level 5 Enchant Arrow III
- Level 6 Seeker Arrow II
- Level 7 Enchant Arrow IV
- Level 8 Hail of Arrows
- Level 9 Enchant Arrow V
- Level 10 Arrow of Death
- Level 11 Enchant Arrow VI
- Level 13 Enchant Arrow VII
- Level 15 Enchant Arrow VIII
- Level 17 Enchant Arrow IX
- Level 19 Enchant Arrow X
- Level 21 Enchant Arrow XI
- Level 23 Enchant Arrow XII
- Level 25 Enchant Arrow XIII
- Level 27 Enchant Arrow XIV
- Level 29 Enchant Arrow XV
Epic Arcane Archer
Hit Die: d8
Skill Points: 4 + Int mod
Bonus Feats: 14, 18, 22, 26, 30
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
- Requires Shadows of Undrentide.
- 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.