conan2005 1214940348|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z|agohover
In the real world, I am a bowhunter and enjoy spending much of my spare time in the forests of Wisconsin observing and photographing wildlife and nature in general. Naturally, I have an affinity toward Rangers. Archery focused Rangers, that is. NWN2 has had it's issues with archery that, thankfully, Kaedrin has addressed with his fletching pack and the upcoming Elemental Archer PrC, and Penetrating Shot and Swarm of Arrows feats. Seems like I'm referring people to your fletching pack weekly. Fighters currently make the best archers with access to GWF, WS, GWS, WM, and epic feats. But, the spirit of the hunter, the wild, and the devotion to the craft are lacking in the existing and upcoming classes, besides the Ranger.
Arcane Archer and Elemental Archer are based on supernatural and spell-like abilities that just don't fit my idea of an archer. Other PrCs, like Deepwoods Sniper, Peerless Archer, and Order of the Bow Initiate have extraordinary abilities more fitting to what I'm looking for (think Rambo), but also have abilities dealing with range and cover that cannot be addressed in NWN2, at the moment. A class that uses skill, precision, and power gained by devotion and practice, instead of necromantic magic and swarms of elemental fury.
My question: What can be done? What extraordinary abilities are possible? Would another custom PrC melding possible abilities interest more than just me? What would need to be fixed by OEI to implement said abilities?
Some of the extraordinary abilities from various PrCs in question:
Deepwoods Sniper
Keen Arrows (Ex) : At 1st level, all projectiles the deepwood sniper fires behave as if they were keen weapons in addition to any other properties they might possess. Thus, a normal arrow fired by a deepwood sniper has a threat range of 19-20 instead of 20. This effect does not stack with any other keen effect .
Concealment Reduction (Ex) : When the deepwood sniper reaches 2nd level, her miss chance against opponents with concealment drops by 10%. Thus, she has a miss chance of 10% rather than 20% against an opponent with one-half concealment . Her miss chance drops by an additional 10% per four deepwood sniper levels she gains thereafter, but this ability never reduces her miss chance against any opponent below 0%.
Projectile Improved Critical (Ex) : When the deepwood sniper reaches 2nd level, the critical damage multipliers of all her projectile weapons increase by +1. Thus, an arrow that normally deals damage x3 on a critical hit instead does damage x4 in her hands. When she reaches 7th level, these critical multipliers increase by an additional +1 .
Take Aim (Ex) : A 4th-level deepwood sniper can gain a +2 bonus on her attack rolls against a stationary target by aiming carefully.Taking aim is a full-round action, and if the target moves more than 5 feet during that period, the bonus is lost. No additional benefit exists for spending more than 1 round aiming. This bonus increases to +4 at 8th level.
Order of the Bow Initiate
Ranged Precision (Ex): As a standard action, an initiate may make a single precisely aimed attack with a ranged weapon, dealing an extra 1d8 points of damage if the attack hits. When making a ranged precision attack, an initiate must be within 30 feet of his target. An initiate's ranged precision attack only works against living creatures with discernible anatomies. Any creature that is immune to critical hits (including undead, constructs, oozes, plants, and incorporeal creatures) is not vulnerable to a ranged precision attack, and any item or ability that protects a creature from critical hits (such as armor with the fortification special ability) also protects a creature from the extra damage.
Unlike with a rogue's sneak attack, the initiate's target does not have to be flat-footed or denied its Dexterity bonus, but if it is, the initiate's extra precision damage stacks with sneak attack damage. Treat the initiate's ranged precision attack as a sneak attack in all other ways.
The initiate's bonus to damage on ranged precision attacks increases by +1d8 every two levels.
An initiate can only use this ability with a ranged weapon for which he has taken the Weapon Focus feat.
Close Combat Shot (Ex): At 2nd level, an initiate can attack with a ranged weapon while in a threatened square and not provoke an attack of opportunity..
Extended Precision (Su): A 10th-level Order of the Bow initiate's senses and feel for "the shot" become so attuned that he may make ranged precision attacks (and sneak attacks, if he has the ability) at a range of up to 60 feet.
Peerless Archer
Fletching +1-5 (Ex.): Starting at 2nd level you can craft a stack (99) of +1 arrows for 300 gp and 30 xp. Every two levels the quality of arrows improves by +1, but require more gold and experience.
