Shadowborn Archer (3.5e Prestige Class)

Shadowborn Archer

Aramir searched the drow camp from the outcrop where he crouched hidden in his cloak of shadows. He fitted an arrow to his bow, preparing to fire if need be. His spider companion, a male hunting spider named Arachnae was crouched beside him, observing a number of tents to the east of the camp, and watching out for the rest of the party.

"Be carefull" warned Arachnae. "Several clerics and Arachnomancers move to the east." Aramir looked, and saw them. "I can take them out from here, Arachnae, but it will reveal my position." "The rest of the party are in position. If you fire now, it will cause confusion, making the task Arachne set us all the easier."

Hearing this, Aramir grinned, and fired five shots in quick sucsession, His magic propelling them ever harder, killing the cursed minions of lolth.

A Shadowborn Archer is a skilled Drow archer who uses both Archery and Magic in the name of their Arachnid goddess. Shadowborn archers do tend to fight in Arachne's or in Lolth's name, attempting to win the underdark in the name of the Goddess they worship.

Prerequisites

Feats

Point Blank Shot, and one other feat in the point blank shot chain.

Race

Drow

Skills

Hide, 6 Ranks, Move Silently 6 Ranks

Special

The Character worships either Lolth or Arachne.

Table: The Shadowborn Archer

Hit Die: d8

Level	Base Attack Bonus	Fort Save	Ref Save	Will Save	Special	Spells per Day
						0th	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	5th	6th	7th	8th	9th
1st	+1	+0	+2	+2	Enhance Arrow +1, Spider Companion	2	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
2nd	+2	+0	+3	+3	Imbue Arrow	3	0	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
3rd	+3	+1	+3	+3	Enhance Arrow +2	3	1	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
4th	+4	+1	+4	+4	Seeker Arrow	3	2	0	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
5th	+5	+1	+4	+4	Enhance Arrow +3	3	3	1	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
6th	+6	+2	+5	+5		3	3	2	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
Class Skills (2 + Int modifier per level) Hide, Spot, Move Silently

Class Features

All the following are class features of the Shadowborn Archer:

Enhance Arrow (Su)

At 1st level, every nonmagical arrow a shadowborn archer nocks and lets fly becomes magical, gaining a +1 enhancement bonus. Unlike magic weapons created by normal means, the archer need not spend experience points or gold pieces to accomplish this task. However, a shadowborn archers magic arrows only function for her. For every two levels the character advances past 1st level in the prestige class, the magic arrows she creates gain +1 greater potency (+1 at 1st level, +2 at 3rd level, and +3 at 5th level).

Imbue Arrow

At 2nd level, a shadowborn archer gains the ability to place an area spell upon an arrow. When the arrow is fired, the spells area is centered on where the arrow lands, even if the spell could normally be centered only on the caster. This ability allows the archer to use the bows range rather than the spells range. It takes a standard action to cast the spell and fire the arrow. The arrow must be fired in the round the spell is cast, or the spell is wasted.

Seeker Arrow

At 4th level, a shadowborn archer can launch an arrow once per day at a target known to her within range, and the arrow travels to the target, even around corners. Only an unavoidable obstacle or the limit of the arrows range prevents the arrows flight. This ability negates cover and concealment modifiers, but otherwise the attack is rolled normally. Using this ability is a standard action (and shooting the arrow is part of the action).

Spider Companion

A shadowborn archer may have an animal companion just as a druid would (counting shadowborn archer levels for the purposes of animal companions). However, this Animal Companion MUST be a Medium Monstrous Spider (becoming an animal, rather than a vermin). The Spider Companion has Intellegence and Charisma Equal to that of the character. The other abilites are: Dex +6, Con +2. A shadowborn archer may only have a Medium Monstrous Spider as an Animal Companion, and if she already has an animal companion, its body disitergrates, and it becomes a Medium Monstrous Spider. A shadowborn archer may NOT have a familliar or simular being. A spider companion speaks all the languages that the character does. The spider companion is considered to be intelligent (but cannot have class levels). This is because spider companions are often gifted with greater intelligence via devine means, or subject to some form of magical effect.

The character henceforth only summon monstrous spiders or spider swarms using a "summon" spell (i.e. Summon Monster II). If the spell does not permit the summoning of a monstrous spider, the caracter may summon a Monstrous spider(s) (or spider swarm(s)) with a CR equal to that of the creature(s). The player may advance a spider to equal the required CR as necessary.

Spells

A Shadowborn Archer casts arcane spells in the same manner as a sorcerer, but only needs to use somatic components on each spell. She gets a number of spells chosen from the following list equal to her spells per day (a 3rd level Shadowborn Archer gets three 0 level spells, and no 1st level spells):

0 Level Spells (Cantrips)

Poison Splash: Orb deals 1D3 damage (see below). Message: Wispered conversation at a didtance. Arcane Mark: Inscribes personal rune (visible or invisible). Spider Climb: Grants Ability to walk on walls and ceilings*. Detect Poison: Detects poison in one small creature or object. Detect Magic: Detects spells and magic items within 60ft.

1st Level Spells

Summon Monster I: Calls Extraplanar creature to fight for you. Cause Fear: One creature of 5HD or less flees for 1D4 rounds. True Strike: +20 on your next attack roll. Obscuring Mist: Fog surround you. Poison touch: As poison splash, but deals 2D6+CL damage.

2nd Level Spells

Summon Monster II: Calls extraplanar creature to fight for you. Summon Swarm: Summons swarm of spiders.

Poison Splash

This spell works as Acid Splash, but deals 1 damage every round for 1D6 rounds unless a DC 10+caster level fortitude save is passed.

Poison touch

This spell works as Poison Splash, but is a touch attack, deals 2D6+ caster level (max 6) damage, and 2 damage per round rather than 1.

• Note: this lasts for 2 minutes and 30 seconds per Shadowborn Archer Level, to a maximum of 10 minutes, rather than as normal.

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