Archer, Noble (3.5e Class)

Noble Archer

Drawn to the ways of the bow dealing damage with precise shots or volleys of arrows darkening out the sun, Archers are trained alongside the standard fighter but forgo a lot of the versatility to specialize with Bows and arrows

Making a Noble Archer

Fast and feat oriented fighter great for ranged combat. Don't let the enemy get to close unless you have an elven-craft bow and know how to use it.

Abilities: Dexterity is the key ability for accuracy with a bow, however a decent strength score will allow the archer to utilize a composite bow or bow of strength to its fullest advantage. Wisdom will also be important to archer related skills

Races: Humans, Elves, Half-elves, are commonly archers however there are no race restrictions

Alignment: Any

Starting Gold: 6d4 × 10 (240gp)

Starting Age: Complex

Table: The Noble Archer

Hit Die: d8

Level	Base Attack Bonus	Saving Throws			Special
		Fort	Ref	Will
1st	+1	+0	+2	+0	Bonus Archer Feat, Devastating Shot + 1d6
2nd	+2	+0	+3	+0	Weapon Focus I
3rd	+3	+1	+3	+1	Bonus Archer Feat
4th	+4	+1	+4	+1	Weapon Focus II
5th	+5	+1	+4	+1	Close Combat Shot
6th	+6/+1	+2	+5	+2	Bonus Archer Feat, Devastating Shot + 2d6
7th	+7/+2	+2	+5	+2
8th	+8/+3	+2	+6	+2	Weapon Focus III
9th	+9/+4	+3	+6	+3	Bonus Archer Feat
10th	+10/+5	+3	+7	+3	Threaten
11th	+11/+6/+1	+3	+7	+3	Devastating Shot + 3d6
12th	+12/+7/+2	+4	+8	+4	Bonus Archer Feat, Weapon Focus IV
13th	+13/+8/+3	+4	+8	+4	Called shot, Enchanted Quiver
14th	+14/+9/+4	+4	+9	+4	Extended shot
15th	+15/+10/+5	+5	+9	+5	Bonus Archer Feat, Hail of arrows
16th	+16/+11/+6/+1	+5	+10	+6	Devastating Shot + 4d6
17th	+17/+12/+7/+2	+5	+10	+5
18th	+18/+13/+8/+3	+6	+11	+6	Bonus Archer Feat Weapon, Weapon Focus V
19th	+19/+14/+9/+4	+6	+11	+6
20th	+20/+15/+10/+5	+6	+12	+6
Class Skills (6 + Int modifier per level, ×4 at 1st level) The Archers Class skills and key ability for each Climb (Str), Concentration (Con), Craft (Int), Diplomacy (Cha), Handle Animal (Cha), Heal (Wis), Hide (dex), Jump (Str), Knowledge (nobility and royalty) (Int), Listen (Wis), Move Silently (Dex), Ride (Dex), Search (Int), Spot (Wis), Survival (Wis), Tumble (Dex).

Class Features

All of the following are class features of the Archer

Weapon and Armor Proficiency: The Archer is proficient with any bow he wields the long sword and short sword. Light armor and the buckler shield.

Bonus Feats:At 1st level, The Archer gets a bonus combat-oriented feat in addition to the feat that any 1st-level character gets and the bonus feat granted to a human character. The archer gains an additional bonus feat at 3d level and every three archer levels thereafter (6,9,12,15,18). These feats are selected from the bonus feats offered to fighters

Weapon Focus I: at 2nd level the archer is treated as having the Weapon Focus feat for all bows while in light or no armor.

Devastating Shot (EX): When wearing light armor or no armor, the Archer is able to discern a weak spot for each creature he attacks. At 1st level the archer gains the ability to make a Spot check versus Reflex (DC = Spot Check) as a move action for each arrow fired at an opponent. If the Spot check succeeds you strike a weak point in the opponents armor or anatomy this arrow deals an extra 1d6 points of damage. Upon reaching 6th level & every 5 levels afterwards this damage increases by +1d6 points and can be applied to each target during the full round attack, and the spot check can now be done as a swift action. Should the archer score a critical hit with an attack this extra damage is not multiplied. It takes precision and penetration to hit a vital spot, so her ranged attacks can only be devastating if the target is no farther than 30 feet away. She loses this special ability when fighting in medium or heavy armor.

Weapon Focus II: at 4th level the archer is treated as having the weapon specialization feat for all bows while in light or no armor

Close Combat Shot: At 4th level, an archer can attack with a ranged weapon while in a threatened square and not provoke an attack of opportunity.

Greater Focus III: at 8th level the archer is treated as having the Greater Weapon Focus feat for all bows while in light or no armor.

Threaten: at 10th level the archer gains the ability to threaten nearby areas with her bow as if she were wielding a melee weapon when wearing light or no armor. She loses this special ability when fighting in medium or heavy armor. Her bow functions as a reach weapon, threatening anything 10 feet away but not immediately adjacent to her. Any attacks of opportunity she receives because she threatens nearby areas are normal ranged attacks, and these count against her maximum number of attacks of opportunity per round.

Greater Focus IV: at 12th level the archer is treated as having the Greater weapon specialization feat for all bows while in light or no armor

Called Shot: On your action, before making attack rolls for the round, you may choose to subtract a number from all attack rolls for the round and add the same number to all weapon damage rolls for Dexterity-based attacks. This number may not exceed your base attack bonus. The penalty on attacks and bonus on damage apply until your next action.

Enchanted Quiver: At 13th level, you learn to enchant your quiver with the ability to refill itself. For your quiver to do so, you must have at least 1 arrow in it. The quiver will then replicate the arrow placed in it until it has reached its maximum capacity. The quiver can hold a maximum of 20 arrows, and produces 2 arrows per round. The reproduction can be halted or resumed at will.

Extended Precision: At 14th level an archer senses and feel for “the shot” become so attuned that they may make Precision attacks (e.g. any attacks requiring range of 30 feet or less) at a range of up to 60 feet.

Hail of arrows: In lieu of her regular attacks, once per day an archer of 15th level or higher can fire an arrow at each and every target within range, to a maximum of one target for every archer level she has earned. Each attack uses the archer’s primary attack bonus, and each enemy may only be targeted by a single arrow.

Weapon Focus V: At the 18th level the archer is treated as having weapon supremacy feat for all bows while in light or no armor

Ex-Archers

The Demand on an Archers time that is required to devote to training her skills makes taking levels in any class all but impossable. The archer may be a multiclass character, but multiclass Archers face a special restriction. Archers who gain a new class or (if already multiclass) raise another class by a level may never again raise her archer level, though she retains all her Archer abilities.

Epic Noble Archer

Table: The Epic Noble Archer

Hit Die: d8

Level	Special
21st	Bonus Archer Feat, Devastating Shot + 5d6,
22nd
23rd
24th	Bonus Archer Feat
25th
26th	Devastating Shot + 6d6
27th	Bonus Archer Feat
28th
29th
30th	Bonus Archer Feat
31st	Devastating Shot + 7d6
32nd
33rd	Bonus Archer Feat
34th
35th
36th	Bonus Archer Feat, Devastating Shot + 8d6
37th
38th
39th	Bonus Archer Feat
40th
41st	Devastating Shot + 9d6
42nd	Bonus Archer Feat
43rd
44th
35th	Bonus Archer Feat
46th
47th	Devastating Shot + 10d6
6 + Int modifier skill points per level.

Devastating Shot : The Archers Devastating Shot power increases every five levels starting at +5d6 points of damage per arrow at 21st level.

Bonus Feats: The epic Archer gains a bonus feat (selected from the list of epic Archer bonus feats) every 3 levels starting at 21st.

Epic Archer Bonus Feat List: Armor Skin, Blinding Speed, Combat Archery, Damage Reduction, Dire Charge, Distant Shot, Epic Endurance, Epic Leadership, Epic Prowess, Epic Speed, Epic Toughness, Epic Weapon Focus, Epic Weapon Specialization, Exceptional Deflection, Fast Healing, Improved Manyshot, Legendary Climber, Legendary Commander, Legendary Rider, Penetrate Damage Reduction, Perfect Health, Superior Initiative, Swarm of Arrows, Uncanny Accuracy.

Campaign Information

Playing a Noble Archer

Religion: Noble Archer think of most religions as foolish and unnecessary. However, some are foolish enough to believe their amazing skill with a bow is no more than a side-effect of a higher power.

Other Classes: Most Nobler Archers keep to themselves. They are usually happy for any classes to distract the enemies while they move to a safe distance for the kill. Other Classes enjoy the presence of a Nobel Archer as they are always willing to have a long range specialist in the ranks to drop the enemy before they even get to the party.

Combat: The job of the Noble Archer in combat is to do massive amounts of damage to the enemy as quickly as possible from as far away as possible.

Advancement: Due to their intense training and attention to their skills they tend not to multiclass. However, if one was to multiclass they may select a class increasing their effectiveness with sneaking (e.g. Rogue) or possibly an Arcane Archer.

Noble Archers in the World

“	You think you will fight in the shade. I know you will die in the dark.	”
—Xander Silent-Hawk, Wood-elf Noble Archer

This character works best from the darkness or safely behind a good melee Fighter.

Daily Life: He’s climbing in your Trees. He’s sniping your NPCs out. So all y'all need to hide your Orcs, hide your Halflings, and hide your Gobolins. Cause they’re dropping everybody out here

Notables: Xander Silent-hawk, Wood-elf Noble Archer(Lawful Evil)

Organizations: Noble Archers due not typically hang around and associate with others even those who are in of their class.

NPC Reactions: Many in The Order of the Bow think of them as haughty and arrogant. Though most Noble Archers think of them as the spiritual fecal matter of the archery community. Most others just view them as the typical adventurer.

Noble Archer Lore

Characters with ranks in Profession: Bowyer or Knowledge: Nature can research Noble Archers to learn more about them. When a character makes a skill check, read or paraphrase the following, including information from lower DCs.

Profession: Bowyer or Knowledge: Nature

DC	Result
5	An extremely skilled archer.
10	NEVER touch a Noble Archer's bow.
15	Very few Noble Archers exist.
20	Protect your vital organs if you decide to enter combat against a Noble Archer.

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