Archer as a 20-Level Class

Archer

 

Level	BAB	Fort	Ref	Will	Special
1st	+1	+0	+2	+0	Point Blank Shot, Increased Range (+5 feet)
2nd	+2	+0	+3	+0	Bonus feat
3rd	+3	+1	+3	+1	Armor familiarity
4th	+4	+1	+4	+1	Cover reduction
5th	+5	+1	+4	+1	Bonus feat
6th	+6	+2	+5	+2
7th	+7	+2	+5	+2	Concealment reduction
8th	+8	+2	+6	+2	Bonus feat
9th	+9	+3	+6	+3
10th	+10	+3	+7	+3	Increased Range (+10 feet)
11th	+11	+3	+7	+3	Bonus feat
12th	+12	+4	+8	+4
13th	+13	+4	+8	+4
14th	+14	+4	+9	+4	Bonus feat
15th	+15	+5	+9	+5	Cover elimination
16th	+16	+5	+10	+5
17th	+17	+5	+10	+5	Bonus feat
18th	+18	+6	+11	+6
19th	+19	+6	+11	+6	Increased range (+15 feet)
20th	+20	+6	+12	+6	Bonus feat

Alignment: Any

 

Hit Die: d8

Class Skills: Balance (Dex), Climb (Dex), Craft (Int), Hide (Dex), Jump (Str), Listen (Wis), Move Silently (Dex), Profession (Wis), Ride (Dex), Spot (Wis)

Skill Points: 4+Int

Class Features:

Weapon and Armor Proficiency: Archers are proficient with all ranged weapons (excluding exotic ranged weapons) and with light armor.

Point Blank Shot: At 1st level, the archer receives Point Blank Shot as a bonus feat.

Increased range: At 1st level, the range increment of any ranged weapon used by the archer increases by 5 feet.  This enhancement increases to 10 feet at 10th level and to 15 feet at 19th level.

Bonus feat:  At 2nd level and every 3rd level thereafter, the archer gains a bonus feat from the following list: Acrobatic, Agile, Alertness, Athletic, Dodge, Endurance, Far Shot, Improved Critical (missile weapons only), Improved Initiative, Improved Precise Shot, Lightning Reflexes, Manyshot, Mobility, Mounted Archery, Mounted Combat, Precise Shot, Rapid Reload, Rapid Shot, Run, Shot on the Run, Spring Attack, Stealthy, Weapon Focus (missile weapons only).  The archer must meet all prerequisites before selecting the feat.  [Also this list should include archery-related feats from sources other than the SRD, which is what I am currently working with.]

Armor Familiarity: At 3rd level, the archer has become so familiar with his armor and weapons that he no longer has a maximum Dexterity bonus due to armor.  He may use his full Dexterity bonus when using a ranged weapon, regardless of any armor check penalty or the normal maximum Dexterity bonus imposed by the armor.  The penalty and maximum bonus still apply to all other actions taken while wearing the armor.

Cover Reduction: At 4th level, a target’s bonus to AC granted by cover is reduced to +2 when the archer makes a ranged attack.

Concealment Reduction: At 7th level, the miss chance granted by concealment is reduced to 10% when the archer makes a ranged attack.

Cover Elimination: At 15th level, targets no longer gain cover bonuses to AC when the archer makes a ranged attack.

Thoughts, questions, comments?  I don’t think it’s overpowered, given that all it does is shoot things, but I’m not sure–mostly, a lot of the special abilities want to be near the beginning, when they do the most good, but I fear this makes it a ‘dip’ class for straight fighters.

I also contemplated doing something rather like the monk with two attack progressions: 2/3 or even 1/2 progression for most attacks, but full for missile attacks.  Not sure how to implement that or even if it’s a good idea.   Some sort of ranged sneak attack might be right in theme, but I think that adding it would push the class over the edge into munchkinism.

And I gave them Point Blank Shot because every archer in existence has it anyway.  It’s the basic archery feat; I don’t think there’s even one archery-focused feat that doesn’t have PBS as a prereq.